The One Who's Fallen

Chapter 127

Our first real battle against the Maunon starts with the alarm screaming in the background.

"Did you really aim for her gun?" Lexa asks me as we advance towards them.

"Nah, I aimed for her stomach." I admit.

Lexa chuckles and twirls her swords threateningly. The Maunon guards look absolutely terrified of us. Mainly the three men practically hiding behind the woman who identified herself as Smitty.

"Come on, you idiots have guns!" She urges them, holding up a different gun with her non-dominant hand. "They brought swords to a gun fight!"

The men don't seem to hear her. "Which one do you think is the savage leader? The hot one or the other one?"

"Dude they're both hot, what are you talking about?"

Smitty lets out an exasperated sigh. She raises her gun and points it at us, looking menacing despite how it's shaking in her grip. She clenches her teeth and uses her other hand, the injured one, to help aim it. I raise an eyebrow, impressed. I know how painful breaking your fingers are, and she's not only powering through it, she's using that hand still.

The men seem to snap to attention when Smitty growls out more orders to them. After a moment of hesitance, they get out from behind her and aim their own guns. Their grips are more shaky than Smitty's was, and they don't  have the excuse of not using their dominant hand and having broken fingers.

I find myself even more grateful that Raven insisted on making us bulletproof vests to put underneath our armor. Because I don't see how Lexa and I are getting out of this without a bullet or two being shot at us.

One of the guys shoots and it goes wide, hitting the wall by me. It's as if something has clicked in the others. Maybe they've finally realized their lives are in danger. Maybe they noticed how close we are. Maybe the gunshot scared them, a booming sound echoing throughout the halls, loud enough to drown out the blaring alarm for a moment. Soon enough, three more guns are being fired at us.

I grunt as the force throws me backwards and suddenly I'm lying on my back staring at the ceiling. My ears are ringing, or is that the alarm? Lexa's face comes into view, a concerned expression on her face. I blink and squint as her mouth moves but only distorted sounds come out. There's a rushing sound in my ear, like I'm listening to a fast river and then I can hear her perfectly.

"-rke? Clarke? Hodnes (love), can you hear me?"

"Yeah I can," I confirm.

Lexa lets out a choked noise in relief. "Thank the Gods. Are you alright?"

"Kinda dazed," I admit. "Kinda feel like I've been hit by a truck."

"What is a truck?"

"Giant automobile. It's like getting hit by a Pauna. That's a better analogy."

Remembering the people we were fighting, I sit upright with wide eyes, nearly hitting Lexa's head with mine. She moves back just in time to avoid it and that's when I notice that all of the Maunon guards are on the ground, groaning.

"What happened?" I ask.

"I threw one of those 'startling' metal circles that Raven gave me."

"Startling metal..." I think for a moment. "Wait. Raven made a stun grenade? That woman is crazy, I swear." I grumble to myself. "Alright, they won't be down for long. We should get moving."

"Are you feeling well enough to move yet?" Lexa questions worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm good. Just knocked the wind out of me. What about you? Did anything hit you?" I ask, looking her over.

"I was grazed by one, but it only caused a small cut. The other one hit me here." Lexa points to her abdomen. "It does hurt, but not enough to cause alarm."

I frown at her. "Babe, the first thing we're doing when we get to a safe place is checking your stomach. No arguments."

Lexa nods and holds out her hand. I allow myself to be helped up and grunt as my torso moves.

"Float me, I'm going to be feeling those for a while." I groan. "Has anyone tried to contact us?"

"Not yet but they should soon. Come on, there is a storage closet nearby where we should not be disturbed."

I nod and follow her. We move more slowly, but I have to say, I would rather have a couple bruises than a bullet. Worth it.

As soon as we sit down on the floor in the closet, the radio crackles. "Bellamy here. Are you guys here? The alarm's going off. Should I proceed with plan Daedalus?"

"We're here, Bell." I say into the radio. "Yes, proceed with plan Daedalus."

"Alright, I'll get on that in a minute. Who else is with you?"

"Raven, Lincoln, and I are here too." Octavia says, her voice in a whisper. "Operation Pauna seems to be going well, there are a ton of guards headed Clarke and Lexa's way. Just a warning."

"Thanks, O. Good luck."

"You made her come?" Bellamy asks furiously.

"She offered. Insisted, actually." I reply. "Now if you don't mind, I'm going to make sure that my girlfriend doesn't have internal bleeding. Go ahead with plan Daedalus."

Bellamy sighs and the connection cuts off, leaving us alone in the storage closet. The alarm is muffled in here, and I gently push Lexa up against some shelves. There are some dusty boxes jutting out of them just far enough to mostly block us from sight in case anyone comes in.

I get on my knees in front of Lexa. "Take off your armor."

She nods and complies, taking off her chest piece and placing it on a taller box on the other side of her. She does the same with the bulletproof vest, until she's just in her bindings. I scoot closer to her and carefully study the large bruise blossoming across her lower right torso.

I carefully poke and prod it, taking note of when she hisses or sucks in a breath in pain. I'm glad she no longer hides her pain from me, otherwise this would be a lot more fun.

Satisfied that she doesn't have any internal damage, I'm about to get up when the door opens.

Next chapter, we'll see what happens ;) It won't be like you think... Thank you lovely people for all of the happy birthday wishes last chapter!! It really made my day! Thanks for reading and for your amazing comments! Stay awesome!