by Jeff Uribe
[NRPG: Yes yes yes. I'm still alive, although work has been nothing short of hellish lately. Sorry for taking so long to post, but opportunity just hadn't been showing up recently.
Alton : In a non-XF note, I should be going to Holodeck 12. just a FYI.
Syd : How goes the short story? Let's chat sometime this week, I'll let you know when. ]
[On the road to the Laughton Farm]
If there was any way to describe Leo at this moment, it was distracted. His mind seemed to be flying in a hundred different directions at once and he had no idea why. As he looked out of the window and saw the fields fly by, there was something trying to break through, something important. All of a sudden, a wave of nausea seemed to hit Leo.
"Pull over." Leo whispered.
Jim pulled to the side just as Leo threw himself out of the car and proceeded to dry heave in the grass. The images flashing in his mind was that of Zulu laying dead before him and Martin, and it was upsetting Leo to no end. As much as he was fighting the impulse to turn on Jim, another wave of nausea hit him with a stronger force than before.
"Are you alright?" Jim called out from behind Leo.
The next thing Jim knew, Martin had stepped out of the car, his gun drawn and aimed at his head. Leo unholstered his gun and spun around, drawing a fresh wave of dizziness threatening to topple him, and aimed it towards Martin.
"Don't force me to shoot Martin. Fight the images." Leo croaked, as another wave of nausea forced it's way up from his stomach.
Martin turned to look at Leo, "You can't fight it, Leo. It's stronger than either of us. You know what we must do. Zulu must die."
As he said this, Jim dove on the hood of the car, sliding off of the front and hitting the ground with his weapon drawn, unsure of whom to aim it at.
A surprised look came over Martin's face, which then turned into a snarl as he realized that his ally suddenly became his enemy. Leo Jones, former black op soldier, the one person who knew the man that nearly killed his fiancee, the person who probably told Docker how to find her, Leo Jones wasn't his friend, neither was he an ally. Now his main focus became the death of this turncoat.
As another wave of dizziness rocked through Leo, he saw all of this pass over Martin's face and he realized that something would have to be done in order to keep Jim and the rest of Zulu safe. As Martin aimed his weapon towards Leo, Leo knew that he'd have to shoot Martin, but the nausea and dizziness were affecting his judgement. As he saw the flash of Martin's gun going off, Leo squeezed off two shots and spun himself around. He didn't see his shots hit Martin's gun out of his hand and hit Martin's upper arm. He didn't see Jim rush into Martin and tackle him to the ground to subdue him. The only thing Leo saw as he felt the bullet tear into his back was a single cow chewing on its cud before he hit the ground and passed out.