Virgin Bride(120)

“You won’t hurt her,” Logan says softly.

“Watch me.”

An explosion rocks the building. The guards behind us all begin shouting and firing their rifles. Logan moves faster than I thought possible, stepping up to Anton and grabbing his wrist. I notice that Logan’s back is all bloody, but I don’t have time to wonder why, because he twists and tears the gun from Anton’s hands.

“Kill them!” Anton screams.

More gunfire erupts and Logan dives to the side, grabbing me and throwing me into a room. Anton screams again, this time in agony. I roll to my feet and look around. It’s a small room with a single chair in front of what looks like a small window.

Logan moves to the door and looks out. He fires off a few rounds then moves back to me.

“Come on, we have to run.”

“Where?” I ask him. “What happened?”

“One of my units came through, but the guards are holding them off. We can get out behind them.”

“Anton?” I ask.

“You’ll see. Come on.” He grabs my hand and pulls me along.

Out in the hall, it’s chaos. The guards are all down at the end of the hall where we were headed originally, shooting like mad. Meanwhile, Anton is on the ground, his eyes wide as blood seeps from a bullet wound in his skull. Logan grins at me and I know it was him that finished Anton off.

I pause next to the body, staring down at him. This is the man that caused me so much pain and agony. He’s dead now and I’m still alive. I spit down on his corpse.

“Rot in hell,” I say.

“Come on,” Logan says a few feet away. “Run!”

I run toward him as more bullets begin to tear up the ground. He drops to one knee and fires back. Once I’m past him, he turns and follows.

I throw open some doors at the end of the hall just as another explosion rips through the building. This one is closer and the whole room shakes. Logan grabs my hand and pulls me along, through a room with a large projection television and a poker table. There are couches in front of the television, like people used to sit around and watch TV while girls are getting tortured.

“Here,” Logan shouts as more gunfire erupts nearby. He throws open a door and I dive inside as another explosion blasts through our room. Logan stumbles and fires his gun then gets inside the room, shoving the door closed behind him.

It takes me a second to understand what we’re looking at. It’s a bedroom, with wide, open windows and a four-poster bed. Logan walks across the room and throws open the windows, looking outside.

“Come on,” he says.

“Logan,” I say.

He stops and looks at me. “What?”

I point across the room. Crouched down next to the bed are three girls, cowering in fear, wearing nothing but lingerie.

“Shit,” he says softly and walks over to them. “Listen to me,” he says. “Anton is dead. You’re all free. Can you follow?”

The girls stare at him and start screaming. I watch in horror as they try to attack Logan, but he just dances backwards, avoiding their blows. Eventually he brings up his gun and points at them.

“Back off!” he yells.

The girls collapse together on the bed, screaming and crying, howling like wounded animals.

“Fuck,” Logan grunts. “Come on, Riley.” He pulls me toward the window. I can barely look away from those girls.

That was almost me. I can see it, almost like a vision of an alternate world. If not for Logan, I would be like those girls screaming on the bed because their rapist is dead.

“Riley,” Logan says, pulling me out of it. He takes me by the shoulders and looks into my eyes. “We’re almost away. Can you make it?”

I nod once. He turns and steps out of the window before helping me climb out behind him.

Once outside, the gunfire is louder, but more sporadic. Logan leads the way, sticking close to the wall. We stop and hide behind parked trucks and watch as a group of men wearing black and holding assault rifles comes jogging across the courtyard, heading toward the main building. There’s another explosion and more gunfire, drawing them away.

I follow Logan, skirting along the outbuildings, heading toward the gap in the wall. We’re almost there and suddenly someone starts yelling.

“Logan!” It’s a man’s voice and it’s nearby.

We freeze and Logan looks over. “Fuck,” he says under his breath.

“What?” I ask.

“That’s one of my commanders,” he says. “Fuck. Listen, Riley, I won’t let them take you. Okay? Run when I say.”

“What are you going to do?” Fear rifles through me.

“Run when I say. Okay?”

“Okay,” I answer, eyes wide.