The Population

Chapter Twenty - The Fight

Hello Readers! Here's another chapter with Carmen and Liam's POV!!! Some BIG stuff happening in this chapter. Thanks for reading don't forget to vote and comment! 

Lots of Love, Kenzie ❤️ Kate

___

Carmen's POV

There was nothing for me to do now but wait in silence as the gunshots got nearer to me. When they swung the door open to kill the family that was supposed to be here they would find me. I have never killed anyone and I am sad that I have come to a situation that is kill or be killed. It's likely that they will suspect that I am here because of what they have found in other houses. 

I am broken from my thoughts hearing the screams of what I assume to be a mother and her children, "Not them, please not them." Before a multitude of lasers are shot and the neighboring house falls silent. My heart beats fast as I push back tears thinking about what I just heard. My heart thuds harder and faster when I hear heavy bootsteps coming up the porch steps. They bang on the door with their fists before pulling out a locksmith key ring.

When I hear a multitude of keys being tested in the lock I hit the small button on the right side of my watch just below my time setting button. When nothing happens I look down hurriedly to see I hit the wrong button in my haste. I hit the right button and a laser shooter deploys from the underside of the watch. Just as the tool comes free a key slides in the lock and I hear the door unlatch. 

I raise my shaking arm to aim head level of an average soldier as Liam did not provide protective helmets to Bane in the contract because they were not specifically asked for. As soon as the door is flung open I set of the laser which shoots automatically intervalling by a millisecond. The three men that entered were all piled on the floor of the doorway. Still shaking I look down at the pain I have caused. It looks like all the men are dead. 

As sorry as I am about killing these people I am comforted that I took accurate shots and didn't leave them to suffer. I begin to cry, tears rolling. I have ended these people's lives. Fathers, sons, cousins, brothers. They had family somewhere. Talking myself out of my guilt I remind myself that I would be dead if I didn't act and I did what I did to protect the innocent people of Lincoln from people who wanted to take their lives because of a Population Director who was paranoid and selfish. 

I hit the button on my watch to recede the laser back into the casing of my watch. I cast one last glance at the people I shot and fear strikes my heart seeing a hand move aiming a gun at me. The man pointing the gun looked as If it was taking all his strength. My shot must have hit a specific part of the brain since he didn't die instantly.

 I have no time to react even though time seems to be frozen, before a gunshot rings out and pain fills my chest. I fall to the ground landing just after the gun fell from the man's hand. I cfeel myself bounce a little before settling. Black begins from the outside of my vision and slowly consumes me. My last thought is of a handsome man at the end of a long aisle wearing a tux with tears in his eyes before everything disappears. 

***

Liam's POV

Once the door is closed Bane unzips and heads to the toilet. I know I have to keep him quiet so he doesn't alert his guards. I know that he is a weak and fearful man, I hope he is scared enough to keep quiet and listen to my instructions. His back is to me as he takes a piss and I slowly push the wall giving me a  wide enough  to slip out. In one of the most awkward situations of my life I put a hand around Bane's mouth and a gun to his head with my other hand. The fear rolls off of him in waves. 

"I'm going to move my hand and so help me God I hear the smallest noise come out of you I will blow your brains out." He nods his head and I move my hand keeping the gun trained on him. He zips up and turns around visibly shaking. "This operation is going to be called off as soon as you get out of this bathroom. You will order your task force to retreat without another shot, you will not let any of your guards harm me, understood?" He nods his beefy head, his bug eyes filled with fear. 

I send a message through my helmet to the other directors about the current situation. I look at the time and see that it is only 11:30 p.m. My Lieutenants already contacted them about the ordeal and have been sending updates as they came. I give him a shove from the back towards the door and he stumbles. He opens the door and the people in the office immediately aim their weapons upon seeing me. I push the barrel of my gun into his back and he is quick to instruct that weapons must be put away. The guards look confused but follow their orders. 

I look around the room at it's occupants making note of them for the trail that will ensue when the issue is done. I see mostly incompetents which explains where his soldiers came from. I see a few citizens , and closest to the desk sits Leah. She looks at me regretfully and she looks pitiful. Showing no mercy I give a hard look and move my eyes to rest on the man my gun is trained on. 

He sits at the desk and I watch and listen as he contacts his fighter's and tells them to retreat. If my soldiers did as they were told they would already be stationed at the aircrafts so the fighter's of Bane couldn't escape. I watch on the screens around the office as Bane's force retreats. I scan the screens for Carmen but she doesn't show up. I tell myself it is likely I won't see her because of all the different cities, until I see that there is a screen displaying the town hall of the city she is stationed in and in the bustle of my soldiers meeting I don't see her in the crowd. I then tell myself that there are so many people it's likely I wouldn't see her, even though I can pick out specific people on the screen. 

My one man search party is disrupted when Bane starts to speak. He doesn't look at me, as he is addressing his followers. "Our operation has failed and we will be retributed for our choices. I, have no intention of facing trial. Neither should any of you." A second before everyone reacts I know what he means. I tackle him to the ground and pull us both under the desk. Gunshots fire all around me and after silence for a minute I pull Bane to his feet as I stand up. As I thought everyone besides us lay dead or dying. To avoid consequence they had all shot one another. 

I hear my name whispered and look to see my sister on the floor. Her chest marked with a large bloodied bullet hole. I pull an injection kit from my pocket and push the syringe into Bane's neck. He falls to the floor next to me heavily sedated. I walk over to Leah. No matter what she's done, I still love her.  

I put her head in my lap and brush her hair out of her face. She starts struggling to speak gargling is all I hear at first. "I didn't want to help. He told me if I didn't that he would kill Carmen." Tears leak out of her eyes and she looks at me pleading. "Leah. You could have told me, I could have protected you and Carmen." She struggles again before speaking, "I didn't want to risk it." I believe her. When we both still lived at home when she tried to lie she had an obvious face that gave it away, she was as bad at lying as I was. I knew she was telling the truth and it stung that this whole time I believed she was a willing partner in Bane's operation. 

She started coughing and blood spattered out. I wiped it up and stroked her head. I no longer saw my sixteen year old sister. I saw Leah as a toddler, as a little girl. Her breathing slowed and came to a stop. I planted a kiss on her head and stood up dragging Bane with me. I was dry eyed. I had no more tears and I hoped that Bane would be brought to justice. It was 12:01 a.m. officially the day after the attack. I had survived and lived to see another day.