Bombs explode all around me, hot shrapnel tearing my flesh and clothes.
It's not fair! I shouldn't even be here. If I'm fighting, I should at least be fighting with her. Not against.
Bullets spray the pile of rubble I'm using as cover.
It's too late. I can't have her anymore. The Protector has seen to that.
Pulling my last loaded pistol from my belt, I run into the fray, shooting wildly at anyone in green. I'm hit by bullets time and time again, but I keep running. One hits me square in the back and comes out my chest wrapped in flesh.
I don't drop.
I know my purpose is to fight, but that sounds like a lot of bull now that I'm here. No one should be here. Me least of all.
A land mine detonates inches from my feet. I shouldn't have legs anymore.
I'm still running.
The Protector's office is just a mile up the war-torn road. A mile to go before I'm free to cry like a mortal man.
If I can just get to the office...
"Where do you think you're going?"
Dang it. A low-level Protector. And I only have three bullets left.
One for this guy.
One for her.
And one for me.
I shoot him straight through the heart.
"I'm going for gold, sir," I say to the pile of wet meat four feet from me.
I'm at the Protector's office a few minutes later.
I kick the glass door and it shatters. Slowly, I creep inside. A massive hole has been blown in the floor, leading to the floor below. I'm about to jump into the pit when a scream assaults my ears.
"KAMARIA!" I cry, launching into the hole. A shockwave of energy hits me and nearly flings me back to the first story, but I hit the lower floor running. Cell after cell after cell of Unstoppables.
A thick metal door at the end of the hall beckons me with moans and wails. Running full-speed into the door, my force sheers the hinges and the door falls wide open. Kamaria lies on a cold metal table, tears streaking her mascara, a man in a tuxedo whispering in her ear.
The Protector.
"NO!" I scream, energy enveloping me like a blanket. My pistol, which had been laying forgotten at my feet, shoots into the air, suspended by my energy.
In seconds, The Protector, the creature who took my whole world away, is dead by my hand.
I'd be a hero if I was planning on living to see the fruits of my labor.
Instead, I run over to Kamaria and undo the bindings on her wrists and ankles. She sits up and I hug her close.
"Kamaria," I breathe. She's back. She's here. And I'll die with her. "Kamaria, I don't want to do this anymore." Tears fall onto my hands and it takes a second for me to realize they're mine.
"I don't either, Kaleb. Did you see the Unstoppables? Kept in cages like animals. I don't know how to end it."
I sigh. "I do." I hand her the pistol. "There's one last bullet. Take it. I can't bear to see you suffer."
Her eyes glisten. "And you?"
"I'll see you soon enough."
"Hold me, okay?"
"Always." I sit down on the table, Kamaria in my arms. A gun to her temple and her lips on mine.
"I love you, Kaleb." And she's gone.
I lay her on the table and close her eyes.
If not for the hole in her skull, she'd look almost asleep.
I scour the room and finally find a knife. I use it to slice the head from The Protector's body. Grabbing the mutilated head, I make my way to the top floor of The Protector Building, dragging my feet with every step. I'm weakening. My structure is compromised beyond anything done in testing.
I finally reach the roof. The battle has crept to the feet of The Protector Building and I can hear every shot fired and every scream. I let out tongues of raw energy and all the fighting stops, everyone looking up at me.
I raise my arm, head dangling from my fingertips.
I don't need to say a thing.
Within seconds, every soldier clad in green has their weapons aimed at me. Every trigger is pulled. I fall forward, tumbling off the edge of the roof.
I black out before I hit the ground.
When I open my eyes, I see Kamaria, blood covering her face.
"Welcome back. I wish this could end well, but the afterlife is in the midst of the Eternal War." She swallows hard. "And The Protector's in charge."
ns 18.68.41.148da2
