Tales of Serenity Story 2

You know, there’s just something not quite right about a man who runs towards the gunfire, instead of away from it, like the sane individuals. Lucky for us, Alex was nowhere near sane. No, when bullets started flying, that boy grew wild in the eyes, and a grin flashed across his face. I’m not sure if it was that he didn’t fear death, so much as he knew he was better than them. After all, what would anybody expect from the son of Jayne Cobb?

Clutching Vera in his arms, Alex sprinted forward and slid down behind the metal crate, bullets ricocheting of the front of it, creating small sparks as metal collided with metal at near supersonic velocity. Poking his head up quickly, he assessed the situation and ducked back down as the closest Fed opened up on his position with automatic fire. Counting to three, Alex leaned out from the side of the crate and opened fire. He was able to get off a few shots, one of which he was sure caught the fed in the chest, before the other Feds, further down the hallway, opened up on him again. As the gunfire died down, Alex began to laugh, loudly. The Feds glanced at each other, wondering just what in the hell was so funny. Alex decided to let them in on what he found so hilarious.

“Dad was right; you can never go wrong if you bring grenades.”

Not giving the Feds a chance to digest what he had just shouted, Alex dropped Vera into his lap and tossed two grenades down the hallway. As the grenades left his hands, Vera seemed to appear in them, as if she had been there the whole time. He began to count as he moved. One, Alex rounded the edge of the crate and with a small leap and roll, landed behind the crate that served as his first kill’s cover. Two, He landed on his knees, and fired as he slid behind cover. He didn’t hit anything, but the fire served its purpose and kept the Feds down behind their cover. Three, The Grenades landed and bounced once, One landing in front of their cover, the other barely clearing the top of their crates. Sticking his head up, Alex had meant to fire again, keep them down, and keep them from throwing his presents back. Of course, Alex also thought he had two more seconds. The Feds never had time to register what happened. To them, all they heard was two clinks, metal on metal, and then their world disintegrated into a hellish inferno of fire and force. Alex, having picked the wrong grenades and stuck his head up as they exploded, was slammed backwards, his head bouncing off the plexisteel hallway floor.

“Gorram Alex! I said no AIYA grenades!”

Alex shook his head and rolled over to look down the hallway at his Uncle Mal. The smile on his face showed Malcolm Reynolds everything he needed to see.

Dear God thought Malcolm, its Malcolm. I know we don’t talk much, but if it comes down to it, I ask your forgiveness before I shoot this boy. Glancing up, Malcolm swore heavily as the Feds wheeled a mobile turret into a firing position down the hallway. Alex had also apparently noticed what was going on, for he had rolled onto his stomach, grabbed Vera, got up, and was sprinting back towards his Captain. Malcolm raised himself to one knee and fired off a few rounds to give Alex covering fire. Spinning around, Malcolm looked over to see if Alex was ok, instead all he saw was Alex’s body shoot past him, back towards Serenity.

“Uhhh, Alex? WHERE ARE YOU GOING?”

Alex’s voice drifted back to Malcolm, and let it be said now, Captain Malcolm Reynolds was not easily scarred, but if his sharp intake of breath had been any indication of what he was feeling, one could easily say, he was scarred shitless.

“I’ll be right back Uncle Mal, just gotta get Dad’s hat.”