The Unbreakable Lily Rain

Ready to Run

~~Lily's POV~~

The wait for dusk to fall was excruciating. Every fiber of my being screamed at me to sprint through the door with reckless abandon, because surely what was on the other side couldn't be as terrible as the monster sitting in front of me. I fought back the onslaught of flashbacks as I tried to put my feelings aside and focus on our escape.  

We had been discussing strategy for hours. For a while, I managed just fine. Even with shaking hands and sweat trailing down my back, I kept my mind clear enough to remember my training. When the last fleck of daylight vanished, we would take our stations on either side of the door. Our captors would be here to give us food around that time, and we would only have seconds to incapacitate our assailants and take their weapons. From there, we would move along the wall of the closest building to try preserving our cover, being sure to duck below any windows as we passed by. If no cover was available as we moved forward, or if the underground opened into a building instead of the outdoors, Cassius and I would be forced to use each other as cover. We would move as a unit, back to back as we press forward and try to figure out how to escape the enemy territory.  

Of course, the latter scenario would be significantly more complicated. If our underground cells didn't directly lead us outdoors, we would only have a short amount of time to map the floor plan of the building we were held in before more guards discovered the bodies of those we were sure to disarm in our cells. In addition, our only cover would be each other, and we weren't exactly a stellar team. I cringed at the thought of my personal safety being in the hands of Cassius, but my one consolation was that he wanted to escape just as much as I did. 

He would have to rely on me too.   

We discussed taking their clothes to blend with the other enemies, but decided that changing would make us lose precious time, and we didn't look middle eastern anyway, so tricking them was out of the question.  

Engaging the enemy was almost inevitable, but we needed to do so quietly if we wanted any chance of getting out alive. That meant that even if we had guns, we couldn't use them unless absolutely necessary. While Cassius seemed worried, this was almost reassuring to me. If we encountered anyone as we tried to escape, hand to hand combat would be necessary. 

This had always been my forte. Shooting, on the other hand, was a different game entirely. It wasn't that I was a terrible shot, just that I hated holding a gun, and was much more comfortable using my body as a weapon.  

As the light peaking under the door began to dim, a quiet resolve stretched between the two of us.  

I was the one to break it. 

"If one of us is injured. The other has to keep going. Waiting will only bring death to both of us." 

"Wha-" Cassius seemed stunned back to silence. The words I had spoken went against all of our training.  

Never leave a fellow soldier behind. 

"That's ridiculous! No way in hell we're leaving each other. It's a wasteland out there. We'll lose our minds if we go at it alone. Plus-" 

"-And we won't even make it out of this camp if we try to drag an injured person behind. I'll take my chances out in the desert alone before taking on an entire army to protect you. We're not friends. We just need each other until we get out of here. Then I'm leaving you anyway. Who cares if I have to do it a bit early?" I snapped. 

Cassius' mouth fell open. Even I was shocked at my outburst, but for some reason, I knew it didn't show. The shaking in my hands had changed from tremors of fear to pure fury, and the roaring fire that still slept within me was sparking back to life. For the first time since we were in the Citadel, I looked him in the eyes.