EPTPt. 2: http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/viewblog.php?topic_id=98416
"With all due respect, Sergeant," a marine began. "Why are we hiding from lurkers in an underground cave, of all places? Wouldn't it be where they..."
The sergeant looked pensive.
"Sarge?"
"Soldier," Sergeant Garrison answered, finally. "The best place to hide from lurkers is anywhere the fuck besides above them."
The other marines exchanged nods of agreement.
He continued: "It's just that around this cave is where -"
"This is somewhere you shouldn't be."
"Who's there?!"
"Leave. Get out. Go!"
"Is that..."
"For fuck's sakes! Don't stay here!"
"Henson?! Henson, is that you?!"
Following several extended dragging sounds, Corporal Henson, a once missing Goliath pilot and long-time friend of Sergeant Garrison, crawled into the lamp light. His voice was muffled by an oxygen mask. "Numbskulls! Ignore me?! You'll die here!"
Sergeant Garrison felt panic. Henson had been missing for weeks, and now that he was finally discovered, he was telling his friend to leave the safest place to hide for miles? "The lurkers are very active right now. Being out in the open means slaughter!" He gripped his rifle. "Henson, is something back there? There are enough of us, and the choke is narrow."
Henson responded with a series of violent coughs. "Kuh, kuh, kuh," he laughed. Blood began pouring out of the oxygen mask as Henson's eyes retreated into the back of his skull.
The realization hit Garrison like an arclite blast. "Christ, no..."
****
The bay doors were open, and the cabin was empty. Penny had no other choice. Her ear phones were filled with the screams of men. She winced. In the end, the girl is the only one that takes it like a man.
The medic fell silently. It was almost a relief now that it was about to be over. No more trauma, no more trembling. Just one more death.
She felt her backside connect lightly with the ground. Scratch that.
Within seconds, she was on her feet and searching the sky. Were they too late? The trail of smoke led her eyes to a flailing, but airborne, dropship. The scourge? Gone. She breathed a sigh of relief.
"James, do you copy?! James!" There were no zerg in sight, but neither were there any marines. She waited tensely.
"I copy," James' voice finally sounded. "What's your name, by the way?"
Tiffany couldn't help but smile. "Sica. Tiffany Sica."
Moments later, the dropship exploded into a thousand glimmering pieces.
