Suicide SKWAD

Chapter 6: Highway to Hell

The entirety of Task Force X had been loaded into a massive military helicopter fitted with machine guns and armor. A second nearly identical helicopter flew beside them, following as if it were a bodyguard. They were both headed towards the stormy heart of mostly destroyed Midway City. The attack had begun only a few short hours ago, but there were already tanks rolling through the smoky streets.  This was a much larger military operation than your standard terrorist attack- this was something else. But despite the gravity of the world outside, there were still jokes being made inside that helicopter. 

Aura could feel the weight of everyone's fear and sadness on her chest. Everyone wanted to act tough, but their concern was evident to an empath like her. So she decided to lighten the mood."So tell me, Colonel, if you're military, and you're in charge of us, doesn't that make us military?"  She was leaning back in her seat, with her legs sprawled apart. Her sniper case sat securely between her feet. Her gaze was resting on Flag, who was sat across from her and to her left. 

"No." Flag didn't even want to indulge Aura by answering her, but ignoring her would do no good. "You're prisoners."

"What about government employees?" Boomerang joined in the questioning, his lips turning up slightly."You are the government, and we are doing a job for you." 

"You are not government employees," Flag said as he sighed. 

"Ya know, I think they're right." Harley smiled at the Colonel. "We can't be prisoners if we're not in prison."

Flag shook his head, not amused by the antics of his crew. "Remember what I said about irritating me."

"Oh, come on." Aura wasn't about to let Flag ruin their fun. "Lighten up, Colonel. I get that you're worried, and you don't want to be around us, but... Smile a little. It's good to grin in the face of tragedy. I mean, shit, I'm laughing and a rapist I've been trying to kill for years is three feet away from me. Sometimes you just gotta let go."

Slipknot peered around Croc, sneering at Aura. "Keep me out of your mouth, Bitch."

"I thought we agreed you wouldn't talk to each other." Deadshot looked down the row to Aura and Slipknot, "Save the anger for the fight."

"Aye, as much as I love the banter" Boomerang interrupted the conversation to point a finger towards Croc, "I don't think ya boy Croc is supposed to be turning green like that."

Aura was quick to pick up her rifle bag and lift her feet off the ground. She was just in time, as less than a second later Croc had hunched over and expelled the contents of his stomach onto the floor of the aircraft. He spent a few moments heaving as chunks of partially digested pig organs splattered over the ground. It wasn't a pretty sight, and it didn't smell pleasant either. 

"Gross! Party foul!" Harley shook her head in disgust and pinched her nose to prevent the scent from entering. "Not cool."

Aura placed a comforting hand on the still bent-over Croc's back. "He has problems with motion sickness." She mouthed her words to the rest of the group, not wanting to draw more attention to Croc. 

"I can tell." Diablo broke his silence for the first time since they'd boarded the helicopter. "It's cool, esè. Happens to everyone."

Croc raised his head for a moment and gave a nod to Diablo. "Thanks." 

The atmosphere in the copter had dropped again as it neared its destination. The creases in Flag's face seemed to deepen with each passing second, while the hearts of Task Force X grew heavier. Except for Harley, she was enjoying staring out the window at the isolated glowing storm in the distance. 

"Look at that! Are you guys seeing this?" Harley turned her head to the side, a look of pure joy covering her face. "It's so pretty!"

"What's going on out there?" Deadshot inquired, his eyes on Flag. 

"Standard terror attack. Dirty bombs, bad guys with AKs shooting up the place. Pretty usual shit." Flag gave a half-hearted answer. "Nothing we haven't seen before."

Aura snickered, unable to completely quell her laughter. "I'm sorry, but you can't tell me that the giant mass of pure energy back there is standard."

Boomerang jabbed an elbow over into Aura's side, "Do you want answers or not?"

"Ow..." Aura shot Boomerang the dirtiest look she could muster.

"No, she's right. Flag isn't a very good liar." Deadshot didn't let the others distract him too much; he had some things to say before everything went to hell. "I don't know if they told you this, Colonel, but I'm a hit man. I don't save people."

Flag gave a knowing nod, "Anything for a dollar, right Lawton?"

"You know the dark places too, don't act like you don't." Deadshot didn't allow himself to be ridiculed, especially not by somebody with their own dark demons. "You have to to be this far in this shit."

"I'm a soldier. You're a glorified serial killer who accepts debit and credit." It was clear some nerve in Flag had been struck. "When the shooting starts, and it will, you'll cut and run."

During the argument that was occurring, Harley took the opportunity to slide the little rectangular cell phone out of her sleeve. She had one new message, one single line of text from her beloved Joker: Coming soon, be patient

No one seemed to notice Harley's phone, as they simply kept shooting back and forth. "You act like you know a lot about us, but you don't. We ain't no cowards." Diablo shook his head, a little hurt by Flag's comments. He knew they weren't just aimed at Deadshot. 

"You murdered your family, that's all I need to know." Flag shrugged, leaning back into his seat. 

"That was an accident," Diablo had his hands clenched into fists, and he could feel a spark inside his body growing. "And I turned myself in the same night. I know I did wrong, I admit it. We all do." He released the tension in his arms, a few small sparks shooting from his fingertips. 

Before Flag could get out a rebuttal, the entire helicopter was filled with the loud, metallic sound of bullets hitting a hard surface. Gunfire came through the front of the craft, and it lurched forward. The side of the copter scraped against a crane, sending it into a tailspin straight for Earth. Everyone was grabbing onto whatever their hands could find: bags, weapons, and the people seated next to them. When the helicopter finally made contact with the concrete, it didn't stop; it rolled onward, sending its occupants spinning like wheels within.

The second helicopter came in for a landing close to the wrecked one, a team of soldiers rushing out to inspect the wreckage. Fortunately, it appeared everyone except the pilots had survived the crash. Flag and his ragtag team of misfits each emerged from the cloud of dust and smoke surrounding the scene. "We're all right."