Freedom Fighters League of the Exiled

All for Nothing

"Hanji, I don't know how much longer I can hold them off," Leroy said to me. I could see he was already straining his powers. I don't know what his backlash is, but I'm hoping we won't have to find out. I'm having the same issue. I can tell Petra's powers are also worn thin. With us being the only three holding back an army of guards we are really starting to feel the pressure. We can't let the others down, but we can't keep fighting without help.

Zahra said there was a high probability that they already got past us, but I would rather keep fighting anyway. I mean even if a few got past us it's better than all of them getting past right?

Or is all of this just for nothing. Are we fighting a battle we've already lost? Is there really any point to this? For all, I know these guys were sent here to distract us to stop us from helping the others or regrouping. They could be here just to waste our time while other guards sneak past in other directions.

No. I don't care, I'm not giving up now. I don't care if my power goes out, I'll go down fighting before I willingly give up. I refuse to let the others down. I have to keep fighting even if I die doing it. I will protect my friends, my family if it's the last thing I do.

It was hard keeping them from rushing us, it was even harder to make sure none of them got past us. "We just need to hold out a little longer. I'm sure someone will come help," I said, praying that someone, anyone would come and help, or we would know that it's safe to stop fighting. Honestly, it was selfish of me, but I have faith in my team that someone will find us.

"And if you're wrong?" Leroy asked.

"Then you guys are welcome to stop whenever you are at your limit, but I'm not stopping."

"You're going to get yourself killed with that mindset," Zahra said, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"Then so be it, I refuse to be the one who lets my team down."

Some more guards started rushing and we had to cut our little conversation short. We pushed back Petra melting their guns, while Leroy and I used our powers to push them back. My vines and his energy blasts. A few of them got awfully close the last few times they pushed which is why I think they keep trying it. Well, this time they succeeded. The last few people had made it just in front of our barricade and were peering over it. They managed to get off a few shots before we were able to push them back.

"Is everyone alright?" I asked not able to take my eyes off the guards who were still pushing.

"Not exactly," Zahra's voice said. She seemed like she was speaking through gritted teeth. I pulled my eyes from the guards for just a glance. I wasn't able to see much in that tiny glance, but I did see a lot of blood.

"Whose injured?" I asked hoping for her to fill me in.

"Marlowe and I have been hit, but we will live. Santos, he's dead." the last half came out in a whisper.

I pulled my eyes away for longer to take a look. There's no way. It was just a few seconds. They couldn't have possibly-. My eyes were face to face with Santos's. He had a bullet straight through his chest. Even by just eyeballing it I could tell that hit him in the heart. I forced myself to blink and pull my eyes away from him. I looked at Zahra and Marlowe to make sure they were okay. Zahra was hit in the shoulder and Marlowe in the right side of his lower abdomen.

"Don't worry about us, I'll tell you when we have a higher probability of dying right now just focus on fighting. I'll stop the bleeding." I could tell she was trying to stay calm, but there was no staying calm in the situation. Did my decision just get a man killed?

I almost lost my concentration again when I heard a loud thump behind us. I didn't turn around, I just yelled for Zahra to fill me in on what she was seeing.