Page 38 of Exposing Adonis

“Chloe…” she said under her breath. She looked up at Alex, then Jason. “Please, bring her back.”

I saw him lean over the woman’s shoulder, and under his breath he whispered, “Between the two of us, they’re gonna be fine.”

“Are you ready to show me those American skills?” Alastair said with a friendly wink.

“Give me a long gun, and I’ll be at the door.”

Chapter 17

Callum

Thepopshotsweregetting closer, as the militants sprayed bullets carelessly into the air. It was a useless gesture, like the howl before a battle, trying to intimidate their enemy while also also hyping themselves up.

The KPLA had only done skirmishes with their likewise sparsely funded KNF. Overrunning the Baas medical camp was what constituted a victory for them. And they pounded their chests with a sense of confidence that they had not earned.

I grabbed the radio and went back into the school. I rounded up Leo and Chloe and barricaded the gates with anything that could move. Desks, old tires that were recycled into playground equipment, and a closet that had been filled with papers and books. Anything to block the metal gate. Then we did the same with the windows and doors on the ground floor.

Time was our friend. And we needed as much of it as possible.

From a second floor window, I looked through the murky glass. Chloe was on the floor, near the classroom’s door. Her knees were tucked up to her chin, and she shook in fear.

“We can take them,” Leo said, giving Chloe a wink.

She didn’t believe him, and tucked her head between her knees. Poor kid had been through a lot over the past few days.

Leo and I crouched, and peered through a window, staring at the men who were shooting their rifles in the air, and at the building, but with no particular aim.

“They’re trying to scare us out,” Leo said quietly, barely turning his face towards me. Maybe he was trying to spare Chloe from hearing.

Leo had an AK-47 that he had commandeered from the guard he exterminated. I had my rifle. I roughly counted how many bullets were in each magazine. We had enough, if we wereverycareful with our shots. We could get through this.

“We’ve got company,” Leo said, his eyes cutting towards me before looking back out the window.

From the opposite direction, I saw more vehicles and smoke.

“That’s not KPLA,” Leo said, squinting into the setting sun. “That’s KNF. See the armbands?”

He was right. The KPLA at the camp had black shirts and military pants. It’s what passed as a uniform. But the KNF opted for red armbands instead, to denote their fealty to a socialist ideal. Or because they liked the color red. It was hard to tell which sometimes.

“They’ve got reinforcements,” I said, low, stating the obvious as another cloud of distant dust came over the horizon. More approaching cars. But like Leo, I didn’t want Chloe to hear. I didn’t need her to be paralyzed by our diminishing odds of survival.

The glass over our heads crashed, splintering into a thousand pieces.

Leo looked at me, his brows knitted together, and he growled.

“Get her upstairs!” he said, and he popped up to take two shots from the window. Two men went down. “Get as many layers between her and them as possible.”

“No, what about you?” Chloe yelled over the chaos, her voice breaking in terror.

“Yeah, Leo,” I said, unable to keep the sarcasm from my voice. “What about you? Your sister is going to kill me if you get hurt.”

I popped up and got off one shot, and one person went down.Serves you right, arsehole.

“Really? We’re going to have this fight now?” Leo said, belligerently. “You’re that scared of Lea?”

“Lea?” Chloe asked. “Why are you so scared of her?”

“Because she’s scarier than either of us.” I told Chloe. Knowing explanations were needed, but not wanting to go over it. Not now. Frankly, not ever. “And I’m terrified of her.”

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