Okay, some info so you don't get confused… I am giving Commander Taylor a second kid in this story, a younger daughter. I'm going to change some things to make this stuff fit better. Lucas will not have his calculations fixed by the 11th, instead it will be the 12th. My story is going to begin before the finale, when they are still looking for the mole. I'm hoping to possibly still have some Lucas/Skye stuff but there won't be a Josh/Skye for sure, and no Josh/Kara, lol Kara does not exist here. There will be some Reynon too and possibly some Taylor/Wash because yeah, she's alive still LOL :D I haven't written fanfics in a while so bear with me pleasee
Blood. Screams. People running. Children crying for their parents. Men shouting in foreign words. Soldiers fighting, soldiers falling. Everywhere.
It was obvious that the rebels were winning. The American soldiers were losing hope as they watched more of their comrades die, some even running home to protect their own families.
A young, dark-haired woman came running towards one the base's main buildings. Behind her ran a teenage boy carrying a little girl. Fear covered their faces as they watched the horror unfold around them.
"Nathaniel!" she yelled. "Nathaniel, where are you?"
A man came bounding down the stairs of the building, towards the open doorway to meet up with the woman.
"Ayani? What the hell are you doing out here?" the man said, frustrated. He motioned for them to come inside then quickly shut the door.
"Nathaniel, what's going on?" she asked frantically.
"The rebels, they're trying to take the city…they are not happy that we are here…c'mon it's not safe right here…" Nathaniel lead his family to a back room.
"Lucas, that box next to you…open it and get out any weapons you can find," he said to the boy. Lucas put his little sister on the ground and turned to the grey toolbox. Kneeling in front of it, he opened it quickly, hands shaking. Pulling out two small hand guns, his eyebrows furrowed.
"How are these supposed to do anything?" Lucas's voice shook, a mixture of anger and fear.
Nathaniel looked up, seeing the guns he cursed quietly. "Is that all that's in there?"
Lucas nodded then handed one to his father.
Trying to take even breaths, Nathaniel rubbed his brow and shut his eyes. He had to stay calm, he needed his family to stay calm.
"Lucas, do you remember how to use that?" he nodded at the second gun in his son's hand.
"Yeah, it's not too hard…"
"What are you planning to have him do exactly?" his wife gasped. She did not want her 14-year-old son to use any sort of weapon.
"It's just in case," he reassured her. "Lucas, go sit by your mother, keep low, okay? Do not stand up. Do you understand?"
The frightened family nodded.
Nathaniel took a seat next to his wife, tried to give her a reassuring smile. It was hard to be convincing when all they could here was gunshots and screams.
The little girl, who had been silently sitting beside her mother, crawled towards Nathaniel. Her dark wavy, brown hair was horribly tangled from running through all of the wind outside.
She squeezed between her parents, facing her father.
"Emma, please sit still." Trying to distract herself, Ayani had begun her own little mission to undo the knots in her child's messy hair.
She winced but did not complain, as if she understood not to make the situation any worse than it already was. She only watched her father's face.
"Daddy…" Emma whispered.
Nathaniel looked down at her, seeing her brown eyes deep with fear.
"Come here, Peanut," he said, using a nickname he tended to use for small children. He pulled her onto his lap and held her close. "you're going to be okay, I will not let anyone hurt you." Emma looked up at him and gave him her most adorable crooked smile. He laughed quietly and hugged her.
Cradling Emma with one arm, he held Ayani's hand with the other. Lucas's fear allowed him to hold his mother's hand for comfort as well. He felt childish, but less afraid.
As if on que, bullets were suddenly flying over their heads. Through the walls and the windows. The rebels were shooting right through the building, hoping to hit as many people as they could, and render the rest helpless.
Nathaniel threw his arm over Ayani, trying to reach his son as well.
"Stay down!" he shouted.
Eyes squeezed shut, Emma clung to her father, to terrified to make a single sound.
When the shooting ceased, the rebels poured into the building in search of any survivors. Nathaniel felt himself being yanked up off the ground, then his daughter being ripped from his arms.
He heard his family yelling for him as they were also grabbed. He could see them being dragged out of the room, and soon the men holding him followed.
"Let my family go!" he shouted, fighting to get free. "I will kill you! Don't you dare hurt them!"
As they were taken outside, Nathaniel was shocked and horrified to see most of his soldiers and their families lined up in the town square. Many of them wounded, blood covering everything.
The men shoved them into the line. Emma clung to Lucas's leg, almost hiding behind him.
"What's going on? What are they going to do to us?" Ayani whispered to Nathaniel.
"I don't know…" He eyed what looked like a firing squad.
Wiping the sweat from his brow then taking a deep breath, he stepped out of line.
"I want to speak to whoever is in charge."
One of the rebels marched over and pointed his gun at Nathaniel's face.
"Step. Back. In. Line. Now."
Not even flinching, he repeated himself. "I want to speak to whoever is in charge."
*Click!* The man turned the gun's safety off and arched his eyebrows.
"Put your gun down, He only wishes to speak to me." A taller man walked over. The rebel quickly backed away.
"What do you want from us? The city? Take it. Do you want to kill me? Do it. But leave my people and their families alone. They are innocent."
"And why are you so important that we would care to take your life in exchange for all of these hostages?"
Nathaniel took a long look at his soldiers, his men. He was responsible for them. "Because they are my soldiers. This is my base. I am in charge."
The rebel leader chuckled. "You were charge. Now I am." He looked down at a list of names in his hands. "So you must be Commander Nathaniel Taylor?"
Nathaniel nodded.
"And this must be your family?" the leader eyed Ayani, Lucas, and Emma behind Nathaniel.
"Yes."
"Beautiful family," the man grinned mischievously before continuing. "Well back to what we want, Commander Taylor. We already have the city, and killing you alone, well that would do nothing. No…I have a better idea. Call your soldiers forward."
"What?"
"Call your soldiers forward." His voice had grown low, almost dangerous.
Nathaniel gave the order for his man to step out of line as well then looked back to the rebel for further instruction.
"You may all pick one."
"Pick…?" Nathaniel's face grew confused.
"One person." The man raised his voice so all of the soldiers could hear. "Each soldier may pick one person to…keep. The rest will…die." The rebel said, then turned back to the Commander, who's face had gone pale. "That, is what we want," he said, smirking. Then he turned and walked towards the firing squad.
Nathaniel turned to his family with a dazed look. Ayani glared at him as if to say, 'don't you dare pick me.'
Lucas picked up his little sister and held her close. He knew it was between him and Emma. His mother would never let him pick her.
"Dad…" he began, "you have to pick Emma."
The little girl clung to her brother, burying her face in his neck as tears began to roll down her cheeks.
Along the line, soldiers were backing away with the person they had picked. A few were lucky enough to only have one to start out with, or no family with them at all.
All of a sudden, the leader ordered them to halt. There was a "change in plans."
The soldiers turned, standing in front of their loved ones as if to shield them. All of them afraid that he had decided to simply kill them all.
He approached Nathaniel.
"The children…we're keeping them."
"What?" Nathaniel stuttered.
"The children, six and under. You see, we need some of you to die, to teach you a lesson for trying to take over our country," the leader spat. "And we need some good leverage…I believe it is called a prisoner exchange. When we get our people back, the children will be returned."
Nathaniel felt sick to his stomach. Emma was five, just making the cut to become a hostage.
"Relax, Commander. This should make it easier to decide."
He signaled to his men to grab the few children who were young enough. When one of the rebels tore Emma from Lucas's arms, Nathaniel lost it.
"LET HER GO!" he demanded. Remembering the gun tucked behind him, he whipped it out.
"Be careful, you might…miss," the rebel joked, daring to use his daughter as a shield.
Only focusing on his crying child, he failed to hear two more rebels come up from behind. They knocked the gun out of his hand and tackled him to the ground, pinning his arms behind his back.
Continuing to struggle, Nathaniel watched as Emma was carried away. Ayani was sobbing and Lucas was ready to also fight back, but another rebel held him back.
"DADDY!" Emma was shrieking. She kicked wildly, tears blinding her vision.
"Emma!" he yelled back, fighting harder.
*Click!* Nathaniel's head snapped up. The leader had pointed his gun at Lucas. "Commander, you are not helping. Now pick your person, or I will kill them all."
Nathaniel glanced at the other families who had also just seen their youngest child be taken. Many were also being held back.
He nodded. They aren't going to kill her, he told himself. The US government, they'd get them back. Not doing anything would make them look bad.
His mind felt foggy. The children's cries had ceased, or maybe they could just no longer be heard from inside the building in which they had been taken. Gunshots were heard down the line as the firing squad took their first victims.
He looked at his wife. She closed her eyes trying to fight the tears back. She nodded at her husband, telling him it was okay to choose.
"I love you." she mouthed.
He closed his eyes tight, wishing for this all to be just a dream. He re-opened them and looked at Ayani, eyes sad.
"Well, who do you pick?" said the rebel.
Eyes not leaving his wife, who stood strong, he took a deep breath.
"Lucas."