Chapter Fourteen

“Jessica, I need to teach you fighting,” I told Jessica the next day after her confrontation with the four dudes.

“Really?” She looked a bit amazed and excited.

“Well, don’t get your hopes up too much. It would be tough.” I smiled slightly.

Yes, in fact she did use her skills. And saved me. More than once.

For example, last year, from the commanding officer who used me as his hostage against Jessica.

That commanding officer wanted to bring me back to the camp for the fame he would receive for discovering my treasonous actions. Perhaps he would even get a medal for avenging his companion’s death.

I felt the searing hot pistol muzzle pressed against my temple. The gush of adrenaline didn’t make much a difference under this scenario. I still feared the bullets, not for myself but for Jessica.

Jessica stood across me. She was panting. Her hair was flying everywhere and sweat and dust covered her face, yet they couldn’t cover the beauty beneath.

Now everything depended on Jessica. All of us were looking at her, predicting her next move.

I could still remember vividly how I taught her to shoot.

“Hold your hand in a fist with all your strength, until it was close to shaking.”

I said that to her in a shooting range. Well in there the targets surely couldn’t move and fire back or kill some other people.

“The stock gets pressed onto your shoulder, and you use your shoulder to absorb the violent recoil,” I continued.

“How violent would it be?”

“Try it out.”

She screamed after the gun almost leapt out of her hand. Luckily she followed my previous advice and held on to the gun.

“Now tilt your head slightly and line your eye along with the sights. Make sure you raised the sights to your eyes instead of dropping your eyes onto the sight.”

I hoped she could recall these tips now.

The clock was ticking down.

I could feel the officer’s muscle tense tighter and tighter as Jessica just stood there frozen in that position. Okay I couldn’t even tell what she was standing there for, but I knew the moment she pulled the trigger the officer would immediately shoot me then her if he still could. I could see that the officer was programming this action again and again into his brain.

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Suddenly Jessica ejected a bullet from the gun. What? Why? There were like perhaps only five bullets left in the clip.

The officer didn’t know what was going on either. Perhaps nobody did except Jessica. He pulled me closer to him in case Jessica was playing any tricks.

Why ejecting a bullet? Was it a distraction?

I looked at Jessica. She stared right at me, but her eyes were void of messages yet so filled up with all kinds of thoughts. Then her hands trembled again and she ejected another bullet from the gun.

Was she going to surrender? That wasn’t the Jessica I know!

“What are you doing?” barked the officer.

I glanced at Jessica. She seemed pretty confident. She knew what she was doing. All what I could do was to trust her. Hopefully her plan would work.

Jessica didn’t reply and ejected the third bullet from the gun. The muzzle was still pointed at the officer.

“I said, what are you doing!” The officer shouted. He was beginning to get anxious at how expressionless she acted.

Oh, I started to get it. Jessica was probably fighting a psychological battle against the officer before entering a physical one.

Jessica stood there expressionless, and she ejected the fourth bullet from the gun. It was so quiet except for our breaths, and I heard the shell dropping onto the ground.

The officer couldn’t hide what he was feeling. I felt his arm shaking as he repositioned himself a bit so that he could shatter my skull with the bullet even if he was shot on the chest. It seemed like he was hugging me from behind. His arms and body confined any of my movements, so I couldn’t turn around or escape. His arms were shaking though, and his eyes were darting between Jessica and me.

Jessica’s arm moved again, and both the officer and I expected her to eject another bullet, but suddenly it was a blinding flash and a thundering explosion. She fired the last bullet.

I suddenly toppled forward. My legs felt a piercing pain as the bullet penetrated my quadriceps. My legs couldn’t hold me up anymore, and I fell onto the ground, bringing the officer down with me. His arm clenched so tight around mine that he couldn’t even break free from the fall in time.

Ouch Jessica, where did you fire at? Your marksmanship used to be so good! Was this intentional?

“Disarm him!” she shouted, and then I understood.

Shooting me was the last thing the officer would expect. If the bullet hit the officer instead, then he would still kill me in time. She had to leave a non-fatal wound. Since the officer grabbed me so tightly, I would bring him down with me as I hit the ground. The four ejections of bullets were distractions and to raise the tension, so the officer would feel more and more uneasy and stressed towards her next step. The tension would also slow down his reaction time, which would then be enough for me to mount on top of him and disarm him.

I mounted on top of the officer, or more precisely I tried to mount, but it was more like I squashed the officer under me, but my hands reached immediately for his pistol. He was grabbing it so tightly that I couldn’t force it out of his hand. Then his fingers pulled the trigger.

I pulled my head back just in time as a bullet shot out. We were rolling on the ground, and the bullet flied towards the sky. He pulled the trigger a few more times, and the bullets all missed.

Suddenly there was another loud bang and the officer stopped moving. There was one last bullet left in the clip when all of us thought Jessica fired all of them. That psychological gamble was amazing.

Jessica rushed over to me.

“Oh my god Andrew are you okay?”

“Yea, I’m fine.” I tried to stand up but my wounded leg wouldn’t support me.

“I’m so sorry Andrew. So sorry. It is the only way I thought off.”

“Jessica, I’m fine. I am, really. It will heal. But I have to get back.”

“Back where?”

“The base. I need to erase the suspicion of other officers.”

“This is like walking into a deathtrap.”

“If I don’t go back, they will know my fidelity had terminated. I have to take the chance. They might lock me up, but eventually I will earn some trust again.”

“But…”

“Jessica, this is something I have to do. When I am gone, get as far away from here as you can. Don’t try to hide underground. Go to neighboring villages and seek help.”

Jessica wept silently and held me close to her.

“Andrew, stay alive, for me.”

“I will Jessica. I promise. I promise I will find you again one day.”

Moonlight shone upon this empty clearing, and a layer of silver glimmered on everything. The ring I gave her years ago gleamed on her hand. This night would otherwise be beautiful if it wasn’t the invasion.

“Andrew, I love you!”

She then kissed me, and I kissed her back. We were frozen statues. The glow from the moonlight curtained the surroundings, encircling the clearing. For once we seemed so isolated and away, from the world and all its violence. I no longer heard the gunshots or artillery fire, nor the screaming or the shouting. This temporary serenity was a paradise, a peaceful place among the chaotic clashes. Jessica’s presence calmed me down, readied myself to face what would come ahead. But now, I would just enjoy a few minutes of happiness, a moment alone with her, under the moonlight. If only love wouldn’t be so hard for us, if only there wasn’t anyone trying to destroy humanity, if only we could just live a normal life like others.

“I love you too.”

I departed and went to the base.

As soon as I stepped into the gates, sirens began blaring. A Higher Official walked in front towards me, and behind him was Skye.