Bill
Looking up into the tree branches, Bill focused on the stream of water on his right. His safe place was undisturbed. He recalled the last time he had been there before being plunged into this mess. He had begged Scott on a mission. He claimed he'd been ready. Had he?
Chloe stood next to him, wiping her hands against the uniform. They no longer wore Phi's silver crests on their chest. It was replaced by a blood-red letter M.
"I'm sure Diana is fine, Chloe," Bill said, inspecting his gun. And if she isn't, there isn't anything you can do until we get a green light, he would have said if it were helpful.
"Yeah," she mumbled absently, focusing on the U-shaped building through the trees. "You'll be with me the whole time?" she then asked, looking down at the gun in her hands. A taser would not cut it in this battle.
Still, Bill would stop Chloe from pulling the trigger if he could do it for her. She didn't need the blood on her hands and he didn't mind it. "Nobody's getting past me," he said, flexing his biceps.
Chloe laughed, just as their comms clicked on.
"We've got some of the children safe," Chase said. "Move in."
Bill had not pegged Chase for a babysitter type of person, but he shrugged off remarks, fist-bumped Chloe, and emerged from the trees onto the campus grounds.
Helicopters chuffed in the distance as the first gunshots rang out. Majesty's people poured out of the trees and soon, they would fall from the sky. Bill looked back to the dormitories, images of Mike flashing in his head. All the times he and Bill spent running across this campus. Sometimes they ran suicide sprints, other times Bill ran for his life while Mike chased after him, yelling profanities while blue hair dye dripped from the ends of his hair.
He smiled. They could take away everything he owned, but they would not take his memories.
On his left, Chloe dodged punches like it was kids-play. Her hair had been cut into a long bob, falling across her face. A pang of pride grew in Bill's chest as he watched her hold her own. But then he almost got hit in the face, so he returned to the fight. She was fighting for her freedom, not revenge. For Bill, this fight was accepting his past, for Chloe, it was erasing it and starting over.
The grass of Phi's main base was blood-covered after mere moments, the red glistering in the sun. Bullets flew over his head, landing in the ground or a person.
"Push them back. Force Snakehead out," Majesty's voice came through the comms.
"Chloe," Bill shouted, as he and Chloe switched places.
"We need to find Diana," she said, voicing his thoughts as they fought back to back.
Bill dodged another punch, sweeping the guy from his feet. They had not anticipated how many people would stay loyal to Snakehead, but many have and he would have as well, had he not been forced to see the other side of the story.
An explosion erupted from the far left and a wing of the main building was swallowed by flames.
"Did we bring bombs?" Bill asked, frowning, as he ducked to avoid a blade.
"You didn't," a voice joined the comms. "But I did."
"Diana," Chloe exclaimed. "Was that the lab?"
"Maybe," Diana panted, a smile in her voice. "God that felt good."
"Where are you?" Bill asked.
"West corridor, ran into some trouble," she replied.
Bill shot down a guy running at him. "We'll be right there."
The helicopters hovered over the ground now, casting shadows as soldiers slid down ropes. Bullets bounced off the aircraft exterior as the shooters from the ground attempted to knock down as many people as they could.
Good luck with that, Bill said, breaking off into a sprint. Phi didn't have weapons laying around. It was a training facility, not a storage bunker. It had given Majesty a clear advantage, so long as they avoided getting wounded. The drug could be hidden in any one of the bullets and this time they would have no antidote on hand.
Yells stretched down the corridor when Bill and Chloe slipped inside through the doors by the labs. Smoke had accumulated near the ceiling and the air was already getting harder to breathe despite the wind blowing through the broken windows.
Chloe took one side of the hall while Bill took the other as they crept along the west corridor.
"I'll go first. Cover for me," Bill said as they reached a corner. Adrenaline coursed his veins as he slipped out from the corner, getting ready to shoot.
Only to find Diana fighting off one of the guards.
"Jason, listen to me," she said, as she blocked the punch, wheeling backward, getting closer to the wall.
"Di!" Chloe said, turning the corner when Bill had stopped.
"I got it, guys," she said, reaching for a piece of wood on the floor as Jason swung at her head.
She jammed it into his stomach, knocking the air out of him, and then whipped out a gun from the armrest of her wheelchair, firing.
"I didn't know she had that," Bill said in surprise. "Did you?"
Chloe ignored him, running to Diana and throwing her arms around her neck. "You're okay."
Diana returned the hug, smiling at Bill over Chloe's shoulder. "I told you I could defend myself."
"When did you get a gun built into that wheelchair?" Bill asked, giving her a one-armed hug once Chloe let her go.
"It's been there a while now," she said. "Lee did it for me."
"What a bad-ass computer nerd," Bill said with a smirk.
"He was."
Chloe began asking questions as they backtracked their way towards the nearest exit. Bill led the way, his thoughts diverting slightly from the battle and moving to the phone in his jacket pocket.
Naomi sure will be surprised when he shows up on her doorstep. He was no longer angry and it was largely thanks to her. When he had voiced his thoughts about wanting to become a doctor, she had not mocked him and the uncertainty about the future excited him.
As the three of them emerged back out of the building, Bill had let Diana and Chloe fall away, engaging in a fight, his forearms sore from blocking punches sweat dripping from his forehead.
Cassandra and Majesty were a few feet away, fighting alongside each other. Cassie spun out of reach, less graceful than usual, leaning a bit to the left, while Majesty attacked with a clear aim, slashing with force.
His eyes caught a fast approaching figure.
"Look who slithered out of his hole," Bill mocked, realizing Snakehead had joined the fight.
"I should've killed you when I had the chance," Snakehead loud enough for Bill to hear as he swung at Majesty.
"You should have," Majesty replied. "You've got nowhere to go now."
Snakehead let out a dark laugh. "I've survived more than your siege."
"I swore I'd do this the night you killed my mother," Majesty said, swinging her leg at Snakehead's chest.
Cassie used the chance to land a punch into his stomach and then promptly at his head. Between the two of them, Snakehead stood little chance. But Bill had a personal vendetta to check off his to-do list.
He caught a break between his attackers, crossing the few feet to where Snakehead stood and pulled his hand back, smashing it against the side of his head. Snakehead stumbled backwards, momentarily surprised.
"That's for my brother, you dick," Bill spat.
Cassie gave him a nod and a knowing look. He closed in, pushing Snakehead in between the three of them. They were in this together.
"He deserved it," Snakehead said, locking eyes with Bill. "He was nothing, a nobody. Died like a dog."
Bill gave a smirk. To think those words would have made him lose it not so long ago. "That would mean I'm a nobody, too." He took a step closer, seeing Majesty approach from the side. "And this nobody is about to end you."
Cassie threw a punch and Snakehead quickly retaliated, his hand finding the side of her ribcage. She fell to the ground, coughing, a whimper leaving her lips.
"You won't touch her," Majesty said, going at him from behind.
Snakehead turned, grabbing Majesty's wrist mid-swing. She continued forward, propelled by momentum, as he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her to his chest.
"That's all you got?" he shouted. "Drop your weapon," he told Cassie, who had scrambled to her feet and drawn a gun.
Bill tried to signal her but she shook her head. "You think I care if she dies?" she said, voice calm and eyes looking for a blind spot.
Snakehead grinned, straightening its aim.
She won't shoot, Bill realized. She may not care about Majesty but Majesty had given herself away.
"This whole time I thought you knew where Maddison was. Oh, what I would have done had I known it was you," Snakehead said.
Bill's heart dropped at the undertone of his voice.
"You would have killed me without a second thought," Cassie said. "I may be your blood, but I will never be like you."
She cocked her gun. But there was no blind spot.
"I would have killed you. Not because of who you are, but because I know you're weak."
Cassie jaw tightened.
"Look at you. You can't shoot at me because you're afraid you'll miss. That's not the kind of daughter I would have wanted to raise." His grip around Majesty's throat tightened. "At least Majesty has my ruthlessness."
Snakehead shifted his aim sideways and Bill's eyes widened as he found himself staring down the barrel of a gun.
"I've learned the only way to hurt someone like us is to go after those they care about. You don't care about Majesty, but you do care about him."
Cassie froze. He was making her choose.
"Shoot," Majesty said. "Don't hesitate."
"You think I can't be ruthless? I can. But I don't think killing someone for kicks is ruthlessness. The real cruelty is to torture them by taking the things they love slowly. Like I am going to do to you. I will burn your empire and your bases and slaughter your people until you have nothing. Then, I will put a bullet in your head because I want to make you watch while all of it comes crashing down on top of you."
She was distracting him, Bill realized as his breathing became heavier.
Snakehead laughed and Bill took his chance, diving down and reaching for the gun in his hands.
Majesty used the chance to get out of his grip and give Cassie a clear shot.
A gun fired.
Snakehead shouted, his arm flopping to his side.
Bill panted, the grip on the gun loosening as he realized he was still alive. Holy shit.
"It's over," Cassie said, holding Snakehead at gunpoint.
He grinned. "Not until I say so."
Grenades set off around them, shaking the ground and raising dirt and grass in the air, blinding them.
"Cassie-" Bill shouted, moving forward.
He didn't hear the gunshot until he was already on the ground.
A helicopter shadow fell over them.
He turned to his back, his lungs catching fire. Bill gasped for air, someone screaming his name. Then he realized that he did not pull through after all.
"Bill."
Even if this wound healed, he wouldn't live. He won't actually turn 21. He won't see Naomi. He would never be a doctor. He was out of time.
"Bill."
Hands were on his face, moving the hair from his sweaty forehead, wiping tears he couldn't stop from falling. It was like he was drunk again, only this time, he wouldn't sober up.
"Shit," he mumbled.
"You'll be okay. Bill, look at me."
Cassandra was crying.
Bill wanted to yell at her to go after Snakehead, to kill him, so he didn't die for no reason. But the burning was all he could think about. If he doesn't bleed out, the pain will kill him.
It took a lot for him to grip her hand and croak. "Go."
"I'm not leaving you."
Soon there would be only a body to leave behind. And bodies aren't people. But he couldn't say that. It wouldn't help.
Bill's hearing faded. Now he knew how Lee felt, why he was so sure there was no way to help him.
"- now. Look at me."
"It's okay. I'm going to see him soon," he tried saying, but it came out like a string of strained sounds.
Cassie's face twisted into a grimace. Wasn't she happy he was going to see Mike again?
Her mouth moved but Bill heard no words. He struggled to take in a breath, his heartbeat slowing.
It wasn't fair. He had tried to be a different person. He shouldn't have to go like this. He should have a future. Naomi and he could have...Naomi.
He reached for the phone in his pocket, handing it to Cassie and squeezing her hand. Please, he thought. Just take it.
A sinking feeling overwhelmed him. He could no longer feel any part of his body. It was like there was no ground beneath and he was falling.
As Bill welcomed the darkness, he urged himself to say one last sentence. Not a curse word or a joke. "I love-"
_____
Hey there!
Not a long author's note this time. Only one more chapter and an epilogue to go. Please vote and comment on your thoughts.
Happy writing,
Sara