Four loud shots broke the victorious cheer. It caused silence to descend amongst the soldiers.
Their eyes, attention, moved toward Claire and Gabriel.
The two standing under the sunset widened their eyes as their gazes met.
Claire felt her heart thump against her chest as she swallowed hard. "G-Gabriel?".
He replied with a hitch as his eyes moved down his body and to his abdomen.
Claire's gaze followed Gabriel's path down to his abdomen. Slowly, patches of red spread through the cloth that surrounded two holes on this stomach. "G... Gabriel?". He got shot.
And then, Claire felt a sharp pain resonate from her left hip. Instinctively, she placed the palm of her hand on the pain. Wetness.
She froze for a second, widening her eyes, before slowly retracting her hand. Looking at the palm of her left hand, she saw red all over it. But not managing to colour all the creases on the palm of her hand.
And then, a gentle gasp dragged her attention to Gabriel. He held onto his stomach, falling onto his knees.
Three of the four shots managed to hit them both, with one missing both the injured Captain and the injured medic by a hair.
"G-Gabriel!?". With a push, Claire took two steps to Gabriel before holding him in her hands.
His brows were scrunched as his hands covered the perforations caused by the two foreign bodies. A few drops of blood managed to seep through the tight gaps in his fingers, before rolling down his hand. From finger to finger.
"Gabriel?" Claire called out through the pain that she, too, felt. "G-Gabriel??". Tears welled in her eyes.
Upon hearing her voice carry his name, he felt his eyes accumulate with tears as well. 'It's my fault...'. At his thoughts, he gritted his teeth. 'But I am not going to let her die.'.
"Go..." he muttered under his breath.
Claire paused for a second, unsure if she heard him right. Then, an interruption occurred as a few more shots, aimed at them, were heard hitting off something other than them.
Quickly, looking around, she saw a broken down, burned car, shadowed by an even bigger vehicle, that was also burnt down.
Pulling both herself and Gabriel, with a few attempts she managed to get them both to a place so they can get a shield as offered by the two vehicles.
It was only then that she allowed herself to return to thinking about Gabriel's words. About what he said.
Then, he spoke up again. "Claire... go. Go to the Lieutenants. I've briefed them on this," he spoke out, kneeling beside her. "They'll know what to do.".
Claire was lost for words. She wanted to say something, but her trying to digest what had just happened didn't allow her to form words adequately. She was still trying to process the fact that Gabriel had gotten shot. But more so, the fact that she had gotten shot. 'Please... come back to us,' the words that Meghan and her parents spoke out swirled in her head.
But then, looking at all the blood on Gabriel's hands, she pulled herself back out of her trance. It wasn't the time for her to think about what was said to her all those months ago. She had someone who she needed to take care of. Someone who she truly cared about.
"G-Gabriel..." her voice trailed off as his words repeated themselves in her mind.
"I want you to get out of here. I want you to go home.". A pause followed. And bit by bit, tears continued to accumulate in his eyes. "I want you to be free, Claire...".
To his words, she tensed her jaw. She felt outraged at his words. She refused to comprehend them. Before speaking, she tried to swallow down the lump that formed in her throat. "Like hell will I go without you, Gabriel!". Claire didn't realise, but she raised her voice ever so slightly. She was too busy trying to calm herself down, trying not to break down into tears to realise she shouted at him. "I will not let another person, for whom I care for, die.". A pause followed and she couldn't help but let for a tear to fall down her face. "I am not leaving without you, Gabriel! You're my Captain. My teammate. I'll not let you die, you'll be fine!" she added through the hitches of her breath that were caused by her tears.
With that, she looked around herself before the City Hall came into view. She stopped for a second before looking toward the entrance of the building. The door was open. 'The building should give us some protection against the shots.'.
"Gabriel... t-the city hall!" she called out, standing up before instantly prompting him to get up and onto his feet too. "We have to make it there, Gabriel. We'll be safer there than here.". Claire didn't try reasoning with him, she knew that they had to quickly get somewhere safe before they sustain a further degree of damage.
He stood up and onto his feet. He tried not to lean against Claire, but he didn't have enough power to try and fight for himself to stand upright.
Claire gently pulled Gabriel along with her as they headed towards the town hall. "Hold tightly, Gabriel!". He did as he was told.
With one hand, he held onto Claire, as with his other, he pressed against the two wounds on his stomach.
Claire tried to walk as fast as she could but maintained her grave care as she held Gabriel.
Suddenly, even though shots were heard bounce throughout the tense, clogged air, with four of those shots, a yelp - a grunt - of pain came as a result. Gabriel widened his eyes as he turned his head towards Claire.
She stopped her movements as her jaw tensed. She got shot. In fact, she got shot with a further 3 bullets. 2 in her right thigh, one closer to her right hip.
"C-Claire?".
She replied with a grunt, her eyes further filling with tears as she continued walking.
SHOT. SHOT.
One of the bullets missed both her and Gabriel, but the other managed to hit her in the hand.
Another three shots were shot, two of them managing to hit Gabriel, while one missed them both.
And then... SHOT. SHOT. SHOT.
Claire squeezed her eyes closed as she waited for the pain to spread from where the foreign object managed to penetrate its way into her flesh.
Gabriel reacted the same. Then, slight confusion mixed in with relief arose between the two. No further shots were felt on their bodies.
Opening her eyes, a figure caught her gaze. Lieutenant Mason.
He held a gun which was pointed outwards. It was he who let out the shots and killed the enemy gunman who harmed both Claire and Gabriel.
He limped two steps closer to Claire and Gabriel. He got shot too. "Come on, we have to go to safety. Okay?".
With that, he held both Claire and Gabriel by their arms as he walked them even closer to the City Hall - just like how Claire initially began.
Managing to reach the entrance, he asked Claire if she can stand on her own.
"Yes..." she replied. "I-I think I can...".
"Okay..." Mason replied. "You both, please, stay here. It's safe, much safer than out there. Help is on the way. You hear!?". He paused. "I'll go to get someone to be here with you both!".
Then, shots were heard as they all hit the building. Right above the door where Mason was. He ducked ever so slightly before looking back.
He had no other option but to let both Claire and Gabriel go as he grabbed the two doors and began closing the entrance. "I will be back as soon as I can!". With that, the door closed shut.
Leaning against a pillar that rose from the marbled ground and up to the ceiling, Claire turned to look for Gabriel. She saw the way he made quite a few steps into the room before he reached a counter.
It was there where he lost balance and, with a loud, painful groan, fell to the ground.
"Gabriel!?" Claire cried out as she attempted to pursue her way after him. But the wounds that scattered her down her leg and up her body made independent movement much harder. So she stopped. She reached a table where she managed to lean on as her gaze was on Gabriel.
He turned before replying with a look. He looked back at Claire. Their gazes met.
A moment of silence passed as shots were heard from the outside. They grew in intensity and it wasn't long before explosions were reintroduced into the equation that already equalled mayhem.
Gabriel felt a lump grow and further develop in his throat the more his eyes stayed on her. "I-I... I-I've failed you..." he spoke. His words seemed as if they were the cause for silence to descend upon the relentless city.
But it wasn't long-lived. The moment of silence was shattered by the sound of planes.
"W-what do you mean?..." Claire asked. "... What do you mean by that?".
"Look..." he said, pointing his finger at her. "All that blood, a-all those wounds...". Muteness occurred between the two as he swallowed the lump that grew in his throat. "You're hurt...". He closed his eyes before he scrunched his brows. "I told you I'll keep you safe... I told you I'd let nothing happen to you.".
Claire shook her head. "Y-you didn't expect for this to happen, Gabriel..." she began, her eyes, once again, filling up with tears. One of them managed to fall down her face. She wanted to get closer to him, so she tried to do just that.
Step by step, she managed to take three steps toward him before the sound of a plane became overwhelmingly loud. And then. Explosion after explosion.
The bombs didn't hit the hall, but they fell very close to the building. So close that it caused tremors to rock the building - only further weakening it. In turn, this resulted in Claire collapsing to the ground.
"Claire!?" Gabriel called her name after seeing her fall
She let out a painful grunt before looking up at him. "I'm fine..." she called out through the sounds of slight debris falling from the ceiling. But the strain in her voice proved that she wasn't saying the truth.
So, she blew a rush of air through her lips before looking to her left. That's where she saw a big hole in the ceiling of the building. It was here that her gaze was met with the darkening sky as more and more smoke from the recent explosions rose into the sky.
With that, she returned her gaze to Gabriel. She looked at his face. She saw nothing but hurt, pain expressed across it.
Without a second thought, she once again tried to get to him. With her dragging her body across the floor to Gabriel, she left a trail of blood behind her.
He moved onto his side as his gaze remained on her.
Stopping for a moment, she let out a gentle sigh. "H-how are you feeling?" Claire asked him.
To her question, he shrugged after a moment of no response, "How are you?... because if you're okay, then so am I.".
To his words, she nodded. "I-I am good.".
And upon hearing what she said, she noticed the slight relief that stretched across his face. A small, melancholic smile grew on his lips. But it didn't last for long.
Just as fast as his smile formed on his lips, it took just as long for it to disappear off them.
He proceeded on trying to close the space that was present between them. He turned onto his stomach before crawling towards Claire.
It didn't take long for him to reach her.
It was there that he furthermore looked at her, gazed at her injuries. They furthermore hurt him and broke his heart. "What I told you..." he began. "What I told you, I managed to do none of it...". A pause. "And... and I am so fucking sorry for that, Claire...".
It was these words of his that caused a slight frown to appear on Claire's lips. "You tried your best, Gabriel... Never say you did otherwise.". She saw him when he wasn't doing so great, all those weeks back in Failin. That night when he drank. For some reason, such words of his reminded her of that, exact night.
And then the drinking reminded her of that one day, another couple of months back. Back in Arittoria. The first time she met him. The first time her gaze landed on him, and that moment - only seconds later - when his gaze met hers.
That was when he walked back right after he had... stood up for her. In her life, there weren't many men who did such a thing...
And then, an odd thought hit her... She fought this war alongside that one man who stood up for her.
But then, suddenly, she froze.
'I-I didn't thank him...'. She paused. 'I didn't thank him for standing up for me...'.
So then, her gentle voice broke the quiet between them both. "Thank you... thank you, Gabriel...".
He replied with a look of confusion. "For what?".
"I-... I didn't get a chance to thank you back then.". A pause. "I didn't thank you for that one time when you stood up for me.".
He stopped, froze to her words. His gaze remained on her. But with the passing of a mere moment or two, a small smile developed on his lips.
"You don't... don't thank me for such a thing...". His eye remained on hers. "You're thanking me for beating some sense into a man just so he can show a bare minimum of human decency.".
And then, the whooshing sound of the engines of the planes that flew above the building grabbed both of their attention.
Shots.
They heard shots after shots emitted from the two planes. A dog fight.
Not long passed before a winner out of the two was determined, the determining factor being the trail of smoke that followed the defeated plane as it fell. Then, a faint explosion...
Claire heard movement, it grabbed her attention. And looking towards where the sound came from, she saw Gabriel further approaching her. She saw the way his jaw was tensed as he too left a trail of blood behind him.
He let a grunt out through his pain as he continued moving.
Along with the pain that was present, she felt worry swirl in her stomach to his words. "W-what is it, Gabriel? Is everything okay?".
Having his eyes still on her and comprehending her words, he let another gentle smile evolve on his lips. He nodded ever so slightly. But she knew he wasn't being very truthful. "I-I just have to tell you something more...".
He moved himself that bit closer to her before reorienting himself so that he wasn't facing her the other way around. He gave himself a minute's worth of rest.
"So..." he began. But then, thinking back to his words - unknowingly to him, he let his smile fade away. He took a deep breath, "So... Mason will... will know what to do next. Follow him, d-do as he says. He will ensure your safety. He'll make sure you get back home, okay?...". Although he asked, he didn't allow her to answer as he spoke up again. "I-I've briefed him on everything...".
Then, in the background, another series of explosions were heard. Each detonation sounded closer to the City Hall. And with the occurrence of each explosion, the slight tremors were back. They slowly grew in intensity.
The Jibberish shouting continued right after the explosions were put to rest. The shots continued sounding off as the sound of planes was heard again.
With that, Claire and Gabriel looked at one another. Her heart was aching as she kept her gaze on him. She didn't know why, but a small smirk of pure melancholy formed on her lips. 'Is... is this how it's going to end?'.
She tried swallowing down the lump that was in her throat. "Y-you know... you're making it s-sound as if you won't make it...". She paused. "W-w-why?".
"You... you have your whole l-life ahead of you...".
"So do you.".
"No..." he began. "No, I don't. My future is restricted... was already d-decided...".
Gabriel noticed the look on Claire's face. Slight confusion.
"I-I come from a military family...". He cleared his throat. "M-my father... older brother... they... they were soldiers. So naturally... I-I was e-expected to... to follow them...".
"You don't like being a soldier?".
"No... not that... It's... it's not that I don't like it.". He let a chuckle at his words of irony. "But then again... It's not like I-I can say that I l-like it either," he replied. "But... but more-less that. C-Claire... you, you have a family to return to... all I have left is... is my mother...". A pause. "She... s-she's not doing t-the best...".
And then, for the first time since she met the man that laid before her, she saw tears well and roll down his cheeks. He hitched a breath before speaking up again, "I-I love her so, so fucking much... but the sight... the sight of her crying, of her s-saddened face a-as she is sitting in... in her wheelchair... it destroys me.". He took a moment to calm down. "Her health has been in a decline... within a year or two, she'll be gone too. That's what the doc said. And after that... I'll h-have no one...". His words had a vicious effect on both Claire and himself. It broke their hearts.
Crackles were heard once again from the ceiling of the building as the shots outside further increased in intensity. Through the noise of the shots, the sound of the rubble falling to the marbled floor was heard.
Bit by bit, the building was reaching its final moments of staying upright before its collapse.
"I-... I am sorry to hear that..." Claire spoke out. She wanted to add something more, but couldn't. She wasn't able to find any other words adequate enough.
From there, Claire turned towards the hole in the ceiling. And there, in the distance, she saw a plane fly across the sky.
It wasn't long before she closed her eyes. Almost immediately, her mind raced back to the memories of home. Her parents went to mind.
She thought back to her loving mother and father. She thought back to Meghan. To the child that Meghan gave birth to.
And the more her mind dwelled on her parents, on Meghan, the more her heart broke. The more vibrant the pain had become.
Because, just like Garrett, she had begun to accept her fate that she'll not make it back home. But something that she'll never be able to forgive herself is the broken promise that she gave both her parents and her close friend, Meghan.
"Claire..." Gabriel's voice gently kicked her out of her trance. And upon him doing just that, she replied by looking at him, into his eyes. "Thank you... thank you for everything you've done for my force. For me.".
And then, a slight shimmer of gold caught his gaze. The necklace he had bought her. It still remained where he put it on for her. Around her neck.
Following where his gaze led, Claire's eyes also stumbled upon the gold of the necklace. Again, just like every time she gazed at her necklace, subconsciously, a small smile evolved on her lips. She gave the decoration, that hung on the thin chain, gently caressed as each touch reminded her of that night in Veursau. Veursau...
And Veursau reminded her of Trina... It made her remember the words that she told Claire.
'I'd love to go and visit Veursau one day... Maybe, once this shit is all over, we can go there together, with our brothers!'.
Her mind went back to that moment in time when she had her still beside her. When she still had her at an arm's distance from her. When she still could have felt her hug, asked for one... Little did she know what the time, the time that awaited them a little while ahead would do to her.
Closing her eyes, she let a few tears spill from her eyes and down her cheeks. 'I wonder where you're now, Trina... I'd imagine a beautiful, sunny beach. The sunset behind you with a person approaching you... I imagine for it to be him... your brother...'. A pause. 'I wonder if you found him... if you both are together up there, safe, in the little blue heavens.'.
She gently hitched a breath as Danielle also then came to mind. She was the one who told her something that Claire knows she'll carry for the rest of her life. 'Love is the strongest weapon out of them all.'.
'Ironic how I am here now, in a war, where everything is shown but love.'.
'I wonder where you're too, Danielle... Are you happy?... Do you visit often?'. She tried, once more, to swallow the lump that was still in her throat. 'I hope I'll get to see you again soon...'.
Thinking back to Veursau as her eyes remained upon her beautiful necklace. Her mind couldn't help but refer back to Gina. And just like when she thought about Trina and Danielle, she remembered something from Gina too. Something that Gina told Claire and it stayed within her mind, on repeat. 'I want to prove him wrong by showing him that I am more than capable of being in the army. And the way that I will prove myself is by making it back home, alive.'. She felt her heart aching at the memory of such words. 'You are strong enough, stronger than you know. Stronger than I or anyone else knows, you are stronger than your father knows...'. A brief period of nothing followed her thoughts as her eyes continued filling with tears. 'I'm glad that you'll be okay, Gina... I hope you make it... I hope you make it back home, safe and sound.'.
She gently hitched a breath, she heard her voice in her head once more. 'Please... never forget me...'.
'I'll never forget you... I'll never forget you, Gina. Nor will I ever forget you, Danielle. And you, Trina... forever will memories of you be with me.'. Her heart ached more with each thought. 'I wish we all had more time together... I-I wish I was able to say a proper goodbye...'.
Garrett. 'I love you, Claire. I love you, my little sister...'. Behind her closed eyelids, she saw him. On his last morning at home. She saw him walk towards the truck. 'I'll be back, Claire... I'll be back before you know it.'. He reached the back of the truck and with one glance back, he smiled at her. 'You don't have to worry about me.'. With that, he turned back around and climbed onto the truck.
Claire wanted to call out his name. She wanted to scream, to shout for him before he left. But the lump in her throat didn't let her. She gritted her teeth as her eyes slowly became blurred with all the tears in her eyes. 'But... you won't, Garrett...'.
Her heart ached with pain, pain unlike any other as, behind her closed eyes, she saw the truck drive away. Bringing Garrett further and further away from her.
Slowly, she inhaled ragged breaths, the raggedness resulting from the tears she cried. Gabriel noticed this. Hell, he noticed even before then. He saw the numerous tears that rolled down her face but decided against doing anything. Until then...
He further closed the space that remained between them both before, gently, rubbing some of her tears off her face. "What made you upset, hm?".
"I-I... I don't want to say my goodbyes... n-not yet..." she confessed to him, and it felt as if her body rewarded her, it let some load off her shoulders, off her chest. "I-... I-I do have my life a-ahead of me...". She paused before breaking down into even more tears. "This isn't how things were supposed to end...".
"And they won't," he whispered back to her, he diverted his eyes up into the hole in the building. His gaze met with the clearing skies. "Nothing will end, not just yet..." then, averting his gaze down to Claire, she looked at her in the eyes. Her teary, red eyes. "You know... I always thought your eyes were beautiful, ever since the day we met...". A pause. "I just couldn't get myself to tell you such a thing...".
And then, his arms wrapped around her body. He embraced her. He held her close to him, tightly against him.
More tears spilt down her face. 'Gabriel...' she thought to herself.
"Close your eyes..." he whispered to her. "Close your eyes and hug me tight...". He paused, hitching a breath. "Hug me tight and don't let go, you hear?".
'Never... ' she spoke in her thoughts. Hoping that, by chance, he'd hear.
Gabriel... Caring, loving. Cunning.
She noted that from the first day she met him, she felt that from when her eyes met his for the very first time.
'It made it that bit more special that I got to share this moment with you, Claire.' his words came back to her. Her grip upon his tightened that bit more.
"I'm glad I met you, Claire.".
It was these words of his that had broken her down again. She couldn't help but sob. And he let her. He let for her to cry on his shoulder as he held her.
'I'm so damn lucky I met you, Gabriel...'. That's what she wanted to say, but she didn't have enough courage to. So, instead, she held onto him. Dug her head into him. Into his chest.
And then came the words that she expected the least.
"I love you...".
And then, with the whistles of the bombs outside, they fell to the ground. Explosions after explosions had occurred.
And two of them got a direct hit on the City Hall.
With the support that was left suddenly gone, what was once a sturdy, standing building, turned to rubble and debris as it fell to the ground.
A plume of smoke and dust rose into the sky...
As everything went...
Black... Black... Black.