Meridian | The Second Life III [COMPLETED]

29 - Meridian

- E V A N -

"Thought I'd leave you hanging?" Ronnie says, smiling as he slides into our embankment. We all look at him, stunned. "Yeah, you probably did. Sorry."

"Didn't have that on my bingo card," Zach gasps.

"The fire will hold them for a couple of minutes," Rivian nods.

"What are we waiting for?" I smile. "Let's take down this son of a bitch."

"Now we're talking," Ronnie nods, pointing to the building he's hiding in. "He's gonna shoot back. Cover us."

"You disappear and leave us to pick up the pieces," Rivian confronts, eyeing down Ronnie. "Then you give us orders?"

"No," I sigh, Ronnie looking down. "I do. Cover us."

Rivian looks at me for a moment, perplexed. "Sure."

"Alright," I say, loading a new bolt. "Three, two,

"One."

All of us rise, and fire towards the building. Predictably, Chuni ducks behind a column in the building, racing farther inside. With this many bullets, that's understandable. Ronnie and I charge out from the embankment, running for the building. We catch his feet entering a stairwell as we burst into the lobby. Ronnie ditches his red backpack near a massive column in the lobby as we charge through the door.

- R O N N I E -

"We're getting overrun!" Evan's radio blares. The two of us sit on the sixteenth floor, having fended Chuni off our entire way up.

"You need to help them," I state, nodding at the radio. "Go."

"I can't," Evan responds, looking at me incredulously. "I have to kill him. Look at what he did!"

"I can take care of it," I respond quickly, gritting my teeth.

"No, no," Evan nods, his eyes darting around in distress. "You don't understand!"

"Yes, I do!" I exclaim as Evan looks at me in shock as I pause for a moment. "There's nothing worth fighting for without them, Evan!"

He gulps, dipping his head for a moment and gasping for air. He cocks his head to the side, trying to hold back a tear and miserably failing. He looks back, nodding. "Okay," he mutters, readying his crossbow and carrying himself downstairs. I ready my pistol, steeling my nerves.

This is everything. I'd been training my whole life for this moment, to save them. I can't fail now. I won't.

I rush for the stairs, gripping the railing and carrying my body up each concrete step. A bullet flies towards me from above, causing my heart to skip a beat and for me to crash into cover under the next level. "We're not done yet, asshole!" I scream, aiming upwards.

"Why won't you just fucking die already!" Chuni screams, and I hear a door push open and immediately slam shut. That could be a trap. I slip into an exit to this floor, searching for an alternate stairwell. This apartment tower has got to have something, I figure. My heartbeat almost overpowers the sound of gunfire outside. I hope they're okay.

On the other end of the hallway lies a secondary staircase. Bingo. I quietly open that door, listening for noise in between gunfire. Nothing. Aiming my gun upwards, I see nobody. Charging upwards, I ignore my caution as I fly up the floors.