killshot | simon riley ✓

• Chapter 22 •

Rain poured over her like there was no tomorrow, distant gunshots being heard here and there, only pushing her forward more quickly. Somehow she was able to cut through the trees and get to the outskirts of the town, stumbling her way into the dark.

A root got in the way of her boot, causing Rora to fall against a tree. She cursed under her breath and punched the three with her knuckles, a dull pulsating feeling indicating that she might've only caused more damage to herself. Taking a second to check her other injuries, she sucked in a breath, already knowing that things weren't looking so great for them.

Her left thigh burned with every step she took, a bullet taking a small chunk out of her soft flesh, slicing open her black cargo pants. Blood oozed out of the injury, mixing with rain and mud, the pain getting stronger as she placed more of her weight on her injured leg. It looked like shit.

And if that wasn't enough, in the middle of her epic escape, her arm got caught up in some thorny plant, ripping into her skin and leaving a few marks. It didn't hurt that much, she was just annoyed with herself that she got another reminder of this shitshow of a night embarked on her skin forever now.

Her grip tightened around the pistol she managed to keep, it being her only weapon right now. She still had two more bullets, which meant two things. She could take down another two Shadows if she was lucky. Or, if she happened to run out of her remaining little luck, she could take out one and keep the last one for herself. Under no circumstances she would get compromised: she learned that men were the cruelest things, especially in times of war. And if you happened to be a woman, your future will be just as dark as their tinted soul. So, in case to protect her already broken soul, she was quick to think of ways she could end her life if it was needed.

Her gaze wandered towards the city, scanning the narrow streets in front of her, searching for any threat. But the only sound she could hear was distant echoes of gunshots, meaning that the Shadows were already out there, looking for them. Rora pushed herself off the tree, wincing as she put her weight on her left leg, making her way towards a dark alley she just spotted.

She wondered if the boys happened to escape. She saw Soap leave, but there was no guarantee that he didn't get shot midway. And she even knew less from Ghost: she didn't see him get away, nor did she hear anything from him. And she left him there, alone.

She left him just like she let down Everett.

The realization caused her knees to buckle under her weight, stumbling against the cold wall of a house. She swore she would never let a man behind, and there she was, leaving her lieutenant behind to save her own ass. It was pathetic. She was pathetic. She didn't even want to live that much, she had more than enough of life at this point, but something still pushed her to survive. That something maybe was her grandmother, still not ready to meet her sweet and hot-tempered granddaughter in hell, or her love for her squad, she didn't know.

But in her desperate state, she reached for the radio secured on her vest, turning it on. She just wanted to hear from the others, or anybody at this point: otherwise, she was going to go insane from the voices inside her head, telling her that she just killed another two men that were close to her heart.

Immediately, she was greeted by the voices of Shadows, discussing their plans. They talked about raiding houses and clearing everything in the city. She switched stations. There, they talked about a family they just murdered. She switched again. And again.

She switched till she found an empty channel, only hearing static as she listened in for another couple of seconds. When she was sure that nobody used this frequency, she pushed down the button on the side of her radio, pulling it closer to her mouth.