Perilous

Chapter 23

Lifeless bodies surfaced the ground, some faced down eating the dirt and others I could tell exactly what color eyes they have. Had. I still never got used to seeing this, even now. This wasn't supposed to happen. 

Eli must've saw the weary face I had on as I looked at the bodies and attempted to comfort me. 

"I'm sure there's a fine reason for this." But he didn't seem so convinced himself. We both knew Jamals men would be here, but these men didn't look like his men at all. 

We began walking towards the noise, leading right outside the cold wall of the facility. loud shootings filled my ears with images of bullets hitting through another body falling on the floor. I could hear yells from Marshalls men, I recognized some voices but hadn't heard Marshalls yet. I started to worry. 

"We need to go in." I urged Eli. 

"No, ill go in and you stay out here. Mr. Mathers will literally kill me if he sees you in cross fire." He said. 

"He won't know if he's dead. We don't know if he's alive or not. I'm going." I said moving in front of him but he stopped me before I could. 

"Fine fuck you're stubborn. Im checking if its clear we go in and follow me only." He said gripping my wrist still, to be sure I was listening. 

"Okay." 

He didn't need to open the doors because they were already blown open. Half his body was inside the facility peeking in with the other half outside. He finally turned to me and motioned me to keep low and follow him. As we went in we quickly fled behind large cylinder containers with hazardous signs plastered on them. 

"They can't see us we're too far back. I'm going up there just stay here, for once. If not for me then for Marshall. He wouldn't want you dead." He hissed out, but polite. 

"If I see anything Im coming." 

And we agreed. 

I stayed back with barely any room to see whats happening. Shots were still being fired and thumping sounds of bodies hitting the floor were echoing all the way to where I was squatted down at. I saw glimpses of Marshalls men running with guns in hand shooting and other glimpses of other men I've never seen before dressed in the same dark blue jumpers as the dead men Eli and I saw stranded outside. But then there were different men, dressed in all black, not the same uniforms as us but so close. Almost familiar. 

Then it hit me. 

Jamal is here, and this is really happening. 

My thoughts were interrupted as Thomas I think his name was, began coming towards me yelling with his arms strapped around another one of our men.

"There's too much blood coming out of him I don't know what to do! I can't hold it all in! I-" I stopped him from rambling even more and took off the jacket I had on. 

"Lay him behind here," we positioned him in the exact spot I was just hiding in. "Lift him up a little so I can put my jacket around him." I ordered him. 

With an easy oblige, I tightened my jacket around him timing its loose ends exactly where he'd been shot. 

"This isn't going to help for long. Your best bet is to get him out into the trucks and back at base." I say to him. 

That's going to take too long with me carrying him!" He starts to panic until the realization of him going alone alone and leaving his friend here was a possibility. 

"Yes, go." I say to him. 

As he sprinted away towards the trucks, I pulled his friend closer to the wall so he wouldn't get hit again. 

"Fuck get over there! Go!" I heard him yell and my mind finally felt at rest. He was alive. Of course he was, no one could kill him. It's Marshall. 

As I heard his voice, I looked over the containers and saw him yelling at Eli as he ran on the other side of the facility, shooting at targets in front of him again. I looked back at the man on the ground and made sure he was safe enough for me to leave him, and I did. I moved up closer to where everyone was fighting without being seen and got a better view of everyone. So many of our men were shot dead on the ground or getting beat up by five different guys at once. The men in jumpers and Jamals men had more control and that wasn't planned either. 

This shouldn't be happening.

A man beside Eli got shot dead, cutting it to only 3 men from our base alive and fighting. Eli didn't move a muscle, he kept his guard and backed up when he needed to for cover. Marshall was ahead of everyone, in lead, killing each man oppose of him without error. He was damn good at that. 

Without realization of what I was doing, my feet were headed towards Marshall. I was In plain sight running into the fire. I could feel eyes on me but I knew they weren't Marshalls because I haven't began to feel like I was burning from the inside yet.  

A man with a knife was coming into his direction from the side and without hesitation I shot him dead. It's like I wasn't in my own body anymore. 

I took a mans life.

This caught Marshalls attention. He looked at the body and it only took him a second to find me in the loud, large room. His eyes were intense his body became frigid. I haven't seen him like this in what seemed like ages. I couldn't help but run faster, I wanted to get to him. To fight beside him. To die beside him, if thats what it came to. 

I knew he was angry inside but he coolant fight the sly smile playing at his lips at the sight fo me running towards him with a gun in hand. 

"Don't shoot her! It's Amira don't shoot her!" That voice struck me like lightening. Enough to make me stop running. 

And I became cold again. Frozen in place. Frozen inside. 

It all happened so quick, my mind was focused on Jamal and because of this I was unaware that Marshall wasn't in my sight anymore. 

He looked older, more tired. His scruff turned into a small beard and I almost didn't recognize him with his head shaved into a buzz cut. Jamal was truly no longer Jamal. 

"Amira." I heard him breathe into the air. 

"Jamal." I said back, with only a flick of Marshall being pulled away, looking into me, trying to get out of the mens grip. But it looked so slow. 

Everything was slow.