FALLOUT

7

This was my favorite time of day. The light just before dawn had a pure quality that seeped in through your pores and recharged the soul. It was the promise of something new. Of possibility. And maybe, in the future, I would look back on this sunrise and remember it as the day something new began.

"Up with the sun, like always." Wyn hoisted himself up the last rung of the ladder and onto the ground next to me, bending his knees and crossing his arms on them. I had a great vantage point, at the top of the chasm, looking out through an opening in the trees to the distant horizon. "You should stay here." He looked at me, concern etched across his features.

My jaw stiffened and I looked back out towards the sunlight. "That's not happening."

"I know." 

I looked at him, and he shrugged. "I had to try. I knew you'd never agree to it, but it's my job to protect you."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not your job anymore, Wyn."

"Yes you are," he said simply. "A man should protect the woman he loves." His green eyes almost the color of the forest around us were soft, the few flecks of brown in the one on the right showing through in the sunlight. He leaned towards me slowly and our lips met, brushing lightly against each other and lingering for a moment before parting. "I love you, Bex," he whispered, forehead coming to rest against mine.

"I love you, too," I said, and smiled. "But I'm still going."

He let out a chuckle. "I would expect no less."

The ropes of the ladder let out a squeak and we separated, Wyn standing and helping me to my feet. 

The Protectors started to file up and out of the chasm, war paint on their faces, and weapons strapped to their bodies. Ezzarah came to stand next to me, a large wide red stripe painted in a line horizontally across her eyes, setting off their grey color. The fierce warrior was back. And I would be the one to be honored to have her by my side today.

Theon joined us. "There are many traps in the field outside The Berm. We will have to proceed with caution which will mean we have a greater chance of being seen before we breach the perimeter. Archers will hold in the trees at the forest edge and provide cover for the invading party. We are trained for this." Everyone nodded in agreement and we set out.

About an hour later, The Berm in sight, we stopped at the end of the treeline. About three quarters of our group ascended the trees like it was nothing, settling into branches high above the ground, which left about a dozen of us for the invasion. Theon had intel on where Callum's headquarters were, but I knew where we would find him. 

"I will lead the way," Theon instructed. He nodded at Wyn. "You stay behind me." Then nodded at me. "You stay behind Ezzarah." Ezzarah grabbed my arm and squeezed it. "We will guide you through the field. Everyone else will provide cover."

We set out across the dry dusty field. Theon held a staff, tapping the ground in front of him as we walked swiftly but carefully. Every once in a while, the ground in front of him would give way and collapse, revealing pits. Some filled with primitively sharpened sticks, others with rusty pieces of metal. 

Suddenly, a cannon boomed off in the distance and the ground exploded in front of us, sending rocks and dust and dirt into the air. Gunfire rattled and bullets pelted the ground in front of us and I ducked down, Ezzarah's arm coming over my face to shield it. Arrows flew overhead from our archers in the trees and the grunts and cries of Abidtorian soldiers that they came to rest in echoed out across the field, their bodies thudding to the ground and rolling lifelessly down The Berm. There were too many of them and not enough of us. Ezzarah's eyes met mine. We had no choice but to run.

She pulled me up and the first thing I saw was Wyn, striding behind Theon and glancing back every two seconds, trying to keep me in his sights. Theon's staff hit a trap and he dodged to the left but Wyn's attention was on me and he stepped right into the hole, falling out of sight.

"Wyn!!!" The scream escaped my mouth with such strength that my throat gave out under the force of it. Instinct had me darting towards him but hands snatched me back, Ezzarah pulling at me.

"We must keep going!" she yelled and my eyes met hers. "You have to be smart."

She was right. Wyn would be fine. Another cannon-fire exploded close to us and we ducked, the dust and grit biting into my face and clouding my eyes. My ears rang and I shook my head, trying to orient myself again, everything seeming to move in slow motion. Ezzarah was shaking me, yelling and suddenly she stopped, slumping over onto me in a heap, the back of her head malled by a bullet. Shock swept over me and I lifted her head, her lifeless grey eyes staring back at me. Tears stung the rough surfaces of my eyes and I looked around me, and found Theon. He looked at me, worry spread across his face, then looked out towards The Berm. Looked out towards the man standing still as a statue among his soldiers as they decimated The Protectors. Callum.

A/N:

😱😱😱😱😱😱😱 What just happened? Wyn is trapped and likely mamed. Ezzarah is dead. 😭😭 And Callum has made his appearance.