Love and War - (Book 1)

Chapter 7 (Part 3 - But Not Forever)

Lucas makes his way back to the drug dealer, enraged. He reminds himself of Alex, when they first met. He recalls the events - every word spoken, every insult made and every punch thrown. Lucas remembers it all too well. So he lingers on the thoughts no longer.

Yet as he forgets Alex, he sees him in the body of another. A woman's. She has bright bleached hair, however the face was all too similar to that of Alex's. Lucas, creepily, followed her to her home. She seemed anxious and appeared to notice him following her. Lucas carried on, until she turned right and entered, what he assumed, was her home. Lucas carried on walking forwards, appearing as if he were not following her.

He has to make his way to the drug dealer via a longer route, due to his distraction. 'Good, women are distracting you now. I'm clearly moving on from James(!)' he jokes to himself. The walk was tiring and dreary, so much so that Lucas ended up aching with a stitch. His body began cramping; he remembered the previous time this had happened. 'I haven't walked this much since I escaped the Military base. After I killed two people. I killed them,' Lucas worries, reliving the moments when he took two lives. Lives he didn't have to take. Now he realises that it didn't matter if he murdered the two soldiers; everything has been going wrong since he escaped. 'Maybe I wasn't supposed to leave. I should've just stayed there. Stayed there and suffered, instead of being somewhere nice and suffering.'

Lucas eventually reached the alley where he regularly met up with the drug dealer. He was prepared to stroll down there, yet he heard some raucous quarrelling. 'Best not to intrude this kerfuffle.' He looked down there to see what was going on, and he what he saw would stick with him forever...

-Holly-

Having planned out the day for herself, Holly woke up and took a shower almost straight away. She felt content with the water splashing down her back and breasts, over her face. She enjoyed the purity it made her feel. Often, she would waste ten or maybe twenty minutes relaxing in the shower, however she knew she had to inform Jenny about meeting up early, in case Jenny decided to have adventures of her own.

Once dried and dressed, teeth cleaned and hair washed, Holly phoned Jenny about seeing each other. Fortunately, Jenny was available to meet up this day. Previous dates set between the two were interrupted about nonsensical events that were planned beforehand, and Jenny always goes to whatever was planned first.

Holly enters the local coffee shop, seeing Jenny already there. Holly takes the seat opposite Jenny. "Alright?" Jenny says.
"Yeah, you alright?" Holly returns.
"Sure. So, what is it? Why'd you wanna meet up?" she asks, quizzically.
"Just wanted to see you. I don't have many friends, and I thought you'd like to know that Jonathan is fine. He stands by with Alex all the time, and it's not exactly safe."
"I know. I keep telling him to stand down and do what he's supposed to do, but he says he is. He's doing everything he needs to do. At least that's what he tells me. How's Alex?"
"He's fine, too. The two of them just took a Rebel base. They're gonna take another one soon," Holly informs her. Jenny appears disappointed.
"I wish they'd lose this time. Hopefully they know what a defeat feels like after all this."
"Yeah, well, there's no stopping them."
"Because they're fucking idiots. Would like something to drink?" she asks.
"I'm okay. Oh, alright."

The two order some coffee and drink it down whilst talking about the Military and Jonathan. "Don't the army get breaks? Are they allowed time off?" Holly questions.
"No, don't think so."
"Not even Christmas?"
"Not in this war. It seems. They fight when they have to, they stop when they need to. There's no special occasion to just leave when you wanna."
"That's just... bollocks."
"Yeah," Jenny agrees.

-Alexander-

Only one group of soldiers have arrived. They came from Essex, bringing thirty soldiers to add to the army. "If the others take over a week to arrive, we'll have to leave with what we have. We can't linger here any longer than necessary, and if we do... the Rebels will find us. They will find us and they will kill us," Jonathan explains to Alexander.
"I am completely and utterly aware of what is at risk when the fucking Rebels figure out where we are and what we're doing. But thanks for giving me a date... not that I can make our shit-head soldiers move any faster," Alex replies.