Chapter 9

I wiped my tears away.  I let Epps drag me out of the way from Megatron and the torn apart Jazz.  Epps looked at Lennox.  Lennox looked at me.  He touched my shoulder.  "Chick," he said.  "I know how much Jazz meant to you.  But you need to focus."

"I can't.  I can't..." I sobbed.  I grabbed his arm that was still on my shoulder.  I looked at the ground as my tears flew to the ground.

"Chick.  We need to fight Megatron.  Get ready," he said.  "Epps, help her."

Robert nodded.  He touched my shoulder and handed me his big gun.  "I know you're better with the big ones."

I tried to go for a smile, but it wouldn't come.  My hand gun was still in my pocket.  I had my team here.  They would help me through.

"What's going on?"  Lennox asked.

One of my teammates with binoculars answered him.  "Sir!  That tank thing's getting back up."

Lennox walked up beside him.  "Oh, these things just don't die," he said.

"You need to rip their heads off.  They're sort of like..."  I started, trying to get back to my normal self.

"Vampires...?"  Epps suggested.

"Yes!  Vampires!  They need their heads chopped off," I said.  "Thank you, Epps."

"Anytime, sis," he said.

Lennox looked back at us.  He looked above.  "Oh, we're so dead," he said.  "Let's move!"  He ran out towards the main street.  He turned left where Sam and Mikaela were.  "Sam!  Where's the Cube?"

I followed and I looked at Mikaela.  She stopped and glanced at me, doing a double take.  "Are you okay?"  She asked.

I shrugged.  "I..."  I started.  "Jazz..."

She looked at my face covered in dirt and stains.  She hugged me in her arms.  "I'm so sorry," she said.

I didn't say anything.  I just embraced the hug and listened to Lennox.

"There," Sam said, pointing to the back of the truck he was on.

"Okay," Lennox said.  He bypassed Sam and Mikaela.

Mikaela pulled away and helped Sam with Bumblebee again.

"Epps, get those Black Hawks here!"  Lennox yelled to his first lieutenant.  He stopped at the next alley beside us.  "That building."  He came running back and set his gun on the truck.  "Okay."

"What?"  Sam asked.  I leaned on the truck, waiting for my captain's orders.

"All right, I can't leave my guys back there, so here, take this flare," Lennox said, handing him a stick.  "Okay, there's a tall white building with statues on top.  Go to the roof, set the flare."

"No," Sam replied.

"Signal the chopper and set the flare," Lennox ordered.

"No, no.  I can't do this!"  Sam said.

"Listen to me!"  Lennox grabbed his sweater and pulled him down.  "You're a soldier now!  All right?  I need you to take this Cube.  Get it into military hands while we hold them off, or a lot of people are gonna die.  Chick will go with you," Lennox said.  "I'm trusting that she'll be safe with you and you'll be safe with her."

"Lennox..."  I said.

He turned to Mikaela.  "You got to go," he said.  "You got to go."

"No, I'm not leaving," Mikaela said hurriedly.

"You need to go," he repeated.  "Go."

"No, I'm not leaving," Mikaela said again.  "I'm not leaving till I get Bumblebee out of here, okay?"

Sam jumped down, holding the Cube and looked at me.  "You okay to do this?"

I nodded.  "Anything to avenge Jazz," I said.

Sam nodded.

Ironhide and Ratchet just appeared out of nowhere.

"Sam, we will protect you both," Ironhide said.

"Okay," Sam said, nodding.

I looked at Ratchet.  "What will come for Jazz?"  I asked.

"A life of peace, young one," Ratchet said.

Sam turned and started running.  I readied my gun in front of me.

"Sam!"  Mikaela called.  She jogged up to him as we stopped.

He looked at her in the eyes.

"No matter what happens, I'm really glad I got in that car with you," she said.

"Sam!"  Ironhide interjected.  "Get to the building!  Move!"

"Decepticons attack!"  I heard Megatron yell.

"Hit it!"  My teammate yelled.

"Sam, go," I said.  "Run!"  I pushed his shoulder and ran with a limp behind him.

He jumped over rocks and dodged cars and clumps of debris.  "Sam, move!"  I shouted.  "Don't stop!"

"Ah!"  Sam said, looking back and watching Ratchet shoot at a transformed helicopter.

I saw Ironhide in front of us.  "Watch out!"  He said, taking a bullet for us.

Sam and I just kept sprinting to that building.  We turned left and right, testing our agility and ability to watch what's in front of us.  Sam was running faster, but through this whole time, I've been building up endurance.

Sam ran through the middle of the street.  I followed him, not knowing where I was going.  I looked up for a building with statues on it.  I found one in the distance.

Ironhide and Ratchet ran behind us.  "Keep moving, Sam!"  Ironhide said.

"Don't stop!"  Ratchet added.

I looked up and saw a Decepticon.  I aimed my gun at it and shot while running.  "Go, Sam!"  I yelled.

Sam ran underneath it.  I ran around it and caught up to my brother.  "Hurry!"  I said.  We were almost at the building.

"Where's the entrance?"  Sam asked hurriedly.

"It's on the north side!"  Ironhide said.  "You're on the south side!"

"Go!"  I said to Sam.  We sprinted towards the entrance.  I looked up and a plane came flying towards us.

"Sam!"  I yelled.  The Decepticon transformed and landed hard on the ground, making cars flip and Sam and I fall to the ground.  We braced ourselves for cars to hit us.  "Starscream!"

Ironhide somersaulted into the fight.  Starscream shot at Ratchet while Ironhide stood up and shot back at Starscream.  I crouched beside Sam who was sitting beside a red car.  From behind us, we could hear constant shots being fired.

Ratchet and Ironhide had shot at Starscream, protecting us.  I held Sam's arm tightly, my gun flung somewhere else.

When Sam and I felt a crash behind us, we yelled.  Starscream had changed into a plane again and flew away.

"Sam, get to the building!"  Ironhide yelled.

Sam pulled me up and started running through the scream infested streets.  I bumped into people, trying to catch up with my faster brother.  I kept looking behind us, watching for decepticons.  I clicked the radio I had on my shoulder.

"Lennox!"  I shouted through the madness on the street.

"You're still alive, that's a good sign!"  Lennox said.  I heard a boom from their end of the radio.

"Yeah!  Where's the building?"  I asked.

"You're lost?!"  Lennox yelled.  "Find the building!"

"Come on, Chick!"  Sam shouted after me.

I picked up my pace.  "I see it!  Lennox, I'm without a weapon!"

"Your hand gun?"  Lennox asked.

"I'm not supposed to use--"

"Use it!"  Lennox shouted.  "Look...  If I lose you...  It will be on my hands.  I can't lose another one of my soldiers, got it?"

"Yes, Captain," I said.

"Get to it!"

"Ten four."  I dashed after Sam, pumping my arms and my legs faster.  My lungs burned.  I had no engery, but I needed to make it.

"Give me that Cube, boy!"  I heard a rusty old mechanical voice.

I looked behind us.  "Go, go, go!"  I shouted.  "Megatron!"  Heat built up inside me.  Megatron killed Jazz.  He ripped him in half.  I needed revenge.

Sam ran through the middle of the street getting hit by a car.  "Sam!"  I yelled.  I ran over to him and helped him stand up.  I heard electricity vibrating through the ground.  I looked up and saw a green Mountain Dew cage started shaking violently.

In an instant, it turned into a robot.  Something tells me it's not a good robot.  It started shooting at everything.

I pulled Sam along.  "The building's right there.  We have to get up to the top floor."

We ran through the gigantuan museum gates and into the building.  "Don't stop, Sam!"  I shouted.

"Let's go!"  Sam yelled.  "You're not gonna get us.  You're not gonna get us!"

I looked back when glass broke.  Megatron was here.  "Sam!"

Sam ran faster.  He knew my cry of fear.  He pulled me along with him.

Megatron groaned.  "I smell you, boy!  And you're not alone!"

We ran until we found stairs.  We ran up three at a time, trying our hardest to get to the top of the museum.

I heard Megatron's footsteps, sending me into fear mode.  I can't be scared.  I have to stay strong for Jazz.  Be brave.

We got up to the next floor and started running.  I felt the floor beneath me crack.  Megatron was pushing through the wooden floor.  I stepped down and the floor cracked.  I saw the ground fifty feet beneath me and then felt my head hit the concrete in a second.

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