Hey guys, Darkest here for anybody who is still reading. I haven't updated this in like two years, I started writing this in seventh grade and now I'm a freshman with a bit of free time between school, friends, and JROTC so I figured I would try to write more despite the plot holes and such. So here it is…..

Chapter Six: "And they say lightning never strikes twice"

Two figures emerged from the smoke and prevailing ash that longed to block my sight of the two approaching shapes the identity of which I was uncertain to say the least. I struggled to move feeling my lungs burn like the fires of hell I tried to pull the rocket fin from my chest only to cut my palms on the cold steel. I looked up and the figures had advanced to a mere 3 paces away, I recognized the beaten shape of your father and the frail frame of the girl we kidnapped limping alongside him as he held her not only to steady himself but to keep her from attempting to flee. John noticed me and painfully lowered himself to my writhing form reaching out a trembling hand which I grabbed without protest and we both tried to get me back on my feet. After a short pause in which I gathered myself and assessed my wounds John coughed up blood and said "We gotta move if we wanna get outa here Clay" I gave him a curt nod and took his lead but before going far I found my crossbow in shatters the sling snapped on impact and the rest is history. I gathered my composure upon seeing this and kept moving feeling for my sidearm which was tucked neatly away in its respective holster along with its sister weapon one on each hip. Mustang and Sally I called them, two specially made Scholfield single action 45. revolvers. They were a gift from John for my 21st first birthday, that and a six-pack of Coors. I didn't have much in life but John I could count on for anything, so we trudged along for what seemed like hours until we arrived on the top of a steep hill that ascended from the side of the lonely highway we were so harshly laid out on. I noticed the smoldering wreckage of the chopper which I shot earlier "Oh yeah, I nailed the pilot just before I went flying" I thought to myself allowing a hint of a smile to crawl onto my bruised and battered features. Without pause the three of us trudged on the outline of our forms barely visible amongst the creeping darkness. Something I noticed though was that our prisoner was a completely white female with an unreadable nametag on her burnt and tattered lab coat, I shrugged my shoulders and kept moving me in back of the girl in the middle and John leading "Oh well" I thought. Little did we know we were being tracked…

We had walked all night until dawn and arrived at a shallow drainage ditch when the overwhelming sound of enemy armor blew up our ears. John's head swiveled my way and I knew what he wanted of me. Without hesitation I jumped into the ditch followed by John and our prisoner who has yet to say anything but a whimper in our presence. All three of us laid flat, as low as we could go hoping we wouldn't be noticed, I risked a peek and noticed the muffled sound of voices and armor heading our way from in between a crevice that I hardly noticed in the hilly terrain. I continued to watch until I saw the form of a T-80 tank heading in our direction and instinctively ducked my head below the edge of the ditch. It rumbled closer until the ground trembled and our prisoner squirmed only to be halted by the sound of voices overhead and my blade along her throat. The T-80 seemed to be heading our way and we all stayed still as death as it attempted to cross the ditch which was only a mere foot or two across, I peered upwards and saw the hull of it cresting the wall of the ditch and going over to the other side engulfing me in utter darkness, just the way I liked it. But then someone screamed "Halt" and I assumed the worst. "Please don't tell me they noticed us" I silently prayed. After the rumbling of the tanks treads ceased and all I could hear was the idling of the engine and the intake of the ventilation system. A sound that I did not expect erupted from my right flank towards the rear of the tank. "Goddamn dogs" I whispered to myself. They were barking loud enough that I knew they found our scent. Then the command was given for the tank to move forward and I knew it was over. As soon as the tank was clear and I saw the first shadow creeping towards me I readied my pistols and tensed up removing my knife from the prisoners throat knowing it to be to late for us. The second the first AK-47 barrel popped into my vision a sat up bringing me level with the boots of a soldier and lunged upwards grabbing the barrel of the weapon and pointing it away from myself as I cocked the Scholfield in my left hand, leveled it with the man's chest and fired. He lurched backwards in a death grip with his rifle causing it to go off in a burst of automatic fire and the force of him falling pulled me all the way to my feet where I selected my next target, the man behind him with a large dog on a chain. As I used the upward momentum I grabbed the other weapon from my right hip holster and trained its sights on the dog. Both of there lives extinguished in a fraction of a second as I fired simultaneously killing both dog and man in one fowl swoop. After the initial shock and a trickle of blood I saw man and dog crumple, taking this time to see John slice two more with his Katana, a signature weapon I seldom witnessed him use. His eyes and my eyes locking for a fraction of a second before we both glanced at the girl cowering in the ditch and looked up in time to see the barrel of the T-80 find its crosshairs on the parched ground between John and I. Getting blown up two times in one day, "Gimme a fucken break" I mentally screamed. Then it fired making my world go into slow motion as I saw the shell exit the barrel and hit the dirt exploding on impact sending me flying through the air I noticed red mist coming from the ditch area the shell blew the portion of the ditch that the girl was hiding in to dust vaporizing her in the process. "Poor girl" I thought as I hit the ground with a sickening crunch and a cold feeling fell over me, all went black.

Alright, to any still interested that is my short chapter I hope you guys enjoyed it, thanks for reading.

Darkest out…...