Chapter XVI: Siege

My luck seemed to falter; The shot I made on Abby narrowly missed her skull, nicking the side of her head and causing her to stagger to the ground. Luckily, the other settlement guards followed suit and blasted several of the gunmen before they returned fire. The siege had officially begun, and the air sizzled with the overwhelming sound of gunshots, explosions, and the chaotic fog of war.


(Music: "War", by grandson |||| Ambience: "Real War Sounds", by Cosmic Turtle)


BRRRRRRT-T-T-T! BRRRT-T-T! BOOOOM! BANG-BANG-BANG! BRRRT-T-T-T-T! BRRRT-T-T! BOOOOM! BANG-BANG-BANG! BRRRT-T-T-T-T! BRRRT-T-T! BOOOOM! BANG! BRRRT-T-T-T-T! BRRRT-T-T! BOOOOM! BANG-BANG-BANG! BRRRT-T-T-T-T!

BRRRT-T-T! BOOOOM! BANG-BANG-BANG! BRRRT-T-T-T-T! BRRRT-T-T! BOOOOM! BANG! BANG! BRRRT-T-T-T-T! BOOOOM! BANG-BANG-BANG! BRRRT-T-T-T-T! BRRRT-T-T! BOOOOM! BANG-BANG-BANG! BRRRT-T-T-T-T!

CRACK! CRACK! BANG! BRRRT-T-T! BOOOOM! BANG-BANG-BANG! BRRRT-T-T-T-T! BRRRT-T-T! BOOOOM! BANG-BANG-BANG! BRRRT-T-T-T-T! BRRRT-T-T! BOOOOM! BANG-BANG-BANG! BRRRT-T-T-T-T! BRRRT-T-T! BOOOOM! BANG! BANG, BANG, BANG! BRRRT-T-T-T-T!

I ducked below cover after getting off a few shots, taking a moment to recompose myself; The sheer amount of gunfire produced giant swaths of smoke that choked the air and clouded the vision. My wounds had become an afterthought as adrenaline surged through me once more, but I knew the cost it would have on my body meant that I only had so long to fight before collapsing in exhaustion. Deliberating on my next actions under the miasma of gunfire and anguished yelling, I was suddenly approached by a crouching Jacksonite, who handed a small radio to me.

The first of his words was unheard, as my ears were ringing with the overwhelming gunfire blasts around me. Shaking my head for a second, I tried to tune my ears out from the gunfire for a moment.

"MARIE ASKED ME TO-"

The Jacksonite flinched in shock as a bullet whizzed past his head and panged off the metal stairway rail next to him. He ducked his head lower and continued shouting over the tumultuous battle.

"-GIVE THIS TO YOU!"

He rushed off without explanation, though I could figure out the rest. I radioed in as my eyes glanced across the ground below for Ellie and Joel, spotting them retreating down the stairwell at the far right of the wall.

"MARIE," I shouted over the radio, releasing the button and awaiting a response as I momentarily zeroed in on a demolition team moving in towards a segment of the wall to plant explosive.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

The crack of the bullets as they were propelled by my rifle melted into the sea of gunfire; I saw three bodies fall to the ground, with one member of the demo team left standing in shock and grief at his dying squad mates. I didn't have enough time to take a shot at him, as two dozen bullets zipped towards me. I had managed to narrowly avoid being peppered with a quick duck to the floor, untrusting of the barricade in front of me to block the bullets. A second later, I had made a correct decision; most of the projectiles were halted by the thick metal sheets, but a few of the heavier calibers pierced through easily, whizzing right above my body.

I squirmed my way down the stairway, concluding that there was no more I could contribute on the embattlements without getting shot to pieces. I stood up after determining I had sufficient cover and began running in the direction of where Ellie and Joel had fled. Though anxious and concerned for their safety in this heated battle, I was also unnaturally calm; perhaps I was confident in their ability to fight. Either way, I intended to keep them in my sight at all times until this feverish battle ended.

I knew the walls would be collapsing soon, and so I did my best to point the other gunmen in the direction of the buildings; Urging them to garrison and break the windows to shoot down at the incoming assault wave. I quickly advised groups of armed Jacksonites to barricade all the doors and windows except for one, which would serve as the emergency exit in case the attackers pushed too far into their safe zone. Some of the groups took my advice, while others pursued their own paths, but generally, it seemed like our forces worked in small autonomous squads with only Marie and Tommy as the overarching commanders. While disappointed with this kind of layout, I knew it was the end result of a bunch of civilians-turned-militia.

This fight would not end without casualties on our side.

It was then that I began rushing down the street I'd last seen Ellie and Joel pursue, looking around for them with angst and concern. I was relieved to see most of the streets getting barricaded by more Jacksonites, who were using various pieces of furniture, raw material, and other miscellaneous items to make a solid barrier. I took a quick second and asked some of the Jacksonites where they'd last seen Joel and Ellie, but they had been too busy and panicked in their work to observe their surroundings.

I continued back down the path, feeling my body cry out as the wounds exacerbated my fatigue. I tried my best to ignore the pain, knowing that this would be the worst possible time to fall unconscious or become unable to fight.

Pheeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww-

Dread overtook me in seconds; My head snapped towards the sky to see small, smoking trails careening over the settlement walls and coming down upon the settlement's interior.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

BOOOOOOOOM! BOOOOOOOO-OOOOOOOOOOOM!

The sky was illuminated with an orange-reddish hue as the explosions rocked the buildings; plumes of smoke rose from the impacted areas. I could hear screaming in the distance as there were some people who had likely been caught in the crossfire. The idea of being exploded by a random shell was unappealing to me, and so I kept in my pursuit of finding Ellie and Joel while glancing up in the air every few seconds to confirm there wasn't a shell headed in my direction.

I tried the radio multiple times to get ahold of Marie again, but no response came despite my repeated attempts to make contact. I bad-mouthed the Jacksonite that had brought me the radio, thinking they had broken it during their delivery.

I felt a flood of relief as I sighted Joel and Ellie, who were helping a wounded Jacksonite that'd gotten her torso peppered with shrapnel from an artillery blast. As I rushed over to them, Ellie happened to glance up and notice me, her eyes widening in shock and indignation.

"JACK, WHY THE HELL ARE YOU MOVING AROUND?!" She shouted at me in the distance.

"LIKE I'M GONNA SIT IN A CABIN AND WAIT TO GET SHELLED!" I shouted back at her in annoyance. Joel also now noticed me but was too busy trying to stabilize the Jacksonite to focus on outrage.

"JACK, GET OVER HERE AND HOLD 'ER STILL!" Joel ordered, and I slung my rifle to go and assist him; Ellie was watching our backs with a raised rifle. I looked down at the groaning, bloodied younger woman as the perforations in her chest leaked blood down her clothing and body. Her shell-shocked eyes glanced over my face and filled with a shining hope.

"L...ucky... Jack...!"

"Shut the fuck up and breathe!"

Pheewwwwwwwww-

"WE NEED TO MOVE!" Joel shouted, and in unison we hauled the woman away from the open street, finding an alleyway to temporarily settle back down. I hurriedly stacked three nearby trash bins behind us for minor cover against the incoming shrapnel bomb, and just barely managed to put the last one on top of the pile before the bomb came crashing down in the street.

BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Zip- zip- zip-

The shell exploded into the ground, sending shrapnel flying in every direction; bits of metal zipped above our heads and tore into the trash bins. I flinched as a few of the shrapnel bits slammed through the plastic layer of the trash bin, jutting out just barely through the second layer and nearly gutting me. I took a moment to silent scream in pain; The exertion of that physical effort had reopened wounds and caused insane aching in my limbs. I balanced myself precariously and subtly against the nearby brick wall, which was peppered by metal shrapnel.

After Joel finished patching the woman up, we carried her to a nearby building, where she was ushered in and placed on a table.

"You just saved her fuckin' life in this shitshow." One of the Jacksonites remarked incredulously, as his fellows surrounded the girl on the table to continue treating her. "We'll tend her, and join you in the fight later!"

We nodded and headed back out the door, the three of us now a de facto squad. The blazing atmosphere had toned down somewhat as I assumed both sides took heavy casualties at the beginning of the siege; but the atmosphere was still ablaze with interspersed rifle fire and sporadic mortar fire.

"Listen, both of you!" Joel spoke roughly to Ellie and I; he had switched modes mentally. "Tommy radio'ed that they're forming up the squad leads at the town hall to reorganize our defense. We're heading there now! Stay behind me no matter what, and do exactly as I say!"

Ellie and I nodded, but I glanced down at his bandaged kneecap with worry; having a mobility injury like that would hurt his chances of leaving combat unscathed. Then again, I was practically a walking corpse. I'd need to perform above and beyond in this battle to account for both myself and Joel's injuries.

As Joel took point and swept through the alleys with Ellie at the rear and myself in the middle, I tried to think clearly about the current situation.

I had no information on which side was winning, clearly. The damage to our infrastructure and manpower would no doubt make this a Pyrrhic victory for Jackson City- if we managed to win at all. However, I could make a few reasonable assumptions based on the wisdom I'd gained from past combat engagements. Firstly, the mortars were still firing, albeit with heavily-reduced efficiency and in irregular intervals. The fact that they hadn't stopped yet most likely meant that the WLF's infantry had not infiltrated the settlement yet; after all, it would be a complete fool that would try and send their forces into a warzone they were still bombing.

"Alright," Joel muttered to us in a harsh whisper. "Town hall is in the middle of the settlement. We'll head through the side streets and climb in through the back window."

However, based on the fact that the artillery attacks were lessening gradually, it was very probable that the WLF infantry were about to commence their assault on the city. Either that was the case, or men from the mortar teams are being pulled to the frontline to fill in as reinforcements for the heavy losses they took in the first minutes of battle. Argh, I wish I had a bird's eye view of the battlefield, damn it!

"We're going to turn this corner and head into a wide alley. Don't move around the corner till I peek first."

Secondly, there had not been any distinct explosions at the front gates, which means either they didn't deploy the demolition teams or they are orchestrating the teams to set charges once all the infantry are in place to breach. It's certainly not easy to keep people organized during live combat- the heads of command were probably scrambling around trying to get everyone in place.

"Jack, stop moving!"

Lastly, Marie has been ignoring all of my radio calls, which means either she's been incapacitated or the enemy has deployed some kind of communication-cutting device; I witnessed one of these devices used once during a skirmish in California-

"JACK!"

I broke out of my deep ponderance as Joel's anguished yelling reached my ears; looking around to find myself standing dead-center in the middle of the wide alley. The mortar fire had stopped. I could view the settlement's front walls from where I stood, and a feeling of alarm overtook me suddenly-

BWOOOOOOOOOOOSH!

A bombastic explosion of smoke and fire erupted at the very wall I was staring at, decimating the wooden fortifications into splinters and causing me to stagger and fall on my ass. As if on perfect cue, a wave of heavily-armed and wrathful gunmen poured through the opening, returning fire toward Jacksonites and spreading quickly through the streets to find available cover. Several of the gunmen spotted me picking myself up and raised their rifles to fire.

BRT-T-T-T!

Joel managed to raise his rifle first, spraying the line of WLF soldiers with a burst of fire. Some of the bullets struck a few of the gunmen, and I had enough time to scramble to a tight alleyway across from where Joel and Ellie were standing. I tried to peer around the corner to get a glance at the opponent's positions, but their rifle fire was trained on my position, keeping me suppressed.

"JUST MOVE FORWARD!" Joel shouted to me, his face pinched in fury. "HEAD TO CITY HALL!"

"RIGHT!" I shouted back and began making my way down the narrow alley behind me, my rifle raised in apprehension; I was distraught at my own incompetency and lack of wariness in those last seconds. I had nearly gotten myself killed! Not only that, but now I was separated from the only two people I was trying to protect. Because of my stupidity!

"Shit... FUCK!" I cursed, clearing corridors and trying to recall the path to city hall. In firefights I was usually so caught up in trying to stay alive that I acted on instincts and short-term plans alone. Now I was having to actually do mental work to coordinate my position while keeping on high alert physically at every second. Naturally, this kind of stress was exhausting my health, and I could vividly feel the burning, aching, nerve-prodding pain emanating throughout my whole body. At the same time, I was practically on the verge of blacking out from all the strain; it felt as if a single, singed rope was the only thing grounding me to consciousness.

I needed to focus.

Right as that thought crossed my mind, I turned a corner to find -Dina- crouching behind a metal container full of rock chunks, peeking around the edge of cover to watch for targets. A wave of malice washed over my skin as I crouched behind her, uttering her name.

"...Dina."

She tensed up in fright, whipping around for a moment and raising her pistol- until she saw my face. Her features relaxed, her putrid face taking on a more serious expression.

"Jack! You scared the shit out of me."

We simultaneously turned our heads back down the alley, keeping watch for incoming WLF soldiers.

"Did you get the order to rally at city hall?" She muttered to me.

"Yeah."

"Same. I don't know how the fuck everything fell apart so quickly- I can't believe they have fucking mortars!" She uttered in disbelief. For all the hatred I held for this woman, I had to concede that we had a common agreement on that fact. "We should start moving!"

I nodded silently, though I realized she was still peering down the alleyway for enemies, so I repeated my sentiment verbally. "Yes. Lead the way."

We moved swiftly through the streets and narrow corridors between buildings, always on alert for a WLF soldier to pop out from the direction they had breached. Luckily, it seemed they were still being held up at the front of the settlement, as we encountered no threats during the majority of our travel. Eventually, we sighted the city hall by its arched roof, and proceeded through a series of narrow street lanes to avoid drawing attention. I was begrudgingly appreciative that my other squad member was competent and showed wisdom in combat movement and skirmishing. Showing good trigger discipline, cutting the pie on street corners with her handgun, keeping active watch over her surroundings- I was exceedingly frustrated by her exceptional awareness.

As we came up to a branching path of side streets, a sinister idea latched onto my mind; it was an intrusive thought that appealed most sensibly to my rationale. It would be very easy to act upon, especially in this corpse-stricken, war-torn environment. Yes, she would fit right in.

"Dina," I whispered to her. "Peek the corner and see how far the town hall is. We could sprint the rest of the way since the Wolves are coming from behind us."

Dina considered my deceptive words for a moment, and eventually responded firmly.

"Makes sense. Let's not die at the finish line."

She crouched down and stuck her head out to gaze around the streetway cautiously; allowing me ample time to raise the barrel of my rifle to the back of her head.

I pulled the trigger.