Bloodlust | lrh

25. Stay close to me

Heavy gunfire jolts Soka awake at dawn. She jumps out of bed with a racing heart and sees that the sun is barely even breaking the horizon. A strange fog covers the compound and lingers between the trees, but another round of gunshots send her falling to the floor.

This isn't a training exercise, and the girl's life is in danger more than it ever has been. Her door swings open and Ashton comes bolting in, crouching next to where she cowers under her window. "Come on!" He grabs her arms and yanks her up, running her out of the room.

"What's going on?" She frantically scans the house as they run down the stairs, not another soul in sight.

"They're trying to break through the gate." Ashton runs them out to Luke's car, but no one is in it. Soka searches the front of the house for any signs of Luke or the other guys, but all she can see is the fog hovering right above the ground.

Ashton pulls the girl into him and shelters her when gunshots ring disturbingly close to them, not knowing if it's friendly fire or not. When Luke comes around the corner with an assault rifle Ashton finally let's her go. Luke is on a mission to get to her, but he hits the ground before he can.

Soka and Ashton hit the ground as soon as bullets eat through the car, glass exploding everywhere. He wasn't hit, so he grabs the the girl and checks her to make she she's fine too.

Luke sprints over to them and takes over, checking Soka all over to make sure she's not bleeding. She only has a gash on her forehead from the glass being blown out. They're all three now using the car as cover when another wave of gunfire is hailing toward them. The sky is dark and it's hard to see where it's coming from, but Luke starts shooting at anything that moves.

"Give me a gun!" Soka yells over the bangs, Luke ignoring her while he focuses on not letting them die. When he doesn't answer she grabs the pistol she knows is sitting in Luke's waistband.

"Soka, stop!" Luke lunges for her, but she narrowly escapes it. She sets herself up behind the hood of the car and watches the tree line. As soon as she sees a figure and more bullets come flying she shoots. "Get down!" Luke yells when more fire comes, but Soka is already landing bullets in the guy's leg and chest.

"You need me!" She shouts back. Luke stares at the fearless girl in front of him, barely even recognizing who she was when she first got dropped at his feet. He can see the seriousness in her eyes, and against his better judgement he backs down. He runs over to her, his body as low to the ground as he can get it.

"Shoot anyone you don't recognize. I don't care if they're my men or not you don't let anyone fucking close to you." Luke grabs the back of her neck and pulls her close to him. For the first time there's fear in his eyes and none in hers.

"Where are they coming from?" She asks. Looking past him at Ashton who's still kneeling unarmed.

"The gate. We need to get out there." Luke grabs her hand and tries to lead her to another cover spot but she pulls him back.

"I need more than this. Ash doesn't even have anything." She motions to where Ashton sits, cowering behind his arms as more fire rains down.

Luke covers them as they run back into the house. He leads them down to the basement where he has another gun locker, his hand hovering over guns faster than his mind can process which ones to grab. He hands both of them assault rifles like the one strapped on his own back.

Soka analyzes it, trying to figure out how to use a gun she's never tried to shoot before. Luke throws them both jackets that have more pockets than they can count. Soka is swimming in hers, but Luke starts filling the pockets with as much ammo as he can.