“Okay,” he didn’t argue, knowing that he didn’t have the time. He did, however, turn to Ezra. “We need to pull back into the corridors, give them less room to work with so that it’s easier to fight them.”
“Agreed,” Ezra said.
“Retreat into the Citadel,” Caleb shouted to those around them, protecting Kiara as they skirted along the wall and made their way inside, Ezra and Diana right behind.
“We need to divide their attention,” Diana said once they were in the lobby.
“Caleb and I will go that way, towards the infirmary,” Kiara said.
“Ezra, you follow me then.”
As they parted ways, what remained of the campers began to enter the building, some through the main doors and others through the parking garage, so they could spread throughout the building.
“Over here!” Kiara called out, a bullet narrowly missing her as Caleb pulled her out the way.
“That was close.”
“Too close,” he agreed, pushing open the door to the stairwell. “Up we go. Keep your head low.”
They barely made it up two flights before the four campers following them caught up. One of them tugged Caleb’s foot out from under him, making him fall against the stairs with an ‘oof!’
Kiara levelled her foot with their face in retaliation, sending them tumbling over the railing and back down the steps. Caleb was able to turn over and pull one to the floor, but another leapt over them both and collided with Kiara. As they bashed into the wall, the man lost his footing, which allowed Kiara to slam her palm into his chest, then boot him in the side when he fell to the ground.
“Give up already!”
“Never!” a blonde-haired woman cried out from below.
Tired of their dogged determination to ruin everything, Kiara pulled a gun out of the hands of the man she had just kicked and threw it directly at the woman’s head. It bounced off the side of her face with a crack and she collapsed, dazed.
“Nice throwing arm,” Caleb commented, looking impressed as he picked himself up off the stairs. He was leaning slightly to one side, compensating for an injury.
“I was always the bowler whenever we played rounders at primary school, my team rarely lost a match.”
“No kidding.”
“Shall we?” she said, nodding up the stairs.
“After you.”
~
Diana and Ezra found themselves sprinting down the long corridor towards the south wing. If they kept going all the way round, eventually they would meet up with Caleb and Kiara at the infirmary, but they had to deal with those following them first.
And those ahead.
"Duck!" Diana cried when she spotted them.
They moved quickly in opposite directions, flattening their bodies against the walls of the corridor so each group ended up shooting at each other. That took care of three of them without either of them having to lift a finger. Diana ran towards one group and Ezra went for the other. She lost sight of him as she attacked the two that had been trying to ambush them by coming up from the parking garage.
They both looked apprehensive when they saw the sheer focus on her face, having never come to blows with her before. She dropped into a roll at the last moment, sweeping their feet out from under them. In a flash, she was standing again and delivering a boot to the side of one of their heads. The other dodged out of the way and spun around on their back, aiming at their gun at her. A bullet lodged itself in her shoulder, but she didn’t stop. Ripping the piece from their hand, Diana leaned over and smashed the barrel of it into their face three times, leaving behind a broken nose and two missing teeth.
Diana whipped her head round to see where Ezra had got to and found that he had been shoved against the wall, a man’s hands around his throat.
“HEY!” she boomed, her voice echoing through the corridor.
The distraction was enough to make the man loosen his grip. Ezra struck out so quickly with his knee that the man ended up stumbling backwards. Diana shot him in the kneecap before he could regain his balance and he screamed, falling back against the nearby window. He banged his head against the windowsill and knocked himself out. She knew what Ezra had said about not badly injuring people unless it was necessary, but they had gone far past that point.
"Still quick on the draw, I see," he said.
"And you haven't got complacent with age, I'm impressed."
"By most Elders' standards, I'm still a young man."
"Don't let them hear you saying that," Diana said with a wicked smirk.
For a moment, it felt just like old times, then a burst of gunfire from upstairs brought them crashing back to reality.
“Let’s go take care of them,” Ezra suggested.
“I’ll be right behind you.”
~
It hadn’t taken long for things in the infirmary to get hectic. Hallie was already starting to feel overwhelmed as person after person piled in, some looking for a quick fix, others who were out for the count and needed patching up just enough so that they didn’t slip away while they were busy taking care of everyone else.
They hadn’t had anyone attack yet, the benefits of being on the top floor, but they could hear the fighting getting closer. Lily was doing everything she could to keep those in real distress quiet and calm while they waited for a healer to become available, but that was tiring work.
“How much longer is this going to go on for?” Hallie asked as another person hobbled in through the door with a gash in their leg.
“However long it takes for one side to win,” Aaren said.
“Can you tell whether one side is making headway over the other?” Will directed his question to Lily, as she was the one who was able to sense those around them.
“No, it’s a mess out there,” she said, shushing a young woman who had tears streaming down her face, her arm was burned so badly.
He didn’t really get a chance to look disappointed, as Aaren suddenly called out, “Incoming!”
“This way too!” Priya shouted back.
As the three of them stepped out into the corridor, Hallie returned her focus to the older man whose stab wound she was cleaning.
“You are Hallie, right?” he asked her.
His breathing was shallow as he had already lost a lot of blood.
“Yes, just try to stay quiet if you can. I need to be able to concentrate to heal this up,” she said as softly as she could. She didn’t want the stress to make her snappy.
“I fear my wounds might be too great.”
“Not if I have anything to say about it.”
He ignored her. “Will you do something for me?”
The man was only just able to get the end of the sentence out before he started coughing, blood seeping out from between his dry lips.
He beckoned her closer with a tilt of the head and she obliged, only because she believed he was going to continue to be stubborn if she didn’t do as he asked.
“There’s a letter in the top desk drawer in my office, give it to Ezra after the battle is done. He’s the only one I trust to carry out my last wishes.”
“You’re not going to die,” she tried again.
“Just don’t forget,” he whispered, his voice fading.
Hallie pulled away from him, laying her hands on his chest so she could start healing, but she couldn’t feel anything. All she could see within him was cold and darkness. He was already gone.
“Damn it!” she cursed, kicking a nearby crate.
“We can mourn him later, pick another patient and start healing,” Eshe said.
Hallie knew that Eshe was right, that she couldn’t waste time because of the sheer amount of people who needed their help, but she still took a couple of seconds to carefully slide his eyelids closed. Whoever he was, she would make sure Ezra got his letter.
~
Caleb and Kiara managed to make it to the top of the staircase without any more mishaps, stopping to take a breather once they we
re in the corridor.
“The infirmary is around the corner and down the end of the next hallway,” Caleb said, leaning against the wall. “Once we’re there, we can check on everyone, see how many people they’ve had make their way up here so far.”
“Okay,” Kiara agreed.
When he could hear his breathing again over the sound of his pounding heart, he righted himself and started to make his way down the corridor, only for the end of it to be blocked by a massive man, covered in all sorts of weapons.
“Oh crap,” he said.
The man thundered towards them, each step making the walls and floors shake. He and Kiara looked at each other and set off at a run, linking hands so that they formed a barricade with their arms. As their barrier collided with the man’s stomach, they all bounced off each other, getting tossed every which way.
Caleb was the first to his feet, snatching up a blade that had fallen off the man’s belt. He intended to disable him with it, but the large fella snatched a flash bomb off his shoulder strap and lobbed it at Caleb. Without even thinking, Caleb batted it back then turned away as it went off in the man’s face, violently blinding him.
The noises that the man made in response to his loss of vision sounded like he was about to erupt like a volcano. This wasn’t good.
Caleb prepared himself to take another run at the man, but he as was spinning around and flailing in pain, he was shaking other things loose from his small armory. He watched in horror as a grenade with no pin bounced its way down the hallway towards them, coming to a stop at his feet.
The elevator pinged behind them and Caleb turned on his heel, hurling his body against Kiara’s. As the explosion went off, they were both thrown onto the floor of the cabin, which shook from the force of the blast. There was a moment of silence where he thought that his plan had worked, then, with an ear shattering screech, the elevator dropped, taking them both with it.
Chapter Thirty-One
Kiara let out a shriek when the lift came to a shuddering halt, having only fallen a couple of floors. The failsafe must have kicked in for now.
“Hey,” Caleb said, touching her arm. “Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine. You managed to push us out of the way in time,” she assured him.
“Good,” he said. “Because it looks like we might be trapped.”
Oh no. This was Kiara’s worst nightmare, she hated small spaces.
“Just breathe, okay?” Caleb told her, punching the emergency help button as he got back onto his feet.
“What’s that going to do?” she asked, knowing that no one was on the desk downstairs, they were all too busy fighting.
“If someone passes by, maybe they’ll hear it and come get us.”
“What do we do until then?”
“Try the doors, see whether or not we’re between floors,” he suggested.
Together, with a lot of brute force, they were able to pry the doors open far enough to see about a foot of the next floor’s exit.
“If we can get those open, we can get you through,” Caleb said.
“Surely you should go first? I’m the one who can’t die if things go wrong.”
“There’s no way I’ll fit. Better that you get out there and find some help, just in case this thing doesn’t hold.”
Kiara didn’t look so keen.
“Just, trust me, okay?”
“Okay.”
Caleb crouched down so Kiara could sit on his shoulders. Once she was up, the lift creaked a little, but didn’t move.
“I think we’re okay. Go ahead.”
Kiara decided to focus on one of the doors first, forcing it as far as she could push without losing grip, before doing the same with the other.
“Great, now get down and I’ll give you a proper boost.”
Kiara slid down his back, landing as softly as she could so she didn’t disturb anything, then used his linked hands as a springboard to catch onto the edge. She let out a groan as she pulled herself through the small gap, the weight of her entire body supported by her arms. If it weren't for all the training that Caleb had put her through these last couples of months, she wouldn't have been able to do it.
"You got it," Caleb said from below her, supportive as always.
It took some wiggling, but she got clear of the door and lay on the floor for a moment, panting.
"You okay?" Caleb called up.
"Yeah," she shouted back, pushing up onto her hands and knees.
Thankfully, there was no one around, so she was able to crawl back around to the opening without being disturbed.
"I can try to open the doors wider, then you can crawl through," she said, wanting to at least try and get him out.
As she looked around for something to use as leverage, the lift let out another almighty creak and shifted slightly, making them both stop dead.
"Caleb?"
"Get back," he told her.
"Caleb, no, we have to get you out of there!"
"If I move again, it might fall."
"All the more reason for you to make a break for it. Come on."
They locked eyes, Caleb slowly shaking his head.
"I think it's going to go."
"Caleb!" Kiara pleaded, desperately searching for some way to save him.
"It's been an honour being your teacher, Kiara,” he told her sincerely. “Don't waste the time you have left."
"No! You're not dying! Just jump!"
Kiara stretched a hand out, willing him to take it. But it was too late. The sound of the cable snapping echoed through the hallway. Kiara only just managed to pull her hand back before the lift crashed down out of sight, taking Caleb with it.
~
“Fuck off!” Will heard Aaren grunt as he seized the collar of a woman trying to slip past him and tossed her on the floor.
It seemed that most of the campers were making their way up to the infirmary as they knew that was where the remaining Guardians were headed. They were having to fight off group after group as they tried to take the last remaining stronghold in the building. Will could feel himself growing tired, even with the adrenaline pumping through his veins. If this didn’t end soon, then they might just break through.
“Seriously, why haven’t they given up already?” Priya complained, flopping back against the wall so she could breathe for a second.
“Both sides must be on their last legs,” Will said. “It could go either way.”
A loud explosion from the other end of the floor startled them, as did the noises that followed.
“That can’t have been a good thing,” Aaren said.
Will was trying to figure out what might have happened when a group of several campers rounded the corner, led by Ricardo. They looked like they were out for blood.
“Watch out!” Will tried to say as they slid a smoke bomb down the corridor.
They had to duck out of the way, back into the infirmary as smoke obscured everything that they could previously see.
“What’s going on?” Hallie demanded, but no one got a chance to respond.
A woman with a knife appeared through the smoke and tossed it, hoping to hit someone, anyone really. There were screams, but it embedded itself in the wall rather than slicing anybody.
Aaren grabbed her throwing arm and pulled her inside, slamming her into a pile of medical supplies, but got stabbed in the back of the shoulder while he was distracted. As he stumbled forwards onto one of the cots, Priya stepped up and kicked the sword from the person’s hand. She was able to fend off two of them by using her size to her advantage, but they soon overwhelmed her too.
All their attention was pulled in that direction, so no one noticed the shooter entering through the side door until it was too late.
They pointed the barrel of the shotgun directly at Hallie’s chest and pulled the trigger.
To Will, everything moved in slow motion. His eyes followed the line of the gun to Hallie and suddenly he was lunging, his body travelling inch by inc
h until it completely blocked hers.
Pain spread throughout his chest like someone had set it on fire.
Burning, burning, all he could feel was BURNING.
As his body hit the floor, his eyes rolled up and he saw the shooter in the doorway get ripped backwards by a pair of hands, a woman’s hands.
“WILL?!”
The cry bounced around his eardrums, but he couldn’t comprehend where it was coming from. Instead, his vision began to go white. Everything around him dissolved away into nothing and the last thing he remembered thinking before he lost consciousness entirely was:
‘Is this it?’
~
"NOO!" Kiara cried, her eyes fixed on the space where Caleb's face had been only moments before.
Scrambling to her feet, Kiara kicked open the door to the stairwell and charged down the first flight, missing every step that she possibly could without falling face first onto the floor. She had never moved so fast in her life, it felt like she was flying.
At the bottom, she burst into the hall and looked at the doors where the lift would usually open. They had been blown outward slightly by the force of the fall, which had been several storeys.
Kiara ran forward and pulled on one of the doors, yelling loudly as she used all her strength to force it open. She had to do the same again with the inner door, using her feet so she could get even more power behind her push.
Eventually the inner door gave way and she fell inside, landing next to Caleb's limp body.
"Caleb?"
Kiara tugged at his top, hoisting his head up into her lap. There was blood oozing from a terrible gash on his forehead and one of his legs was bent completely out of shape. His eyes were closed. It didn't look good.
"Caleb? Caleb, please, wake up," she shook him gently, unsure whether he was dead or alive. It was tough to tell through the tears.
Pressing her ear to his chest, she prayed that she would hear a heartbeat or feel his chest moving. It took a moment with all the other noises going on around the building, but she heard it. He was alive, just.
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