THE ONES WHO LIVED

The raid

Kai and Lila and their dog Rex had left the supermarket, leaving behind their base and their home, their comfort and their safety, their love and their peace. They had taken the truck and the weapons, driving towards the base and the enemy, the trap and the ambush, the challenge and the message. They had driven for hours, following the map and the radio, the clues and the signals, the trail and the blood.

They had found the base, hidden and fortified, but still visible and reachable. They had seen the walls and the gates, the guards and the cameras, the flags and the symbols. They had seen the Blood Sugar Clan and their camp, their fire and their flesh, their weapons and their traps. They had seen their friends and their enemies, their allies and their targets, their victims and their captors.

They had seen Haley and the others, alive and tortured, but still fighting and resisting. They had seen Midas and his clan, armed and ready, but still unaware and overconfident. They had seen their opportunity and their chance, their opening and their moment.

They had attacked the base, with their truck and their weapons, with their skills and their tactics, with their courage and their rage. They had crashed the truck into the gate, breaking it open and creating a distraction. They had jumped out of the truck and started shooting, killing and injuring, clearing and advancing, fighting and surviving.

They had reached the main building, where they had seen Haley and the others, where they had seen Midas and his clan, where they had seen the horror and the madness. They had entered the building, with their guns and their knives, with their dog and their wits, with their hope and their vengeance.

They had found Haley and the others, locked and chained, but still alive and hopeful. They had freed them and armed them, giving them weapons and ammo, giving them water and food, giving them hugs and kisses. They had reunited with them and joined them, forming a team and a family, forming a force and a resistance.

They had also found Midas and his clan, eating and drinking, but still unaware and unprepared. They had surprised them and attacked them, shooting and stabbing, burning and hacking, killing and destroying. They had confronted them and fought them, facing their leader and their traitor, facing their brother and their enemy.

They had started the raid, the beginning of the end, the end of the beginning. They had started the battle, the battle that would decide their fate, their fate that would decide their future.

They had started the war, the war that would not end, until they said so.