REVENGE (2nd book of FEAR)

- chapter nine -

His lips twitched into a grin as he slept on the hot desert sand. The warmth that surrounded him was not due to the rising sun; the touch of the girl's skin was hot against him.

Her red curls itched his nose, and she laughed. His smile grew. His arms were wrapped around her tightly, and his sharp chin rested against her cheek. Her face nuzzled into his neck farther.

"LOCUS!"

The soldier flinched, his mind clinging on to the dream. The shouting continued, and something shook his body. Was it an earthquake? Where did the girl go?

His eyes shot open, focusing on Johnny. The boy was hovering over him, his long locks falling over his facial features. Locus felt anger towards him, and he wanted desperately to fall back into the dream. It took him a second to realize that Johnny was screaming something other than his name.

"What is going on?" The mercenary pushed Johnny off of him forcefully, holding his head like it hurt. The sudden light of the desert sun flooded into his eyes. He squinted at the boy who continued to babble nonsense.

"It's Camille and Daniels. They're gone," the words tumbled out of his mouth in a fury, "No note, no sign of them anywhere." Locus bolted to his feet as soon as it spilled out of Johnny.

His fearful eyes darted across the desert horizon. The two men flinched as a gunshot sounded in the distance. Locus immediately bolted for the sand dunes that lay east of him, his heart pounding in his throat.

It didn't take long for him to reach the top of the hill. His legs were trembling, but he wasn't sure if it was from the exertion or his nerves. At the bottom of the hill were two figures on top of one another.

Locus stopped for a moment, watching breathlessly as the top figure was thrown off of the bottom person. The body landed on the sand with a thud, and Locus heard the other figure cough weakly.

"Liz!" The mercenary called for the girl who struggled to get to her feet. He sprinted down the sand dune, his feet failing to stay grounded and ended up sliding down the hill.

When he reached her, Liz stood gazing at the body laying on the sand. Her back was turned, and a magnum fell from her hand and on to the ground.

"What the hell happened?" Locus wheezed, struggling to regain his breath. Sand filled his lungs, and his tongue was too dry to swallow.

Liz turned to him slowly, her body armor caked in fresh blood. He was unsure if it belonged to her or not. Her left shoulder's bandage was torn open, exposing her wound to the open air. The girl began to wobble, her feet failing to remain stable on the sand.

"Hey," Locus barked like he was waking her up from a nightmare, his voice filled with concern and urgency. She fell forward into his arms, her green eyes rolling into the back of her head.

"Liz!" The soldier screamed, catching her before she could hit the ground. Johnny wasn't far behind him, and he bolted past the two towards the body laying motionless on the ground.

His fingers searched the figure's neck and wrists frantically. Locus watched as the boy wiped his nose with the back of his sleeve and stood with hesitance. His eyes were full of horror when he spoke.

"Daniels is dead."