Page 55 of Leave Me Behind
Reload.
Harrison in the face.Oops.Then Jefferson right in the center of his spine as he runs for cover.
I leave Eren alone, seeing as he’s laughing his ass off at his own stupid squad.
“Think they’ll accept me now?” I ask Eight-Seven-Four, and he looks at me with raised brows and a newfound respect. Why can’t it be this easy to impress the others? He looks at me like I’m death itself.
“I can’t believe they didn’t to begin with.” He swallows hesitantly. I can see the fear growing in his eyes as he studies me closely. “How many people have you killed, Bunny?”
Why does everyone ask me that?I shake my head. “I don’t know. Too many.” Jenkins taught me not to keep track.
He’s quiet for a beat.
“Doesn’t it bother you?”
I look at him with cold, weary eyes, saying numbly, “No.”
His face fills with horror and I know then that he’s still relatively new to the underground world. He’s on the dark air force side. He doesn’t slit throats and shoot people often. He has his missile team waiting on the other side of the radio for his coordinates.
“Look, at the end of the day, it’s them or you. Them or your squadmates. I learned the hard way. So don’t let it be you or your squad,” I say somberly, thinking of my mistakes and the price I paid. Jenkins’s warm smile that was stolen from me and the ache I’ve felt in my heart ever since.
“Oh.” He shudders. After a beat of silence he mumbles, “Is it true that Riøt Squad used black bullets?” A rumor that literally everyone in the dark forces talks about. If a body is found with a black bullet, they are marked as traitors. If their bodies are ever found, that is. Jenkins did enjoy making sure some were never found.
I let my eyes fall on the young soldier again. “Yeah. It’s true.”
He goes white as a sheet and swallows.
I look back through my scope and find Bones still on the ground. A flutter of malice spreads through me seeing him that way.
Don’t tell me he can’t take a hit from a fucking powder ball.
A cruel smile spreads over my lips.
twenty
. . .
Nell
three years ago - Black Bay
Jenkins glancesup at me from his position a few feet away. His eyes move over my face slowly as if he’s memorizing me. He does this before every mission starts, tracing my lips that he kissed so fervently last night.
I give him a slight nod so he knows I have his back. I always have his back. He gives me a solemn smile before looking back to the men moving crates over the dock of Black Bay. It’s somewhere south of Anchorage between the national park preserves. It’s not an official landmark, but it’s highly frequented for the black market weapons trade.
They are dark forces soldiers we’ve been sent to eliminate as traitors. Riøt is spread out with every corner of this dock secured. No one is leaving unless we let them.
It’s unusual to get other dark forces as a target. Usually we are hunting the upstairs traitors, which are immensely easier to take out because they don’t realize a team like Riøt exists. Otherunderground teams? They know if they’re involved in dirty operations that they’ll need to watch their backs for us.
This is why our squad is stationed in a different facility from the other undergrounders, so we don’t get close and have trouble pulling the trigger. General Nolan knows he doesn’t need to worry about us though. Jenkins and me are the dream team. We don’t care. If a name comes up on a screen, that’s all it is. A name.
We obey. We eliminate.
Jenkins lifts his hand and gives us the signal to close in. I move quietly and keep on my sergeant’s heels, looking every direction he doesn’t. I find my thoughts harder to wrangle lately, especially when we’re on a mission. The only thing I seem to be able to focus on is Jenkins. His sharp cheek bones and the whispers he tells me of dreams he has for us.Together. I’ll always be by his side.My chest warms and I’m distracted for a second.
It was only a second.
A branch snaps under my foot and the target soldiers snap their heads up instantly.
