Philanthropy

...in which Snake's and Ota's happy family life is shaken, not stirred.
Otacon: ...AAAALright then. This is a weird story, really, see, Snake and I are only in our underwear as we...
Ssh, don't spoil the plot!
Otacon: Hehe.


***


Ten

‘Heh.’
‘What’s up?’
‘She’s good, Cindy.’
‘What’re you talking…’
He flipped the paper around.

“METAL GEAR: GOVERNMENT INVOLVED
Official documents retrieved”

‘Wow!’
‘Yeah.’ He scratched his chin. ‘But do you know what this means?’
‘Well? We have to move soon?’
‘Right.’
‘Oh…That’s too bad.’ I liked this apartment. I had nothing but good memories to this place.
‘Mei Ling’s on the lookout for another place. Maybe in a different city this time. I don’t know.’
‘When will we?’
‘Tomorrow at least. Better start packing.’

When we went to bed, we put the beds together. My head was on his chest, and I was so happy. I was so happy I wanted to fly, to shout at the world below, to let everyone know I was there. My heart felt like a huge burning sun. I was afraid I’d never be able to fall asleep again.

‘Can you sleep like this?’
‘Sure. And I know it won’t be a problem for you, either.’
He grinned. ‘It won’t.’
He was already falling asleep the moment the words had left his mouth. I was overwhelmed, staring at him, knowing I’d do anything I could for him. Anything. Whatever it would take. To make sure his soft reddish brown hair would be around, and his smile, and that the strong parts of his body would stay strong, and his hands would stay tender.

CRASH!

I was awake in a flash. My heart was beating so fast I was afraid I’d have a heart attack.
‘Otacon, what was that?’
I looked beside me, relieved to at least see him safe. ‘I don’t know,’ I whispered.
‘Come on, get out of bed. And be quiet.’
We rolled out of the beds slowly, afraid we’d make a sound. He took the lead, with his gun ready. I almost laughed because he was still almost naked, but when I heard small, swift footsteps at the other side of the door, I nearly fainted. Someone turned on the light in the living room and started to walk around. Looking for something, I thought. For the documents. For proof it was us who were involved. How could it be anything else?

‘Are they looking for the documents?’ I whispered in his ear.
He shrugged. ‘They’re amateurs, that’s for sure. But that doesn’t make them any less dangerous here.’

‘You can come in,’ a voice on the other side of the door said. Down the street, car doors were slammed shut. There was noise in the hallway.
‘Well, I guess they’re no amateurs anymore from here,’ Dave said.
‘Where can we go now?’ I said panicky.
‘Let me think.’

The noise got louder. They – whoever they were – were getting higher and higher on the staircase.

‘Do something, Snake!’ I hissed.
‘Shut up, you can talk later!’

A second later, he grabbed my wrist and dragged me forward, running towards the door and slamming it open.
‘Snake, what are you doing?!’ I yelled when I looked right into the eyes of an armed soldier with a scary mask on. He didn’t answer. He just kicked the guy’s face in. Then the next face, then the next.
‘Give me a gun, Hal. Hurry.’
I tried to get one from a cupboard, but I couldn’t find it. We must’ve already packed it.
‘I can’t find any!’
‘Catch this.’ I caught a gun in a reflex. ‘I found some. Now run!’
‘Shouldn’t we take the laptop or…’
‘If you can carry it. If it’s worth risking your life.’
I hung my laptop briefcase in my shoulder and gave him an angry glare. ‘It’s bulletproof anyway.’
‘I see.’

We ran through the door, then through the hallway. Snake shot a whole row of soldiers coming out of the elevator. He reloaded, even. I couldn’t even aim before he’d taken them out. Then we took the fire exit. We ran the stairs outside the building as quick as we could. But then we got shot from a few windows. I saw Snake’s shoulder got hit in an explosion of blood. He didn’t make a sound, not even when he fell on the lower roof. I was the only one screaming. I couldn’t move. Not until he got up again and pulled me out of their range. I heard hundreds of bullets raining on the roof. It was like a nightmare.

‘These guys are insane,’ Dave yelled. ‘How much proof can they give the people that they’re the bad guys? Instead of killing us in silence, they’ve just awakened the whole building and half the town. How the hell can they be so stupid?’
I watched him and tried to get a look at his injury. It looked extremely painful. He could hardly stand straight. My feet hurt, too. Running barefooted on a metal staircase and a stone roof isn’t nice. When I took a look, I saw my toes were bleeding.

‘Come on, Hal. Follow me.’
‘Are you okay?’
‘We’ll both be dead if they catch us.’

We went on, on the roof, and down more stairs. There was hardly anyone there, just a few guys in the lookout. It looked like a well-prepared operation, but still. Finally, we were back on the ground. Snake went looking for a car. While I waited, I suddenly saw another guy on one of the roofs surrounding us. His gun was directed at the place I thought Snake was. So I aimed and shot him, within a second. He fell down. I knew he was dead.
‘Was that you, Otacon?’ he yelled.
‘Yes.’
‘Come here!’
Dizzy, I walked up to him as quick as possible, which wasn’t as quick anymore.
‘I need you to drive. I can’t do it now.’
I stared at his arm. It was covered in blood, even though he held a blanket or something against it.
‘Please, Hal. You can do it.’
In trance, I got in the driver’s seat and started the engine. He sat down next to me, with his teeth clenched together. I stepped on the gas and when I drove out of the parking spot, I ran over another two soldiers. I though I was gonna be sick or faint. But he read my expression and kept talking to me.
‘Don’t let go. Keep driving. Stay with me. You can do this. Please.’


***