You were so fucked.
It was the only thing you could think as you looked at the rest of your team in their gas masks, yours lying shattered on the floor.
You’d gotten some intel about a new terrorist weapon being manufactured in this warehouse. The tip said it was gaseous, so you had come prepared with gas masks. From the surveying the team had done, the warehouse seemed fairly empty. You entered on a stealth basis, hoping to get a sample, maybe sabotage the production, and get out. Of course, things are never that simple.
The team was split up: Ghost and Soap on gathering info from the office, Price on overwatch, Gaz getting a sample of gas, and you setting charges to destroy the warehouse. But of course, just when you thought you had all the enemies accounted for, one came in from a side door in your blind spot. The only warning you got was,
“We have one entering the warehouse from the west.” Came Price’s gruff voice over the comms.
By that time, you were already grappling on the ground, both having knocked your weapons away from each other.
“I’m seeing that, thank you!” You struggled out through the strain of the fight. “We’ve gone loud! I’m in contact—“
The enemy rips the gas mask from your face. “Shit!”
“How copy?” You hear Ghost but you’re currently in an arm wrestle over a gun, “we’re on our way to your last known location, hold on.”
You win the arm wrestle, securing your gun and aiming it at the enemy. In a last ditch effort to save his ass, he lunges for a lever on a tank next to you, ripping open a valve and sending a rush of green gas directly into your face.
You flinch away, abandoning your aim in favor of finding clean air. But you’ve already inhaled, you can feel it stinging your throat and lungs, causing you to cough violently.
“—status? Come in, sitrep now!” You barely hear Price, your brain getting fuzzy fast. The lines of the building start warping, contorting and stretching until the walls look they’re falling on top of you. When you look down at your hands they’re covered in blood, several fingers missing. A roach crawls from the back of your hand to start skittering up your arm. You try to swat it away, breathing heavily and shuffling back. More bugs now, crawling all over you. You don’t know where they came from or what to do, you can barely comprehend everything you’re seeing.
So when you started to scream, your comms still open, their hearts drop. Ghost and Soap round the corner fast, quickly followed by Gaz and Price busting through separate doors.
They don’t know what to make of what they see. You’re hyperventilating, brushing your arms and shaking out, squirming on the floor like you’re trying to get something off of you.
“Get off!” You screech, alongside other barely sensical pleas. Ghost shoots forward to grab your arms and stop your struggling. But when you’re faced with a large, scary man in a skull mask, it just sets you off more.
You see a man whose face is melting off to reveal the skull underneath, grabbing at you with sharp claws and shouting in your face. Suddenly you don’t care about the roaches, a new fresh monster greats you.
Your screaming gets worse, shoving harshly at Ghost, “no no no, stop!”
You’ve attracted the attention of the other people in the warehouse.
“Fuck…Ghost, Soap, sort that out and get to exfil! Gaz, you’re with me, we’re holding here!” Price gives the order.
You’re frightened by this face-melt man. “Please don’t hurt me!” You cry out. Simon’s heart breaks a little. You’ve never been scared of him before.
Simon rips off his mask, “hey! It’s me, it’s Simon!” He’s trying to make sense of what you’re seeing, why you’re so freaked out. He doesn’t care right now about the dangers of taking the mask off. He just cares about you.
Johnny comes next to you both, crouching down to help. “Hey, there, birdie…they gotcha good, eh?” He speaks like he’s trying to calm a spooked dog. He shares a concerned glance with Simon.
Your breathing slows marginally, recognizing their faces but not understanding what’s real, brain going too slow to understand what they’re saying.
A sob bubbles out, “what’s happening?”
“Not sure, sweet’eart, but we gotcha,” Simon grunts out while swooping you up.
The world tilts, nausea filling you quickly. You let out a whine.
“‘S alrigh’, hen, we’re gettin’ ya outta here.”
The rest is a bit of a blur. You hear gunshots and feel the jostle of being carried. It’s hard to differentiate between what’s real and what’s your scary, gas-induced visions. They get you into the exit vehicle, and Price and Gaz pull out of the building, blowing it up with the charges you managed to set.
Still, you’re inconsolable. Screaming and crying and shaking. Nothing they do makes any difference. They just have to sit there and listen to you suffer. They try to hide their flinches at your noises of fear. It takes a while, but finally you settle and pass out.
Eventually, hours later, you find yourself in the exfil vehicle, laying in the back with your head on Kyle’s lap.
“Hey, pretty…how we feelin’?”
You still feel dizzy and slightly nauseous, and you sense you’re missing some time. Looking around, the walls are no longer warping and Kyle looks…normal. Not like he’ll become a scary monster at the drop of a hat.
“Wha—“ you try to get out, but your throat is incredibly sore.
“Johnny, water.” Kyle demands.
He sits you up and you’re able to drink some water and get your bearings, trying to ignore the concerned looks being not-so-subtly thrown your way.
Finally when you’re ready, “what happened?”
They all toss glances to one another, asking without words who will get the duty of explaining.
John speaks first, “some sort of…hallucinogenic gas, as far as we can figure. There was some in the air and you didn’t have your mask. You were…distressed, to say the least. Going on about stuff that wasn’t there.”
You think about the things you saw, flinching a little at the memory. You rub your head, “right…shit, did we destroy the compound?” Your head shoots up at the thought.
“It’s gone.” John assures. “We’re getting you medical ASAP. Don’t know the full effects.”
Normally you’d argue, spew some bull about being fine. But to tell the truth, you felt like shit. You just nodded and mumbled an “m’kay” before looking out the window. Which did nothing except concern them more.
John spent most of the ride looking in the rear view mirror to see you. Kyle ended up pulling you down to have your head on his lap again, while your legs went to Johnny’s lap. Kyle rubbed your head at one mention of a headache, whereas Johnny found comfort in caressing the exposed strip of your ankle. Simon reached back from the front seat to grab your hand, and all the assurance from them meant you were quick to find sleep.
You didn’t wake up again until you were in the base hospital, still surrounded by your boys.
