Chained - Jenlisa

Fight or Die

The property holds an enormous three story house, a large shed, and a barn converted into a warehouse. I don't know which one might hold Lisa but my squad and another are headed toward the warehouse. We have to trek through thick wood lining the property and avoid exploding trees, and I have to hear Sandara's insane theories on how the cult is getting the phenomena to happen.

When we reach the edge of the property and start stomping in gravel, the bullets begin to fly, and not out of our guns first. I'm wearing a bullet proof vest but, damn, the scene is terrifying. To make matters worse an earthquake or something suddenly cracks open the earth and eats four of our men. It is unbelievable. It is impossible.

Sandara's helicopter hovers above the chaos as my squad and I try to advance on the warehouse. There is nowhere to hide so we have to move back a little to the safety of the trees, but even that is dangerous. As I aim for a particularly greasy man in combat boots, a large wolf leaps over me and my squad, but everyone is too engulfed in avoiding exploding trees and bullets to care. I notice a truck nearby and bark for my people to make for it. It would make great cover and we'd be closer to our mark.

I shoot down a skinny woman with a rifle half her size and make a break for the van. My squad follows close behind, but I skid to a stop as someone flees from behind the van. Oh, my God...

Lisa is running away from the van, a woman latched on to her back, and heading towards the house. The woman's legs are wrapped tightly around Lisa's waist and she's throwing out her arm, sending-what is that?- energy balls of some sort from her palms. But I can worry about that later. I've found Lisa!

"Lisa!" I shout, forgetting about the van.

Even with all the noise and commotion she stumbles in the gravel and makes a clumsy stop, then turns to look at me, her eyes wide. There are marks on her cheeks and arms, and there's dried blood all over her. I gasp, both hurt and relieved, and start for her, but slip and fall on my backside as Lisa and the woman she's carrying are blown back by an invisible force. They tumble through the air like ragdolls and land in a heap.

"Run!" Lisa cries at me, lifting herself to her hands and knees. She helps up the woman she was carrying as an old man steps in my line of sight with his back to me. Lisa crouches down and snarls, putting herself between the old man and the woman. It seems as though the bullets flying are deliberately missing the three of them, but there's no way that's possible.

With a salivating growl, Lisa leaps at the old man, her clawed hands aiming for his face. To my surprise she halts mid air and never reaches her target. Her legs kick at nothing and she paws at her own throat, fighting off something I can't see. In a panic I lift my gun and squeeze off a shot at the old man in front of me. Logic tells me he's doing nothing wrong, but instinct has me seeing him as the only possible enemy.

My bullet pierces his back where his heart is and Lisa comes tumbling to the ground, gasping for breath. As soon as she's sucked in enough air she scrambles for me and I open my arms to receive her.

"Jennie," she breathes into my hair, saying my name like a prayer. She holds me so tight I pretend my tears are because she's hugging them out of me.

I sob into her shoulder and grasp at her shirt. "I missed you so much."

"I know," she whispers, planting soft kisses on my head, "I know. I missed you, too."

I push away from her and wipe at my wet face as something shakes the ground tremendously. "We have to get out of here."

"We have to find Tiffany's son," she tells me, lifting me into her arms and carrying me away. She jogs back to the woman and we all head towards the house. I see my squad already heading into the warehouse and I hear the team leader report that it's empty.

"Lisa..."

The earth shakes again and Lisa falters but doesn't stop. A bullet whizzes past us, then everything goes silent. This time Lisa pauses, as does the woman, and I look around to see what's happening. There's a squad close by, guns held high, but I don't see any enemies. Something's wrong.

"Sandara," I say into my earbud. "What's happening?"

There's a moment of silence, then, "The house is lit up. Team two, have you reached it? Jisoo?"

Another voice chimes into my ear, male, "We're at the perimeter," as Jisoo's voice says a simple, "Yep."

I hold my breath, a sinking feeling in my gut. These people are a terrorist organization. They won't let us have them alive and they'll take down as many of us as they can, no matter the cost.

"Don't go in," I say softly, realization setting in. "Oh, God, don't go in!"

Not a second later the side of the house bursts and showers the surrounding area with splintered wood and chunks of brick. I twist out of Lisa's grip and stare on in horror as fire starts to eat at what's left.

"Sandara!" I shrill.

Panic is clear in her voice as she shrieks, "Jisoo!"

Lisa sprints past me, almost toppling me over, and she heads directly into the chaos. Both the woman and I shout for her to wait but she's already gone. I grab my hair in dismay as parts of the house start falling away and the flames grow larger. There's no way the building will hold for long. Lisa is hurt enough, she won't survive if the house collapses on top of her.

Fresh tears spill down my cheeks with the minutes that pass, and they come harder when gunshots sound in what's left of the house.

"Do something!" I cry at no one, to everyone. The woman Lisa was protecting steps close to me and puts her hand on my shoulder. I stare at her through my wet eyes and recognize her as the same woman who was in my apartment with her son the day all of this started.

"We can't go in," she says softly. "It's going to come down soon. All we can do is wait."

"Fire trucks are only a minute away," Sandara barely says. It's obvious that she's crying, too, but is trying to hide it. "Who's left?"

I hardly listen as four squads check in. That means we lost two in the fight. The General won't appreciate that but I couldn't care less about him right now. My only concern is with Lisa and Jisoo and the possible survivors of the squad that was at the back of the house when it blew up.

As I begin to lose all hope, a figure emerges from the flames, limping but otherwise okay. I run forward to meet them and find a sooty and bloody Jisoo coming towards me, a wailing little boy in her arms. She moves faster as the top floor of the house collapses and she steps up to me, her face scrunched in worry.

"She saved me," Jisoo says, not able to meet my eye. "She told me to take him and go. I did." She hands over the little boy as the woman snatches him up and kisses him all over. "She wanted to stay to save the rest of them in the basement. I'll go back, I'll-"

"You're not going in," Sandara says sternly. She sniffles and takes a deep breath. "Facility emergency services are here."

Jisoo scoffs and turns back to the house, but the whole thing caves in, flames licking the sky and throwing blackness everywhere. I cover my mouth with my hands and sob carelessly. Everything suddenly hurts.

I'm engulfed into Jisoo's arms much to my surprise and she holds me as I cry. She even follows me to the ground as my knees buckle. "I'm sorry," she says. Her hug is awkward and inexperienced but I appreciate it. "I should have stayed with her."

No, then they'd both be dead. Lisa... She died being the knight she always was. She felt the hurt in my chest as the house burst and tried to save who I thought I'd lost. She saved that woman's son, she saved Jisoo. God, why couldn't she save herself?