Onslaught

/ˈänˌslôt,ˈônˌslôt/

noun

a fierce or vicious attack

"You need to rest Lissa!" Luke yelled from across the room.

Currently, he was getting ready to go to yet another meeting without me. When I demanded to go he had started arguing with me concerning my health despite the fact that it had been two weeks since the attack and our makeout sessions were way more strenuous of an activity than listening to a plan of attack against the White Coats. Now it just seemed like he was trying to keep me couped up in the room and hidden from the world due to his insane protectiveness that had started after the beating I had received.

"I can't stay in this room my whole life Lucas," I calmly fought back. From the solitude I had endured in the previous weeks, I began to feel my mind deteriorate as I went crazy in the small room belonging to the boy in front of me.

Besides this, I had come to find that yelling never led to anything with Luke as we engaged in several fights over the past few weeks. He would raise his voice louder and it would turn into a competition that he would always win. When it came to speaking peacefully on subjects such as these, he couldn't stay calm one bit. His voice would raise as I kept mine soft, trying to use only reason to plead my case.

"I didn't say that," he began. His finger was waving in the air as I rolled my eyes at his childish actions.

"You might as well have. You are so scared something will happen to me that you are going insane and keeping me trapped in this prison."

His face turned red with rage. Long strides were taken until he was close enough to me that I had to look practically straight up at him.

"I just want to protect you," he mumbled, moving some of the stray blonde wisps behind my ear.

"You can't seal me in this room in the name of my safety. That's not living Luke."

His face fell at my statement, looking utterly defeated. He gripped my tiny hand in his, tracing a few of the veins as he studied it closely. I stared at him closely, trying to find any evidence as to his decision.

"I want you to be safe, and I can ensure your safety in here."

This was all his smooth, low voice said as he brought his head up to look at me, his ocean blue eyes piercing my navy blue ones.

"How do you think I feel when you put yourself in danger then?" I asked him, hoping he would finally understand my reasoning.

His face turned into a thoughtful expression as his mind reeled in the information. A sigh came from his mouth as he realized he was beaten by my logic.

"Fine," he said defeatedly, shaking his head in disbelief as he gave into my plea to attend the meeting. "But you can't join the team to go with the attack."

I opened my mouth to fight his one condition as he raised one of his hands to silence me.

"That is the only way you are going to this meeting Melissa."

I looked back at him with defeat in my eyes, but his just glared back into mine challenging me to question his decision. A huff sounded from my mouth as I gave up, settling for this deal he had given me.

"As long as you don't go either," I said, looking up from his hands I had previously been playing with.

"You know I have to go," his voice sounded.

I shook my head in disagreement. Soon after, his hands were ripped from my grasp and began to run through his hair as he thought of his choices, clearly knowing I wouldn't back down.

"I have no choice Melissa," he stated again, "I'm the leader of the quadrants. I'm their commanding officer."

"If I don't get to go, then you don't." My foot connected with the ground in a stomp as I said this, throwing what was essential a temper tantrum. His blue eyes were filled with disbelief at my attitude as I simply shrugged my shoulders.

Minutes passed. Minutes filled with silence as Luke contemplated the options with his hands shoved into his quiff and his feet moving along the ground as he paced the floor.

I barely had time to brace myself as he cupped my face, his breath against my face. My eyes closed and my natural reflex was to gulp at our closeness. Despite all our intimate moments, I could never get used to his minty breath fanning my face as I always had butterflies erupting in my stomach when we were this close.

"Say you did go," his tone soft, yet demanding and hot all at the same time. "How would you know that you wouldn't get hurt?"

I gasped as his face moved to the side of mine, lips touching my ear. Shivers rushed down my spine as I felt weak in the knees. If his arms weren't holding me, I would have surely fallen to the ground.

"I don't," I managed to choke out honestly.

"What would I do if you got hurt?" he continued, moving positions so he could look into my eyes again.

"The same thing I would do," I breathed out, my hands coming up to his cheeks, feeling the tiny amount of stubble on his face.

"Which is?"

I cursed shallowly at his rocky tone. He knew what he was doing to me, yet he continued so innocently. He was teasing me, testing my limits before I would crack under his stare and kisses.

"Do everything to make sure you came back and recovered."

He simply hummed in response, unsatisfied with my answer.

"Then we should get you to that meeting I suppose," he whispered into my ear.

My mouth was left agape as he walked toward the door. At the rate my heart was pounding, it wouldn't surprise me if I had a heartattack from my heart palpitations.

His voice as he spoke those questions was smooth as honey, his accent flowing fluently with it. I had no chance against him. He wasn't playing fair by sweeping his face near my neck and removing it innocently.

I was almost positive he knew what he was doing to me. Causing me to be left breathless. Leaving me hanging as he walked away with a smirk.

He was like the school player in all the movies in that way. He had the style and the smooth skills to make any girl melt. I was like putty in his hands. He had so much control over me in such little time, it was scary, but in the same way it is so comforting to know he cares for me enough to take care of me.

Luke was all I ever wanted. I always wondered what love was like, it was a forbidden word in the lab as it would only distract us from the main goals. Memories of my mother and father, even my twin, before this were still implanted in my memory, but I chose to never think of them as thinking of what you didn't have was one of the most painful things to go through.

That's how they scared the bots.

All the brains had the same memories they do. Childhood play dates in the park, smoothies at a park bench, waterparks, and hugging their mother close. We were tormented by these memories. Forced to know that we will never have this.

Luke though, Luke showed me what it meant to care for someone other than yourself. No one ever cared enough to tell me I couldn't do something because it might harm me. Yet here he was, protecting me as well as he could despite my fighting every step of the way.

My feet attempted to keep up with his as he continued walking down the hallway. The thoughts protruding my mind had slowed my steps, but now I was fiercely trying to keep up with him as he traveled down the cement corridors, toward the newly rebuilt meeting room.

Since the attack wiped out most of our security system, the tech team had been trying to recreate all of the monitors, cameras, panels, and keypads to ensure our safety. To top it all off, Bob had decided we needed detectors for planes to prevent another close call on a bombing.

With all of these preparations being made, there was really only one thing for the Core to do: plan an attack. As soon as our systems were up and ready, we would officially be armed in all technological ways to defeat the enemy. What were we missing? The manpower.

That was all they had been talking about at these meetings, how many men would be the minimum, how can we guarantee that we will have enough to continue after the first attack? All these questions were important and valuable, but the same answer came to each. We didn't know.

How did you plan the death of some of your men? Wasn't it every leaders desire to see all his men come back when they went out to attack? Did you purposely plan some troops death?

This was why I never got in the middle of these plans. I never understood the answers to some of these questions. Sometimes Luke would try to explain the 'Dummy Project' they had been working on where robotic fixtures would be sent in to distract while they would infiltrate the building, but I never fully understood any of these battle strategies.

When we arrived there, everyone was seated and waiting to start the meeting. They obviously weren't planning on my appearance by the lack of chairs at the makeshift table.

"Do you want me to get a chair for you?" Michael's voice was the first to speak when I entered the room.

I smiled at his thoughtfulness but shook my head.

Luke sat in his seat, getting comfortable before patting his lap, signalling for me to sit in it. My cheeks flushed as I shook my head, embarrassed to be in the inappropriate position in front of his and my friends.

Instead of accepting, he pulled me into his lap and adjusted me against his chest so he and I both were comfortable.

"Alright," Bob began, clapping his hands together. "We simply need to decide our entrances and date of attack."

"If we go in the roof they may not notice," Calum pointed out, lounging in his chair and looking utterly relaxed.

"How are we getting up there dipwad?" Ashton asked from beside him in a 'duh' tone. "They would shoot us out of the sky.

"He's got a point," Michael agreed, looking at the map sprawled out on the table.

"I recommend going in undercover," Ashton spoke again, this time puffing his chest in pride.

"Like going in undercover is gonna work," Calum muttered, holding an obvious grudge against Ashton's comment.

A moment of silence passed over the table before Bob spoke again.

"I have to reside with Ashton on this one. We'll get blasted out of the sky if we go in at the top, and if we bring in their supplies they'll immediately trust us."

"The fact that they only know what a few of us look like helps in this case," Luke pointed out, speaking for the first time since the meeting started. His arms flexed around my waist holding me tightly against him.

"Agreed," Michael said, breaking out from his thoughtful state. "My only problem is that the shipment goes to floor five. We need to go to floor ten."

"Why not just go to floor ten then?" I asked, confused as to why they are making this more complicated than necessary.

"You need an ID to access the elevator key pad," Luke's husky voice spoke into my ear.

"I can go in," I offered.

All heads turned to me at that moment. Their faces were filled with shock, all but Luke who was glaring and saying that this was not what we agreed on through his blue orbs.

"Think about it, I can go in, get one of their key cards, and then let you guys in as the suppliers. They always have a daily shipment of formula to test and develop and if we say you guys are that group then I can just give you access to floor ten and cover for you on the ground floor."

At first no one said anything. I was too scared to look back at Luke, who I knew was glaring into the back of my head for bringing myself into the equation.

"It sounds like a solid plan," Ashton spoke up, excitement rising in his tone.

Michael was biting his lip, trying to decide if this was a good idea or not while Bob was smiling, fully willing to put my life on the line.

"Splendid! Attack date?" was all Bob could say to my idea.

"Wait! Melissa shouldn't be the one on the raid," Luke's voice boomed. "She just started to work for the Core, she just got injured, and she is probably traumatized by that bombing."

I rolled my eyes at his objection but said nothing to contradict it as I knew Luke was already angry with my lack to conform to the agreement we made.

"Exactly why she should! They won't expect a newbie," Bob's enthusiasm was almost contagious.

"The attack date can be tomorrow if we have the troops," I interrupted their conversation.

Luke's eyes practically penetrated my skull while Bob's just sparkled, happy to be raiding the building he thought held the key to real civilization coming back.

"Then it's decided. The troops will be recruited and we will send you out tomorrow."

With that Bob left the room with his manila folder in hand.

Only moments later I stood from Luke's lap and make my way back to my room, knowing he would have something to say about my suggestion.

Edited: 20 October 2016