Across A Bottomless Abyss

Chapter 11

"Amalia, are you okay?" a familiar voice from behind suddenly interrupted.

I saw Matthew panting behind me. My broken trust in him became full again. I sensed his deep concern for me. I smiled not because I found the culprit but because I found someone real and worth the trust.

"I'm happy that you're not one of them, Lieutenant," I smiled widely.

"I can't risk my life for those villains, Lia. Besides, I know I'll just die at your hands when I become a traitor. "

He smiled back and grinned.

"Of course, Matt. I will shoot you if you join forces with them." I chuckled.

"It's not the right time to talk about nonsense shits, Lieutenants," another raging voice from behind was heard.

I saw Xipher seriously looking at me. It's as if he's talking to me using his mind that I did something wrong again. There he is again with his cold stares.

"Lieutenant of Team Sierra, move 20 meters away from my Lieutenant," he suddenly said.

He really emphasized 'my' when he said that. I raised a brow because of his sudden reaction. Did he leave his sister on the other side?

"Copy, Captain," Matthew obeyed.

I rolled my eyes and positioned myself again. I don’t know why they still don’t seem to be exhausted. Suddenly my eyes widened when I saw that they blew up the ground floor of our building!

"Captain, we need to save Alayah!" I shouted.

"Don't worry, Hadley is there. Just focus, Amalia. You don't need to worry about her. She's safe," he assured me.

I nodded hastily and returned to my position again. Everything I could see was hit by my icy bullets. How I hope that after this night, our city will regain peace again.

"This is just a simple battle, Lieutenant. You shouldn't be afraid of this.you will encounter a much more bloody war soon," Xipher explained behind me.

It really saddened me to think that we're all fighting just because we believe in different life strategies. Why do we have to fight if everyone can be united. There are just toxic-minded people who kept on fighting for their wrong beliefs instead of listening to the real score.

A few seconds later, a bullet suddenly passed just on the side of my arm. It's a good thing that my reflexes were quite fast. I breath hastily because of too much nervousness. That was close.

"Did you get hit?" Xipher said who's next to me.

His scent is now invading my sanity. He's too close to the point that I'm now holding my breath. What the hell is wrong with me?

"Amalia, I'm asking you!" he frustratingly said.

He looked at my two arms but he was still looking for the spot where I was hit even though there was nothing.

"Do you really mean it?" I softly asked him.

"What?" he also asked the man behind me with a gun.

There are sounds of gunshots everywhere but my heartbeat speaks loudly.

"You won't marry me when I'm scratched?" I unconsciously asked him.

Someone shot our position again in the back but I didn't care. He's with me and being with him means safety. I'm just looking in his eyes, trying to read his emotions once again. He suddenly looked back and held me tighter.

"I was just kidding. I don't care if you'll have too many scars, Amalia. It means that you're willing to fight for the city. I will still marry you no matter what," he said.

"But you can marry other girls, Captain," I said.

"I can't marry someone who's not as brave as you, Lieutenant. I prefer someone who can fight with me," he smiled before I heard another gunshots.

As the moon showed me the effectiveness of his glowing face, my heart started to race. For how many years, I was blinded with my one-sided love for Matthew even though he never tried to reciprocate my feelings.

"Let's talk after this mission, okay ?.be ready we need to kill a lot of enemies tonight," he said.

As he persuaded me with his raging eyes, I realized something deep. I nodded before he finally let go of my shoulder and smiled sweetly. I never really anticipated something when he suddenly kissed my forehead.

"Take care, I'll see you later," he said before jumping off.

I blinked twice when I realized what happened. I unconsciously looked down at the edge of this tall building only to find out that he's already on the ground while killing those villains using his pistol and fire without mercy.

"I think I'm crazy," I whispered before I positioned myself again.

My heart began to beat faster again not because of these damn feelings for Xipher but because of what's happening tonight. Just by looking at their abilities and identities, I realized that they're really from District 1. My first home and family.

I began to tremble and a glint of tear escaped from my left eye. I know I shouldn’t feel this way but I can’t stop myself from hurting and feeling sorry for these people. I was also once a part of that District and I never really imagined that things will be this hard.

I can't quite figure out why we have to kill just for what we're fighting for. We're doing everything just to provide everyone a good shelter, nonstop supply of goods and proper protection but why did these things happen?

"Lieutenant, I know that you're not comfortable with the situation right now but, remember that being a sniper means you're way more smarter and braver than your enemies. Being a part of this team means you need to disregard your feelings and think only about the city," Matthew suddenly interrupted.

I wiped my tears and tried to smile in front of him. I didn't even feel his presence. I was quite distracted with this chaos right now.

"I'm sorry. Don't worry, you can go back to your spot. I can manage to suppress my guilt, "I told him.

"You're better than this, Lia. We have to choose the majority. Just like what Captain said, we should kill not only for ourselves, but for the people we want to protect," he said with full of emotions.

I followed him with my gaze and tried to reflect about his words. I know that among all of us, he is the one who is hurting the most now. His sister died and he can't do anything about that.

Sometimes, I'm asking myself what we did wrong in our past lives. Why do we need to suffer like this?

Being powerful does not even define happiness. Yes, we're way more stronger than other people but having these abilities does not mean we're exempted from life's struggles. In fact, we're facing more crucial battles.

Power will never ever define the essence of contentment and happiness. Sometimes, having a simple way of living is way easier to handle.

As I witnessed the raging ice bullets of my rifle kill hundreds of people, I realized that life is not really cruel. It's the people who're more responsible for making things this way.

All my life, I was wondering if living like this will make me feel at ease but then, this cruelty caused by short minded people made me feel hatred. We tried to be brave just to make them live a comfortable life despite all the negative possibilities that may come towards us.

We were busy dealing with the shortcomings of these ungrateful people without knowing that a time like this would happen.

"Lieutenant, should I lift them up? You seem to be shooting fast," Matthew suddenly said.

I've fired a few bullets and I don't even know how many people I've killed. I was busy the whole time thinking about the safety of this city. I didn’t realize they were about to run out.

"No need Matt. Just clear the left side of the road," I told him.

There are a few more rebels that I saw running away. What now? It seems like a while ago they wanted to consume us and kill us. Why are they running away now? They should finish the chaos that they started.

They were all aware that we value them as our people but how could they mess up with us?. We did nothing but protect them and give them a good life. We are the ones who offer ourselves to death just to let them avoid pain and hardships.

Sometimes, people will not appreciate deep things like sacrifice and bravery. Others are too busy with their own judgment without even realizing that they're becoming selfish.

After a few more minutes, I saw Xipher climbing up using his fire rope. I roamed my eyes around and just felt so much pain because of what I saw.

Dead bodies were visible and the smell of chaos was present. A night in which several lives were lost again.

I sighed heavily after a few seconds and decided to look away. A glint of the illuminating light supported me to see the surroundings. how I wish that things like this will not happen again. It's like burning my whole sanity and killing my heart into pieces.

This is not the ideal life that I wanted. I just want to protect all of them so that they can live normally but I guess, different judgments can really cause a fight.

"Are you alright?" I heard Xipher's voice beside me.

Too much thinking, I didn't realize that he had already climbed. I examined him using my gaze and for the second time, I felt his emotions. It's deep care and maybe love.

"I'm fine. How about you? Did you get hurt?" I asked.

His furrowed brows started to become normal. He smiled playfully and crossed his arms.

"Now, my Lieutenant is concerned. I'm touched," he said before he gave me a hug.