Page 22 of Rising

Since I wasnota soldier, I decided that I didn’t need orders and continued sprinting in the direction of the gate. Soon stopping in my tracks and taking in the group of Pansies that had made their way inside. Riley’s friend Mohammed and another female soldier in the mouths of two of those disgusting creatures, the formers face in an O shape, as if forever frozen in a scream.

The Pansies skin was pale and pasty. Their eyes sunken into their heads and staring blankly into the abyss as if they were doing nothing but grabbing a few half-priced beers after a long week of work.

My heart pounded in my chest as some of the undead continued their approach, their moans getting louder, frenzied and more frequent at the promise of food. I pulled Wrath out from the harness at my back and took a step back to put some distance between myself and the enemy as possible. I forced myself to focus, losing track of who was who as people continued to run past on both sides.

Suddenly to my right, a Pansie lunged towards me, reaching out with its blood-stained hands. While Amaia at least tried to pretend there was still a person in there, I didn’t believe any of that shit. Man, woman, old lady, I never stopped long enough to see, simply because it didn’t matter to me.

These assholes had taken everything I ever loved. My whole family had lucked out only to meet their demise under the jaw of what was once another human being. I swung my katana with all my might, connecting with its head at the cusp of its neck, and sending it crashing towards the ground.

I looked up, taking in my surroundings. There were so many of them; I knew if I stood still any longer I’d be doomed, succumbing to their fierce bites. I scanned to find Seth, wanting to fight at his side where I could know without a doubt he was safe, but he was nowhere to be found. Likely providing orders to his troops and escorting those who could not fight to a safer location. A familiar yell came from somewhere not too far ahead on the path. My feet were moving before I even had to will them to.

My eyes widened at the gruesome scene before me. Two small children were tucked under a large man, creatures gnawing at his back and his shoulders. He screamed out again in pain as the one closest to me pulled back, removing a piece of his flesh.

I swung Wrath through the air, moving akin to wind in a relentless storm. One head, two heads, then the third. Pulling the two children from under my friend, I ordered them to run towards the center of The Compound, and not to stop until they were in their homes. Not for anyone or any sound. Kneeling on the ground, I moved Riley’s arm over my shoulder, bearing most of his weight as he commanded me to be his eyes as he removed his pistol and fired as I called out Pansies locations that remained in our way.

We’d almost made it to the safety of one of the entrances to The Pit when I felt cold fingers amongst my scalp. It gripped my hair tight enough to lunge me back, Riley’s head found a wrong angle on an uplifted stone on the path, rendering him useless as he lay knocked out cold and his weapon right out of my reach. Wrath unusable, pinned underneath the weight of both me and the undead.

The Pansie lowered closer towards me, mouth snapping and blood dripping from its mouth on my face. My eyesight went blurry again, daring to bring me into another vision, inevitably my final vision if I let it take hold at this very moment. Grunting, I braced myself. Pushing and shoving it away. Channeling every ounce of otherworldly magic I had in my body and putting it towards the tremendous effort of keeping what it was supposed to do away.

I fought hard, but I couldn’t fight forever and everything faded away.A beautiful blonde-haired woman, her face kind. Wolves, running wolves. Reina crying, Amaia struggling, exerting her energy, but struggling. Handcuffs.

My body shook. I heard a dog barking in the distance. “Moe, Moe, get up. Come on we have to move, get up!”

I came to and saw Amaia and Harley standing over me, Riley slumped against her as she tried to keep her balance in her weakened state. The guilt of having to add to it had me attempt to get to my feet. It would be a strain on my sister knowing taking on someone Riley’s size had been a struggle for me, let alone someone of her stature.

“Can you walk? They’re all dead, but the gates have been breached. We need to move.” She offered me her hand, and I took it, using it to leverage my body to a standing position.

I took in my surroundings. The Pansie, who’d been about to end my life, lay sprawled on the cobblestone path, a piece of the cobblestone missing, and found in the middle of its head, courtesy of Amaia’s powers. The girl could make anything into a weapon, and probably didn’t even get her nails dirty doing so.

Pain radiated down my left side, and I glanced down, taking in the large bite on my thigh. It’d heal easily enough, but it would be a pain in the ass to get through my day with it messed up.

Amaia’s eyes scanned my body, taking in my current state as they moved up and down. Ultimately, she decided we weren’t going far. She took on both Riley and my body weight, forcing me to loop around her other shoulder, ignoring every effort of a fight I put up. Adrenaline pumping, she practically dragged us both to her quarters not far from where we stood.

She’d pulled the couch in from her study to her bedroom, placing me on its cool surface while Riley, who was larger, took up her side of the bed. I caught her stealing glances in between stitching towards Jax’s side, double checking Riley hadn’t moved a bit too far to the right.

Riley’s head was cleaned first before she placed a tourniquet on his shoulder as it bled profusely. She took a double take of the salt she kept near the side of the bed and sprinkled some into his wound, then focused on the hole to my leg next. I had always teased her about her need to always add extra salt to things, but I guess it had come in handy.

“Why the fuck do you know this?” I screamed out in pain.

“Chopped off a small chunk of my finger cutting an onion once. Xavier dumped some to stop the bleeding. Never been a fan of the ER,” she recalled as she continued to work on us both in order of urgency for our injuries. I wasn’t even sure if she had noted the bruises of her own that she sported.

A bruise peeked out from under her crop top, making me almost positive she hid bruised ribs a few inches up as well. Her knee was gashed in, indicating she’d had an altercation or two before she reached me.

“Maia, we’re fine. Go clean yourself up,” I whispered. She ignored me once more, moving throughout her quarters in a robotic manner.

My eyelids felt heavy, and I dozed off. Waking to Seth and Reina entering, Seth hovered over me, placing a light kiss to my forehead. Though my eyes were still too heavy to open, I savored the feeling of the warmth it provided. Straining my ears, I listened to the report Seth gave as Reina’s footsteps moved away from Riley and towards me to see what she could heal.

I felt some of the pain lift away from my body, feeling as if feathers gently scraped against my skin and were being pulled by a delicate string, away and into the ether.

“How bad is it?” Amaia asked, this time taking on the role of a General, any remnants of family in her voice gone and distant. My chest hurt, knowing my friend was surely going to blame herself, and only herself, in the wake of Seth’s report.

“Ten dead. Six soldiers, four civilians. Three adults, one child.”

The room grew still, daring someone to exhale.

“Which of my soldiers have fallen, Lieutenant?”

Seth’s voice hallowed, any hint of emotion removed as if he were distancing himself at the thought of losing yet another soldier, another friend.

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