Ito Ai: A New Dawn

Ai crouched down and moved two steps before stopping and whispering: "Mai do you remember all the hand signals?"

"Yes..." Mai replied, making sure to keep her voice low enough so that only Ai and her could hear it.

Ai nodded and made a few hand signals. Mia nodded back and slowly followed behind Ai. when they got four cars up they could hear the distinctive sound of metal on a hard surface coming from the front. Ai raised her gun trying to get an eye on it. She then made a few hand signs behind her back. Mai nodded her head and moved slowly and as quietly as possible around the backside of the car to their right. 

As Mai made her way to the far side of the car, she spotted the first type machina poking a corpse that was laying at the side of the road. She watched as it raised its front claw like leg and stabbed down into its skull, spilling the juices inside. Just seeing such a scene made Mai want to puke but she quickly pushed it back and slowly turned around and made a few hand signs to Ai. 

Ai nodded, made a few hand signs back, and quickly moved to the front of the car Mai was on. She fell to her stomach and used the wheel as cover and laid her machine gun out in front of her. Mai did the same, aiming at the first type machina from the back wheel. She also made sure to stay in Ai's line of sight. Just seeing the way Mai was moving and always staying in view, made Ai nod in approval. She had worked this into Mai during their training. It seemed to be paying off.

Ai also took this chance to look around to see if she could see any other machina nearby. She was afraid the gunshots would attract more. But they had no choice but to take it out quickly because even if a machina was not nearby, the one they were attacking could easily send out a signal to call for more. This was where Ai's and Mai's teamwork came in. Ai steadily aimed at the small antenna on top of its head. All she had to do was take that out and Mai could finish it off by riddling it with bullets. 

*Bang!*

Ai's shot was right on the mark the small antenna was blasted off its base, this was also a signal for Mai to finish it off which she did not hesitate to pull the trigger. Her aim was a bit unsteady at first but she quickly got control of the machine gun in her hands and finished off the first type machina. Ai signaled for Mai to stay where she was at as she pressed her ear against the ground. The hot tar burned her ear slightly but she ignored the pain and listened for any sounds of incoming machina. Hearing nothing she got up and wiped the sweat from her brow. 

"Not bad! Although you used more bullets than needed, and about twenty shots missed. This will get better over time. I give it seven out of ten for a rating." Ai judged Mai's performance, causing Mai to frown.

"Do you have to go into your demon training mode? I have never fired a machine gun before!" Mai said, pouting her bottom lip.

"Alright, alright, I give it a nine out of ten, taking into consideration that you never used this kind of weapon before." Ai said with a smile resting her gun on her shoulder. 

"Still a demon!" Mai said, sticking out her tongue. The two girls giggled as they sat down to rest for a moment. "Did we attract any more?"

"No, I didn't hear anything nor did I feel any vibrations. If there is one coming then it will come. For now, drink some water. We need to start searching these cars as well for supplies." Ai answered.

"Mmm… I was just about to ask about that." Mai paused and her gaze fell onto the burn on Ai's ear. "Ai your ear!"

"It's just a minor burn, nothing big. The tar is hot so it cooked it a bit while I was listening." Ai waved it off as if it was nothing. But Mai wouldn't leave it alone and quickly pulled out some ointment that she brought with her. 

"Stay still I will apply some. If it gets infected you will suffer even more." Mai said, while gently applying some ointment to Ai's ear.

Ai did feel much better feeling the cool cream touch the burn. She sat there obediently and allowed Mai to do her thing. Once Mai was done and had put everything away, Ai stood up and said: "Thanks… We should get going. We still have a lot of ground to cover."

"Mmm… I just wished it would rain. This weather is very hot." Mai wiped the sweat from her chin as she pulled the top of her shirt in and out trying to cool off.

"Luckily this area is not highly radioactive. But it is still enough to cause the area to be hotter than it normally would be." Ai said as she looked at the geiger counter.

This fact had slipped Mai's mind and quickly asked in a worried tone: "Will your burnt ear cause you to get radiation poisoning?"

"No, since it did not bleed. I wouldn't have done what I did if it would cause me to get sick. I of all people have no plans on dying anytime soon." Ai was not lying. She had already died once and she had no plans of going through that experience again.

***

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