More explosions rolled out behind him, as the building tore itself apart. David got back to his feet, ignoring the agonizing pain involved in moving his burnt flesh and his hurt back. He plucked William�s unscathed body up off of the ground, placed him back onto his shoulder with some difficulty, and continued running. He saw their dropship just ahead, full of his fellow soldiers. His footsteps slowed slightly as the pain began to send him into shock, but he pushed it out of his mind. He was only meters away from the floating ship, as he heard shrapnel flying past him from the explosions.
His mind was losing the battle with his body, as he felt more and more of the pain. His footsteps staggered, and he slammed William�s limp body onto the deck. He felt himself being hoisted up, but blacked out before his body had been raised into the ship.
Green fields that seemed to go on forever stood before David. A small stream was to his left, and he saw fishes struggling through it, heading upstream. The sunrise off in the distance seemed so very peaceful, and calming to David. He felt as thought every ray of sunshine he absorbed from it took away another worry from his mind. He slumped down in the grass, and sat reclined with his arms behind him. His hands rested in the tall grass, taking in their soft, welcoming comfort. He took in a deep breath, and exhaled the cool air. The air seemed real, not like something he remembered. He couldn�t quite associate the dread with a memory, but soon that stress was lifted from him, too.
He sat there for a time he could not measure, but after what seemed like an eternity a voice suddenly drifted across the morning air.
�David�� spoke the gentle voice. It seemed as though the clouds themselves had uttered his name, and the sound echoed through the air.
�David�� He tried to see where the voice spoke from, and though it seemed very soothing, he felt as though the worries and troubles were being reabsorbed.
�David�� The beautiful orange and blue sky began to fade, replaced by gray walls and bright lights. A shadow drifted above him, blocking one of the lights.
�David? Sir, can you hear me?� His mind snapped back into place, and he immediately recognized the voice.
�Je�Jean?� He barely managed to utter the name, feeling the agony of soreness connect to every part of his body. He came back into full consciousness, and his vision slowly began to clear.
�Yes, sir, it�s me. I�m here, sir. Can you hear me?�
David gave a weak nod, slowly feeling his body come alive again.
�Sir, you�re going to be fine. You suffered severe burns throughout the back side of your body, but the medics have already replaced the burnt tissues. The disorientation should leave soon sir, they had to make sure you didn�t wake during the procedure.�
Two things were on David�s mind right now, and he asked them in the order of priority his duty required.
�The rest of the mission� did you scout the given coordinate area?� Jean nodded, a slight grin on her face.
�We had you and William sent straight back here, to the medical sector, but N�tn�see and I took the AGF�s and finished the mission.�
�William�� muttered David.
�He�s going to be okay. He lost a lot of blood, and we almost lost him, but he�s steadily coming back. The doctors won�t start the procedure to replace his lower left leg until tomorrow, but for now he�s fine.�
David�s back hurt, felt bruised� he tried to stretch, but quickly cancelled his action.
�Your back, I know� one of the parts that your armor plating did actually cover took a heavy hit from shrapnel. The doctor told me that without the suit, sir, it would�ve gone straight through your chest cavity. Your back bone is broken in several places, though, so you need to restrain from moving it.�
Her words seemed so comforting, despite what it was she was saying. He was satisfied with what he had heard though; his mission had been accomplished, and all of his squad members had gotten back alive. His only motive for staying awake gone from him, David drifted back into unconsciousness.
David�s operation on his spine went off without a hitch, but he kept waking up in the middle of the operation. His mind kept rejecting the anesthetics, and the doctors came close to giving him an overdose.
Nurse Strewer Kyubrekyus pulled up William�s DNA sample that the Alliance had on file, and looked it over. She looked over at the file that showed code sequences, and scrolled down William�s DNA. There� those were the nucleotide sequences that had influence on physical appearance. She clicked the screen, and it magnified. She finally came to the section that held the information for how his feet developed, and copied the data on the patient�s left foot. She placed it into a text document, and transferred it to Doctor Watkinson�s workstation. He would use the data to clone a foot, and replace the one that the soldier had lost.
She looked at the description paper again, and felt a slight tingle run down her spine. She had already read it, but looking back at it still seemed like a shock to her. He had had his lower leg blown off by a high caliber round� by his own commanding officer? Friendly fire? She pushed the thoughts out of her mind. This was highly classified work as it was, and she didn�t want to lose the privilege of working with the 113th division with questions.
She sighed, and downloaded a copy of the latest tasks that had been sent to her account. She put them on her data pad, and shoved the device into her pocket. She logged out, and shut down the terminal. It automatically encrypted all of her files, and purged all of her records of activity on the computer. Her actions were still logged, but not here. Those records were kept on other, more secure servers. The Alliance had grown paranoid since they had landed, and she couldn�t say she blamed them. Were they afraid? Or maybe it was just this weird air�
Strewer got back to her work, and the 113th division patient soon drifted from her mind.
