TAMING MAX (Completed)

CHAPTER 42- SHE IS FINALLY FREE

MAX'S POV

We had our guns pulled and stayed behind the lead. My nerves were standing on end and I imagined Chase's were too. The security cameras the lead team had blacked out caught my eye. What an odd thing to focus on when I was waiting on the prompt to enter a war zone. Even though the shots had slowed a bit, there was still a battle raging inside.

We spread our security team out. They had guns drawn, canvasing every square inch of the property. It looked like a military operation rather than a rescue mission. With everything unfolding around us, I was on sensory overload.

The lead counted down, three, two, one, and my heart momentarily stopped beating. When it started again, we were inside and my adrenaline started pumping so hard it felt like my heart might explode. We stayed low and right behind him as he led us through the building.

We passed through the living room, taking an immediate right. There were blood and bodies strewn in every direction and we were hyper-aware that we were not in the clear.

I could hear fighting and shots all around us, but we kept our focus on finding the girls. The first door we happened upon, the lead approached it cautiously with us still behind. He quickly slung it open with his gun drawn and entered, looking for anyone who may lie in wait.

Luckily, there were no bad guys, but we also did not locate Lillie and Piper. Once the room was clear, we headed back out into the hall in search of another. He had gotten a few steps ahead of us when I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye.

Before I could even turn to investigate, I felt a warm sensation in my shoulder. It didn't really hurt. It just felt like thick, hot syrup running through me. When I looked down, I saw red spreading through my shirt.

"You're hit, man," Chase shouted, and I looked at him with an odd expression. I was trying to process everything that was happening, but it all seemed so surreal. The lead turned around and ripped my shirt open so he could see the wound. He inspected the front of my shoulder and then the back.

"You'll be fine, it went clean through," he said and then continued the mission as if nothing had happened. He was right, it wasn't about me. We were there to rescue the girls, and that was all that mattered at that moment. As we moved, the pain began setting in, but I willed it away. I didn't have time to worry about pain, we had to find them.

We moved to another room as the shots continued to ring out but found nothing. As we entered the hall again, we took our time. Risking another one of us getting shot was not an option.

As we moved cautiously to the third room, I prayed we would find success. I needed to see her and know that she was alive. The longer we came up empty, the more helpless it felt.

Just before we opened the door I heard Chase say, "You are losing a lot of blood, man." I looked down and saw that blood had soaked my shirt and was trickling onto the floor, leaving a trail behind me, but I didn't care. Motioning to the lead to move ahead, we watched as he breached the door.

As soon as he opened it, they came into view and for the first time, I felt light-headed. They tied Lillie to a chair and there was a man next to her. He had a gun held to her head.

Piper was lying on the floor in the room's corner, and it was hard to tell if she was alive or dead. Her body showed no signs of movement.

I looked on as tears streamed down Lillie's battered face. Every emotion known to man ran through me in an instant. Fear was the most prominent, it was a fear so complete that it felt paralyzing. Desperation followed, and then guilt. I was responsible for this.

Staring directly into her eyes, I tried to communicate that I would stop at nothing to get her out of there. Her eyes went straight to the blood on my shirt and a look of panic filled her face.

"If you harm her, you will not get out of this alive," the lead said to the man with the gun.

"We both know I am not getting out of here alive so I might as well take her with me," he shouted back.

I couldn't take it, she was right in front of me and I could not save her. Running out of patience, I aimed my gun at her captor and when he focused on me and tried to pre-empt my strike; the lead shot him in the head. He fell lifeless to the ground as Lilie screamed a blood-curdling scream.

She thought he had shot her, and it took her a moment to realize he hadn't. Shock was the only way to describe the look on her face as I ran to her, desperate to have her in my arms.

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A/N

Thanks for continuing to follow Max and Lillie's journey. The girls are finally rescued but is Piper okay and will they all get out of there alive? I would love to hear your thoughts.