Fuck!
Everything, gone to hell in a hand basket! This would not end well.
"What is it?" She whispered.
There it was again.
"A damned flashlight." He murmured."What's closer Cassie, the woods or the ravine?"
She stared at him, it was shock.
"Cassie," his whisper cutting through to her at last. Face questioning, waiting.
"The ravine,...I think." She responded. He grabbed her by the hand running off in the direction she indicated the ravine to be. Helping her down once they reached it.
Everything he had worked for was going to be undone. The fifth wave had rolled out and they were crashing headlong into it.
"Evan?" She whispered, but he pressed his finger to his lips, shaking his head.
Four targets, range: closing in, conditions: not ideal. Possibility for collateral damage: high. He was going to blow any shred of trust they had built. Damnit! He had no choice, the soldiers needed to die, or they would. "They're coming this way. Stay down."
The first shot shattered the silence. The intended target went down. And as prey do when being hunted they scattered.
The flare dropped into the ravine burning the dark in a furious red blaze.
Grabbing Cassie bodily he heaved her up the other side of the ravine. Shouting for her to run. With his back turned he missed the small object that landed in the ravine.
With his attention focused on her, he missed the subtle cues. Cassie only had time to scream, "Grenade!" There was no time to take cover. The arrays protected his hearing and shut down the nerves, he registered the bright explosion of light. The shrapnel biting and tearing at his flesh.
A full second passed and then there was the sharp rapid fire burst of the M16 peppering the air above his head. Staccato bursts that punctuated the darkness with bright flashes.
Taking advantage of the gunfire cover he hoisted himself up over the would not be a match for his enhanced systems. All the gunfire did was give away their positions. Taking a wide arc he flanked them on the left.
There was a sharp crack from the rifle, and the first target went down. He reloaded.
The shots had redirected to his previous location. Quickly reloading he moved with inhuman speed yards away as the shots from the assault rifles peppered the ground where he previously stood. With a deep breath he exhaled, connecting.
Crack! Another body crumpled.
More gunfire, biting at the woods. The sound ricocheting. Bark splintering and spraying the air. The burst of another grenade in the complete wrong direction and silence. He reloaded as he changed positions.
The rifle ripped the silence again. In the distance a scream. Then silence.
There was no time to reload the gun when the fourth one came upon him suddenly. What exactly his assailant had in mind by drawing a knife, he couldn't have ventured to guess, but it didn't end well for the child soldier. The arterial spray mixed with the sweat and grime coating him in a hot sticky mess, steaming in the cold air.
At last the ringing stopped and the after a minute the normal sound of the woods returned.
He breathed evenly as he scanned his surroundings, he was sure she had run off after he had left the ravine. He crossed the clearing back to where he took the grenade, carefully sliding down and then finding a more gentle slope to get out on the other side.
Working his way back to where he'd tossed her out. Evan picked up the trail easily. Broken twigs, scattered underbrush, even a tree showed signs of damage where it looked as if she'd run head long into it. He walked slower but it was as if gravity itself was drawing him to her.
She wasn't an idiot, he smiled despite the severity of the situation. She had found the Luger, he let her draw the wrong conclusions. If she really thought about it, this was the only outcome...but she didn't want to believe. Maybe he didn't want her to believe. He moved slowly, silently prowling the woods, making his way back to his mayfly.
Finding her gun hadn't stopped her from letting him into her bed each night after plate incident. Why? Why did he have any reaction to her at all? Lauren would have never done something so idiotic. He bristled at the thought of her throwing her dinner and her plate at his head. And yet, as Cassie felt sorry for herself and in the self pity lashed out at him, he took it. It was a pittance to pay. A meager penance for what he had done. And it had ignited him.
The arrays brought forth the enhanced memory, her heart rate elevated, pupils dilated, lips swollen...she was fighting her physical reaction to him. Her body craved him even if her heart had yet to accept the thought.
"You're not the only one." The words had been ground out through gritted teeth. "You're not the only who's lost everything-not the only one who thinks they've found the one thing that makes any of this shit make sense."
Had this been said to Lauren the outcome would have been different, per story book or romantic sitcom. But with Cassiopeia, her eyes had narrowed and she withdrew however imperceptibly but the rejection was there and he couldn't understand it.
a/n: I've decided to go ahead and post this even though it's small and probably needs more revision work. I'm so sorry for all of you who are following this, the inspiration comes and goes. So my plan is to write this guerrilla style much like the direction of NaNoWriMo (for those of you who are familiar, if not the idea is you just write, no revision, nothing getting the thoughts out as quickly as possible) So this might become a whole bunch of snippets...that I'll combine. Thoughts? Good idea, bad idea? I have no idea? Thanks for your continued support.