Caught In The Crossfire//A 10k Story

Chapter 33

"Murphy no!" Warren screamed and ran forward. I stood there, swaying, in shock and regret at my stupid actions. Every thing sounded muffled as I stared at Murphy. "Jaime! You got Murphy?" Warren's voice was stern and she touched my shoulder tightly. I nodded slightly and they all run off, leaving me completely alone with Murphy. As 10k ran past, he grabbed my hand and kissed it quickly before running after the others.

I looked down at Murphy. He lay on the floor laughing. Why the heck was he laughing. "Murphy.....," I whispered and dropped to his side, blinking rapidly to clear my eyes. I ripped the bottom half of his top off and scrunched up the dirty material. "Where's the wound?" I asked him quietly, still in shock. He chuckled again and waved me away with his hand, sitting up and leaning against the desk. "Where is the fucking wound!" I shouted making him jump. I moved closer to him with the material still scrunched up in my shaking hand, ready to plug up the bullet hole.

He smiled again and grabbed my shoulder. "Jaime, the bullet grazed me! Barely drew blood, actually it doesn't even hurt, I truly am one L-U-C-K-Y son of a bitch!" He smiled and stood up fully. I threw the cloth to the floor and scoffed.

"Of fucking course! You know, I can't fucking believe you! What where you thinking? What if you did get shot? Hmm? That would have be on me. I would have been responsible for your death and that's not okay!" I shouted and pointed my finger at him. He stayed silent for a minute before opening his mouth. He slammed it shut again before looking up at me and cracking a smile. "You know, I liked this shirt," He chuckled. I stared at him before smiling slightly. At least he wasn't hurt. "You're an ass," I giggled and grabbed my machete off of the floor. I started to walk towards the exit with Murphy in tow.

I slowly crept around the corners of the unexplored base, holding my machete tightly and breathing slow. I heard someone cough and my whole body tensed. I relaxed when I heard a familiar voice. I stepped around the corner and was pulled into a hug. I instantly knew who it is and I melted into his embrace. "The bullet merely grazed Murphy," I chuckled into his chest, loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Well that's all fine and dandy but where is he?" Doc asked me, I could tell his eyebrows where raised without even looking at him. I pulled away from 10k and turned around while saying, "He's right behind me," I trailed off when I saw he wasn't stood behind me with a sly grin on his face like normal.

"He-he-he was right behind me!" I stuttered as I walk back the way I had came, fear dripping into my nerves. I got about halfway back to the lab when I saw an open door. The others followed behind me as I entered through the half open door.

"Decontamination unsuccessful!" A automated voice echoed through the speakers followed by long, loud alarms. Shit. Murphy set off the alarms. CZ said if we left without going through decontamination on the way out missiles would be sent here to destroy us and any other possible threats.

"Crap! We need to get out of here, Now!" Warren ordered and we burst through the door and began to sprint up the stairs towards the elevator. We all piled into the elevator and 10k repeatedly slammed the button to get us moving. "Uhhh guys..." Warren trailed off and all of our eyes moved down her outs stretched finger to a pile of..... "Skin?!" I shrieked.

I stepped back into 10k and he held my shoulder, making me feel a whole lot safer. Doc bent down and picked up the pile of skin and laughed. This seemed slightly psychotic to me. "Oh yeah. Murphy shed it like a snake!" He belted out a laugh and held it up for us all to see.

I had seen my fair share of gross-ness but this was way, way, way too much. This was Murphy's skin, all of it. I squealed and turned around, burying my face into 10k's tight chest. He wrapped one arm around me and grimaced. "Keep that and you could make a good pair of boots," Doc chortled and the elevator doors pinged open. The mood changed and we all remembered the life or death situation we were in.

We raced towards the exit, expecting the small herd of Z's to still me ambling around outside. Luckily today was our, kind of, lucky day and they had all disappeared. I didn't question it I just continued to run. We all crammed into the small black van outside, seeing as ours was missing. Most likely Murphy had taken it and left us behind. It must have been the doctor's vehicle. Warren squeezed into the drivers seat and messed around with the wires. I sat there, panting and trying to get back my breath when something in the sky catches my eye. "Warren, we need to go right now!" I shouted and she looked up.

A huge missile was heading straight at us. The engine roared to life and Warren steeped on the gas.

We sped down the road away from the lab, away from the missiles target. Warren yanked the wheel ad we swerved into a tunnel right as the missile struck the lab, sending the van flying across the tunnel. As we span I gripped onto 10k as tight as I could, flattening myself against him. His strong arms tensed around me as the van finally stopped, standing still right way up.

I brushed large shards of glass off of 10k's shoulder. He looked at me and cupped my face with both hands. "You okay? Are you hurt? Are-" He started to question as he looked me over. I pressed my lips to his and all was silent. "I'm fine To-10k," I stopped myself from saying his name, I didn't know if the others were listening. My heart was pounding and my breath was laboured, I could feel the start of a panic attack taking over my body.

We heard groans and grunts of pain an we both jumped up to check on our group. I squatted down beside Warren. She was unconscious in her chair, a nasty gash on forehead. "10k we need to get them out of the van!" I shouted with a shaky voice and coughed as I inhaled a shitload of dust. I leaned over and unbuckled her belt.

"Jaime, cover your mouth with something! There's a lot of fallout from the missile," 10k's worried voice broke my coughing fit. I flashed him a quick thumps up as I ripped off the bottom of my shirt, turning it into a cropped top, and ripping it again. I tied half of it around Warrens unconscious face and the other around mine.

I pushed open the drivers door and climbed clumsily over Warren and planted my feet solidly on the ground. I wrapped my arm around Warrens waist and hauled her out and onto the concrete. I hastily pressed my fingers against her neck. "Please, please, please," I mumbled under my breath. I felt a slow, but there, heart beat and sighed in relief.

"Is Doc okay?" I asked quickly when I saw 10k carrying Doc over his shoulder. He slowly laid him down on the road next to Warren. I saw that 10k had tied a piece of cloth around Doc mouth and nose too.

I looked around and scanned the area. I sighed and sat on the floor, defeated. I brought my knees up to my chest and sighed deeply again, all the feelings and emotions of the last few hours finally surfaced.

A felt a firm arm wrap around my shoulder and he kissed my head. "Everything will be okay," He mumbled and kissed my head again. I raised my head off of my knees and look at him, tears forming in the corner of my eyes. I thought for a while about what to say.

"What the hell do we do now?".