The Overlord Trilogy: The Darkness

13 • The Price Of Living

Two Hours Ago, Samantha: I shoot without another thought. George falls to the ground, holding his stomach and looking at me with betrayal in his eyes.

"I'm sorry." I whisper under my breath. George falls to the ground, facing the sky. I run to Logan. "Are you okay?" He nods and looks at George's body.

"I'm sorry you had to kill him." I shake my head and grab Logan's hand, trying to forget the look in George's eyes. 

"We have to get to Bridge Haven right?" He nods and we walk towards the Pat-Pat-Pat of gunfire in the distance.

~~~

Now, Samantha: I shoot a Nightlock soldier as he runs across the street for cover. It is a dead on hit to the head, the soldier explodes before his body falls to the ground. Bullets fly past my head as I dive for more cover. I hear Logan shout from behind me but nothing processes. A silver object falls onto the ground next to Logan and me. It only takes me a second to realize what the object is.

"Run!" I grab Logan's hand and run. 5...4...3... We dive into an abandoned apartment building as the Tactics Module explodes. The air begins to be sucked towards the explosion site pulling Logan and me back towards the street. We hold onto the windowsill as the pull intensifies. I let out a scream as I hear a pop from my wrist, one of my hands letting go of the windowsill. The pull stops causing Logan and I to fall to the ground. Logan yells at me but I only hear my heart beat as I look at my wrist, now a dark purple. He lifts me up and helps me inside the apartment building, shooting behind me. An explosion sends us to the ground inside the building, glass shooting everywhere. I turn and see two more soldiers get shot from outside the apartment, two more explosions launching Logan and me backwards. I hit my head on something hard, my vision filling with black dots.

Suddenly I am being carried through the street, behind me fire and smoke bellowing into the air. I turn my head and see Logan, blood running down his face and dripping onto my stomach. I try to sit up but am too weak to move at all. My forehead is throbbing making it hard for me to think. I look behind me and see soldiers run through the fire, shooting towards us. My vision goes dark as I slip into the warm arms of unconsciousness.

~~~

Now, Kali Lane: I stand, back to the wall, waiting for the soldier to pass. Two bullets fly down the hall and through the glass. I shut my eyes and focus on making my breathing quiet. I hear the soldier's footsteps as they run down the hall, nearing my position. As the soldier is about to run past me I turn and slit their throat. The soldier falls to the ground gurgling as blood pours out of their neck. The soldier is wearing ragged clothes, not Nightlock gear. I kneel down next to the soldier and turn them over. I catch my breath when I see the soldier's face. She is young, around her twenties. Her hair spreads out loosely onto the ground, blood around her neck and head.

After searching her of weapons I check the ammo in the Venom rifle. It's an older model but it will have to do. I clean off my knife before putting it through my belt loop and making my way out of the shop.

Pat-Pat-Pat.

I make my way down the road as quickly and quietly as I can. I only have to kill two soldiers, both Alliance, before I see the evacuation zone. Spotlights shine into the sky, aiming at Nightlock warships, while Alliance soldiers guard like a wall. There are watch towers lining the base with Multi-shot Ordinance guns attached. The guns fire at the buildings, explosions signifying their kills. I run towards the gate waving my hand in the air. Soldiers at the fence aim and shoot at something behind me but I don't need to turn around to know what it is. An explosion sends me in the air and onto the ground a couple feet from the fence. Soldiers, Alliance, run out of the gate and help me inside. One soldier, Tom by his name tag, points me to the main building where the evacuation was underway. As I neared the ground shook as two pods launched into the air.