were screaming and howling above Seven’s and Al’s seats. They couldn’t see what the team was doing and couldn’t hear anything other than motors over their heads.
The radio channel once again broke silence and delivered a beautiful message. “All on board and ready to go” was all that could be made out in the sea of background noise. Seven motioned to Al and Big Bev began to unseat herself from gravity’s hold. She lifted quickly for a girl her size and immediately pointed her nose towards the coastline.
Seven pushed the throttle and steered the machine over the wall when he again heard the sound of rifle rounds striking and penetrating the skin of his craft. He heard the first plink hit Big Bev in the tail section and then a series of plinks one after another. The sound intensified as the rounds seemed to be walking up Bev’s port side. The sound of breaking glass and bending metal followed the plinks. The final and loudest of the intrusions hit the cockpit, sending glass, metal, and blood across the windshield. Seven looked down at his hands and saw blood and glass flickering against the cockpit lights. He squeezed both hands and saw that they responded properly. He didn’t know where he was bleeding from and didn’t have time to investigate; his hands were working, his feet were still on the pedals, and his brain was still functioning. He continued his ascent and steered Big Bev in the direction of the awaiting cargo ship.
Once he cleared the compound and took to the safety of the night sky, he began to inspect himself physically for the source of the blood. His heart sank when he realized that it wasn’t his.
Just to his right where he had been for two years was the “Awkward Little Fucker,” Jimmy Shields. He was slumped over in his seat, his body bouncing against the gauges he was manning. Seven reached over and grabbed his shoulder, but he knew that his friend was gone before his hand made contact. Al’s flight helmet had been penetrated by the final plink. Seven looked over and saw the source of the blood that had soiled his flight suit. It had come from the spewing hole in his friend’s head