A Dragon's Tale-Chapter 3-Final Moments
#3 of ADT-Finalized
The year is 1999. Marine, John Alex Mason, friend Hudson James Weaver and brother Issac Tyler Mason, are on a desperate mission to rescue their fellow Marine and brother in arms Wyatt Nolan Clarke. Little do they know that this is 30 year old John's last mission...as a human anyway....
I don't know how long I was out,but when I woke,I was laying in a hospital bed. My vision was blurry and my hearing was noting more than a quiet, distant ring. I was covered from my neck down in bandages and could tell I was missing limbs. Tubes and wires disappeared into my chest and my left eye was covered in gauze,leading me to assume it was gone. I was cold allover. It wasn't like the cold you get when your wet and you stand in front of a fan on the third setting. No this was a...burning, hot cold, so cold that I felt like I was on fire. My head was pounding harder than it ever had, like I had the mother of all hangovers, I easily had a Grade 3 concussion. But that seemed like the least of my problems. Tough it was faint,I could hear Hudson yelling at someone.
"You didn't say a fucking thing about..."
It was to distant, I couldn't make it out, but I could hear Issac's reply.
"You know it's the only way he's going to live."
Through my blued eyes, I saw Issac turn and face me, his eyes growing wide as he did so.
"Hey",Issac said,"he's awake."
Hudson,Issac and Wyatt gathered around me. Emelia nudged me a little and I reached out to pet her she pushed herself underneath my arm and whimpered like hurt dog might, she was crying too. I then noticed Frank wasn't here.
"Where's...Frank?",I rasped. I managed, even with a broken jaw, to somehow get the
words out.
"He's dead",Issac said with tears in his eyes,"killed in the crash."
"No",I rasped,fleeing the tears stream down my burned face,"first Jackson in Vietnam, Frank in Africa and now I'm next!"
"Maybe not soldier",a doctor said walking in,he had a long syringe in his hand,"Marine,this is extract agent, you are at the center of quite possibly the biggest advancement of genetics in human history. I'm going to ask you a few questions...so here we go."
"Marine, do you want pictures to be filed with documents of what happens during this operation?"
"Yes",I rasped out.
"Your new body must be grown, there are two ways of doing this, the natural way, which will take upwards of 18 years to fully mature, due to the fact that you must literally be re born and artificial though this way makes the body less durable and will result in a quicker deterioration, do you want natural or artificial?"
"Natural",I rasped,"I want a clean start."
"Last one Marine",the doctor said,"do you want your memory wiped or implanted,if you have it wiped, we will integrate triggers in your DNA to restore it."
I coughed up a bit of blood before rasping,"wipe it."
The doctor turned away from me. As he did, I faced Hudson.
"How bad is it?",I asked.
"Bad",he said crying,"both your legs and left arm are gone,your lungs are crushed,your heart has lead slug lodged in it,your skull is powder and your spine snapped in six places."
"Taylor's gonna let me have it",I rasped through tear filled eyes and a burnt throat.
"Are you ready soldier?",The doctor asked.
"Do it",I rasped.
The doctor stuck me in the neck with the needle. The warm,vile tasting liquid filled my throat and I began to slip out. I pulled Emelia as close as I could and she licked the side of my face.
"Issac?",I said with my voice trailing off.
"Yeah",he said crying,"I'm here little brother!"
"Keep...keep the team together",I rasped,"when I come back,I want a combat ready team...un...understood?"
"Understood Major sir!",he said saluting me, his eyes filled with tears.
"Come on John",Emelia said through tear filled whines,"don't leave us,please don't die!"
"Emelia?",I rasped smiling,"Marines don't...die." It was the last thing I said before slipping over the edge.