Till Deceived Do We Part

He went for his own zipper first, keeping his eyes locked on mine. He wanted to see my panic, my fear. He wanted to drink it in. For that alone, I wanted to kill him. Too bad I was in a crappy position.

“What? No second tries? I could take you.” He chuckled. “Don’t believe me? Don’t think I was reading you? I know how your fighting works now. One more go, and I could have you begging for mercy.” A lie. But I had to stall. Preferably without me being raped.

“What did you read?”

“You hit fast. No plan. No waiting. You take your opponent down immediately, not bothering to waste time with trivial things as traditional fights usually do.”

“That all? You disappoint.” His hand went back to his own jeans.

“No. That’s not all. You also have crappy peripherals.” He paused now, his eyes coming to meet mine. Take a leap. Guess. I struggled for a moment, before words came to my head. “That’s why you attack fast. No time to side-step. You hit straight on, for that’s the only way you can see. If you hit fast, there’s no time to get to your side. Also no time to notice your flaw. Unless you’re trained.”

He studied me now. Truly did. His eyes roamed my body, taking in every minuscule scar, and his eyes seemed to drill into mine. Trying to read me, to figure me out. He straddled me, his groin pressing down into mine, but his free hand remained still. He studied me some more, before speaking.

“Interesting.” He tilted his head to the side, before pushing himself into a position above me. “I will enjoy hearing you cry.” And that was that. I saw it in his eyes. He shut down. There was no way my words would make their way through his mind. He would hear all the sounds I made, but wouldn’t even bother with my words. My eyes glanced frantically to Dalton, who was still standing above us. Watching. Enjoying.

He smiled at me like some sick pervert, which I suppose he was. My eyes snapped away from him when I felt Mr. Peripheral’s hand on my body. I bucked, kicked, tried head butting him, but nothing worked.

I shut my eyes, tried my best to squelch the panic, and remained still. I had to think. There was no way this was going to happen. Don’t panic. Think. Think. Jake trained you. There has to be a way out of this. I thought. And thought some more, all the while his hands ripped my shirt off. Nothing came to mind, except mind blowing panic. This was going to happen. With one last bit of courage, I opened my eyes at Dalton.

“They’re coming.” He smiled. “You’re going to die. Painfully. I’ll gut you myself.” His smile widened.

“Speed things up.” Was all he said, and I swear my heart stopped. I was going to kill him. I swear I wou-

The noise slammed into my ears hard, and if I could have moved my hands, I would have covered them. As it was, Mr. Peripheral and Dalton both did. It sounded as if something was being torn apart, or blown apart. Either or. The sound was cement grating against cement, creating a sound worse than nails on chalkboard. Dust fell from the ceiling, coating all of our heads as everyone looked up. Everyone looked up. My mind wanted to know what was creating that awful noise. My body, however, wanted an escape. This was the time. I slammed the base of my palm into Mr. Peripheral’s nose. He let out a strangled sound, his blood splattering my bare stomach. His fist lashed down, slamming my head into the ground. I made some sort of sound, but it was lost to the noise that issued above us. Dalton yelled something, but no one paid him any attention.

I bucked again, this time earning some leeway due to the distraction and his now broken nose. His hand came down the same time I bucked up. It slammed me back down, but lost composure as my body went slack. I twisted my upper body, managing to slide my knee up, and hit him hard in the back. His body tumbled forward onto mine. I kneed him again, wrapping my hand around his shirt front and yanking him to the side. He jerked back, but not fast enough. I shoved, scrambled back, then kicked. His body tumbled backward and I used this time to shove myself up... only to be thrown down by Dalton.

He towered over me, his eyes flashing furiously as everything he had portrayed crumbled. His home– even if it was a new home– was shattering. Literally. And all I could do was laugh. He aimed a kick my way. It hit my stomach, and sent me flying. I gasped in pain, but still chuckled. He was going down.

A loud blast, which sent my good hand to my right ear, rang out. That’s when things literally fell apart. The blast echoed down the corridor, and immediately guards swarmed in, guns all trained on the ceiling that was now falling down in chunks. Or the centre of it, anyways. I dived behind a pillar, underneath the balcony area, which seemed the only place that wasn’t being hailed by debris.

Cement fell down, along with the marble tiling that had decorated the too fancy place. It hailed down, along with small circular projectiles. I saw them. I smiled. Things were finally going my way. Jake was taking my advice. He was making a scene, and it was going to be a damn good one. The guards kept their guns trained upward, their eyes wary of the small objects. Dalton had cowered to the side, guards surrounding him and guarding him. Mr. Peripheral was making his way to me, slowly, but I didn’t move. I wanted to see the hell break loose.

The circular balls hit the ground the same time as the larger chunks of the ceiling did. So as the chunks let off an almost explosive sound, the circular balls activated. Smoke immediately poured out, engulfing the whole place in darkness and chaos. The crashing of the ceiling stopped, as did the hail of dust and powder, and when it did, you could make out the noise above. You couldn’t see it, but you could hear it; helicopters.

Fear and panic left me, whereas I’m sure everyone else was beginning to feel it. I squinted upward, trying to make out how many helicopters there were, when something hit me. It was a clumsy hit, but I was surprised anyone had been able to see my form in this smoke.

It was murky and dark. You couldn’t see two feet in front of you, and if you breathed the wrong way, you were bound to end up on the ground. The figure, whom I’m assuming is Mr. Peripheral, took me to the ground hard. Both our bodies bounced and as we did, his hands groped to get a hold of my body. I gave him no chance. This was my moment to shine, my time to get out of his grasps. I kneed up, grabbing one of his wrists and giving it a sharp twist. A sickening crunch filled the air, and his body reared. I slammed my knee up even harder, sending him reeling. I shoved myself to my feet and aimed a kick at the sound of the gasps.

Bullseye. He let out a strangled gasp as I kicked again, and I saw his body curve in pain. I was about to kick again, when I realized something. I could see. My head snapped up, my hair flying back, just as a figure went for me; one of the guards. The smoke was clearing, and I could now faintly hear Dalton ordering his men around. One of the orders being to grab me, the other to take down whatever was in the sky.

I ducked, spun and ran. I barely went ten feet before the main door burst open, men rushing in. My heart pounded in an oh shit moment, it didn’t last long. The new men took fire at the guards at the same time that ladders fell from the helicopters and men propelled downward. Jake was certainly taking my advice.

Chaos was issued. The guards ushered Dalton to a corner, taking aim on all of the new comers. They gave as good as they got, but I could already see them losing. This wasn’t their home field. I watched as Dalton’s men cruelly took out my companions. Watched as they were snuck up on, and attacked. I couldn’t do anything. Not without a gun.

No one was paying me any attention. I should have used that as incentive to get out of there. But I couldn’t. I couldn’t leave the men who had been ready to do horrible things to me alive. I just couldn’t. I had to see them die. Preferably at my hands. I’d settle for a stray bullet, if I had to.

I kept along the walls, trying my best to ignore the fallen bodies of the ones I once worked with. Dalton was suffering casualties too, but not as badly. We were losing. And we knew it too, I could see them giving up. Almost welcoming death. I really needed a gun.

I kept my eyes alert, and a few times almost found myself on the receiving end of a bullet. My eyes scanned the area. My men, Jake’s men, were dressed in our traditional, and cliched, black outfit. They were also equipped with quite a few guns and a kevlar. I had neither. While some of the dead bodies looked tempting to raid, I couldn’t risk going to the main battle field. Not topless and unarmed. No. I needed to get a gun from someone on the side.

It didn’t take long to spot him. He was the only smart one, and I could see his eyes degrading his fellow assassins. He stayed near the pillars, using it as a shield, and also taking down more of Dalton’s men than any other. Which is why he was the most targeted.

I broke into a run. Bullets whizzed by, but if I concentrated on them, I was sure to get hit. So instead I let my gut lead my legs and body and crossed my fingers that I wouldn’t die in my bra.

The man inched into position some ways behind Flint. He settled down on one knee, aimed the gun, and...

“Behind you!” I screamed. Flint spun, ducking in the process. The bullet smashed into the pillar, where his head had been, sending dust into the air. Flint fired without hesitation, the bullet hitting his would-be-killer in the temple. He toppled backwards. Flint turned, uttered a curse and dove back behind the pillar. I soon saw why. That little incident had attracted some attention. I cursed, sped up and jumped. My body sailed, going, going and... Flint grabbed my waist, pulled my body to his, just as the bullets slammed into the pillar.

He set me down, grunted, and immediately shoved me a gun. An M16. No thanks. No hello. No nothing. I was good with that.

I gripped the gun with a wave of relief. My eyes shut briefly, gathering my bearings. I had not been almost raped. Zane was not beaten to a pulp in the basement. And I was not shirtless. No. This was a mission to finally take down Dalton, someone who eluded Jake for too long. A mission gone wrong. That’s all.

“More keep coming. We’re being surrounded.” I nodded, taking it in with my own eyes. When surrounded... play them against themselves. My eyes met Flint’s, both our minds thinking the same thing. He gave a small nod, gave a signal that he’d circle around left, and I’d go right. I nodded, grabbed some ammo off him which I stored in my pants, before setting off.

I kept crouched low to the ground, my gun held tightly. This wasn’t my usual gun, but I’d take it. It would do the trick just fine. I kept my crouch, going as fas as I could before I would be spotted. Dalton’s new men were taking perimeter around the entire room, blocking off exit and entry. I took one breath, pushed away my aches, and leapt up.

I bolted into the circled between two men a ways apart, and aimed at the man behind the man I was closest to. The bullet hit target, taking him down instantly. There were shouts, and I waited until I heard the bang of the shots, before ducking. The man in front of me fired at the same time the man behind me fired. Their bullets hit one another, taking them both down. Three down.

I managed to do the same routine twice more before they began to catch on. At that point, I just shot at whoever I could. Apparently keeping me alive had changed, for I was taking on more bullets than Flint.

I just made it behind a pillar when I knew something bad was about to happen. The place went quiet. No more than a second later I heard the frantic beeps and the sudden change in air direction. There was a screeching sound, a sound coming from above. I looked up as the helicopters blades hit what remained of the ceiling. The blades bounced back, through the glass covering the pilot, and into the engine.

The result? An instant bomb. It exploded, sending everyone on the ground flying. Even from behind the pillar I got hit by the blast. The flames licked the sky only momentarily before tumbling downward, into the room. Bodies frantically dived, people yelled and shouted, and in the chaos, many figures got knocked to the ground. I could no longer tell who was who. All I knew was that as I stood from my post, having pushed myself up from the ground, I saw at least thirty men lose their lives under that burning metal of a helicopter. Some instantly, others not. Bodies ran around the room, letting out screeches of pain, their whole body being eaten away by the flames. Their whole body in white hot agony...

I forced myself to turn away. This was too much, even for me. I didn’t watch as the second helicopter went down. I just couldn’t. Luckily, for everyone in the room, this one only skimmed the side walls before spiralling down the side of the building. You could still see the flames lick the sky, adding light to the dark clouds threatening to rain down on us.

Hatred filled me. These men here, these callous pathetic men, were the cause of so many deaths in our base. The cause of so much destruction and pain. It needed to end. And to end a war, you take our their leaders.