AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Another man fell beside him. Then another.
“Fall back!” he ordered. They retreated to one of the towers where they had better cover.
“Report, are the citizens in the safe rooms?”
“Yes, General!” Delta’s leader answered immediately.
He nodded. “Good, then we need to draw them to the west district and put them in a bottleneck. Beta Leader, take your squad and flank them from behind. We are going to send a message and take them out!”
“Sir, yes, sir!”
The squads moved out, leading the raiders to where Axur hoped they could take them out. If they couldn’t, though, they’d be the ones in trouble.
Thankfully, luck was on their side, and the raiders took the bait and followed them. The squads, minus Beta, managed to get in position in time for the raiders to enter the trap.
“Open fire!”
Shots were fired from both sides, and the raiders realized their mistake. But it was too late now. Especially since Beta had snuck up behind them and kept them right where they wanted them.
The only problem with their position was that they were fairly exposed here. The cover was limited, and his squads were taking a beating.
Suddenly, there was an explosion in the middle of Beta’s formation.
No, no, no. If they take out Beta, we might lose them.
The raiders seemed to have wised up which meant he needed to take their attention off of Beta.
“All squads, advance!”
And they did. They had even less cover now, but the raiders’ focus was once again evenly split between squads.
A bullet clipped his shoulder, and he hissed. It wasn’t bad, but for some reason, it made his heart stutter a little. It didn’t make sense. He’d been in worse situations, gotten worse hits. Why was a little graze affecting him so much?
Because he had something to lose. People to go back to who cared about him, who waited for him.
More than that, he didn’t want his goodbye to them a week ago to be his last words to them. He wanted to read stories with Ayla and listen to her chatter. He wanted to kiss Katie fiercely and hold her tightly to him.
The thought of never being able to do that again filled him with fear like he’d never felt.
This was why it was forbidden. This was why the rules were so strict. Because the love for someone else was so powerful that it could bring you to your knees. It divided your focus, your mind, and your heart. A soldier could only have one focus.
He shook his head and let out a snarl. He didn’t have time for this right now. Members of his squad were falling. They needed him right now.
Axur leaped out from his cover and charged, taking out an enemy with every shot. There was a battle cry behind him, and his squads followed suit.
One by one, the raiders fell until they put their hands up in surrender. Axur’s whole body sagged with relief.
“It’s over.” He sighed in relief.
His comms flared back to life as the missing squads reported in. Some of them were reporting attacks, while others were trying to find out why they couldn’t reach anyone. Overall, though, it sounded like they were safe.
“Get the injured to the medics and take these raiders to base camp. Squad leaders meet in the west tower in ten for a mission debrief.” He began to walk away, and a new weight settled over him.
He’d lost focus today. He could have gotten himself and every one of these brave men and women killed because of it. He’d been wrong before. He had to make a choice.
Suddenly, there was a commotion behind him. He glanced over his shoulder to see more raiders climbing over the roofs and opening fire.
“Take cover!”
