Page 100 of Dissent

Holy shit!

I opened my eyes, seeing that Wes and Matias had also fallen with the blast, but were already scrambling to their feet. I rolled onto my side and got myself up.

“We’ve got to move!” Wes roared, a look of pure anger and frustration consuming his features. With no further hesitation, he was off, pointing his gun and firing at a Telvian soldier that was running by.

I was up on my feet, gripping the gun with both hands, being careful to keep it pointed down to the ground. I looked at Matias, holding an assault rifle he pulled from the trunk. He gave me a nod. “Follow me,” and then he was running, taking off after Wes.

With a deep breath, I followed in pursuit, leaping over bodies and doing everything I could to keep from slipping in the muddy mess of pine needles and blood that the forest floor was still trying to soak in. We weaved through the burning tents, heading for the trail that I knew led to the training center. Evacuation protocols had people going to the center, the only spot with a clear enough space for rescue helicopters to land.

I heard a scream to my right, turning to see a woman coldcocking a Telvian soldier in the gut, throwing him off balance, but not before he fired his weapon, throwing her back into a lifeless heap on the floor.

Oh my god!

I raised my gun to fire, to return the favor this soldier did to this woman. But I hesitated. It was a life. ATelvianlife. And I…I was a Telvian life too. I didn’t know if I could do this.

But I didn’t have to, because a second later, the soldier cried out as a blade pierced through his chest. The man arched his back in anguish before the steel disappeared again, right back into his body, allowing him to drop to the floor. And there, standing with a look of pure satisfaction, the glint of a katana catching the light of the flames on the ruby red of fresh blood, stood Edith.

Damn, she was so badass.

Seeing her brought a surge of relief within me, because she was alive! She caught sight of me, and without delay, started running, coming up alongside me, and throwing her arms around me. Of course, the gesture was endearing, and I wanted to hug her back, but the wholeyour-arms-are-wrapped-around-my-raw-backthing put a damper on the situation. I gasped out again in pain, tired and frustrated with this crap.

“Oh my god,” she cried out as she backed off me. “Are you hurt?”

“Long story,” I shot back.

“Let’s go!” Matias called out as he fired his gun at a Telvian soldier heading right for us.

Edith glanced at him and then looked back at me. She gave me thewe’re going to have a serious talk when this is overlook, and then she was grabbing my arm and tugging me forward as we broke into a run again.

Another boom shattered through the night, sending the ground quaking beneath us. I lost my balance again, and then I was on the floor, rolling in the slick, bloodied earth, losing my grip on my gun. I rolled onto my stomach, trying to get my knees underneath me to stand, but before I knew what was happening, I was being knocked off my side and sent flying across the ground several feet, rolling once again through the muck. It hurt—the pain stealing my breath in a harsh hiss. I tried to recuperate, to get my bearings when I looked up and saw a Telvian soldier standing right above me.

My heart dropped, and I scrambled for the gun, forgetting that I had dropped it several feet away from me. As the realization hit, I didn’t have time to rethink my strategy. The soldier grabbed me by the hair and lifted. Up, up, up, I went, being lifted off the ground by the hair at the nape of my neck.

I screamed.

I could feel those delicate little strands being plucked out one by one from the weight of my body. I tried to kick the soldier in the gut before he threw me into a pile of rubble. My back smacked against something hard, causing me to see stars as I dropped to the floor in a heap. Head spinning from the intensity of the pain whirling within me, I pushed.Get up, the voice inside me screamed.Get up now!

I got onto my hands and knees, but the spinning hadn’t stopped yet, and I could feel nausea churning in my belly. I looked up, past the soldier who was taking heavy steps toward me, and I saw my friends. Edith was doing everything she could to keep from being shot at, her back against a tree which was serving as a shield from the fire she was under by two soldiers. She might have been a badass with her katana, but the truth was, you should never bring a knife to a gunfight. She looked my way. Even from this distance, I could see the panic gripping her eyes. She made a move to come toward me, but the second she did, she was under fire again, causing her to whip back, taking shelter behind the tree once more.

My eyes darted to Wes, who was currently going fist-to-fist with another soldier. Who knew what happened to his assault rifle, but he was throwing punches as fast as he could and then blocking just as many. Then my gaze shifted to Matias, spinning around, his leg in the air as his foot made contact with the face of a soldier, completing his roundhouse kick. His arms were up, shielding his face with his hands in fists like a boxer, getting ready for the next guy to attack, because he was surrounded. He had four soldiers on him.

Fear for him crashed through me like a tidal wave, and I scurried to get to my feet, not caring about the soldier that was only a few yards away from me. My focus was on Matias. I had to help him. I ran at the soldier, and as I reached him, he pulled his arm back to punch me as I brought my foot up and snap-kicked him as hard as I could, right between the legs. He instantly let out a yelp as he forgot all about his plans, hands dropping to grip his male anatomy, and falling to his knees. I wanted to do so much more, to punch him in the damn face, but I didn’t. I rushed past him, racing for Matias.

I was there in seconds, pulling my elbow back, hand balled into a fist, and then launching it as hard as I could at the first soldier I came up against. My fist hit hard with a delicious smack that sent the man spinning and stumbling away from the force of the impact. It was totally awesome, but anguish quickly replaced my pride.

Holy mother!

My hand throbbed from the impact. I’d had plenty of practice hitting the punching bags in the training center, but none of them compared to the force of the impact of hitting someone’s jaw. Cradling my hand, I sucked in a deep breath.

Movement caught my attention, shifting it back to the soldier I’d just hit as he regained his balance. The look on his face told me I didnotwant to find out what he had planned to do next. I risked a glance around and saw my gun just a few yards away on the ground. I made a beeline for it, running as hard as I could, never looking back.

I should have.

I didn’t really know what happened, but the next thing I knew, I was flying. And when I landed, it was on my left shoulder. I heard, just as much as I felt, the crack that sent splintered fingers of pain radiating down my arm and into my back from my shoulder. My head hit the ground next. Once again, I saw stars, the world spinning when I tried to open my eyes. I blinked several times, desperate for my vision to stop blurring. It worked—kind of—but I almost wished it hadn’t. Because what came into focus was the soldier I had punched, and the view was simply his booted foot coming at my face.

Pow!

The force of the kick sent my head whipping around, my body turning right after it as I rolled completely onto my other side. The taste of iron flooded my mouth as my jaw throbbed. He missed my nose, thank god, but that didn’t mean the pain was anything less. My vision distorted as tears came to my eyes. I couldn’t keep doing this. My brain’s survival instinct was kicking on, and it was screaming at me to go, torun!But I couldn’t run. I couldn’t go anywhere. My body felt so broken. And what about my friends?

---