StarGaze

The Angel Of Suffering

"What? Who's there?" I asked as I went further into the dark building.

I followed the voice, almost in a daze. I didn't care about my surroundings, I just wanted to meet the person who was not a part of my story. I followed her up to the roof, where I finally saw her face. And I knew from the moment I saw her that I knew her, but I didn't remember who she was.

I went up to her to ask my question, but she quickly climbed up on the edge of the building. I couldn't afford to lose her, so I jumped forward to catch her as she jumped, and I tripped. I screamed as I saw myself falling upside down towards the ground. In mid-air, I yelled at the top of my voice, tired of all this s**t. I closed my eyes and placed my hands in front of my head, in a vague hope that it would absorb some damage.

"Why the f**k you screaming, boy?!" A familiar voice asked.

I opened my eyes and was astonished to find myself in a helicopter with Jeter looking at me with confusion. And it began all over again.

I remember this moment too. We had just saved the president of the USA and were bringing him to our headquarters in a helicopter. I also knew what was about to happen. But as always, my body refused to listen to me. I was just a captive forced to watch. Why the f**k is this happening to me?!

I am on my way to Rome in a Black Hawk helicopter, with the president and my team. I am sitting with my legs out of the helicopter. The world seems so normal from up here. But go down a little bit and you will see the madness crawling in the streets. Will this ever end? Will there be a day when I will go out to the city without a weapon in my hand? I suppose there will be, but our generation won’t live to see it. Jeter sits down beside me.

“I’ve had enough for today. I don’t want you to give me some psycho bullshit.” I say, turning my gaze away from him.

“You know, we both want to hate each other but we can’t. The simple reason is that we are a lot more alike than you think.” He says. I look at him, surprised.

“Well, excuse me, because I didn’t kill my friend over a cigarette. Nor do I kill people who have a different opinion than me. So I seriously doubt your words.” I say, frowning. Jeter simply smiles.

“I wasn’t always like this. Before this s**t, I was exactly like you- wild, fearless, smart. I always pretended to like everyone but in my heart, I only knew how to hate. Love is just a weakness to me. We both have dodged death so many times that we have actually become fearless. This fearlessness can turn you into a man like me. The only thing stopping you are the people you care about. As soon as they are dead, the only thing you will be left with is courage and rage. And they will corrupt you as they corrupted me. Protect your family, I couldn’t protect mine.” He said.

For the first time, I saw the impossible happen. Jeter, who hammered little kids and skinned men alive, the mention of whose name turned the rebels’ blood into ice, was crying. For the first time, I could see the human inside that monster. I also realized that he was right. I had dodged death so many times that I didn’t fear it anymore. I have done terrible things and have a lot of hate buried inside. It just needs a spark to turn into a wildfire.

I didn’t try to comfort him because if he was anything like me, he wanted to be left alone and not be treated as a weak person.

Just when I am thinking about his words, I hear a rumble. The sky is as clear as it can be. Then the rumble could only mean one thing. My sadness changes into happiness.

“You hear that? They are coming back. Our men are alive.” I say, overjoyed by this pleasant surprise. The others are happy too.

“Uh sir, I don’t think it is one of ours.” The pilot says. A silence falls over the cabin.

“Don’t worry, sir. We have handled situations like this before. Just get ready to use that machine gun.” The co-pilot says.

The enemy helicopter takes some time to catch up with us. I suddenly realize something.

“Is it the same as the ones at the White House?” I ask.

“Yes sir, no doubt about it.” the pilot replies.

“Then there should be four of them. Where are the rest of the three?” I say. My blood goes cold and my heart starts pumping like a wild horse.

“The radar isn’t picking up any more bogeys around us.” The co-pilot replies.

“Then they are flying under the radar,” Jeter says.

I see down the helicopter. The ocean is covered with mist. I struggle to make out any shape through the mist. And then I see them. Three monsters walking right below us, scattering the mist around them. I point them out to Jeter, who just smiles.

“They think they are too smart. Let me show them who’s the boss around here. Give me that grenade launcher.” He says.

After getting the grenade launcher, he takes a careful aim at the central pursuer, moving right below us. After a while, he fires the weapon. His aim is good, but he misses the shot. The rebels respond immediately and pull up. But Jeter doesn't repeat the same mistake twice. He fires again, depriving the bird of its wings. The helicopter falls into the ocean. The strike down is followed by a cheer. But the excitement is short-lived. Soon after, a machine gun puts holes in our helicopter.

“Pull up!!” the pilot shouts. And the next thing we know is that we are launching towards the moon. But we are followed by the enemy helicopters from both sides.

“They are still following us. What do we do Captain?” the co-pilot asks the pilot. The pilot takes a second to grasp the situation and then speaks.

“We are being followed from three directions. We have to do something to surprise them. I am going to shut down the engine in five seconds. They will not have enough time to slow down. Colonel Jeter, you will get a half-second window where we will be parallel to the gunships. You better make it useful.” The captain says.

Before I can brace, the engine is turned off and we are free falling. Jeter seems to be calmer than ever. He presses the grenade launcher against his shoulder and looks down at the enemy helicopter. As soon as we face the enemies, Jeter pushes the trigger. The engine is immediately turned on again and soon enough, we are flying. The debris from the destroyed helicopters floats on the ocean floor behind us.

“Two down and two to go. Let’s do it, boys!” Himanshu screams.

The rebels have become cautious and are taking no chances now. They maintain a distance from us to keep out of the range of the grenade launcher. So it’s the old-school machine gun brawl. The only problem is that there are two of them and only one of us. They take turns and attack alternatively, without giving us enough time to recover. We have taken some serious damage and any more will lead to our demise.

“They attack the side opposite to our machine gun, right?” Himanshu asks.

“Yes, why?” the pilot replies.

“Give me my rifle. I will teach them a lesson they will remember even after death.” He says with determination.

After getting his rifle, he checks it for any damaged parts. After being assured that it’s as good as it will ever be, he addresses the pilot.

“Make the helicopter absolutely steady, I want no movement. Let them come and get what they deserve.” He says. If there would be normal circumstances, he would be ignored. But in this hopeless situation, he emerged as our only hope.

The pilot did exactly as he was told to do. The helicopter was hovering above at about a hundred meters from sea level. As expected, one of the enemy crafts circled around and finally descended to match our level, far enough to dodge our grenade launcher. Soon after that, a door opened from the side of that helicopter and a machine gun emerged. they intended to finish us for good this time, that is why they took their time to aim. But they had no idea what was coming to them.

Himanshu pulled his trigger and got up without confirming his kill.

“Their shooter is dead and the helicopter is crippled. It is no longer a threat.” He said. He was right, there was no shooting.

“Take us close to it. I will finish it up for good.” Jeter says, taking out a packet of c-4 from his pocket.

The roles have been swapped now. We are in the role of the hunter rather than the hunted. We followed the enemy helicopter across the ocean. After some time, we almost reached its side.

That is when we made our greatest mistake. We were so indulged in the pursuit of that helicopter that we completely forgot about the other one. After a long pursuit, their helicopter suddenly came to a halt. While Jeter prepares to blast off the unarmed beast, I start noticing a strange sound. I turn around to see the other helicopter sneaking to our side. It’s too late to draw anybody’s attention. In fact, it’s too late to do anything. I see the machine gun barrel rolling in the helicopter and close my eyes. My ears catch a distant thud and a second later, I feel a push.

The rebel helicopter is falling to pieces. The attack is not from our helicopter, then who is our guardian angel? My eyes search the skies but do not find an answer. Suddenly the helicopter radio crackles.

“This is Captain Henry from USS Washington. We just saved your asses boys.” A man says from the other end.

“Thank you very much, sir. How did you find us?” our pilot said.

“We were anchored here. Then a call came from headquarters saying that they had caught you on satellite feed, followed by four hostiles. Looks like we responded just in time.” Henry said.

“You certainly did. Thank you, sir.” The pilot said.

We start our journey again. I sit with my legs hanging from the helicopter’s edge, wondering about Jeter’s words.

“We have dodged death so many times that we don’t fear it anymore”

And then, I hear her calling me again. I look with bafflement across all directions, and at last, I find her. There she is, holding the helicopter door with one hand and calling me from another. This is the key, I know it. She is the key to me getting out of this nightmare.

So when she signals me to come close, I remove the seat belt and lean forward to hold her. just then, the helicopter takes a sharp turn and both of us are in the air again. She is six feet below me and smiling at me. I strive to close out our distance, but there is no success.

And just as we are about to hit the ocean water, I go surfing in my mind again.