A game, that's all it is, to the king of games that is. A game for the enjoyment of the king, a game to bring wealth to those who played, a game to agonize those affected by it, a game to destroy any who stood in his path. They called it the Kings Game. 961Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkS8ZPGchw5
The Kings Game was made by the King of games for the King of games. First all the major houses under the Kings’ rule would participate in a group of games, occasionally outside parties would participate. These games were generally brutal and played to the death or unconsciousness of the opposing house. The games would whittle what was maybe 20 to 25 houses down to 6. Then from there the king would send out the 6 houses consisting of men and beasts to hunt him down the perfect wife, also known as The Queen, and though he had many wives one more never hurt. The group that brought back the chosen wife would be rewarded with untold riches of their wildest dreams. Some even go as far as sabotaging the other houses to get their hands on the Queen, but here's the thing not all groups wanted to bring back the Queen. Sometimes a group would seek the Queen out as a meal, a game, a means to make money on the black market, the Kings chosen they would call her. Always fetching a high price if unscathed, but some just couldn’t help but enjoying the Queens company first. With time, everything gets stale.
Soon enough the King grew tired of his local hunting grounds and sought a more illustrious target, the human girl. Virgins to the ways of the King they were an easier target and far more entertaining to watch, or at least to him. The King drew excitement from watching the Queens scream in terror as they were taken from their families, he was one messed up dude. And in time he grew bored again so the King started to seek younger brides and more often than ever before, but it was after his last bride when things went quiet.
In fact, things settled down so much that a lot of people forgot about the Kings Game. It became nothing more than a legend, a myth that people would tell their children to make them behave. Although all every myth has a little truth to it, right?
I am James Demarius Lord of the Division, I know sounds funky, protector of section 3. Section 3 covered a vast majority of the mid west in the United States. To keep things simple North East is section 1, South East is section 2, Midwest is section 3, Northern Great Plains is section 4, Southern Great Plains is section 5, North West is section 6, South West is section 7, and all other detached states make up section 8. With such a wide expanse to cover there is generally a headquarters in each section, excluding section 8. I always told myself to keep the Kings Game a legend to the public eye we would have to sacrifice more then we are willing, but even then, the sacrifice may be to great to bare. I mean a sacrifice is only useful if it works, right? Yeah, I didn’t think so, neither did my team mates.
My team mates called me young, they didn’t know I was over a thousand years old, but I'm skilled and knowledgeable on everything to do with the Kings Game. I’ve played the Kings Game once before and lost, I have suffered for it since. When I was younger I had been told the stories of women disappearing with no explanation, many people believed it to be a serial killer, but when my mother disappeared I started asking questions, the right questions.
An organization known as the Vanilla Twilight, or The Division, caught me asking around. A few times they had tried to hinder me, but it didn’t take long for me to pick up the tracks they tried so hard to hide. Many other people had tried to convince me of madness. As persistent as I was, so was The Division. Soon enough they broke and brought to light a world full of war and hatred. They showed me the mythical beasts and creatures that roam the streets without people even knowing, crazy as it is even house pets could be these beasts. When you are shown these kind of things the Division gives you a couple of choices: either you join them and return these beasts to hell or get killed, not a very hard choice. Very rarely the common citizen is faced with such a choice because they never live past first encounter or they just go mentally insane.961Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLWZp9o0p2h
“James, we need to stop it from moving.” Axel said falling behind. Axel was my first mate, yes pirate talk. Shaggy black hair, fair skin, ripped-ish, says he’s good with the ladies, although I have yet to see him talk to one. Quick to act quick to think was his way. He wanted to finish the job so he could get back to his desk lady at the headquarters, Katherine I think he told me her name was.961Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfuNiSV81jm
“Can't you see im trying.” I yelled back to him. We had been working on taking down this beast for what seemed like hours, but really was only minutes.961Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyAuOWt89H1
“Sam run it off at the next intersection and James get that brain of yours working.” Axel yelled ahead.
“Who said you could give orders?” I yelled back.
“Do you have a better plan?” Sam questioned. Now Sam was the kid in our group, or at least he was treated like one. He may have been older than me but the reactions he made when he got picked on were far better than mine. I guess Sam was similar to Axel seeing as the two were brothers, although Sam wasn’t as good looking and had brown hair.
“Not at the moment.” I replied.
We called them Dwellers, hellish looking beasts with long claws and charred furry bodies. Most of the times they hid out in caves like coyotes and wolves, but occasionally one would take the form of a household dog and stalk their prey before they would strike. Intelligent creatures most of the time, but if there was one thing that drove them crazy more than anything it was the smell of fresh blood. Hospitals were prime hunting grounds for dwellers until the Division put them under special protection. Accustomed to hunting at night the Division had to turn to doing most of their work at night just to counter the attacks of dwellers. To find dwellers running in packs was not too common because of their territorial habits and high consumption diets, but occasionally the phenomenon did occur. The one we were hunting though was definitely alone.961Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0tjSKSKjoy
We chased this dweller for blocks trying to avoid another major leak in security. Tall buildings lined both sides of the streets. Cars screeching and squealing their tires trying to avoid major wrecks. People on their phones capturing every moment that passed them by. Oddly enough no one was screaming or running in terror. It was like the thought it was all one big stunt, but it wasn’t it was all real. Keeping this one a secret was going to be difficult. Our job is to take the beast down and the agency's job is to cover it all up, but this one might be a harder one to cover up seeing as we are on one of the busiest streets in Madison.
“I've got an idea” I said.
“What is it because we could use anything right now.” Axel replied.
Dead in my tracks, I stopped, pulled my blade, and cut my arm wide open. Blood, fresh as it gets, poured steadily from the cut. As painful as it was it worked. The smell of fresh blood caught the attention of the dweller almost instantaneously. I was now its target.961Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsYsfq68vcV
“James, you idiot.” Sam yelled at me. Concerned he ran to me and grabbed my arm. I pointed at the dweller as it ran our way. Vicious and hungry, saliva dripping from its mouth, it was ready for a snack, but I didn’t plan on going down easy.961Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuYgnFg3m4R
“Our job is to put down any beast that poses a threat to our section. That’s a beast and this is our section. And right now, I’m feeling pretty threatened.” I explained to Sam. By the look of his face he either was not fond of my explanation or was really scared of the dweller running our way.
“I am totally not doing this right now.” Sam said.
Closer and closer the beast came to me. Faster and faster my heart raced. Soon the beast would be dead, or so I thought. A distant gunshot followed by a bullet striking just below the beast’s hind leg caused it to run off.961Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcdPhsawMhu
“Damn it! Who the hell shot that gun?” I asked looking around for the shot. There was no trace of a shot, anywhere, at least until a voice came over the headset. Then I knew exactly who pulled the trigger.
“Awe I missed.” Celia sighed. Celia was my pain in the ass android. I created her to be a cold-blooded killing machine with the soul purpose of keeping the beasts of the underworld in check, but somehow, she became a teenager with an attitude.
“Celia who gave you clearance for this mission?” I angrily questioned her. I paced back and forth in the middle of the street waiting for some dumbfounded reply.
“You did boss, well Ollie did actually.” Celia replied. Now I was furious because I knew I hadn’t ordered such a thing, let alone Ollie for a fact.
“Ollie’s in for maintenance. So, there is no way she would be able to contact you. And why would I contact you when I clearly told you this morning you weren’t ready for any field missions.” I explained to Ollie. By now I was furious with her, but I still had to keep a somewhat level head in front of my teammates.
“I'm sorry sir.” Celia sincerely replied. The sound of her gun being collapsed could be heard through the headset, along with the sound of an upset Celia.
“Ollie called for you my ass.” I Muttered under my breath.
“Please don't be mad at me sir.” Celia panicked.
“No, I'm not mad.” I told her. I was starting to get upset with her, with everything. Letting a dweller run loose through the city is a big problem with the Division. Countless people could be killed if we don’t end up doing something about it, but it was starting to get late and I could see Axel was at the brink of passing out.
“Good I thought I really screwed up.” Celia sighed.
“Celia?” I asked. I knew she wasn’t going to be happy with what I was going to tell her.
“Yeah?” Celia responded.
“Go deactivate.” I told her. Yes, it does seem a little harsh, but I couldn’t risk anymore mishaps if we had any chance of going after this beast again.
“But.” Celia cried.
“Go deactivate, now.” I said forcefully.
“Yes sir.” Celia sighed. I didn’t mean to be to rude, but sometimes that’s what it takes to keep her in line. She’s a free spirit as many would say, but keeping her grounded for now is best for her. The whole android aspect is not a widely accepted thing in society. So, trying to keep her under the cover for a while and slowly introducing her to society is key.
Celia is one of many in a line of androids. Although most designs vary by the field agent who created them, each android had one thing in common. They were made to keep humans safe, and pull them from the field of battle. We didn't expect to completely take humans out of the equation, because some things require a gentler touch than what an android can provide, but we wanted to make sure people got home to see their families at night and so we started the android project. Every team of field agents are given two androids, a male and female. A dynamic duo they called it. Where one lacks the other picked up on, giving them a sense of relationship. Celia and Clyde are Section 3s androids, and are the first to receive complete artificial intelligence, thanks to yours truly. It was my job to field test them, but seeing as they are lacking in core areas I tend not to bring them on important missions, like this one.961Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWXPDWm278E
“Don't you think you're being a little hard on her?” Axel asked. Sam and Axel always thought of Celia as another member of the team rather than just an android preparing to replace them. I think it was a necessary relationship to give her that extra sense of humanness, help her blend in a little better.
“Yeah she might turn on us and start a robot uprising.” Sam chuckled. Unfortunately, I did not find it funny at the time. Axel smirked a little.
“Shut up Sam. The only reason I'm hard on her is because I want her to understand that we only get one shot.” I yelled at Sam.
“Yeah but she is a robot. They can just download her intelligence into a new body.” Sam replied.
“That’s not the point. Slipping up like this could mean the difference between one life and thousands of lives.” I said.961Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIISsQS1yCX
“Does she understand that?” Axel asked.
“She will.” I responded. I planned on explaining it all to her again for the fourth time. Hopefully she could get it through her head this time.
“Have you put any thought towards her request?” Sam asked.
“I have but its not entirely up to me. I have to have approval from the higher ups before she can have any human interaction outside of headquarters.” I explained. Celia has come to me multiple times before asking me if I could let her attend school. Every time I’ve told her no because I’ve feared what may come of it, but maybe its time I have a talk with her about it. It might even get her off my back for a while.
“Well I don’t think headquarters is going to be very happy with us after tonight.” Axel said.
“I suppose I’ll have to talk with them in the morning.” I hated everything about the headquarters location. To keep it hidden they had placed it beneath an eccentric restaurant, and every time you needed to enter you had to be dressed up in official attire. It drove me crazy having to dress up, but what was even worse was how they treated the staff. Every time I walked through one of the higher ups would be yelling at a waitress or a cook, but it would always be in the back where the customers couldn’t see. The customers were just a bunch of snobs to. I did my best to pay no attention to them, with their judging eyes. To hear them snicker at the slightest flaw has always been a peeve of mine, but if they only knew what was really going on would they really live the way they do?961Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS6YpGe8N2g
“Yeah someone has to explain all this to them.” Sam said.
“Maybe it should be you.” I told him.
“No way. The higher ups will chew my head off for sure. Plus, they wouldn’t listen to me anyways. You know they won’t listen to us low rankers.” Sam said. It was true. Getting the higher ups to even acknowledge us was almost impossible. Mostly the only time they would even think about talking with one of us is if someone screwed up and they had a chance to beat a person down. Lucky me being the highest-ranking person of my group gets the luxury of having a nice and civil chat with them.
“Yeah I know. They’re such assholes.” I said.
“Well its getting late and I have a cutie waiting for me back at headquarters.” Axel said.
“Yeah maybe while your there you can have a talk with the higher ups for me.” I said.961Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPA7Vvzu4R1
“Real funny.” Axel said.
“I’ll see you two later.” I said
At home Celia and Clyde had the basement catered to themselves. Two rooms for their sleeping pods, although Celia recently switched to an actual bed, and a wide-open workshop for Clyde to tinker. Parts were scattered all about the room, what they belonged to I had no clue, but they served a purpose to Clyde. Workbenches and computers lined the walls along with fancy machines and gadgets. They had put a lot of time into the basement.
Celia was deactivated on her bed. Her bed was made to charge her as she slept on it, mimicking actual human rest. General charge time is about 8 hours to get a full days use.
“Ollie, wake Celia for me.”
“Are you sure master? She was very upset when she got back.”
“Yeah I'm sure. I have a few things I need to say to her.”
A slight whir and the windows boot up noise signified the restart of Celia. She rolled over and turned her back to me as I approached her. I sat down on the edge of her bed and placed my hand on her shoulder.
“Hey can we talk?” I asked. All I got from her was the blatant I’m pissed at you look and then she laid her head back down. For her it was probably not the time, but it was time for me to say something to her. I had been hard on her for the last few weeks during her training and I could see it was all beginning to add up.
“Look I’m sorry. I know I’ve been a little bit of an asshole lately. It’s just, things are starting to get complicated and the director is really putting pressure on me. I know it’s no excuse for the way I’ve been acting towards you so I’ve given your request some thought.” Saying those words sparked something in Celia. She turned over and sat up to look at me.
“And?” Celia asked.
“You’re going to school tomorrow.” I told her.
“Are you sure? This won’t be like last April when you told me I could go?” Celia questioned me. She had a lot of distrust placed on this subject since the April incident. I told her she could go on April first and that I would have a uniform in a box for her that morning. When she opened the box all that was inside was an April fools card. It took weeks for her to trust me again. Now whenever I bring up the subject she thinks that I’m joking with her.
“From this point forward you will be a student.” I assured her.
“If this is another joke I’m going to kill you.” Celia responded. Celia was not amused with me yet.
“We go tomorrow morning to sign you up for classes.” I told her.
“Who changed your mind?” She asked.
“Let’s just say Sam really has it out for you.” I said. I meant that in a good sense not a bad one. Sam sees himself as the good guy and just wants to be there for Celia, although I think sometimes he wants to get into Celia’s pants.
“He knows I’m an android, right?” She asked.
“I don’t think that’s stopping him.” I said.
“What about protocol? The director has to approve of such actions, doesn’t she?” She asked.
Because androids were so new to the economy we did whatever we could to keep them on the downlow. That meant no public appearances of any kind for androids. The last thing we wanted was the public to be afraid of a bunch of robots, but I was about to change everything.
“Leave that up to me.” I said.
“But aren’t you on your last strike?” she asked.
“Don’t worry about it. I have everything under control.” Clearly, I didn’t have everything under control. Every person is given three strikes. I already had two, both of which were caused by Celia, but I decided to take the fall for her. Doing this for Celia could potentially cause my third strike and end me up with some very heavy consequences.
“Yeah just like the time when you blew my arm off. The director didn’t take to kindly to that either.”
“This time I promise you. You will get to go to school.” I said. Still no smile came to Celia’s face. I was hoping it would at least bring a little joy to her, but it didn’t.
“It’s all a nice thought, but I don’t want to risk it.” Celia leaned over and kissed me on the cheek as if to let me know she wasn’t mad at me. “I don’t want you to push your luck with the director.” Celia laid back down. I took the blanket at her feet and covered her up.
“Sweet dreams Celia.” I whispered to her.
I gave Ollie the signal to shut Celia down for the night. Ollie proceeded as such. Celia’s corner of the room went dark, mimicking night time for her. It was another thing she asked. She wanted to be treated more like a human than just a hunk of metal with skin, but I always saw her as much more. Her and Clyde were like children to me, but Clyde never bothers much. He is a lot more obedient.
*ring*
“Its eight o’clock at night. Who the hell?”
“It seems to be Claire.” Ollie said.
“Ok, that’s a little odd for this time of night.” I said. “Ollie can you run that update we’ve been working on to Celia. I want it to be installed by morning.”
“Yes master.” Ollie said.
Meanwhile I walked upstairs to greet Claire at the door. She was young and beautiful, long blonde hair tied back in a fancy ponytail, and still in her school uniform. She held her hand on one arm keeping them close to her body as if she was in trouble.
“Claire what are you doing here?” I asked. “It’s late, even for you.”
“I know I’m sorry for bothering you.” Claire said. I could see a blood stain slowly growing out from underneath Claire’s arm. I didn’t want to say anything, because I didn’t want her to start panicking.
“No, its fine.” I said.
“Can I come in?” Clair asked.
“Sure.” I said. “Do you want something to drink?”
“Water please.” Claire said as she hit the floor.
“Are you ok?” I said rushing to her. She held her hand in front of her, it was covered in blood.
“No.” Claire said.
“Okay come here.” I said picking Claire up. “What did you get yourself into?”
“Please don’t think I’m crazy, but it was this beastly looking thing.” Claire said.
“Shit, this close to the school. Its supposed to be consecrated ground.” I muttered.
I put Claire on the couch. I slowly moved her hand away from her wound. Three big gashes ran along her ribcage down to her stomach.
“How bad is it?” Claire asked.
“It’s not that bad.” I said. It was bad. I’m surprised she could hold back the blood flow for as long as she did. “I’m going to go find a med kit. You just try not to die on me.”
“Please hurry.” Claire said.
I went into the bathroom looking for the med kit, but had no luck finding it. I ran downstairs and looked around. I found it tucked away behind Clyde’s pod. Last time it was used was when Clair needed to patch me up and I forgot to put it back. I returned to Claire, who was now laying on the couch.
“Why didn't you just go to the hospital?” I asked her as I helped her sit up. Blood had stained the once white couch, but Claire looked even worse. Her skin had turned snow white, she looked nauseous and about ready to lose her lunch.
“I got scared.” Claire said softly. A slight shaking motion began to move throughout her whole body.
“You mean the great Claire the Brave who kills spiders with her bare hands got scared.” I said trying to get a little laugh out of her. Clearly it wasn’t working. All her focus was on the gashes in her side.961Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtbUHN1yeqQ
“It’s getting cold in here.” Claire weakly said.
“Ollie, could you turn up the heat to 80 degrees.” I said.
“Already working on it.” Ollie said. “I did a scan of Claire’s injuries and it seems that her ribs located within the gash sites have been fractured.”
“Well I can’t heal bones, but I can stitch you up.” I said.
“Let’s just get it over with, please.” Claire said.
I ripped open her bloodstain shirt to reveal the gashes some more. A steady stream of blood flowed from the wounds, her shirt and the pressure from her hand was holding most of it back. The cuts looked worse and worse the more I looked at them. I did my best to clean the wound site. Peroxide was helpful, but it was not her best friend. The stuff stings like a bee when applied to any type of open wound, but its supposed to be a disinfectant. I prepped a needle by sterilizing it and running some thread through the eye. My forward motion of my hand was halted by Claire’s. Uneasiness sprung across her face. Apparently, her hate for needles was much greater than her fear of death.
“You’re gonna have to release my hand.” I said. She hesitantly let go. “Look there is no need to be scared, because I am more than scared enough for the both of us.”
I began the process of stitching her wounds up. At the first piercing Claire’s entire body shook, but after getting the first gash closed she took the other two like a champ. After that it didn’t take long to clean the area around the stitches and place bandages over it.
“Are you done?” Claire asked.
“Yeah, I’m finished.” I replied. “I need to know everything you were doing when this happened.”
“Why?” Claire asked.
“So, I know what to tell your parents when I get you home.” I told her.
“Shit.” Claire muttered. “Moms going to kill me if she sees me like this.” Claire stood up too quickly and started to fall forward. I grabbed on to her waist and pulled her upright again. Her whole body was trembling and cold.
“Maybe we should get you to a doctor.” I said.
“No, I don’t want to scare my parents.” Claire replied.
“I have a friend who works at the hospital. I know she’ll take great care of you, but we kind of need to go before you pass out.” I said.
“Can we at least stop by my house before we go?” Claire asked.
“If we keep it quick.” I responded. “I’ll get you a jacket.” I left Claire standing at the couch to grab her a jacket. Hopefully just keeping her warm will buy some time for me to get her to the hospital. I kept jackets on a rack behind the entry door. That way I can just grab and go rather than looking around the house for one. I helped put the jacket on Claire, stopping her from falling over through it all.961Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCN8nm5L4l6
I helped Claire to the car and drove her home. Her house mimicked the look of the old nineteenth century homes, hand laid brick and lots of windows, but something was off. Out of all the times I’ve taken her home or came over I’ve never seen the front door cracked open. Looking closer at the door I could see claw marks along the lock. Given the current situation I didn’t want Claire stepping a foot near her household. The mere thought of what was going on in there worried me.
“Wait here.” I said.
“Are you sure you wanna go in there?” Claire asked.
“I’m just gonna make sure everything is ok.” I said.
“Please be careful.” Claire said.
“I’ll leave the car running for you.” I said.
The doors to the car locked as soon as I closed the driver side door, but getting back in the vehicle in a pinch was the least of my worries. Whatever was inside the house is what worried me. If Claire’s parents were indeed home it was more than likely that they would be dead, but if they weren’t, if they had gone somewhere I would be more than happy. No lights were on in the house, not even the porch light that never got shut off. As I got closer to the door my hopes of no one being home began to diminish. I hoped for the best, but expected the worst. The marks I thought I had seen along the locks were indeed claw marks, but not just any claw marks. They were the same marks that were on Claire’s side. It all confirmed my suspicions that she had a dweller living in her house and it had targeted her as she was one of its owners. Which only meant the worst.
“Ollie scan the house for any sort of lifeform.” I said.
“I currently cannot do that.” Ollie responded.
“What? I thought that's what you were doing maintenance for?” I asked.
“I was, but given our current location I cannot scan the inside of the building.” Ollie said.
“So, do I have to go inside the house?” I asked.
“It would definitely help.” Ollie said.
“Great.” I said.
I cracked the door open to the house. I pulled out my phone to use as a light to see inside the house. A trail of blood led right into the main hallway. It wasn’t just drops of blood either. A body was dragged through the house and judging by the blood on the back side of the door it was someone who was trying to escape. The blood didn’t end there. It splattered the walls, fragments of cloth scattered on the floors, the pungent smell of death lingered in the air, and what better place for it all to lead than the basement.961Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPiwjIkQs2q
“How ‘bout now? Can you give me a scan?” I asked Ollie.
“I’ll see what I can do.” Ollie said. A blue light emitted from the camera on my phone. “There are two signatures detected in the basement. Whether they are hostile or not I cannot tell.”
The bottom of the door to the basement was splintered and shattered, little was left of it. That’s where the trail went so that’s where I will follow. The steps covered in blood were sticky over slippery, but nonetheless disgusting. The farther down I went the stronger the smell of death became.
“Ollie just be glad you can't smell this.” I said covering my face.
“I don’t have a nose.” Ollie said.
“Yeah lucky you.” I said.
At the base of the steps a low pitch growl gave way to a horrific scream. Two sets of glowing eyes could be seen rocking around in the dark. It was the dweller from before and it had a friend. He had probably come back to his host home to have a meal and heal. Something startled them causing them to head straight for me, or were they being called. I couldn’t react fast enough and the dwellers came flying past me. I felt one tear right into my shoulder as it passed. The other knocked me down to the ground.
“James get up you have a job to finish.” mysterious voice.
My head rang like a bell. Everything spun around me. I felt like I was going to lose my lunch. Getting back up on my feet was a difficult task with nothing to grab on to.
“Hugh… Valentine?” I said. I thought I had heard her voice.
“James, who's Valentine?” Ollie asked.
“Don't worry about it.” I said.
“I worry about you James.” Ollie said.
“So, the computer has a heart. Hahaha, ow.” I joked with Ollie. A slight pain emerged from my chest.961Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzm89WnYcQU
“Yes, and you currently are showing signs of bruising and minor bone fractures along with severe lacerations to your ribs and shoulder.” Ollie examined.
I stumbled outside of the house steading myself on the walls as I went, but I wasn’t prepared for what was outside the door. My car was trashed from bumper to bumper, but that’s not what worried me. Standing on top of the car was Aldris Bloodwin, a man I had a longtime feud with. Always in a suit and tie, but always put together in a lazy fashion. In his arms, he held an unconscious Claire.
“I hope you don’t mind, but I’m going to be borrowing this.” Aldris said.
“Do you really want to go through this again Aldris?” I said.
“Please, you’re in no condition to fight.” Aldris said. “It seems like time has finally caught up to you.”
He wasn’t wrong. All this time has taken a large toll on my body. Along with injuries I just sustained there was very little I could do to stop him from taking her, but I couldn’t just stand by idly as he walks off with her.961Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡokxlcPrIk1
“Is she still breathing?” I asked Aldris.
He held his hand up to her mouth to check for her breath. Knowing he’d look I took the moment to toss some knives in his direction, but I feared they wouldn’t make it to him. His ugly dwellers took the knives for him sacrificing themselves.
“Hey, you tried to kill me.” He said. “That’s not very nice of you.”
Aldris held his hand forward. At his palm, a small glow began to form. An engram expanded outward and then sending forth a blast of fire. I rolled out of the way, but struggled to get back to my feet. Another blast of fire came flying my way, but I was too slow. I closed my eyes preparing for the worst, waiting for the fire to consume my body, but it never happened. When I opened my eyes back up standing in front of me was Clyde with his hard-light shield. Looking back at the top of the car Aldris was gone, but Claire was still there.
“Where’s Celia?” I asked Clyde.”
Clyde pointed to the top of the house across the street. The flash of a scope gave way to Celia’s position. It was the last thing I saw before falling to the ground from sheer exhaustion.
ns 15.158.61.12da2
