Member
Luke Godfrey
“Come on move damn it! You slow bastards, run!” Luke barked towards the fleeing civilians as he guided them out the back door. Many of the people were still too panicked to follow his simple orders, but already a good handful of people managed to flee deeper into the city, escaping the yellow cloud of death that was growing closer by the second. He gave a hiss of frustration as the gap of time for the rest of the civilians to escape only grew slimmer, the outcome looking grim if things didn’t hurry along. He began to tear people out of the door, cursing and shoving people forward. He even tore whatever type of luggage they were carrying, bags or suitcases, anything that slowed them down. They protested as their belongings were thrown to the ground, but it went on deaf ears as they were quickly pushed away towards the gradually closing escape route. This whole shit show was getting out of hand. Who in the world bombarded them? Some dumb bastard who got the coordinates wrong or something. “Fuck!” he blurted in anger as his mind briefly dwelled on the situation before shoving another civilian out the door. “How can this get any worse?” he muttered, soon to regret his question.
After getting two more people out Luke jumped as the crack of gunfire from the other side of the inn filled the air and tightened his grip around his rifle. “Of course, just add on to the shit show! Hell, why not add a few more bumps in the roads!” he shouted up towards the dark sky to whoever or whatever was listening. A terrified shriek caught his attention and looked back down only to freeze in horror. It was to late, the yellow cloud of gas now fully surrounded the Inn, cutting off any hope of escape for the civilians. He watched as any unlucky civilians were consumed by the cloud, all falling one by one as they choked on the deadly fumes. Desperate choking, violent coughing, vomiting a mixture of blood and bile. He wanted to look away, but his eyes refused to tear themselves away. “F-fuck,” was all he could mutter as he watched on in horror. Soon though he was brought back to reality by Isaac calling out for him, demanding to know if he was still helping the civilians or returning to them.
He swallowed any hesitation before running back to the door, pushing back a hand full of people who failed to get out in time. “T-the escape route for the civies has been cut off by the gas! I got as many as I could, but we still have a few!” he shouted from the back before looking around at the remaining civilians, all of them terrified and desperate for a salvation. “Shit, shit shit!” Luke began to feel his heart race as he tried to figure out a plan to save the rest of them. The more of the gunfire he heard the less time he had before he and the rest of the team had to bug out themselves. He looked back to the civilians, each one of them now looking to him for guidance. Soon his eyes spotted a mother and her daughter, the mother holding her daughter as close as she could. She looked to him, silently pleading for a solution. Luke stared into her pleading eyes before he finally swallowed his hesitation and felt his determination harden. An idea soon popped into his head and looked to the luggage he had thrown to the ground from the other fleeing civilians. Several pieces of clothing littered the floor and was just what he needed.
Luke snatched up some clothes and began handing them out to the civilians who took them with slight confusion. “Cover your faces with these, it’s the best chance we have in getting through that shit!” he barked as he handed out the clothing. With no better options the civilians began covering their faces, a few muttering a few prayers while a few began to prepare themselves. After handing out the clothing he handed the last of it to the mother and her daughter. He looked to the daughter, no older than five years old. She held onto her mother with confused fear in her eyes and looked to Luke with tears ready to fall from her eyes. Luke removed his mask and put on the friendliest smile he could muster to ease her mind. “Okay, I know you’re scared, but you need to be strong right now. What’s your name?” the girl stared at Luke in fearful silence for a moment, flinching as more gunfire rang out from outside, but she looked back to a smiling Luke and spoke.
“Cindy,” she answered in a meek and shaking voice. Luke grinned and gave a nod.
“Well Cindy, I need you to be strong for your mother here. Now I want you to do a few things. One, keep this over your face no matter what,” he handed her a piece of cloth and held up two fingers. “Second, keep your eyes closed as tight as you can,” he ignored another round of brief gunfire and held up three fingers. “Third, hold onto your mother and never let go. Can you do all that for me?” he asked while ignoring the distant sound of shouting and screams. The girl nodded, sniffling a bit before closing her eyes and covering her face with the cloth before burying her covered face into her mother’s chest. He looked to the mother and gave a firm nod before placing the mask back over his face. “Okay, everyone stay together! No one-”
BANG
Luke was interrupted by a gunshot from upstairs and gritted his teeth before looking back to the civilians. A part of him wanted to go and help his team, but these people needed him more. His teammates are soldiers, these people aren’t. “No one separates and watch your footing!” he ordered before moving towards the doorway, looking out to see the yellow cloud growing thicker and thicker. With a deep breath he looked back to the people and gave a firm nod. “Stay with me no matter what!” he barked before taking the lead out of the Inn. He kept his rifle leveled as he jogged through the yellow mist, stepping over body after body and passing by a few poor bastards still struggling to stay alive. He gritted his teeth as some of them reached out towards him, unable to call out for help as they no longer had the strength to find their voices. Luke forced himself to ignore the unlucky ones and instead continued to glanced back to see the civilians following him, their eyes exposed to the gas. Yet even if they’re eyes began to water and burn they kept up with Luke, clutching their makeshift mask to their faces. He looked forward and could see that they made it to the streets, meaning they were now a bit deeper in the city. He couldn’t tell how far they were from the Inn at this point, but the distant gunfire let him know he wasn’t too far to double back and return once he got everyone to safety. A part of him wanted to head back and help his team, but he wouldn’t abandon these people until they were out of the gas.
Soon as they moved through the streets the yellow mist gradually began to grow thinner, a sense of slight relief filling his mind. “We’re almost there, just a little more and we’re-” he was cut off by the crack of a rifle and a pained shriek. He spun around and widened his eyes in dread to see the mother falling with her child. He looked past them and spotted an Imp soldier with a gas mask similar to his in the shattered window of a small shop. The civilians let out panicked shouts and screams as they hurried down the street, passing Luke as he watched the mother fall to the ground. A few voices could be heard coming from the Imps, one yelling at the other that they had just shot a civilian and the other stating he didn’t know. Luke gritted his teeth in anger before rushing passed the civilians and back towards the mother. “Go! Go! Don’t stop!” he ordered the others before raising his rifle and firing a shot towards the Imp in the window. He heard the bastard curse in surprise before ducking down in the window. Luke fired another shot before rushing towards the fallen mother, noticing the daughter still under her, struggling with the weight of her mother atop of her. He nearly made it to the two, but skidded to a halt as a bullet struck the pavement in front of him. He scrambled back and dived for a burnt out car as a few more gunshots rang out, nearly filling him with lead.
“Fuck! You Imp fucks!” Luke shouted in rage before another round of gunfire filled the air and several bullets hit the burnt car he was hiding behind. He popped out of cover and fired a round towards the shop, seeing three or four Imps now bunkered down. He could barely see them, but his eyes widened in shock to see all of them wearing the same type of gas mask he had. A bullet whizzed past his head and he let out a growl of frustration as he fell back into cover. “Damn it!” he hissed before looking towards the fallen mother atop of her daughter. He froze in horror as the daughter no longer struggled under her mother, a small motionless hand sticking out from under the deceased mother. Luke only stared on in dumb founded silence, is body sliding down the burnt car and his rifle simply resting on his lap. A few more rounds pinged off his cover, but Luke was numb to it. He was numb to it all as his eyes refused to leave the horrific scene.
A pool of the mother’s blood began to surround the two and the thin yellow mist began to consume them. The mother must have smothered the girl, or the gas finished the job. He banged the back of his head against the car and let out a tired sigh before looking up towards the dark clouded sky, the yellow mist slowly taking over. Soon another bullet pinged off his cover and he was brought back to reality. Luke looked past the two corpses and spotted an alleyway he could use as an escape route. The shouting from the Imps began to grow closer and he peeked out of his cover to see them starting emerge from the shop and gradually making their way towards him to finish him off. With a deep breath he bolted from his cover and leaped over the corpses, barely avoiding a barrage of gunfire from the Imps. Luckily he made it unscathed and sprinted into the alley.
He could hear the Imps shouting and ducked his head down as a bullet flew over him. With gritted teeth he spun around, aimed for the first Imp to reach the alley and fired a round. A shriek of pain escaped his target before falling to the ground clutching his gut. Their comrades soon caught up and two of them dragged the injured Imp off while another returned fire. Luke flinched as the bullet grazed his left leg and fired a panicked shot before hurrying down the alley and turned the corner into another alleyway. “I’m going after the bastard!” Luke heard one of the Imps shout, a few other distant voices calling out for their comrade. He gritted his teeth and sprinted down the alley, noticing the thin mist of gas lingering around him. An idea popped in his head as he spotted a bit of rumble to his right hid behind it, preparing to ambush his pursuer. Through heavy breathing he pulled out his bayonet and attached it to his rifle, wincing from his minor wound on his left leg. He looked down to see a bit of blood leaking from his injury, but it was nothing life threatening.
Once his bayonet was secured onto his rifle he heard the heavy foot falls from a pair of boots begin to grow closer and gritted his teeth as he readied himself to lunge into action. His heart began to race the closer they got, his grip around his rifle growing tighter. Finally his pursuer passed by his hiding spot and gave a snarl of anger as he lunged out. The Imp gave a yelp of surprise before spinning on their heel and used the butt of their rifle to knock Luke’s bayonet away. He gritted his teeth in frustration before using his momentum to slam his shoulder into his opponents chest, sending them both crashing into the alleyway wall. “Fucker!” the Imp snarled from behind their mask before slamming the butt of their rifle into Luke’s gut. The wind was knocked out of him for a sec, but with a roar of rage he knocked the rifle from their grasp, releasing his own weapon before gripping his opponents uniform and driving his knee into their gut. The Imp gasped in pain and reached for Luke's face and tearing his helmet from his head before Luke threw him to the ground. With a growl Luke ripped out the hammer he had taken the first day he arrived in this damned city and approached the Imp. Before he could get up to face him Luke slammed the heel of his boot into his, a satisfying crack reaching his ears. The Imp held his face and groaned in pain, not realizing as Luke loomed over him until it was to late. “No! Wai-” his plead was cut short as Luke brought down the hammer onto his skull, a sickening crack filling the air.
The Imp laid on the ground, his arms still raised weakly to defend himself. Luke gave a shout of anger before bring down the hammer again onto his skull. His body gave one last twitch and a spurt of blood painted Luke’s mask, causing him to step back in surprise and wipe the blood from his goggled vision. He groaned in frustration as the blood still remained in his goggles, but froze to see another Imp turn the corner and raise his rifle. “Bastard!” he yelled before firing a round. Luke jumped in shock as the bullet crashed into pavement next to his feet and scrambled back, snatching up his rifle and sprinting down the alleyway, deciding to leave his helmet behind. He couldn’t waste anymore time here, he needed to get back to everyone before they left him behind. A few more rounds whizzed past his head and a frustrated shout from the other Imp filled the air. Soon Luke bursted out of the alleyway and into the open, the thicker cloud of yellow gas covering him from his pursuers. Panting heavily Luke tried to find his way back, the thick gas slightly confusing him.
Luckily he spotted the outline of the Inn and bolted towards it, his body beginning to grow tired and his lungs starting to burn from exhaustion. His grazed left leg wasn’t any help as it started to sting after every step. Luke powered through it though and used all of his strength to run to the Inn. Finally he reached the back entrance and barreled into the building only to be met with a hail of automatic gunfire tearing through the building. To his shock he saw a few more civilians remained in the building and cursed himself as they were gunned down in the fire. He missed a few people! How could he miss them!? “Fuck!” he shouted in a raspy voice. He stepped over their bodies and saw the rest of his team had gathered, getting ready to head out. He leaned onto the wall as he panted heavily behind his blood covered mask, a blood drenched hammer in one hand and a bayoneted rifle in the other. Since he had lost his helmet his brown messy hair was covered in a bit of blood. He definitely looked like shit, but that wasn't important.“I… I got as many people as I could out. We got… Imps in mask out their. They must have… stolen them from our guys,” he reported through heavy breathing, his body slightly slumped over and his grazed leg starting to sting even more. “We need to move now!”