Chapter 10
The War
Enjolras trembled, full of grief, and completely perplexed at what had suddenly happened to Eponine, Marius, Gavroche and Cosette.
As the cannons were set into place, they began acting like barriers against the cold wind that was slowly rolling in, the feeling of isolation slowly becoming apparent. It became even more evident the townspeople around Musain had barricaded their doors and windows, making him realize that if the barricade were to be destroyed, they had nowhere to run. Stuck like rats in their cages…
Combeferre exchanged a glance with Joly and Enjolras quickly, Joly looking as if he were about to throw up and Enjolras taking a few deep breaths. All the rest, Courfeyrac, Grantaire, Feuilly, Jean Prouvaire, Bahorel, and Legles, began to pray silently to make it out of the battle alive and well.
Before the enemy could begin their attack, Enjolras had gathered all of his much needed courage, and yelled:
"FIRE!"
Soon, the barricade had transformed itself into a horrendous battle field. Four of the guards had died, thanks to Courfeyrac, Combeferre, and Enjolras. That was more than Enjolras had anticipated, but a few of les amis were severely injured after the guards had brutally fought back, and the barricade had been penetrated. Jean Valjean immediately began to care for them, lifting them gently and frantically placing them in different areas inside Musain to heal. All he could think of was where his Cosette was, and that if she was alright.
"EPONINE!" Enjolras called out suddenly, rattled by the sudden realization that she still hadn't returned.
He quickly dropped to the floor and began to crawl towards the alleyway behind Musain, hoping to blend out of sight in the chaos around him. Suddenly, she caught his eye. Marius was cradling Eponine as they wept into each other's arms, Cosette lying beneath them. What had happened to her? Her beautiful blonde hair was sprawled out and tainted with blood and dirt, her sapphire eyes shut, her body completely limp.
"What happened!?" He cried suddenly, getting on his feet and running frantically to the three.
"Enjolras!" Eponine grabbed his hand quickly as he kneeled beside them, terrified at the thought of what had happened to Cosette. Was she - dead?
"She saved Gavroche…" Marius began, his eyes tired and red from crying. He did not look at her body now, refusing to admit that she was gone.
"I'm so sorry," Enjolras nodded, refusing to cry himself. His first love besides Patria, or so he had thought, was never to return. She had left in the most selfless way possible, saving the life of a child – she truly was an angel. If Enjolras, Marius, and Eponine knew her at all, they would know that she was completely satisfied with what she had done up in heaven.
Their thoughts were shaken suddenly by the sound of another cannonade, brutally breaking through the barricade, as they covered their heads and crouched down lower, screaming, digging their nails into the ground.
As soon as she sensed it was over, Eponine was the first to crack out of her sadness, grabbing Marius' gun out of his hand violently and frantically running to the barricade, instantly killing the guard who had shot the canon. The only feeling that lingered in her heart was raw anger.
Enjolras had quickly caught up with her, trying to drag her back to safety – but she kept fighting. Eponine alone had killed three people so far, and she continued to prime and reload her gun, aiming at any and every guard in her path. When Enjolras turned to summon Marius for help, he was gone.
"EPONINE!" He screamed, suddenly crouching as a bullet flew quickly over his head, piercing the wall behind them, "Marius is gone!" He cried, hoping to catch her attention somehow.
There were now only six guards left at this point. Suddenly, Marius appeared in the distance, his silhouette slouching, dragging his feet across the blood tainted floors in front of Musain. Staggering over the battered furniture, Marius stood motionless and completely out of character on the top of the barricade. What was he doing?
"MARIUS!" Enjolras shouted, before a guard could shoot him – but his warning came too late. A guard had spotted Marius, standing vulnerably in plain sight, and was preparing himself too shoot.
"Marius…" Eponine murmured as she finished shooting another guard who was ready to load the canons. Moving as quickly as she could, she ran towards him, falling quickly once and scraping her knees gruesomely.
Marius shut his eyes, anticipating the bullet he would soon take.
With Eponine in love with Enjolras, his grandfather loathing his existence and all he fought for, and Cosette gone forever – what did he have to live for? He should have done this earlier – save himself the pain that kept coming ruthlessly. He had heard the bullet sounding as it was shot, hurling towards him at top speed – but the pain did not come and his body did not take on any impact. Instead, he heard a blood curdling scream, piercing through the air, catching attention.
He opened his eyes, astonished to find Eponine standing with her right arm extended out before her, blood covering her arm and tears filling her wide eyes.
"EPONINE!" Enjolras screamed as Marius began to take in the events that had happened too quickly, sinking to the ground.
Quickly catching the attention of Valjean, Eponine was soon carried frantically and extremely carefully into Musain, where Joly, Jean Prouvaire, and Legles lay.
"What happened?" Valjean asked calmly, trying not to upset the children any further.
"I – I jumped in the way to save Marius." Eponine stuttered as Enjolras held onto her good hand gently.
"Did it hit your body?"
"Only went through my hand…" She smiled painfully, trying extremely hard to stifle her tears.
Without any thought, without so much as a word, she had jumped in the way to save Marius. Before, she would have assumed that they were all to die anyways, and that her life was worth no more or no less than any other at the barricade. They would all be gone soon. Now, she could see a light shining through the bleak darkness that have overtaken the barricade and all their hopes and dreams. She was still alive, so were many of the others, but the guards were dropping like flies. Perhaps, if they prayed hard enough, they would win this war.
"Marius, what were you thinking?" Valjean scorned, cleaning Eponine's wounds and realizing that it could not be bound and that she needed a hospital urgently.
The flaps of her skin flung open and her bones were ripped apart, leaving a gaping hole in the centre of her hand. Enjolras quickly shot Marius a warning glance and watched as he kept his mouth shut, apologizing but not mentioning a word of the truth. When would it be time to tell Cosette's father that she had passed?
"Enjolras, watch over her." Jean commanded, knowing that his injuries were also hindering his abilities to fight. He grabbed Enjolras' gun, moving outside to fight.
"Monsieur," Marius exclaimed suddenly, "be careful."
He nodded and moved outside, the sudden smell or acrid smoke burning his throat.
The scene looked worse than he could have imagined, blood splattered against walls and faces, the barricade was broken and battered, splinters flying across the ground, and the corpses of fourteen guards lay on the stone streets in front of Musain and the barricade. Not a single member of the barricade had died – not one, Valjean thought, as he shot his gun to kill the fourth guards, leaving three behind. He could not see them now, and after sharing a quick glance with Combeferre and Courfeyrac – decided to head into the café, just in case they would attack on the inside. The sudden moment of silence had left the remaining members of les amis to ponder over the sudden moment, fighting bitter tears away.
In the café, Enjolras gripped Eponine's good hand tightly, trying to keep her awake. The sudden silence terrified him, and he took it as a cue to hide his injured friends.
After hiding most of them in a few closets nearby, most of them with their doors only keeping shut with a few rusty hinges, he squeezed himself in quickly with Eponine. The blood kept pouring out of her hand, and she was beginning to feel extremely lightheaded, holding onto Enjolras with dear life.
"You didn't have to come in here; I know it's disgusting…" She muttered, staring at her hand in absolute awe.
"I kept a promise to that man, and to you." He looked into her eyes in the darkness and smiled, "I love you." He sighed awkwardly, hoping to get his feelings out in case they wouldn't make it out alive.
"I love you too." She kissed his lips, and yelped in pain suddenly as the pain in her hand began to worsen.
Enjolras quickly covered her mouth and prayed silently that the guards had not heard. There was no sound however, not a breath or sigh other than their own.
"Stay still. Be quite." He told Eponine as he grabbed her gun and levered himself out of the closet and into the café.
Heavy footsteps were audible from his position, and he realized that somebody was upstairs as the dust fell from above him. He quickly ran to the top floor, not making any sound, and listened to the scene unfold. From what he could tell, Valjean was alone with a guard ready to shoot, his gun empty, his eyes tired. He had given up.
Enjolras aimed at the guard and shot his gun, but he had run out of ammo.
Looking around for a sign, a single glimpse of hope, he found himself staring helplessly at Cosette's father as he struggled to admit that it might be the end of his life. His solemn eyes kept looking above, as if for some prayer to help him survive.
A hand suddenly found Enjolras' shoulder and he turned ready to attack when he realized it was Marius, his hair matted with blood that had spread to his tired face. He handed Enjolras an opaque white gun, with silver embellishments – obviously belonging to one of the guards.
Without a second thought, Enjolras primed and reloaded the gun, shooting it angrily at the guards head. It missed, only catching the guard's attention.
As he moved furiously towards the two, who were on the verge of tears and anxiety, he dropped to the floor, a pair of scissors in his back. As he fell, Valjean leaned against the wall in relief, and Gavroche was revealed behind the guard, his right arm still extended and trembling from the idea of what he had just done. He shook the thought free and looked at Enjolras with a certain maturity that he had never seen before. The boy had suddenly aged ten years.
"She saved my life. I save his." He mentioned calmly, looking back at Cosette's father as he nodded thankfully at the boy.
However, the words he had uttered confused Valjean, and he looked at Marius for an answer. "Who saved his life?" He asked, "What does it have to do with me?"
Marius looked away bitterly, shedding a tear as Enjolras bit his tongue, looking ahead without any acknowledgement to the situation, too stunned by the events that had taken place.
"ENJOLRAS!" Grantaire yelled from downstairs, his voice drained of all energy and emotion, accompanied by the voices of the others in union.
"They're all dead." He muttered, suddenly bringing both Marius and Enjolras back to Earth. They had won the war.