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Love in crossfire

Chapter 4 Under the steel and fire

Word Count: 1172    |    Released on: 25/05/2025

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elt distant, like echoes from another world. She sat down, hands on her knees, and tried to control her chest tremor. Despite th

er than a red armband with the Abere sun and a call to liberation. His organization, KAMATA-Kinsmen for Autonomy, Memory, and Traditional Authority-started out as a small group of scholars and idealists. Displaced, disillusioned, and desperate people were now scattered across forests and borders. William was different for more than just his cause. He carried it the way he did. He refused to set villages ablaze. Refused to hire children as soldiers. His camps had clinics, schools, and a stricter code of conduct than most armies. William tried the man in the camp when a lieutenant of his shot an unarmed prisoner, and justice was seen to have been done. He was dubbed "The People's Mouthpiece" by some. Others, he betrayed his class. In the meantime, the government maintained a difficult relationship with him. Out of habit, some departments still referred to him as "Minister Brown." He was labeled a terrorist by others. He remained a channel, a backdoor into peace negotiations, and a safety net when everything else failed. Journalists, clergy, military generals, and lawmakers were among his contacts in the capital. He used them even though he didn't trust them. Just as much as the people did, they also needed him. Maria had observed this contradiction close up. Before being reassigned to intelligence coordination, she had been working under William for eighteen months. He spoke with a quiet intensity that caused people to lean forward. He talked less than he listened. Additionally, he spoke without pausing. She recalled nights in the field when he would sit by the fire with the younger recruits and recite lines from banned poets after long marches through mosqu

to personally see him." Koro drew nearer. "Do you believe that we are unaware of this? Maria, you are compromised. You might not even be aware of it yet. However, something is off. "That's why I have to speak with him." He didn't even blink. "Maybe you have already." Her blood became ice. "What's yo

lso doing it very well. Koro stated, "You only have one chance to fix this." We are m

the brush. With the recorder still hi

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Love in crossfire
Love in crossfire
“In a dystopian city perpetually cloaked in violence, dusk brings no peace-only gunfire, smoke, and sirens. Entire districts lie in ruins, patrolled by drones and military forces. Amidst the chaos, a resistance group fights for freedom. Main Characters: Maria Johnson: A resilient and idealistic field nurse, Maria treats the wounded in the shadows of rubble-strewn streets. She works tirelessly for the resistance, haunted by memories of Smith William, the man she once loved. Smith William: A cold, calculating military spy, Smith was once part of the resistance but vanished years ago, abandoning Maria. Now embedded deep in government operations, he's torn between loyalty to his mission and the guilt of betrayal. Williams Brown: A charismatic and forceful rebel leader, Brown believes in liberation at any cost. He's both revered and feared among his people. Secretly, he's the estranged son of Lotoya and was once a childhood friend of Maria and Smith. Jone Sophia: A sharp, disillusioned camp prostitute who knows the secrets of soldiers and rebels alike. Though seen as an outsider, she plays a crucial role in shaping the narrative through whispered information and acts of quiet rebellion. Miller Davis: Head of Interpol, Davis oversees global surveillance and has made the city his testing ground for new authoritarian control methods. Uncompromising and strategic, his real aim is to crush the resistance before it sparks a worldwide revolt. Lotoya: Williams Brown's mother, once a civil rights advocate, now lives in isolation, shamed by her son's rebellion. She's caught between grief and pride, and her past might hold the key to peace-or more bloodshed. Plot Summary: The story opens with Maria racing through alleys at dusk to save a boy shot during a government raid. Blood paints the streets as the city erupts. She reunites with the resistance underground and is tasked with establishing a medical outpost near the frontlines. Meanwhile, Smith William, under orders from Interpol and Miller Davis, infiltrates the resistance, pretending to be a defector. He's forced to confront Maria, who doesn't know if she should kill him or kiss him. Their chemistry reignites, but trust is shattered. Williams Brown plans a massive uprising, with the help of coded transmissions intercepted from government lines. He recruits Jone Sophia to manipulate soldiers and leak intel. Though underestimated, Sophia's information proves critical to several operations. Smith is torn. Miller Davis pressures him to kill Williams Brown and destroy the resistance from within, but old loyalties stir. Smith discovers that Davis plans to bomb entire districts to crush the uprising. Horrified, he secretly warns Maria. Lotoya, sensing the storm, emerges from seclusion. She meets with Maria and reveals hidden documents from the city's past-evidence of human experiments and corruption that could dismantle Interpol's rule. Williams Brown confronts his mother, unleashing years of rage and sorrow. They part unresolved, but her truth fuels his final move. In the climax, Smith helps Maria leak the documents. As the city erupts in simultaneous rebellion and military crackdown, Miller Davis orders an aerial strike. Smith sacrifices himself to stop the drone control hub. Maria survives, wounded, carrying Smith's last message: a confession of love and regret. Williams Brown, now a symbolic figure, retreats into exile, leaving others to rebuild. Jone Sophia vanishes, her legacy living in the whispered tales of a woman who knew too much. Blurb2 Only love can withstand the bullets in a city rife with betrayal. Maria Johnson, a skilled field nurse and quiet person, tends to the wounded with trembling hands and a burning heart in the war-ravaged ruins of a once-prosperous metropolis. She has always tried to remain neutral, which has helped save lives on both sides of the bloody civil war. But neutrality becomes impossible the moment she uncovers the truth: the rebel forces are planning a full-scale coup to seize the city-and Jone Garcia, a ghostlike terrorist wanted by forty nations, was behind the massacre of her family. When the secret files of investigator Larry Coldsweat are made public, Maria's world falls apart even more as she is haunted by the murder of her parents. Not only do they point to a bloodbath that is coming, but they also point to a web of betrayals that goes deep into both the government and rebel groups. Maria considers the truth to be more than just an idea. The killer has a name. A face. And a history of vanishing before justice can reach him. Determined to uncover the past and avenge her bloodline, Maria makes a daring move: she joins the rebels. Not for politics. Not for power. But to track the ghost who shattered her life. There, amid smoke and gunfire, she meets Williams Brown, the ruthless yet charismatic leader of the insurgency-respected by his men, feared by his enemies, and wrapped in a pain she understands”
1 Chapter 1 When memory and blood meet2 Chapter 2 The debris3 Chapter 3 Between bullets4 Chapter 4 Under the steel and fire5 Chapter 5 In the dark voice6 Chapter 6 Dust in the shadows7 Chapter 7 The undercover betrayal8 Chapter 8 Tne of fracture9 Chapter 9 The storms spotlight10 Chapter 10 Peace before it ended11 Chapter 11 The cadence of Rebellion12 Chapter 12 Ghosts at the checkpoint13 Chapter 13 The storm is calm now