He Broke Me Quietly, So I Left Quietly Chapter 08

He Broke Me Quietly, So I Left Quietly Chapter 08

In the dead of night, shrill air-raid sirens ripped through the entire camp. It was an enemy raid—armed insurgents had breached the perimeter.

Heavy, continuous gunfire and blasts erupted all around.

Liam sat up straight on his cot. He grabbed his jacket and ran out.

Only one thought was in his head.

Elara.

Flames roared toward the sky, and blast waves shredded the camp’s outer barbed-wire fencing to pieces.

Several pickup trucks with heavy machine guns roared into the camp. Masked fighters fired at everyone. People screamed and ran in every direction.

Liam fought against the fleeing crowd, sprinting desperately toward the medical tents.

“Elara! Answer me!”

He shouted her name through the gunfire. A stray bullet grazed his shoulder, tearing open a fresh streak of blood, but he kept his eyes on the tent ahead.

Half the tent had collapsed.

I was leading two injured local children toward the bomb shelter, moving slowly but steadily. I wore no bulletproof vest. My thin frame looked fragile in the firelight.

But my movements were calm and precise.

I held one crying child with one arm and pulled the other with her free hand, staying low and moving fast between cover. This wasn’t my first attack. I knew every possible cover spot on the battlefield like the back of my hand.

One fighter spotted them and fired.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Dirt kicked up at my feet.

I threw the two children to the ground and covered them with my own body.

The fighter walked closer, grinning, and aimed his gun at my back.

In that critical, heart-stopping instant—

“Get away from her!”

With a burst of strength he didn’t know he had, Liam threw himself at the fighter. Unarmed, he threw his full weight into a desperate tackle.

The two men fell into the mud.

The fighter’s gun swung away. A shot rang out and hit Liam in the stomach.

Liam grunted. Blood soaked through his white shirt instantly. But he didn’t let go.

Enraged, the insurgent snapped. He pulled out a knife and stabbed Liam in the chest.

The knife went in once. Twice. Three times.

I froze.

Lying on the ground, I watched the man who had once been so proud and arrogant. Now he was broken and bleeding, protecting her.

Government reinforcements finally surged in, their heavy fire instantly suppressing the insurgents.

Liam collapsed into a pool of blood. His chest rose and fell. Blood poured out with every breath.

He turned his head with great effort to look at Elara. His eyes held no trace of agony—only quiet, final relief.

“Elara…”

He reached out a bloody hand toward me.

I handed the two children to the nurses who had arrived. Then I walked slowly to his side. I knelt down and looked at him in silence.

This time, I didn’t pull away. I gently took his bloody hand.

A faint light flickered in Liam’s eyes. A bitter smile tugged at his lips.

“Elara… for five years, I’ve thought about it every day. If I hadn’t left you that night… would you have never come here and suffered so much…?”

“I’m giving my life… to pay you back…”

“Don’t hate me anymore… please…?”

I watched his eyes lose focus.

Words lodged tight in her throat, tangled in an indescribably complex emotion.

“I’m not angry at you anymore, Liam.”

A single tear rolled down Liam’s cheek, mixing with the blood and dirt on his face.

He seemed to want to say more.

But he had no strength left. His hand fell slowly.

I clung to his cold, lifeless hand in prolonged silence.

Then I let go and placed his hand gently on his chest.

I stood up.

I watched as a white sheet was slowly pulled over his face.

Then I turned and walked toward the two local children I had protected.