The Spirit Guardians Book 4: Liberated

Chapter 35

Cassie watched as the others divided themselves among the crowd, leaving only her, Marc, and Irene behind to take on Lynch. A group of their soldiers were heading their way. One soldier's eyes fell on Cassie in the midst of the chaos.

"To Lynch?" he asked, pointing to the large building in the distance where Lynch's office stood.

Cassie nodded, beginning to follow the group of soldiers headed toward the tower. Both Marc and Irene stood on either side of her in an effort to protect her. She wanted to push them away and tell them to defend themselves as well, but she knew they could not be persuaded, no matter how hard she tried.

The Preservers were beginning to send out armies of their own in retaliation. Cassie could still hear the rumbling of missile fire in the background as both sides clashed. She had worried for a few moments that they were trapped in the headquarters when the gates first shut, but as soon as their soldiers had made entry, she felt ready to fight again.

Bullets replaced the sound of cannonfire and bombs. Marc protectively wrapped an arm around her body as they ducked, continuing to march forward. She pushed his arm away as the soon as the fire ceased, afraid he would get the hit. She already was witnessing bodies dropping left and right in the distance, and the last thing she wanted was for one of her close friends or her fiancé to drop down with them.

Cassie's heart felt as if it were about to explode with each block they managed to make it through. She eyed Lynch's tall tower in the distance, wondering what her fate would be when they made it up there. Would they stand a chance? Would she be killed on the spot? She barely wanted to think about it.

As they turned the corner, a solder suddenly shouted, "Ambush!"

A group of Preserver tanks and soldiers had been quietly waiting for them at the corner. As soon as the first soldiers turned the corner, all weapons fired, and soldiers ran amuck, turning their formation into chaos. There were still civilians evacuating that were caught in the distress, and they were fleeing rapidly, tripping over those who had fallen to the ground injured or dead.

A line of shots began coming their way. Cassie yelped as Irene grasped her arm and pulled her to the side, away from the line of fire. Cassie reached out to Marc, their fingertips just barely touching before he got lost in the crowd. She called out for him, but she had lost him in the sea of people. Soldiers were darting left and right, avoiding gunfire.

"This way," Irene hissed, dragging Cassie to the left, away from the ambush. She led her quickly up the side streets, where it was eerily calm besides the sound of battle in the distance.

"But Marc—the others!" Cassie shouted, already beginning to feel the emotional turmoil that came with war. What if Marc had managed to get caught in the gunfire? What if he had been shot in the few minutes they were apart? Her body began to tremble.

"Listen to me," Irene snapped, grabbing Cassie by the shoulders. "Snap out of it for a second! We're still in battle, remember? Marc will be fine, but you were going to get shot if I didn't pull you out of the way."

"But the other soldiers! We're off track!" Cassie exclaimed, beginning to feel her breaths increase rapidly.

"I know where we're going. We can cut through these blocks here to get back on track with the others," Irene promised Cassie. She had loosened her grip on Cassie's shoulder, leaving a slight sting behind. Not that Cassie minded; it had broken her out of her fit for a second.

"Take a deep breath," Irene told Cassie.

She slowly inhaled and exhaled, beginning to focus again. Irene was right. Marc knew what he was doing. Some of the soldiers must have made it out of chaos and were heading back on track. If not, there were more soldiers headed toward Lynch anyway. They could still meet up with them.