Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Lara and Sam.
Author's Note: Sorry for such a delay but I'm afraid there's gonna be another one! I'm back in hospital in the next couple of weeks and from then there will be less updates :( I'll try and update again before then but it doesn't look likely! Please stay patient and stay with the story, I really appreciate it! Enjoy!
At the sound of the first gunshot, Lara grabbed Sam and pulled her behind a nearby crate that was obviously there as a blockade.
"What the hell...?" she whispered, staring around at the flash of gunshots in an otherwise pitch black room.
"Call of Duty. Be thankful for the helmets," Sam murmured in Lara's ear.
Lara winced and this time it was Sam's turn to comfort Lara.
"Don't worry, I'm a pro at this game," Sam assured her.
"You're forgetting that we don't have a gun, Sam," Lara pointed out.
"You're forgetting I'm one of the highest ranks, so something as trivial as 'not having a gun' doesn't take anything away from my expertise, thank you very much."
Lara looked at Sam doubtfully as she failed to see how the absence of a gun was a trivial matter.
Sam sighed. "Do you trust me?"
Lara nodded shortly.
"Then don't worry," Sam answered, cupping Lara's cheek and kissing her lips.
Despite being drenched in blood from head to toe in a strange building with gunshots firing in all directions, Lara had rarely felt safer than she did at this moment. Lara was used to feeling independent, brave, heroic, desperate, determined and all those other things she was forced to feel when she risked her life to save others. But the subtleness of Sam's lips on her own, the passion passing from tongue to tongue and the heat of Sam's breath on Lara's upper lip took all of those daring needs away from her. Lara no longer felt that she had to stand up and protect everyone; she no longer felt responsible for the position they were in; she no longer felt the need to play the heroine. With Sam by her side giving a promise of safety, Lara knew she would be okay and that the mess they were in didn't come close to out weighing their love for each other. She felt secure. Protected. Content. A feeling she had only experienced twice before: once with her father and once with Roth. Neither of the previous occurrences neared the emotional strength Lara felt now for it was different with Sam. It was all she had ever needed.
"Are you ready to go?" Sam asked. She was conscious of the continuous pounding of bullets on the wooden crate they were sat behind; it was only a matter of time before the whole thing collapsed.
"I'm ready," replied Lara, not taking her eyes away from Sam's.
They shared another brief kiss before Sam stood up into a crouch. Lara followed suit at her rear.
"Over there," Sam pointed discretely. "There's a pile of sandbags. There's usually some kind of rapid fire weapon behind those."
Lara nodded in reply, assuming that was their next destination.
"After three. One. Two. Three."
Sam ran out from behind the crate, still half crouched, and made for the sandbags. Lara followed immediately, not daring to stop for a second. She heard a bullet soar millimetres from her ear, but didn't let it deter her from her path.
Once safely kneeled behind the curved sandbags, something occurred to Lara.
"Sam, I never asked, how's your arm?" Lara asked, suddenly remembering the bullet Sam took to the arm. It seemed so long ago.
Sam let out a short laugh. "It's funny how the pain goes away when your mind is elsewhere."
Lara was about to question this before realising a significant decrease in the pain in her wrist.
"I suppose you're right," Lara admitted.
"I always am," Sam replied nonchalantly.
Lara rolled her eyes and crawled round after Sam as they made their way along the sandbags. As they got closer to the centre, it became apparent that Sam was also right about the probability of a weapon sitting behind the sandbags. Hoisted upon a small podium was some kind of machine gun- it was too dark for Lara to see the details- which Sam didn't hesitate to position herself behind. Although the gun sat above the peak of the sandbag barricade, only Sam's helmet protruded above the gun, suggesting she would be safe should anyone shoot at her (which they inevitably would).
"Sam, shouldn't I do this? I have more experience with shooting guns," Lara pointed out, crouching below the sandbags as she heard gunshots nearby.
"Oh please," Sam muttered.
Lara scoffed. "Are you forgetting that I am the one who saved you on Yamatai?"
"I'm not forgetting anything, Lara. But I play Call of Duty almost every day. So sit back, Sweetie and let me take care of this."
Lara rolled her eyes but let Sam get on with it.
As soon as Sam's finger set over the trigger, two floodlights lit up the pathway in front of them and five soldiers marched towards them in arrowhead configuration. Each looked identical and carried the same gun, all of which pointed at Sam and Lara. They all wore blue futuristic helmets which covered their faces, but the rest of their dress consisted of standard army khaki. Their marching was polished to a robotic degree and they showed no signs of stopping.
Sam cursed before pushing her finger down on the trigger. The front soldier died first without attempting to defend himself, crippling to the floor in a dramatic manner to reveal the two behind him. These two didn't hesitate to use their weapons and Lara had to duck low behind the sandbags in order to protect herself. There was a rapid, dull thud as each bullet hit the sand, but soon the thuds decreased as Sam killed the middle two soldiers. The two soldiers at the rear seemed to gain a lot of floor between their starting position and the sandbags, but Sam managed to kill them both in the nick of time. After doing so, she closed her eyes and breathed out.
"I know it's not easy, but you had to," Lara told her.
Sam nodded. "I know."
She kissed Lara's cheek and looked away. They remained behind the sandbags for a couple of minutes before deciding it would be safe to loot the soldiers. Each woman took a gun and some ammunition as well as a military style water canteen. A thorough look through the soldiers' pockets also provided Lara with a pocket knife and provided Sam with a torch and spare bandage; Lara had idly left The Bag in the room it had been dropped in.
"What now?" Lara asked, noticing the gunshots had stopped completely.
"I suppose there's another door out of here. We'll have to try and find it," Sam suggested. After stepping out of the floodlights, Sam turned on her newly acquired torch, keeping it low on the ground and close to their feet.
They reached a small wall in the middle of the room; it seemed to serve no other purpose than to act as a shield. Sam gestured for Lara to stay behind her as she peered round the wall. There seemed to be no instant threat and set off around the obstacle. Suddenly, another set of floodlights burst on, followed by an onslaught of gunshots, causing her to jump and take cover behind the wall.
"I'll take left side, you take right," ordered Lara, rushing over to the other side of the wall and peering round it. There was no less than nine soldiers, in the same dress as before , marching directly towards the wall Sam and Lara hid behind. As Lara stared at them, they all turned their heads to their right so their blue helmets pointed right at her. Their guns quickly followed suit and started shooting at Lara. She jumped back behind the wall so Sam took their blind side and started shooting immediately. She managed to kill two before they turned to face her. Lara copied Sam's previous move and jumped out to shoot them from behind. It prevailed again as Lara shot down another three of the soldiers before disappearing back round the wall again. The soldiers seemed incapable of looking separate ways. However, they were fast approaching the wall and Lara doubted they would be able to keep using it as a shield. Her thoughts were proven as the remaining four soldiers split down the middle and marched around the wall, shooting wildly. In the meantime, Sam and Lara had started to back off, crouching low to the floor as Sam had instructed. They managed to dodge the shots as well as kill the last of the men.
"Easier than anticipated," Lara breathed out as they went on past the wall. "What's with the blue helmets? Is that from Call of Duty or something?"
Sam shook her head. "I don't know why they're wearing those. I don't recognise them from anywhere."
As they reached the second set of floodlights, they came to the final wall at the end of the room. It was lit up by the same lights and held two doors like the previous room. One read 'Grand Theft Auto' and the other read 'Mario Kart'.
"We actually get to choose?" Sam asked frowning.
Lara shrugged, so Sam stepped forward and took the Mario Kart door handle. That's when a grenade landed by her feet.