Tesla Bethel
Lantern Staff
I awoke to the sound of screaming. Bolting upright, I tried to gather my bearings. I looked over at Ren petrified in the corner. I quickly gathered our things into our pack, and grabbed my small pistol. It was nothing fancy, just a normal 19 millimeter. Grabbing Ren, we darted outside the tent into the madness. I sat her with the pack in a small space between a cluster of boulders on the mountain side.
“Stay here until I give the signal okay?” I said looking at her face for any sign of confirmation when I saw the subtle tilt of her head up and down. I nodded before turning on my heel and rushing into the barrage of people. It was chaos, complete and total madness. I ran toward the center of the town to see the Sirens trying to calm everyone, but also keep the enemy at bay. I ducked behind a tattered tarp and peeked around the corner. About 50 yards away was the medical center. It didn’t take long to realize they were soldiers, and not ours. The symbol on the uniform was a red dragon with a gold ring cutting through the center. They were a special task force.
I looked in horror as I saw Maya fall to the ground in front of me, her eyes lifelessly staring at my tattered shoes. I put a hand over my mouth to keep from making noise. If they found me, I would soon be dead too. My hands were clammy as I gripped the pistol tighter. I took a deep breath, and made a quick glance around the edge of the tarp. Five. There were five soldiers at the medical center. One was beginning to line people up, people who weren’t resisting. Another soldier shot those who attempted escape, while one gathered the dead the other dug for supplies while the last one was on patrol.
I turned back to see a face staring into mine. I bit back a scream as a hand clamped over my mouth. The normal glow in his eyes was gone, he felt cold and unmoving as he mouthed to me to get down. I barely had time to duck down before the explosion happened. My ears were ringing, but the tarp was still intact. I looked around to see fire billowing from behind the medical center. I watched as two of the five soldiers stopped what they were doing to investigate, but only after they shot a man who had surrendered to elicit more fear. That means there were three I had to take care of before I got caught or killed.
Before I could even think Axyl darted behind another tent to my right, but he wasn’t fast enough. One of the men began to approach where Axyl sat crouched and hidden, but his back was to me. I had one shot, and considering the man was only 10 feet away, I better not miss. I steadied my breathing as I looked down the center of the barrel. I aligned it with his head. I didn’t have a silencer, so it was going to draw attention of the other two. I pulled the trigger. The gun kicked back, and I watched, entranced, as the man fell like a crumpled-up paper doll, a single bullet through his head. My aim was slightly off, for the bullet was not centered, but the fact I managed to hit him at all was a feat. But what rocked me the most wasn’t my aim.
I had just killed a man, and I felt nothing.
