Those Damn Batteries

A squad of Russians was patrolling a secondary road. The Americans had been pushed out of Seattle for a few months now and they were sure, after the tough fight they showed them, they were sure the Americans would not even dare make a counter-offensive. That said, having patrolled the secondary road for months now, the guards were at ease. They were in fact drunk. It looked as if they were dancing around and round in the middle of the street. One of the guards stopped center in the road.

"Haha! I'm king of the world!" He said in Russian. Suddenly, a UAZ-469 slammed him at full force.

"Thanks for the wheels. Commie bastards!" Mike said as he followed the road to the outskirts of Seattle to the suburbs.

The Russian that was slammed slowly stood up and saw their vehicle being stolen away at a distance. "Drunk bastard!" He said in Russian throwing his jug full of liquor. Suddenly, a HMMWV slammed at the drunk guy.

"Oorah, take that Commie bastard!" Antoine said as he slammed the drunk at full force.

"Nice one!" Connor said giving him a high five.

"Yeah. Could've done it better myself." Doug said also giving a high five.

Antoine used his right hand to high five them both while keeping his eyes on the road and using the other hand to maintain the wheel. They followed the road at full speed not caring if they see another commie because of their American-marked vehicle. Thankfully, there was not that much patrolling on the way and Antoine was able to hide their HMMWV every time a vehicle passed by. The journey took two more hours and Antoine could see already see the Seattle skyline with the Space Needle on the horizon. They have finally arrived.

Mike had parked his vehicle in a parking lot in the industrial complex. He could see some landmarks that were destroyed during the retreat. The local fast food chain beside the hospital, the grains silos, the electrical station, the bridge. All destroyed as ordered by Colonel Sawyer.

The industrial complex was beside a wide river as it also had dock inside the complex. The destruction of the bridge had a negative logistical effect on the Russians. Though they are capable of an amphibious landing, they could not send their tanks easily to cross. Months had passed by and it looked like this was still the case. Nevertheless, this side of the river was sufficiently guarded by the Russians with light armored vehicles and amphibious transports.

Mike got out of the vehicle and slowly head for some cover toward the trees. He slowly crept toward the docks with his rifle ready. He saw a few UAZs and some Russian soldiers pass by along the way. Luckily, the trees provided good cover. Also, the trees were near the place where Mike dropped his CD player. He was so close, he could hear it singing. And here I go again on my own… going down the only road I've ever known. Then, he saw it. To his dismay, a squad of Russians had already been using the CD player. He could hear it calling out for help. Help me.

"Nobody touches my CD player but me!" He started to open fire to the commies. The shots fatally wound the squad. The sound was heard in the surrounding place. Antoine's HMMWV was already at the industrial complex.

"That can't be good." Doug said.

Suddenly, Mike came out of the horizon. "Mike." Antoine said.

Mike, seeing his best bud and a couple of guys, was also happy to see them. "Antoine, look! I finally got it. My CD player."

Antoine then saw something attached to the CD player. "What's that thing?"

Mike then looked at his CD player and noticed something wired to the battery container. "Oh, this. It's a potato. The Russians must've used it to power my CD player. Is it me or this country hardly have any god damn batteries." He then detached the potato.

Out in the distance, they heard the commies closing in. They heard them mumbling in the distance but one word was clear. "American!" They were compromised.

"Hop in!"

Mike hopped in the vehicle and Antoine immediately sped through the freeway and back. "Who are you guys?"

"I'm Private Connor and this is Private Douglas."

"I remember you." Mike said and they both exchanged some laughs. All the laughs end abruptly as they heard an artillery shell blow out in the distance.

"The things I do for friendship." Antoine commented.

Doug got up to the machine gun mounted on top of the HMMWV and started shooting at the commies. "Take this Commie bastards!"

Antoine was riding the freeway as they were being chased but at least they were getting some speed. Everything was working well… until Antoine saw something on the distance. They were blockading the freeway.

"Damn it. They're gonna seal the freeway." Mike said. He opened the window and started shooting at them with his rifle. Connor followed suit. Doug then started shooting at the blockade. The blockade was then firing at them and it soon became a life and death struggle to get out alive. Mike then started using his grenade launcher mounted below his rifle. He put a grenade in and started to shoot it.

It worked. The blockade somewhat did not materialize and Antoine was able to find an opening. They continued to speed along the freeway. Then, they met something that they have not seen from the entire journey so far. This side of the river was filled with mostly light vehicles and infantry units, so they were surprised to see a T-80 tank smacked in the center of the freeway.

"Oh shit."

"Everybody get out now!"

They all jumped out of the HMMWV just in time. The tank fired a heat shell straight to their light vehicle which blew to kingdom come. Mike and Antoine hid behind the hull of a broken vehicle and started to open fire at the tank. Doug and Connor were in another car and started shooting at the incoming force.

"This is all your fault Mike! If you hadn't been too rash about your god damn CD player, we wouldn't be in this mess! I mean we could always just get a new one!" Antoine said as he and Mike threw several shots at the tank. The tank, being heavily armored, had no effect against bullets.

"Well, I didn't ask for you to come here with me!"

"But you're my friend Mike! And I can't just leave you out here!"

"Look, I'm sorry okay? I'm sorry I brought you guys in this mess." A shell suddenly hit somewhere near their position. They were heavily outnumbered. Doug and Connor continued firing at the incoming platoon.

"We hate to break your moment guys, but we got trouble here."

The T-80 soon fired another round. It still missed them, but by a small margin.

"Antoine?"

"Yeah Mike?"

"If this is the end. I just… I just wanna say…"

"On with it."

The T-80 tank suddenly exploded. Mike and Antoine wondered what had just happened. When the dust settled, they faces lit up. A UH-60 Blackhawk and two AH-1 Cobra helicopters had entered in the scene. The Cobras fired on the incoming platoon while the Blackhawk landed to the ground. When the four reached the entrance, they were shocked at who they saw.

"Lieutenant Parker?" Doug said in surprise. "How did you know we…?"

The pilot then answered for him. "The lieutenant here saw you guys leaving and knew that you guys were headed for trouble. So, he organized some chawks ready for you guys." They started to lift off and the Cobras started backing out. They were saved.

"So... they know?" Mike asked.

"Not at all. We just left about an hour ago. For all they know, we just scouted the outskirts of Pine Valley." The pilot said.

"Thanks sir." Mike shook Parker's hand.

"So Mike, you were about to tell me something." Antoine asked.

"Uh… yeah, maybe some other time."

"For all the trouble you put us through. We gotta hear from your CD player." Doug said.

"Yeah. Sadly, I don't got batteries."

"Well, not exactly." Antoine showed a pair of batteries from his hand.

"Holy shit! Thanks Antoine."

He smiled. "That's what friends do."

Mike then got the batteries and was about to insert it. He cleaned the potato stains and placed those god damn batteries in, but something was wrong.

"Uh… Antoine?"

"Yeah?"

"Wrong size."

Potato anyone?

THE END

Afterword

I hope you all enjoyed this fic. I know it's short but it was never intended to be long. Still, I think this fic was fun and action-packed. You see, if you have the game, Mike and Antoine never get to hear from that CD player until the last mission. That maybe a spoiler but I think it's pretty obvious. Look for more World in Conflict fics from me if I have the time. Hopefully, if the demand is good... or if I feel like it, I'll make another Mike and Antoine series.