GOLDEN REBEL HEART

Chapter 14

So many things are going to happen in the next few chapters! New charachters are going to make an appearance, and the tension between Karlie and Taylor will grow even more. It will be one hell of a roller coaster, but I love slow burns and angst, so be patient with me. When Kaylor will happen, it will be worth it, believe me. 

But for now, enjoy this new chapter!

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The night of the eleventh day of May was when the plan was born. Capture of the Bridge. That was its name. This battle's name. Banapur was eerily quiet and strangely cold, threatening clouds covering most of the dark sky; but the moon was out, hanging high above them and illuminating everyone's faces, and Karlie gathered every soldier of the Golden Path around her. The leader stands on a box, in order to be able to see everyone. Various civilians stand around the soldiers, some of them holding onto their husbands or onto their sons. Taylor is between Sanjay and Ashawary, a few feet away from Karlie. The American is nervous, heart beating wildly inside her ribcage. Everyone, including Karlie, wears their light blue uniform, and Taylor fiddles with the yellow bandana around her waist. There's a moment of silence, where the leader readily meets her sapphire gaze, and then she begins.

"The moment we've all been waiting for is here," the leader speaks, her words determined and flying around the night breeze. "It's here for a second time. We've conquered the Bridge once, but this time, it's going to be harder. The Royal Army has reinforced their defenses, and in order to do that, they've built a wall. A high, insuperable and indestructible wall," Karlie takes a deep breath and holds her head high. "Thanks to various sources, we are now aware that grenades aren't able to destroy it. Not even the composition C-4 is able to take it down. But that doesn't mean that we have no way to destroy this wall. We have, we are able to take it down," the rebel standing on the box bites her bottom lip and briefly glances at Taylor. "But it's going to be difficult. We have one chance to take it down and conquer the outpost of the Bridge," she takes another deep breath. "I have found out, with the help of other soldiers, that a tanker truck belonging to the Royal Army will arrive here, in the South, tomorrow night, in order to help the remaining soldiers of the Royal Army to sneak an attack on us. We have found out this information thanks to the enemies that we've questioned, and they gave us the position they're going to receive this tanker truck. And the plan is this," Karlie's eyes meets Taylor's, and the American holds her breath. "We are going to take possession of that tanker truck, and once we will have done that, one of us will drive it towards the Bridge and crash it against the wall. This way, the explosion will be massive, and it will cause the destruction of the wall. Once we've taken it down, the Golden Path will get inside the outpost and fight with everything we have. It's the only chance we have, and we can't let this slide."

When Taylor looks around herself, she sees the various men and women nod with determined smiles on their faces.

And when she looks back at Karlie, the competitive look within her jade eyes makes the American's hands quiver with excitement. "So, let me ask you one final question," she stands, with broad shoulders and a hopeful smile on her lips. "Are you ready for combat?"

The soldiers around Taylor explode with cheers, their arms held high, and the sight makes the smile on Karlie's face grow. She mimics their actions, holding her fist high in the sky, and the American can't help but nod as soon as the leader meets her gaze.

She didn't sleep that night. Taylor kept tossing and turning, wrinkled sheets clinging to sweaty skin. Her mind was too preoccupied with what would happen the following day. She needed to do something. She couldn't just help the soldiers fight when the wall was already destroyed. She's been back for three weeks, but still, she felt like she wasn't doing her best. The American was here, she was back to being a soldier and fighting for a country that wasn't even hers, and yet, she still felt like she was still in New York City. She was hesitant, she was selfish, and when she sees danger, she runs away. Taylor felt like a fish, desperately looking for the way back home but facing nothing more than the endless ocean. The smiling face of her dead ex-girlfriend stared back at her, the image sitting fruitlessly on top of her nightstand beside her mother's ashes. She missed Dianna; going back to America had brought back too many bad memories, because here in Pradesh she had finally breathed again, at the beginning of January, when she was still unaware of everything. But she didn't miss her love. It wasn't like she was still in love with her. Taylor's heart was now infatuated with someone else, and although the situation was far too complicated for her, she welcomed the distraction with open arms. The American still didn't know how to deal with her strong feelings for Karlie, but that was a problem she will have to deal with when all of this is over. When all of the battles will stop and she won't have to go around the streets with a revolver hanging from her waist.