Rearguard

"BEGIN!" The battle commenced. Immediately i could hear the rapid footsteps from the outside. We hid behind the parked cars, either resting our weapons on top of them, or aiming under them. Staring at the stairwell and ramp.

Gunshots were heard below, from a few shots to an all out gunfight. Each second that passed, the gunshots from below quickly intensified with more and more shots being heard. My team still stayed behind cars or pillars. Our orders were to be the 2nd last line of defense.

The noises seemed to have risen upwards, getting louder before it stopped rising up, there was a brief pause in the gunfire, reduced to a few shots until resuming after a short time. I felt my body freeze up, just staring at the stairwell with my rifle aimed towards it.

The gunfight continued, louder and more shots were heard below, then, it paused, going back to a few shots.

"Don't shoot! Were heading up!" A voice yelled from the stairwell. Heading up from it were the groups stationed below, their teams, reduced from 5 to 3 or 2. They ran up, rushing towards cover, probably using up most or all their ammo.

A figure emerged from the stairs they were on, without a second thought, i pulled the trigger. The round hit the figure, knocking it back before it raised it's hand, heading back down.

"Good shot." Stephen complimented.

More began charging up the stairs, and the ramp. Instantly, we started our own gunfight. Shooting at both entrances with what we had, taking out anyone that entered, they couldn't pass through without getting shot, more figures headed back down but the charge didn't stop. Some of the mercs who went up opened fire alongside us. The control on my body felt less noticeable like before. My actions felt more and more mechanical as it went, soon i felt little thought in changing my mags and firing, just focusing my eyes on the entrances.

The charge whittled down until there were none coming up anymore. I reloaded my mag, still awaiting the next wave. My control hasn't returned yet, each passing second i could feel my finger inching closer and closer to the trigger.

In an instant, before i could even react, my finger pulled the trigger. A figure appeared from the empty stairwell just in time to get hit by the bullet.

The assault began once more, this time more came from the ramp, i shifted my aim towards the ramp, seeing more and more figure running up and trying to shoot us.

"DAMNIT I GOT HIT" Marcel yelled out. He raised up his hand and started jogging down the stairs.

The team that went up to join us hid, now with no more ammo.

"SHIT ME TOO" Mary yelled, her hand already raised, she went down the stairs. I continued shooting, my body didn't stop shooting despite the news, almost working on its own now. Working like clockwork. The fake bullets slammed into concrete and at the cars, making a loud metal ding. They stopped advancing, now seeking cover behind the ramp.

Hails of bullets were exchanged with the battle not stopping, we continued on shooting some shots nearing us.

Before long, a large wave of them ran up the ramp out of cover. In an instant, the sporadic gunfire turned to an all out barrage of bullets. The bullets were getting closer to hitting us while many of them were cut down, knocking back from the force of the rounds.

"THEY GOT THE BOTH OF US!" A voice shouted. Stepping out from cover, 2 of the mercs that went up started going down with their hands raised.

More and more kept coming from the ramp, periodically switching from charging straight or staying under cover.

In the corner of my eye, my hands, eyes, and arms immediately shifted towards the stairs, multiple attackers began running up. As they did, the ones in the ramp joined in. They released their hail of bullets at us. But we continued firing back. The bullets bouncing off the car became louder and louder, although it didn't stop my hands from continuing to shoot. I was still under the car, shooting at them. The assault failed once again. The attackers returned back.

With the patch of magazines next to me, i realized, my ammo was running out. Control slowly began returning to me, switching to semi instead, keeping more focus on my sight.

"5 Minutes before the fight is over!" The announcer yelled.

"Alright, everyone were nearly winning, just hold the line with the ammo you have left." Stephen ordered. It became silent, hearing my breathing from under the car.

I could hear footsteps running towards the ramp, and faint ones from the stairs. One final assault for this round, time to win this.

The attack began again, this time though they didn't run in, instead they started opening fire while behind cover. After seconds of this suppressive fire, some began running. Under the car i was protected by the gunfire. I shot at their chests. More and more began running out as we shot back. The others stayed behind cover, rarely returning fire. I continued shooting.

"Game end! The defenders win this round, get more ammo. switch roles for the next round." We stopped in our places, hearing the announcer talk until he finished. I breathed a sigh or relief, with our ammo nearly depleted, we managed to hold off until the round ended. I got out from the car, meeting back with my team. We congratulated each other and the opposing team. The team stationed above us went back down from the ramp.

"Good job." Their leader said as they went down.

Through the stairs we descended. Our ammo, nearly depleted. As we went down, i saw the aftermath of the battles below us. Bullets strewn about along with magazines. Once we got to the first floor, there were staff carrying sacks and shovels. They started shoveling the bullet casings, putting them in their sacks. Hastily cleaning the area for the next round.