Sky King II: Reborn

Chapter VIII

Kuu was rudely awoken by Oliver shaking her shoulder, the morning sun above the trees. Her face was covered in sweat, like the rest of her body, and when about to ask her why he woke her, he held a finger to his lips. Oliver pointed to the clearing, Kuu sitting up and straining her eyes to look between the trees across the way, noticing the brush moving around. The shapes of people began to form, clearly holding weapons and attempting to sneak on their position or at least setup for an attack. Kuu very slowly reached for her rifle next to her, apparently the wrong move to make.

A loud crack nearly deafened her right ear, the young woman ducking down with Oliver as bullets pelted the trees and ground around the rebel position. The sudden hail of bullets caught a few of the rebels to her right, screaming and groaning in pain. Oliver knelt with his rifle in arms, firing back at the enemy without thought. Kuu put her arms over her head as a shot landed just above where she was, throwing dirt over her body. The cracking of bullets breaking the sound barrier made her flinch constantly, the young woman's chest tightening in fear, a yell for help escaping her already agape mouth.

Oliver ejected the last bullet casing in his rifle and saw the cowering Kuujiro next to him. Ducking low, he shouted at her to get her attention, the black haired woman only curling up tighter. Oliver shook her shoulder until she finally removed her arms from her head, the once slightly nervous face now one of pure terror. He grabbed her rifle with one hand and shoved it towards her.

"The only way we're making it out of this alive is if you get up and start shooting!" He yelled, placing the weapon in her arms and reloading his own. She knew he was right but her body wouldn't respond at all, overtaken and controlled by the anxiety rippling throughout her system. Oliver knelt up again, shooting twice more before almost getting hit by another cracking shot.

For some reason, seeing her newly made acquaintance almost lose his life like that struck a fuse of electricity in Kuu's body. With the anxiety still holding power, she forced her hands to flip the safety on her rifle, peering over the top of the trench and aiming down the iron sights. It was difficult to see exactly where the enemy was through the brush, only catching the muzzle flashes after shots, choosing to fire in the direction of the nearest one. Not knowing if she hit something or not, Kuu pulled the bolt back and loaded another bullet, aiming down range once more.

Kuu was about to pull the trigger when she heard Harold's voice, shouting to cease fire. Looking to the side of her iron sights, the young woman saw the enemy fleeing through the trees, realizing there were only a handful of them escaping. Either the rebel group had killed plenty of them in the short skirmish or worse, the ones that engaged them were only a scouting party, running back to the bunker to notify the rest of the soldiers about their position.

Only thinking about this for a second, the black haired woman slumped back, hyperventilating from the anxiety regaining complete control. Oliver flipped the safety on both of their firearms, shouting for help, thinking the girl was shot somewhere. Both Harold and Shayla appeared next to him in the trench, the old man groaning in pain when settling down next to Kuujiro.

"Where are you hit?" The red haired woman asked, Kuu able to shake her head while struggling for breath. Harold wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, the action immediately helping to calm her down.

"Anxiety disorder," he explained to his second in command, who nodded in understanding and went to help the actually injured rebels with a box of medical supplies in hand. Oliver looked a bit relieved she wasn't wounded, the old man turning his head to thank him.

"You look familiar," the former general said to him, Oliver laughing and rubbing the back of his head.

"Private Oliver Kendell, 106th Infantry Company A," he said with a small salute, "I went to basic with her father way back when,"