Characters:
@BFFPanda - Panda Alexandria
@HelloColdWorld - Wren Claren
@GlowingLights - Saskya Sunshine
@SilverBlade - Aaron Reaper
@JustAGuy - (Jack) John Wells
@Hyrotis - Loki Uso-Tsuki
@AWPlays - Luis Moreau
@BewareOfBori - Pandora Erye
@AJules - Jules Kat Mareritt
@Grizzly -Jay Harmth
@ElizaRoses - Talia Avion Everton
@Glyphynx - Niji Nintai Sutoraiku
@BFFPanda - Panda Alexandria
@HelloColdWorld - Wren Claren
@GlowingLights - Saskya Sunshine
@SilverBlade - Aaron Reaper
@JustAGuy - (Jack) John Wells
@Hyrotis - Loki Uso-Tsuki
@AWPlays - Luis Moreau
@BewareOfBori - Pandora Erye
@AJules - Jules Kat Mareritt
@Grizzly -Jay Harmth
@ElizaRoses - Talia Avion Everton
@Glyphynx - Niji Nintai Sutoraiku
Lupus - Wolves by Sam Tinnesz ft. Silverberg. Warriors by Imagine Dragons. Seven Nation Army
Isaac - My Demons by Starset. Flares by The Script. Angel With A Shotgun by The Cab.
Wren - Renegade by Paramore. Runaway by Felix Cartal ft. REGN. Anthem Of The Lonely by Nine Lashes.
Saskya - Cherry gum is by Dolly Style (nightcored by MarMarChan). Hello Kitty is by Avril Lavigne. Lay me down is by Sam Smith (covered by Diamond White).
Jules - Papaotoui by Stromae. All Star by Smash Mouth. Full circle by George Fitzgerald
Loki - Under Pressure by Queen. How far we’ve come by Matchboxtwenty. Pompeii by Bastille
Aaron -
Talia - Photographs by Ed Sheeran. The Story Of Us by Taylor Swift. Nobody Compares To You by Gryffin.
Panda -
Niji - Immigrant Song by Led Zeppelin. Thunderstruck by AC/DC. I'm gay by Thomas Sanders
Luis -
Pandora -NF - Let you down. Sam Smith ft. Naughty Boy - LaLaLa. Selena Gomez + Marshmello - Wolves
Jay - Sick boy by the Chainsmokers. Future Me by Echosmith. Die for you by Starset.
Jack -
Isaac - My Demons by Starset. Flares by The Script. Angel With A Shotgun by The Cab.
Wren - Renegade by Paramore. Runaway by Felix Cartal ft. REGN. Anthem Of The Lonely by Nine Lashes.
Saskya - Cherry gum is by Dolly Style (nightcored by MarMarChan). Hello Kitty is by Avril Lavigne. Lay me down is by Sam Smith (covered by Diamond White).
Jules - Papaotoui by Stromae. All Star by Smash Mouth. Full circle by George Fitzgerald
Loki - Under Pressure by Queen. How far we’ve come by Matchboxtwenty. Pompeii by Bastille
Aaron -
Talia - Photographs by Ed Sheeran. The Story Of Us by Taylor Swift. Nobody Compares To You by Gryffin.
Panda -
Niji - Immigrant Song by Led Zeppelin. Thunderstruck by AC/DC. I'm gay by Thomas Sanders
Luis -
Pandora -NF - Let you down. Sam Smith ft. Naughty Boy - LaLaLa. Selena Gomez + Marshmello - Wolves
Jay - Sick boy by the Chainsmokers. Future Me by Echosmith. Die for you by Starset.
Jack -
UK - 9th April
People laughing down the street of night time Oxford, the voices echoed as if nobody was there to tell them shut it. In the background car-horns and sirens went off, a usual night. All was calm until a white cat, which was twitching ubnormally and acting strange, which was walking up to the laughing drunks. An idiotic drunk went up to stroke the cat.
"Hello kitty cat, you want a HIC drink?" said the drunk, lowering down his beer, the cat looked up at at the man and mewed a croaking mew. Ten other cats of various fur colours walked up behind the cat.
They formed a circle around the man, the other cats twitching. All the cats had blue liquids coming from their mouths.
USA - 13th April
News Reporter: "The virus, IOS, has spread across the UK, Ireland and West Europe. It will keep spreading to the birds getting infected and migrating/moving from country to country. The virus makes the animals see humans as prey, messing with their minds, the virus makes the animals endlessly hungry. The blood turns blue, nothing is good in this world, the virus is wildfire."
People walked the city streets, all had a knife or gun strapped to their sides, any way of defence would do. A scream hit the ears of everyone, birds on the lamp posts or on signs started twitching, all had a scratch mark, blue blood oozed from the body.
People screamed, scattering as rats, snakes and mice came from the sewage, kids knocked down by adults unable to get up, eaten by large street dogs that quickly caught IOS.
Parents sending kids on trains to the only hope they could think of, the coutryside or if they knew about the training base camp, Alpha Reign Base, sending the kids there instead. The parents promising to see the kids soon but the promise breaks as coyotes, boars and wild dogs killed the parents as the train started.
Asia - April 10th
They thought the mountains would be ok to hideout, they forgot about the birds and snow leopoards. Thousands dead, ones in the mountain covered in snow.
Africa - April 13th
Elephants pushed against the houses of the people. Camls killing their owners. Nothing is ok.
Greece - April 10th
People sailed to the islands, trying to survive. Dolphins jumped powerful enough to fly onto the boats and knock people off. Quickly moving back to the side for water. The Greek people running to mainland but unsuccessful.
The World
Day 1: 10.8 million
Day 2: 10.5 million
Day 6: 8.7 million
Day 12: 5.3 million
People laughing down the street of night time Oxford, the voices echoed as if nobody was there to tell them shut it. In the background car-horns and sirens went off, a usual night. All was calm until a white cat, which was twitching ubnormally and acting strange, which was walking up to the laughing drunks. An idiotic drunk went up to stroke the cat.
"Hello kitty cat, you want a HIC drink?" said the drunk, lowering down his beer, the cat looked up at at the man and mewed a croaking mew. Ten other cats of various fur colours walked up behind the cat.
They formed a circle around the man, the other cats twitching. All the cats had blue liquids coming from their mouths.
USA - 13th April
News Reporter: "The virus, IOS, has spread across the UK, Ireland and West Europe. It will keep spreading to the birds getting infected and migrating/moving from country to country. The virus makes the animals see humans as prey, messing with their minds, the virus makes the animals endlessly hungry. The blood turns blue, nothing is good in this world, the virus is wildfire."
People walked the city streets, all had a knife or gun strapped to their sides, any way of defence would do. A scream hit the ears of everyone, birds on the lamp posts or on signs started twitching, all had a scratch mark, blue blood oozed from the body.
People screamed, scattering as rats, snakes and mice came from the sewage, kids knocked down by adults unable to get up, eaten by large street dogs that quickly caught IOS.
Parents sending kids on trains to the only hope they could think of, the coutryside or if they knew about the training base camp, Alpha Reign Base, sending the kids there instead. The parents promising to see the kids soon but the promise breaks as coyotes, boars and wild dogs killed the parents as the train started.
Asia - April 10th
They thought the mountains would be ok to hideout, they forgot about the birds and snow leopoards. Thousands dead, ones in the mountain covered in snow.
Africa - April 13th
Elephants pushed against the houses of the people. Camls killing their owners. Nothing is ok.
Greece - April 10th
People sailed to the islands, trying to survive. Dolphins jumped powerful enough to fly onto the boats and knock people off. Quickly moving back to the side for water. The Greek people running to mainland but unsuccessful.
The World
Day 1: 10.8 million
Day 2: 10.5 million
Day 6: 8.7 million
Day 12: 5.3 million
USA 20th December
IOS was in control here, the Navy, FBI and government teamed up to set order and security. Animals had to be locked up, no going outside unless with a gun with a lot of bullets. The FBI used to deliver food twice a week, but now it's once a week. Everyone went to the gun stores and raided them. When the news rules were made, people boarded up everything like it was World War IV.
It was another day, everyone was preparing for the night. The Brown house were having their food for the night.
"Make sure you eat your vegetables," the mother said kindly to the younger sister. There were four people who were at the table, two girls and two parents. "It will make you big and strong and able to last another day."
"Please that's a lie... We all are gonna die so there's no point trying to become big and strong," said the oldest girl, who had her right foot on the chair and her left leg resting on the table.
"Wren," the father warned, it was a silent stand off. Suddenly, cups starting shaking, glass, bowls, forks and spoons also shaking. Paintings and photos fell from the walls, a loud boom hit their ears. The father got up first and looked outside to smoke pouring into the sky. He turned to his family, "We need to go. Now. Australia seems go-"
He never finished his sentence. A slab of concrete squashed the dad with a scream that pierced everyone's ears. A rodent went through the crack in the roof, the government lied. A scream from the people down the street and in the house hit Wren's ears. Wren was already running to grab food, Wren grabbed all the things she thought she needed to survive, a week worth of food, water, clothes. When she got to the dining room her mum and sister were gone, most likely running off.
Wren ran out of the of the back door going into the garden. Wren ran for the other side of the garden, quickly climbing up the fence and jumping off the top. Once landing she pulled out her holographic phone that she may or may not have stolen, a vertical hologram appeared from a tiny cell. Wren switched to her contacts scrolling down furiously whilst sprinting. Wren hovered across a name, debating if she should press it. She pressed it, the phone switched to a telephone map symbol, a ringing sound came from it. The person on the other side answered, "Hello? Wren is this you?"
"Isaac, I don't have time for games, the outbreak has appeared here as well, are you and Wolfia together?" Wren replied, stopping to breathe for a second.
"Yeah, Wolfia and I are coming to America, what state you in?" Isaac replied, a shout came from the other side but it was inaudible.
"No don't come to America! That's idiotic, tell Wolfia that's just dumb!" Wren grumbled back, dodging a branch then stopping at a massive tree. Wren grabbed the branches on the bottom and started pulling herself up, climbing quickly but carefully.
"They say, I quote, 'Darling please I know more than you think' I'm gonna give ya to Wolfia now so you can talk because I'm trying to hold of some dogs who are trying to kill us," Isaac replied frantically, a shuffle from both sides as they moved quickly, a mumble was heard from Isaac's side.
"Wren, what state are you in? This is important for us to find you!" A voice came from the receiver, the voice was a mix between American and English, posh at some places but lazy at others. The voice sounded male and female, indescribable.
"Wolfia, I'm in Florida, but Wolfia don't come and get me! You idiot!" Wren complained whilst sitting on a large tree branch, resting from running and climbing.
"Love you too, I have a plan don't worry, you have food for about 3 days correct? If you don't get some, you need to stay where you are and conserve your battery so we can contact you," replied Wolfia, a gun shot came from the background.
"Wolfia tell me your plan! Now would be good as well!" Wren snapped.
"All in due time my friend, good-luck, don't move. We'll see you soon!" Wolfia replied before ending the call ignoring Wren's protests.
IOS was in control here, the Navy, FBI and government teamed up to set order and security. Animals had to be locked up, no going outside unless with a gun with a lot of bullets. The FBI used to deliver food twice a week, but now it's once a week. Everyone went to the gun stores and raided them. When the news rules were made, people boarded up everything like it was World War IV.
It was another day, everyone was preparing for the night. The Brown house were having their food for the night.
"Make sure you eat your vegetables," the mother said kindly to the younger sister. There were four people who were at the table, two girls and two parents. "It will make you big and strong and able to last another day."
"Please that's a lie... We all are gonna die so there's no point trying to become big and strong," said the oldest girl, who had her right foot on the chair and her left leg resting on the table.
"Wren," the father warned, it was a silent stand off. Suddenly, cups starting shaking, glass, bowls, forks and spoons also shaking. Paintings and photos fell from the walls, a loud boom hit their ears. The father got up first and looked outside to smoke pouring into the sky. He turned to his family, "We need to go. Now. Australia seems go-"
He never finished his sentence. A slab of concrete squashed the dad with a scream that pierced everyone's ears. A rodent went through the crack in the roof, the government lied. A scream from the people down the street and in the house hit Wren's ears. Wren was already running to grab food, Wren grabbed all the things she thought she needed to survive, a week worth of food, water, clothes. When she got to the dining room her mum and sister were gone, most likely running off.
Wren ran out of the of the back door going into the garden. Wren ran for the other side of the garden, quickly climbing up the fence and jumping off the top. Once landing she pulled out her holographic phone that she may or may not have stolen, a vertical hologram appeared from a tiny cell. Wren switched to her contacts scrolling down furiously whilst sprinting. Wren hovered across a name, debating if she should press it. She pressed it, the phone switched to a telephone map symbol, a ringing sound came from it. The person on the other side answered, "Hello? Wren is this you?"
"Isaac, I don't have time for games, the outbreak has appeared here as well, are you and Wolfia together?" Wren replied, stopping to breathe for a second.
"Yeah, Wolfia and I are coming to America, what state you in?" Isaac replied, a shout came from the other side but it was inaudible.
"No don't come to America! That's idiotic, tell Wolfia that's just dumb!" Wren grumbled back, dodging a branch then stopping at a massive tree. Wren grabbed the branches on the bottom and started pulling herself up, climbing quickly but carefully.
"They say, I quote, 'Darling please I know more than you think' I'm gonna give ya to Wolfia now so you can talk because I'm trying to hold of some dogs who are trying to kill us," Isaac replied frantically, a shuffle from both sides as they moved quickly, a mumble was heard from Isaac's side.
"Wren, what state are you in? This is important for us to find you!" A voice came from the receiver, the voice was a mix between American and English, posh at some places but lazy at others. The voice sounded male and female, indescribable.
"Wolfia, I'm in Florida, but Wolfia don't come and get me! You idiot!" Wren complained whilst sitting on a large tree branch, resting from running and climbing.
"Love you too, I have a plan don't worry, you have food for about 3 days correct? If you don't get some, you need to stay where you are and conserve your battery so we can contact you," replied Wolfia, a gun shot came from the background.
"Wolfia tell me your plan! Now would be good as well!" Wren snapped.
"All in due time my friend, good-luck, don't move. We'll see you soon!" Wolfia replied before ending the call ignoring Wren's protests.
“WE CAN MAKE IT!” screamed Jules, as they ran faster towards the end of the dark hallway, their companions trying to reach the same speed as them. The rabbits, rats and other rodents were catching up, the rodents had foam at their mouths and looked like they had been eaten by away but still managed to walked, and their once soft fur now a scruffy blood covered mat that is uncomfortable to touch or stand open. As for the three people, they wore black body suits with armour to cover their body. A black mask covered their faces, only their hair was visible.
“Jules! HELP!” cried out Saskya, as Jules turned around to Saskya, Jules ran quickly towards them. Jules grabbed Saskya by the arm and pulled them up by the arm and started to run as the rodents almost caught up to them. Aaron was at the first door and was yelling at them to hurry.
A squirrel rodent jumped and climbed up Jules`s leg and bit them. Jules cried out, Saskya turned and ripped the rodent off and then tries to pull up Jules, but failed because they couldn’t get enough momentum. A bunch of the rodents jumped onto Jules and Saskya, Aaron yelled out. Lights turned on and the rodent holograms turned to cubes and fell on the floor. The walls became glass with people watching them laughing at them and snickering, a proud voice filled the hallway, “Congratulations, you failed for the fourth time. Please make your way to the changing rooms then towards Apprentice Gould`s office.
The three companions grumbled and then got up from the floor. Sour expressions filled their eyes, as they sulked towards the changing rooms, as Aaron split off from the others Saskya stopped them, “Wait.”
“What? I hate wearing this thing,” grumbled Jules.
“Yea, it stinks, plus I need to prepare to be kicked out,” Aaron moaned, Jules nodded his head to that.
“I just want to say, I loved working with you. I will miss running down that hallway, the days at the cafeteria were we threw a pizza at Apprentice Gould and blamed it on the people next to us, and they got into so much trouble. The time we were assigned to our group and I fell on the slippery floor," Stated Saskya.
“It’s been great. I will miss it as well; you guys are my best of friends," Jules agreed, they were taking off the face mask but which was a bad idea since a General came walking down the hallway of the changing rooms and started to tell Jules off, the other two walked off slowly trying not to laugh.
As Jules walked into the girls changing room, annoyed at Saskya for not helping her, whilst a new person was being introduced to the army base.
*
Jules walked out of the changing rooms after getting changed quickly, she waited outside for her friends outside. She was an average height for a teenager, she wore the female side of the uniform, a white skirt with a buttoned shirt which had a grey jacket over it but wasn’t buttoned up, and Jules hated the uniform, having to tie up her long black hair so it can’t cover her forehead and big grey eyes. In her eyes, there was sadness but friendliness.
Jules waited and waited, until a bell hit her ears, she was about to run into the changing room to hurry up Saskya but Saskya came out along with Aaron. Jules complained about them being slow and then turned with the others followed, they walked quickly and quietly avoiding people’s eyes as they walked towards Apprentice Gould’s office. When they got there a boy was sitting on a chair of furthest away from the door out of the six chairs present. Jules took a seat with her friends either side of her on second to first chair closest to the door. Aaron grumbled as he sat in the first chair.
Saskya looked at the boy at the chair near them, her eyes filled with remembrance, “Justin, how are you? I haven’t seen you forever! I remember when you were in my group before Jules joined and you went to a higher group!”
Justin looked up; he had sadness on his face, tears in his eyes. His left eye was swollen, not to mention his arm was in a sling, “Hey Saskya… I’ve been great… Since now.”
“What happened? You look awful, where’s that smile?” Saskya said sadly her light blue right eye and light pink left eye filled with sympathy. She got up and when to sit with this Justin, but before she could start talking with him, Apprentice Hender came out, he is the second longest Apprentice and helps Apprentice Gould out all the time, he walked tightly, he was tall and muscular, he had the dark blue Apprentice uniform. He was the third highest out of ranks. First the Admiral, who is first in command; the Generals, those you don’t want to tangle with, then there’s the Apprentices, who are also very strict. The coaches and staff next, who train the novices/cadets and deliver messages for higher up, the training coaches the person who helps out the coaches, not that special but they have their own quarters. Then there are the novices/cadets, they appear with injuries, scars and homeless, the staff takes them in and heals them, and try to train them against the animal we call Rokita, which is rodents in Greek.
“Apprentice Gould would like to see you. Behave,” said the deep and booming voice of Apprentice Hender, who never really liked the three friends.
The companions took their seats, Saskya happily taking the seat next to the person with the hood, who shuffled further away from their seat. Gould smiled faintly at the four teens/pre-adults, his eyes turned from person to person slowly, then he started his talk, “Hello, I have heard you just came from hallway run. Did it go well?” All three of them shook their head. Gould pointed to the person with the hood, “This person will become your fourth and final group member. As you know since Saskya came to the base and Justin was ranked up, Saskya joined your group and you have been one of the smallest groups. This person is new and needs a group; they talk but prefer not to, that’s why they have the whiteboard. Don’t lose the whiteboard.
“They have no name; you need to give them one. Look at their eyes and tell me what you see, then you can find their name,” the three companions looked at each other a silent vote, Aaron loses. He sighs and turns to the girl who isn’t facing hid away. Gould quickly said, “Face each other.” The person turned and started to face Aaron, you could only see their eyes, and a bandanna covered their mouth and nose. Aaron tried to focus but get snickering at the fact he had to do this. But then he stopped smiling as he looked better into their eyes.
“I see… A leader, a warrior and a kind of fire, it’s like they want to prove something to someone,” said Aaron, he turned to the others who were watching the staring contest.
“Like an alpha wolf?” Saskya snorted, Jules snickered.
“Yes, what’s the Latin version? Lupus?” Aaron asked Gould, replied with a simple yes. The person turned back to Gould, writing something on the whiteboard and showing Gould, he just chuckled.
“I like it. It maybe sounds strange, and we don’t know their gender but eh…” Saskya shrugged, Jules agreed.
“Lupus,” said Gould he turned to look at “Lupus” smirking, Hender smirked as well writing down their profile for registration which they do every dinner, which is somewhat soon. Gould’s faced turned serious, “Now, they have their name and profile for registration. Every lunch or breakfast they must go with this note,” handing them a cyan envelope with the words “Unbanned Wolf” written neatly on it, “Don’t draw attention to them, it may cost their identity. As you know you are on the lowest hallway, it is nothing to be ashamed of; Lupus will help you if you don’t annoy them. You will take them to your dorm and answer questions about Lupus, but do not lie and don’t make rumours. Good luck with the tournament.”
With that Hender went up and pulled Lupus up by their arm and grabbed their bag then shoving it into their chest, the others watched and nervously got up slowly then looking at Gould for permission. Gould nodded and allowed the three to go, Lupus was the last out of the door but before they went the voice of Gould followed them, “Remember the promise, if you reveal yourself with your problems I will cause problems, hurting her and him.”
The three friends glanced at each other trying to process what they heard, Lupus didn’t hesitate they walked up to the three with no emotion in their eyes. The four stood as Justin went through the door after them. They stood awkwardly, looking at the door they just left; Aaron cleared his throat, “So… Lupus, how about Jules can show you around going the long way around, Saskya and I will go the shorter way. That ok?”
Lupus nodded and turned around started walking away, Jules rolled her eyes then bid Aaron and Saskya goodbye. Saskya and Aaron made bets on what the turn out will be like, Aaron bets Lupus will be lying on the floor knocked out. Saskya saying they will be fine…
*
Aaron and Saskya were talking about Lupus when they bumped into a group of people, one of them had to be the second best on the leader boards and the reining chap at everything, Panda Alexandria, the guy who everyone hates but is the best in classes. Saskya was looking at Aaron as she bumped into Panda; she got knocked back at impact.
“Watch where you’re going, punk,” said the squeaky deep voice of Panda, he had a strong build, a jock type of build, he was technically a jock, good at sports but extremely dumb at science, maths and plant analyses. Saskya went to go to move but Panda got in the way, smirking.
“Leave them alone Panda, we don’t have time for these idiots,” a posh voice came from the back, everyone moved so Panda had a clear view of the speaker, a girl with black hair and pale skin that looked unhuman, she had fire like silvery eyes, she was somewhat tall. “Can we go? My idiotic roommates need me in our room, something about stealing. That I may or may not be the reason for, so hurry this up I got stuff to do.”
“Wren, shut it, Isaac can’t do anything against me,” Panda replied sternly, Aaron snorted, Panda turned to Aaron anger in his eyes, walking closer to him fists clench. Aaron stared back, not dropping gaze, “What’s so funny?”
“The fact you can beat Isaac, so you’re second best but he’s the best, it’s just funny,” Aaron smirked, Panda pushed him to the floor, Saskya stepped forward then stepped back as a boy came from the end of the hallway.
The boy had blonde hair with a quiff, a strong build, skinny tall and tanned, white shirt and grey trousers, a brown jacket with a white hood rested on top of the white shirt. Behind him was a girl who was an average height, brown hair and big blue eyes, she was extremely attractive if you are in to thin, “popular type” of body, a pink crop top and small shorts with white converse and another boy who had a green and white shirt on, a green band around his dark brown hair, black leggings and green plus white converse shoes. “Wren, how are you? Were you actually going to come join us, since you were the one who stole the knife, was it to torment a newbie?”
“Why Isaac, who would say that I do that kind of stuff,” replied Wren a smirk spreading across her face, Isaac smirked back walking up with his two friends behind him. He looked at Aaron then at Panda then Saskya who was near Panda and Aaron, he sighed and put out a hand for Aaron who looked at his hand then grabbed and got up.
“So, what’s happening here?” Isaac gestured around at the Aaron and Panda, who were glaring at each other. A guy stepped forward, a tall lean 17 year old, with hardly any muscle but hard any fat either. He's tall; he has dark purple eyes, with red-ish copper hair and always wears a rainbow bandana. He wears simple tops and hoodies to go with dark jeans, along with that all he wears black trainers.
“Isaac what are you and your idiots doing here? Is it because you were scared of Wren getting in trouble? Just want to be the best dorm, well newsflash not everything be good, you just wait for the tournament,” he said cockily.
“Niji, kind as normal,” Isaac replied sarcastically before Niji could reply Apprentice Hender came striding down the hall anger on his face. He was glaring at Aaron and Saskya, the others stepped out of the way. Even Niji and Panda moved back hastily, the people moved back slowly and Hender looked down at Aaron, Saskya moving towards him to stand next to Aaron.
“So you do exactly what Gould told you not to do? Draw in attention, especially since the new person just arrived,” barked Hender, he turned to everyone else, “Everyone get back to dorms, Wren for once in your life be nice to your dorm mates and give them back their bloody knife! As for you two you need to get back to your dorms before you start getting into more trouble!”
Everyone disported at the order, Aaron and Saskya stood there until Apprentice Hender left yelling at Niji and Panda to walk faster.
“Jules! HELP!” cried out Saskya, as Jules turned around to Saskya, Jules ran quickly towards them. Jules grabbed Saskya by the arm and pulled them up by the arm and started to run as the rodents almost caught up to them. Aaron was at the first door and was yelling at them to hurry.
A squirrel rodent jumped and climbed up Jules`s leg and bit them. Jules cried out, Saskya turned and ripped the rodent off and then tries to pull up Jules, but failed because they couldn’t get enough momentum. A bunch of the rodents jumped onto Jules and Saskya, Aaron yelled out. Lights turned on and the rodent holograms turned to cubes and fell on the floor. The walls became glass with people watching them laughing at them and snickering, a proud voice filled the hallway, “Congratulations, you failed for the fourth time. Please make your way to the changing rooms then towards Apprentice Gould`s office.
The three companions grumbled and then got up from the floor. Sour expressions filled their eyes, as they sulked towards the changing rooms, as Aaron split off from the others Saskya stopped them, “Wait.”
“What? I hate wearing this thing,” grumbled Jules.
“Yea, it stinks, plus I need to prepare to be kicked out,” Aaron moaned, Jules nodded his head to that.
“I just want to say, I loved working with you. I will miss running down that hallway, the days at the cafeteria were we threw a pizza at Apprentice Gould and blamed it on the people next to us, and they got into so much trouble. The time we were assigned to our group and I fell on the slippery floor," Stated Saskya.
“It’s been great. I will miss it as well; you guys are my best of friends," Jules agreed, they were taking off the face mask but which was a bad idea since a General came walking down the hallway of the changing rooms and started to tell Jules off, the other two walked off slowly trying not to laugh.
As Jules walked into the girls changing room, annoyed at Saskya for not helping her, whilst a new person was being introduced to the army base.
*
Jules walked out of the changing rooms after getting changed quickly, she waited outside for her friends outside. She was an average height for a teenager, she wore the female side of the uniform, a white skirt with a buttoned shirt which had a grey jacket over it but wasn’t buttoned up, and Jules hated the uniform, having to tie up her long black hair so it can’t cover her forehead and big grey eyes. In her eyes, there was sadness but friendliness.
Jules waited and waited, until a bell hit her ears, she was about to run into the changing room to hurry up Saskya but Saskya came out along with Aaron. Jules complained about them being slow and then turned with the others followed, they walked quickly and quietly avoiding people’s eyes as they walked towards Apprentice Gould’s office. When they got there a boy was sitting on a chair of furthest away from the door out of the six chairs present. Jules took a seat with her friends either side of her on second to first chair closest to the door. Aaron grumbled as he sat in the first chair.
Saskya looked at the boy at the chair near them, her eyes filled with remembrance, “Justin, how are you? I haven’t seen you forever! I remember when you were in my group before Jules joined and you went to a higher group!”
Justin looked up; he had sadness on his face, tears in his eyes. His left eye was swollen, not to mention his arm was in a sling, “Hey Saskya… I’ve been great… Since now.”
“What happened? You look awful, where’s that smile?” Saskya said sadly her light blue right eye and light pink left eye filled with sympathy. She got up and when to sit with this Justin, but before she could start talking with him, Apprentice Hender came out, he is the second longest Apprentice and helps Apprentice Gould out all the time, he walked tightly, he was tall and muscular, he had the dark blue Apprentice uniform. He was the third highest out of ranks. First the Admiral, who is first in command; the Generals, those you don’t want to tangle with, then there’s the Apprentices, who are also very strict. The coaches and staff next, who train the novices/cadets and deliver messages for higher up, the training coaches the person who helps out the coaches, not that special but they have their own quarters. Then there are the novices/cadets, they appear with injuries, scars and homeless, the staff takes them in and heals them, and try to train them against the animal we call Rokita, which is rodents in Greek.
“Apprentice Gould would like to see you. Behave,” said the deep and booming voice of Apprentice Hender, who never really liked the three friends.
*
“Welcome, Saskya Sunshine, Julie Kat Mareritt and Aaron Reaper,” said the gentle voice of Apprentice Gould, he was smaller than Apprentice Hender but he had more scars, he looked like a kind man if he wasn’t in the Apprentice uniform. His office was full of medals, photos of higher up ranking, photos of war and terrains of the world. On his desk is had papers and a desk bell, a picture of a man who was smiling brightly showing a golden ring. Opposite him on a chair was a person, they had a red jumper with a hood covering their head and wasn’t looking the way of the three friends but was looking at a whiteboard, writing quickly with a red marker pen. Apprentice Gould pointed to the three chairs next to the hooded person, “Please take a seat next to them.”The companions took their seats, Saskya happily taking the seat next to the person with the hood, who shuffled further away from their seat. Gould smiled faintly at the four teens/pre-adults, his eyes turned from person to person slowly, then he started his talk, “Hello, I have heard you just came from hallway run. Did it go well?” All three of them shook their head. Gould pointed to the person with the hood, “This person will become your fourth and final group member. As you know since Saskya came to the base and Justin was ranked up, Saskya joined your group and you have been one of the smallest groups. This person is new and needs a group; they talk but prefer not to, that’s why they have the whiteboard. Don’t lose the whiteboard.
“They have no name; you need to give them one. Look at their eyes and tell me what you see, then you can find their name,” the three companions looked at each other a silent vote, Aaron loses. He sighs and turns to the girl who isn’t facing hid away. Gould quickly said, “Face each other.” The person turned and started to face Aaron, you could only see their eyes, and a bandanna covered their mouth and nose. Aaron tried to focus but get snickering at the fact he had to do this. But then he stopped smiling as he looked better into their eyes.
“I see… A leader, a warrior and a kind of fire, it’s like they want to prove something to someone,” said Aaron, he turned to the others who were watching the staring contest.
“Like an alpha wolf?” Saskya snorted, Jules snickered.
“Yes, what’s the Latin version? Lupus?” Aaron asked Gould, replied with a simple yes. The person turned back to Gould, writing something on the whiteboard and showing Gould, he just chuckled.
“I like it. It maybe sounds strange, and we don’t know their gender but eh…” Saskya shrugged, Jules agreed.
“Lupus,” said Gould he turned to look at “Lupus” smirking, Hender smirked as well writing down their profile for registration which they do every dinner, which is somewhat soon. Gould’s faced turned serious, “Now, they have their name and profile for registration. Every lunch or breakfast they must go with this note,” handing them a cyan envelope with the words “Unbanned Wolf” written neatly on it, “Don’t draw attention to them, it may cost their identity. As you know you are on the lowest hallway, it is nothing to be ashamed of; Lupus will help you if you don’t annoy them. You will take them to your dorm and answer questions about Lupus, but do not lie and don’t make rumours. Good luck with the tournament.”
With that Hender went up and pulled Lupus up by their arm and grabbed their bag then shoving it into their chest, the others watched and nervously got up slowly then looking at Gould for permission. Gould nodded and allowed the three to go, Lupus was the last out of the door but before they went the voice of Gould followed them, “Remember the promise, if you reveal yourself with your problems I will cause problems, hurting her and him.”
The three friends glanced at each other trying to process what they heard, Lupus didn’t hesitate they walked up to the three with no emotion in their eyes. The four stood as Justin went through the door after them. They stood awkwardly, looking at the door they just left; Aaron cleared his throat, “So… Lupus, how about Jules can show you around going the long way around, Saskya and I will go the shorter way. That ok?”
Lupus nodded and turned around started walking away, Jules rolled her eyes then bid Aaron and Saskya goodbye. Saskya and Aaron made bets on what the turn out will be like, Aaron bets Lupus will be lying on the floor knocked out. Saskya saying they will be fine…
*
Aaron and Saskya were talking about Lupus when they bumped into a group of people, one of them had to be the second best on the leader boards and the reining chap at everything, Panda Alexandria, the guy who everyone hates but is the best in classes. Saskya was looking at Aaron as she bumped into Panda; she got knocked back at impact.
“Watch where you’re going, punk,” said the squeaky deep voice of Panda, he had a strong build, a jock type of build, he was technically a jock, good at sports but extremely dumb at science, maths and plant analyses. Saskya went to go to move but Panda got in the way, smirking.
“Leave them alone Panda, we don’t have time for these idiots,” a posh voice came from the back, everyone moved so Panda had a clear view of the speaker, a girl with black hair and pale skin that looked unhuman, she had fire like silvery eyes, she was somewhat tall. “Can we go? My idiotic roommates need me in our room, something about stealing. That I may or may not be the reason for, so hurry this up I got stuff to do.”
“Wren, shut it, Isaac can’t do anything against me,” Panda replied sternly, Aaron snorted, Panda turned to Aaron anger in his eyes, walking closer to him fists clench. Aaron stared back, not dropping gaze, “What’s so funny?”
“The fact you can beat Isaac, so you’re second best but he’s the best, it’s just funny,” Aaron smirked, Panda pushed him to the floor, Saskya stepped forward then stepped back as a boy came from the end of the hallway.
The boy had blonde hair with a quiff, a strong build, skinny tall and tanned, white shirt and grey trousers, a brown jacket with a white hood rested on top of the white shirt. Behind him was a girl who was an average height, brown hair and big blue eyes, she was extremely attractive if you are in to thin, “popular type” of body, a pink crop top and small shorts with white converse and another boy who had a green and white shirt on, a green band around his dark brown hair, black leggings and green plus white converse shoes. “Wren, how are you? Were you actually going to come join us, since you were the one who stole the knife, was it to torment a newbie?”
“Why Isaac, who would say that I do that kind of stuff,” replied Wren a smirk spreading across her face, Isaac smirked back walking up with his two friends behind him. He looked at Aaron then at Panda then Saskya who was near Panda and Aaron, he sighed and put out a hand for Aaron who looked at his hand then grabbed and got up.
“So, what’s happening here?” Isaac gestured around at the Aaron and Panda, who were glaring at each other. A guy stepped forward, a tall lean 17 year old, with hardly any muscle but hard any fat either. He's tall; he has dark purple eyes, with red-ish copper hair and always wears a rainbow bandana. He wears simple tops and hoodies to go with dark jeans, along with that all he wears black trainers.
“Isaac what are you and your idiots doing here? Is it because you were scared of Wren getting in trouble? Just want to be the best dorm, well newsflash not everything be good, you just wait for the tournament,” he said cockily.
“Niji, kind as normal,” Isaac replied sarcastically before Niji could reply Apprentice Hender came striding down the hall anger on his face. He was glaring at Aaron and Saskya, the others stepped out of the way. Even Niji and Panda moved back hastily, the people moved back slowly and Hender looked down at Aaron, Saskya moving towards him to stand next to Aaron.
“So you do exactly what Gould told you not to do? Draw in attention, especially since the new person just arrived,” barked Hender, he turned to everyone else, “Everyone get back to dorms, Wren for once in your life be nice to your dorm mates and give them back their bloody knife! As for you two you need to get back to your dorms before you start getting into more trouble!”
Everyone disported at the order, Aaron and Saskya stood there until Apprentice Hender left yelling at Niji and Panda to walk faster.
Lupus and Jules walked into the room, tour bus like beds, six of them bunk bedded, three looked used. The sections were dark and had a curtain to the slide shut and open, the walls were a pink peach. The ones used were, the bottom closest to the door, top and bottom 2nd section of beds, the last section was tidy covers and pillows and looked untouched, a vent swished air through loudly, a piece paper was duck taped in front of the vent but still had a loud sound coming through.
“This is going to be your “sixth quarter”,” Jules said to Lupus directing them to the section by the vent, everyone else hated that bed. Lupus dropped their back with a heavy thud and picked up the whiteboard. Jules went to get her schedule and came back to Lupus holding their whiteboard up for Jules to see.
Do you know sign language?
“Er… No… Yes, some of it,” Jules replied confused, Lupus rubbed the whiteboard clean with their sleeve and place it down on their new bed. They raised their hands and started signing,
Do you ???? I haven’t ??? the vent?
“Do you, question mark, I haven’t, question mark, the vent?” Jules repeated Lupus dragged their hand down their face as they turned to pick up the whiteboard. Saskya came in with Aaron who was pouting; the argument with Panda got him in a bad mood.
Do you think I haven’t noticed the vent?
Jules read it then looked up her face in a scowl, Saskya picked up what was written down and said in a kind manner, “She didn’t mean to offend, that’s where the newcomers go and they move once settled down.”
Jules turned to Saskya a silent message on her face, thank you, “Do any of you know sign language?” Jules asked Aaron and Saskya.
“Nope,” grumbled Aaron, since getting back he didn’t seem much for talking but he talked anyway.
“Yeah, my mum was partly deaf and used sign language, I might be rusty it’s been about two years since I used it,” Saskya replied happily at the start, sad at the end.
Lupus started signing Jules only understanding 5% of it. After Lupus stopped Saskya replied speaking. Saskya translated, “They're asking what time it is and when lunch if.”
“It's 5:34 pm, lunch has already past dinner is in an hour and a half,” replied Aaron looking at the clock next to him, Aaron turned to his sixth then fell into bed. On the wall there was a photo of a lady, it must be Aaron’s mum, the lady was holding up a glass of what looked like wine a joking smile was on her tired face. Also on Aaron’s wall was his schedule, some were highlighted, some were underlined, some were untouched.
“I can show you around more Lupus if you like,” Saskya happily said turning to Lupus at their sixth, but they weren’t there. Jules turned to look at Lupus as well then looked around the smallish room and spotted the door closing, “Or not,”
“Lupus wait up!” Jules grabbed Saskya’s arm and pulled her along with her. Lupus wasn’t on their corridor; they split up searching for Lupus. After some time they both found Lupus standing in front of the doors of the Male and Female toilets.
When Lupus saw Jules and Saskya they walked into the male toilets, causing Jules and Saskya looked at each other then walked down the corridor waited outside the toilets awkwardly. A half an hour past, the patient two got impatient.
“Maybe we should start getting changed for dinner,” suggestion Jules Saskya needed and walked with Jules looking over her shoulder every two steps to check if Lupus was there.
When they got back Aaron’s sixth had a curtain across and they could hear Aaron shuffling about. The other two went to their sixths and drew the curtains, Saskya climbing up to her sixth, they didn’t talk for about a minute then started talking about what food will be.
“Hey, where’s Lupus,” Aaron brought up he got out of his sixth, a grey shirt with long sleeves was covered by a white hoodie with his hood down to show his brown hair. He wore black trousers and wore black Nike shoes.
“They went to the toilet,” a muffled grumble came through Jules’ curtain.
“Male or female?”
“Male,”
“Huh so they’re male,” said Aaron with somewhat smiling as it was a question.
“They have kept their gender private, we got to respect that,” Saskya said angrily, they were arguing about the new person, that’s bad.
“I mean they don’t talk, keep themselves hidden and like to be rude, who knows they could be an ape,” stated Jules getting out of her curtain Jules wore a light grey hat on top of her hair, a dark grey jacket over a pinkish white top, jeans, and white trainers, the door opened as she was talking to reveal Lupus, their eyes in an angry expression, Jules stopped moving, “Ah, jeez sorry Lupus I didn’t know you were here…”
Lupus went to their sixth and pulled the curtain, not taking of Jules apology. Aaron, Saskya, and Jules glanced at each other than pretending to be busy, like cleaning their hands or tiding their sixths, chatter started again but not about Lupus, about food and the “Tournament”
Lupus got up and left, leaving the others confused, about five seconds after a bell hit their ears as they quickly then placed their items in the hands on to their beds, Aaron got up from his bed by rolling out, he hit the floor Jules walking over and lifting him up before hurrying off to follow Saskya and get into the lunch cue. They fast walked to the door, left, right, right and forward and then they reached the food hall, a modern lunch room, plastic tables around the room, blue rounded plastic seats. People dotted the tables in groups of four to sixes, chatter filled the room, a long line of chattering people waiting by a table covered in bowls and lots of different foods, a lady was dishing up food along with a man who was helping out.
The three went into the line, talking about the food; Jules was looking down the cue to see Lupus near the front, the cyan envelope was in their clothed hand. They looked awkward as people bumped into them, they shuffled up the cue. They finally got to the front, they handed the cyan envelope to the lady who looked confused but then opened the envelope to reveal a letter, the lady scanned through it, and her eyes filled with shock and started putting the letter back into its cage.
The lady quickly handed the envelope back then grabbed food and shoved it on to a plate then grabbed a tray and placed the plate with a slam, and pushed the tray into Lupus' arms. Lupus turned raising a hand in a “thank you” kind of way and then took the tray and themselves to a table far end, another person was sitting at the end, and Jules recognised the person.
Quicker than expected Jules was in the front of the cue, she looked behind her Saskya and Aaron was few people behind her, they must of have people pushed in front of them because they both had sour expressions. The lady looked shocked still, she moved quickly her eyes darted around the place quicker than usual; she grabbed food and shoved it on to the plate.
Jules collected her food, an orange, some carrots, and meatloaf. Not the best meal they serve better than the slop like stuff. The food was on plates that rested on top of a grey plastic tray, Jules looked around looking for someone familiar faces dotted around, she wasn’t looking for them. Jules started walking towards the table with a few people, she took her seat next to someone.
She had black hair, pale skin that made her dark brown, she had checked shorts, she had brown shoes. A cream jacket was on top of her crimson top, she had perfect eyes-brows and a nice look nose, that sounds weird.
“Hey, Jules, who is that they just sat down here?” Pandora asked nodding her head towards Lupus who was sitting close by looking at their food. They pulled their bandanna down to their bottom lip and ate one carrot, Jules and Pandora shouldn’t have been staring because Lupus pulled the bandanna up to their nose again with eyes glaring daggers. Jules turned towards Pandora and started explaining.
“They are called Lu-” Jules was cut off, seven more people came to sit next to them, Saskya, Isaac, Aaron, Wren and three more people. Saskya had the pleasure of sitting next to Lupus who shifted uncomfortably as Isaac sat next to Jules and Wren sat next to Isaac. Three other people sat opposite Pandora and Jules, Aaron sat next to Saskya and the other three people.
“Hi you lot,” Isaac said picking up his knife and stabbing his meatloaf and eating like it an ice-cream.
“Jules you were saying something,” Pandora said cutting up her meatloaf, Jules glanced at Lupus who was glancing at Lupus who was glancing at Jules; they had a worry in their eyes.
“Yeah, I wonder what the challenges for the tournament will be,” Jules said picking up a piece of carrot and chewing it as she looks around at the faces on the table. The boy with the green and white shirt spoke up.
“I heard rumours of level 15 hallway and plant analyses, I personally went survival training,” the boy before grabbing his apple and biting into it with a loud crunch.
“Jackson, you can barely survive for ten minutes,” Wren snorted.
“Wren let’s be nice,” Isaac said firmly pushing a mouthful of meatloaf down his throat.
“I’d rather eat mice,” countered Wren smirking, Isaac snorted an inside joke past between them. The others had a confused faces spread across them.
“Anyway, Aaron how are you,” the girl from the other side batting her eyelashes at Aaron who shifted back on his seat.
“Fine, so if it is going to be level 15 hallway, I guess well be again, also Talia leave me alone,” He replied turning to look at the others.
“Oh don’t be so upbeat we have a chance this time,” Saskya jumped encouragingly.
“How?” Wren asked a suspicious grin on her face. Jules made eye contact with Saskya shaking her head with her hat fell off, “I mean, to be rude, you always fail level 1 of the hallway and there’s three of you and five of us and we’re level 10.”
“A new person is supposed to join us, that’s all we known,” shifting her body so her back is facing Lupus, just as she said that Panda a seat next to Lupus, Niji and two other people starting behind him.
One of them had brown hair with a black band around his hair, black trainers, white leggings, a black and green separated by a white ribbon. A white symbol on top of the black part, the boy had forest green eyes and tanned skin. He had mid-length, glossy, black hair neatly organised to follow his hairline. His black spectacles sit comfortably part way down his nose and cover his dark blue eyes, wearing a checked red shirt and black trousers.
“So you must be the new person Hender was grumbling about when we heard him over talking with Coach Hannah,” Panda said looking Lupus up and down from the side, Lupus went to reach in their jumper, they started panicking. Saskya sighed and reached into her jacket and got out the whiteboard, she must have taken it when they were leaving. She handed over the whiteboard then got the pen out of her pocket. Lupus signed “Thank you” before taken it.
They scribbled something down and placed down their whiteboard before grabbing their fruit, a banana, before swapping it for Saskya’s orange, Saskya nodded.
“Oh, we have a funny one now do we?” Panda said after what was written on Lupus’ board, this caught everyone on the table’s attention, “you think I didn’t know that I shouldn’t be here?”
Lupus nodded, Wren snorted which received a glared from Panda. Aaron was eating his apple trying to ignore Panda, the girl who was flirty was eating the girl next to her carrot slices, Loki was playing “Tic Tac Toe” with Pandora, who was winning by a lot of wins.
“OK, ok I like the way you act why don’t you join the actual popular people. I mean Saskya could be classed popular since everyone seems to know her, which is extremely sad,” Panda smirked one of the boys behind him muttered something like “That wasn’t nice” Lupus stopped writing and looked up at Panda who got up unexpectedly and stepped back with fright before the others could react and see what’s happening Panda started yelling, “YOU FREAK! GET AWAY FROM ME, YOUR SCARS ARE UNNATURAL. GET AWAY FROM ME YOU FREAK!”
Lupus started feeling around their face and noticed they could touch their scars and the bandanna had fallen off their face, Lupus panicked and pulled their bandanna up to their eyes covering most of their face. Saskya stood up, so did Aaron and a girl who was opposite Jules and Pandora, the girl went up to Panda, grinning at him, the girl dark brown hair, green eyes, white skin, black shirt little red heart and roughly about 5 foot 7 inches.
“Hey Panda, how about ya calm down? Some scars are about as ugly as your face, but some things can’t be fixed. Now let’s not draw attention to this person, they could be trained assassins,” the girl said cheerfully, her voice was calm, relaxed and old fashioned what accent is that 2000s? Panda glared down at the girl who had a devilish grin that matched Panda’s jaw clenched into a frown.
“Jay how nice of you to show up,” Panda replied gritting his teeth, Jay was making herself taller and was trying to not back down, Isaac stood up, Panda looking his way.
“Jay, Panda, Niji, Luis, and Loki,” Isaac grumpily and lazily who was trying not to stare at Lupus, “Can we stop fighting, my life is already boring I don’t need people fighting.”
“This is going to be your “sixth quarter”,” Jules said to Lupus directing them to the section by the vent, everyone else hated that bed. Lupus dropped their back with a heavy thud and picked up the whiteboard. Jules went to get her schedule and came back to Lupus holding their whiteboard up for Jules to see.
Do you know sign language?
“Er… No… Yes, some of it,” Jules replied confused, Lupus rubbed the whiteboard clean with their sleeve and place it down on their new bed. They raised their hands and started signing,
Do you ???? I haven’t ??? the vent?
“Do you, question mark, I haven’t, question mark, the vent?” Jules repeated Lupus dragged their hand down their face as they turned to pick up the whiteboard. Saskya came in with Aaron who was pouting; the argument with Panda got him in a bad mood.
Do you think I haven’t noticed the vent?
Jules read it then looked up her face in a scowl, Saskya picked up what was written down and said in a kind manner, “She didn’t mean to offend, that’s where the newcomers go and they move once settled down.”
Jules turned to Saskya a silent message on her face, thank you, “Do any of you know sign language?” Jules asked Aaron and Saskya.
“Nope,” grumbled Aaron, since getting back he didn’t seem much for talking but he talked anyway.
“Yeah, my mum was partly deaf and used sign language, I might be rusty it’s been about two years since I used it,” Saskya replied happily at the start, sad at the end.
Lupus started signing Jules only understanding 5% of it. After Lupus stopped Saskya replied speaking. Saskya translated, “They're asking what time it is and when lunch if.”
“It's 5:34 pm, lunch has already past dinner is in an hour and a half,” replied Aaron looking at the clock next to him, Aaron turned to his sixth then fell into bed. On the wall there was a photo of a lady, it must be Aaron’s mum, the lady was holding up a glass of what looked like wine a joking smile was on her tired face. Also on Aaron’s wall was his schedule, some were highlighted, some were underlined, some were untouched.
“I can show you around more Lupus if you like,” Saskya happily said turning to Lupus at their sixth, but they weren’t there. Jules turned to look at Lupus as well then looked around the smallish room and spotted the door closing, “Or not,”
“Lupus wait up!” Jules grabbed Saskya’s arm and pulled her along with her. Lupus wasn’t on their corridor; they split up searching for Lupus. After some time they both found Lupus standing in front of the doors of the Male and Female toilets.
When Lupus saw Jules and Saskya they walked into the male toilets, causing Jules and Saskya looked at each other then walked down the corridor waited outside the toilets awkwardly. A half an hour past, the patient two got impatient.
“Maybe we should start getting changed for dinner,” suggestion Jules Saskya needed and walked with Jules looking over her shoulder every two steps to check if Lupus was there.
When they got back Aaron’s sixth had a curtain across and they could hear Aaron shuffling about. The other two went to their sixths and drew the curtains, Saskya climbing up to her sixth, they didn’t talk for about a minute then started talking about what food will be.
“Hey, where’s Lupus,” Aaron brought up he got out of his sixth, a grey shirt with long sleeves was covered by a white hoodie with his hood down to show his brown hair. He wore black trousers and wore black Nike shoes.
“They went to the toilet,” a muffled grumble came through Jules’ curtain.
“Male or female?”
“Male,”
“Huh so they’re male,” said Aaron with somewhat smiling as it was a question.
“They have kept their gender private, we got to respect that,” Saskya said angrily, they were arguing about the new person, that’s bad.
“I mean they don’t talk, keep themselves hidden and like to be rude, who knows they could be an ape,” stated Jules getting out of her curtain Jules wore a light grey hat on top of her hair, a dark grey jacket over a pinkish white top, jeans, and white trainers, the door opened as she was talking to reveal Lupus, their eyes in an angry expression, Jules stopped moving, “Ah, jeez sorry Lupus I didn’t know you were here…”
Lupus went to their sixth and pulled the curtain, not taking of Jules apology. Aaron, Saskya, and Jules glanced at each other than pretending to be busy, like cleaning their hands or tiding their sixths, chatter started again but not about Lupus, about food and the “Tournament”
Lupus got up and left, leaving the others confused, about five seconds after a bell hit their ears as they quickly then placed their items in the hands on to their beds, Aaron got up from his bed by rolling out, he hit the floor Jules walking over and lifting him up before hurrying off to follow Saskya and get into the lunch cue. They fast walked to the door, left, right, right and forward and then they reached the food hall, a modern lunch room, plastic tables around the room, blue rounded plastic seats. People dotted the tables in groups of four to sixes, chatter filled the room, a long line of chattering people waiting by a table covered in bowls and lots of different foods, a lady was dishing up food along with a man who was helping out.
The three went into the line, talking about the food; Jules was looking down the cue to see Lupus near the front, the cyan envelope was in their clothed hand. They looked awkward as people bumped into them, they shuffled up the cue. They finally got to the front, they handed the cyan envelope to the lady who looked confused but then opened the envelope to reveal a letter, the lady scanned through it, and her eyes filled with shock and started putting the letter back into its cage.
The lady quickly handed the envelope back then grabbed food and shoved it on to a plate then grabbed a tray and placed the plate with a slam, and pushed the tray into Lupus' arms. Lupus turned raising a hand in a “thank you” kind of way and then took the tray and themselves to a table far end, another person was sitting at the end, and Jules recognised the person.
Quicker than expected Jules was in the front of the cue, she looked behind her Saskya and Aaron was few people behind her, they must of have people pushed in front of them because they both had sour expressions. The lady looked shocked still, she moved quickly her eyes darted around the place quicker than usual; she grabbed food and shoved it on to the plate.
Jules collected her food, an orange, some carrots, and meatloaf. Not the best meal they serve better than the slop like stuff. The food was on plates that rested on top of a grey plastic tray, Jules looked around looking for someone familiar faces dotted around, she wasn’t looking for them. Jules started walking towards the table with a few people, she took her seat next to someone.
She had black hair, pale skin that made her dark brown, she had checked shorts, she had brown shoes. A cream jacket was on top of her crimson top, she had perfect eyes-brows and a nice look nose, that sounds weird.
“Hey, Jules, who is that they just sat down here?” Pandora asked nodding her head towards Lupus who was sitting close by looking at their food. They pulled their bandanna down to their bottom lip and ate one carrot, Jules and Pandora shouldn’t have been staring because Lupus pulled the bandanna up to their nose again with eyes glaring daggers. Jules turned towards Pandora and started explaining.
“They are called Lu-” Jules was cut off, seven more people came to sit next to them, Saskya, Isaac, Aaron, Wren and three more people. Saskya had the pleasure of sitting next to Lupus who shifted uncomfortably as Isaac sat next to Jules and Wren sat next to Isaac. Three other people sat opposite Pandora and Jules, Aaron sat next to Saskya and the other three people.
“Hi you lot,” Isaac said picking up his knife and stabbing his meatloaf and eating like it an ice-cream.
“Jules you were saying something,” Pandora said cutting up her meatloaf, Jules glanced at Lupus who was glancing at Lupus who was glancing at Jules; they had a worry in their eyes.
“Yeah, I wonder what the challenges for the tournament will be,” Jules said picking up a piece of carrot and chewing it as she looks around at the faces on the table. The boy with the green and white shirt spoke up.
“I heard rumours of level 15 hallway and plant analyses, I personally went survival training,” the boy before grabbing his apple and biting into it with a loud crunch.
“Jackson, you can barely survive for ten minutes,” Wren snorted.
“Wren let’s be nice,” Isaac said firmly pushing a mouthful of meatloaf down his throat.
“I’d rather eat mice,” countered Wren smirking, Isaac snorted an inside joke past between them. The others had a confused faces spread across them.
“Anyway, Aaron how are you,” the girl from the other side batting her eyelashes at Aaron who shifted back on his seat.
“Fine, so if it is going to be level 15 hallway, I guess well be again, also Talia leave me alone,” He replied turning to look at the others.
“Oh don’t be so upbeat we have a chance this time,” Saskya jumped encouragingly.
“How?” Wren asked a suspicious grin on her face. Jules made eye contact with Saskya shaking her head with her hat fell off, “I mean, to be rude, you always fail level 1 of the hallway and there’s three of you and five of us and we’re level 10.”
“A new person is supposed to join us, that’s all we known,” shifting her body so her back is facing Lupus, just as she said that Panda a seat next to Lupus, Niji and two other people starting behind him.
One of them had brown hair with a black band around his hair, black trainers, white leggings, a black and green separated by a white ribbon. A white symbol on top of the black part, the boy had forest green eyes and tanned skin. He had mid-length, glossy, black hair neatly organised to follow his hairline. His black spectacles sit comfortably part way down his nose and cover his dark blue eyes, wearing a checked red shirt and black trousers.
“So you must be the new person Hender was grumbling about when we heard him over talking with Coach Hannah,” Panda said looking Lupus up and down from the side, Lupus went to reach in their jumper, they started panicking. Saskya sighed and reached into her jacket and got out the whiteboard, she must have taken it when they were leaving. She handed over the whiteboard then got the pen out of her pocket. Lupus signed “Thank you” before taken it.
They scribbled something down and placed down their whiteboard before grabbing their fruit, a banana, before swapping it for Saskya’s orange, Saskya nodded.
“Oh, we have a funny one now do we?” Panda said after what was written on Lupus’ board, this caught everyone on the table’s attention, “you think I didn’t know that I shouldn’t be here?”
Lupus nodded, Wren snorted which received a glared from Panda. Aaron was eating his apple trying to ignore Panda, the girl who was flirty was eating the girl next to her carrot slices, Loki was playing “Tic Tac Toe” with Pandora, who was winning by a lot of wins.
“OK, ok I like the way you act why don’t you join the actual popular people. I mean Saskya could be classed popular since everyone seems to know her, which is extremely sad,” Panda smirked one of the boys behind him muttered something like “That wasn’t nice” Lupus stopped writing and looked up at Panda who got up unexpectedly and stepped back with fright before the others could react and see what’s happening Panda started yelling, “YOU FREAK! GET AWAY FROM ME, YOUR SCARS ARE UNNATURAL. GET AWAY FROM ME YOU FREAK!”
Lupus started feeling around their face and noticed they could touch their scars and the bandanna had fallen off their face, Lupus panicked and pulled their bandanna up to their eyes covering most of their face. Saskya stood up, so did Aaron and a girl who was opposite Jules and Pandora, the girl went up to Panda, grinning at him, the girl dark brown hair, green eyes, white skin, black shirt little red heart and roughly about 5 foot 7 inches.
“Hey Panda, how about ya calm down? Some scars are about as ugly as your face, but some things can’t be fixed. Now let’s not draw attention to this person, they could be trained assassins,” the girl said cheerfully, her voice was calm, relaxed and old fashioned what accent is that 2000s? Panda glared down at the girl who had a devilish grin that matched Panda’s jaw clenched into a frown.
“Jay how nice of you to show up,” Panda replied gritting his teeth, Jay was making herself taller and was trying to not back down, Isaac stood up, Panda looking his way.
“Jay, Panda, Niji, Luis, and Loki,” Isaac grumpily and lazily who was trying not to stare at Lupus, “Can we stop fighting, my life is already boring I don’t need people fighting.”
“Can I eat my meatloaf without people fighting or being rude to new people,” Isaac asked sitting down as the others stared at him except Lupus who was collecting their stuff, then grabbing the orange and leaving the others looking confused. Saskya noticed Lupus getting up and leaving then picking up the meatloaf with a fork and stuffing it into their mouth, Saskya grabbed hers and Lupus’ tray and walking to a bin dumping leftovers in, a bell hit everyone’s ears, everyone complaining about how short dinner was how short dinner was. Jules was about to leave when a voice called over dinner chatter.
“You no longer have the head to wear the uniform given to you when you stay for a month, it must be hard for old comers since you have grown used to it,” the gentle voice of Apprentice Gould, loud “Whoops” and “yes”. Spread across the hall, Isaac and Wren looked overjoyed, maybe because they are longest remaining people in the group of friends. Everyone shuffled out talking about no more uniforms, some talking about the tournament and the rumours that followed it.
The groups with Isaac and Aaron walked down the corridor Lupus ahead of them with Saskya talking in sign language when they reached their dorm they left the talking group still communicating in sign. Everyone departed into the two dorm groups. Aaron and Jules went in Lupus were sitting on their sixth with knees tucked in; Saskya was sitting next to them, talking in hushed tones with Lupus who signed in reply. When Aaron went to sit on his sixth, Saskya woke up and climbed up easily on to her sixth.
Everyone pulled their curtains shut, shuffling started getting louder as the four changed into night clothes, and they took it in turns going into the toilet to clean themselves. It was 9:30 when lights were told to be switched off; Jules being the closet switched them off. Each sixth had a lamp in the ceiling with a switch on the wall, Aaron, Jules, and Saskya turned theirs on and opened their curtains and started talking about training and the tournament, stuff like that. By 11:27 Jules was the only one awake, though she turned her lamp off and pulled her curtain hallway. Jules stared at the blank wall opposite her bed, the pinkie peach. She was about to drift off to sleep when a light appeared on the wall revealing the colour, the light from Lupus’ sixth.
Clicking and an “shh” sound came from the light source, shuffling and movement started, Lupus stood up and went past Jules and towards bathroom, leaving the door open with the light on, a shadow, an outline of Lupus, they were tall, they were already tall but they looked taller, they looked like they had a skinny but strong frame, they turned to their side, shadow moving with them, the shadow showed they had long hair tied into a high ponytail. Lupus reached up and did something with their face, Jules couldn’t tell in the shadow.
A flat chest? Jules pointed to herself in her head, Aaron yawned stopping Lupus, their hand dropped their shadow growing bigger and Jules started panicking and closed her pretending to be asleep. A shuffle of movement and then something pulled Jules’ blanket up to her neck, the sound of the curtain closing and a click of a light what Jules saw was over.
*Group 2*
Loki was already having a bad morning, Panda was complaining about the new kid and Niji were suggesting beating them up. Which was declined by Panda and Loki, though Panda said not until after the tournament? Luis was shaking his head with his hand on his forehead; his head tilted making his black hair sway from side to side whilst leaning on a light cyan wall that had medals and papers of accomplishments and praise was taped on the walls.
Leaning over the side of his bed he looked down at Niji’s head which was also facing down but he was looking at his schedule, Loki could literally feel his grim expression. Loki swung his legs over the bed and jumped down next to Niji with a thud, Niji not reacting. Loki checked the time with the clock on Niji’s wall then walked to the door, turning to the others, “You coming or what, I’m starving and I heard its English breakfast day.”
The others stared at the open door where Loki was, Luis leaned off the wall and looked at Niji and Aaron smirked, started walking back towards the door before awkwardly waving before disappearing down the corridor.
The cue was longer today, the usual groups of friends were queuing talking as they shuffled up the cue, Loki noticed the largest group were talking the loudest, Isaac’s and Jules’ groups, the winners and the losers, the best of friends, Loki envied them how they agreed easily on things, they had good communication. Jules’ group had all of that but they don’t know each other’s thought patterns like Loki’s and Isaac’s. This would lead them to failure like they have many times, they had a new person with them but the person wasn’t going into convocation, like normal they had that bandanna and hood on covering anyway to show their identity.
Like normal people were dressed in their sports clothes, the usual girls wearing crop tops, not every girl wears this but most do, and the shorts that went to just above the knee, the boys wearing the bicycle long sleeves and the shorts like the girls. Loki was wearing the male sports clothing like everyone else to blend in, Luis came next to him at the doorway and looked around as well his eyes scanning the other two groups that were relevant to their lives. He muttered something in French then carried on walking towards the line with Loki on his trail.
Niji and Panda came from the hallway no longer than a minute after and pushed into the cue behind the new person and in front of the bigger group, Loki and Luis looked at each other then walked over to Niji and Panda. Niji smirked at their confused faces and Panda turned to face Lupus. Then turned back to the others, whispering their plan, “Try to sit next to the new kid, no matter what, don’t let their friends sit next to them, I need to talk to them, understood?”
The others nodded and turned back to the cue, sooner then they imagined they were at the front, the two dinner servers served both the new kid and Panda at the same time. The new kid took longer, no meats and only vegetables or eggs. Panda finished and was standing awkwardly by the tables when the new kid was done they took a seat where they sat yesterday. Panda sat right next to them, they looked up then looked down at their food and started eating by pulling the bandanna up to under their nose. The group behind Luis and Loki started pointing it out, soon after Loki, Luis, Panda, and Niji were sitting down around the new person.
“So new person what’s your name, Scary, Scarry, McScarFace?” Niji asked smirking but a questioning look etched on his face. The new kid got out their whiteboard and started writing down with a squeak of the marker. They pushed it over to the middle of the table so the group could see.
Even if I had to tell you, I wouldn’t.
“Funny one here, funny indeed,” Niji replied nodding his head sarcastically. Someone else took a seat, a seat next to Niji. Wren rested her elbows on the table then laced her fingers together to make a rest for her chin; she looked around the table looking bored. Today was a chill day but most people were training for tomorrow, the biggest event that happens only 3 times a year, most people have been 2 or 1, some like Isaac, Wren and Niji has had 6 or 4, nobody knows but themselves.
“So what will you do today for training, our team has a good plan indeed so has Jules’ they involved this one as well,” Wren nodded towards the new kid, staring a little longer before turning her eyes back at the others, the group glanced at each other think what to say without spoiling what they had in mind, to be honest they hated the plan but they were going to do it, training in the weak areas which isn’t that much but high in terrible zones.
The new kid stood up trying to leave, but Panda grabbed their arm and pulled them to sit down, they twisted their arm around to loosen the grip then pulled freeing their arm. They went to a free table, alone, Saskya tried to sit with them but they just moved further away, random people took seats next to them but didn’t talk to them.
Loki, Wren, Luis, Niji, and Panda looked at each other than at their food. Panda rolled his eyes then started talking about random staff, Wren being herself, wasn’t listening so when he asked her a question so he had to ask twice. Luis muttered something in French when Niji said something idiotic. Isaac came over and took a seat next to Wren with his back facing away from the table and started talking in hushed tones with Wren, the other four talked quietly trying to listen in but were unsuccessful because when they were about to hear some words Isaac got up and waved from behind as he took a seat with his groups.
Breakfast ended at 8 am, everyone trudged to their dorms to quickly change or washed their face and hands, then at 8:15, then walked to the amphitheatre to hear to hear today’s announcements and the challenges for the tournament tomorrow. The amphitheatre is a large room able to fit 1000 people on the stair-like seats, Loki and his group came out of the top hallway entrance, he gazed around, the stage was on the edge of the semi-circular room, Apprentice Gould was standing in front of a stand with a microphone on the top. The lower hallway had a bunch of people spilling out turning either left or right to go claim seats, the chatter was all could be heard.
The group went to the left and walked up the stairs to the fourth to last section of seats like stairs, which happened to be right next to the group with Jules in.
“Hey look, the new kid is on the stage,” Niji pointed out, sure enough, they, they didn’t look comfortable by the way, they kept fidgeting with their bandana and clothes. Jules must have noticed as well because Loki who was sitting next to her saw her leaning in talking to someone better.
“Isaac, Lupus is on the stage, do you have any idea why?” Jules asked her voice muffled to Loki who was listening in. Isaac voice was way more muffled so Loki only caught “I hope I’m wrong.”
“AGH Jules get off me!” Talia whined, as per usual, if it was a boy she knows is into girls she wouldn’t have complained but if it’s a girl she’ll complain and complain. Jay yawned at Talia's complaining earning a scowl. With that Gould cleared his throat, talking died down almost instantly. All eyes were on Gould who stood up straighter and gazed around the crowd.
“Cadets… It is with great pleasure your all able to join us, I and the Apprentices have chosen the six challenges for each group,” Gould’s voice echoed from the speakers, everyone started sitting on the edge of their seats as he plucked a red envelope from his sleeve and opened it slow to build suspension, he looked back up, “the theme is Solo Survival, the challenges as followed:
Climbing wall level 10,
Survival hour, Freezing Cold,
Traps,
Hide and seek two from each group,
Hallway Level 15.”
A groan was passed through the crowd, then people hushed other people waiting for the last challenge, Gould read the last challenge smiled and looked back up still smiling, “Combat five times your natural level. These are your challenges, work as a team to pick a person for each challenge, right person for the right task. The scoring system is as followed, first 20 points, second 15 points, third 10 points and finally fourth 5 points. The prize for the winning team is no chores for a month; you can choose a team to do them for you.
“Before we start chattering we must remember, cheating is not tolerated, remember the person who lashed out, who broke the rules. They had no regard for the rules, even after what happened they are still our best cadet and the one who still is top of the leaderboards. They beat most levels single handily, watch the videos of their success to improve your own,” Gould warned, his voice carrying over everyone like a disease. Of course, everyone knows why he warns them every time before the tournament, “No more announcements for today or tomorrow except it’s no schedule day.”
Chatter started again, excitement buzzed around as groups got up from their seats making their way to the training hall, Loki and his group got up quickly so they could share information about other stuff, Loki told them about how the new kid is called Lupus.
The training hall is a large hallway type building, different sections on either side with survival tips and training of different verities. Most groups surrounded screens that were dotted around the place for help or the Hallway. Loki’s group split up going to the sections they most need to work on, Loki traps, Niji climbing, Luis and Panda on general survival tips.
It wasn’t till 6:30 pm there was no more people in the Hallway so they could go train there.
“You no longer have the head to wear the uniform given to you when you stay for a month, it must be hard for old comers since you have grown used to it,” the gentle voice of Apprentice Gould, loud “Whoops” and “yes”. Spread across the hall, Isaac and Wren looked overjoyed, maybe because they are longest remaining people in the group of friends. Everyone shuffled out talking about no more uniforms, some talking about the tournament and the rumours that followed it.
The groups with Isaac and Aaron walked down the corridor Lupus ahead of them with Saskya talking in sign language when they reached their dorm they left the talking group still communicating in sign. Everyone departed into the two dorm groups. Aaron and Jules went in Lupus were sitting on their sixth with knees tucked in; Saskya was sitting next to them, talking in hushed tones with Lupus who signed in reply. When Aaron went to sit on his sixth, Saskya woke up and climbed up easily on to her sixth.
Everyone pulled their curtains shut, shuffling started getting louder as the four changed into night clothes, and they took it in turns going into the toilet to clean themselves. It was 9:30 when lights were told to be switched off; Jules being the closet switched them off. Each sixth had a lamp in the ceiling with a switch on the wall, Aaron, Jules, and Saskya turned theirs on and opened their curtains and started talking about training and the tournament, stuff like that. By 11:27 Jules was the only one awake, though she turned her lamp off and pulled her curtain hallway. Jules stared at the blank wall opposite her bed, the pinkie peach. She was about to drift off to sleep when a light appeared on the wall revealing the colour, the light from Lupus’ sixth.
Clicking and an “shh” sound came from the light source, shuffling and movement started, Lupus stood up and went past Jules and towards bathroom, leaving the door open with the light on, a shadow, an outline of Lupus, they were tall, they were already tall but they looked taller, they looked like they had a skinny but strong frame, they turned to their side, shadow moving with them, the shadow showed they had long hair tied into a high ponytail. Lupus reached up and did something with their face, Jules couldn’t tell in the shadow.
A flat chest? Jules pointed to herself in her head, Aaron yawned stopping Lupus, their hand dropped their shadow growing bigger and Jules started panicking and closed her pretending to be asleep. A shuffle of movement and then something pulled Jules’ blanket up to her neck, the sound of the curtain closing and a click of a light what Jules saw was over.
*Group 2*
Loki was already having a bad morning, Panda was complaining about the new kid and Niji were suggesting beating them up. Which was declined by Panda and Loki, though Panda said not until after the tournament? Luis was shaking his head with his hand on his forehead; his head tilted making his black hair sway from side to side whilst leaning on a light cyan wall that had medals and papers of accomplishments and praise was taped on the walls.
Leaning over the side of his bed he looked down at Niji’s head which was also facing down but he was looking at his schedule, Loki could literally feel his grim expression. Loki swung his legs over the bed and jumped down next to Niji with a thud, Niji not reacting. Loki checked the time with the clock on Niji’s wall then walked to the door, turning to the others, “You coming or what, I’m starving and I heard its English breakfast day.”
The others stared at the open door where Loki was, Luis leaned off the wall and looked at Niji and Aaron smirked, started walking back towards the door before awkwardly waving before disappearing down the corridor.
The cue was longer today, the usual groups of friends were queuing talking as they shuffled up the cue, Loki noticed the largest group were talking the loudest, Isaac’s and Jules’ groups, the winners and the losers, the best of friends, Loki envied them how they agreed easily on things, they had good communication. Jules’ group had all of that but they don’t know each other’s thought patterns like Loki’s and Isaac’s. This would lead them to failure like they have many times, they had a new person with them but the person wasn’t going into convocation, like normal they had that bandanna and hood on covering anyway to show their identity.
Like normal people were dressed in their sports clothes, the usual girls wearing crop tops, not every girl wears this but most do, and the shorts that went to just above the knee, the boys wearing the bicycle long sleeves and the shorts like the girls. Loki was wearing the male sports clothing like everyone else to blend in, Luis came next to him at the doorway and looked around as well his eyes scanning the other two groups that were relevant to their lives. He muttered something in French then carried on walking towards the line with Loki on his trail.
Niji and Panda came from the hallway no longer than a minute after and pushed into the cue behind the new person and in front of the bigger group, Loki and Luis looked at each other then walked over to Niji and Panda. Niji smirked at their confused faces and Panda turned to face Lupus. Then turned back to the others, whispering their plan, “Try to sit next to the new kid, no matter what, don’t let their friends sit next to them, I need to talk to them, understood?”
The others nodded and turned back to the cue, sooner then they imagined they were at the front, the two dinner servers served both the new kid and Panda at the same time. The new kid took longer, no meats and only vegetables or eggs. Panda finished and was standing awkwardly by the tables when the new kid was done they took a seat where they sat yesterday. Panda sat right next to them, they looked up then looked down at their food and started eating by pulling the bandanna up to under their nose. The group behind Luis and Loki started pointing it out, soon after Loki, Luis, Panda, and Niji were sitting down around the new person.
“So new person what’s your name, Scary, Scarry, McScarFace?” Niji asked smirking but a questioning look etched on his face. The new kid got out their whiteboard and started writing down with a squeak of the marker. They pushed it over to the middle of the table so the group could see.
Even if I had to tell you, I wouldn’t.
“Funny one here, funny indeed,” Niji replied nodding his head sarcastically. Someone else took a seat, a seat next to Niji. Wren rested her elbows on the table then laced her fingers together to make a rest for her chin; she looked around the table looking bored. Today was a chill day but most people were training for tomorrow, the biggest event that happens only 3 times a year, most people have been 2 or 1, some like Isaac, Wren and Niji has had 6 or 4, nobody knows but themselves.
“So what will you do today for training, our team has a good plan indeed so has Jules’ they involved this one as well,” Wren nodded towards the new kid, staring a little longer before turning her eyes back at the others, the group glanced at each other think what to say without spoiling what they had in mind, to be honest they hated the plan but they were going to do it, training in the weak areas which isn’t that much but high in terrible zones.
The new kid stood up trying to leave, but Panda grabbed their arm and pulled them to sit down, they twisted their arm around to loosen the grip then pulled freeing their arm. They went to a free table, alone, Saskya tried to sit with them but they just moved further away, random people took seats next to them but didn’t talk to them.
Loki, Wren, Luis, Niji, and Panda looked at each other than at their food. Panda rolled his eyes then started talking about random staff, Wren being herself, wasn’t listening so when he asked her a question so he had to ask twice. Luis muttered something in French when Niji said something idiotic. Isaac came over and took a seat next to Wren with his back facing away from the table and started talking in hushed tones with Wren, the other four talked quietly trying to listen in but were unsuccessful because when they were about to hear some words Isaac got up and waved from behind as he took a seat with his groups.
Breakfast ended at 8 am, everyone trudged to their dorms to quickly change or washed their face and hands, then at 8:15, then walked to the amphitheatre to hear to hear today’s announcements and the challenges for the tournament tomorrow. The amphitheatre is a large room able to fit 1000 people on the stair-like seats, Loki and his group came out of the top hallway entrance, he gazed around, the stage was on the edge of the semi-circular room, Apprentice Gould was standing in front of a stand with a microphone on the top. The lower hallway had a bunch of people spilling out turning either left or right to go claim seats, the chatter was all could be heard.
The group went to the left and walked up the stairs to the fourth to last section of seats like stairs, which happened to be right next to the group with Jules in.
“Hey look, the new kid is on the stage,” Niji pointed out, sure enough, they, they didn’t look comfortable by the way, they kept fidgeting with their bandana and clothes. Jules must have noticed as well because Loki who was sitting next to her saw her leaning in talking to someone better.
“Isaac, Lupus is on the stage, do you have any idea why?” Jules asked her voice muffled to Loki who was listening in. Isaac voice was way more muffled so Loki only caught “I hope I’m wrong.”
“AGH Jules get off me!” Talia whined, as per usual, if it was a boy she knows is into girls she wouldn’t have complained but if it’s a girl she’ll complain and complain. Jay yawned at Talia's complaining earning a scowl. With that Gould cleared his throat, talking died down almost instantly. All eyes were on Gould who stood up straighter and gazed around the crowd.
“Cadets… It is with great pleasure your all able to join us, I and the Apprentices have chosen the six challenges for each group,” Gould’s voice echoed from the speakers, everyone started sitting on the edge of their seats as he plucked a red envelope from his sleeve and opened it slow to build suspension, he looked back up, “the theme is Solo Survival, the challenges as followed:
Climbing wall level 10,
Survival hour, Freezing Cold,
Traps,
Hide and seek two from each group,
Hallway Level 15.”
A groan was passed through the crowd, then people hushed other people waiting for the last challenge, Gould read the last challenge smiled and looked back up still smiling, “Combat five times your natural level. These are your challenges, work as a team to pick a person for each challenge, right person for the right task. The scoring system is as followed, first 20 points, second 15 points, third 10 points and finally fourth 5 points. The prize for the winning team is no chores for a month; you can choose a team to do them for you.
“Before we start chattering we must remember, cheating is not tolerated, remember the person who lashed out, who broke the rules. They had no regard for the rules, even after what happened they are still our best cadet and the one who still is top of the leaderboards. They beat most levels single handily, watch the videos of their success to improve your own,” Gould warned, his voice carrying over everyone like a disease. Of course, everyone knows why he warns them every time before the tournament, “No more announcements for today or tomorrow except it’s no schedule day.”
Chatter started again, excitement buzzed around as groups got up from their seats making their way to the training hall, Loki and his group got up quickly so they could share information about other stuff, Loki told them about how the new kid is called Lupus.
The training hall is a large hallway type building, different sections on either side with survival tips and training of different verities. Most groups surrounded screens that were dotted around the place for help or the Hallway. Loki’s group split up going to the sections they most need to work on, Loki traps, Niji climbing, Luis and Panda on general survival tips.
It wasn’t till 6:30 pm there was no more people in the Hallway so they could go train there.
Isaac couldn’t sleep, he was leaning against the wall opposite the sevenths was closest to the door, above his seven the seven was empty, but someone’s presence was missing. Some dorms had seven beds instead of six mainly because most of the dorms with seven were bigger. Unlike he grew up in an orphanage. He stared at the empty sixth, his head tilted upwards on the wall, his blonde hair rubbed against the wall making scratching like sounds. His legs were lying in front of him, he wasn’t tired, and his heart ached. Isaac needed to clear his head, he needs to let out the frustrations, and he needs to go to the training hall.
Opening the door he looked as far as he could, leaning outwards checking if there was anyone there. No one was. He crept out, his trainers making a faint sound on the floor. Isaac walked down the dim eerie hallway, a faint thud from the door closing and he was already a quarter from his dorm. Dorms were to his left and his right every six steps; Dorm 37 was near him when he heard footsteps, knowing whose dorm this is he went inside quietly and quickly.
He heard the footsteps pass and two dorms nearby doors opening and closing, most likely a couple coming back from training together. Isaac himself used to be in loved, he came with his lover and another person to Alpha Rein but they were kicked out for a really bad reason after four months of being there. The sound stopped outside, time to go. He looked behind him at Jules’, Saskya’s and Aaron’s dorm just checking if he hadn’t woke them up, he barely see anything in the dim light but eyes adjusted quickly.
Three of six curtains were closed, wait three? Isn’t there supposed to be another one closed, Isaac wasn’t sure. Soon after checking he left, closing the door and walking down the hallway, he had memorised the layout, how many feet something is away or how big a room is, he knew it, maybe because he’s been here for 1 year and two months.
Believe it or not being at Alpha Rein for longer than most didn’t change that fact you knew everything about it, most long timers have left or turned into a coach. Isaac hasn’t chosen yet, in five weeks he would turn 21 that’s his deadline, stay and teach kids how to not to kill themselves, truly tempting, or leave with the best chances of survival, learning would cost his friends, staying would cost his mentality.
Isaac finally arrived at the training hall, he opened one of the double doors, leaving a gap for his head to look through, peering through making sure nobody. The sections had their lights still on but the main hallway had no lights on like per usual at night. He stepped in and made sure the doors were closed and secure before walking quietly just a case someone was there. When he reached the combat section his body froze, someone was using the shooting range.
Lupus was picking up each gun and checked it by aiming it when they picked the sniper then checked it then walked over to the soundproof glass surrounded shooting range. Isaac moved behind the wall panicking, he peered from behind the wall, Lupus was wearing the hood/big bandanna thing, they wore the tight leggings and the long sleeved crop top. They were tanned, easily shown by the beams from the lights, from Isaac’s angle they had back in an acute angle, they had a fit body type, scars visibly seem, some scars massive and some tiny.
The muffled shout of the sniper snapped Isaac back from staring; he looked at the dummy in front of Lupus, a headshot. Another shout and the dummy next to the other one had also been given a headstone. Three shots in a row in the space of 5 seconds all the dummies were headshot-ted. Isaac gaped at Lupus as they shot the last dummy, all six dummies headshot-ted. Isaac was good with a shotgun but Lupus they were amazing.
Isaac, after watching Lupus like a pervert, plucked up his courage to move to the shooting range with a combat shotgun in hand. Lupus heard the door open behind them because they twirled around sniper pointing at Isaac’s head.
“Easy, I’m a friend, sometimes,” Isaac said hands in surrender. Lupus’ eyes narrowed then huffed lowering the sniper and moving around back at the dummies, “I think you headshot-ted the dummies enough Lupus.”
Lupus rolled their eyes then looked at Isaac who moved next to them. A loud bang startled Isaac; in response Lupus’ eyes glistened with humour. Isaac and Lupus looked at the dummy, the shot hit its stomach. Pleased, Lupus lifted the sniper so it rested on their shoulder, their right hand near the trigger whilst the left did a mocking salute before falling to their side.
“Did you sniper pose me?” Isaac scoffed overreacting dramatically, Lupus nodded in a mocking way. Isaac could physically feel their smirk; Isaac smirked as well then turned to the shooting range then shot after aiming. A shot in the dummy’s right lung. Pleased with himself, Isaac turned smiling smugly at Lupus. Lupus looked at the dummy and snorted, they aimed the sniper and shot the same dummy but it’s left lung.
Isaac shot again, hitting the neck, turning towards Lupus who wasn’t there, the sound of the door closing behind him. Isaac turned to see through the glass wall, to see Lupus reloading then placing the sniper on the gun rack. Isaac shot some more at the dummies then went to find Lupus, to find them putting on fingerless cloves by the combat cube. Isaac walked over gesturing at the combat cube; the combat cube is like shooting range but bigger and less sound replant, the floor of the cube is dark grey and looks like stone but is made of a bouncy material that is still hard if you hit it. There are different levels of height, high beams, climbing and poles used for support or for swinging on.
Lupus looked up at Isaac than the combat cube then shrugged in “I don’t mind” manner. Isaac started stretching so his muscles so it is easier to move. Lupus stretched their arms before turning away from Isaac to readjust their scarf/bandanna.
“Why do you wear the bandanna?” Isaac said tying his on his trainers. Lupus turned, they had their bandanna just to below their nose, lifting their hand to cover their face of “To hide” Lupus let their arms fall in a shrug, “Huh, anyway ready to be beaten up?”
Lupus walked through the glass door and placed themselves in the centre of the combat cube, Isaac went for a higher up sections to have more of a chance of winning. Lupus stretched their arms once more than got ready, raising their fists Isaac as well, then he called out, “on the count of three we start. 1, 2, 3!
Isaac run forward and placed himself in front of Lupus and tired hitting them, they dodge fluidly another try, dodged. Then Isaac hit for Lupus’ stomach Lupus rolled to the side than standing up almost instantly. Isaac tried to kick them but Lupus grabbed his leg and tugged making him fall. A thud of Isaac’s head hitting the floor instead of his back was not what he was expecting that. Groaning Isaac lifted his head, Lupus had their hand stretched out for Isaac to grabbed, Isaac accepted the offer then put his hand through his hair trying to process what just happened, which also messed his quiff.
“Wanna go again?” Isaac asked stretching his back then repositioning himself, all he got from Lupus was a snort and a nod, next thing he knew he was a few inches apart from Lupus and was hitting at them. Lupus blocked and hit back, Isaac blocked and then tried to kick but Lupus deflected it with their thy. Isaac went for a high kick and Lupus dropped down and used their left arm as a support beam and twirled around, knocking Isaac down again. “Oh jeez, you know your stuff? How hard are you trying?”
Lupus recovered themselves then turned to Isaac, they lifted their hand and made the sign of “little amount” Isaac snorted and stood up shaking off the stiffness.
“Again,” Isaac commanded bravely, rolling his head to. Lupus nodded and took some steps back; Isaac readied himself but by the time he looked up Lupus was running past him.
Lupus ran up to a horizontal beam and jumped up, whilst still running, and grabbed it, swinging themselves up to the platform in front. Lupus turned to see Isaac running up as well but instead of swinging he pushed off a wall and jumped, he landed his arms landing on the platform and the rest hanging off the side.
Lupus backed up as Isaac pulled himself up in front of them, raising his fists once up stepping forward and swinging his arm making Lupus duck under his arm and go behind him, switching his and their places. Isaac swung again but he forgot to recover his balance and he tripped and fell on top of Lupus who was standing by the edge.
Isaac opened his eyes, his head was resting on something comfortable, he pulled himself up into a push-up position, to see himself face to face with Lupus, Lupus opened their eyes and stared at Isaac, him staring back forgetting what an awkward position he was in. Lupus’ eyes looked so familiar it was scary but Isaac wasn’t focusing on that. Isaac stared into the different coloured eyes for too long. Lupus shook their gaze then pushed Isaac off with so much force he hit the wall of the combat cube. Rubbing his head, he looked up to find Lupus walking out of the cube ripping off their cloves then running out of the training hall.
Isaac got up after five minutes when his head stopped throbbing, and started to walk back to his dorm when something caught his eye, Lupus’ bag. He picked it up before leaving for his dorm. Isaac dropped the bag the open door of Dorm 37 and closed it then trudged back to his dorm for once tired and needing sleep.
Opening the door he looked as far as he could, leaning outwards checking if there was anyone there. No one was. He crept out, his trainers making a faint sound on the floor. Isaac walked down the dim eerie hallway, a faint thud from the door closing and he was already a quarter from his dorm. Dorms were to his left and his right every six steps; Dorm 37 was near him when he heard footsteps, knowing whose dorm this is he went inside quietly and quickly.
He heard the footsteps pass and two dorms nearby doors opening and closing, most likely a couple coming back from training together. Isaac himself used to be in loved, he came with his lover and another person to Alpha Rein but they were kicked out for a really bad reason after four months of being there. The sound stopped outside, time to go. He looked behind him at Jules’, Saskya’s and Aaron’s dorm just checking if he hadn’t woke them up, he barely see anything in the dim light but eyes adjusted quickly.
Three of six curtains were closed, wait three? Isn’t there supposed to be another one closed, Isaac wasn’t sure. Soon after checking he left, closing the door and walking down the hallway, he had memorised the layout, how many feet something is away or how big a room is, he knew it, maybe because he’s been here for 1 year and two months.
Believe it or not being at Alpha Rein for longer than most didn’t change that fact you knew everything about it, most long timers have left or turned into a coach. Isaac hasn’t chosen yet, in five weeks he would turn 21 that’s his deadline, stay and teach kids how to not to kill themselves, truly tempting, or leave with the best chances of survival, learning would cost his friends, staying would cost his mentality.
Isaac finally arrived at the training hall, he opened one of the double doors, leaving a gap for his head to look through, peering through making sure nobody. The sections had their lights still on but the main hallway had no lights on like per usual at night. He stepped in and made sure the doors were closed and secure before walking quietly just a case someone was there. When he reached the combat section his body froze, someone was using the shooting range.
Lupus was picking up each gun and checked it by aiming it when they picked the sniper then checked it then walked over to the soundproof glass surrounded shooting range. Isaac moved behind the wall panicking, he peered from behind the wall, Lupus was wearing the hood/big bandanna thing, they wore the tight leggings and the long sleeved crop top. They were tanned, easily shown by the beams from the lights, from Isaac’s angle they had back in an acute angle, they had a fit body type, scars visibly seem, some scars massive and some tiny.
The muffled shout of the sniper snapped Isaac back from staring; he looked at the dummy in front of Lupus, a headshot. Another shout and the dummy next to the other one had also been given a headstone. Three shots in a row in the space of 5 seconds all the dummies were headshot-ted. Isaac gaped at Lupus as they shot the last dummy, all six dummies headshot-ted. Isaac was good with a shotgun but Lupus they were amazing.
Isaac, after watching Lupus like a pervert, plucked up his courage to move to the shooting range with a combat shotgun in hand. Lupus heard the door open behind them because they twirled around sniper pointing at Isaac’s head.
“Easy, I’m a friend, sometimes,” Isaac said hands in surrender. Lupus’ eyes narrowed then huffed lowering the sniper and moving around back at the dummies, “I think you headshot-ted the dummies enough Lupus.”
Lupus rolled their eyes then looked at Isaac who moved next to them. A loud bang startled Isaac; in response Lupus’ eyes glistened with humour. Isaac and Lupus looked at the dummy, the shot hit its stomach. Pleased, Lupus lifted the sniper so it rested on their shoulder, their right hand near the trigger whilst the left did a mocking salute before falling to their side.
“Did you sniper pose me?” Isaac scoffed overreacting dramatically, Lupus nodded in a mocking way. Isaac could physically feel their smirk; Isaac smirked as well then turned to the shooting range then shot after aiming. A shot in the dummy’s right lung. Pleased with himself, Isaac turned smiling smugly at Lupus. Lupus looked at the dummy and snorted, they aimed the sniper and shot the same dummy but it’s left lung.
Isaac shot again, hitting the neck, turning towards Lupus who wasn’t there, the sound of the door closing behind him. Isaac turned to see through the glass wall, to see Lupus reloading then placing the sniper on the gun rack. Isaac shot some more at the dummies then went to find Lupus, to find them putting on fingerless cloves by the combat cube. Isaac walked over gesturing at the combat cube; the combat cube is like shooting range but bigger and less sound replant, the floor of the cube is dark grey and looks like stone but is made of a bouncy material that is still hard if you hit it. There are different levels of height, high beams, climbing and poles used for support or for swinging on.
Lupus looked up at Isaac than the combat cube then shrugged in “I don’t mind” manner. Isaac started stretching so his muscles so it is easier to move. Lupus stretched their arms before turning away from Isaac to readjust their scarf/bandanna.
“Why do you wear the bandanna?” Isaac said tying his on his trainers. Lupus turned, they had their bandanna just to below their nose, lifting their hand to cover their face of “To hide” Lupus let their arms fall in a shrug, “Huh, anyway ready to be beaten up?”
Lupus walked through the glass door and placed themselves in the centre of the combat cube, Isaac went for a higher up sections to have more of a chance of winning. Lupus stretched their arms once more than got ready, raising their fists Isaac as well, then he called out, “on the count of three we start. 1, 2, 3!
Isaac run forward and placed himself in front of Lupus and tired hitting them, they dodge fluidly another try, dodged. Then Isaac hit for Lupus’ stomach Lupus rolled to the side than standing up almost instantly. Isaac tried to kick them but Lupus grabbed his leg and tugged making him fall. A thud of Isaac’s head hitting the floor instead of his back was not what he was expecting that. Groaning Isaac lifted his head, Lupus had their hand stretched out for Isaac to grabbed, Isaac accepted the offer then put his hand through his hair trying to process what just happened, which also messed his quiff.
“Wanna go again?” Isaac asked stretching his back then repositioning himself, all he got from Lupus was a snort and a nod, next thing he knew he was a few inches apart from Lupus and was hitting at them. Lupus blocked and hit back, Isaac blocked and then tried to kick but Lupus deflected it with their thy. Isaac went for a high kick and Lupus dropped down and used their left arm as a support beam and twirled around, knocking Isaac down again. “Oh jeez, you know your stuff? How hard are you trying?”
Lupus recovered themselves then turned to Isaac, they lifted their hand and made the sign of “little amount” Isaac snorted and stood up shaking off the stiffness.
“Again,” Isaac commanded bravely, rolling his head to. Lupus nodded and took some steps back; Isaac readied himself but by the time he looked up Lupus was running past him.
Lupus ran up to a horizontal beam and jumped up, whilst still running, and grabbed it, swinging themselves up to the platform in front. Lupus turned to see Isaac running up as well but instead of swinging he pushed off a wall and jumped, he landed his arms landing on the platform and the rest hanging off the side.
Lupus backed up as Isaac pulled himself up in front of them, raising his fists once up stepping forward and swinging his arm making Lupus duck under his arm and go behind him, switching his and their places. Isaac swung again but he forgot to recover his balance and he tripped and fell on top of Lupus who was standing by the edge.
Isaac opened his eyes, his head was resting on something comfortable, he pulled himself up into a push-up position, to see himself face to face with Lupus, Lupus opened their eyes and stared at Isaac, him staring back forgetting what an awkward position he was in. Lupus’ eyes looked so familiar it was scary but Isaac wasn’t focusing on that. Isaac stared into the different coloured eyes for too long. Lupus shook their gaze then pushed Isaac off with so much force he hit the wall of the combat cube. Rubbing his head, he looked up to find Lupus walking out of the cube ripping off their cloves then running out of the training hall.
Isaac got up after five minutes when his head stopped throbbing, and started to walk back to his dorm when something caught his eye, Lupus’ bag. He picked it up before leaving for his dorm. Isaac dropped the bag the open door of Dorm 37 and closed it then trudged back to his dorm for once tired and needing sleep.
Should I draw on his face again?” Jay asked readying her pen.
“NO!” the others said in unison.
“Especially since the last time you got us in trouble with Hender, no one likes Hender,” Wren pointed out. She was sitting in her separated seventh, reading a book looking up only when she wants to. Her bed was built into the wall opposite the other six beds, when she and two others arrived she claimed it first.
“Ok, I’m sorry Hender can’t see the difference between a smiley face and a-” Jay was cut off.
“OK, why don’t you tickle his foot?” Suggested Jackson who was sitting on his seventh opposite Wren’s, Jackson had his curtain drawn so only his legs were visible because they were sticking out from behind the curtain. Talia tickled Isaac’s foot, who was half off his bed half not, his right side off and his left on with his face slowly sliding off his pillow. Isaac didn’t even wriggle when Talia tickled his foot.
“Isaac isn’t ticklish I thought I should mention that,” Wren called out from her bed.
“Could have said that earlier,” Talia snapped.
“Could of, would of if I didn’t want to watch you fail, but alas I did.”
“You are extremely unhelpful! Why are you second in command of this group?” Pandora countered her legs hanging from the bed above Jackson’s. Wren sighed and put her book down getting up and pushed Jay, who was drawing a smiley face on Isaac’s foot, and Talia, who was brushing Isaac’s quiff which he hates, aside and hovering over Isaac’s head.
“Isaac, they have been unbanned, they’re coming back,” Wren said miserably, Isaac woke up too late and fell off his bed. Wren turned to Pandora and bowed, “thank you for the kind words.”
“Isaac for once you woke up after all of us, normally you’re up and changed, I guess the table has turned for Trickster Mcgee,” Jay grinned, Isaac stood up and behind down at Jay.
“I guess they have,” yawned Isaac rubbing the back of his head and looked around at the clock on Talia’s seventh’s wall. Wren was back at her 2nd and was reading still looking miserable. “Ok I can’t be bothered to read the clock, what time is it?”
“Our fearless leader, can’t be bothered to read a clock?” Wren said sarcastically raising an eyebrow, Isaac shrugged, “7:45. Panic mode, go.”
“WHAT! Oh god, I’m not ready! I need to shower and get dressed, oh cr-”Isaac started panicking but was cut off.
“Relax, beanpole, go shower now,” Jackson said from behind the curtain, Isaac nodded grabbing his towel the running into the, slightly bigger than the others, bathroom then slamming the door, a few seconds later the sound of the shower buzzing appeared. Jay sighed climbing up onto her bunk, Talia sat on hers and brushed her brown hair, Pandora just sat there looking into space and sometimes the rewards, photos and medals on the wall by Wren’s bed.
“How much sleep do you think Isaac got?” Jay asked mostly aiming at Wren.
“He hasn’t slept like that since… you know,” Wren replied shutting her book and thinking, the others nodded, they knew the story,
“Well by the looks of thing one to three hours not least he had enough for the tournament.”
“Talking about the tournament, everyone knows what they’re doing correct we don’t want another Jay day,” Pandora asked everyone Jay snorted sniggering loudly making Wren smirk. There was a knock on the door, Talia answered it.
“Aaron, love, what do I bring the pleasure?” Talia flirted batting her eyelashes making Wren groan and Pandora sigh.
“We came to ask if we can stay till breakfast, Jules and Saskya are arguing,” Aaron said pushing Talia away so she didn’t hug him.
“Sure, why the hell not? I mean more the more the merrier,” Wren called out before Talia could reply, “By we, who is with you?”
“Lupus, do you mind?” Aaron said walking in with Lupus behind him; Aaron was wearing his black sports shorts, a white t-shirt and white trainers. Lupus was wearing a crop top which showed their stomach, a lot of scars, and the leggings. In Lupus’ hand they had the whiteboard, the others a cyan envelope.
“More I don’t have to listen to talk about cute boys from Talia or Isaac’s sleeping problems.”
“Sounds great,” Aaron said leaning on an empty spot of the wall, Lupus took a seat opposite Talia’s bed, leaning on the wall, “Saskya and Jules are being annoying, arguing about what was it again?”
Lupus lifted their board for Aaron to see, “Oh yeah, thanks, on the goodness of people, Lupus and I couldn’t stand it. I swear I heard Lupus mutter a curse.”
Lupus showed Aaron their board shaking their head, Aaron snorted. Then everyone started conversations with each other, Jay jumped next Lupus and started drawing funny pictures on Lupus’ board, Wren and Aaron talked about the tournament and Pandora and Talia talking about food.
By near the end of chatter Lupus had a questionable smiley face on their shoulder and Jay with a streak across her cheek. Wren and Aaron were complaining about every Coach apart from Coach Hannah and Ben, who were the nicest because all the others Coaches are too strict and favoured people. A few minutes after the ended and everyone was in a comfortable silence Lupus got up and showed Aaron on their board.
“Its breakfast in a couple of minutes so Lupus and I are going, wanna come?” Aaron said halfway to the door with Lupus behind him, the others got up and followed Aaron and Lupus, Jackson finally revealing himself.
The bathroom door opened as Jackson was near the doorway to the corridor. Isaac called out to him, “Jackson wait a sec!”
“Er, sure,” Jackson called back then turned to the corridor and called to the others, “I’m waiting for Isaac you guys go ahead we’ll catch up!”
“So who came over?” Isaac said rubbing his wet hair with his towel before throwing it on his bed, his hair was still damp and it stuck to his forehead. He sped towards the door where Jackson waited.
“Oh, Lupus and Aaron. They came around because Jules and Saskya were arguing, Lupus was with Jay from what I heard and Aaron was with Wren, as in talking wise,” Jackson told Isaac as they walked the corridor, at Dorm 37 Jules and Saskya came out. Both of them had scowls on their faces, Jules walked further ahead than Saskya who not talking to Jackson and Isaac, when the cue of was in view Jules pushed in and joined the others at the front of the group whilst Saskya and the others joined the back of the group.
“Oh come on Lupus I wanna hear you laugh!” Jay’s voice carried down the group as they moved slowly up the cue, people in the cue talked amongst themselves, Isaac peered down the cue to see Jay resting her arm around Lupus’ shoulders and Lupus covering where their mouth would be under their bandanna, Wren was sneering next to the other two.
Everyone else were nervous, who wouldn’t be? Most were eating as much as they could whilst others not eating any food, to extreme nervousness. The tournament was made to prove your strength most people were too happy to prove theirs, others prefer keeping to themselves. It was a risk to win, get higher scores to win the prize and praise.
The food for breakfast was mixed, eggs, salads, toast and more, whatever you could think of. This is the multicultural day; there was more than just America here, French, British, Africa and more. Everyone’s favourite day. The most cultural day. It was around 7:55 when the cue started to move quicker, soon enough the group was sitting at a table, to their displeasure Niji, Panda, Luis and Loki were also sitting on the table.
“Ok Lupus eat a tiny bit of egg, you only eat vegetables and you hate it I can tell,” Jay complained trying to persuade Lupus to one of her many friend eggs, Jay had like six in a weird pile. Lupus wrote something on their board, along of the lines “I’ll get in trouble.”
“Fight the power!” Wren blurted making everyone jump a tiny bit; Jay repeated the line raising a fist in the air. Lupus rolled their eyes then stabbed an egg with their fork. Titling their head down, Lupus lifted the bandanna up to under their nose a shoved the egg in their mouth before pulling the bandanna down again.
“So that weird five minutes is over, thank whoever is in charge,” Jackson said after jay around the tables hands in fists expanded above her head, jumping over Niji’s expanded leg and throwing Niji’s cup filled with water at him then sitting down, a grin etched across her beaming face as everyone laughed. “Who’s doing what for the challenges today?”
Lupus, Aaron, Saskya and Jules glanced at each other having a silent conversation, apparently Aaron and Saskya won, Lupus slumped over and Jules sighed, “Me and Saskya are doing hide and seek, Aaron’s doing Traps, as for the once they're going to mention now we have an idea, that’s all we’re saying.”
“No fun” Jay complained crunching on an end of a carrot stick, chatter suddenly died down everyone turned to the front of the room, like every tournament they say the main team event before the tournament starts, Coach Ben and Coach Hannah were standing next to each other, both holding the same rainbow envelope whilst gazing around cheerfully.
Coach Ben was around 6 feet tall with chestnut brown hair, his skin was lightly tanned but visible, he was wearing the red tank top and black trousers to represent he was a Coach, a rainbow bracelet hanging loosely from his wrist. Hannah was a little shorter then Ben, around 5’10, she had the red tank top and black leggings, she had blonde curly hair tied in a loose ponytail, also light tanned skin but some freckles along the rim of her nose, a metal chained neckless with a rainbow flag in the middle hung around her neck.
The two Coaches were favourited, they hated rudeness, and got the job done but let the novices have 10 minutes of fun. They were both the go-to partners in crime Coaches if you needed help, both extremely kind. At the start, everyone thought they were a couple. HA! Until they started revealing their bracelets and necklaces, they were the gayest of gays. By 2035 every kind of gender, sexual or romantic attractions, religions and race were accepted as equals, now in 2147, you could see straight or not straight relationships everywhere.
They got everyone’s attention, they started opening the rainbow envelope, and they looked at it then looked at each other. Ben and Hannah turned to the novices and said Hannah first, “LADIES AND GENTLEMEN AND ALL THOSE NON BINARY PEOPLE!”
“THE LAST AND FINAL TEAM CHALLENGE FOR THE TOURNAMENT,” Ben countered
“IS: CAPTURE THE FLAG – JUNGLE GYM!” They yelled together, some groups whooped, others slumped onto their tables groaning. The bell hit the ears of the novices and then nervously shuffling into the training hall and splitting up into groups waiting to find out what time the challenges will be held.
The TVs lit up, everyone turned holding their breath.
“NO!” the others said in unison.
“Especially since the last time you got us in trouble with Hender, no one likes Hender,” Wren pointed out. She was sitting in her separated seventh, reading a book looking up only when she wants to. Her bed was built into the wall opposite the other six beds, when she and two others arrived she claimed it first.
“Ok, I’m sorry Hender can’t see the difference between a smiley face and a-” Jay was cut off.
“OK, why don’t you tickle his foot?” Suggested Jackson who was sitting on his seventh opposite Wren’s, Jackson had his curtain drawn so only his legs were visible because they were sticking out from behind the curtain. Talia tickled Isaac’s foot, who was half off his bed half not, his right side off and his left on with his face slowly sliding off his pillow. Isaac didn’t even wriggle when Talia tickled his foot.
“Isaac isn’t ticklish I thought I should mention that,” Wren called out from her bed.
“Could have said that earlier,” Talia snapped.
“Could of, would of if I didn’t want to watch you fail, but alas I did.”
“You are extremely unhelpful! Why are you second in command of this group?” Pandora countered her legs hanging from the bed above Jackson’s. Wren sighed and put her book down getting up and pushed Jay, who was drawing a smiley face on Isaac’s foot, and Talia, who was brushing Isaac’s quiff which he hates, aside and hovering over Isaac’s head.
“Isaac, they have been unbanned, they’re coming back,” Wren said miserably, Isaac woke up too late and fell off his bed. Wren turned to Pandora and bowed, “thank you for the kind words.”
“Isaac for once you woke up after all of us, normally you’re up and changed, I guess the table has turned for Trickster Mcgee,” Jay grinned, Isaac stood up and behind down at Jay.
“I guess they have,” yawned Isaac rubbing the back of his head and looked around at the clock on Talia’s seventh’s wall. Wren was back at her 2nd and was reading still looking miserable. “Ok I can’t be bothered to read the clock, what time is it?”
“Our fearless leader, can’t be bothered to read a clock?” Wren said sarcastically raising an eyebrow, Isaac shrugged, “7:45. Panic mode, go.”
“WHAT! Oh god, I’m not ready! I need to shower and get dressed, oh cr-”Isaac started panicking but was cut off.
“Relax, beanpole, go shower now,” Jackson said from behind the curtain, Isaac nodded grabbing his towel the running into the, slightly bigger than the others, bathroom then slamming the door, a few seconds later the sound of the shower buzzing appeared. Jay sighed climbing up onto her bunk, Talia sat on hers and brushed her brown hair, Pandora just sat there looking into space and sometimes the rewards, photos and medals on the wall by Wren’s bed.
“How much sleep do you think Isaac got?” Jay asked mostly aiming at Wren.
“He hasn’t slept like that since… you know,” Wren replied shutting her book and thinking, the others nodded, they knew the story,
“Well by the looks of thing one to three hours not least he had enough for the tournament.”
“Talking about the tournament, everyone knows what they’re doing correct we don’t want another Jay day,” Pandora asked everyone Jay snorted sniggering loudly making Wren smirk. There was a knock on the door, Talia answered it.
“Aaron, love, what do I bring the pleasure?” Talia flirted batting her eyelashes making Wren groan and Pandora sigh.
“We came to ask if we can stay till breakfast, Jules and Saskya are arguing,” Aaron said pushing Talia away so she didn’t hug him.
“Sure, why the hell not? I mean more the more the merrier,” Wren called out before Talia could reply, “By we, who is with you?”
“Lupus, do you mind?” Aaron said walking in with Lupus behind him; Aaron was wearing his black sports shorts, a white t-shirt and white trainers. Lupus was wearing a crop top which showed their stomach, a lot of scars, and the leggings. In Lupus’ hand they had the whiteboard, the others a cyan envelope.
“More I don’t have to listen to talk about cute boys from Talia or Isaac’s sleeping problems.”
“Sounds great,” Aaron said leaning on an empty spot of the wall, Lupus took a seat opposite Talia’s bed, leaning on the wall, “Saskya and Jules are being annoying, arguing about what was it again?”
Lupus lifted their board for Aaron to see, “Oh yeah, thanks, on the goodness of people, Lupus and I couldn’t stand it. I swear I heard Lupus mutter a curse.”
Lupus showed Aaron their board shaking their head, Aaron snorted. Then everyone started conversations with each other, Jay jumped next Lupus and started drawing funny pictures on Lupus’ board, Wren and Aaron talked about the tournament and Pandora and Talia talking about food.
By near the end of chatter Lupus had a questionable smiley face on their shoulder and Jay with a streak across her cheek. Wren and Aaron were complaining about every Coach apart from Coach Hannah and Ben, who were the nicest because all the others Coaches are too strict and favoured people. A few minutes after the ended and everyone was in a comfortable silence Lupus got up and showed Aaron on their board.
“Its breakfast in a couple of minutes so Lupus and I are going, wanna come?” Aaron said halfway to the door with Lupus behind him, the others got up and followed Aaron and Lupus, Jackson finally revealing himself.
The bathroom door opened as Jackson was near the doorway to the corridor. Isaac called out to him, “Jackson wait a sec!”
“Er, sure,” Jackson called back then turned to the corridor and called to the others, “I’m waiting for Isaac you guys go ahead we’ll catch up!”
“So who came over?” Isaac said rubbing his wet hair with his towel before throwing it on his bed, his hair was still damp and it stuck to his forehead. He sped towards the door where Jackson waited.
“Oh, Lupus and Aaron. They came around because Jules and Saskya were arguing, Lupus was with Jay from what I heard and Aaron was with Wren, as in talking wise,” Jackson told Isaac as they walked the corridor, at Dorm 37 Jules and Saskya came out. Both of them had scowls on their faces, Jules walked further ahead than Saskya who not talking to Jackson and Isaac, when the cue of was in view Jules pushed in and joined the others at the front of the group whilst Saskya and the others joined the back of the group.
“Oh come on Lupus I wanna hear you laugh!” Jay’s voice carried down the group as they moved slowly up the cue, people in the cue talked amongst themselves, Isaac peered down the cue to see Jay resting her arm around Lupus’ shoulders and Lupus covering where their mouth would be under their bandanna, Wren was sneering next to the other two.
Everyone else were nervous, who wouldn’t be? Most were eating as much as they could whilst others not eating any food, to extreme nervousness. The tournament was made to prove your strength most people were too happy to prove theirs, others prefer keeping to themselves. It was a risk to win, get higher scores to win the prize and praise.
The food for breakfast was mixed, eggs, salads, toast and more, whatever you could think of. This is the multicultural day; there was more than just America here, French, British, Africa and more. Everyone’s favourite day. The most cultural day. It was around 7:55 when the cue started to move quicker, soon enough the group was sitting at a table, to their displeasure Niji, Panda, Luis and Loki were also sitting on the table.
“Ok Lupus eat a tiny bit of egg, you only eat vegetables and you hate it I can tell,” Jay complained trying to persuade Lupus to one of her many friend eggs, Jay had like six in a weird pile. Lupus wrote something on their board, along of the lines “I’ll get in trouble.”
“Fight the power!” Wren blurted making everyone jump a tiny bit; Jay repeated the line raising a fist in the air. Lupus rolled their eyes then stabbed an egg with their fork. Titling their head down, Lupus lifted the bandanna up to under their nose a shoved the egg in their mouth before pulling the bandanna down again.
“So that weird five minutes is over, thank whoever is in charge,” Jackson said after jay around the tables hands in fists expanded above her head, jumping over Niji’s expanded leg and throwing Niji’s cup filled with water at him then sitting down, a grin etched across her beaming face as everyone laughed. “Who’s doing what for the challenges today?”
Lupus, Aaron, Saskya and Jules glanced at each other having a silent conversation, apparently Aaron and Saskya won, Lupus slumped over and Jules sighed, “Me and Saskya are doing hide and seek, Aaron’s doing Traps, as for the once they're going to mention now we have an idea, that’s all we’re saying.”
“No fun” Jay complained crunching on an end of a carrot stick, chatter suddenly died down everyone turned to the front of the room, like every tournament they say the main team event before the tournament starts, Coach Ben and Coach Hannah were standing next to each other, both holding the same rainbow envelope whilst gazing around cheerfully.
Coach Ben was around 6 feet tall with chestnut brown hair, his skin was lightly tanned but visible, he was wearing the red tank top and black trousers to represent he was a Coach, a rainbow bracelet hanging loosely from his wrist. Hannah was a little shorter then Ben, around 5’10, she had the red tank top and black leggings, she had blonde curly hair tied in a loose ponytail, also light tanned skin but some freckles along the rim of her nose, a metal chained neckless with a rainbow flag in the middle hung around her neck.
The two Coaches were favourited, they hated rudeness, and got the job done but let the novices have 10 minutes of fun. They were both the go-to partners in crime Coaches if you needed help, both extremely kind. At the start, everyone thought they were a couple. HA! Until they started revealing their bracelets and necklaces, they were the gayest of gays. By 2035 every kind of gender, sexual or romantic attractions, religions and race were accepted as equals, now in 2147, you could see straight or not straight relationships everywhere.
They got everyone’s attention, they started opening the rainbow envelope, and they looked at it then looked at each other. Ben and Hannah turned to the novices and said Hannah first, “LADIES AND GENTLEMEN AND ALL THOSE NON BINARY PEOPLE!”
“THE LAST AND FINAL TEAM CHALLENGE FOR THE TOURNAMENT,” Ben countered
“IS: CAPTURE THE FLAG – JUNGLE GYM!” They yelled together, some groups whooped, others slumped onto their tables groaning. The bell hit the ears of the novices and then nervously shuffling into the training hall and splitting up into groups waiting to find out what time the challenges will be held.
The TVs lit up, everyone turned holding their breath.
The groups stared at the board processing the times and event orders, some panicking that they were first up, some sighing because they were at the end. It was mixed emotions. “Not to be that person but HA NERDS,” Jay said aiming at Jackson and Aaron who were doing traps.
“I feel sorry for you, there’s a high chance you’re going up against Loki,” Wren countered shaking her head dramatically, a groan passed through random members of the people watching the TV and listening in, Loki was good at making traps, many call him “God Of Tricksters” because of the old Norse legend when they had a God named Loki as well. Jay was very offended, mainly because she was the biggest tricksters here.
“Dorm 37 huddle!” Jules called, Dorm 1, Isaac's group walked together without instructions then calls for groups started, more shuffling the 60 groups huddled together, sizes ranging from 7 to 4 is the only moment when everyone could hear each other talking, if this happened again in the space of 3 months most likely lock-down were everyone goes to the training hall and wait it out.
Prep talks are what most teams do before the tournament along with chants that are weak and horrible. Isaac’s group had their six heads pressed together, Jay was playing rock, paper, scissors against Jackson who was losing badly and was being a sour loser, Isaac and Wren were giving prep talks which went something like this:
“You’re not going to die out there! You can to do, breath, stay calm and you’ll win,” Isaac said encouragingly.
“You might die, you will probably lose but eh you’ll be ok for the first few minutes,” Wren said saying the true facts.
“Wren shut it,”
“No can do, I have an amazing skill of not shutting up,”
That was basically was the normal conversations between them, anyway, Jules’s group also known as Group 37, hence dorm number, was being less truthful and more positive mostly, some strategies were given out so they had a better chance, Lupus stretched whilst listening, they had their bandanna covering their neck and head except for their eyes and a little bit of the rim of their nose. They were talking in a circle with arms around each other.
Group 16, Panda’s group were only strategizing, no positivity but courage and strategies. They were talking in a tight circle talking in whispers, no longer than five minutes the bell for the first challenge, the three from the three groups walked to the trap section that was made bigger for the tournament, a grassy woodland area a curtain was on the side, different types and sizes of rope was hanging on a rack before the door of the section, people not in this challenge climbed up onto the different levels, hanging their legs off the side watching the massive TV screen with displayed the camera of the section.
A man with a big clipboard walked in front of the glass wall, he was average height and had a small beard, a scar covered his eye, he had a tag hanging from his pocket, he didn’t look familiar, probably a new coach, but something about him seemed off, he was glaring at the kids around the glass wall, the long line of novices waiting to get called into the trap session. “So you think you’ll be able to win? Well, you have five minutes to make the best trap you can,” his voice ruff and commanding, “Coach Ben will test out your trap, he won’t be watching, he will be in the staff room then will come back when the clock on this TV screen is ended.
“Group 1, you are up first, don’t waste time collecting ropes, don’t rush on your trap. The curtain will cover the glass wall and camera that displays on the big screen when Ben opens the door to go in the section the curtain will be drawn, during the five minutes talk amongst yourselves,” He said, one of the other Coaches were staring at the new coach, a suspicious look on their face, they didn’t recognise this Coach, something is weird. Niji, Luis and Panda looked around; some Coaches were whispering to other Coaches nodding their heads towards the new Coach, something was extremely off.
When Jackson walked into the section the Coach pulled the curtain shut, the TV next to the trap section light up revealing yellow numbers in bold, it read 5:00, as soon as Jackson closed the door with a bunch of ropes dragging behind him the timer started, the massive TV screen dark, a faint light from the bottom of the screen. Niji got up after the new Coach turned away from everyone whispering to his friends, “I will regret this but I need to figure out why they are whispering about the new Coach.”
He jumped off the platform they were on, wind rushing in his ears he looked down bracing himself, at the last minute he landed and rolled, his back aching a tiny bit. A thud next to him made him look up, Wren and Saskya were standing in front of him, well Wren was, Saskya was lying on the floor next to her. Wren looked down at Niji and held out a hand sighing, once Niji was up she pulled Saskya up by her sports shirt.
“Ow. Ow. OW!” Saskya groaned as she was pulled up wincing at the slight pain in her back.
“So anyway, we are trying to figure what’s with the new Coach, are you as well?” Wren asked looking at Niji. Saskya looked up and frowned when she saw Niji. Saskya looked up and frowned when she saw Niji but didn’t comment. The crowds of people now moving towards where they dropped down.
“Yea I am, the Coaches on the main hanging platform are whispering about this guy, if you ask me I think they don’t know who he is. Ain’t they supposed to know?” Niji replied gesturing to the platforms above them, there was a lot of them; massive platforms was in line with another platform but smaller were Niji jumped from, another platform higher up and a little bigger than Niji’s group was higher up had six feet hanging from it, most likely Saskya’s group and Wren’s group.
“Firstly, it’s aren’t not ain’t, secondly, we’re going to ask the new Coach questions, by we learn I mean Saskya because apparently I always sound rude,” Wren grumbled, Niji nodded a mocking nod and Saskya snorted and nodded, “anyway, Niji you lead the way.”
Niji walked into the crowds of people awkwardly, squeezing between two people to get through, Wren following close behind but Saskya further away due to people saying hi and king how she is. Eventually, all three of them were at the front of the crowd; a semi-circle cleating was surrounding the section, making it easier to move.
They spotted the Coach after they had a quick discussion on a plan, Niji and Saskya looked at Wren if they should carry on, Wren nodded. Moving in a line they walked up to the Coach his face clearer, he had pale skin, scratches line his face, a gothic vibe radiating off him, his singular eye has a dark canapé green, the largest scar covered the other eye, it looked recently fresh but months old.
“Excuse me are you a new Coach?” Saskya asked in a fake sweet tone, Wren whispered in her ear on what to say so she didn’t say the wrong thing. Niji being bored at the chatter, so he looked up at the two platforms were Luis, Wren and Saskya came from, on Niji’s platform Luis and Panda were hand gesturing to him, they both had 1 finger in the air suggesting Jackson was on his last minute on Wren and Saskya’s platform there was chatter amongst themselves, a little bit of self-combat in the back of the platform. The difference between both groups was visible, Panda’s group were more serious and had stranger humour than normal people and Isaac’s and Jules’ group were funny, laid back, not caring, but loyal to each other. Except for Lupus, who was watching the other three down below.
“Me? Well yes, of course, I mean no. I mean yes I am a new Coach I got the job yesterday,” the “new Coach” replied, his voice different when not shouting, a slight accent, Spanish maybe, his response made Wren tense up and get a questioning look, she whispered into Saskya’s ear, a confused look suddenly spread across Saskya’s face, she mouth what Wren grumbled a cruse then turned to Niji and whisper in his ear instead, Niji quickly replied in a harsher whisper, Wren groaned leaning away from Niji.
“Can I see your tag? As a long timer I have been given permission to ask for someone’s tag,” Wren lied her voice not taking up any trace of lies, the Coach’s eyes widen into a panic.
“NO! How dare you! You unbearable child,” the Coach snarled back, making the three jump a little back, the Coach’s nostrils flared, “you have fifteen seconds to get back to your groups before I do something you’ll regret, the time for the Group 1 kid is almost up!
The three were so started they fled before they “Fight the power” rushing through the crowd not caring about splitting up, they reached the way to their platforms, a massive climbing wall which would take them to do different platforms, they went up quickly, Saskya up the fasted, Niji reaching is lower down platform first and bombarded with questions. When the other two were they were bombarded, Lupus still sitting on the edge not bothering to get up and ask anything.
They quietened down as the timer struck 1 second left and loud dings filled the air making everyone in the room jumped. Jackson came out after the new Coach pulled the curtain open, the big screen now showing the section, from what everyone saw there were no ropes, he covered them up. Coach Ben from the crowd and went in after Jackson came out, looking around the section. The section was designed to look like a tiny bit of a normal forest, dark green bark with mostly dead leaves on the floor and on the branches but some trees had dark red leaves.
Ben walked in, hesitant; he looked around making sure there were any visible traps that the camera didn’t pick up. Confused he didn’t see anything he stepped in, all the children, teens and adults waiting for something, something that would catch their attention, but nothing came. It was a solid minute before Ben had the courage to walk around the forest square, then walking to the middle, a thin tripwire was in his way. He fell as his foot pushed against the wire, falling quickly. His hand fell onto another a rope which wrapped around his rope and pulled up, his chest feel on a net that pulled up as well.
By the end, Ben was hanging in the middle of the forest square, tangled in a net his right arm above his head with a rope attached to it, the other underneath his body. The ones watching laughed at the sight, a scowl spread on Ben’s face. The leader-board shimmered and gave Jackson his score, at the moment he was first hence him being the first one to go, at the moment because he was first he had 100 points which would decrease as people went above him.
Shouts of joy were heard loudly from above and backwards, the two groups on the second largest platform were whistling and clapping loudly. True encouragement came from the groups towards Jackson as he climbed up the climbing to his group who patted his back or hugged him tightly. He was bound to get high ranking score because he covered his trap and tripped Ben. As encouraging as the two groups were they didn’t pay attention to the groups until it was Group 16 which was Panda’s group, were Wren elbowed the talking Jay and Pandora next to her who both whined. When the others didn’t quieten down Wren lost her patience and snapped “SHUT IT!
They watched as Loki came out with a mixture of a boyish grin and a smirk glancing up at his group then looked at the other two groups the grin turning into a smug like smirk. Everyone’s eyes switched to the massive screen, as the curtain was drawn back. The forest square was a jungle or ropes and strings; they went in all directions, vertical, horizontal. Ben was extremely confused, alerted and just down right creeped out by the ropes. Ben walked in glancing around quickly, checking his feet, the ropes near him.
Ben walked through trying to reach the end, moving around trying not to touch any of the ropes, it was like the ropes were burning hot metal rods. Something made Ben topple when he was curving around a rope, he touched a piece of rope and nothing happened… Ben got up quickly, hitting about six other ropes and yet again nothing happened, Ben sighed annoyingly and lost his patience, he walked through the jungle of ropes not caring about touching the ropes, ducking, weaving and bending to get to the door at the other end. He managed to get past all the ropes, apart from one. The last rope was vertically stretching up in front of the door in the middle, so Ben had to touch it. Ben didn’t care anymore so he grabbed and pulled it out of his way, a clicking sound filled his ears, and he turned around to see a bunch of ropes moving. He turned around and opened up the door but a rope wrapped around his waist. He was pulled back, another rope wrapped around his wrists and ankles. A thick rope tired around his forearms and his arms underneath. At the end of this event Ben was hovering in the air, ropes wrapped around him like snakes strangling him. Everyone stared at the mess in front of them before clapping slowly then starting clapping, everyone gazed in awe as Loki walked through the crowd and started climbing the wall to his group.
The clapping turned into whistling and wooing loudly, as well as the occasional shout of praise, Loki reached his group who got up from sitting down and tackled him into a hug, Luis yelling in French, “Etais très bien!” Panda ruffled Loki’s hair whilst his head was under Panda’s arm in a head lock, grinning like a mad man. Niji was leaning on Panda with an elbow resting on his shoulder, nodding and smirking along with his friends. No doubt, Loki was taken to first place, pushing Jackson from 5th to 6th.
Every group was getting bored in of the decreasing skills of the traps, when it was Aaron’s turn no one was paying attention maybe except Jules’, Isaac’s and Panda’s groups. The massive bing hit everyone’s ears but didn’t scare them like the first couple of times, some eyes darted towards the screen as Jackson came out and Ben went in. The ropes were hidden apart from a singular cheap trap in the middle, Ben sighed and started walking towards the door effortlessly, reaching out to pulled the door handle. Before he could even get a foot near the door a rope appeared from the floor and wrapped itself around Ben and pulled him to the centre of were the singular cheap trap lay, forcing him to step into the middle of the loop. He was immediately was flown into the air by his foot and dangling with blood rushing to his face, unable to escape from his bounds.
The amazing trap got Aaron to second place which made Isaac’s group and Jules’ whoop loudly. Panda’s group clapped politely, not wanting to get glared at by Wren. As 23 other groups went only one got higher than Aaron pushing him down to 3rd place, Loki remained third and Jackson had gone down to 7th. All in all it was a good game, Group 37 never had ever been in top 5th, things were changing for the better.
“I feel sorry for you, there’s a high chance you’re going up against Loki,” Wren countered shaking her head dramatically, a groan passed through random members of the people watching the TV and listening in, Loki was good at making traps, many call him “God Of Tricksters” because of the old Norse legend when they had a God named Loki as well. Jay was very offended, mainly because she was the biggest tricksters here.
“Dorm 37 huddle!” Jules called, Dorm 1, Isaac's group walked together without instructions then calls for groups started, more shuffling the 60 groups huddled together, sizes ranging from 7 to 4 is the only moment when everyone could hear each other talking, if this happened again in the space of 3 months most likely lock-down were everyone goes to the training hall and wait it out.
Prep talks are what most teams do before the tournament along with chants that are weak and horrible. Isaac’s group had their six heads pressed together, Jay was playing rock, paper, scissors against Jackson who was losing badly and was being a sour loser, Isaac and Wren were giving prep talks which went something like this:
“You’re not going to die out there! You can to do, breath, stay calm and you’ll win,” Isaac said encouragingly.
“You might die, you will probably lose but eh you’ll be ok for the first few minutes,” Wren said saying the true facts.
“Wren shut it,”
“No can do, I have an amazing skill of not shutting up,”
That was basically was the normal conversations between them, anyway, Jules’s group also known as Group 37, hence dorm number, was being less truthful and more positive mostly, some strategies were given out so they had a better chance, Lupus stretched whilst listening, they had their bandanna covering their neck and head except for their eyes and a little bit of the rim of their nose. They were talking in a circle with arms around each other.
Group 16, Panda’s group were only strategizing, no positivity but courage and strategies. They were talking in a tight circle talking in whispers, no longer than five minutes the bell for the first challenge, the three from the three groups walked to the trap section that was made bigger for the tournament, a grassy woodland area a curtain was on the side, different types and sizes of rope was hanging on a rack before the door of the section, people not in this challenge climbed up onto the different levels, hanging their legs off the side watching the massive TV screen with displayed the camera of the section.
A man with a big clipboard walked in front of the glass wall, he was average height and had a small beard, a scar covered his eye, he had a tag hanging from his pocket, he didn’t look familiar, probably a new coach, but something about him seemed off, he was glaring at the kids around the glass wall, the long line of novices waiting to get called into the trap session. “So you think you’ll be able to win? Well, you have five minutes to make the best trap you can,” his voice ruff and commanding, “Coach Ben will test out your trap, he won’t be watching, he will be in the staff room then will come back when the clock on this TV screen is ended.
“Group 1, you are up first, don’t waste time collecting ropes, don’t rush on your trap. The curtain will cover the glass wall and camera that displays on the big screen when Ben opens the door to go in the section the curtain will be drawn, during the five minutes talk amongst yourselves,” He said, one of the other Coaches were staring at the new coach, a suspicious look on their face, they didn’t recognise this Coach, something is weird. Niji, Luis and Panda looked around; some Coaches were whispering to other Coaches nodding their heads towards the new Coach, something was extremely off.
When Jackson walked into the section the Coach pulled the curtain shut, the TV next to the trap section light up revealing yellow numbers in bold, it read 5:00, as soon as Jackson closed the door with a bunch of ropes dragging behind him the timer started, the massive TV screen dark, a faint light from the bottom of the screen. Niji got up after the new Coach turned away from everyone whispering to his friends, “I will regret this but I need to figure out why they are whispering about the new Coach.”
He jumped off the platform they were on, wind rushing in his ears he looked down bracing himself, at the last minute he landed and rolled, his back aching a tiny bit. A thud next to him made him look up, Wren and Saskya were standing in front of him, well Wren was, Saskya was lying on the floor next to her. Wren looked down at Niji and held out a hand sighing, once Niji was up she pulled Saskya up by her sports shirt.
“Ow. Ow. OW!” Saskya groaned as she was pulled up wincing at the slight pain in her back.
“So anyway, we are trying to figure what’s with the new Coach, are you as well?” Wren asked looking at Niji. Saskya looked up and frowned when she saw Niji. Saskya looked up and frowned when she saw Niji but didn’t comment. The crowds of people now moving towards where they dropped down.
“Yea I am, the Coaches on the main hanging platform are whispering about this guy, if you ask me I think they don’t know who he is. Ain’t they supposed to know?” Niji replied gesturing to the platforms above them, there was a lot of them; massive platforms was in line with another platform but smaller were Niji jumped from, another platform higher up and a little bigger than Niji’s group was higher up had six feet hanging from it, most likely Saskya’s group and Wren’s group.
“Firstly, it’s aren’t not ain’t, secondly, we’re going to ask the new Coach questions, by we learn I mean Saskya because apparently I always sound rude,” Wren grumbled, Niji nodded a mocking nod and Saskya snorted and nodded, “anyway, Niji you lead the way.”
Niji walked into the crowds of people awkwardly, squeezing between two people to get through, Wren following close behind but Saskya further away due to people saying hi and king how she is. Eventually, all three of them were at the front of the crowd; a semi-circle cleating was surrounding the section, making it easier to move.
They spotted the Coach after they had a quick discussion on a plan, Niji and Saskya looked at Wren if they should carry on, Wren nodded. Moving in a line they walked up to the Coach his face clearer, he had pale skin, scratches line his face, a gothic vibe radiating off him, his singular eye has a dark canapé green, the largest scar covered the other eye, it looked recently fresh but months old.
“Excuse me are you a new Coach?” Saskya asked in a fake sweet tone, Wren whispered in her ear on what to say so she didn’t say the wrong thing. Niji being bored at the chatter, so he looked up at the two platforms were Luis, Wren and Saskya came from, on Niji’s platform Luis and Panda were hand gesturing to him, they both had 1 finger in the air suggesting Jackson was on his last minute on Wren and Saskya’s platform there was chatter amongst themselves, a little bit of self-combat in the back of the platform. The difference between both groups was visible, Panda’s group were more serious and had stranger humour than normal people and Isaac’s and Jules’ group were funny, laid back, not caring, but loyal to each other. Except for Lupus, who was watching the other three down below.
“Me? Well yes, of course, I mean no. I mean yes I am a new Coach I got the job yesterday,” the “new Coach” replied, his voice different when not shouting, a slight accent, Spanish maybe, his response made Wren tense up and get a questioning look, she whispered into Saskya’s ear, a confused look suddenly spread across Saskya’s face, she mouth what Wren grumbled a cruse then turned to Niji and whisper in his ear instead, Niji quickly replied in a harsher whisper, Wren groaned leaning away from Niji.
“Can I see your tag? As a long timer I have been given permission to ask for someone’s tag,” Wren lied her voice not taking up any trace of lies, the Coach’s eyes widen into a panic.
“NO! How dare you! You unbearable child,” the Coach snarled back, making the three jump a little back, the Coach’s nostrils flared, “you have fifteen seconds to get back to your groups before I do something you’ll regret, the time for the Group 1 kid is almost up!
The three were so started they fled before they “Fight the power” rushing through the crowd not caring about splitting up, they reached the way to their platforms, a massive climbing wall which would take them to do different platforms, they went up quickly, Saskya up the fasted, Niji reaching is lower down platform first and bombarded with questions. When the other two were they were bombarded, Lupus still sitting on the edge not bothering to get up and ask anything.
They quietened down as the timer struck 1 second left and loud dings filled the air making everyone in the room jumped. Jackson came out after the new Coach pulled the curtain open, the big screen now showing the section, from what everyone saw there were no ropes, he covered them up. Coach Ben from the crowd and went in after Jackson came out, looking around the section. The section was designed to look like a tiny bit of a normal forest, dark green bark with mostly dead leaves on the floor and on the branches but some trees had dark red leaves.
Ben walked in, hesitant; he looked around making sure there were any visible traps that the camera didn’t pick up. Confused he didn’t see anything he stepped in, all the children, teens and adults waiting for something, something that would catch their attention, but nothing came. It was a solid minute before Ben had the courage to walk around the forest square, then walking to the middle, a thin tripwire was in his way. He fell as his foot pushed against the wire, falling quickly. His hand fell onto another a rope which wrapped around his rope and pulled up, his chest feel on a net that pulled up as well.
By the end, Ben was hanging in the middle of the forest square, tangled in a net his right arm above his head with a rope attached to it, the other underneath his body. The ones watching laughed at the sight, a scowl spread on Ben’s face. The leader-board shimmered and gave Jackson his score, at the moment he was first hence him being the first one to go, at the moment because he was first he had 100 points which would decrease as people went above him.
Shouts of joy were heard loudly from above and backwards, the two groups on the second largest platform were whistling and clapping loudly. True encouragement came from the groups towards Jackson as he climbed up the climbing to his group who patted his back or hugged him tightly. He was bound to get high ranking score because he covered his trap and tripped Ben. As encouraging as the two groups were they didn’t pay attention to the groups until it was Group 16 which was Panda’s group, were Wren elbowed the talking Jay and Pandora next to her who both whined. When the others didn’t quieten down Wren lost her patience and snapped “SHUT IT!
They watched as Loki came out with a mixture of a boyish grin and a smirk glancing up at his group then looked at the other two groups the grin turning into a smug like smirk. Everyone’s eyes switched to the massive screen, as the curtain was drawn back. The forest square was a jungle or ropes and strings; they went in all directions, vertical, horizontal. Ben was extremely confused, alerted and just down right creeped out by the ropes. Ben walked in glancing around quickly, checking his feet, the ropes near him.
Ben walked through trying to reach the end, moving around trying not to touch any of the ropes, it was like the ropes were burning hot metal rods. Something made Ben topple when he was curving around a rope, he touched a piece of rope and nothing happened… Ben got up quickly, hitting about six other ropes and yet again nothing happened, Ben sighed annoyingly and lost his patience, he walked through the jungle of ropes not caring about touching the ropes, ducking, weaving and bending to get to the door at the other end. He managed to get past all the ropes, apart from one. The last rope was vertically stretching up in front of the door in the middle, so Ben had to touch it. Ben didn’t care anymore so he grabbed and pulled it out of his way, a clicking sound filled his ears, and he turned around to see a bunch of ropes moving. He turned around and opened up the door but a rope wrapped around his waist. He was pulled back, another rope wrapped around his wrists and ankles. A thick rope tired around his forearms and his arms underneath. At the end of this event Ben was hovering in the air, ropes wrapped around him like snakes strangling him. Everyone stared at the mess in front of them before clapping slowly then starting clapping, everyone gazed in awe as Loki walked through the crowd and started climbing the wall to his group.
The clapping turned into whistling and wooing loudly, as well as the occasional shout of praise, Loki reached his group who got up from sitting down and tackled him into a hug, Luis yelling in French, “Etais très bien!” Panda ruffled Loki’s hair whilst his head was under Panda’s arm in a head lock, grinning like a mad man. Niji was leaning on Panda with an elbow resting on his shoulder, nodding and smirking along with his friends. No doubt, Loki was taken to first place, pushing Jackson from 5th to 6th.
Every group was getting bored in of the decreasing skills of the traps, when it was Aaron’s turn no one was paying attention maybe except Jules’, Isaac’s and Panda’s groups. The massive bing hit everyone’s ears but didn’t scare them like the first couple of times, some eyes darted towards the screen as Jackson came out and Ben went in. The ropes were hidden apart from a singular cheap trap in the middle, Ben sighed and started walking towards the door effortlessly, reaching out to pulled the door handle. Before he could even get a foot near the door a rope appeared from the floor and wrapped itself around Ben and pulled him to the centre of were the singular cheap trap lay, forcing him to step into the middle of the loop. He was immediately was flown into the air by his foot and dangling with blood rushing to his face, unable to escape from his bounds.
The amazing trap got Aaron to second place which made Isaac’s group and Jules’ whoop loudly. Panda’s group clapped politely, not wanting to get glared at by Wren. As 23 other groups went only one got higher than Aaron pushing him down to 3rd place, Loki remained third and Jackson had gone down to 7th. All in all it was a good game, Group 37 never had ever been in top 5th, things were changing for the better.
This is how it works, the groups do a challenge and get their scores, and then move to a different section, for example, the climbing wall is the largest section, it ties in with the Outside, and the Outside is a large nuke proof glass domed area where you can see the sky and the area around. The Alpha Reign is located in northwestern Arizona, so the world outside the camp is sandy and extremely hot. In the dome, there is greenery, grass, trees and a mini lake. As if someone plucked a large circular field of spring placed it into a desert and protected it with a strong barrier of glass on the sides. For most people this is the best place to be, the climbing wall is a favourite for those who want to be in a warm, nice outside place. For others… It’s hell.
The groups flinched or covered their eyes at the new light as they walked into the Outside, the sun may be covered by the clouds of ash still brighter than normal, maybe it is summer in the world. Maybe the ash was fading after a year of being in the sky and they could start consuming good air instead of the smoke that’s so bad it is as if you smoke about three packs of cigarettes a day. People bought so many gas masks and the latest technology, which was a bubble of clean air in a circle of 20 feet away from the centre; they all were sold out from every shop. As well as the technologies people went to the giant space hotel which circles the earth every day like the moon, ten massive ships went up into space full to the brim, taking about 2 million along with them.
The climbing wall was on the east side of the entrance to the south of the dome nearly 60 feet with height and 40 with length, unlike most climbing walls which have things to grip onto but this wall is made to be like an actual cliff face, on the wall had wood sticking out to act like a bit of tree broken off, the stone going in and out, jagged like teeth in some places but smooth with tiny grip in the other places, in the middle of the massive wall there was a part which went suddenly in which was filled to the brim with weapons, then it goes forward after 6feet.
Coach Hannah appeared from the front of the crowd, she had a holographic phone with a symbol for a microphone, next to her two small but powerful speakers connected to the phone. Coach Hannah tapped the hologram testing to see if it’s on, there was a loud “thump” that echoed Hannah from the speakers.
“Welcome to the second challenge as you see it is the climbing wall, level 10 mind you, must be the first to get up and down but since it is level 10, one of the hardest levels, there will be holographic trokika. There are 60 groups and 60 cards in a row from the numbers 1 to 60 at the top, once you reach the top take the lowest number to determine your place on the leaderboard for this event. Card one has a golden 1, card two has a silver 2, card three has a bronze 3 and the rest are plain with black numbers. Unlike the other challenges this one is all together, a race, the person whose climbing the wall please sign up with me so I can say if you have a fifteen-second head street,” Hannah’s sweet voice carrying over through the speakers and hitting people’s ears loudly
One person from each group departed from their group lining up in front of Hannah who was tapping quickly and swiping on her phone looking up to give a warm slime to the person before they to get ready by standing where their groups’ number on the floor was. By the end of people signing up, 60 people were lining up in front, stretching or running on the spot, trying to get themselves ready to run and climb, when everyone was in place, glass tubes came from under the ground rose around each person, some people panicked, others rolled their shoulders and braced themselves in a slightly readying position. A holographic timer appeared in front of each tube, which read 00:20 (seconds). But it didn’t start yet.
“Ok, there are about 40% of the groups getting a fifteen-second head start; there is a five-second countdown until certain people’s tubes with shoot down into the tunnels down below. You’re probably wondering how we sorted it, the people lower than level 5 get the head start, the highest level in this is about level 13, kind of sad, the highest, in general, is level 16 and they just aced every level before they got kicked out, which was kind of a bummer since they never complained about challenges.” Hannah paused thinking about the past, daydreaming. Someone, most likely Wren, coughed loudly which suspiciously like “Favouritism” Hannah snapped out of her trance and glared at the person for about three seconds, “Anyway, let the second challenge begin!”
When Hannah stopped talking that’s when the countdown started, a short but loud beep in time the timer.
BEEP.
BEEP.
BEEP.
BEEP.
BEEP.
Coach Hannah kept her word 40% of the tubes fell quickly, some people went straight away others confused for a couple of seconds then ran forward to the climbing wall the other 60% stretched quickly then readied themselves was going down, so did the timer 8 seconds left.
BEEP.
BEEP.
BEEP.
BEEP.
The people who got a head start were starting to desperately get further up the climbing wall.
BEEP.
BEEP.
2 seconds lefts the ones who remain in the tubes got into a starting position.
BEEP.
BEEEEEEEEP.
All the tubes fells, the ones in tubes sprinted forward, two of which were Jay and Saskya. Jay started climbing instantly whilst Saskya pausing to find a close enough route. Luis was the highest in the air about 9 feet, Jay gaining quickly as if this was too easy.
And that, folks, is when the holographic trokikas appeared and there were about a hundred of them most wall-crawling things or birds, not nice. Jay was closing to the halfway point, Saskya gaining, Luis sadly slipped when Jay pasted him and fell a couple feet but caught himself. An eagle flew at Jay talons first; Jay dodged by flipping to her back and going to the left so the eagle hit the wall and dissolved into cubed holographic pieces. Jay yelled in reply, “SUCK IT CAW CAW BIRDY FACE!”
Saskya had, too big to be a tarantula, tarantula scuttling quickly underneath her, also gaining quickly. Saskya started panicking; the giant tarantula was soon able to snap her foot off. Here’s the thing with these holograms there are solid like, they don’t act like normal holograms. They can injure the person with a slight technology burn but not too severe.
Luis had a lovely bunch of poisonous lizards chasing him. One lizard almost jumped up onto Luis’ back, by this time Jay was pulling herself up onto the cut in the weapons section. About two new eagles on her tail, they were flying around her pecking at her.
Jay kicked a bird in the face and managed to climb onto the platform. Jay ran straight for the long-range weapons, picking up a bow of some kind, it was small but looked powerful. If place it on the ground it looks like a sideways and long “M”. The arrow shaft made a combination of carbon and aluminium, there were two different strings, one was a dark red and was tighter, and the other was dark blue and was loose. The bow was a camouflage brown mixture which was for covering up the carbon fibre underneath.
Jay grabbed the bow, along with some aluminium arrows, she ran to the edge of the cut in and notched an arrow, pointing the arrow to the tarantula chasing Saskya, which was in line with the lizards chasing Luis, and pulling the dark red string to give more force. Jay had to focus as she saw an eagle coming at her; Jay didn’t care and let the arrow fly. The arrow went through the tarantula and then hit the main lizard so easily it was almost a joke then the two creatures dissolved. Jay remained to help people by hitting the animals catching them until Saskya got to the platform, who could have pushed her off but instead went to retrieve her weapon of choice.
The weapon Saskya choose was a 65cm in length curved sword, it was made out of tamahagane (jewel steel) and had a leather on top of the wood handle. Jay nodded to Saskya before starting the rest of her own climb, killing the eagle which was being a pest to her. Jay jumped up on the edge of the platform and swung herself up and gripped the next section of the climbing wall, eager to win this challenge.
Saskya ran to the edge to look up at Jay and then look down at the others, the katana in a strap on her back. Saskya could make a choice, help those underneath, if she grabbed a different weapon like a gun, or follow Jay.
She choose to run after Jay.
By the time she managed to swing herself, three other people were on the sections and Jay was one quarter on the way to the top, Saskya groaned and looked down to see Luis was shooting down the lizards that were chasing him. Saskya started climbing faster and more frantic, trying to get ahead.
Jay’s right hand’s grip slipped making her stumble a bit but caught herself, this gave Saskya some time to catch up a tiny bit. Looking down, Jay saw Luis was also on the last bit, with about four other people joining them on the last part. A vulture came from nowhere and clawed at Jay who jumped and grabbed the next part of the wall; the vulture flew around and went after Saskya who was struggling to hold her strength. Jay grabbed an arrow and the bow from the quiver and strap on her back, her feet in a stable position to do what she was about to do. Jay notched the arrow and pulled on the dark blue string and let go when, aiming correctly. The arrow wasn’t powerful but good enough to hit the vulture and shatter it to millions of cubes; Saskya looked up and gave her a light-hearted smile before carrying on climbing, Jay smirked and turn back to her goal. The top of the wall.
They scampered up the wall trying to get a good position, other people joining them in the last section. Jay was about 6 feet from the top, but the top was the slipperiest and had fewer grippe parts. Saskya managed to get at least 3 feet from being under Jay, Luis 5 feet under Saskya. Jay noticed a root sticking out of the rock and took grasped on to it. Using some of the last of her energy she jumped up and landed on the root, from then on she climbed on to the top. Jay wasted no time as she got up on there, whilst running to the golden 1 card she tied a thin but strong rope around the end of her second last arrow.
Saskya was pulling herself onto the top as Jay grabbed the golden card and then notched the second to last arrow, pulling back on the dark red string as much as she could to then barrier on the edge of the climbing wall top. Jay let the arrow fly and it sunk into the barrier with a loud thud, half of the arrow inside the wall. Jay smirked as Saskya gave her a puzzled look, gesturing to the silver 2 card. Jay tied the end of the thin rope around her belt that she decided to wear today.
Saskya got herself ready to start climbing down, Jay stood on the edge and pulled her arrow to the floor at the bottom of the wall, pulling on the string as much as she could, the arrow attached to the floor making a rope connecting the floor with the top of the climbing wall. Luis lifted himself up as he saw Jay turn her back to the edge and fall off, arms extended to her side. Luis cried out and ran to the edge to see Jay was in a starfish position falling down quickly to the bottom of the wall. Luis turned to see two other people had grabbed the third card and the fourth card. He ran to the fifth card as another kid came onto the top. He ran back to the edge to see a route, only to stare at Jay. Jay was still falling, about 15 feet from the ground. 12 feet. 8 feet. Luis flinched readying to turn away from a dead splattered on the floor only to see Jay grabbing the rope at the last minute to grab the rope next to her.
Saskya was watching as well and had the idea of using the rope to get down easier, other’s copied and started using the rope. Jay meanwhile giving her card to Hannah who was staring in awe like everyone else at Jay’s stunt, the two groups who were friends with Jay ran up and said how brilliant she was.
“Jesus guys, I just jumped 60 feet in the air I need to sit down,” Jay breathlessly said, trying to stand upright due to lightheadedness, they let her sit and gave her their water and letting her breath as Saskya and Luis were coming down the wall.
*
When everyone had collected their cards people were talking happily, congratulating their group member and saying they did great even if they came 30 under. A man walked up to the stand, which confused many people, where’s Coach Ben? Coach Ben is supposed to be giving the congratulations, the man looked like the new Coach, race wise and structure wise. He was bulky and had the same skin as the new Coach, instead of a knife scar or a claw scar, his whole right cheek was covered in burn marks, he had a stumble and dark caramel hair.
“Congratulations to the winning group, group 1, and congratulations to the others for the places,” the Coach said, his voice was rough and sounded little foreign. A holographic leaderboard appeared next to him, Group 1 was second; Group 37 was third, Group 16 was first. The crowds cheered at the positioning of their group on the board.
Everyone but Lupus was looking excited, who was staring at the Coach, anger and question were in their eyes. Jay cheered with the others before having to sit next to Lupus again due to lightheadedness. A cultural mixture of speech came from beside her, Spanish and rough English said in an information baring way, “Something isn’t right.”
The groups flinched or covered their eyes at the new light as they walked into the Outside, the sun may be covered by the clouds of ash still brighter than normal, maybe it is summer in the world. Maybe the ash was fading after a year of being in the sky and they could start consuming good air instead of the smoke that’s so bad it is as if you smoke about three packs of cigarettes a day. People bought so many gas masks and the latest technology, which was a bubble of clean air in a circle of 20 feet away from the centre; they all were sold out from every shop. As well as the technologies people went to the giant space hotel which circles the earth every day like the moon, ten massive ships went up into space full to the brim, taking about 2 million along with them.
The climbing wall was on the east side of the entrance to the south of the dome nearly 60 feet with height and 40 with length, unlike most climbing walls which have things to grip onto but this wall is made to be like an actual cliff face, on the wall had wood sticking out to act like a bit of tree broken off, the stone going in and out, jagged like teeth in some places but smooth with tiny grip in the other places, in the middle of the massive wall there was a part which went suddenly in which was filled to the brim with weapons, then it goes forward after 6feet.
Coach Hannah appeared from the front of the crowd, she had a holographic phone with a symbol for a microphone, next to her two small but powerful speakers connected to the phone. Coach Hannah tapped the hologram testing to see if it’s on, there was a loud “thump” that echoed Hannah from the speakers.
“Welcome to the second challenge as you see it is the climbing wall, level 10 mind you, must be the first to get up and down but since it is level 10, one of the hardest levels, there will be holographic trokika. There are 60 groups and 60 cards in a row from the numbers 1 to 60 at the top, once you reach the top take the lowest number to determine your place on the leaderboard for this event. Card one has a golden 1, card two has a silver 2, card three has a bronze 3 and the rest are plain with black numbers. Unlike the other challenges this one is all together, a race, the person whose climbing the wall please sign up with me so I can say if you have a fifteen-second head street,” Hannah’s sweet voice carrying over through the speakers and hitting people’s ears loudly
One person from each group departed from their group lining up in front of Hannah who was tapping quickly and swiping on her phone looking up to give a warm slime to the person before they to get ready by standing where their groups’ number on the floor was. By the end of people signing up, 60 people were lining up in front, stretching or running on the spot, trying to get themselves ready to run and climb, when everyone was in place, glass tubes came from under the ground rose around each person, some people panicked, others rolled their shoulders and braced themselves in a slightly readying position. A holographic timer appeared in front of each tube, which read 00:20 (seconds). But it didn’t start yet.
“Ok, there are about 40% of the groups getting a fifteen-second head start; there is a five-second countdown until certain people’s tubes with shoot down into the tunnels down below. You’re probably wondering how we sorted it, the people lower than level 5 get the head start, the highest level in this is about level 13, kind of sad, the highest, in general, is level 16 and they just aced every level before they got kicked out, which was kind of a bummer since they never complained about challenges.” Hannah paused thinking about the past, daydreaming. Someone, most likely Wren, coughed loudly which suspiciously like “Favouritism” Hannah snapped out of her trance and glared at the person for about three seconds, “Anyway, let the second challenge begin!”
When Hannah stopped talking that’s when the countdown started, a short but loud beep in time the timer.
BEEP.
BEEP.
BEEP.
BEEP.
BEEP.
Coach Hannah kept her word 40% of the tubes fell quickly, some people went straight away others confused for a couple of seconds then ran forward to the climbing wall the other 60% stretched quickly then readied themselves was going down, so did the timer 8 seconds left.
BEEP.
BEEP.
BEEP.
BEEP.
The people who got a head start were starting to desperately get further up the climbing wall.
BEEP.
BEEP.
2 seconds lefts the ones who remain in the tubes got into a starting position.
BEEP.
BEEEEEEEEP.
All the tubes fells, the ones in tubes sprinted forward, two of which were Jay and Saskya. Jay started climbing instantly whilst Saskya pausing to find a close enough route. Luis was the highest in the air about 9 feet, Jay gaining quickly as if this was too easy.
And that, folks, is when the holographic trokikas appeared and there were about a hundred of them most wall-crawling things or birds, not nice. Jay was closing to the halfway point, Saskya gaining, Luis sadly slipped when Jay pasted him and fell a couple feet but caught himself. An eagle flew at Jay talons first; Jay dodged by flipping to her back and going to the left so the eagle hit the wall and dissolved into cubed holographic pieces. Jay yelled in reply, “SUCK IT CAW CAW BIRDY FACE!”
Saskya had, too big to be a tarantula, tarantula scuttling quickly underneath her, also gaining quickly. Saskya started panicking; the giant tarantula was soon able to snap her foot off. Here’s the thing with these holograms there are solid like, they don’t act like normal holograms. They can injure the person with a slight technology burn but not too severe.
Luis had a lovely bunch of poisonous lizards chasing him. One lizard almost jumped up onto Luis’ back, by this time Jay was pulling herself up onto the cut in the weapons section. About two new eagles on her tail, they were flying around her pecking at her.
Jay kicked a bird in the face and managed to climb onto the platform. Jay ran straight for the long-range weapons, picking up a bow of some kind, it was small but looked powerful. If place it on the ground it looks like a sideways and long “M”. The arrow shaft made a combination of carbon and aluminium, there were two different strings, one was a dark red and was tighter, and the other was dark blue and was loose. The bow was a camouflage brown mixture which was for covering up the carbon fibre underneath.
Jay grabbed the bow, along with some aluminium arrows, she ran to the edge of the cut in and notched an arrow, pointing the arrow to the tarantula chasing Saskya, which was in line with the lizards chasing Luis, and pulling the dark red string to give more force. Jay had to focus as she saw an eagle coming at her; Jay didn’t care and let the arrow fly. The arrow went through the tarantula and then hit the main lizard so easily it was almost a joke then the two creatures dissolved. Jay remained to help people by hitting the animals catching them until Saskya got to the platform, who could have pushed her off but instead went to retrieve her weapon of choice.
The weapon Saskya choose was a 65cm in length curved sword, it was made out of tamahagane (jewel steel) and had a leather on top of the wood handle. Jay nodded to Saskya before starting the rest of her own climb, killing the eagle which was being a pest to her. Jay jumped up on the edge of the platform and swung herself up and gripped the next section of the climbing wall, eager to win this challenge.
Saskya ran to the edge to look up at Jay and then look down at the others, the katana in a strap on her back. Saskya could make a choice, help those underneath, if she grabbed a different weapon like a gun, or follow Jay.
She choose to run after Jay.
By the time she managed to swing herself, three other people were on the sections and Jay was one quarter on the way to the top, Saskya groaned and looked down to see Luis was shooting down the lizards that were chasing him. Saskya started climbing faster and more frantic, trying to get ahead.
Jay’s right hand’s grip slipped making her stumble a bit but caught herself, this gave Saskya some time to catch up a tiny bit. Looking down, Jay saw Luis was also on the last bit, with about four other people joining them on the last part. A vulture came from nowhere and clawed at Jay who jumped and grabbed the next part of the wall; the vulture flew around and went after Saskya who was struggling to hold her strength. Jay grabbed an arrow and the bow from the quiver and strap on her back, her feet in a stable position to do what she was about to do. Jay notched the arrow and pulled on the dark blue string and let go when, aiming correctly. The arrow wasn’t powerful but good enough to hit the vulture and shatter it to millions of cubes; Saskya looked up and gave her a light-hearted smile before carrying on climbing, Jay smirked and turn back to her goal. The top of the wall.
They scampered up the wall trying to get a good position, other people joining them in the last section. Jay was about 6 feet from the top, but the top was the slipperiest and had fewer grippe parts. Saskya managed to get at least 3 feet from being under Jay, Luis 5 feet under Saskya. Jay noticed a root sticking out of the rock and took grasped on to it. Using some of the last of her energy she jumped up and landed on the root, from then on she climbed on to the top. Jay wasted no time as she got up on there, whilst running to the golden 1 card she tied a thin but strong rope around the end of her second last arrow.
Saskya was pulling herself onto the top as Jay grabbed the golden card and then notched the second to last arrow, pulling back on the dark red string as much as she could to then barrier on the edge of the climbing wall top. Jay let the arrow fly and it sunk into the barrier with a loud thud, half of the arrow inside the wall. Jay smirked as Saskya gave her a puzzled look, gesturing to the silver 2 card. Jay tied the end of the thin rope around her belt that she decided to wear today.
Saskya got herself ready to start climbing down, Jay stood on the edge and pulled her arrow to the floor at the bottom of the wall, pulling on the string as much as she could, the arrow attached to the floor making a rope connecting the floor with the top of the climbing wall. Luis lifted himself up as he saw Jay turn her back to the edge and fall off, arms extended to her side. Luis cried out and ran to the edge to see Jay was in a starfish position falling down quickly to the bottom of the wall. Luis turned to see two other people had grabbed the third card and the fourth card. He ran to the fifth card as another kid came onto the top. He ran back to the edge to see a route, only to stare at Jay. Jay was still falling, about 15 feet from the ground. 12 feet. 8 feet. Luis flinched readying to turn away from a dead splattered on the floor only to see Jay grabbing the rope at the last minute to grab the rope next to her.
Saskya was watching as well and had the idea of using the rope to get down easier, other’s copied and started using the rope. Jay meanwhile giving her card to Hannah who was staring in awe like everyone else at Jay’s stunt, the two groups who were friends with Jay ran up and said how brilliant she was.
“Jesus guys, I just jumped 60 feet in the air I need to sit down,” Jay breathlessly said, trying to stand upright due to lightheadedness, they let her sit and gave her their water and letting her breath as Saskya and Luis were coming down the wall.
*
When everyone had collected their cards people were talking happily, congratulating their group member and saying they did great even if they came 30 under. A man walked up to the stand, which confused many people, where’s Coach Ben? Coach Ben is supposed to be giving the congratulations, the man looked like the new Coach, race wise and structure wise. He was bulky and had the same skin as the new Coach, instead of a knife scar or a claw scar, his whole right cheek was covered in burn marks, he had a stumble and dark caramel hair.
“Congratulations to the winning group, group 1, and congratulations to the others for the places,” the Coach said, his voice was rough and sounded little foreign. A holographic leaderboard appeared next to him, Group 1 was second; Group 37 was third, Group 16 was first. The crowds cheered at the positioning of their group on the board.
Everyone but Lupus was looking excited, who was staring at the Coach, anger and question were in their eyes. Jay cheered with the others before having to sit next to Lupus again due to lightheadedness. A cultural mixture of speech came from beside her, Spanish and rough English said in an information baring way, “Something isn’t right.”
Talia and Pandora were leading the group as they went back into the training hall, Jay was murmuring thanks to people but kept staring at Lupus, was it really Lupus who said that? She wasn’t sure, but this isn’t the time to get into detail. Aaron caught up with Jay and nudged her with his elbow, getting her attention, “You keep staring at Lupus as if they ate your dog in front of you and you don’t why.”
“Dog isn’t that nice, to be honest, had it once. Too chewy,” a voice from Jay’s left came; it was Loki who was walking with them. Aaron scowled and Jay raised her right eyebrow, Loki looked forward not looking at their expressions.
“That’s nice information my dude, but please, in the rudest way possible, what are you doing here smarty?” Aaron replied Loki muttered something, “Awww you think I’m smart” in reply but only Jay heard it and she elbowed Aaron in response, he sighed then grumbled, “Sorry.”
They walked into the training hall, groups crowded around the Combat Cube, all the platforms were about a foot from the floor so people could go on them and they would rise up to get a better view. There were already about 25 groups present at this time, the three scanned the room then departed when they noticed their groups…
The three ran their eyes had bags under and their legs tired from running. A piercing howl hit the ears of the three. One was slipping behind, he was limping, and his leg was in a splint. The one in the middle was constantly looking behind her shoulder to see what was chasing them. The one in the front was making the path whilst running, using a two-bladed knife, a haladie, to cut the dead grass and cacti away.
The trailer of the three tripped on a sticking uproot, his bad foot. A loud curse hit the middle one’s ears; she turned still running but skidded to a stop then ran forward. She called out for the leading person who turned quickly and sprinted to help. A wild dog trokika came from the path they made and was closing on the trailing person; the leading person grabbed their haladie with both hands on both the blades, the blades split off each other to make two knives instead. The middle one was at the trailer’s side and was helping him. The wild dog closing in.
The dog pounced, but before it could snap off the head of the trailing guy a knife was embedded in its chest. The leader ran forward and grabbed their knife before helping the middle person with the trailer; he put his arm around both of the people next to him leaning on them as they lifted him and dragged his feet on the sandy floor…
The sharp snap in front of Wren made her flutter out of thought; Talia clicked her fingers in front of her to get her attention. Wren swatted her hand away annoyed; Talia rolled her eyes in response. Their group was huddled together, talking about challenges and the next challenge, Combat. Isaac was to be in this challenge; he was level 11 which had 5 levels added to it. Isaac looked nervous, normally he would win this type of challenge but he looked around the room as if there was competition. Pandora and Talia noticed this first and waited a while longer until they had enough.
“Hey beanpole, what’s wrong? You seem nervous, you’re never nervous. This is the challenge you are best at other than the hallway but that’s another topic,” Pandora asked as soon as they got to where Isaac and Jackson were talking. Jackson looked up at them then at Isaac who was rubbing his eyes sleepily.
“Thanks for the compliment, but don’t be sure on me win-“ Isaac said getting interrupted by his own yawn, then smiled sleepily, “you never know with these things. Do I look tired? I feel tired.”
“You look dead Isaac, how much sleep did you get last night? Pandora replied her voice in concern
“I don’t know two hours, three hours, four hours. I don’t know man,” replied Isaac his voice slurring.
“We can get Wren to take your place so you can take a nap,” Talia said.
“Its fine, Tals, seriously I can do this.”
“Isaac, are you sure?”
“Yes.”
As soon as he said that Coach Hannah cleared her throat inside the Combat Cube, she looked worried scanning the students and staff in the crowd around the cube. In her hands a microphone and a holographic phone. The talk quietened down people spotted Hannah; Hannah put on a fake smile then began, “Hello novices! Before we begin I have to inform you Hide and Seek and Hallway Level 15 have been switched around. Sorry if this messes up anything, now, let’s begin! Challenge three is Combat +5 to your current level, how it works is you will sign up with me then I will add the levels. Unlike the other challenges, this one will begin with the lowest level ending with the highest level.
“To win this challenge you have to go up the most amounts of levels without getting knocked down for longer than 5 seconds. The longest time recorded is six minutes and forty-three seconds, so try to beat it. Now everyone, let’s get started!” Hannah grinned before turned to a door at the end. Like the last challenge, a person from each group made a long line in front of Coach Hannah. The others went to the platform and raised them up to get good views or get positions on the floor around the Combat Cube as if it was a wrestling ring.
“The Combat Cube is about to start, ready yourself Group 15, I repeat the Combat Cube is about to start,” a male but robotic voice said over a large amount of chatter everyone who was in this challenge. The novice from Group 15 stepped in front of the door into the Combat Cube then stepped in…
“We’re almost there guys!” The previous leader of the group said as them and the person who was in the middle dragged the previous trailer up a slippery sandy hill, the three wearing gas masks. The gas masks are white and covered the nose and mouth in a circular shape. The smoky fumes of the air get changed before it reaches the trachea.
The three got to the top of the hill and looked before them, a large army base like building stood before them. A large dome was visible in the back of the building, large buildings connected by tunnels. About thirty men in swat armour and gas masks stood around a large metal door. It must have been night when the three arrived because bright night lights were shining down on to the men.
The two to the right of the leading person looked at them practically asking “What should we do” with their eyes. The leader nodded and the three started walking down the hill, tired and hungry. A moan from behind made the person on the right made her look behind her shoulder. Her eyes must have been playing tricks on her, a man was stumbling towards them, and he was twitching randomly like a trokika would. The lights from below reflected of what looked like blue liquid glistening liquid coming from the man’s mouth, nose and eyes.
She was about to tell the others to hurry when a massive Doberman Pinscher came from on top of the hill and pounced on them, knocking them over, the girl on the right hit her head on a stone. There was struggling around her a shout of her friend near her, his voice was calling out to the one who was leading them, telling them to not do something. Muffled gun shots were all that the one on the right could hear before passing out...
Isaac, Lupus and Panda were to be called any second now; the remaining five groups were up. Panda was sitting to the right of Lupus whilst Isaac on their left, Lupus seemed at ease whilst the other two were fidgeting or tapping their feet on the floor or bobbing their legs up and down.
“Group 24’s member please go to the Combat Cube,” the robotic voice echoed into the room, the three were now in the top 4. Lupus lent down and grabbed their white board from under the bench the three were sitting on. The people in this challenge were made to go into a waiting room where they would be called then they had to make their way to the Cube. The room was a large rectangular room, two wooden benches parallel to each other on the two longer walls of the room, the musty smell of sweat and old wood hung in the air. Lupus lifted their board to show the two next to them.
What is the scoring system again and Panda is it, could you move your fat behind away from us?
Isaac smirked at Panda who budged up then looked at Lupus, they were wearing their novice hood and bandanna but let the brim of their nose and their heterochromatic eyes.
“Ok, the scoring system is kind of simple to understand. You need to stay up the longest or go up the most levels. Every thirty seconds you stay up you get 25 points, so try to stay up. Every level you go up you get 50 points so the best aim is to level up because we’re in the top four the levels are extremely hard to beat. If I were you, I would try for the 25 points,” Isaac explained using his hand to gesture about words whilst Lupus stared at him, their eyes seemed to somewhere else, Isaac finished off, “But if you want to level up, but it’s hard to. Lupus, you get all of that?”
Lupus snapped out of their trance and then looked away and shuffled a little bit away, Isaac being confused shrugged and fidgeted with his laces on his shoes, thinking about the past and the future. After getting bored playing with his laces, Isaac asked: “How did you get such a high level?”
Lupus physically tensed up, their head looking straight ahead, Isaac picked up the insecurities and was about to apologise when he was cut off by the robotic voice, “Group 16’s member please go to the Combat Cube.”
Panda walked to the door looked at the three people and left, the loud crowd practically yelling in his ear as he walked out of the room. The crowd was large, people were yelling and wooing as Panda made his way on a raised platform to the door of the Combat Cube. Hannah smiled at him warmly before he reached out for the Cube’s handle and pulled it pausing to gaze around for his friends, scanning the raised platforms and the crowd for their faces. He grinned when he spotted them, Loki, Luis and Niji were in the crowd in the back next to Group 1 and 37, and all three groups were cheering for him and grinning broadly.
Panda held his breath as he walked into the Cube, a load robotic 14 hit the air, saying which level he was fighting. Then the projectors in the floor, ceiling and the walls of the platforms began to shine a red light and began to move around, making men by darted about, as if it was a 3D printer, solidifying to look like an actual human.
There were 5 strong looking men, 2 wielding a machete, 1 wielding an axe; the other two were bare handed. Panda was surrounded by the five holograms; he gazed around him at them whilst strategically readying himself. There was a loud beep, then another, it was a countdown. A final long beep made the holographic people in advance…
It has been a month between the three, Isaac, Wren and Wolfia, joined Alpha Reign and they have gained a lot of popularity fast by being good at the different Training Hall sections, Wolfia made friends with a quiet girl, the girl had pale skin and extremely dark hair, it almost looks black, diaphragm long hair. The girl’s name was Eryn, Wolfia seemed to know her well, same with Eryn with Wolfia, and sometimes they would speak Spanish or another language that Isaac and Wren didn’t know, to each other.
The group of friends, whom were in the same group, were in the infirmary for Wolfia’s, Isaac’s and Wren’s weekly check-up, that they did every week since they got here in case their two months of running with little rest and food done some permanent damage, when two guys were rushed into the infirmary on stretchers. All four of the friends stared as people rushed nursing the two kids they just moved onto their beds. Wolfia was lying on top of the bed opposite one of the guys, Eryn sitting on the edge of their bed and Wren lying down next to Wolfia.
One of the guys were clearly having a panic attack, he was sweating, trembling and was shaking uncontrollably. Isaac was standing next to the bed leaning on the cabinet there, stood up properly as Wolfia swung their legs off the side of the bed and walked over, ignore their friends calling out behind them. Wolfia looked at the guy having the panic attack then walked over to the left side of his bed which he was shaking; he was a tall but lean 17-year-old and wore dark purple eyes, with red-ish copper hair and a rainbow bandana around his wrist with simple tops and hoodies to go with dark jeans. Wren walked on to the right side of his bed looking at Wolfia for instructions.
“Hold him by the shoulders, press them down onto the bed we need to stop him from breathing, it will stop the panic attack,” Wolfia replied in a monotone voice, Wren reached out and pressed her palms down on the guy’s shoulders making it hard for him to shake. Wolfia reached to pinch his nose then covered his mouth with their other hand, he breathing stop and the fear embedded in his eyes was release. Wolfia quickly removed their hands so he could breathe again and swatted Wren’s hands away making Eryn snort.
“Thank you,” He managed to croak after a minute of calm breathing, he looked around at the hurrying people to his friend’s bed, his friend's leg was covered in blood, a bluey purple bite was on his thy. The guy’s eyes widen and he went to go to his friend but was stopped by Wolfia who shook their head and made him lie down again…
Panda was on level 17 with two people with machetes were left, one ran at him, he simply dodged and grabbed the head of the hologram and shoved it on to the floor, the hologram dissolved into cubes. The second person ran at him as he was recovering, the person swung the machete over Panda’s back, barely missing it. Panda looked back up at the guy and kicked his shins making the hologram fall to one knee; the hologram slashed his machete, slicing the middle of Panda’s stomach. Panda grunted as sharp burn hit his stomach, a slight burn mark appeared. Panda stumbled but caught himself; the hologram ran at him, machete raised in the air. Panda raised his fists ready to block the weapon but the hologram lowered the machete a few feet away and slashed at both of his thighs.
Panda fell to the floor, the crowd start counting up to five, Panda trying to get up but failing miserably. The hologram dissolved and a loud beep hit the ears of everyone, Panda’s turn has ended. Hannah rushed in and stabbed a needle into the side of Panda’s chest, a couple second later the burns on him were numb and didn’t hurt. Hannah pulled him up and let him lean on her as they walked out of the cube, Hannah plopped him down on a bench, so he could rest before joining his team.
“Group 24’s member please step up to the Combat Cube,” The male robotic voice said, a broad girl came from the waiting room then stepped into the cube to begin her challenge…
The first 2 months of Niji and Panda were going completely fine, then something clicked and the duo started to be rude the other four in the group. Most of the time the other four ignored it and replied with comebacks that made the duo shut up. It was the afternoon when Panda and Niji messed up completely, Wolfia, Isaac, Wren and Eryn were walking in a group in front of Panda and Niji talking about how Panda and Niji failed the climbing wall and it was extremely funny.
“Would you stop talking about it or is that too hard for your little perfect head?” Panda snapped after losing his patients, Wolfia snorted and the others looked like they were trying hard not to laugh, they kept and walking but talked about a different topic. Niji sighed loudly and muttered something muttered something for Panda but he was to quite, “come again?”
“A bet Wolfia’s parents are so happy that their child can kill someone with one hit,” Niji smirked looking up at Panda who had a grin on his face. That made Isaac, Wren and Eryn stop in their path Wolfia kept on walking, they grabbed Wren’s and Isaac’s hands and pulled them, Eryn following. Niji smirked and continued, “Or wait Wolfia’s parents were never there! Wouldn’t that be explanatory, I mean she never listens to anyone.”
As soon Niji said “she” the four froze in place, even the people behind Niji and Panda froze, knowing this not going to end up well for the two. Isaac sighed and pulled Wolfia by the forearm, Wren pushed Eryn, who was by her, with her hand on the other’s back. The four pressed on, ignoring the anger.
“What gender are they? They look female but they have a flat chest, why can’t they just choose,” Panda mockingly said, Niji chuckled.
“Too lazy to choose I bet?” Niji replied he looked at the four in front of them only to see Wolfia’s fist coming down at his face. He was knocked to the floor; his eye throbbed with pain as his head hit the floor with a bang. His eyes were blurry and he was light-headed. Wolfia grabbed Niji’s shirt and lifted him up, raising him from the ground then punching him in the cheek. Panda finally reacted and grabbed Wolfia’s raised arm in mid-swing and pushed them off Niji, Wolfia stumbled into balance, shook their head and stepped back from the duo. Wolfia turned away, the rest of the group were looking at Wolfia with a mix of disappointment and sympathy, Wolfia walked passed them and continued walking only to be greeted by an insult from Panda, “¿Por qué no vas a morir en un hoyo, no deseado”
Eryn and Wolfia turned back around, Eryn walking up and slapping Panda, Wolfia beside her begin held back by Isaac who was trying to pull them away. Niji got up again, his left eye was black and his cheek was turning an unhealthy shade of purple and green, he spat out some spit then wiped his mouth, then spat at the two, “no amado idiotas.”
That made Eryn hook her ankle with Niji’ knee and tugged making him topple over again, Panda pushed Eryn into Isaac making him topple over under the force releasing Wolfia. Wolfia ran up to Panda and grabbed his arm, throwing Panda over their shoulder and on to the floor. Coach Hannah, Coach Ben and Apprentice Hender ran up to Wolfia who was punching Panda in the eye despite the protest of Isaac and Wren, Hender grabbed Wolfia by the underarm and pulled them of Panda but Wolfia elbowed him in his eye so hard the eye itself went inwards. Eryn kicked Hannah’s shins and pushed Ben away making him tumble to the ground…
Isaac was in his third wave, level 19, if he just stayed up longer or go up more another level he would be the winner. That is if Lupus doesn’t beat him, how did the new person get all the levels, Isaac was clueless as always. But this was not the time to think about it now; he was focusing on the four men around him. Isaac ran up at one blocking the baseball bat with one arm and punching the side of the chest with the other, making the guy tumble over from the force. Isaac kicked the guy in the neck making the hologram dissolve into cubes, his friend who had a machete ran up to Isaac along with his buddy ol’ pal with the knife. They both ran up to Isaac who ducked as they both swung with their weapons in their right hands and stabbed each other making them dissolve.
The last guy had two kitchen sized knives, obviously red like the rest of him, Isaac and the guy circled each other like wolves, waiting for someone to attack. Isaac stepped forward with a loud stamp of his foot, the guy copied is move but because it’s an almost solid hologram little sound came from him stamping. Isaac took a step back, the guy took a step forward and continued, Isaac grimaced then ran up to the guy and nick him were light don’t shine. The hologram dropped the knives and went to cover the area that was kicked, Isaac sighed and grabbed the guy’s head and hit it against his knee making him dissolve.
The next level was only a buff man; he looked like a wrestler and was huge. Isaac analysed his opponent who was walking slowly towards him, Isaac held his ground as the man walked closer to him, and the guy was in arms’ swinging space and raised his left hand readied to punch Isaac. Isaac caught the punch; his hands burning under the hologram’s fist, he pushed the fist up but stumbled to the floor, getting up quickly, raising his fists in a defence pose. The hologram ran at him one fist rose for the punch, Isaac looked at his options and choose one, when the guy was close enough he ducked to the floor and slid underneath the hologram through his legs. Quickly getting up and pulled at the hologram’s right leg and pulling the man to the ground, but the man didn’t dissolve and Isaac thought he did it.
Isaac turned to the centre of the cube waiting for the next holograms, only being hit in the side by a powerful fist that made him topple to the ground, the side of his chest burning. The crowd started shouting the countdown until it got to the end. The hologram stayed in place instead of dissolving, it just walked to the centre of the room and readied itself. Coach Hannah and Panda rushed in to help Isaac, he was damaged badly on the side of the chest and it was steaming slightly.
“Group 37’s member please go into the Combat Cube,” The robotic voice said over everyone’s cheers, Lupus came out of the waiting room, their bandanna now tied tight on their face so it wouldn’t slip off. They walked into the Cube and stared the hologram in front of them down, analysing their opponent better then Isaac did, they readied themselves and the robotic voice called out their level, “Level 20. Begin straight away.”
“Dog isn’t that nice, to be honest, had it once. Too chewy,” a voice from Jay’s left came; it was Loki who was walking with them. Aaron scowled and Jay raised her right eyebrow, Loki looked forward not looking at their expressions.
“That’s nice information my dude, but please, in the rudest way possible, what are you doing here smarty?” Aaron replied Loki muttered something, “Awww you think I’m smart” in reply but only Jay heard it and she elbowed Aaron in response, he sighed then grumbled, “Sorry.”
They walked into the training hall, groups crowded around the Combat Cube, all the platforms were about a foot from the floor so people could go on them and they would rise up to get a better view. There were already about 25 groups present at this time, the three scanned the room then departed when they noticed their groups…
The three ran their eyes had bags under and their legs tired from running. A piercing howl hit the ears of the three. One was slipping behind, he was limping, and his leg was in a splint. The one in the middle was constantly looking behind her shoulder to see what was chasing them. The one in the front was making the path whilst running, using a two-bladed knife, a haladie, to cut the dead grass and cacti away.
The trailer of the three tripped on a sticking uproot, his bad foot. A loud curse hit the middle one’s ears; she turned still running but skidded to a stop then ran forward. She called out for the leading person who turned quickly and sprinted to help. A wild dog trokika came from the path they made and was closing on the trailing person; the leading person grabbed their haladie with both hands on both the blades, the blades split off each other to make two knives instead. The middle one was at the trailer’s side and was helping him. The wild dog closing in.
The dog pounced, but before it could snap off the head of the trailing guy a knife was embedded in its chest. The leader ran forward and grabbed their knife before helping the middle person with the trailer; he put his arm around both of the people next to him leaning on them as they lifted him and dragged his feet on the sandy floor…
The sharp snap in front of Wren made her flutter out of thought; Talia clicked her fingers in front of her to get her attention. Wren swatted her hand away annoyed; Talia rolled her eyes in response. Their group was huddled together, talking about challenges and the next challenge, Combat. Isaac was to be in this challenge; he was level 11 which had 5 levels added to it. Isaac looked nervous, normally he would win this type of challenge but he looked around the room as if there was competition. Pandora and Talia noticed this first and waited a while longer until they had enough.
“Hey beanpole, what’s wrong? You seem nervous, you’re never nervous. This is the challenge you are best at other than the hallway but that’s another topic,” Pandora asked as soon as they got to where Isaac and Jackson were talking. Jackson looked up at them then at Isaac who was rubbing his eyes sleepily.
“Thanks for the compliment, but don’t be sure on me win-“ Isaac said getting interrupted by his own yawn, then smiled sleepily, “you never know with these things. Do I look tired? I feel tired.”
“You look dead Isaac, how much sleep did you get last night? Pandora replied her voice in concern
“I don’t know two hours, three hours, four hours. I don’t know man,” replied Isaac his voice slurring.
“We can get Wren to take your place so you can take a nap,” Talia said.
“Its fine, Tals, seriously I can do this.”
“Isaac, are you sure?”
“Yes.”
As soon as he said that Coach Hannah cleared her throat inside the Combat Cube, she looked worried scanning the students and staff in the crowd around the cube. In her hands a microphone and a holographic phone. The talk quietened down people spotted Hannah; Hannah put on a fake smile then began, “Hello novices! Before we begin I have to inform you Hide and Seek and Hallway Level 15 have been switched around. Sorry if this messes up anything, now, let’s begin! Challenge three is Combat +5 to your current level, how it works is you will sign up with me then I will add the levels. Unlike the other challenges, this one will begin with the lowest level ending with the highest level.
“To win this challenge you have to go up the most amounts of levels without getting knocked down for longer than 5 seconds. The longest time recorded is six minutes and forty-three seconds, so try to beat it. Now everyone, let’s get started!” Hannah grinned before turned to a door at the end. Like the last challenge, a person from each group made a long line in front of Coach Hannah. The others went to the platform and raised them up to get good views or get positions on the floor around the Combat Cube as if it was a wrestling ring.
“The Combat Cube is about to start, ready yourself Group 15, I repeat the Combat Cube is about to start,” a male but robotic voice said over a large amount of chatter everyone who was in this challenge. The novice from Group 15 stepped in front of the door into the Combat Cube then stepped in…
“We’re almost there guys!” The previous leader of the group said as them and the person who was in the middle dragged the previous trailer up a slippery sandy hill, the three wearing gas masks. The gas masks are white and covered the nose and mouth in a circular shape. The smoky fumes of the air get changed before it reaches the trachea.
The three got to the top of the hill and looked before them, a large army base like building stood before them. A large dome was visible in the back of the building, large buildings connected by tunnels. About thirty men in swat armour and gas masks stood around a large metal door. It must have been night when the three arrived because bright night lights were shining down on to the men.
The two to the right of the leading person looked at them practically asking “What should we do” with their eyes. The leader nodded and the three started walking down the hill, tired and hungry. A moan from behind made the person on the right made her look behind her shoulder. Her eyes must have been playing tricks on her, a man was stumbling towards them, and he was twitching randomly like a trokika would. The lights from below reflected of what looked like blue liquid glistening liquid coming from the man’s mouth, nose and eyes.
She was about to tell the others to hurry when a massive Doberman Pinscher came from on top of the hill and pounced on them, knocking them over, the girl on the right hit her head on a stone. There was struggling around her a shout of her friend near her, his voice was calling out to the one who was leading them, telling them to not do something. Muffled gun shots were all that the one on the right could hear before passing out...
Isaac, Lupus and Panda were to be called any second now; the remaining five groups were up. Panda was sitting to the right of Lupus whilst Isaac on their left, Lupus seemed at ease whilst the other two were fidgeting or tapping their feet on the floor or bobbing their legs up and down.
“Group 24’s member please go to the Combat Cube,” the robotic voice echoed into the room, the three were now in the top 4. Lupus lent down and grabbed their white board from under the bench the three were sitting on. The people in this challenge were made to go into a waiting room where they would be called then they had to make their way to the Cube. The room was a large rectangular room, two wooden benches parallel to each other on the two longer walls of the room, the musty smell of sweat and old wood hung in the air. Lupus lifted their board to show the two next to them.
What is the scoring system again and Panda is it, could you move your fat behind away from us?
Isaac smirked at Panda who budged up then looked at Lupus, they were wearing their novice hood and bandanna but let the brim of their nose and their heterochromatic eyes.
“Ok, the scoring system is kind of simple to understand. You need to stay up the longest or go up the most levels. Every thirty seconds you stay up you get 25 points, so try to stay up. Every level you go up you get 50 points so the best aim is to level up because we’re in the top four the levels are extremely hard to beat. If I were you, I would try for the 25 points,” Isaac explained using his hand to gesture about words whilst Lupus stared at him, their eyes seemed to somewhere else, Isaac finished off, “But if you want to level up, but it’s hard to. Lupus, you get all of that?”
Lupus snapped out of their trance and then looked away and shuffled a little bit away, Isaac being confused shrugged and fidgeted with his laces on his shoes, thinking about the past and the future. After getting bored playing with his laces, Isaac asked: “How did you get such a high level?”
Lupus physically tensed up, their head looking straight ahead, Isaac picked up the insecurities and was about to apologise when he was cut off by the robotic voice, “Group 16’s member please go to the Combat Cube.”
Panda walked to the door looked at the three people and left, the loud crowd practically yelling in his ear as he walked out of the room. The crowd was large, people were yelling and wooing as Panda made his way on a raised platform to the door of the Combat Cube. Hannah smiled at him warmly before he reached out for the Cube’s handle and pulled it pausing to gaze around for his friends, scanning the raised platforms and the crowd for their faces. He grinned when he spotted them, Loki, Luis and Niji were in the crowd in the back next to Group 1 and 37, and all three groups were cheering for him and grinning broadly.
Panda held his breath as he walked into the Cube, a load robotic 14 hit the air, saying which level he was fighting. Then the projectors in the floor, ceiling and the walls of the platforms began to shine a red light and began to move around, making men by darted about, as if it was a 3D printer, solidifying to look like an actual human.
There were 5 strong looking men, 2 wielding a machete, 1 wielding an axe; the other two were bare handed. Panda was surrounded by the five holograms; he gazed around him at them whilst strategically readying himself. There was a loud beep, then another, it was a countdown. A final long beep made the holographic people in advance…
It has been a month between the three, Isaac, Wren and Wolfia, joined Alpha Reign and they have gained a lot of popularity fast by being good at the different Training Hall sections, Wolfia made friends with a quiet girl, the girl had pale skin and extremely dark hair, it almost looks black, diaphragm long hair. The girl’s name was Eryn, Wolfia seemed to know her well, same with Eryn with Wolfia, and sometimes they would speak Spanish or another language that Isaac and Wren didn’t know, to each other.
The group of friends, whom were in the same group, were in the infirmary for Wolfia’s, Isaac’s and Wren’s weekly check-up, that they did every week since they got here in case their two months of running with little rest and food done some permanent damage, when two guys were rushed into the infirmary on stretchers. All four of the friends stared as people rushed nursing the two kids they just moved onto their beds. Wolfia was lying on top of the bed opposite one of the guys, Eryn sitting on the edge of their bed and Wren lying down next to Wolfia.
One of the guys were clearly having a panic attack, he was sweating, trembling and was shaking uncontrollably. Isaac was standing next to the bed leaning on the cabinet there, stood up properly as Wolfia swung their legs off the side of the bed and walked over, ignore their friends calling out behind them. Wolfia looked at the guy having the panic attack then walked over to the left side of his bed which he was shaking; he was a tall but lean 17-year-old and wore dark purple eyes, with red-ish copper hair and a rainbow bandana around his wrist with simple tops and hoodies to go with dark jeans. Wren walked on to the right side of his bed looking at Wolfia for instructions.
“Hold him by the shoulders, press them down onto the bed we need to stop him from breathing, it will stop the panic attack,” Wolfia replied in a monotone voice, Wren reached out and pressed her palms down on the guy’s shoulders making it hard for him to shake. Wolfia reached to pinch his nose then covered his mouth with their other hand, he breathing stop and the fear embedded in his eyes was release. Wolfia quickly removed their hands so he could breathe again and swatted Wren’s hands away making Eryn snort.
“Thank you,” He managed to croak after a minute of calm breathing, he looked around at the hurrying people to his friend’s bed, his friend's leg was covered in blood, a bluey purple bite was on his thy. The guy’s eyes widen and he went to go to his friend but was stopped by Wolfia who shook their head and made him lie down again…
Panda was on level 17 with two people with machetes were left, one ran at him, he simply dodged and grabbed the head of the hologram and shoved it on to the floor, the hologram dissolved into cubes. The second person ran at him as he was recovering, the person swung the machete over Panda’s back, barely missing it. Panda looked back up at the guy and kicked his shins making the hologram fall to one knee; the hologram slashed his machete, slicing the middle of Panda’s stomach. Panda grunted as sharp burn hit his stomach, a slight burn mark appeared. Panda stumbled but caught himself; the hologram ran at him, machete raised in the air. Panda raised his fists ready to block the weapon but the hologram lowered the machete a few feet away and slashed at both of his thighs.
Panda fell to the floor, the crowd start counting up to five, Panda trying to get up but failing miserably. The hologram dissolved and a loud beep hit the ears of everyone, Panda’s turn has ended. Hannah rushed in and stabbed a needle into the side of Panda’s chest, a couple second later the burns on him were numb and didn’t hurt. Hannah pulled him up and let him lean on her as they walked out of the cube, Hannah plopped him down on a bench, so he could rest before joining his team.
“Group 24’s member please step up to the Combat Cube,” The male robotic voice said, a broad girl came from the waiting room then stepped into the cube to begin her challenge…
The first 2 months of Niji and Panda were going completely fine, then something clicked and the duo started to be rude the other four in the group. Most of the time the other four ignored it and replied with comebacks that made the duo shut up. It was the afternoon when Panda and Niji messed up completely, Wolfia, Isaac, Wren and Eryn were walking in a group in front of Panda and Niji talking about how Panda and Niji failed the climbing wall and it was extremely funny.
“Would you stop talking about it or is that too hard for your little perfect head?” Panda snapped after losing his patients, Wolfia snorted and the others looked like they were trying hard not to laugh, they kept and walking but talked about a different topic. Niji sighed loudly and muttered something muttered something for Panda but he was to quite, “come again?”
“A bet Wolfia’s parents are so happy that their child can kill someone with one hit,” Niji smirked looking up at Panda who had a grin on his face. That made Isaac, Wren and Eryn stop in their path Wolfia kept on walking, they grabbed Wren’s and Isaac’s hands and pulled them, Eryn following. Niji smirked and continued, “Or wait Wolfia’s parents were never there! Wouldn’t that be explanatory, I mean she never listens to anyone.”
As soon Niji said “she” the four froze in place, even the people behind Niji and Panda froze, knowing this not going to end up well for the two. Isaac sighed and pulled Wolfia by the forearm, Wren pushed Eryn, who was by her, with her hand on the other’s back. The four pressed on, ignoring the anger.
“What gender are they? They look female but they have a flat chest, why can’t they just choose,” Panda mockingly said, Niji chuckled.
“Too lazy to choose I bet?” Niji replied he looked at the four in front of them only to see Wolfia’s fist coming down at his face. He was knocked to the floor; his eye throbbed with pain as his head hit the floor with a bang. His eyes were blurry and he was light-headed. Wolfia grabbed Niji’s shirt and lifted him up, raising him from the ground then punching him in the cheek. Panda finally reacted and grabbed Wolfia’s raised arm in mid-swing and pushed them off Niji, Wolfia stumbled into balance, shook their head and stepped back from the duo. Wolfia turned away, the rest of the group were looking at Wolfia with a mix of disappointment and sympathy, Wolfia walked passed them and continued walking only to be greeted by an insult from Panda, “¿Por qué no vas a morir en un hoyo, no deseado”
Eryn and Wolfia turned back around, Eryn walking up and slapping Panda, Wolfia beside her begin held back by Isaac who was trying to pull them away. Niji got up again, his left eye was black and his cheek was turning an unhealthy shade of purple and green, he spat out some spit then wiped his mouth, then spat at the two, “no amado idiotas.”
That made Eryn hook her ankle with Niji’ knee and tugged making him topple over again, Panda pushed Eryn into Isaac making him topple over under the force releasing Wolfia. Wolfia ran up to Panda and grabbed his arm, throwing Panda over their shoulder and on to the floor. Coach Hannah, Coach Ben and Apprentice Hender ran up to Wolfia who was punching Panda in the eye despite the protest of Isaac and Wren, Hender grabbed Wolfia by the underarm and pulled them of Panda but Wolfia elbowed him in his eye so hard the eye itself went inwards. Eryn kicked Hannah’s shins and pushed Ben away making him tumble to the ground…
Isaac was in his third wave, level 19, if he just stayed up longer or go up more another level he would be the winner. That is if Lupus doesn’t beat him, how did the new person get all the levels, Isaac was clueless as always. But this was not the time to think about it now; he was focusing on the four men around him. Isaac ran up at one blocking the baseball bat with one arm and punching the side of the chest with the other, making the guy tumble over from the force. Isaac kicked the guy in the neck making the hologram dissolve into cubes, his friend who had a machete ran up to Isaac along with his buddy ol’ pal with the knife. They both ran up to Isaac who ducked as they both swung with their weapons in their right hands and stabbed each other making them dissolve.
The last guy had two kitchen sized knives, obviously red like the rest of him, Isaac and the guy circled each other like wolves, waiting for someone to attack. Isaac stepped forward with a loud stamp of his foot, the guy copied is move but because it’s an almost solid hologram little sound came from him stamping. Isaac took a step back, the guy took a step forward and continued, Isaac grimaced then ran up to the guy and nick him were light don’t shine. The hologram dropped the knives and went to cover the area that was kicked, Isaac sighed and grabbed the guy’s head and hit it against his knee making him dissolve.
The next level was only a buff man; he looked like a wrestler and was huge. Isaac analysed his opponent who was walking slowly towards him, Isaac held his ground as the man walked closer to him, and the guy was in arms’ swinging space and raised his left hand readied to punch Isaac. Isaac caught the punch; his hands burning under the hologram’s fist, he pushed the fist up but stumbled to the floor, getting up quickly, raising his fists in a defence pose. The hologram ran at him one fist rose for the punch, Isaac looked at his options and choose one, when the guy was close enough he ducked to the floor and slid underneath the hologram through his legs. Quickly getting up and pulled at the hologram’s right leg and pulling the man to the ground, but the man didn’t dissolve and Isaac thought he did it.
Isaac turned to the centre of the cube waiting for the next holograms, only being hit in the side by a powerful fist that made him topple to the ground, the side of his chest burning. The crowd started shouting the countdown until it got to the end. The hologram stayed in place instead of dissolving, it just walked to the centre of the room and readied itself. Coach Hannah and Panda rushed in to help Isaac, he was damaged badly on the side of the chest and it was steaming slightly.
“Group 37’s member please go into the Combat Cube,” The robotic voice said over everyone’s cheers, Lupus came out of the waiting room, their bandanna now tied tight on their face so it wouldn’t slip off. They walked into the Cube and stared the hologram in front of them down, analysing their opponent better then Isaac did, they readied themselves and the robotic voice called out their level, “Level 20. Begin straight away.”
“DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU HAVE DONE?” Apprentice Gould yelled, practically shrieking with anger, Wolfia and Eryn stood before him their heads facing down as he yelled down at the two friends. They were in his office; the office was clean and had less crowded with papers and merits of achievement. Wolfia shuffled uncomfortably and Eryn glanced at them, unsure if to speak up in defence or let the rage continue, her friend was acting weird shuffling and looking at the bruised knuckles of their fists which were turning unhealthily green. Apprentice Gould continued, “YOU INJURED THREE STAFF AND TWO STUDENTS!”
“Sir they angered us into hurting them,” Wolfia replied, their voice weak and sounded unknown to Eryn’s ears, Apprentice Gould glared dagger at them. A silence broke. Wolfia’s courage came back to them; they stood up straight and glared at Gould daring him to answer then continued, “I am Wolfia Lýkos Psychí, I protect my friends and the things I care about, those two did something that damaged my protection, SO I FOUGHT BACK!”
Lupus stayed, fist raised, as the guy ran forward, Lupus dodged swiftly making the hologram stumble over itself. Lupus used this as a help; they grabbed the hologram’s right arm and pulled it up behind its back. The guy tumbled onto the floor but didn’t dissolve; Lupus kicked it, the hologram, in the back. The hologram dissolved and Lupus turned to the centre of the room waiting for the next wave.
The next wave had 1 big dude and two machete-wielding men, Lupus analysed the holograms then looked around at the platforms and poles. Machete 1 and Machete 2 run up to them, Lupus ran towards a pole, the two machetes following them. Lupus grabbed the pole and swung themselves around it, kicking Machete 1 into Machete 2 with a lot of force and letting go of the pole and landing in a three-point landing.
Big dude started running in big strides towards Lupus, who stared strategizing their next move to win, though the two machete wielders haven’t dissolved yet they were still lying on the floor in the way. The hologram ran to swing its left up at Lupus but it switched to kick them instead, Lupus bent there back backwards in a 90 degrees angle, the leg swung over Lupus’ head, they grabbed the leg and pushed it upwards quickly, pulling the leg muscles. The hologram stumbled but stayed up, Lupus’ eyes weren’t their normal heterochromatic self, and they were a blue-grey as if the colours mixed together.
Lupus ran towards the Machete-wielding two were getting up from the floor when Lupus jumped on top of them, Machete 2 dissolved under Machete 1, most likely their back breaking. Machete 1 stayed on the floor with Lupus standing on top of them. The big hologram ran towards Lupus, not sensing the other hologram, the hologram forward then tripped on the body. They both landed with a thud whilst Lupus stay up, Lupus kicked the holograms with the heel of their left shoe and made the holograms dissolve; they turned to the centre, clearly having fun…
“You fought back? NO really! You managed to damage two novices and three staff, congratulations you managed to fight back!” Gould snapped, Wolfia backed down and stopped talking, Eryn staggered backwards. Gould looked at her sympathy and then turned to Wolfia again with a softer approach with his look. He turned around and walked over behind his desk and took a seat, thinking in the silence. Gould looked up and replied a quiet voice, “I’ll give you your punishments in an hour. Go rest and talk to your friends, if you have any after this.”
Wolfia nodded politely, before walking out of the room followed by Eryn, they walked in silence through the empty corridors, the dim lights setting a sombre mood with the two friends, and eventually, they heard the loud chatter from the dining hall. Wolfia paused in a two way splitting one leading to the dining hall the other to the dorms and infirmary. Eryn paused down the corridor to the dining hall and turned to Wolfia, They were rubbing their knuckles from the lights Eryn could see the knuckles were red and sore, and Wolfia’s eyes were distant and troubled. They looked up to talk but didn’t say anything and pointed to the infirmary, sending signals to Eryn that they were going to go get something for their knuckles.
Eryn turned away and walked into the dining hall, looking behind her shoulder to see Wolfia pinching their bridge of the nose before walking towards the infirmary. The walk by themselves was worse than having awkward silence but having people around, they reached a large metal door with a large window to show inside. Wolfia took a deep breath and pushed the door opening quietly, the room is a large room, with hospital beds dotted against the walls, curtains were covering the beds, the lights were off and the only light was from the machines in the room, about three curtains were drawn, one of which the bed was empty. They moved to shut the door quickly but there was a long creak making Wolfia wince. When the door shut Wolfia swiftly moved away from the door, walking to the other side of the room where the supply cupboard was.
They almost got there but heard shuffling behind them which made them spin around readying for a fight, it wasn’t a threat; the person was upright lying on their bed, their curtain was one of the three open. It was Niji… The two stared at each other, unsure what to do, unsure if they should hide or run. Wolfia’s eyes scanned Niji’s face and body. He had a swollen eye which was a dark green in the red light of the machine beside them; his arm was in a bandage. His eyes had a fear as he stared into Wolfia’s, whose eyes were emotionless. Wolfia sucked a deep breath and turned to the cupboard, they looked around just in case of any staff then broke open the hatch with their hands. Instead of taking just bandages, Wolfia took a bottle of green liquid; a bottle of clear golden liquid and a cup form the water dispenser next to the cupboard.
Wolfia walked up to a confused Niji who was staring at Wolfia as they did this, they placed the stuff on the bedside table next to Niji’s bed. Niji manage to stutter, his voice quiet, “What are you plan-“
“Quiet,” Wolfia replied quiet, they grabbed a bowl from the table and poured the green liquid into it, the liquid came out slowly and stickily. Once about a teaspoon-sized dollop was in the bowl Wolfia opened the other bottle, the cork on the top releasing a loud pop, then poured the liquid into the bowl. The liquid rushed out quickly. The bowl’s contents were a disgusting mixture, Wolfia grabbed a needle from the cabinet under the bed and stabbed it into their own arm, drawing out their own blood. Niji grimaced and made a face of disgust, Wolfia poured the blood into the bowl with the other liquids.
Wolfia stirred it for a solid five minutes in an awkward silence, Niji watched out to see if anyone was coming. When Wolfia stopped stirring the mixture was a purple, dark in some places like in others. They poured the mixture into the cup they got and gave it to Niji, who stared up at Wolfia who shoved the cup into him. Wolfia quietly went to go grab a chair from the back walls and placed it next to Niji’s bed and sat down. They looked up at Niji who still hadn’t drunk the mixture and sighed, “It’s a medical chemical many people use nowadays, so please either feel in pain for a long amount of time or drink it.”
Niji took a gulp and grimaced, Wolfia smirking their once brown hair falling from their down their shoulders and almost covering their face. They sat in silence as Niji drank; Niji finished and placed the cup on the table next to the bed, then stared at Wolfia apologetically then almost whispering, “I’m sorry for what I said, I didn’t mean it, it was Panda who really set me off.”
“It’s not your fault, it was mine, I’m paying the price,” Wolfia muttered in reply, rubbing their knuckles realising they need to bandage them, so they grabbed the bandages and started rapping around their knuckles and continued, “I said the first thing, I realised your… secret and I called you weak not talking about it, I knew your family were horrid and I still said the things I said. I’m sorry. I am the reason you’re here and Panda, it was my fault. I ruined our friendship, I ruined our group because I never had a family who either hated me or loved me for who I am. I was openly agender in my school, and I was ridiculed but I held my head high and fought. I guess that was my fault that I can’t stop being strong. Wait that sounds bad, I mean I can’t stop fighting.”
“I forgive you,” Niji replied smiling…
Lupus was in their seventh wave when they fell, there were ten people who were set to fight Lupus. One of which had a gun that shoots burning bullets, of course fake, and kept shooting them and making them stumble. Lupus punched and fought their way through it all but was knocked down, the holograms glitched out and kept beating Lupus, kicking them, bruising and burning them. Coach Hannah had to switch it off by going inside and switching the projectors off and running to help Lupus, who shrugged her off and got up, their eye was purple and looked extremely damaged.
They walked out of the Cube with Hannah trailing them, only to be greeted by their group who started fussing over them, asking if they were ok, if they needed water, how amazing they were, at technically killing people or knocking them out, and just being kind. There were long minutes of chatter before Coach Hannah got up onto a platform and raised it to make sure everyone saw her, she smiled a fake smile and began with a grin, “Congratulations to Group 37, and their extraordinary performance, for winning this challenge. The leaderboards will be up now, to show you the place of your group in the challenge and the main leaderboard, the one on the right of the screen, will appear on the screen to my left.”
Sure enough, the TV next to Coach Hannah lit up, and two leaderboards appeared, one labelled “Main Boards” and the other “Combat Board” Group 37 was leading on both of them at the top of the boards, three loud whoops filled the groaning novices. Group 1 was second in the lead on both boards and Group 16 was third on the Main Board. Groups stared at the board and talked for a minute for shifting off the hallway. The Hallway is at the end of Training Hall, a large 100 meters of ups and downs and twists and turns. Coach Hannah stepped up in front of the weapons room next to the Hallway’s door, and greeted the audience, “Hallway this time is set highest to lowest levels, unlike Combat Cube, if you were a high level in Combat and you’re a high level in Hallway and doing this challenge, I pity you. But anyway, let’s begin the challenge, the fastest time wins. Yesterday you were asked which Group member would be doing this challenge; here are the first five groups. Group 1, is first, Group 37, is second, Group 24, is third, Group 16, fourth and Group 56 is fifth the first five, in chronological order. The challenge will begin in two minutes; your selected member will go into the weapons room pick a weapon then begin. Group 1 remember you’re first.”
With that Groups herded together like sheep, talking quickly about strategizes to the member of their Group who was running the Hallway.
Two minutes later, Wren Claren was going through the weapons room. The room itself was small but crowded, shotguns, rifles, katanas, baseball bat, high on a self of the dusty room a single wooden chunk of smoothed wood, no one knew how or why it was there but it was building up dust over the year of it being there. Two silver pistols were in a wooden box with a glass lid; Wren gazed at the assault rifle in the corner then turned to the pistols. Grabbing a pistol belt whilst walking towards the box. Sliding the lid off, Wren coughed at the smothering cloud of dust filling the air around it, as well as Wren’s face, she waved away the dust and picked up the pistols, the pistols were arm length, a leather black handle, and a tiny pointer, Wren studied the guns checking to see if damage was present. Wren grinned and muttered, “Good to see you aren’t broken.”
Wren’s face immediately fell as soon as she saw the right one’s markings; marked into the barrel two wolves on either side ran towards the muzzle, on the wolves a visible string marking led to the trigger. The left pistol had two cats also on the barrel running towards the muzzle, as the same as the right pistol there were strings marked leading towards the trigger. Wren shook her head and slotted the pistols into their pouches on either side of the belt wrapped around her waist; she pushed open the door and quickly walked through the hallways door.
The room walls were light grey and a dark grey floor of an unrecognisable material was placed there, there were four walls, which confused Wren at first but she soon remembered why. She turned to the wall opposite the door and listened out for the countdown readying herself for what’s to come. The male robotic voice picked up from a speaker in a far corner, unimportant for Wren to figure out which one, the voice repeated what Coach Hannah said then warned Wren to ready herself. A loud buzz filled her ears; another buzz followed a second after, another buzz, another buzz, another buzz. Good luck to me.Wren thought just before the last buzz filled her ears. The wall she was facing disappeared, revealing a corridor of about 10 meters. She sprinted forward, hissing sounds starting to appear around her, buzzing following her. The loud slide of the magical door-wall-gateway was far behind her.
Wren jumped over a block aid and appeared in the quick thinking part of the hallway, light switches turned off was spread around on the right, a metal door in front of the block aid, a blackboard on the left. Confused Wren analysed her surroundings, the switches were large, and 26 of them with labels in chronological order from 1 to 26 just approve each lever. Wren turned quickly and looked at the blackboard, and scanned it. In white paint the confusing sentence of, “Everyone has it, but nobody can lose it, what is it?”
Wren rattled her brain for an explanation, the mind not replying with a suitable answer only reminding her she heard it before. Her mind scanned over memories trying to remember the answer, loud hissing sounds came from the corridor Wren ran from. Starting to panic, her mind stopped searching for the memory and panicked for an answer, a thought came to her:
Wren woke up to the sound of crying, she pulled open her curtain for her bunk in Group 1’s dorm, and she swung her legs over the bed and rubbed her eyes. She scanned the room, everything seemed normal except the crying boy in the middle of the floor. It was Isaac, he had his head resting on his propped up knees, and he kept jerking with sadness whilst sniffing loudly. Wren looked at the bed above Isaac’s, it was empty, and then Wren rushed to the bed opposite hers, pulling the curtain quickly. Empty.
Wren dropped to the floor, and pressed the middle circle of the pattern under bed. The cupboard opened with a pop and Wren grabbed at the top of it and pulled it open. Dust already had started appearing in the cupboard; Wren got up and rushed to the slightly ajar door, sprinting loudly at what seemed 5am. Annoyed looking people opened their doors as she ran past, wondering what the noise is. She turned corridors, twisted and turns until she reached a metal door; it was metal, large and old. And on the door something was sticky taped to it, two letters. They both had ruff writing of two different names. One said Wren, the other Isaac.
Wren ripped off both of the letters and looked at her own one, there was more than just her name on it, the sentence, “Everyone has it but nobody can lose it…”
Wren’s mind flashed with the memory of the answer inside the letter and turned quickly to the switches, scanning the labels. 19, 8, 1, 4, 15 and 23 switches were flicked. There was a loud screeching sound to her Wren, she turned to see the door blocking her way was opened and a key was hanging from the roof from a wire. Wren rushed over and pulled the key off before running through the door, as she ran she scanned ahead of her, there was a large climbing net going upwards and a small way out at the top.
Wren cursed loudly then started climbing quickly; she slipped halfway up and heard a loud hissing sound. Looking down she saw a large reptilian, it was like a komodo dragon or something from Greek mythology, a chimera but way more lizard like. Instead of a lion head, a raptor like head, a shield of scales for a mane, a snake tongue flicked randomly tasting the air, long talon like claws were on the edge of each stub of an foot. It was an experiment the government made to help win wars and scare of terrorists from blowing up important monuments, made as guard dogs. This Chimera was scampering up the walls to the side of the climbing net, scaring the crap out of Wren as she looked back up and said, “This is truly incredible, I mean all I ever wanted is to get chased by a lizard McGee whilst in a game to test my smartness, I mean I love this.”
The “lizard mcgee” was gaining fast, Wren cursed again then starting climbing quicker but less accurate. Wren slipped more often but got to the small gap in the top of the net, it was a low and small sized but Wren could army crawl through it, and there was a light at the end of the darkness. But the last step is always the hardest.
The lizard clawed at her feet as she almost reached the end, she yelped and kicked the creature but it slowly recovered. Wren pressed on and reached the last step, she fell from the hole she was scampering in and fell out hitting the floor and heard yells of excitement.
“Sir they angered us into hurting them,” Wolfia replied, their voice weak and sounded unknown to Eryn’s ears, Apprentice Gould glared dagger at them. A silence broke. Wolfia’s courage came back to them; they stood up straight and glared at Gould daring him to answer then continued, “I am Wolfia Lýkos Psychí, I protect my friends and the things I care about, those two did something that damaged my protection, SO I FOUGHT BACK!”
Lupus stayed, fist raised, as the guy ran forward, Lupus dodged swiftly making the hologram stumble over itself. Lupus used this as a help; they grabbed the hologram’s right arm and pulled it up behind its back. The guy tumbled onto the floor but didn’t dissolve; Lupus kicked it, the hologram, in the back. The hologram dissolved and Lupus turned to the centre of the room waiting for the next wave.
The next wave had 1 big dude and two machete-wielding men, Lupus analysed the holograms then looked around at the platforms and poles. Machete 1 and Machete 2 run up to them, Lupus ran towards a pole, the two machetes following them. Lupus grabbed the pole and swung themselves around it, kicking Machete 1 into Machete 2 with a lot of force and letting go of the pole and landing in a three-point landing.
Big dude started running in big strides towards Lupus, who stared strategizing their next move to win, though the two machete wielders haven’t dissolved yet they were still lying on the floor in the way. The hologram ran to swing its left up at Lupus but it switched to kick them instead, Lupus bent there back backwards in a 90 degrees angle, the leg swung over Lupus’ head, they grabbed the leg and pushed it upwards quickly, pulling the leg muscles. The hologram stumbled but stayed up, Lupus’ eyes weren’t their normal heterochromatic self, and they were a blue-grey as if the colours mixed together.
Lupus ran towards the Machete-wielding two were getting up from the floor when Lupus jumped on top of them, Machete 2 dissolved under Machete 1, most likely their back breaking. Machete 1 stayed on the floor with Lupus standing on top of them. The big hologram ran towards Lupus, not sensing the other hologram, the hologram forward then tripped on the body. They both landed with a thud whilst Lupus stay up, Lupus kicked the holograms with the heel of their left shoe and made the holograms dissolve; they turned to the centre, clearly having fun…
“You fought back? NO really! You managed to damage two novices and three staff, congratulations you managed to fight back!” Gould snapped, Wolfia backed down and stopped talking, Eryn staggered backwards. Gould looked at her sympathy and then turned to Wolfia again with a softer approach with his look. He turned around and walked over behind his desk and took a seat, thinking in the silence. Gould looked up and replied a quiet voice, “I’ll give you your punishments in an hour. Go rest and talk to your friends, if you have any after this.”
Wolfia nodded politely, before walking out of the room followed by Eryn, they walked in silence through the empty corridors, the dim lights setting a sombre mood with the two friends, and eventually, they heard the loud chatter from the dining hall. Wolfia paused in a two way splitting one leading to the dining hall the other to the dorms and infirmary. Eryn paused down the corridor to the dining hall and turned to Wolfia, They were rubbing their knuckles from the lights Eryn could see the knuckles were red and sore, and Wolfia’s eyes were distant and troubled. They looked up to talk but didn’t say anything and pointed to the infirmary, sending signals to Eryn that they were going to go get something for their knuckles.
Eryn turned away and walked into the dining hall, looking behind her shoulder to see Wolfia pinching their bridge of the nose before walking towards the infirmary. The walk by themselves was worse than having awkward silence but having people around, they reached a large metal door with a large window to show inside. Wolfia took a deep breath and pushed the door opening quietly, the room is a large room, with hospital beds dotted against the walls, curtains were covering the beds, the lights were off and the only light was from the machines in the room, about three curtains were drawn, one of which the bed was empty. They moved to shut the door quickly but there was a long creak making Wolfia wince. When the door shut Wolfia swiftly moved away from the door, walking to the other side of the room where the supply cupboard was.
They almost got there but heard shuffling behind them which made them spin around readying for a fight, it wasn’t a threat; the person was upright lying on their bed, their curtain was one of the three open. It was Niji… The two stared at each other, unsure what to do, unsure if they should hide or run. Wolfia’s eyes scanned Niji’s face and body. He had a swollen eye which was a dark green in the red light of the machine beside them; his arm was in a bandage. His eyes had a fear as he stared into Wolfia’s, whose eyes were emotionless. Wolfia sucked a deep breath and turned to the cupboard, they looked around just in case of any staff then broke open the hatch with their hands. Instead of taking just bandages, Wolfia took a bottle of green liquid; a bottle of clear golden liquid and a cup form the water dispenser next to the cupboard.
Wolfia walked up to a confused Niji who was staring at Wolfia as they did this, they placed the stuff on the bedside table next to Niji’s bed. Niji manage to stutter, his voice quiet, “What are you plan-“
“Quiet,” Wolfia replied quiet, they grabbed a bowl from the table and poured the green liquid into it, the liquid came out slowly and stickily. Once about a teaspoon-sized dollop was in the bowl Wolfia opened the other bottle, the cork on the top releasing a loud pop, then poured the liquid into the bowl. The liquid rushed out quickly. The bowl’s contents were a disgusting mixture, Wolfia grabbed a needle from the cabinet under the bed and stabbed it into their own arm, drawing out their own blood. Niji grimaced and made a face of disgust, Wolfia poured the blood into the bowl with the other liquids.
Wolfia stirred it for a solid five minutes in an awkward silence, Niji watched out to see if anyone was coming. When Wolfia stopped stirring the mixture was a purple, dark in some places like in others. They poured the mixture into the cup they got and gave it to Niji, who stared up at Wolfia who shoved the cup into him. Wolfia quietly went to go grab a chair from the back walls and placed it next to Niji’s bed and sat down. They looked up at Niji who still hadn’t drunk the mixture and sighed, “It’s a medical chemical many people use nowadays, so please either feel in pain for a long amount of time or drink it.”
Niji took a gulp and grimaced, Wolfia smirking their once brown hair falling from their down their shoulders and almost covering their face. They sat in silence as Niji drank; Niji finished and placed the cup on the table next to the bed, then stared at Wolfia apologetically then almost whispering, “I’m sorry for what I said, I didn’t mean it, it was Panda who really set me off.”
“It’s not your fault, it was mine, I’m paying the price,” Wolfia muttered in reply, rubbing their knuckles realising they need to bandage them, so they grabbed the bandages and started rapping around their knuckles and continued, “I said the first thing, I realised your… secret and I called you weak not talking about it, I knew your family were horrid and I still said the things I said. I’m sorry. I am the reason you’re here and Panda, it was my fault. I ruined our friendship, I ruined our group because I never had a family who either hated me or loved me for who I am. I was openly agender in my school, and I was ridiculed but I held my head high and fought. I guess that was my fault that I can’t stop being strong. Wait that sounds bad, I mean I can’t stop fighting.”
“I forgive you,” Niji replied smiling…
Lupus was in their seventh wave when they fell, there were ten people who were set to fight Lupus. One of which had a gun that shoots burning bullets, of course fake, and kept shooting them and making them stumble. Lupus punched and fought their way through it all but was knocked down, the holograms glitched out and kept beating Lupus, kicking them, bruising and burning them. Coach Hannah had to switch it off by going inside and switching the projectors off and running to help Lupus, who shrugged her off and got up, their eye was purple and looked extremely damaged.
They walked out of the Cube with Hannah trailing them, only to be greeted by their group who started fussing over them, asking if they were ok, if they needed water, how amazing they were, at technically killing people or knocking them out, and just being kind. There were long minutes of chatter before Coach Hannah got up onto a platform and raised it to make sure everyone saw her, she smiled a fake smile and began with a grin, “Congratulations to Group 37, and their extraordinary performance, for winning this challenge. The leaderboards will be up now, to show you the place of your group in the challenge and the main leaderboard, the one on the right of the screen, will appear on the screen to my left.”
Sure enough, the TV next to Coach Hannah lit up, and two leaderboards appeared, one labelled “Main Boards” and the other “Combat Board” Group 37 was leading on both of them at the top of the boards, three loud whoops filled the groaning novices. Group 1 was second in the lead on both boards and Group 16 was third on the Main Board. Groups stared at the board and talked for a minute for shifting off the hallway. The Hallway is at the end of Training Hall, a large 100 meters of ups and downs and twists and turns. Coach Hannah stepped up in front of the weapons room next to the Hallway’s door, and greeted the audience, “Hallway this time is set highest to lowest levels, unlike Combat Cube, if you were a high level in Combat and you’re a high level in Hallway and doing this challenge, I pity you. But anyway, let’s begin the challenge, the fastest time wins. Yesterday you were asked which Group member would be doing this challenge; here are the first five groups. Group 1, is first, Group 37, is second, Group 24, is third, Group 16, fourth and Group 56 is fifth the first five, in chronological order. The challenge will begin in two minutes; your selected member will go into the weapons room pick a weapon then begin. Group 1 remember you’re first.”
With that Groups herded together like sheep, talking quickly about strategizes to the member of their Group who was running the Hallway.
Two minutes later, Wren Claren was going through the weapons room. The room itself was small but crowded, shotguns, rifles, katanas, baseball bat, high on a self of the dusty room a single wooden chunk of smoothed wood, no one knew how or why it was there but it was building up dust over the year of it being there. Two silver pistols were in a wooden box with a glass lid; Wren gazed at the assault rifle in the corner then turned to the pistols. Grabbing a pistol belt whilst walking towards the box. Sliding the lid off, Wren coughed at the smothering cloud of dust filling the air around it, as well as Wren’s face, she waved away the dust and picked up the pistols, the pistols were arm length, a leather black handle, and a tiny pointer, Wren studied the guns checking to see if damage was present. Wren grinned and muttered, “Good to see you aren’t broken.”
Wren’s face immediately fell as soon as she saw the right one’s markings; marked into the barrel two wolves on either side ran towards the muzzle, on the wolves a visible string marking led to the trigger. The left pistol had two cats also on the barrel running towards the muzzle, as the same as the right pistol there were strings marked leading towards the trigger. Wren shook her head and slotted the pistols into their pouches on either side of the belt wrapped around her waist; she pushed open the door and quickly walked through the hallways door.
The room walls were light grey and a dark grey floor of an unrecognisable material was placed there, there were four walls, which confused Wren at first but she soon remembered why. She turned to the wall opposite the door and listened out for the countdown readying herself for what’s to come. The male robotic voice picked up from a speaker in a far corner, unimportant for Wren to figure out which one, the voice repeated what Coach Hannah said then warned Wren to ready herself. A loud buzz filled her ears; another buzz followed a second after, another buzz, another buzz, another buzz. Good luck to me.Wren thought just before the last buzz filled her ears. The wall she was facing disappeared, revealing a corridor of about 10 meters. She sprinted forward, hissing sounds starting to appear around her, buzzing following her. The loud slide of the magical door-wall-gateway was far behind her.
Wren jumped over a block aid and appeared in the quick thinking part of the hallway, light switches turned off was spread around on the right, a metal door in front of the block aid, a blackboard on the left. Confused Wren analysed her surroundings, the switches were large, and 26 of them with labels in chronological order from 1 to 26 just approve each lever. Wren turned quickly and looked at the blackboard, and scanned it. In white paint the confusing sentence of, “Everyone has it, but nobody can lose it, what is it?”
Wren rattled her brain for an explanation, the mind not replying with a suitable answer only reminding her she heard it before. Her mind scanned over memories trying to remember the answer, loud hissing sounds came from the corridor Wren ran from. Starting to panic, her mind stopped searching for the memory and panicked for an answer, a thought came to her:
Wren woke up to the sound of crying, she pulled open her curtain for her bunk in Group 1’s dorm, and she swung her legs over the bed and rubbed her eyes. She scanned the room, everything seemed normal except the crying boy in the middle of the floor. It was Isaac, he had his head resting on his propped up knees, and he kept jerking with sadness whilst sniffing loudly. Wren looked at the bed above Isaac’s, it was empty, and then Wren rushed to the bed opposite hers, pulling the curtain quickly. Empty.
Wren dropped to the floor, and pressed the middle circle of the pattern under bed. The cupboard opened with a pop and Wren grabbed at the top of it and pulled it open. Dust already had started appearing in the cupboard; Wren got up and rushed to the slightly ajar door, sprinting loudly at what seemed 5am. Annoyed looking people opened their doors as she ran past, wondering what the noise is. She turned corridors, twisted and turns until she reached a metal door; it was metal, large and old. And on the door something was sticky taped to it, two letters. They both had ruff writing of two different names. One said Wren, the other Isaac.
Wren ripped off both of the letters and looked at her own one, there was more than just her name on it, the sentence, “Everyone has it but nobody can lose it…”
Wren’s mind flashed with the memory of the answer inside the letter and turned quickly to the switches, scanning the labels. 19, 8, 1, 4, 15 and 23 switches were flicked. There was a loud screeching sound to her Wren, she turned to see the door blocking her way was opened and a key was hanging from the roof from a wire. Wren rushed over and pulled the key off before running through the door, as she ran she scanned ahead of her, there was a large climbing net going upwards and a small way out at the top.
Wren cursed loudly then started climbing quickly; she slipped halfway up and heard a loud hissing sound. Looking down she saw a large reptilian, it was like a komodo dragon or something from Greek mythology, a chimera but way more lizard like. Instead of a lion head, a raptor like head, a shield of scales for a mane, a snake tongue flicked randomly tasting the air, long talon like claws were on the edge of each stub of an foot. It was an experiment the government made to help win wars and scare of terrorists from blowing up important monuments, made as guard dogs. This Chimera was scampering up the walls to the side of the climbing net, scaring the crap out of Wren as she looked back up and said, “This is truly incredible, I mean all I ever wanted is to get chased by a lizard McGee whilst in a game to test my smartness, I mean I love this.”
The “lizard mcgee” was gaining fast, Wren cursed again then starting climbing quicker but less accurate. Wren slipped more often but got to the small gap in the top of the net, it was a low and small sized but Wren could army crawl through it, and there was a light at the end of the darkness. But the last step is always the hardest.
The lizard clawed at her feet as she almost reached the end, she yelped and kicked the creature but it slowly recovered. Wren pressed on and reached the last step, she fell from the hole she was scampering in and fell out hitting the floor and heard yells of excitement.
Wren thought she finished the challenge due to the loud noises of excitement but in reality, she just finished the first 100 meters. She rolled to lie on her back thinking she just finished, her mind was in relief. The lighting was dim and Gothic like, the lighting made Wren sleepy. The lizard chimaera popped its head out of the hole where Wren fell out of, Wren’s eyes widening as she gawked at the creature whilst it crawled down the wall. Wren cursed loudly then stood up rapidly, her grey hair covering her face because she stood up too quickly, she groaned and pushed the hair away and turned around scanning the area, the sounds of excitement weren’t from her friends.
A long corridor that seemed to be going on forever due to the lighting, the corridor has prison cells of a small size dotted down the parallel walls, instead of normal human screams they were muffled and more animalistic. The hands were clawed, scaly and long, the faces had dents for eyes and mouths, the skin was a deathly pale. They had no faces, scales shielded their skin. Screams of pain or excitement and yells of hunger made Wren’s stomach twist. Behind her there was a loud bang, she spun around to see the chimaera lizard was scuttling towards her. Wren’s immediate response was she grabbed the two pistols from her waist and shot creature multiple of times, the creature shrieked and dissolved. Wren physically relaxed and sighed, and then starting sprinting towards the end of the corridor, which seemed to go forever.
After constant running and dodging the hands of the creatures, Wren fell to the floor. She got up again but leaned against a wall between two police cells, panting heavily. Wren stood there leaning on the wall, clearly wasting precious time for herself. When she stopped panting and had slightly steady breathing, which took about 30 seconds. Wren stopped leaning on the wall and started to carry on running, yet again it was unending. She groaned in frustration and kicked a stone, then looked at her grabbing her grey hair and tugging.
That’s when Wren noticed something; it was quiet, silent, a vacuum of silence like space. Wren looked inside the cells; the creatures weren’t there, Wren stepped towards one, looking in. The back wall was usable due to the lighting, a shadow cast over it so the cells looked like they were unending. Wren noticed movement and craned her neck to get a better view, her face practically going through the bars.
There was a shuffle in the darkness and a scratching sound, Wren rubbed her eyes to get the dust out of her eyes. Suddenly something came from the darkness, it a human shape, long brown-blonde sombre hair that led to the waist, tall and skinny, familiar to Wren’s eyes. Wren jumped back instinctively reaching for her pistols and pointing the guns’ points towards the creature. The creature had grabbed the bars and stared at Wren, Wren’s breathing hitched. It was her friend, but it wasn’t. The creature was like the man she saw all those months ago, the dark blue liquid of IOS leaked from their nostrils, the corner of their eyes and worst of all, cups came oozing from their mouth. Their eyes weren’t their normal heterochromatic, they were sky blue and their pupils were bright electrocuting blue.
“Wol- Wolfia?” Wren managed, her voice staggering, she stepped back again, her pistols still raised, Wolfia’s hands reached through the bars and tried to grab Wren. Wren stood firm as Wolfia’s hand brushed the right pistol, the one with the wolves on. Wren glared at her friend and Wolfia’s eyes looked around widely, too late Wren realised people are getting infected as well as animals. The bars disappeared in front of Wolfia and they ran at Wren, Wren faced away and shot with the right pistol. There were an ear breaking bang and a small grunt, making Wren turn forward.
Wren turned back; the sight forced her to swallow a sob, the image before she was her friend. Normal, no IOS liquid escaping from their eyes, nose or mouth, neither did they have the infected eyes, they were normal. Her friend was looking at Wren in shock, and then they slowly turned their head towards the bleeding bullet wound in their left shoulder, visible due to the shirt being ripped. Wren kept her pistols pointed at her friend, though she had tiny droplets of sadness coming from her eyes, she stood strong. Wolfia looked back at Wren with a heartbroken expression and croaked, “You sh- shot m- me. You shot me, I thought we were friends.”
“You’re not Wolfia, Wolfia would understand. You’re not Wolfia, they are not dead- you’re- not dead,” Wren practically whispering, her voice cracking ever so slightly, with her final words her friend dissolved into a pile of orange cubes. The cell in front of Wren had its bars once more, suddenly lights lit up in that cell alone, a metal door with was now visible, the door had a massive lock. Wren’s pocket grew heavy; she looked down after lowering her pistols and saw the key from earlier hanging loose. Wren looked around the cell and saw a wooden door on the right side, leading inwards. She ran forward and hit her shoulder against the door until the hinges gave away, Wren ran towards the metal door and fitted the key into the lock, turning the key the door gave a satisfying click and swung open. Wren was greeted by friends, but she was too tired to get up and greet them, she fell to the floor and rested her legs. Her friends smiling warmly at her, but they will never be her best friend.
The familiar robotic voice somewhat calmed Lupus down, they relaxed and stood in a readying pose, unsure which way the hallway will appear. The buzzes started once more, making Lupus light-footed and ready to run. Five buzzes went and left, the wall of the hallway disappeared, Lupus sprinted quickly, unlike Wren’s this was to have a lot of climbing, ducking and weaving. Poles in random places in Lupus’ way were connected to the opposing wall. Lupus ran dodge their way through the poles, grabbing a higher up pole and swinging themselves through a gap between two poles, as if this was just one big gymnastics tournament.
The others were watching eagerly on the TV screens outside of the Hallway, the TV screens show the views from the CCTV cameras inside. They all gaped at how Lupus bent and flew through the hallway, unlike Wren’s theirs seemed to be harder to run through. But nobody seemed to notice the Alpha Reign staff rushing around, locking spares doors and closing the door to the Outside.
The lights started to flicker, the camera glitched. Everyone looked up at the lights and the screens, racking the knuckles on it to see it would help. Luis, Pandora, Jack, Talia and Aaron backed into the same corner unintentionally and bumped into each other making each person jump. Isaac took a step closer to the TV screens and leaned in to see if he could see what was happening.
Lupus made their way down the hallway, reaching the climbing rope, their breathing was harsher than usual and their heartbeat unnaturally faster. They tried to ignore this as they sped past, above Lupus, the little number of lights flickered on and off, their movements faltered a second halfway up the rope at the second disturbance in the lighting. They jumped off the climbing ropes and they got up, rubbing off the dirt. Before they could do anything else, the lights blinked out, leaving them in darkness. Lupus couldn’t see anything through the pitch darkness and sweat began to break their skin.
For the others, everyone stood silent and still, everybody in the room tense with fear. Five seconds passed, people practically holding their breath. The backup powered lights flickered to life. Everyone went back to a relaxed mode, breathing calmly until Apprentice Gould’s voice carried over the speakers, his voice was stuttering and glitching but still, a sentence came from it, “All nov- NOVices, pleazze stay in the Tranning all, this is not a dr- drill. Go to your Group’s highlighted section, a selection of numbers should appear over each section ranging from 1-60. Please stay calm and go to the appropriate number. Thank you for your cooperation.”
“What did he just say, please stay calm? HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO STAY CALM?” Wren complained, Isaac raised his hand for silence and looked at the TV screen once again, Jules leaned towards it as well, the video jotted from static to normal picturing immensely quickly it was hard to analyse the picture properly. Then the screen stopped switching and went to the dark green night vision it does it times like this, it showed the climbing rope section from high in a corner. The climbing rope was cut from below, the top part was swinging slightly and a pile of ropes at the bottom, the ends of the ropes were jagged and puffed outwards.
“Hold on, where’s Lupus? No way they could have heard the announcement from inside there, the ropes are cut,” Jules started frantically speaking, rushing towards the entrance of the Hallway, Saskya and Jay following. Jules skidded to a stop in front of the doors of the Hallway’s waiting area, slipping from stopping too quickly; Saskya shoved the doors open and proceeded to run forward, Jay waited for Jules who stood up quickly and followed after. They ignored the massive hole in the wall of the waiting room and ran into the Hallway area, ducking and weaving through the poles to get to the climbing poles.
Once they reached the area, no one was there; all there was a torn black scarf, in the dark light they noticed a struggled was definitely held. Droplets of blood skimmed the floor; a bloody tooth was near the ropes. The three grimaced at the sight, looking around trying to figure what exactly happened; Jay picked up the ropes and examined them. Saskya looked at massive scratches on the wall and frowned, “Do you think Lupus is ok? These aren’t the same size as the chimaera’s claws; it must have been some kind of knife or blade in general?”
Saskya looked at Jules who was making her way back to the waiting room; she seemed to be following something on the floor. Jay and Saskya looked at each other than preceded follow Jules back to the waiting room. They spotted what Jules was following, a trail of blood that was leading back to the room. The two started speeding up and weaved through the gym of poles, they caught up with Jules and climbed over her using the poles and carried on following the blood trails, with Jules now behind them slowly walking not noticing the others.
The blood led to the waiting room, then turned left from the Hallway’s entrance going towards a wall. The wall had a door sized part sticking out, like a secret door; the door had handprints of blood smeared over it, some of the handprints were larger than others. Saskya and Jay looked at each other and walked over, Jay reaching out and grabbing the side of the door with no blood. The door swung open with a scraping of the floor, the inside was a passage going straightforward for ten steps then turned left, pipes for walls, which kept wheezing out gas, and dim lights for a sight that flickered randomly.
Jay was about to step in and investigate but someone grabbed the back of their tight shirt and pulled them with a lot of force. Jay tumbled back and fell on her back, she propped herself up slightly with her elbows and stared up at the person who grabbed her it was Apprentice Hender. Hender looked at the two then at Jules who rushed in because she gave up looking at the floor following a trail of blood. She looked at Jay then Hender, her expression hardens with anger. Saskya walked over to Jay and pulled her up by the arm, looking at Apprentice Hender with confusion.
“You three, go back to your Groups, there’s a head count happening. We’ll sort it out, stay calm,” Hender said his voice commanding but informal, not his usual voice; his scarred face looked worried, almost afraid. Aside barely shown from the angry man, the three in front of him left the room quietly, the emergency lights guiding them to their Groups. Jules’ Group, Group 37, was with Group 16 and Jay’s Group, Group 1, was with 15. Saskya and Jules walked back in silence and when they reached their area in the trap section expecting to see Aaron waiting for them. They came to only 3 of 4 members of Group 16, who were looking worried and confused.
“Do you know where Luis is?” Loki asked his voice in deep concern.
“No, do you know where Aaron is? Jules replied and asked, her voice withering slightly. Wait, Luis is gone as well? This is weird, something is definitely up. She thought to herself, she looked at Saskya who had a worried look in her heterochromatic eyes, her messy blue and pink hair that was tied in a ponytail was falling apart. Jules thought of something, “Stay here with Group 16, Sass. I will go see what’s up.”
“Are you sure?” Saskya asked, she looked at Jules’ expression then sighed, “Yep you’re sure. Hurry up and get it over and done with.”
Jules smirked and ran over to Group 1 and Group 15 in the combat cube with a few other Groups, Group 15 seemed to be calm and collected, whilst Group 1 was acting like a dysfunctional family, yelling at each other, complaining, all their faces had worry etched upon. Wren and Isaac were arguing, Jay was sitting by herself, there was only 3 out of 6 in the Group. Wren saw Jules and rushed towards her ignoring Isaac complaining, she deadpanned, “Have you seen the other 3?”
“No, Luis from Group 16, Lupus and Aaron are missing as well,” Jules replied quickly, Isaac and Jay walked up to listen to the conversation. Wren looked at Isaac and gestured in a “SEE” type of way. Then a voice came from overhead, Apprentice Gould’s.
“Six members of the students have been reported as missing, the following names are the students missing Luis Morue from Group 16, Aaron Reaper from Group 37, and Lupus from Group 37. From Group 1 we have Pandora Erye, Talia Avion Everton, and Jackson John Wells, if you see them please contact the nearest member of staff,” with that Wren went ballistic, she cursed loudly and started complaining about the staff being bad at their job. Isaac dragged his hand down his face then rubbed his eyes, eyes still closed he gestured and talked.
“Ok how about we ask if we can join up with Group 16 and 37, it will help us know that we are still here, and if one of us disappears we will know.”
“That my friend… is a rubbish plan, I hate Panda, you hate Panda, we all hate Panda. So joining up with Panda is a big no no, get it?” Wren hissed, Group 15 started to get intrigued by the conversation that was being held, Isaac pulled Jules, Jay and Wren towards him and started to think of a better idea.
Jay sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose and looked up at her fellow Group members, “We have to try it, just to be saying that no one else gets taken. So we can stop holding out grudges like kindergarten children, and stop fighting over a toy in the sandbox.”
“That is extremely descriptive, Jay. Have you dealt with the amazing adventures of the sandbox?” Wren asked mockingly, Isaac rolled his eyes, Jay grinned a mischievous grin and continued the banter, Group 15 started to get bored.
“Why yes Wren, I have had many experiences with the sandbox and to be exact the Principal’s office,” Jay replied jokingly, Wren and Jay continued the banter as Jules and Isaac looked at each other annoyed. Eventually, the two Group leaders grew bored and walked off towards Apprentice Hender and asked if they could merge their two groups together with Group 16.
A familiar voice came from the nearest one to his left, the voice cursed and groaned. Jack caught a glimpse of who it was, Aaron. The one nearest to his right also groaned, but this time it was not as familiar as Aaron’s voice. A quiet but soothing female voice came from the body opposite Jack, “Luis? Aaron? Is that you and who are the other two people, speak your name?”
“I’m J- Jack, Jackson John Wells, Pandora is that you?” Jack called out to his female friend, he walked forwards arms first reaching out to his friend, his friend grabbed his wrists and he grabbed hers before pulling into a hug. A whine came from Jack’s left, the familiar whine that annoyed Jack so much, Talia.
“EW, EW gross I have blood down the front of my shirt, do you know who long it takes to get blood out of a shirt. I’m going to be washing this for days,” Talia whined, Aaron’s groan made Jack smile at the remembrance of how much Talia flirts with him. By now Jack’s eyes had adjusted to the little light given to him, he looked at the four others, they all had some kind of cut on their face, Luis a small cut on his eyebrow, Talia from the right nostril to the lip, Pandora a tiny cut under her left eye, Aaron a cut from his right temple to the jaw. Jack looked around trying to make sense of everything, when he heard yelling from down the corridor where the bodies were, someone sprinted around the corner, running fall pelt towards the five.
They were yelling something Jack couldn’t hear but Luis seemed to hear it, he started running backwards away from the oncoming person before turning around and sprinting off, Aaron starting to follow him. Jack finally heard the person’s voice, it was British but a hint of a different culture, “RUN! RUN! RUN THE OTHER DIRECTION NOT AT ME! RUN”
Jack was confused for a second before his eyes widen realising why he had to run, behind the person a group of dog-like creatures were running after the person. Jack cursed loudly and started to run as well, following his friends, Pandora and Talia following in pursuit.
A long corridor that seemed to be going on forever due to the lighting, the corridor has prison cells of a small size dotted down the parallel walls, instead of normal human screams they were muffled and more animalistic. The hands were clawed, scaly and long, the faces had dents for eyes and mouths, the skin was a deathly pale. They had no faces, scales shielded their skin. Screams of pain or excitement and yells of hunger made Wren’s stomach twist. Behind her there was a loud bang, she spun around to see the chimaera lizard was scuttling towards her. Wren’s immediate response was she grabbed the two pistols from her waist and shot creature multiple of times, the creature shrieked and dissolved. Wren physically relaxed and sighed, and then starting sprinting towards the end of the corridor, which seemed to go forever.
After constant running and dodging the hands of the creatures, Wren fell to the floor. She got up again but leaned against a wall between two police cells, panting heavily. Wren stood there leaning on the wall, clearly wasting precious time for herself. When she stopped panting and had slightly steady breathing, which took about 30 seconds. Wren stopped leaning on the wall and started to carry on running, yet again it was unending. She groaned in frustration and kicked a stone, then looked at her grabbing her grey hair and tugging.
That’s when Wren noticed something; it was quiet, silent, a vacuum of silence like space. Wren looked inside the cells; the creatures weren’t there, Wren stepped towards one, looking in. The back wall was usable due to the lighting, a shadow cast over it so the cells looked like they were unending. Wren noticed movement and craned her neck to get a better view, her face practically going through the bars.
There was a shuffle in the darkness and a scratching sound, Wren rubbed her eyes to get the dust out of her eyes. Suddenly something came from the darkness, it a human shape, long brown-blonde sombre hair that led to the waist, tall and skinny, familiar to Wren’s eyes. Wren jumped back instinctively reaching for her pistols and pointing the guns’ points towards the creature. The creature had grabbed the bars and stared at Wren, Wren’s breathing hitched. It was her friend, but it wasn’t. The creature was like the man she saw all those months ago, the dark blue liquid of IOS leaked from their nostrils, the corner of their eyes and worst of all, cups came oozing from their mouth. Their eyes weren’t their normal heterochromatic, they were sky blue and their pupils were bright electrocuting blue.
“Wol- Wolfia?” Wren managed, her voice staggering, she stepped back again, her pistols still raised, Wolfia’s hands reached through the bars and tried to grab Wren. Wren stood firm as Wolfia’s hand brushed the right pistol, the one with the wolves on. Wren glared at her friend and Wolfia’s eyes looked around widely, too late Wren realised people are getting infected as well as animals. The bars disappeared in front of Wolfia and they ran at Wren, Wren faced away and shot with the right pistol. There were an ear breaking bang and a small grunt, making Wren turn forward.
Wren turned back; the sight forced her to swallow a sob, the image before she was her friend. Normal, no IOS liquid escaping from their eyes, nose or mouth, neither did they have the infected eyes, they were normal. Her friend was looking at Wren in shock, and then they slowly turned their head towards the bleeding bullet wound in their left shoulder, visible due to the shirt being ripped. Wren kept her pistols pointed at her friend, though she had tiny droplets of sadness coming from her eyes, she stood strong. Wolfia looked back at Wren with a heartbroken expression and croaked, “You sh- shot m- me. You shot me, I thought we were friends.”
“You’re not Wolfia, Wolfia would understand. You’re not Wolfia, they are not dead- you’re- not dead,” Wren practically whispering, her voice cracking ever so slightly, with her final words her friend dissolved into a pile of orange cubes. The cell in front of Wren had its bars once more, suddenly lights lit up in that cell alone, a metal door with was now visible, the door had a massive lock. Wren’s pocket grew heavy; she looked down after lowering her pistols and saw the key from earlier hanging loose. Wren looked around the cell and saw a wooden door on the right side, leading inwards. She ran forward and hit her shoulder against the door until the hinges gave away, Wren ran towards the metal door and fitted the key into the lock, turning the key the door gave a satisfying click and swung open. Wren was greeted by friends, but she was too tired to get up and greet them, she fell to the floor and rested her legs. Her friends smiling warmly at her, but they will never be her best friend.
*
Lupus looked around the weapon room, scanning each of the weapons but got disappointed, there wasn’t a weapon that suited them. Then something caught their eye, there was something reflecting the light on the top self in the corner. Lupus took a step closer and took the weapon from the shelf; it was a two bladed knife, a haladie to believe. The wood was polished, shiny and smooth. Layers of dusts was still present even though there was a lot of movement, Lupus brushed off the dust and walked out of the room into the Hallway’s starting room, yet again there were four falls with no way out except the door they go went through, confusing Lupus.The familiar robotic voice somewhat calmed Lupus down, they relaxed and stood in a readying pose, unsure which way the hallway will appear. The buzzes started once more, making Lupus light-footed and ready to run. Five buzzes went and left, the wall of the hallway disappeared, Lupus sprinted quickly, unlike Wren’s this was to have a lot of climbing, ducking and weaving. Poles in random places in Lupus’ way were connected to the opposing wall. Lupus ran dodge their way through the poles, grabbing a higher up pole and swinging themselves through a gap between two poles, as if this was just one big gymnastics tournament.
The others were watching eagerly on the TV screens outside of the Hallway, the TV screens show the views from the CCTV cameras inside. They all gaped at how Lupus bent and flew through the hallway, unlike Wren’s theirs seemed to be harder to run through. But nobody seemed to notice the Alpha Reign staff rushing around, locking spares doors and closing the door to the Outside.
The lights started to flicker, the camera glitched. Everyone looked up at the lights and the screens, racking the knuckles on it to see it would help. Luis, Pandora, Jack, Talia and Aaron backed into the same corner unintentionally and bumped into each other making each person jump. Isaac took a step closer to the TV screens and leaned in to see if he could see what was happening.
Lupus made their way down the hallway, reaching the climbing rope, their breathing was harsher than usual and their heartbeat unnaturally faster. They tried to ignore this as they sped past, above Lupus, the little number of lights flickered on and off, their movements faltered a second halfway up the rope at the second disturbance in the lighting. They jumped off the climbing ropes and they got up, rubbing off the dirt. Before they could do anything else, the lights blinked out, leaving them in darkness. Lupus couldn’t see anything through the pitch darkness and sweat began to break their skin.
For the others, everyone stood silent and still, everybody in the room tense with fear. Five seconds passed, people practically holding their breath. The backup powered lights flickered to life. Everyone went back to a relaxed mode, breathing calmly until Apprentice Gould’s voice carried over the speakers, his voice was stuttering and glitching but still, a sentence came from it, “All nov- NOVices, pleazze stay in the Tranning all, this is not a dr- drill. Go to your Group’s highlighted section, a selection of numbers should appear over each section ranging from 1-60. Please stay calm and go to the appropriate number. Thank you for your cooperation.”
“What did he just say, please stay calm? HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO STAY CALM?” Wren complained, Isaac raised his hand for silence and looked at the TV screen once again, Jules leaned towards it as well, the video jotted from static to normal picturing immensely quickly it was hard to analyse the picture properly. Then the screen stopped switching and went to the dark green night vision it does it times like this, it showed the climbing rope section from high in a corner. The climbing rope was cut from below, the top part was swinging slightly and a pile of ropes at the bottom, the ends of the ropes were jagged and puffed outwards.
“Hold on, where’s Lupus? No way they could have heard the announcement from inside there, the ropes are cut,” Jules started frantically speaking, rushing towards the entrance of the Hallway, Saskya and Jay following. Jules skidded to a stop in front of the doors of the Hallway’s waiting area, slipping from stopping too quickly; Saskya shoved the doors open and proceeded to run forward, Jay waited for Jules who stood up quickly and followed after. They ignored the massive hole in the wall of the waiting room and ran into the Hallway area, ducking and weaving through the poles to get to the climbing poles.
Once they reached the area, no one was there; all there was a torn black scarf, in the dark light they noticed a struggled was definitely held. Droplets of blood skimmed the floor; a bloody tooth was near the ropes. The three grimaced at the sight, looking around trying to figure what exactly happened; Jay picked up the ropes and examined them. Saskya looked at massive scratches on the wall and frowned, “Do you think Lupus is ok? These aren’t the same size as the chimaera’s claws; it must have been some kind of knife or blade in general?”
Saskya looked at Jules who was making her way back to the waiting room; she seemed to be following something on the floor. Jay and Saskya looked at each other than preceded follow Jules back to the waiting room. They spotted what Jules was following, a trail of blood that was leading back to the room. The two started speeding up and weaved through the gym of poles, they caught up with Jules and climbed over her using the poles and carried on following the blood trails, with Jules now behind them slowly walking not noticing the others.
The blood led to the waiting room, then turned left from the Hallway’s entrance going towards a wall. The wall had a door sized part sticking out, like a secret door; the door had handprints of blood smeared over it, some of the handprints were larger than others. Saskya and Jay looked at each other and walked over, Jay reaching out and grabbing the side of the door with no blood. The door swung open with a scraping of the floor, the inside was a passage going straightforward for ten steps then turned left, pipes for walls, which kept wheezing out gas, and dim lights for a sight that flickered randomly.
Jay was about to step in and investigate but someone grabbed the back of their tight shirt and pulled them with a lot of force. Jay tumbled back and fell on her back, she propped herself up slightly with her elbows and stared up at the person who grabbed her it was Apprentice Hender. Hender looked at the two then at Jules who rushed in because she gave up looking at the floor following a trail of blood. She looked at Jay then Hender, her expression hardens with anger. Saskya walked over to Jay and pulled her up by the arm, looking at Apprentice Hender with confusion.
“You three, go back to your Groups, there’s a head count happening. We’ll sort it out, stay calm,” Hender said his voice commanding but informal, not his usual voice; his scarred face looked worried, almost afraid. Aside barely shown from the angry man, the three in front of him left the room quietly, the emergency lights guiding them to their Groups. Jules’ Group, Group 37, was with Group 16 and Jay’s Group, Group 1, was with 15. Saskya and Jules walked back in silence and when they reached their area in the trap section expecting to see Aaron waiting for them. They came to only 3 of 4 members of Group 16, who were looking worried and confused.
“Do you know where Luis is?” Loki asked his voice in deep concern.
“No, do you know where Aaron is? Jules replied and asked, her voice withering slightly. Wait, Luis is gone as well? This is weird, something is definitely up. She thought to herself, she looked at Saskya who had a worried look in her heterochromatic eyes, her messy blue and pink hair that was tied in a ponytail was falling apart. Jules thought of something, “Stay here with Group 16, Sass. I will go see what’s up.”
“Are you sure?” Saskya asked, she looked at Jules’ expression then sighed, “Yep you’re sure. Hurry up and get it over and done with.”
Jules smirked and ran over to Group 1 and Group 15 in the combat cube with a few other Groups, Group 15 seemed to be calm and collected, whilst Group 1 was acting like a dysfunctional family, yelling at each other, complaining, all their faces had worry etched upon. Wren and Isaac were arguing, Jay was sitting by herself, there was only 3 out of 6 in the Group. Wren saw Jules and rushed towards her ignoring Isaac complaining, she deadpanned, “Have you seen the other 3?”
“No, Luis from Group 16, Lupus and Aaron are missing as well,” Jules replied quickly, Isaac and Jay walked up to listen to the conversation. Wren looked at Isaac and gestured in a “SEE” type of way. Then a voice came from overhead, Apprentice Gould’s.
“Six members of the students have been reported as missing, the following names are the students missing Luis Morue from Group 16, Aaron Reaper from Group 37, and Lupus from Group 37. From Group 1 we have Pandora Erye, Talia Avion Everton, and Jackson John Wells, if you see them please contact the nearest member of staff,” with that Wren went ballistic, she cursed loudly and started complaining about the staff being bad at their job. Isaac dragged his hand down his face then rubbed his eyes, eyes still closed he gestured and talked.
“Ok how about we ask if we can join up with Group 16 and 37, it will help us know that we are still here, and if one of us disappears we will know.”
“That my friend… is a rubbish plan, I hate Panda, you hate Panda, we all hate Panda. So joining up with Panda is a big no no, get it?” Wren hissed, Group 15 started to get intrigued by the conversation that was being held, Isaac pulled Jules, Jay and Wren towards him and started to think of a better idea.
Jay sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose and looked up at her fellow Group members, “We have to try it, just to be saying that no one else gets taken. So we can stop holding out grudges like kindergarten children, and stop fighting over a toy in the sandbox.”
“That is extremely descriptive, Jay. Have you dealt with the amazing adventures of the sandbox?” Wren asked mockingly, Isaac rolled his eyes, Jay grinned a mischievous grin and continued the banter, Group 15 started to get bored.
“Why yes Wren, I have had many experiences with the sandbox and to be exact the Principal’s office,” Jay replied jokingly, Wren and Jay continued the banter as Jules and Isaac looked at each other annoyed. Eventually, the two Group leaders grew bored and walked off towards Apprentice Hender and asked if they could merge their two groups together with Group 16.
~
Jack’s eyes fluttered open, he was lying on his stomach head facing towards the right, in front of him was a grey object due to the dim lighting it was clear the object was the white walls that lined the corridors of the army base. Jack’s whole body flinched with pain as he rose upwards and gazed around, there were four other people lying on the cold dark grey floor, unrecognisable in the lighting. Down the corridor, there was a frightful sight of which made Jack’s heart pounded out of his chest. The lights flickered off and on up ahead, showing glimpses of what seemed to be bodies. The bodies were lying on the floor, a puddle of blood surrounding each one; from where Jack was standing he could clearly see the bodies were all wearing the Alpha Reign Staff’s uniform. The four bodies around him started to shuffle as well, causing Jack to back towards the wall and hold his breath as the outlines of the bodies got up and rubbed their eyes or faces.A familiar voice came from the nearest one to his left, the voice cursed and groaned. Jack caught a glimpse of who it was, Aaron. The one nearest to his right also groaned, but this time it was not as familiar as Aaron’s voice. A quiet but soothing female voice came from the body opposite Jack, “Luis? Aaron? Is that you and who are the other two people, speak your name?”
“I’m J- Jack, Jackson John Wells, Pandora is that you?” Jack called out to his female friend, he walked forwards arms first reaching out to his friend, his friend grabbed his wrists and he grabbed hers before pulling into a hug. A whine came from Jack’s left, the familiar whine that annoyed Jack so much, Talia.
“EW, EW gross I have blood down the front of my shirt, do you know who long it takes to get blood out of a shirt. I’m going to be washing this for days,” Talia whined, Aaron’s groan made Jack smile at the remembrance of how much Talia flirts with him. By now Jack’s eyes had adjusted to the little light given to him, he looked at the four others, they all had some kind of cut on their face, Luis a small cut on his eyebrow, Talia from the right nostril to the lip, Pandora a tiny cut under her left eye, Aaron a cut from his right temple to the jaw. Jack looked around trying to make sense of everything, when he heard yelling from down the corridor where the bodies were, someone sprinted around the corner, running fall pelt towards the five.
They were yelling something Jack couldn’t hear but Luis seemed to hear it, he started running backwards away from the oncoming person before turning around and sprinting off, Aaron starting to follow him. Jack finally heard the person’s voice, it was British but a hint of a different culture, “RUN! RUN! RUN THE OTHER DIRECTION NOT AT ME! RUN”
Jack was confused for a second before his eyes widen realising why he had to run, behind the person a group of dog-like creatures were running after the person. Jack cursed loudly and started to run as well, following his friends, Pandora and Talia following in pursuit.
Luis was sprinting at full pelt, he had his friends following after him, and Pandora and Talia were starting to lag behind, the person who told them to run was behind the last two trying to make them go faster. Aaron was slowing down, his legs were getting tired from running, and the person noticed it. Jack was just behind Luis, Aaron behind him, Pandora and Talia were slowing down a lot more then Aaron was. The person ran to catch up with Luis and yelled at him, “There’s a room we can go through to get away from the troktikas but will need to hold the door shut.”
“OK, SURE! THAT’S A GREAT IDEA IF WE WERE THAT CLOSE TO DEATH, THESE A HOLOGRAMS!” Aaron shrieked from behind the two in front not quite understanding the situation, the person looked over their shoulder and looked at the dog troktikas which were gaining on Pandora and Talia.
“THEY NOT HOLOGRAMS! THEY ARE ACTUAL TROKTIKAS, THE PERSON IS RIGHT!” Talia yelled back as a dog troktikas scraped her leg with its claws. Luis turned a corner; sure enough, there was the door, second on the right-hand side. The door was metal and heavily defended. There were a hand scanner and an eye scanner next to each other, CCTV cameras around the door. The door had no window and looked like it was hiding something important. The person beside Luis put more power into their sprint and started to zoom ahead of the five; they reached the door and stopped. They grabbed something from their side and stabbed the gap between the wall and the hand pad. They pushed on their blade which the hand scanner pop open. The person proceeded to cut wires that were tangled together; the wires were in a rectangle box that was full of holes for wires to pass through.
Luis reached the person was turned to his friends, the troktikas were catching up to Talia and Pandora who were about to reach the door. Luis started panicking at the sight of troktikas scraping at Talia’s and Pandora’s legs, so he practically screamed at the person, “HURRY UP! THEY’LL DIE!”
The person got up and handed the knife to Luis and yelled back, “FINE! Cut all the wires and connect them to the opposite coloured of the colour spectrum that will open the door!”
“What are you going to do?” Aaron asked quickly glaring at the troktikas, the person looked at them but Aaron couldn’t see their face in the lighting. Suddenly the person ran forward as Jack stopped by the door as well, grabbing another knife from their waist. They charged at the troktikas their knife in their hand; Talia and Pandora didn’t make a gap for them to move through. The person ran up to the two and the last second jumped over them, doing a barrel roll above their heads and landing in a three-point pose in front the on troktikas. They slashed with their knife out stabbing one in the were the dog’s collarbone and pushed inwards and down. The dog yelled but fell to the ground, its stomach and chest cut open.
Another dog came running at the person, leaping at them. The person flipped over and did a backwards one-handed handstand, knife still in hand they landed with it raised in the air ready to strike. They titled back and landed perfectly, the person smiled as the dog ran at them, they jumped up and landed on the dog spine, there was a loud snap and the person stabbed the side of the dog’s stomach. Whilst the others stared at the person they just meet, Luis was connecting all the wires with the opposite of the colour wheel, he was almost done and was about to finish the last connection with the red and green wires when the door opened by its self.
The others turned as a loud screech hit the ears of the door opening, the person unaware of this happened due to the loud sounds of the dogs barking and growling as they slashed at the person, the person killed every last one of them as if it was the easiest thing in the universe ever. Aaron, Luis, Talia and Pandora ran into the room but Jack stayed behind for the person who was still fighting the dog troktikas. Something was wrong, there were more troktikas coming around the corner, and they kept coming, the troktikas started changing which animal was dogs but they started changing to chimaeras and more mutations that the Government made.
“JACK COME ON, WE’RE ABOUT TO SHUT THE DOORS!” Aaron yelled at Jack, who was getting frustrated at the person not coming, Jack called back that they had to wait for the person but they weren’t coming.
They kept fighting, Jack was getting really annoyed. He groaned in frustration and ran up to the person grabbing them by the arm and pulling them away from the battle they made, they struggled for a minute before turning about and looking at Jack, Jack still couldn’t see their face due to the lighting but he could tell they were little annoyed but they realised they need to stop fighting and listen to Jack. They shrugged him off and ran into the room, Jack following them just before another wave of troktikas came running down the corridor.
The six people grabbed the large door and started to push it shut, it was a door that was a sliding door, and this door was stiff and strong so it was hard to push shut. All six of the people there were trying to move the door shut, Talia at the front, with Pandora next, Aaron, Jack, Luis and the person in a row pushed against the door, screeching it shut. The door was almost closed when two chimaeras decided to say hello and jammed the door with their bodies, Talia squealed as a claw was about to scrape her hand. Aaron yelled words of encouragement, “PUSH THE BLOODY DOOR OR I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL KILL ALL OF YOU!”
“VERY FRICKING ENCOURAGING BECAUSE I LOVE BEING KILLED AND THEN BEING KILLED AGAIN,” the person yelled, receiving a glance from Luis from other his shoulder. The person got into a position to be able to push the door easier and with much force and pushed. The others pushed against the door with more power, the loud shrieking sounded like a mosh pit of a concert, the sounds made Talia’s right ear bleed a little. They pushed the door, groaning with the effort. They pushed all the power into shutting the door, their muscles screaming at the pressure.
The door finally started moving into the chimaeras’ bodies, squeezing them, the chimaeras started to vomit up the food they just ate. Talia whined loudly but ignored the vomit going on her shoes and pressed the door. They pushed the door for 30 seconds without it budging, the person from the start let go of the door and grabbed the two knives on their waist and pushed the handles together, making a two-bladed knife, a haladie. They ran up to the chimaeras and swished the haladie down the two chimaeras who were on top of each other, the heads came off and a bunch of IOS came squirting out of the heads and drenching the person. At that moment Jack yelled, “PUSH!”
The door shrieked shut squishing the remains of half of the chimaeras, as soon as the door shut the six fell to the floor, breathing heavily. It took 5 minutes before the six stopped breathing heavily, they lent up at stared at the person who was leaning against a pillar by the door, and they had IOS liquid glowing in the faint blue light from the room covered their shirt and some of their trousers. The six got up finally and looked around at the two chimaera heads on the floor by the door then around at the room. The room horrified them more than the heads.
The room was large, grey walls lined it, the opposite wall had another large metal door but to get there you had to go through the contents of the room. The contents of the room were rows of giant test tubes of blue liquid, the contents were teens. The teens were floating in their prison of light blue liquid, the teens had needles sticking into their body with tubes connected to the end of them, the tubes led towards the top where a top with a larger tube that led to a vent on the roof that went straight through the middle of the room, going towards the other door. The test tubes teens had their eyes closed as if in a deep sleep, their hair floated around their head like they were drowning, and every so often bubbles came from their tight shut mouths or their nostrils which had breathing tubes. In the tubes, there were different liquids flowing through, there was red liquid going upwards to the big tube, most likely blood. An IOS blue type liquid went downwards to the floor, the teens’ skins were pale, even though the variety of skin tones they all looked like death themselves.
In some test tubes, there were young chimeras also in the tubes and liquid, with the pipes and tubes connecting into their body. The six gaped at the sight, frozen with fear. Then the person walked up to the light and walked towards a test tube, everyone finally able to see their face and features in general. They were tall with an athletic built but thin body, guessing their age is 20; long dark, dark grey hair that looked almost black was tied into a ponytail but still reached their tailbone, their hair faded into a dyed mixture of red, blue and purple at a little more than the ends of their hair. On their left forearm, they had an unrecognisable symbol for the others tattooed. On their left wrist, they had a minimalist crescent moon tattoo; it looked familiar to the members of Group 1. The five stared at the person as they walked forward; they looked at the test tube and the person inside.
“Does anyone recognise this boy? He seems somewhat familiar to me,” they said calmly, not bothering to look at the five. Aaron walked forward, stumbling slightly as he saw who it was. The boy inside had short brown hair, a damaged arm, as well a swollen eye. His eyes were closed and his face pale. Aaron gasped with shocked.
“He’s Justin, the kid outside Gould’s office when Lupus joined us… Why would they take him?” He breathed out, stuttering. The person’s eyes flickered to Aaron then looked back quickly, they moved towards the door. The others started to move around, moving slowly and cautiously, as if someone or something will come out and attack them.
“Why are they doing this? This is giving the freaks,” Pandora said blandly, her voice giving little emotion. Luis nodded at that and carried on looking at a chimaera in a test tube, like the others he was searching for an answer. There was an eerie silence for a long time.
“They’re trying to find a cure, using Valiosos,” the person explained, when saying the word Valiosos in an accent, the five gave confused expressions in reply, the person continued, “Valiosos are immune to IOS, their rare, to find out if they are immune they force feed them mistletoe berries, if poisoned they are immune if not well you’re more likely to get IOS, due the mistletoe being one of the things that made god damn virus. Ruining us all, then America had to go and go to a mine and blow things up with powerful missiles, and that triggered Yellowstone.
“To be honest I am disappointed they had to go to this level, drugging kids and taking their body fluids, it makes me sick. That is why I am glad we’re going to leave and stay away,” The person said, before turning around to look at the others, they had a tanned face, two heterochromatic eyes of a storm grey for the left and a sea blue for the right. The strangest thing was a silver grey tattoo on the right side of their face; it looked like a spider diagram or a tree, with straight lines and dots when changing direction. The tattoo ended at their forehead and their collarbone was drawn in zigzags or straight lines, there was a line under their eye, two on their cheek, about 5 on their neck and chin. As well as that they had many scars one of which just underneath their left eye and going down half way of their cheek. They looked extremely familiar. Without warning, the lights flickered on suddenly and then off but they caught how the top of their hair was slightly dyed a brown and blonde.
“Who are you?” Luis said, his French accent coming through due to his fear of coming through, the person looked at him, then Aaron and every single person before they sighed loudly.
“I am Lupus, that’s not my real name, but it’s the name he gave me,” They said pointing to Aaron and looked around at the faces of the five as if they wanted to see what the five made of them. Aaron was gaping at them, mouth open, shocked and looking extremely stupid.
“Lupus, I noticed you said we are going to leave? Why would we want to leave? IF WE LEAVE WE DIE!” Talia started to yell at Lupus, not really grasping the situation. Lupus turned to her, their eyes full of annoyance, their face went into a scowl as they walked up to Talia.
“Ok fine let me rephrase leaving this place, HAVE YOU LOOKED AROUND, OR ARE YOU TOO DUMB? LOOK AROUND KID, THINK ABOUT IT! WE ARE GONNA DIE ANYWAY; BETTER GO OUT WITH A BANG! I AM LEAVING! IF YOU WON'T WANT TO LEAVE, FINE BY ME BUT YOU HAVE TO PROMISE ME YOU WILL NOT TELL ANYONE ABOUT THIS, NOT TELL ANYONE THAT THEIR “Alpha Reign” IS WORKING FOR THE GOVERNMENT TO TRY TO FIND A CURE THAT DOESN’T EXIST!” Lupus yelled, using their hands to talk, raising them up, pointing a finger and pressing it against their temple. They turned away from a dumbstruck Talia, the other four stared at Lupus as they walked up to a console by the door opposite the door they had to hold push shut. They reached inside the pocket of their ripped hoodie’s front pocket and took out a flat circular object; they placed the object on the screen of the blue console, the console turned jittery and glitched out. It was extremely confusing for the others so Luis acted out first.
“What are you doing?” Luis said, walking up to Lupus and the console. Lupus looked up at Luis; their silver tattoo shining in the light, then looked back down. The circular object lit up a dark purple glow; Aaron was intrigued and walked up as well to see what was happening only to get halfway. Lupus took the glowing circular object from the console that was now black and threw it into the middle of the room where it hovered to the floor, the others watched this happen and walked up to make a circle around the object. Lupus walked up to the object and pressed its centre, almost immediately a 3D hologram appeared in the air, it was about 90cms by 90cms and it showed a large dome and a bunch of buildings with tunnels, around that part there was hills and a wood in the left corner. The hologram resembled the Alpha Reign and the surroundings, Lupus twirled their fingers in the air vertical and the hologram zoomed into the biggest building out of all of them. The hologram’s camera zoomed in on the inside of the building; it showed the Training Hall and the people inside as holograms. The people were all ladled differently, most were the same colour as the pastel green hologram, a tiny amount of the people were purple and they were standing by the doors and guarding them. Eight people, who were all in the same section of the Training Hall, were a metallic gold colour; they all had numbers floating above each of them.
Wren was 2, Niji 3, Jay 4, Loki 6, Panda 9, Jules 10, Saskya 13 and finally Isaac 14. The others looked up at Lupus who was in deep thought, staring at the moving holograms of Wren and the seven. They sighed and swiped their fingers in the air; the hologram zoomed in on the exists and the ventilation which was all guarded by purple glowing people. The others watched as Lupus moved around all the rooms exist, that’s when Aaron finally lost it, and “Ok what are you exactly doing? Trying to find a way in so you can lead your troktika friends with you?”
“The first I can help with, but the second part I can’t help you with, hermano. If you know any troktikas, let me know, I will release hell on them all,” Lupus said jokingly, a sense enjoyment at Aaron’s concerned expression filled their face. Lupus carried on, “We need to get your friends out, and so I nominate this: I will go with Pandora and Talia to collect everyone’s stuff and belongings. Whilst Aaron, Luis and Jack to get their friends and take them to this point.” They first twirled their fingers, and then they pointed to a tree hologram section, right in the centre of it. They looked up at the other five and waited for questions, only one came.
“How do we get our friends out the fricking room? Step 1 “hermano”, remember we need to get our friends out of the room and get them the hell out of a place like this!” Luis said, his French accent merging with his broken English. Lupus looked up at Luis and grinned a mischievous smile, they twirled their fingers and the hologram went back to the Training Hall. Then looked up at the others, eyeing each of them before swiping the air with the index finger and the middle finger, the hologram zoomed over to the weapons room, and showed the pile of assault rifle pile.
“First you want to get weapons for each of your friends, the first day I hacked into the console and saw each of the three Groups’ members’ fighting styles and came with this conclusion on weapons,” Lupus explained pulling a piece of paper that was folded into a small square from the pocket of their hoodie, they threw it at Jack who caught it just before it got to close to his eye. He was startled for a few seconds before he opened up the paper and it read;
Isaac - Shotgun + Machete.
Wren - Two pistols + assault rifle.
Saskya - Katana + a small gun.
Aaron - Combat rifle + small pocket knife.
Jules - Steel axe + pistol.
Talia - Magnum + pocket knife.
Panda - Scorpion Knuckles.
Jay - Metal Bow + Explosives.
Luis - Rifle + pocket knife.
Niji - Metal baseball bat.
Loki - Duel blades + small pistol.
Pandora - Assault Pistol.
Lupus - Sniper Rifle.
Jack - Army gun + throwing knife.
Lupus through a bag to Luis who caught it and looked inside, it was big and empty. Luis looked up at Lupus with a confused face, they deeply sighed and muttered something in Spanish, then said, "it's for the weapon cases and army belts, bring any equipment you think fit for this, get judgement from Wren and Niji... I'll tell you why I need their judgement soon," Lupus turned to Pandora and Talia who were standing next to each other in the circle and breathed a deeper sigh then before, "You two, listen closely, it will save your lives and it will keep me sane from people who are idiots... You three, go get your friends, this vent will take you to the Training Hall, the pattern of turning is: right, left, right, forward and then the last right."
Aaron, Jack and Luis looked at each other before running off to the vent and breaking it. Luis slid through and Jack following in pursuit then Aaron going through last after waving to Talia and Pandora then sliding through.
"What do you think the others are doing right now, do ya think they're having more fun than us?" Jay said miserably, the others turned to look at her glaring at her, she sighed, "it's a joke lads, will you please lighten up?"
The others sighed loudly and went back to their tasks, Jay stretched and yawned then heard a quiet banging sound from above her, it appeared again, then again and again. The sound getting louder and louder, finally the sound go loud enough for the others to hear and she had to look up to see a vent. She moved out the way as the vent shaft fell to the floor with a clanging sound, the others leaned forward; Panda woke up as well and looked up at the vent when Luis' head popped out from the roof looking upside down. He yelped and breathed, "Bonjour."
“OK, SURE! THAT’S A GREAT IDEA IF WE WERE THAT CLOSE TO DEATH, THESE A HOLOGRAMS!” Aaron shrieked from behind the two in front not quite understanding the situation, the person looked over their shoulder and looked at the dog troktikas which were gaining on Pandora and Talia.
“THEY NOT HOLOGRAMS! THEY ARE ACTUAL TROKTIKAS, THE PERSON IS RIGHT!” Talia yelled back as a dog troktikas scraped her leg with its claws. Luis turned a corner; sure enough, there was the door, second on the right-hand side. The door was metal and heavily defended. There were a hand scanner and an eye scanner next to each other, CCTV cameras around the door. The door had no window and looked like it was hiding something important. The person beside Luis put more power into their sprint and started to zoom ahead of the five; they reached the door and stopped. They grabbed something from their side and stabbed the gap between the wall and the hand pad. They pushed on their blade which the hand scanner pop open. The person proceeded to cut wires that were tangled together; the wires were in a rectangle box that was full of holes for wires to pass through.
Luis reached the person was turned to his friends, the troktikas were catching up to Talia and Pandora who were about to reach the door. Luis started panicking at the sight of troktikas scraping at Talia’s and Pandora’s legs, so he practically screamed at the person, “HURRY UP! THEY’LL DIE!”
The person got up and handed the knife to Luis and yelled back, “FINE! Cut all the wires and connect them to the opposite coloured of the colour spectrum that will open the door!”
“What are you going to do?” Aaron asked quickly glaring at the troktikas, the person looked at them but Aaron couldn’t see their face in the lighting. Suddenly the person ran forward as Jack stopped by the door as well, grabbing another knife from their waist. They charged at the troktikas their knife in their hand; Talia and Pandora didn’t make a gap for them to move through. The person ran up to the two and the last second jumped over them, doing a barrel roll above their heads and landing in a three-point pose in front the on troktikas. They slashed with their knife out stabbing one in the were the dog’s collarbone and pushed inwards and down. The dog yelled but fell to the ground, its stomach and chest cut open.
Another dog came running at the person, leaping at them. The person flipped over and did a backwards one-handed handstand, knife still in hand they landed with it raised in the air ready to strike. They titled back and landed perfectly, the person smiled as the dog ran at them, they jumped up and landed on the dog spine, there was a loud snap and the person stabbed the side of the dog’s stomach. Whilst the others stared at the person they just meet, Luis was connecting all the wires with the opposite of the colour wheel, he was almost done and was about to finish the last connection with the red and green wires when the door opened by its self.
The others turned as a loud screech hit the ears of the door opening, the person unaware of this happened due to the loud sounds of the dogs barking and growling as they slashed at the person, the person killed every last one of them as if it was the easiest thing in the universe ever. Aaron, Luis, Talia and Pandora ran into the room but Jack stayed behind for the person who was still fighting the dog troktikas. Something was wrong, there were more troktikas coming around the corner, and they kept coming, the troktikas started changing which animal was dogs but they started changing to chimaeras and more mutations that the Government made.
“JACK COME ON, WE’RE ABOUT TO SHUT THE DOORS!” Aaron yelled at Jack, who was getting frustrated at the person not coming, Jack called back that they had to wait for the person but they weren’t coming.
They kept fighting, Jack was getting really annoyed. He groaned in frustration and ran up to the person grabbing them by the arm and pulling them away from the battle they made, they struggled for a minute before turning about and looking at Jack, Jack still couldn’t see their face due to the lighting but he could tell they were little annoyed but they realised they need to stop fighting and listen to Jack. They shrugged him off and ran into the room, Jack following them just before another wave of troktikas came running down the corridor.
The six people grabbed the large door and started to push it shut, it was a door that was a sliding door, and this door was stiff and strong so it was hard to push shut. All six of the people there were trying to move the door shut, Talia at the front, with Pandora next, Aaron, Jack, Luis and the person in a row pushed against the door, screeching it shut. The door was almost closed when two chimaeras decided to say hello and jammed the door with their bodies, Talia squealed as a claw was about to scrape her hand. Aaron yelled words of encouragement, “PUSH THE BLOODY DOOR OR I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL KILL ALL OF YOU!”
“VERY FRICKING ENCOURAGING BECAUSE I LOVE BEING KILLED AND THEN BEING KILLED AGAIN,” the person yelled, receiving a glance from Luis from other his shoulder. The person got into a position to be able to push the door easier and with much force and pushed. The others pushed against the door with more power, the loud shrieking sounded like a mosh pit of a concert, the sounds made Talia’s right ear bleed a little. They pushed the door, groaning with the effort. They pushed all the power into shutting the door, their muscles screaming at the pressure.
The door finally started moving into the chimaeras’ bodies, squeezing them, the chimaeras started to vomit up the food they just ate. Talia whined loudly but ignored the vomit going on her shoes and pressed the door. They pushed the door for 30 seconds without it budging, the person from the start let go of the door and grabbed the two knives on their waist and pushed the handles together, making a two-bladed knife, a haladie. They ran up to the chimaeras and swished the haladie down the two chimaeras who were on top of each other, the heads came off and a bunch of IOS came squirting out of the heads and drenching the person. At that moment Jack yelled, “PUSH!”
The door shrieked shut squishing the remains of half of the chimaeras, as soon as the door shut the six fell to the floor, breathing heavily. It took 5 minutes before the six stopped breathing heavily, they lent up at stared at the person who was leaning against a pillar by the door, and they had IOS liquid glowing in the faint blue light from the room covered their shirt and some of their trousers. The six got up finally and looked around at the two chimaera heads on the floor by the door then around at the room. The room horrified them more than the heads.
The room was large, grey walls lined it, the opposite wall had another large metal door but to get there you had to go through the contents of the room. The contents of the room were rows of giant test tubes of blue liquid, the contents were teens. The teens were floating in their prison of light blue liquid, the teens had needles sticking into their body with tubes connected to the end of them, the tubes led towards the top where a top with a larger tube that led to a vent on the roof that went straight through the middle of the room, going towards the other door. The test tubes teens had their eyes closed as if in a deep sleep, their hair floated around their head like they were drowning, and every so often bubbles came from their tight shut mouths or their nostrils which had breathing tubes. In the tubes, there were different liquids flowing through, there was red liquid going upwards to the big tube, most likely blood. An IOS blue type liquid went downwards to the floor, the teens’ skins were pale, even though the variety of skin tones they all looked like death themselves.
In some test tubes, there were young chimeras also in the tubes and liquid, with the pipes and tubes connecting into their body. The six gaped at the sight, frozen with fear. Then the person walked up to the light and walked towards a test tube, everyone finally able to see their face and features in general. They were tall with an athletic built but thin body, guessing their age is 20; long dark, dark grey hair that looked almost black was tied into a ponytail but still reached their tailbone, their hair faded into a dyed mixture of red, blue and purple at a little more than the ends of their hair. On their left forearm, they had an unrecognisable symbol for the others tattooed. On their left wrist, they had a minimalist crescent moon tattoo; it looked familiar to the members of Group 1. The five stared at the person as they walked forward; they looked at the test tube and the person inside.
“Does anyone recognise this boy? He seems somewhat familiar to me,” they said calmly, not bothering to look at the five. Aaron walked forward, stumbling slightly as he saw who it was. The boy inside had short brown hair, a damaged arm, as well a swollen eye. His eyes were closed and his face pale. Aaron gasped with shocked.
“He’s Justin, the kid outside Gould’s office when Lupus joined us… Why would they take him?” He breathed out, stuttering. The person’s eyes flickered to Aaron then looked back quickly, they moved towards the door. The others started to move around, moving slowly and cautiously, as if someone or something will come out and attack them.
“Why are they doing this? This is giving the freaks,” Pandora said blandly, her voice giving little emotion. Luis nodded at that and carried on looking at a chimaera in a test tube, like the others he was searching for an answer. There was an eerie silence for a long time.
“They’re trying to find a cure, using Valiosos,” the person explained, when saying the word Valiosos in an accent, the five gave confused expressions in reply, the person continued, “Valiosos are immune to IOS, their rare, to find out if they are immune they force feed them mistletoe berries, if poisoned they are immune if not well you’re more likely to get IOS, due the mistletoe being one of the things that made god damn virus. Ruining us all, then America had to go and go to a mine and blow things up with powerful missiles, and that triggered Yellowstone.
“To be honest I am disappointed they had to go to this level, drugging kids and taking their body fluids, it makes me sick. That is why I am glad we’re going to leave and stay away,” The person said, before turning around to look at the others, they had a tanned face, two heterochromatic eyes of a storm grey for the left and a sea blue for the right. The strangest thing was a silver grey tattoo on the right side of their face; it looked like a spider diagram or a tree, with straight lines and dots when changing direction. The tattoo ended at their forehead and their collarbone was drawn in zigzags or straight lines, there was a line under their eye, two on their cheek, about 5 on their neck and chin. As well as that they had many scars one of which just underneath their left eye and going down half way of their cheek. They looked extremely familiar. Without warning, the lights flickered on suddenly and then off but they caught how the top of their hair was slightly dyed a brown and blonde.
“Who are you?” Luis said, his French accent coming through due to his fear of coming through, the person looked at him, then Aaron and every single person before they sighed loudly.
“I am Lupus, that’s not my real name, but it’s the name he gave me,” They said pointing to Aaron and looked around at the faces of the five as if they wanted to see what the five made of them. Aaron was gaping at them, mouth open, shocked and looking extremely stupid.
“Lupus, I noticed you said we are going to leave? Why would we want to leave? IF WE LEAVE WE DIE!” Talia started to yell at Lupus, not really grasping the situation. Lupus turned to her, their eyes full of annoyance, their face went into a scowl as they walked up to Talia.
“Ok fine let me rephrase leaving this place, HAVE YOU LOOKED AROUND, OR ARE YOU TOO DUMB? LOOK AROUND KID, THINK ABOUT IT! WE ARE GONNA DIE ANYWAY; BETTER GO OUT WITH A BANG! I AM LEAVING! IF YOU WON'T WANT TO LEAVE, FINE BY ME BUT YOU HAVE TO PROMISE ME YOU WILL NOT TELL ANYONE ABOUT THIS, NOT TELL ANYONE THAT THEIR “Alpha Reign” IS WORKING FOR THE GOVERNMENT TO TRY TO FIND A CURE THAT DOESN’T EXIST!” Lupus yelled, using their hands to talk, raising them up, pointing a finger and pressing it against their temple. They turned away from a dumbstruck Talia, the other four stared at Lupus as they walked up to a console by the door opposite the door they had to hold push shut. They reached inside the pocket of their ripped hoodie’s front pocket and took out a flat circular object; they placed the object on the screen of the blue console, the console turned jittery and glitched out. It was extremely confusing for the others so Luis acted out first.
“What are you doing?” Luis said, walking up to Lupus and the console. Lupus looked up at Luis; their silver tattoo shining in the light, then looked back down. The circular object lit up a dark purple glow; Aaron was intrigued and walked up as well to see what was happening only to get halfway. Lupus took the glowing circular object from the console that was now black and threw it into the middle of the room where it hovered to the floor, the others watched this happen and walked up to make a circle around the object. Lupus walked up to the object and pressed its centre, almost immediately a 3D hologram appeared in the air, it was about 90cms by 90cms and it showed a large dome and a bunch of buildings with tunnels, around that part there was hills and a wood in the left corner. The hologram resembled the Alpha Reign and the surroundings, Lupus twirled their fingers in the air vertical and the hologram zoomed into the biggest building out of all of them. The hologram’s camera zoomed in on the inside of the building; it showed the Training Hall and the people inside as holograms. The people were all ladled differently, most were the same colour as the pastel green hologram, a tiny amount of the people were purple and they were standing by the doors and guarding them. Eight people, who were all in the same section of the Training Hall, were a metallic gold colour; they all had numbers floating above each of them.
Wren was 2, Niji 3, Jay 4, Loki 6, Panda 9, Jules 10, Saskya 13 and finally Isaac 14. The others looked up at Lupus who was in deep thought, staring at the moving holograms of Wren and the seven. They sighed and swiped their fingers in the air; the hologram zoomed in on the exists and the ventilation which was all guarded by purple glowing people. The others watched as Lupus moved around all the rooms exist, that’s when Aaron finally lost it, and “Ok what are you exactly doing? Trying to find a way in so you can lead your troktika friends with you?”
“The first I can help with, but the second part I can’t help you with, hermano. If you know any troktikas, let me know, I will release hell on them all,” Lupus said jokingly, a sense enjoyment at Aaron’s concerned expression filled their face. Lupus carried on, “We need to get your friends out, and so I nominate this: I will go with Pandora and Talia to collect everyone’s stuff and belongings. Whilst Aaron, Luis and Jack to get their friends and take them to this point.” They first twirled their fingers, and then they pointed to a tree hologram section, right in the centre of it. They looked up at the other five and waited for questions, only one came.
“How do we get our friends out the fricking room? Step 1 “hermano”, remember we need to get our friends out of the room and get them the hell out of a place like this!” Luis said, his French accent merging with his broken English. Lupus looked up at Luis and grinned a mischievous smile, they twirled their fingers and the hologram went back to the Training Hall. Then looked up at the others, eyeing each of them before swiping the air with the index finger and the middle finger, the hologram zoomed over to the weapons room, and showed the pile of assault rifle pile.
“First you want to get weapons for each of your friends, the first day I hacked into the console and saw each of the three Groups’ members’ fighting styles and came with this conclusion on weapons,” Lupus explained pulling a piece of paper that was folded into a small square from the pocket of their hoodie, they threw it at Jack who caught it just before it got to close to his eye. He was startled for a few seconds before he opened up the paper and it read;
Isaac - Shotgun + Machete.
Wren - Two pistols + assault rifle.
Saskya - Katana + a small gun.
Aaron - Combat rifle + small pocket knife.
Jules - Steel axe + pistol.
Talia - Magnum + pocket knife.
Panda - Scorpion Knuckles.
Jay - Metal Bow + Explosives.
Luis - Rifle + pocket knife.
Niji - Metal baseball bat.
Loki - Duel blades + small pistol.
Pandora - Assault Pistol.
Lupus - Sniper Rifle.
Jack - Army gun + throwing knife.
Lupus through a bag to Luis who caught it and looked inside, it was big and empty. Luis looked up at Lupus with a confused face, they deeply sighed and muttered something in Spanish, then said, "it's for the weapon cases and army belts, bring any equipment you think fit for this, get judgement from Wren and Niji... I'll tell you why I need their judgement soon," Lupus turned to Pandora and Talia who were standing next to each other in the circle and breathed a deeper sigh then before, "You two, listen closely, it will save your lives and it will keep me sane from people who are idiots... You three, go get your friends, this vent will take you to the Training Hall, the pattern of turning is: right, left, right, forward and then the last right."
Aaron, Jack and Luis looked at each other before running off to the vent and breaking it. Luis slid through and Jack following in pursuit then Aaron going through last after waving to Talia and Pandora then sliding through.
*
Wren, Panda, Loki, Saskya, Jules, Niji, Isaac and Jay sat, extremely bored in the trap section. Jay was slumped over with their chin resting on the palm of her hand, her elbow resting on her knee. Wren was leaning on the wall and was half sleeping half awake, Isaac was leaning on her running his hand through his hair. Loki and Niji were playing tic tac toe, Panda was actually sleeping. The lights were off and it made everyone sleepy, the staff rubbed their eyes and yawned trying to stay up."What do you think the others are doing right now, do ya think they're having more fun than us?" Jay said miserably, the others turned to look at her glaring at her, she sighed, "it's a joke lads, will you please lighten up?"
The others sighed loudly and went back to their tasks, Jay stretched and yawned then heard a quiet banging sound from above her, it appeared again, then again and again. The sound getting louder and louder, finally the sound go loud enough for the others to hear and she had to look up to see a vent. She moved out the way as the vent shaft fell to the floor with a clanging sound, the others leaned forward; Panda woke up as well and looked up at the vent when Luis' head popped out from the roof looking upside down. He yelped and breathed, "Bonjour."
Wren was first to act, she ran over and assisted Luis out by pulling him out the vent and helping him to the floor, there was a curse from the vent and Jack’s feet fell through the vent, Jack slid down and turned around to the other only to have Isaac hugging him tightly. Finally, Aaron dropped down much steadier than the other two and was greeted by Saskya and Jules rushing up to him asking him a bunch of questions. Group 16 gathered together and started talking in hushed tones, Niji glanced at Jack who noticed and did an awkward nod then turned to the others. There were 10 minutes of questions that weren’t answered but overlaid with more questions, Niji and Wren looked at each other trying to ignore the questions and walked up to each other.
“I’m going to yell at them,” Wren muttered.
“Please don’t,” Niji replied.
“EVERYONE SHUT IT!” Wren sounded over the chattering people, everyone quietened instantly as if a person of high power told them to zip it. They turned to Niji and Wren in the middle of the crowd in the section, Wren glanced at them and grabbed Aaron and Jack into the centre. Niji and Wren moved back into the crowd and the Wren asked them, “What happened?”
Aaron and Jack looked at each other than Aaron nodded and Jack swallowed and addressed everyone, “Luis, Talia, Aaron, Pandora and I were taken by people plus knocked out, we don’t know how we don’t know why but we woke up in a hallway with the lights off and we all had cuts somewhere on our face. Then we saw someone turn the corner and ran at us, there were bodies by the corner, the person ignored them and told us to start running, we didn’t think to do it until we saw the troktikas chasing the person. We ran for what seemed ages then the person told us to go into a room, they fought the troktikas to buy us time to open the door, Luis opened the door and we ran through, I had to grab the person who was trying to save us then we ran through the door. It took about five minutes for the door to shut, we figured out who the person was though…”
Jack trailed off and looked up at the two who were with him; they were looking at the floor. There was a silence until Panda snapped, “Who?”
“Lupus, but they weren’t wearing their mask or hood; they had scars, a lot of them, a tattoo on the side of their face, one of their wrist and forearm. But anyway that isn’t important the room is what was critical, the room…” he looked at the glass wall, two staff members strolled past, he was wary of them, scared almost they would hear what he would say next. They moved on after scanning the trap section and checking to see if everyone is alright, not noticing the vent shaft broken on the floor. Jack breathed in and continued, “The room it had students, the students that fail in lessons. They were lifeless, they had tubes going into their body and taking their bodily fluids. The students are called Valiosos, meaning immune. They are immune to IOS, they’re rare, and so Reign is taking students who are failing at subjects and testing them to see if they’re immune. If so they are taken to this room and put in a death-like sleep were they undertaking a bunch of pipes and tubes going into their body? Reign if trying to find a cure, that doesn’t exist.”
There a silence as Jack finished telling the others what happened, it a piercing silence one of which needed to be broken so Loki stepped in, “Where’s Talia, Pandora and Lupus? Why aren’t they with you?”
“Because we split up into threes so we can gather things and leave, we’re here to get you guys to a certain point outside of Reign. We know where to go, we know how to get there but we don’t know where the other three are, they are collecting our belongings and other items to help us out there. Jack has a list of protection we need to get for each of us,” Aaron said, brushing his fingers through his hair, Wren looked at Jack and held out her hand, Jack sighed and reached into his pocket and gave the piece of paper to Wren who grumbled a thanks before opening up the folded paper. Her eyes skimmed the names and the weapons; she noted the writing and a tiny drawing of a symbol that she recognised but can’t remember why. After she read it she handed it to Niji, who read it out loud,
“It says: ‘These are some weapon ideas I figured out for the people in Group 1, 16 and 37 if wanting to change please, by all means, do so ~ Lupus. Isaac - Shotgun + Machete, Wren - Two pistols + assault rifle, Saskya - Katana + a small gun, Aaron - Combat rifle + small pocket knife, Jules - Steel axe + pistol, Talia - Magnum + pocket knife, Panda - Scorpion Knuckles, Jay - Metal Bow + Explosives, Luis - Rifle + pocket knife, Niji - Metal baseball bat, Loki - Duel blades + small pistol, Pandora - Assault Pistol, Lupus - Sniper Rifle and Jack - Army gun + throwing knife’” When Niji finished he looked around, the faces looked excited but nothing could compare to the devil himself grin on Jay’s face, she was muttering something really quickly. Niji smiled as he understood what she was saying, “Guessing everyone is happy with their chosen weapons, so I’m guessing we will have to go through the weapons room?”
“We will indeed, the plan is simple, we need a distraction in the ventilation, but first we need a smaller one to get at least one explosive out of the weapons room. Who’s up to do so?” Luis said, no one put their hand up for a few seconds then a hand rose, of course, it was Jay’s. She smiled a large grin with the glimmer of mischief inside her eyes; she walked up to the centre and mockingly bowed and was replied with laughs and smirks.
“I’m up to do it,” She said bravely, one eyebrow lifted and a confident smirk, Wren and walked up next to her and placed her hand on Jay’s shoulder, Jay looked up at Wren who nodded encouragingly, Jay turned to Luis who was now in the middle with the others, she breathed in and looked in dead in the eye and said, “Tell me what to do?”
“No really?” Pandora replied scornfully, Lupus smirked and twirled their fingers in the air making the holographic map zooming into a corridor. Lupus took a deep breath and bit their lip before starting.
“We will go through the door opposite the one we came through, turn left and go down the hall till it stops at another door, the door leads to a room full of air vents, there is a vent that leads to Dorm 1 which is connected to the other dorms. We need to go to 3 different dorms and then the cafeteria; we need to get into Goulder’s office so do something before we leave out the roof vent, there is a place we need to get to in the woods where I told the others to go. From there I will tell you what to do,” Lupus explained whilst gesturing to the hologram and the forest section. They zoomed into the Training Hall once again; the people with numbers were starting to move, the numbers 2, 3 and 4 where moving towards the weapons room door, the others split off from each other, 9 and 10 were moving off to help 2 to 4 and 5, 6, 7, 11, 13 and 14 were walking off to the big door into and out of the Training Hall.
“Well seems like, their plan is coming along, good thing the piece of paper I gave them had instructions on them,” Lupus smirked at Pandora’s and Talia’s concerned faces before going through the hologram and picking up the circular object. They turned to the door and jogged up to it, humming a song of some sort as they placed the circular object on the door and held it there, pressing the object onto the door. Pandora and Talia walked over as the door clicked and screeched open, the corridor that went right and left, door dotting on the walls the lighting was dim and moody. Lupus walked out with no hesitation, turning left and gesturing the other two to follow them. Obliging, the two followed them with less bravery and more caution to the way they walk.
A few minutes later they had reached the ventilation room like Lupus said there were a lot of vents, some small, some large and some not structurally possible. Lupus walked over to a large vent, there was a shaft, obviously. Lupus grabbed the corner of the shaft and tugged it, in following there was a shriek and a slight grunt from Lupus they ripped the shaft off. The other two walked up to help Lupus but they threw the shaft, the vent was big enough for Lupus to squat down slightly from a standing position and walk through, whilst Pandora and Talia could easily walk through dipping their heads slightly.
Lupus wiped their hands on their tattered hoodie and they had a bunch of cuts on their fingers and two palms. They sighed loudly and gestured for the two others to go in front of them, the two looked and each other than back at Lupus who groaned over dramatically and grumbled, “I don’t care if you don’t trust me, I want to get out of here, I need my friends out. Sadly, that involves you because my friends are your friend, even though I don’t trust you. I need you to trust me, I can help you. I… can’t believe I was chosen to be Alpha, sometimes I don’t get those people.”
“Did you just say Alpha?” Talia asked, she walked up to the vent when doing so, Pandora more cautious following her. Lupus scratched the back of their neck and entered the vent, pushing past the girls and moving forward following the vent.
“I will explain soon, but priority is getting out.”
The others nodded and rushed to the vent Jay was scheduled to come out of, it also had smoke gushing out of the cracks of the shaft, the four stood there looking around making sure no one saw anything, Wren was kneeling on the floor looking through the shaft, waving the smoke out of the way trying to see if Jay was coming.
A minute later, the four were getting worried, well more Niji, Wren and Jules then Panda who was only worrying about the time wasting away. Wren looked up to Niji who was looked deadly pale, Jules rubbed her eye. Wren moved to lean against the wall, her eyes closing with fear. She can’t be dead, she is too strong. Jay… Jay.
There was a loud clang of metal and a louder swear, quickly unorganised banging sounds came from the ventilation, Wren’s eyes snapped open with everyone’s head looking at the shaft, another curse and a couple bangs later, the shaft flew off the wall, hitting Panda in the face when he looked down to see what was happening. Jay’s legs came from the vent; her leggings had a loud of holes and cut into the fabric, her shoes once a pale grey, now a chalky black powder.
Jules got up and grabbed Jay’s ankles and pulled her legs, Jay’s legs thrashed and she cursed again from inside the vent. Wren smiled a weak smile and pulled along with Jules until Jay slid out of the vent. Jay was covered in soot; most of her face was covered in the black chalky soot except a circular area around her mouth and nose, most likely a gas mask. Jay’s hair was messed up in her ponytail and she was grinning, her eyes wild with amusement and excitement, she had a white surgical mask looking object attached to a string hanging from her neck, the mask was made from a type of plastic and looked simple but was complexxed inside.
“Can I do that again?” Jay breathed as she turned to the vent and reached her hand to grab something, she seemed to do so and pulled her arm out to reveal a big brown bag in her hands, it was moving out in different directions and had stuff coming from the top of the bag. A katana handle was sticking out, as well as two other unrecognisable guns. Jay pulled the bag fully out of the vent and looked up at Wren who was smiling slightly at her friend’s messy hair and characteristics in general.
“Come on, we gotta go, like now before Lupus and the others get out and have to wait for us,” Niji butted in, Panda barely looked at the others before running off, Wren scowled at his back and Niji sighed loudly. Niji and Jules followed the path that Panda made with the people; Wren looked at Jay and wiped her face with the cuff of her right sleeve, rubbing the soot away. Once she got most of it away she pulled Jay by the arm towards the crowd using the other hand to take the bag out of Jay’s hands.
Jackson was standing by the door, shielding Loki who was humming a tune whilst breaking into the door’s lock, removing the wires in a slightly unsubtle way. The others were acting like normal crowds of people, trying not to blow the other two’s cover. Loki looked around at the people, spotting his friends before he turned back and cut the last wire of the door’s control panel.
The door opened with a shush, people in the crowd turned due to noticing the movement, some people looked and Jackson and Loki who was walking out with smug expressions, when they turned to the corner, the others came from the crowd, Isaac first, Niji running after him, Luis and Saskya swiftly joining them. That’s when Panda, Niji, Jules, Wren and Jay suddenly sprinted through the crowd and followed their friends around the corner with Aaron walking slowly back towards the door. He gave the crowd a small smile, and said, “I would join us, they’re killing innocent kids.”
He turned the corner with a mocking salute.
It was Apprentice Goulder’s office but more damaged, the door was broken in half and was swinging randomly; a little smoke came from the top of the door and went down the corridor. The glass on the door was broken and shattered. Lupus walked up and opened the door with a creek, with a single light nudge the door broke in half.
The room itself was trashed, pictures were on the floor, and the cabinets were on the floor, the files inside scattered on the floor. The only thing that was standing was the medals cabinet; it looked like it had been attempted to get into the cabinet but was unsuccessful. Lupus ignored the rest of the mess and headed towards the cabinet, stepping over pictures, hopping over a fallen cabinet, ducking under a hanging piece of the ceiling. When they reached the cabinet they looked back at the other two and gestured for them to wait there.
They opened the cabinet by pressing something on the bottom, they smirked and muttered something before opening the door, they reached for the biggest medal, and it was golden and had a large eagle carved into it with the sides of dates of the past, the same dates of World War III. Lupus pulled the medal of its peg, snapping the ribbon, looking at the back it read `Juan Gould. Medal of Honour 2020 Commander of USA’s military.` Lupus smirked and slid the medal into their left pocket, after doing so they looked back at the wall where the medal once covered. Instead of a plain cabinet wall, the wall had a key hanging on a peg; it was a rusted one, easily breakable.
“What is so important about a rusted key?” Pandora asked her voice slightly muffled, she and Talia were watching Lupus in confusion, and it took most of their sanity not to yell at them for taking their time. Lupus simply smiled a mischievous grin and walked off to where the Apprentice Gould’s desk once stood before it was a pile of wood on the floor but the back wall. They knelt down and moved the pieces of paper and wood out of the way, the carpet was different there it had a part that went up in a square way. Lupus took their knife from their hip and cut around the square then pulled the carpet off, a wooden box was there, Lupus placed their knife down and opened the box, inside was a dark grey tablet, a clump of keys hanging on a chain and a picture of a large house in black and white.
“Time to go,” Lupus said muffled looking up at the other two and smiling…
“Wren, you gonna text and call each day or else I will fly over to America and beat you up,” Wolfia said smiling, their dark grey, almost black, hair tied in a sloppy plat that drifted to their side. Wren had her almost black was tied in a ponytail, she had a suitcase and a backpack hanging loosely on her shoulder, three people stood behind her, her adopted family.
“If you come to America to visit me that would be better, Wolf, for a best friend you are like another protective sibling,” Wren moaned, Wolfia sighed and gave her a tight hug, Isaac came up behind them, his hair the messy bedhead it normally was, he pulled Wolfia off Wren and gave Wren a small hug.
“If we have enough money to come to visit, we will don’t worry about that,” Isaac smirked after letting go of Wren, he stepped back and ran his hand through his hair. Wolfia rubbed their eyes, pretending something was in their eye. Wren did a mocking baby whine making Wolfia pinch the brim of their nose and sighed, “Ok Wren leave Wolf alone, they love you and they want you to know that because they will miss you a lot. I will say goodbye to Terra, Tom and Mih for you, I know how much they’ll miss you.”
Wren and Isaac laughed as Wolfia smiled and rolled their heterochromatic eyes, they elbowed Isaac in the stomach and gave Wren one last hug before saying to Wren, “Come back will ya? We made that deal, we keep that deal.
Wren smirked and hugged her best friend, from behind someone called for her, she sighed and looked behind her nodded, walking backwards waving goodbye to her two friends.
“Hurry up Talia, we can’t wait forever your friends need us to get to the spot I directed the other three too,” Lupus said, they had been running back to the vent room but Talia had to stop due to her losing her breath, taking her gas mask off. Lupus was getting annoyed; they were pacing looking down the halls to make sure no one else came through; Pandora was telling them to pack it in.
“Ok fine, I have a plan,” Lupus breathed out, they stopped in front of the other two enabling them to talk to the others better, they scratched the side of their nose and looked around at the corridor, only one door was there other than that only the ending of the corridors turn away from them, the dim lights made it hard to see the end of the hallways but it was outline-able. Lupus took a deep breath in and started, “Ok, the door there takes us to the Outside, once in the Outside we need to get to the other side, but it will not be as you remember it to be, the lights are off and they let some of the carbon dioxides out through a tiny hole but it lets a lot of toxic air in, keep your masks on. They are uncomfortable but life is uncomfortable, so deal with it.”
“Ok, I’m ready,” Talia said a minute after being told the plan, Lupus got bored and walked off to the door and opened it slightly, a tiny bit of smoke came from the top. Pandora helped Talia up and then walked to the door and joined Lupus. The Outside was exactly as Lupus described, a happy place which made everyone calm now looked like a slightly happier graveyard of fallen soldiers, and the climbing wall was now a wall of blackness, there were only a few lights and they were by the actual doorway.
“The door is opposite this door, we go straight and keep doing so,” Lupus said already walking forward then turning to walk backwards and face the others, through their transparent gasmask they were grinning. “Wanna race?”
“Race?” Talia complained, “I can barely jog for a minute without getting tired with this bag.”
“Come on it will be fun,” Lupus walked up and grabbed Talia’s bag with a heave and swung it over their own shoulder, and then they turned around and ran off, calling back, “Come on guys!”
Pandora smiled and looked at Talia; she shrugged and then ran off to join Lupus. Talia moaned and ran after the two…
The others made a defensive wall with the bodies to block the staff; Loki kept trying to budge the door open but was unsuccessful. After a few more goes Panda had enough, he shoved Loki back and threw his shoulder onto the door; he did it again and once more. The door gave away it swung open, revealing the outside of Alpha Reign, it was sandy, the sky was a dark smoky grey that swirled like mist in wind.
The eleven friends ran out of the building, not hesitate to slam the door behind them, blocking out the staff and running away from the building, only Jay with a gas mask on. They ran up a dune of sandy ground and rock, the staff who were following them opening the door and putting the gas masks on. Jay got to the top of the dune first, the others finding hard to even breathe, they coughed and heaved in the air, their lungs burning. Jay pulled up Panda and Isaac up to the top of the dune, grabbing two gas masks from the weapons bag and throwing the masks at them. The others falling on the dune, and getting up too slowly, the Alpha Reign staff coming in close, Jay had one extremely bad idea.
Jay grabbed the bag, opening it wide and grabbing her bow and its quiver. Jay notched an arrow and shot the nearest staff member in the leg, the man fell, grabbing the arrow and yelping. Jay notched another as Wren ran up the dune and grabbed a bunch of gas masks after putting one around her own neck, then she ran down to give her peers gasmasks before they fainted. Jay shot another staff in the leg to stop them from grabbing on Luis who didn’t have a gas mask, three other staff members were closing in on him.
Jay jumped off the top of the dune her feet first, notching three arrows and pulling the string of the bow hard, she landed with a thud and tilting her bow vertical and releasing the string. The three arrows hit each of the staff in the upper thigh.
Jay ripped her gasmask off after taking a deep breath and placed it on Luis, who heaved in the fresh air. Jay grabbed Luis by the upper arm placing her bow on her back. Wren grabbed Loki in front of the other two, giving Jay a mask and pulling Loki up as she pulled him and herself up the dune.
Jackson grabbed Niji and pulled him up the dune as well, slipping slightly. Isaac grabbed his shotgun and shot the areas around staff to make them back off; Panda pulled people over the dune and then helped the next person. Isaac used only one cartridge of shotgun shells then went over the dune to lead the others to the spot they were to meet Lupus, Talia and Pandora when the whole present group heard a muffled girl scream and an engine towards where the Outside was.
An Alpha Reign hoverbike was going across the sandy land quickly, the bike flew up a dune close to the group and was in the air above the group for a solid five seconds, that is when time seemed to slow down for Wren as she looked up at the people riding the bike, Talia was screaming, holding onto the bag section of the bike, Pandora’s hair was going in her pale face, her skin was being pulled away from her face against her gas mask. Then there was the driver of the hoverbike, Wren’s eyes widened with shock, except their brown hair and the tattoo on the side of their face, they were exactly the same. A wide grin was spread across their face as they flew through the air, their gasmask was slipping off slightly, the group watched as they landed and zoomed towards the forest before stopping at the edge of it with a dust cloud.
Once they removed the bags quickly and they were running through the forest, they ran to the spot they were supposed to meet the others, a large clearing with large trees surrounding it as a defence. That’s when a loud moan from the trees came sliding through the trees, Pandora and Talia panicked then stared at Lupus who was kneeling on the floor with the tablet they took from Apprentice Gould’s room, they turned it and started tapping on the screen, the moan from before started again and grew louder. Lupus barely looked up before taking the haladie from their waist and pulled it in half to become two knives, they looked up to give Pandora one knife and Talia the other, and to finish their actions of they simply said, “Use the knives to kill the troktikas, don’t lose them, they’re very important to me.”
Pandora and Talia instantly circled the clearing to check from troktikas and whilst doing so Lupus placed the bag in their teeth, she grabbed the flare gar on their side which they took from the Outside before running out. They ripped open the packaging and pulled the gun out; after they did they pointed it up towards the sky. After telling Pandora and Talia to cover their ears, they pulled the trigger. A bang and a stream of smoke went into the sky; the smoke was red so when it hovered back down Lupus had a mist surrounding them. Another loud bang made Pandora and Talia jolt up, a chisel of red sparks rained down, alerting everything in the nearby area that they were there.
Lupus went back to work with the tablet, a code appearing on the screen then immediately flashing to a code pad, Lupus punched in numbers, but it was unsuccessful, they did it again and it flashed green. The screen turned into a large table, random words around, it looked very technical. That’s when three people came into the clearing, Luis, Jackson and Panda. Panda froze as soon as his eyes laid on Lupus, the other two ran up to Talia and Pandora asking what to do.
“Circle the clearing we need to make sure not troktikas get in the way of Lupus,” Pandora instructed as Jay and Aaron came into the clearing, Jay dumped the bag of weapons on the floor, the others rushed towards it and grabbed their designated weapon, Panda still frozen. A hissing sound from the tablet appeared making everyone look up at Lupus who was now standing looking at the tablet, a vertical oval, it was sparking around the edges and was a bright purple hovered over the tablet. Lupus turned to everyone until their eyes fell upon someone who just came into the clearing, their whole body stiffened.
It was Isaac; he looked at Lupus in shock. His body was also stiff, unmoving as he stared at Lupus. They both stared at each other, unsure what to do, Panda finally unfroze. He walked up to Lupus and yelled, “WHY THE HELL ARE YOU HERE?”
“How’s your jaw Panda?” Lupus replied, Lupus staring past him, and pushed him on the way and moved towards Isaac, they practically whispered, their voice broke "Isaac, you have every right to be mad. I know you won’t trust me straight away, but I regret leaving, I do. I’m sorry, once I save you guys I’ll-“ Lupus was cut off by Isaac walking forward and holding their face before kissing them, Lupus hesitated before melting into the kiss. The others stood frozen, staring at the two kissing, mouths hanging open with shock when the last of the group came into the clearing, Niji and Wren. The both of them stopped and stared at Isaac and Lupus, who were now hugging, Isaac went stepped back as Lupus turned to Niji and Wren. The two froze.
Wren’s face turned to anger quickly, they stormed up to Lupus who scratched the back of their head until Wren was close enough for Wren to slap them, Wren slapped Lupus. Lupus didn’t even flinch but looked at Wren sadly muttering, “Yeah I deserved that.”
Wren slapped them again making Lupus look up at Wren bewildered, a tear of happiness appearing in their eye and replied, “I don’t think I deserved that.”
“Yes you did, yes you fricking did, you-you—AGH!” Wren had tears in her eyes as she yelled at Lupus. She stomped her foot then grabbed Lupus in a tight hug, Lupus only a few inches taller than Wren. Lupus freed their arms from Wren’s tight embrace and put their arms around Wren’s neck and hugged her back, Wren muttering one name, “Wolfia.”
“It’s good to see you to Wren,” Wolfia replied to Wren, their face buried in Wren’s neck, both with tears in their eyes as they hugged each other, standing next to each other they looked very familiar on the fact Wolfia was taller than Wren and had dyed dark brown hair. Loud moans from the woodsman the two split off from their hug and look in the direction of the moaning, a bark from behind them.
The group looked at Wolfia for help who was looking around at the people, they walk up to Pandora and Talia and took their knives back then instructed the group of people, “Jump through this Teleporter, it will take you to a forest, go 10 feet forward and wait for me, I will jump through last. Warning those who get sick easily, you will feel really sick afterwards so if you need to throw up, please wonder to the side of the portal and throw up there. Going hold your breath and calm your body or else you might get ripped apart.”
“Sounds fun, cya guys!” Jay said jumping into without hesitating, next was Niji and Jackson who went almost at the same time, Jules sprinted through and made a loud deep breath before entering, Aaron and Luis just walked through normally, Pandora made a show of taking a deep breath and then going through, Talia walked in backwards, Isaac and Panda went together slightly glaring at each other. Saskya just shuffled through with Loki, awkwardly as ever. Wren and Wolfia looked at each other, then at the portal, Wolfia muttered, “Fight with me.”
“Stay with me,” Wren finished off as they both ran through the teleporter into the unknown.
“I’m going to yell at them,” Wren muttered.
“Please don’t,” Niji replied.
“EVERYONE SHUT IT!” Wren sounded over the chattering people, everyone quietened instantly as if a person of high power told them to zip it. They turned to Niji and Wren in the middle of the crowd in the section, Wren glanced at them and grabbed Aaron and Jack into the centre. Niji and Wren moved back into the crowd and the Wren asked them, “What happened?”
Aaron and Jack looked at each other than Aaron nodded and Jack swallowed and addressed everyone, “Luis, Talia, Aaron, Pandora and I were taken by people plus knocked out, we don’t know how we don’t know why but we woke up in a hallway with the lights off and we all had cuts somewhere on our face. Then we saw someone turn the corner and ran at us, there were bodies by the corner, the person ignored them and told us to start running, we didn’t think to do it until we saw the troktikas chasing the person. We ran for what seemed ages then the person told us to go into a room, they fought the troktikas to buy us time to open the door, Luis opened the door and we ran through, I had to grab the person who was trying to save us then we ran through the door. It took about five minutes for the door to shut, we figured out who the person was though…”
Jack trailed off and looked up at the two who were with him; they were looking at the floor. There was a silence until Panda snapped, “Who?”
“Lupus, but they weren’t wearing their mask or hood; they had scars, a lot of them, a tattoo on the side of their face, one of their wrist and forearm. But anyway that isn’t important the room is what was critical, the room…” he looked at the glass wall, two staff members strolled past, he was wary of them, scared almost they would hear what he would say next. They moved on after scanning the trap section and checking to see if everyone is alright, not noticing the vent shaft broken on the floor. Jack breathed in and continued, “The room it had students, the students that fail in lessons. They were lifeless, they had tubes going into their body and taking their bodily fluids. The students are called Valiosos, meaning immune. They are immune to IOS, they’re rare, and so Reign is taking students who are failing at subjects and testing them to see if they’re immune. If so they are taken to this room and put in a death-like sleep were they undertaking a bunch of pipes and tubes going into their body? Reign if trying to find a cure, that doesn’t exist.”
There a silence as Jack finished telling the others what happened, it a piercing silence one of which needed to be broken so Loki stepped in, “Where’s Talia, Pandora and Lupus? Why aren’t they with you?”
“Because we split up into threes so we can gather things and leave, we’re here to get you guys to a certain point outside of Reign. We know where to go, we know how to get there but we don’t know where the other three are, they are collecting our belongings and other items to help us out there. Jack has a list of protection we need to get for each of us,” Aaron said, brushing his fingers through his hair, Wren looked at Jack and held out her hand, Jack sighed and reached into his pocket and gave the piece of paper to Wren who grumbled a thanks before opening up the folded paper. Her eyes skimmed the names and the weapons; she noted the writing and a tiny drawing of a symbol that she recognised but can’t remember why. After she read it she handed it to Niji, who read it out loud,
“It says: ‘These are some weapon ideas I figured out for the people in Group 1, 16 and 37 if wanting to change please, by all means, do so ~ Lupus. Isaac - Shotgun + Machete, Wren - Two pistols + assault rifle, Saskya - Katana + a small gun, Aaron - Combat rifle + small pocket knife, Jules - Steel axe + pistol, Talia - Magnum + pocket knife, Panda - Scorpion Knuckles, Jay - Metal Bow + Explosives, Luis - Rifle + pocket knife, Niji - Metal baseball bat, Loki - Duel blades + small pistol, Pandora - Assault Pistol, Lupus - Sniper Rifle and Jack - Army gun + throwing knife’” When Niji finished he looked around, the faces looked excited but nothing could compare to the devil himself grin on Jay’s face, she was muttering something really quickly. Niji smiled as he understood what she was saying, “Guessing everyone is happy with their chosen weapons, so I’m guessing we will have to go through the weapons room?”
“We will indeed, the plan is simple, we need a distraction in the ventilation, but first we need a smaller one to get at least one explosive out of the weapons room. Who’s up to do so?” Luis said, no one put their hand up for a few seconds then a hand rose, of course, it was Jay’s. She smiled a large grin with the glimmer of mischief inside her eyes; she walked up to the centre and mockingly bowed and was replied with laughs and smirks.
“I’m up to do it,” She said bravely, one eyebrow lifted and a confident smirk, Wren and walked up next to her and placed her hand on Jay’s shoulder, Jay looked up at Wren who nodded encouragingly, Jay turned to Luis who was now in the middle with the others, she breathed in and looked in dead in the eye and said, “Tell me what to do?”
*
The three boys left the room, the other three turned to each other Lupus looked like they just came out the most boring principal lecture. They look Talia and Pandora who were staring at her as if expecting them to tell the two girls something, Lupus stared blankly in return. Talia dipped her head towards Lupus and Pandora rolled her hands around each other, Lupus snapped out of their blank expression, “Oh right I have to collect things with you nerds.”“No really?” Pandora replied scornfully, Lupus smirked and twirled their fingers in the air making the holographic map zooming into a corridor. Lupus took a deep breath and bit their lip before starting.
“We will go through the door opposite the one we came through, turn left and go down the hall till it stops at another door, the door leads to a room full of air vents, there is a vent that leads to Dorm 1 which is connected to the other dorms. We need to go to 3 different dorms and then the cafeteria; we need to get into Goulder’s office so do something before we leave out the roof vent, there is a place we need to get to in the woods where I told the others to go. From there I will tell you what to do,” Lupus explained whilst gesturing to the hologram and the forest section. They zoomed into the Training Hall once again; the people with numbers were starting to move, the numbers 2, 3 and 4 where moving towards the weapons room door, the others split off from each other, 9 and 10 were moving off to help 2 to 4 and 5, 6, 7, 11, 13 and 14 were walking off to the big door into and out of the Training Hall.
“Well seems like, their plan is coming along, good thing the piece of paper I gave them had instructions on them,” Lupus smirked at Pandora’s and Talia’s concerned faces before going through the hologram and picking up the circular object. They turned to the door and jogged up to it, humming a song of some sort as they placed the circular object on the door and held it there, pressing the object onto the door. Pandora and Talia walked over as the door clicked and screeched open, the corridor that went right and left, door dotting on the walls the lighting was dim and moody. Lupus walked out with no hesitation, turning left and gesturing the other two to follow them. Obliging, the two followed them with less bravery and more caution to the way they walk.
A few minutes later they had reached the ventilation room like Lupus said there were a lot of vents, some small, some large and some not structurally possible. Lupus walked over to a large vent, there was a shaft, obviously. Lupus grabbed the corner of the shaft and tugged it, in following there was a shriek and a slight grunt from Lupus they ripped the shaft off. The other two walked up to help Lupus but they threw the shaft, the vent was big enough for Lupus to squat down slightly from a standing position and walk through, whilst Pandora and Talia could easily walk through dipping their heads slightly.
Lupus wiped their hands on their tattered hoodie and they had a bunch of cuts on their fingers and two palms. They sighed loudly and gestured for the two others to go in front of them, the two looked and each other than back at Lupus who groaned over dramatically and grumbled, “I don’t care if you don’t trust me, I want to get out of here, I need my friends out. Sadly, that involves you because my friends are your friend, even though I don’t trust you. I need you to trust me, I can help you. I… can’t believe I was chosen to be Alpha, sometimes I don’t get those people.”
“Did you just say Alpha?” Talia asked, she walked up to the vent when doing so, Pandora more cautious following her. Lupus scratched the back of their neck and entered the vent, pushing past the girls and moving forward following the vent.
“I will explain soon, but priority is getting out.”
*
The loud bang made the spirits leave Wren’s, Niji’s, Panda’s, Jules’s and the surrounding novices and staffing people. Wren looked back into the weapons room, smoke came flooding out from the vent behind the now moved Assault Rifle pile, and the staffing people ran in the room, coughing loudly. They yelled orders out to the other Coaches or through their communicator in their ears, warning the on-call staff to watch out for the vents. Wren looked at the other three, her eyes serious in concentration and bravery, she nodded her head and ordered, “We need to get Jay and get to the door, now.”The others nodded and rushed to the vent Jay was scheduled to come out of, it also had smoke gushing out of the cracks of the shaft, the four stood there looking around making sure no one saw anything, Wren was kneeling on the floor looking through the shaft, waving the smoke out of the way trying to see if Jay was coming.
A minute later, the four were getting worried, well more Niji, Wren and Jules then Panda who was only worrying about the time wasting away. Wren looked up to Niji who was looked deadly pale, Jules rubbed her eye. Wren moved to lean against the wall, her eyes closing with fear. She can’t be dead, she is too strong. Jay… Jay.
There was a loud clang of metal and a louder swear, quickly unorganised banging sounds came from the ventilation, Wren’s eyes snapped open with everyone’s head looking at the shaft, another curse and a couple bangs later, the shaft flew off the wall, hitting Panda in the face when he looked down to see what was happening. Jay’s legs came from the vent; her leggings had a loud of holes and cut into the fabric, her shoes once a pale grey, now a chalky black powder.
Jules got up and grabbed Jay’s ankles and pulled her legs, Jay’s legs thrashed and she cursed again from inside the vent. Wren smiled a weak smile and pulled along with Jules until Jay slid out of the vent. Jay was covered in soot; most of her face was covered in the black chalky soot except a circular area around her mouth and nose, most likely a gas mask. Jay’s hair was messed up in her ponytail and she was grinning, her eyes wild with amusement and excitement, she had a white surgical mask looking object attached to a string hanging from her neck, the mask was made from a type of plastic and looked simple but was complexxed inside.
“Can I do that again?” Jay breathed as she turned to the vent and reached her hand to grab something, she seemed to do so and pulled her arm out to reveal a big brown bag in her hands, it was moving out in different directions and had stuff coming from the top of the bag. A katana handle was sticking out, as well as two other unrecognisable guns. Jay pulled the bag fully out of the vent and looked up at Wren who was smiling slightly at her friend’s messy hair and characteristics in general.
“Come on, we gotta go, like now before Lupus and the others get out and have to wait for us,” Niji butted in, Panda barely looked at the others before running off, Wren scowled at his back and Niji sighed loudly. Niji and Jules followed the path that Panda made with the people; Wren looked at Jay and wiped her face with the cuff of her right sleeve, rubbing the soot away. Once she got most of it away she pulled Jay by the arm towards the crowd using the other hand to take the bag out of Jay’s hands.
Jackson was standing by the door, shielding Loki who was humming a tune whilst breaking into the door’s lock, removing the wires in a slightly unsubtle way. The others were acting like normal crowds of people, trying not to blow the other two’s cover. Loki looked around at the people, spotting his friends before he turned back and cut the last wire of the door’s control panel.
The door opened with a shush, people in the crowd turned due to noticing the movement, some people looked and Jackson and Loki who was walking out with smug expressions, when they turned to the corner, the others came from the crowd, Isaac first, Niji running after him, Luis and Saskya swiftly joining them. That’s when Panda, Niji, Jules, Wren and Jay suddenly sprinted through the crowd and followed their friends around the corner with Aaron walking slowly back towards the door. He gave the crowd a small smile, and said, “I would join us, they’re killing innocent kids.”
He turned the corner with a mocking salute.
*
Talia, Lupus and Pandora had their hands full. Talia was holding a large bag filled with clothes, photos placed in a flat suitcase that is also in the bag, some jewellery was in smaller boxes. Pandora was holding a large plastic bag filled with cans of food, water, packets of random foods as well. Lupus was carrying their own bag which was full of peoples’ clothes as well as whatever they had in their bag before. The three were running down a corridor, each with the same type of gas mask Jay had on, they turned around corners, sprinting down straight corridors; they spun around looking at their peers or behind them. Lupus suddenly stopped at a door; making the other two slip and stop on themselves.It was Apprentice Goulder’s office but more damaged, the door was broken in half and was swinging randomly; a little smoke came from the top of the door and went down the corridor. The glass on the door was broken and shattered. Lupus walked up and opened the door with a creek, with a single light nudge the door broke in half.
The room itself was trashed, pictures were on the floor, and the cabinets were on the floor, the files inside scattered on the floor. The only thing that was standing was the medals cabinet; it looked like it had been attempted to get into the cabinet but was unsuccessful. Lupus ignored the rest of the mess and headed towards the cabinet, stepping over pictures, hopping over a fallen cabinet, ducking under a hanging piece of the ceiling. When they reached the cabinet they looked back at the other two and gestured for them to wait there.
They opened the cabinet by pressing something on the bottom, they smirked and muttered something before opening the door, they reached for the biggest medal, and it was golden and had a large eagle carved into it with the sides of dates of the past, the same dates of World War III. Lupus pulled the medal of its peg, snapping the ribbon, looking at the back it read `Juan Gould. Medal of Honour 2020 Commander of USA’s military.` Lupus smirked and slid the medal into their left pocket, after doing so they looked back at the wall where the medal once covered. Instead of a plain cabinet wall, the wall had a key hanging on a peg; it was a rusted one, easily breakable.
“What is so important about a rusted key?” Pandora asked her voice slightly muffled, she and Talia were watching Lupus in confusion, and it took most of their sanity not to yell at them for taking their time. Lupus simply smiled a mischievous grin and walked off to where the Apprentice Gould’s desk once stood before it was a pile of wood on the floor but the back wall. They knelt down and moved the pieces of paper and wood out of the way, the carpet was different there it had a part that went up in a square way. Lupus took their knife from their hip and cut around the square then pulled the carpet off, a wooden box was there, Lupus placed their knife down and opened the box, inside was a dark grey tablet, a clump of keys hanging on a chain and a picture of a large house in black and white.
“Time to go,” Lupus said muffled looking up at the other two and smiling…
“Wren, you gonna text and call each day or else I will fly over to America and beat you up,” Wolfia said smiling, their dark grey, almost black, hair tied in a sloppy plat that drifted to their side. Wren had her almost black was tied in a ponytail, she had a suitcase and a backpack hanging loosely on her shoulder, three people stood behind her, her adopted family.
“If you come to America to visit me that would be better, Wolf, for a best friend you are like another protective sibling,” Wren moaned, Wolfia sighed and gave her a tight hug, Isaac came up behind them, his hair the messy bedhead it normally was, he pulled Wolfia off Wren and gave Wren a small hug.
“If we have enough money to come to visit, we will don’t worry about that,” Isaac smirked after letting go of Wren, he stepped back and ran his hand through his hair. Wolfia rubbed their eyes, pretending something was in their eye. Wren did a mocking baby whine making Wolfia pinch the brim of their nose and sighed, “Ok Wren leave Wolf alone, they love you and they want you to know that because they will miss you a lot. I will say goodbye to Terra, Tom and Mih for you, I know how much they’ll miss you.”
Wren and Isaac laughed as Wolfia smiled and rolled their heterochromatic eyes, they elbowed Isaac in the stomach and gave Wren one last hug before saying to Wren, “Come back will ya? We made that deal, we keep that deal.
Wren smirked and hugged her best friend, from behind someone called for her, she sighed and looked behind her nodded, walking backwards waving goodbye to her two friends.
“Hurry up Talia, we can’t wait forever your friends need us to get to the spot I directed the other three too,” Lupus said, they had been running back to the vent room but Talia had to stop due to her losing her breath, taking her gas mask off. Lupus was getting annoyed; they were pacing looking down the halls to make sure no one else came through; Pandora was telling them to pack it in.
“Ok fine, I have a plan,” Lupus breathed out, they stopped in front of the other two enabling them to talk to the others better, they scratched the side of their nose and looked around at the corridor, only one door was there other than that only the ending of the corridors turn away from them, the dim lights made it hard to see the end of the hallways but it was outline-able. Lupus took a deep breath in and started, “Ok, the door there takes us to the Outside, once in the Outside we need to get to the other side, but it will not be as you remember it to be, the lights are off and they let some of the carbon dioxides out through a tiny hole but it lets a lot of toxic air in, keep your masks on. They are uncomfortable but life is uncomfortable, so deal with it.”
“Ok, I’m ready,” Talia said a minute after being told the plan, Lupus got bored and walked off to the door and opened it slightly, a tiny bit of smoke came from the top. Pandora helped Talia up and then walked to the door and joined Lupus. The Outside was exactly as Lupus described, a happy place which made everyone calm now looked like a slightly happier graveyard of fallen soldiers, and the climbing wall was now a wall of blackness, there were only a few lights and they were by the actual doorway.
“The door is opposite this door, we go straight and keep doing so,” Lupus said already walking forward then turning to walk backwards and face the others, through their transparent gasmask they were grinning. “Wanna race?”
“Race?” Talia complained, “I can barely jog for a minute without getting tired with this bag.”
“Come on it will be fun,” Lupus walked up and grabbed Talia’s bag with a heave and swung it over their own shoulder, and then they turned around and ran off, calling back, “Come on guys!”
Pandora smiled and looked at Talia; she shrugged and then ran off to join Lupus. Talia moaned and ran after the two…
*
“RUN FASTER FOR THE LOVE GOD!” Wren yelled at the others as they ran through the Dining Hall, behind them a group of Alpha Reign Staff. They were running to the door, the door was Wolfia and Eryn left. They left the Dining Hall and now running down a long corridor with the door at the end. Panda, Loki and Jackson were the first to make it. As soon as Loki got there he banged his shoulder against the door, with more force each time, the others made their way to the door soon after the other three.The others made a defensive wall with the bodies to block the staff; Loki kept trying to budge the door open but was unsuccessful. After a few more goes Panda had enough, he shoved Loki back and threw his shoulder onto the door; he did it again and once more. The door gave away it swung open, revealing the outside of Alpha Reign, it was sandy, the sky was a dark smoky grey that swirled like mist in wind.
The eleven friends ran out of the building, not hesitate to slam the door behind them, blocking out the staff and running away from the building, only Jay with a gas mask on. They ran up a dune of sandy ground and rock, the staff who were following them opening the door and putting the gas masks on. Jay got to the top of the dune first, the others finding hard to even breathe, they coughed and heaved in the air, their lungs burning. Jay pulled up Panda and Isaac up to the top of the dune, grabbing two gas masks from the weapons bag and throwing the masks at them. The others falling on the dune, and getting up too slowly, the Alpha Reign staff coming in close, Jay had one extremely bad idea.
Jay grabbed the bag, opening it wide and grabbing her bow and its quiver. Jay notched an arrow and shot the nearest staff member in the leg, the man fell, grabbing the arrow and yelping. Jay notched another as Wren ran up the dune and grabbed a bunch of gas masks after putting one around her own neck, then she ran down to give her peers gasmasks before they fainted. Jay shot another staff in the leg to stop them from grabbing on Luis who didn’t have a gas mask, three other staff members were closing in on him.
Jay jumped off the top of the dune her feet first, notching three arrows and pulling the string of the bow hard, she landed with a thud and tilting her bow vertical and releasing the string. The three arrows hit each of the staff in the upper thigh.
Jay ripped her gasmask off after taking a deep breath and placed it on Luis, who heaved in the fresh air. Jay grabbed Luis by the upper arm placing her bow on her back. Wren grabbed Loki in front of the other two, giving Jay a mask and pulling Loki up as she pulled him and herself up the dune.
Jackson grabbed Niji and pulled him up the dune as well, slipping slightly. Isaac grabbed his shotgun and shot the areas around staff to make them back off; Panda pulled people over the dune and then helped the next person. Isaac used only one cartridge of shotgun shells then went over the dune to lead the others to the spot they were to meet Lupus, Talia and Pandora when the whole present group heard a muffled girl scream and an engine towards where the Outside was.
An Alpha Reign hoverbike was going across the sandy land quickly, the bike flew up a dune close to the group and was in the air above the group for a solid five seconds, that is when time seemed to slow down for Wren as she looked up at the people riding the bike, Talia was screaming, holding onto the bag section of the bike, Pandora’s hair was going in her pale face, her skin was being pulled away from her face against her gas mask. Then there was the driver of the hoverbike, Wren’s eyes widened with shock, except their brown hair and the tattoo on the side of their face, they were exactly the same. A wide grin was spread across their face as they flew through the air, their gasmask was slipping off slightly, the group watched as they landed and zoomed towards the forest before stopping at the edge of it with a dust cloud.
*
The bike landed and they sped towards the forest, once on the edge of the forest Lupus stopped the hoverbike, the bike stopped and twirled a bit making a dust cloud form around the bike. Lupus jumped off the bike, Pandora doing the same, and went to help Talia with removing the bags from the back of the bike.Once they removed the bags quickly and they were running through the forest, they ran to the spot they were supposed to meet the others, a large clearing with large trees surrounding it as a defence. That’s when a loud moan from the trees came sliding through the trees, Pandora and Talia panicked then stared at Lupus who was kneeling on the floor with the tablet they took from Apprentice Gould’s room, they turned it and started tapping on the screen, the moan from before started again and grew louder. Lupus barely looked up before taking the haladie from their waist and pulled it in half to become two knives, they looked up to give Pandora one knife and Talia the other, and to finish their actions of they simply said, “Use the knives to kill the troktikas, don’t lose them, they’re very important to me.”
Pandora and Talia instantly circled the clearing to check from troktikas and whilst doing so Lupus placed the bag in their teeth, she grabbed the flare gar on their side which they took from the Outside before running out. They ripped open the packaging and pulled the gun out; after they did they pointed it up towards the sky. After telling Pandora and Talia to cover their ears, they pulled the trigger. A bang and a stream of smoke went into the sky; the smoke was red so when it hovered back down Lupus had a mist surrounding them. Another loud bang made Pandora and Talia jolt up, a chisel of red sparks rained down, alerting everything in the nearby area that they were there.
Lupus went back to work with the tablet, a code appearing on the screen then immediately flashing to a code pad, Lupus punched in numbers, but it was unsuccessful, they did it again and it flashed green. The screen turned into a large table, random words around, it looked very technical. That’s when three people came into the clearing, Luis, Jackson and Panda. Panda froze as soon as his eyes laid on Lupus, the other two ran up to Talia and Pandora asking what to do.
“Circle the clearing we need to make sure not troktikas get in the way of Lupus,” Pandora instructed as Jay and Aaron came into the clearing, Jay dumped the bag of weapons on the floor, the others rushed towards it and grabbed their designated weapon, Panda still frozen. A hissing sound from the tablet appeared making everyone look up at Lupus who was now standing looking at the tablet, a vertical oval, it was sparking around the edges and was a bright purple hovered over the tablet. Lupus turned to everyone until their eyes fell upon someone who just came into the clearing, their whole body stiffened.
It was Isaac; he looked at Lupus in shock. His body was also stiff, unmoving as he stared at Lupus. They both stared at each other, unsure what to do, Panda finally unfroze. He walked up to Lupus and yelled, “WHY THE HELL ARE YOU HERE?”
“How’s your jaw Panda?” Lupus replied, Lupus staring past him, and pushed him on the way and moved towards Isaac, they practically whispered, their voice broke "Isaac, you have every right to be mad. I know you won’t trust me straight away, but I regret leaving, I do. I’m sorry, once I save you guys I’ll-“ Lupus was cut off by Isaac walking forward and holding their face before kissing them, Lupus hesitated before melting into the kiss. The others stood frozen, staring at the two kissing, mouths hanging open with shock when the last of the group came into the clearing, Niji and Wren. The both of them stopped and stared at Isaac and Lupus, who were now hugging, Isaac went stepped back as Lupus turned to Niji and Wren. The two froze.
Wren’s face turned to anger quickly, they stormed up to Lupus who scratched the back of their head until Wren was close enough for Wren to slap them, Wren slapped Lupus. Lupus didn’t even flinch but looked at Wren sadly muttering, “Yeah I deserved that.”
Wren slapped them again making Lupus look up at Wren bewildered, a tear of happiness appearing in their eye and replied, “I don’t think I deserved that.”
“Yes you did, yes you fricking did, you-you—AGH!” Wren had tears in her eyes as she yelled at Lupus. She stomped her foot then grabbed Lupus in a tight hug, Lupus only a few inches taller than Wren. Lupus freed their arms from Wren’s tight embrace and put their arms around Wren’s neck and hugged her back, Wren muttering one name, “Wolfia.”
“It’s good to see you to Wren,” Wolfia replied to Wren, their face buried in Wren’s neck, both with tears in their eyes as they hugged each other, standing next to each other they looked very familiar on the fact Wolfia was taller than Wren and had dyed dark brown hair. Loud moans from the woodsman the two split off from their hug and look in the direction of the moaning, a bark from behind them.
The group looked at Wolfia for help who was looking around at the people, they walk up to Pandora and Talia and took their knives back then instructed the group of people, “Jump through this Teleporter, it will take you to a forest, go 10 feet forward and wait for me, I will jump through last. Warning those who get sick easily, you will feel really sick afterwards so if you need to throw up, please wonder to the side of the portal and throw up there. Going hold your breath and calm your body or else you might get ripped apart.”
“Sounds fun, cya guys!” Jay said jumping into without hesitating, next was Niji and Jackson who went almost at the same time, Jules sprinted through and made a loud deep breath before entering, Aaron and Luis just walked through normally, Pandora made a show of taking a deep breath and then going through, Talia walked in backwards, Isaac and Panda went together slightly glaring at each other. Saskya just shuffled through with Loki, awkwardly as ever. Wren and Wolfia looked at each other, then at the portal, Wolfia muttered, “Fight with me.”
“Stay with me,” Wren finished off as they both ran through the teleporter into the unknown.
Wolfia and Wren came through the teleporter and immediately stood in something sticky; a foul stench hit both of their noses, the air from the teleporter pushed against their backs and blew their hair in their face. Wren stepped forward, a squelching sound following her as she stepped again, she looked down and grimaced.
“OK when I said move 10 feet away from the fricking teleporter, what the crap did you think I meant?” Wolfia said, walking up with Wren, the squelching continuing, a puddle of vomit was present in front of the teleporter. Wolfia lifted their knee and swished their foot so the vomit slid off and landed in the puddle, before stepping over the puddle and looking around at the others. Niji, Panda, Jay, Luis and Saskya were pale and had blotchy skin, they had their friends surrounding them, giving them water and food. Wolfia sighed, “Well I guess it is some people’s first time teleporting they must have some kind of rejection of the process of their body suddenly moving.”
“You look the least affect person here,” Panda pointed out snarling, he was leaning against a tree a distrusted expression on his face, he looked up at Wolfia with intense loathing, “Do you use the Teleport a lot? Do you usually get a bunch of kids in trouble then escape with them with no plan on what to do next?”
“I do actually have a plan, wonky jaw, but I’m not telling you it tell because you have always been a nosey idiot,” Wolfia snapped back, the others looked at them in surprise, the only people who have the courage to snap at Panda was Isaac, Wren and Jay. Wolfia rolled their eyes and then smirked, “you never did answer my question about your jaw.”
Panda stopped leaning on the tree and walked up to Wolfia who was scraping the vomit of theirs and Wren’s shoes with a stick, Panda startled Wolfia who flicked the stick up and it splattered vomit onto Panda’s face whose eyes filled with rage. Wolfia half snorted but covered their mouth, Jay snorted then ran off to throw up again, Niji and Loki’s mouths were hanging open in shock. Wolfia was shaking, trying not to laugh; Wren was doing the same as she tore a piece of her shirt and handing it to Panda who was still glaring at Wolfia, who then decided to match his glare with more power. The others stopped laughing as they saw the person’s, who saved them, glare. It felt like a bullet had gone through their hearts, an unstoppable feeling of fear and power mixed into one.
Panda backed down from his glare and stepped back a few steps, Wolfia turned to the others and their expression softened, they cleared their throat and wondered around the vomit puddle to the still working teleporter and moving vomit out of the way of a similar tablet as the one on the other side of the teleporter.
The others drank some water they took from Talia’s, Pandora’s and Wolfia’s bags before placing it back in the bags and starting to caver around Wolfia who was picking up the tablet and turning it off. They looked up to the crowd and sighed, Wren standing next to them as if she was second in charge. Wolfia put the tablet into their bag and stretched before addressing the group of people, “We are going to a, maybe-stolen-house-that-you-have-no-proof-of-me-stealing-it-but-my-friend-gave-it-to-me, safe house. If we start moving now whilst the sun is still up we will get there quicker, we will have a sleep break and then carry on, most likely reaching the house by the evening of tomorrow. Technically we are eight hours ahead of where we were, so sorry if you’re jet-lagged.”
“Where exactly are we?” Saskya asked quietly, kind of scared of the tall person in front of her. Wolfia stared at her, then glancing at Wren, who shrugged, then Isaac who nodded.
“What’s your name?” Wolfia replied their looked was filled with recognition as they stared down at the 16-year-old.
“Saskya, Saskya Sunshine.”
“Is your hair dyed?”
“Yes? What does that have to do with my question?” Saskya murmured back annoyed.
“We are in England; also did you live in Cambridge?” Wolfia asked her, which puzzled her more
Saskya nodded, stepping back a little at Wolfia’s bluntness. Wolfia thought of her answers and still gazed at the younger girl, Wren put her hand on Wolfia’s shoulder and shook her head, and Wolfia sighed and turned back to the others. Wolfia addressed the group, “we leave in five minutes rest up till then.”
Everyone wondered off to sit down by the trees, well except for Saskya and Jay who stood in front of Wolfia who looked down at the two smaller children, they sighed, “Yes?”
“Why did you ask all those questions,” Saskya said bluntly, Wolfia raised an eyebrow, they smirked and yawned.
“I know your sister, she is the same age as Wren but got moved up to my year in our school,” Wolfia smiled at the memory.
“You knew my sister, you mean,” Saskya replied sadly, she looked at the floor.
“I know her, she is still alive,” Wolfia insisted, Saskya stared up at Wolfia who smiled warmly, Saskya ran off to go tell Jules and Aaron. Jay opened her mouth to say something then closed it, she stepped backwards. After Jay left Wolfia alone, Isaac and Wren walked up to Wolfia and started talking.
After five minutes Niji stood up as Wolfia called everyone up, Jackson joining him. The group gathered around Wolfia, the nervousness passed between people as they looked at each other or stood near each other. Wolfia addressed the group with a glance at everyone, they bit their lip and started, “Ok nerds, we will start heading out now, so if you have like walking problems or don’t like my leadership-“ Panda raised his hand almost straight away, “- and you’re not Panda, please proceed in scolding me.”
No one raised their hands, Wolfia muttering sarcastically “thank bloody god” under their breath so only Wren and nearby heard, they all snickered loudly and followed Wolfia through a gap in the trees on the further side. They began their journey, their nightmares become reality.
“Jackson carry Niji on your back, until we have a break for the night then I’ll carry him,” Wolfia decided after 20 minutes of arguing on what to do, Jackson’s hand fell from his hair, mouth hanging open. Niji was just looking at Wolfia with wide eyes; he stuttered something that Wolfia only heard as they bent down to pull Niji up.
It took five minutes for Niji to be in a comfortable position; they set off again, Wolfia walking quicker than before.
It was hard to see as the group marched on, Wolfia checking their GPhone every 10 minutes to check where the group was. After the fourth hour since Niji hurt his ankle, Wolfia was slowing down and was started to get ragged breathing. Eventually, Wolfia stopped walking at a clearing; it was lined with trees, the sky visible through the line of dark grey trees. Wolfia walked into the centre, the others spilling into the area.
Wolfia gestured around to the others, who looked at Wolfia confused and puzzled as they stood around the person leading them. Wolfia smiled sheepishly, “We are gonna camp out here tonight, I’ll be on the first watch, so yea. Plop the stuff down other there, Wren go get firewood I need set something up. The rest of you, just go around and do you, I guess. Also, don’t wander around or take off those gas masks until I set something up.”
“Oh ok, can Jay join me, Wolf?” Wren asked Wolfia whilst standing with Jay who was looking at the ground, sadly.
“Bring a knife, there are troktikas, not just in America, they’re everywhere because the government couldn’t control a virus,” Wolfia said, ignoring the shocked looks given to them and took the haladie from their hip and handed it to Wren, who grimaced at the sight of the blade and sighed taking it at the handle.
Wren and Jay slipped between gaps in the trees, walking a few steps before scavenging the floor for firewood; the floor had dead leaves and sticks littering it. Wren picked up the sticks and shoved them into Jay’s arms, in a silence that was deafening between the two. Jay shifted awkwardly, Wren still shoving branches and sticks into Jay’s arms. Once Jay couldn’t carry anymore, Wren started carrying branches and sticks, a few minutes later Wren’s arms were also full of sticks.
They walked back quiet; Wren had her thinking face on, her eyebrows scrunched and she was biting her bottom lip. Jay glanced over, checking to see if Wren was ok. She clearly wasn’t, Jay coughed and then said, “What are you thinking about?”
“Hmm? Oh Wolfia, they’re different from the last time we saw them, they hardly knew how to lead two people, now they are leading fourteen with such ease it unsettles me,” Wren admitted, Jay nodded and walked on with Wren who continued, “I don’t know what to believe about them, are they still the Wolfia I knew? I mean since when did they have that face tattoo, why do they have dyed hair, why do they act like they’ve been through a war? I just want Wolfia back, my best friend, my pillar, the person I turned to whenever I felt like the world hated me or didn’t want me.”
“You and Wolfia must go far back then,” Jay observed, Wren smiled her eyes full of memorisation and happiness.
“Yea, I knew Wolfia since I was three, before that I was raised in a hospital, then I moved to the orphanage where I meet Wolfia. Wolfia four was and had been there for a year, apparently, when they were one to three they were experimented on, the people who tested them removed anything that could make them male or female. Also, they were injected with stuff that made them grow quicker and just be downright stronger than the average child. But other than that, we told our stories together, we were in the same room together, we did everything together. Those were the good times.”
The two emerged from the trees into the clearing with the others, it felt different than before, the feeling of a lot of pressure then that pressure disappearing, the others looked up at the two, all with their gas masks off. Wolfia was crouching by a larger version of a matchstick box sized mechanism on the other side of the clearing; the box had two tubes coming out of its sides. One tube seemed to let out a shimmering plastic looking bubble that was surrounding the clearing, it went through trees making an area of pure oxygen.
Wren took off her mask and threw it in a pile with the other masks, Jay doing the same, before walking over to Isaac, who was leaning on a large tree with Jackson sitting near him. She plopped down next to him, also leaning on the tree, gazing around at her peers, friend groups appearing yet again, Jay, Pandora and Talia were talking amongst themselves, smiling sleepily and replying to each other with little enthusiasm than normal. Saskya, Jules and Aaron were talking amongst themselves as well but they were louder than the other groups of friends. Niji was quiet whilst sitting with his group of friends, Luis and Loki were muttering to each other, Panda sometimes joining in with them. Jackson and Isaac chatted half-heartedly. Then there was Wolfia who was lighting a fire and tending to it.
Wolfia sat down next to the flower which started to light, watching it grow bigger and covering the pile of branches and sticks. Soon the fire was big, the chatting continued among friends though it slowly decreased as people grew tired and sleepier. They watched Wolfia, some watching the flames of the fire. The silence was kind, the crackle of the fire and the swish of the leaves of the dying trees were satisfying for the group, but yet they couldn’t sleep.
“Ok I’ll bite, why do you guys keep looking at me like I’m about to shoot you?” Wolfia sighed over the silence; they had moved in-between Isaac and Wren, who both leaned on them. The others looked away apart from Panda and Jay who were still staring at the mysterious person. Wolfia smirked at them, amused at the reactions to them calling everyone out.
“Maybe because you might and there is no way to tell if you would,” Panda said dryly, he was leaning on a tree looking at the stars, after there was a silence after he said response he looked down at Wolfia who was smiling.
“You never answered my question about your jaw how is it? I heard it didn’t heal properly, and the two moles were very happy you got what you deserved,” Wolfia replied, their voice had a brutal tone to it, between a sarcastic slur and a matter-of-fact type voice. Panda’s eyes flared up and his eyes scrunched with anger, he was about to get up when Niji pulled him back down, shaking his head. Wolfia smiled a victorious smile and then proceeded to talk, “I’m guessing you want to know where I was for a year and a couple of months,” the group nodded, “if you must know I was with Eryn for most of it, Eryn is a quiet girl who got kicked out with me if you didn’t know, we stayed for two weeks outside the base, choosing two moles for us to get information. Once we had the moles we left, before doing so I left a portal box, a rebellion gadget and then we left for London. We were told Wren and Isaac were put on chores for four weeks, so we asked the moles to host the chores and give them a little number of chores, hopefully, it worked. Anyway, we portalled to Cambridge, where we saved someone’s life… Raya Sunshine, her arm was broken and she needed her leg amputated, so Eryn and I had to do that… Then burn the wound closed but before that, we had to tie a rope around the knee to stop the blood circulation…”
Saskya looked up at the mention of her sister that she believed to be dead, listening to what happened to her sister after made her feel sick, she turned pale. Her two friends putting their hands on her shoulders and feeling sympathy towards her, they knew Saskya thought her family was dead and they know how she cried herself to sleep each night when she first joined Alpha Reign.
“So we continued as a trio towards London, running into a few snags along the way that got me a scar on my stomach and Eryn’s leg and hand removed in the process of escaping,” Wolfia continued, standing up and walking around the fire, “So I was the only one that could move the best I was carrying all the supplies whilst Raya was holding Eryn, who was knocked out, we had to get to London then or else Eryn would have died. So I did the next best thing and I took our only teleporter and set it to London, not knowing it was a bad idea. We needed to get to a certain point in London, the south side but there’s a like a teleporter block around that area so we had to go to the central London, not realising the snags were following us. So we ran into them again… I killed the leader… I just was defending Aura, little did I know that was gonna be my first murder, I couldn’t sleep for four days after that. Anyway, that gave a chance for us to escape with none of our supplies, nothing. We made it a day before we all were losing stamina and hope, then I shot the flare I took from the people who were the snags. I shot it in the air despite Eryn and Raya telling me not to, I passed out next second.”
Wolfia looked around at the group, upon hearing their story the group started to drift away to slumber, they smirked and continued, “I woke up in an infirmary, surrounded by doctors, they all had the Rebels’ crest, a wolf with a sword in its mouth, anyway. The doctors told me what they do, and my new job as the Rebels’ spy, my information was extraordinary, the Rebels’ can finally win they told me. A few weeks later, I was sent on my mission, I only was allowed to visit Eryn… She had gotten a new robotic hand and leg, I felt sick when saw her aftermath of the surgeries she had to be put under. The next day I was sent to Spain, luckily I took A Level Spanish, I spent ten months there, raiding Government bases and sending it to the London Institute. Then one day, I was just walking down the Spain Institute’s corridors, texting Eryn, thinking everything was fine, that when alarms started blaring and people rushed out of their dorms, confused and in the dark. I rushed to my dorm and grabbed my bag. When I came out someone I made friends with had a gun to their head, the person holding the gun was from an American SWAT team, with the words Alpha Reign sewn into the back of the guys’ bulletproof jacket. I didn’t what to do, so my body acted, I ran forward, and kicked the man in the head, he died. I saved my friend but there was no point… The man had shot my friend before I could do anything about it, his name was Justin and he died in my arms. I was so mad that I snapped, the next SWAT member who came to me I killed. After I escaped, I took the Spain Institute’s teleporter to America, arrived at the bottom of Texas and started heading towards Alpha Reign in Arizona. It took two weeks, due to the fact there are more troktikas in America than Spain. When I found you guys, I was so happy, the fact I have come back to my walking homes, my pillars of support.”
Wolfia finished, looking around at their peers, they all looked at the warrior with a mixture of emotions, uneasiness, sympathy, fear and confusion. Wolfia rubbed their eyes and instructed everyone to sleep whilst checking up on Niji’s foot before sitting away from everyone next to a tree, watching over the group.
“Night guys,” Isaac called out, with a wave murmured replies following him.
“Right,” a simple reply from Panda, he stared at the flames, Wolfia rolled their eyes and walked through the gap of the tree, taking a gas mask from the pile beforehand. Picking up the branches and sticks from the dying floor, they grabbed anything they could get. Ten minutes later, Wolfia finally gathering everything they need so they stumbled back, their arms full of branches so they could barely see in front of them as they walked into the clearing with the rest of the group. They dropped the branches on the floor and sat by the tree, not caring to thank Panda or give him thumbs up.
Wolfia closed their eyes and rested, knowing nothing would attack them whilst they slept.
“Listen I don’t know why twinkle toes left, the only reason I’m worried is that he knows too much information, I was told there was gonna be a traitor in the group and I had my suspicions but I didn’t they would be true. So I’m sorry your best friends left, even though you didn’t tell him anything important about yourself and followed him like a puppy with its new owner,” Wolfia managed to duck under another branch, Niji winced and went silent, Jackson behind the two grimaced listening in to Wolfia’s and Niji’s conversation. Behind the three the group chatted aimlessly, Isaac was at the back talking with Loki and Luis and making sure everyone was doing ok.
“Sorry,” Wolfia said, after a ten minutes silence between them and Niji.
“Did we get them from Gould’s office?” Talia questioned, Pandora muttered a reply, the group stared the three with a shock of the fact they stole stuff from Gould’s office. Wolfia shrugged and placed the medal in their palm that they flattened; keeping their arm steady as they grabbed the rusted key and place.
“Everyone stand back,” Wolfia instructed, they all shuffled back, Wren walked into Niji who was sitting on the floor and muttered an apology, Loki and Luis tripped over each other. Wolfia raised their other hand to match the same width as the other one, as if holding a ball they reached outward, after than they yelled forward into the field, “Haus de asche!”
As soon as they yelled it, the field seemed to shimmer in the group’s eyes, then a pale blue light burnt the groups’ eyes, they all turned away or covered their eyes. When the light died they looked back, instead of a field, a mansion stood in front of the group.
The mansion was large and modern; the walls were made of pin oak, which was a dark brown that looked recently polished or untouched. The roof was made from dark grey tiles going up to make a triangle upwards. From the outside, the mansion looked like it had 2 stories but hundreds of rooms, the endless windows proved that the windows were tinted a cloud grey and darkness lay from within made them look ghostly. The door was a normal size, with the colour of crimson, a window near the top and in the centre of a circled snowflake. A tower rose on the left side of the mansion with carved in walls and a coned roof. The rest of the field was covered in jungle gyms that looked unused and ready to be, an archery range lay in the middle. A porch with a slightly titled roof, with a fence, painted with dark grey paint around the door and bottom floor.
The group was gaping, unsure what to do, how the mansion appeared there but it did. The words seemed to form into “uhms” and murmurs of nonsense. Wolfia sighed at the sight and walked up the porch’s steps to the door, they took the rusty key and fitted it into the door’s lock and turned it. The door clicked and swung open, a wave of dust flooding out, Wolfia coughed and waved their hand in front of their face to move the dust away. Wolfia stepped through the threshold and flicked the light switch next to them; the lights first flickered then appeared. A large living room was the first room in the house, there were couches surrounding a medium-sized coffee table, a pool table behind the largest couch, the large TV on the side with no couches was resting on a small bookshelf filled which funny enough was filled with books.
Wolfia walked into the living room and the group followed staring around at the room, still gaping. Wolfia lifted their hands and gestured around the room whilst spinning around to look at the group, they smiled and said, “Welcome to the Haus of Ashes!”
“OK when I said move 10 feet away from the fricking teleporter, what the crap did you think I meant?” Wolfia said, walking up with Wren, the squelching continuing, a puddle of vomit was present in front of the teleporter. Wolfia lifted their knee and swished their foot so the vomit slid off and landed in the puddle, before stepping over the puddle and looking around at the others. Niji, Panda, Jay, Luis and Saskya were pale and had blotchy skin, they had their friends surrounding them, giving them water and food. Wolfia sighed, “Well I guess it is some people’s first time teleporting they must have some kind of rejection of the process of their body suddenly moving.”
“You look the least affect person here,” Panda pointed out snarling, he was leaning against a tree a distrusted expression on his face, he looked up at Wolfia with intense loathing, “Do you use the Teleport a lot? Do you usually get a bunch of kids in trouble then escape with them with no plan on what to do next?”
“I do actually have a plan, wonky jaw, but I’m not telling you it tell because you have always been a nosey idiot,” Wolfia snapped back, the others looked at them in surprise, the only people who have the courage to snap at Panda was Isaac, Wren and Jay. Wolfia rolled their eyes and then smirked, “you never did answer my question about your jaw.”
Panda stopped leaning on the tree and walked up to Wolfia who was scraping the vomit of theirs and Wren’s shoes with a stick, Panda startled Wolfia who flicked the stick up and it splattered vomit onto Panda’s face whose eyes filled with rage. Wolfia half snorted but covered their mouth, Jay snorted then ran off to throw up again, Niji and Loki’s mouths were hanging open in shock. Wolfia was shaking, trying not to laugh; Wren was doing the same as she tore a piece of her shirt and handing it to Panda who was still glaring at Wolfia, who then decided to match his glare with more power. The others stopped laughing as they saw the person’s, who saved them, glare. It felt like a bullet had gone through their hearts, an unstoppable feeling of fear and power mixed into one.
Panda backed down from his glare and stepped back a few steps, Wolfia turned to the others and their expression softened, they cleared their throat and wondered around the vomit puddle to the still working teleporter and moving vomit out of the way of a similar tablet as the one on the other side of the teleporter.
The others drank some water they took from Talia’s, Pandora’s and Wolfia’s bags before placing it back in the bags and starting to caver around Wolfia who was picking up the tablet and turning it off. They looked up to the crowd and sighed, Wren standing next to them as if she was second in charge. Wolfia put the tablet into their bag and stretched before addressing the group of people, “We are going to a, maybe-stolen-house-that-you-have-no-proof-of-me-stealing-it-but-my-friend-gave-it-to-me, safe house. If we start moving now whilst the sun is still up we will get there quicker, we will have a sleep break and then carry on, most likely reaching the house by the evening of tomorrow. Technically we are eight hours ahead of where we were, so sorry if you’re jet-lagged.”
“Where exactly are we?” Saskya asked quietly, kind of scared of the tall person in front of her. Wolfia stared at her, then glancing at Wren, who shrugged, then Isaac who nodded.
“What’s your name?” Wolfia replied their looked was filled with recognition as they stared down at the 16-year-old.
“Saskya, Saskya Sunshine.”
“Is your hair dyed?”
“Yes? What does that have to do with my question?” Saskya murmured back annoyed.
“We are in England; also did you live in Cambridge?” Wolfia asked her, which puzzled her more
Saskya nodded, stepping back a little at Wolfia’s bluntness. Wolfia thought of her answers and still gazed at the younger girl, Wren put her hand on Wolfia’s shoulder and shook her head, and Wolfia sighed and turned back to the others. Wolfia addressed the group, “we leave in five minutes rest up till then.”
Everyone wondered off to sit down by the trees, well except for Saskya and Jay who stood in front of Wolfia who looked down at the two smaller children, they sighed, “Yes?”
“Why did you ask all those questions,” Saskya said bluntly, Wolfia raised an eyebrow, they smirked and yawned.
“I know your sister, she is the same age as Wren but got moved up to my year in our school,” Wolfia smiled at the memory.
“You knew my sister, you mean,” Saskya replied sadly, she looked at the floor.
“I know her, she is still alive,” Wolfia insisted, Saskya stared up at Wolfia who smiled warmly, Saskya ran off to go tell Jules and Aaron. Jay opened her mouth to say something then closed it, she stepped backwards. After Jay left Wolfia alone, Isaac and Wren walked up to Wolfia and started talking.
After five minutes Niji stood up as Wolfia called everyone up, Jackson joining him. The group gathered around Wolfia, the nervousness passed between people as they looked at each other or stood near each other. Wolfia addressed the group with a glance at everyone, they bit their lip and started, “Ok nerds, we will start heading out now, so if you have like walking problems or don’t like my leadership-“ Panda raised his hand almost straight away, “- and you’re not Panda, please proceed in scolding me.”
No one raised their hands, Wolfia muttering sarcastically “thank bloody god” under their breath so only Wren and nearby heard, they all snickered loudly and followed Wolfia through a gap in the trees on the further side. They began their journey, their nightmares become reality.
*
It has been an hour of non-stop walking for the 14 people; it took Wren and Isaac to complain till Wolfia to finally take a break. It was ten minutes but it did the job for the others. Then they started again, but then as Niji was standing up, Panda accidentally knocked him over. His foot bent in an unhealthy angle and a snap was heard between the two friends. Panda stared in shock at his friend, the words of apology filling the air of “are you ok” and “oh god Panda, what did you do!” whilst Wolfia groaned loudly.“Jackson carry Niji on your back, until we have a break for the night then I’ll carry him,” Wolfia decided after 20 minutes of arguing on what to do, Jackson’s hand fell from his hair, mouth hanging open. Niji was just looking at Wolfia with wide eyes; he stuttered something that Wolfia only heard as they bent down to pull Niji up.
It took five minutes for Niji to be in a comfortable position; they set off again, Wolfia walking quicker than before.
*
“We’ve been walking for hours, my feet hurt, and my legs hurt, everything hurts,” a whine escaped from the back of the group, a snort from Niji who was getting uncomfortable with Jackson giving him a piggyback. In three hours they only had 2 ten minute breaks, Wolfia barely sweating until the fourth hour of walking. This was when the light of the dark grey sky vanished and became a black mixture in the sky.It was hard to see as the group marched on, Wolfia checking their GPhone every 10 minutes to check where the group was. After the fourth hour since Niji hurt his ankle, Wolfia was slowing down and was started to get ragged breathing. Eventually, Wolfia stopped walking at a clearing; it was lined with trees, the sky visible through the line of dark grey trees. Wolfia walked into the centre, the others spilling into the area.
Wolfia gestured around to the others, who looked at Wolfia confused and puzzled as they stood around the person leading them. Wolfia smiled sheepishly, “We are gonna camp out here tonight, I’ll be on the first watch, so yea. Plop the stuff down other there, Wren go get firewood I need set something up. The rest of you, just go around and do you, I guess. Also, don’t wander around or take off those gas masks until I set something up.”
“Oh ok, can Jay join me, Wolf?” Wren asked Wolfia whilst standing with Jay who was looking at the ground, sadly.
“Bring a knife, there are troktikas, not just in America, they’re everywhere because the government couldn’t control a virus,” Wolfia said, ignoring the shocked looks given to them and took the haladie from their hip and handed it to Wren, who grimaced at the sight of the blade and sighed taking it at the handle.
Wren and Jay slipped between gaps in the trees, walking a few steps before scavenging the floor for firewood; the floor had dead leaves and sticks littering it. Wren picked up the sticks and shoved them into Jay’s arms, in a silence that was deafening between the two. Jay shifted awkwardly, Wren still shoving branches and sticks into Jay’s arms. Once Jay couldn’t carry anymore, Wren started carrying branches and sticks, a few minutes later Wren’s arms were also full of sticks.
They walked back quiet; Wren had her thinking face on, her eyebrows scrunched and she was biting her bottom lip. Jay glanced over, checking to see if Wren was ok. She clearly wasn’t, Jay coughed and then said, “What are you thinking about?”
“Hmm? Oh Wolfia, they’re different from the last time we saw them, they hardly knew how to lead two people, now they are leading fourteen with such ease it unsettles me,” Wren admitted, Jay nodded and walked on with Wren who continued, “I don’t know what to believe about them, are they still the Wolfia I knew? I mean since when did they have that face tattoo, why do they have dyed hair, why do they act like they’ve been through a war? I just want Wolfia back, my best friend, my pillar, the person I turned to whenever I felt like the world hated me or didn’t want me.”
“You and Wolfia must go far back then,” Jay observed, Wren smiled her eyes full of memorisation and happiness.
“Yea, I knew Wolfia since I was three, before that I was raised in a hospital, then I moved to the orphanage where I meet Wolfia. Wolfia four was and had been there for a year, apparently, when they were one to three they were experimented on, the people who tested them removed anything that could make them male or female. Also, they were injected with stuff that made them grow quicker and just be downright stronger than the average child. But other than that, we told our stories together, we were in the same room together, we did everything together. Those were the good times.”
The two emerged from the trees into the clearing with the others, it felt different than before, the feeling of a lot of pressure then that pressure disappearing, the others looked up at the two, all with their gas masks off. Wolfia was crouching by a larger version of a matchstick box sized mechanism on the other side of the clearing; the box had two tubes coming out of its sides. One tube seemed to let out a shimmering plastic looking bubble that was surrounding the clearing, it went through trees making an area of pure oxygen.
Wren took off her mask and threw it in a pile with the other masks, Jay doing the same, before walking over to Isaac, who was leaning on a large tree with Jackson sitting near him. She plopped down next to him, also leaning on the tree, gazing around at her peers, friend groups appearing yet again, Jay, Pandora and Talia were talking amongst themselves, smiling sleepily and replying to each other with little enthusiasm than normal. Saskya, Jules and Aaron were talking amongst themselves as well but they were louder than the other groups of friends. Niji was quiet whilst sitting with his group of friends, Luis and Loki were muttering to each other, Panda sometimes joining in with them. Jackson and Isaac chatted half-heartedly. Then there was Wolfia who was lighting a fire and tending to it.
Wolfia sat down next to the flower which started to light, watching it grow bigger and covering the pile of branches and sticks. Soon the fire was big, the chatting continued among friends though it slowly decreased as people grew tired and sleepier. They watched Wolfia, some watching the flames of the fire. The silence was kind, the crackle of the fire and the swish of the leaves of the dying trees were satisfying for the group, but yet they couldn’t sleep.
“Ok I’ll bite, why do you guys keep looking at me like I’m about to shoot you?” Wolfia sighed over the silence; they had moved in-between Isaac and Wren, who both leaned on them. The others looked away apart from Panda and Jay who were still staring at the mysterious person. Wolfia smirked at them, amused at the reactions to them calling everyone out.
“Maybe because you might and there is no way to tell if you would,” Panda said dryly, he was leaning on a tree looking at the stars, after there was a silence after he said response he looked down at Wolfia who was smiling.
“You never answered my question about your jaw how is it? I heard it didn’t heal properly, and the two moles were very happy you got what you deserved,” Wolfia replied, their voice had a brutal tone to it, between a sarcastic slur and a matter-of-fact type voice. Panda’s eyes flared up and his eyes scrunched with anger, he was about to get up when Niji pulled him back down, shaking his head. Wolfia smiled a victorious smile and then proceeded to talk, “I’m guessing you want to know where I was for a year and a couple of months,” the group nodded, “if you must know I was with Eryn for most of it, Eryn is a quiet girl who got kicked out with me if you didn’t know, we stayed for two weeks outside the base, choosing two moles for us to get information. Once we had the moles we left, before doing so I left a portal box, a rebellion gadget and then we left for London. We were told Wren and Isaac were put on chores for four weeks, so we asked the moles to host the chores and give them a little number of chores, hopefully, it worked. Anyway, we portalled to Cambridge, where we saved someone’s life… Raya Sunshine, her arm was broken and she needed her leg amputated, so Eryn and I had to do that… Then burn the wound closed but before that, we had to tie a rope around the knee to stop the blood circulation…”
Saskya looked up at the mention of her sister that she believed to be dead, listening to what happened to her sister after made her feel sick, she turned pale. Her two friends putting their hands on her shoulders and feeling sympathy towards her, they knew Saskya thought her family was dead and they know how she cried herself to sleep each night when she first joined Alpha Reign.
“So we continued as a trio towards London, running into a few snags along the way that got me a scar on my stomach and Eryn’s leg and hand removed in the process of escaping,” Wolfia continued, standing up and walking around the fire, “So I was the only one that could move the best I was carrying all the supplies whilst Raya was holding Eryn, who was knocked out, we had to get to London then or else Eryn would have died. So I did the next best thing and I took our only teleporter and set it to London, not knowing it was a bad idea. We needed to get to a certain point in London, the south side but there’s a like a teleporter block around that area so we had to go to the central London, not realising the snags were following us. So we ran into them again… I killed the leader… I just was defending Aura, little did I know that was gonna be my first murder, I couldn’t sleep for four days after that. Anyway, that gave a chance for us to escape with none of our supplies, nothing. We made it a day before we all were losing stamina and hope, then I shot the flare I took from the people who were the snags. I shot it in the air despite Eryn and Raya telling me not to, I passed out next second.”
Wolfia looked around at the group, upon hearing their story the group started to drift away to slumber, they smirked and continued, “I woke up in an infirmary, surrounded by doctors, they all had the Rebels’ crest, a wolf with a sword in its mouth, anyway. The doctors told me what they do, and my new job as the Rebels’ spy, my information was extraordinary, the Rebels’ can finally win they told me. A few weeks later, I was sent on my mission, I only was allowed to visit Eryn… She had gotten a new robotic hand and leg, I felt sick when saw her aftermath of the surgeries she had to be put under. The next day I was sent to Spain, luckily I took A Level Spanish, I spent ten months there, raiding Government bases and sending it to the London Institute. Then one day, I was just walking down the Spain Institute’s corridors, texting Eryn, thinking everything was fine, that when alarms started blaring and people rushed out of their dorms, confused and in the dark. I rushed to my dorm and grabbed my bag. When I came out someone I made friends with had a gun to their head, the person holding the gun was from an American SWAT team, with the words Alpha Reign sewn into the back of the guys’ bulletproof jacket. I didn’t what to do, so my body acted, I ran forward, and kicked the man in the head, he died. I saved my friend but there was no point… The man had shot my friend before I could do anything about it, his name was Justin and he died in my arms. I was so mad that I snapped, the next SWAT member who came to me I killed. After I escaped, I took the Spain Institute’s teleporter to America, arrived at the bottom of Texas and started heading towards Alpha Reign in Arizona. It took two weeks, due to the fact there are more troktikas in America than Spain. When I found you guys, I was so happy, the fact I have come back to my walking homes, my pillars of support.”
Wolfia finished, looking around at their peers, they all looked at the warrior with a mixture of emotions, uneasiness, sympathy, fear and confusion. Wolfia rubbed their eyes and instructed everyone to sleep whilst checking up on Niji’s foot before sitting away from everyone next to a tree, watching over the group.
“Night guys,” Isaac called out, with a wave murmured replies following him.
*
Wolfia stood up, stretching a tiny bit before wondering to the fire, they pocked it with a stick. The firewood was running out so Wolfia gazed around at the group to see if anyone was awake to see Panda was awake. Wolfia sighed in annoyance and informed him, “Watch the group, I’m getting firewood, I will be back in 10 minutes.”“Right,” a simple reply from Panda, he stared at the flames, Wolfia rolled their eyes and walked through the gap of the tree, taking a gas mask from the pile beforehand. Picking up the branches and sticks from the dying floor, they grabbed anything they could get. Ten minutes later, Wolfia finally gathering everything they need so they stumbled back, their arms full of branches so they could barely see in front of them as they walked into the clearing with the rest of the group. They dropped the branches on the floor and sat by the tree, not caring to thank Panda or give him thumbs up.
Wolfia closed their eyes and rested, knowing nothing would attack them whilst they slept.
*
“I don’t get it, why did he leave? We’re going to a safe house right,” Niji said, he was piggybacking on Wolfia’s back, they have been walking for an hour and they still were talking about Panda much to Wolfia’s displeasure. Wolfia stepped over a large branch and squatted down under a branch. “Listen I don’t know why twinkle toes left, the only reason I’m worried is that he knows too much information, I was told there was gonna be a traitor in the group and I had my suspicions but I didn’t they would be true. So I’m sorry your best friends left, even though you didn’t tell him anything important about yourself and followed him like a puppy with its new owner,” Wolfia managed to duck under another branch, Niji winced and went silent, Jackson behind the two grimaced listening in to Wolfia’s and Niji’s conversation. Behind the three the group chatted aimlessly, Isaac was at the back talking with Loki and Luis and making sure everyone was doing ok.
“Sorry,” Wolfia said, after a ten minutes silence between them and Niji.
*
Seven hours later after 10 breaks and 1 nap stop, they arrived in a large field, the field had the forest surrounding it, and grass field was a greyish yellow and was squashed into the ground. Wolfia froze on the edge of the forest and field; the group looked confused but piled around next to them. Wolfia squatted down a let Niji fall to the floor softly; Niji just sat there unbothered but being plopped onto the floor. Wolfia stretched their back and then walked over to Wren, who held their bag, and the bag and opened it. From the bag, they took Gould’s medal and the clump of keys that now had the rusted key attached to the same chain.“Did we get them from Gould’s office?” Talia questioned, Pandora muttered a reply, the group stared the three with a shock of the fact they stole stuff from Gould’s office. Wolfia shrugged and placed the medal in their palm that they flattened; keeping their arm steady as they grabbed the rusted key and place.
“Everyone stand back,” Wolfia instructed, they all shuffled back, Wren walked into Niji who was sitting on the floor and muttered an apology, Loki and Luis tripped over each other. Wolfia raised their other hand to match the same width as the other one, as if holding a ball they reached outward, after than they yelled forward into the field, “Haus de asche!”
As soon as they yelled it, the field seemed to shimmer in the group’s eyes, then a pale blue light burnt the groups’ eyes, they all turned away or covered their eyes. When the light died they looked back, instead of a field, a mansion stood in front of the group.
The mansion was large and modern; the walls were made of pin oak, which was a dark brown that looked recently polished or untouched. The roof was made from dark grey tiles going up to make a triangle upwards. From the outside, the mansion looked like it had 2 stories but hundreds of rooms, the endless windows proved that the windows were tinted a cloud grey and darkness lay from within made them look ghostly. The door was a normal size, with the colour of crimson, a window near the top and in the centre of a circled snowflake. A tower rose on the left side of the mansion with carved in walls and a coned roof. The rest of the field was covered in jungle gyms that looked unused and ready to be, an archery range lay in the middle. A porch with a slightly titled roof, with a fence, painted with dark grey paint around the door and bottom floor.
The group was gaping, unsure what to do, how the mansion appeared there but it did. The words seemed to form into “uhms” and murmurs of nonsense. Wolfia sighed at the sight and walked up the porch’s steps to the door, they took the rusty key and fitted it into the door’s lock and turned it. The door clicked and swung open, a wave of dust flooding out, Wolfia coughed and waved their hand in front of their face to move the dust away. Wolfia stepped through the threshold and flicked the light switch next to them; the lights first flickered then appeared. A large living room was the first room in the house, there were couches surrounding a medium-sized coffee table, a pool table behind the largest couch, the large TV on the side with no couches was resting on a small bookshelf filled which funny enough was filled with books.
Wolfia walked into the living room and the group followed staring around at the room, still gaping. Wolfia lifted their hands and gestured around the room whilst spinning around to look at the group, they smiled and said, “Welcome to the Haus of Ashes!”
It had been a week since they’d been at Haus of Ashes and Loki loved it, the technology behind it all, the story, the design of it and more. The week they first arrived was hard; they discussed roommates, chores and the last thing that confused everyone the most was Ranking. Wolfia explained there were Ranks they would all receive after a week of being here, Wolfia showed them their Spy Rank for the Rebellion; they also said the manor chooses the roles through the microchip every child has when born. The microchip was an invention of the 2020s, it monitors the health of the owner and the other purpose of the microchip was tattooing, meaning in the tattoo industry they just have to find the chip and send it an image and then the chip would start tattooing the person’s body where it wanted. Loki always found that amazing and life-changing for the human race, the part he disliked is how nature paid for humanity’s success.
Loki, himself, was sitting on the highest point of the roof of the building a few centimetres from the bubble around the house’s roof, he had a laptop in his lap, and he was watching Wren and Wolfia doing one-on-one training in the jungle gym. Wren was using her two pistols and was firing at Wolfia who was dodging the bullets or deflecting the bullets with their two blades. Wren stopped firing and ran up the jungle gym, Wolfia climbed up on the other side, running across two thick horizontal poles, jumping from pole to pole as Wren fired her bullets out of the pistols in her two hands. Wolfia dodged another bullet but lost their footing and fell, grabbing the pole whilst slipping through the middle. Something caught their wrist on the wooden pole, Wren stopped firing and was about to help Wolfia out but they swung left and right until they flipped over the pole onto the pole with perfect balance and pose. Wolfia looked up at Wren who was frozen; using this opportunity Wolfia ran forward and kicked the two guns out of Wren’s hand. Out of everyone in the House, Wren and Wolfia trained the most, even though everyone has regular one-on-one training sessions with Wolfia, it was obvious they just wanted to be around each other.
Loki sighed, Wren and Wolfia fighting was interesting to watch but it always ended quickly. With that, Loki went back to his computer looking at the model of Alpha Reign Wolfia sent him through their “tattoo” on the side of their face, a soft breeze blew his brown hair away from his face, his headband was no longer around his head but tied on his wrist. Changes were made to everyone in this building to change people’s, haircuts, hair dyed and general appearances, people wearing prescription glasses received contact lenses.
A few minutes into typing, Loki felt and heard a loud annoying buzz from his pocket, sighing he moved his right hand and tugged his new GPhone free from the pocket. He took the but long metal cuboid, facing it vertically, and pressed the middle of the 5 buttons, in doing do a holographic phone appeared, ejecting itself from the tiny camera on the upwards end of the cuboid. The hologram showed a large 13 with text underneath reading: All personnel resort to the entrance hall, do not use the front door.
Loki's mind shifted to being hyper-alert, he shut his laptop down and closed the top, looking down at Wren and Wolfia whilst doing so, the duo were both looking down at their GPhones, worry and confusion written on their faces was visible to Loki who was far away. The two placed their weapons in their rightful places at their sides and heading towards the house, having to climb down the jungle gym. Loki sighed as he carefully climbed the slanted roof to the wide window to the attic.
He slid through the window and closed it behind him, a satisfying click from the lock made Loki start walking away and to the door of the large dusty attic, boxes of china and Christmas decorations piled into the space free, a box full of ancient items called movies, CDs and the strangest a large box of what seemed to be a strange spinning toy of different colours and shapes. A large, old TV sat in the corner a white sheet covering only slightly, layers of dust surrounding it and its wires. Whilst opening the wooden door with a screech, Loki pulled the doorknob off as the door opened, he looked at the painted gold doorknob and then placed it on a box nearby. Sighing as he closed the door as best he could behind him then walking down the barren halls of the top floor of the Haus of Ashes.
When he got to the entrance hall most people were there already, Wren and Wolfia emerging from a window near the front door. Niji hobbled into the room fronting due to the ankle brace on his foot plus leg. Saskya stood by the open front door, Aaron was standing on the other side of the door looking confused. Once everyone was settled, Saskya began clearing her throat, ‘I was walking around Haus with Aaron, just talking, and we started wondering who was in charge.'
'I was wondering that as well,' Jay stated, taking a bite of a bacon sandwhich.
‘I have questions, the first one is why bacon?’ Wolfia questioned, turning to Jay for their answer.
‘No sane person doesn't like bacon,’ Jay replied jokingly.
‘Bold of you to assume I'm sane,’ Wolfia said joking along with Jay, they turned back to Saskya and asked their next question, 'Why do you wanna know?'
‘Because we need someone to follow, it's strange to just have someone randomly lead us,' She explained quietly, the others nodded and agreed.
'How about a leader, two second-in-commands and a third-in-command, the rest can be soldiers,' Jules suggested.
'I agree, I think Wolfia should be in charge,' Wren said.
'Why Wolfia?' Niji asked, curiosity getting the best of him.
'Cause I'm the only one who has been on the field for the Rebellion,' Wolfia snapped, no one countered their argument, Wolfia sighed then said, 'If I'm in charge, Wolfia and Niji are second-in-command and Jules will be third-in-command, no question need to be asked about why I choose them.'
‘Everyone go back to your knitting, we're done here,’ Wren sarcastically said, who was staring at Wolfia’s expression of “should I tell them” with worry. Everyone started to leave, still talking in their conversation groups, as soon as each of them got back to what they were doing they received a notification from their own GPhones. Opening their holographic phone they read what it said a message from Wolfia who had the number 1. The text read:
It pains me to show you this due to what it says, but due to some arguments Wren and Isaac convinced me to show you.
Another text was sent through this time a photo, in the photo, it showed a large TV screen, the TV screen had large robotic writing on it, the writing itself said:
Another week went by quickly, the group training in the day and having fun/bonding or sleeping at night.
This night everyone was up and restless all of them sitting in the living room, they all seemed to be laughing at something Jay said. Wolfia leaned into Issac, both laughing. Pandora smiled and did a small snort, Talia shaking her head but grinning, Wren laughing, Niji smirking along with Loki and Aaron, Luis was laughing loudly next to Loki, Jules was smiling thinly, Jackson, as well as Jules and Saskya, was leaning on Talia, snorting. After the laughter died down and Jay was making fun of random group members in a passive-aggressive tone, Wolfia received buzz from their pocket, followed by a lot more buzzes. Turning to them Isaac, raised an eyebrow as Wolfia struggles to get their GPhone out of their shorts’ pocket, Wolfia waved him off and stood up from the sofa to answer the call, walking into the kitchen.
Jay looked at the door Wolfia left through and looked at Isaac for answers, she mouth “are they alright” and was replied with Isaac making a phone gestured next to his ear mouthing, “got a call.” Jay nodded and continued to have a roast battle with Talia.
Meanwhile, Wolfia walked to the other side of the kitchen and took a glass then proceeding to fill the glass with orange juice from the fridge, taking a sip they finally answeres the call. Wolfia knowing not to expose themselves said, ‘!Hola!¿Quien as este?’
‘Estoy Oficial Shada desoutebilión, ¿estas Wolfia?’ A deep panicked man said quickly.
‘Officer Shada! You're alive, everyone said you were dead,’ Wolfia replied loudly, no longer leaning the counter, they began to panic.
‘We have not time for that! I need help, I'm stuck in a vault at a bank on the edge of southeastern Cambridge, I've contacted many other Alphas and Spies but they won't get here in time, you're my only hope!’ He was talking quickly and overcome with fear, but he sounded off, Wolfia thought it was because of the fact he was in a vault. They double tapped on the marble counter revealing a holographic screen, swiping and tapping quickly to find the bank, ‘I'm stuck in this vault, I've lost all my weapons and recourses. I was jumped by these people, they sell Rebels to the SWAT teams. I managed to escape but I ran to hide, my ankle is broken. Please, please I need your help.
‘Sir, we'll be there at 10am at the latest, we need two hours of sleep before we come and help you, you must hold of as must as we can, the vault, from my holographic scan, is in the most secured area-’
‘I KNOW WHERE IT IS I JUST NEED YOU GET HERE!”
‘- there is ten scavengers trying to get into the vault but unsuccessful, they will most likely wait till the SWAT team come, they won't come straight in the morning like we will, so we will be able to get you out before they come. I will order my team to sleep and I will alert them tomorrow, your life is in my lands but so is the members of my team,’ Wolfia replied calmly ignoring the interruption, they were writing everything down, copying the layout of the bank into a file. They paused waiting for an answer, trying to calm their breathing.
‘Please… Please come and get me, I want to see Diana again… please-’ he was fighting back a sob, Wolfia frowned but sent a message to their Betas: Wren and Niji to get everyone to bed quickly, tell them I've received a distress signal from an Officer of the Rebellion and they need sleep due to the fact they have a heist tomorrow. Please, they need to be ready for tomorrow, especially you Wren, you're leading the mission.
‘You will see Diana tomorrow I swear Shada, but I have to plane everything out to receive-’ they were cut off by the hanging up sound that followed the ending of a call. Pressing the button to end the all, Wolfia left the kitchen and went to the walk-in food cupboard. They pulled a rope from the corner to reveal a set of emergency stairs that lead upwards to the second floor, sighing as they walked up the stairs. They were in another walk in the cupboard but this time the shelves were filled with weaponry.
Jules woke to the sound of ringing, she heard Saskya groan from the twin bed next to her own, looking at the clock it read 1:55 am, she wondered for second unknowingly why they woke up at that time. She heard Saskya roll in her bed, then Saskya sat straight up, Jules heard her friend curse a numerous amount of pretty vulgar words.
‘JULES GET UP WE WERE SUPPOSED TO BE UP 10 MINUTES AGO!’ she practically screeched, Jules turned over in her bed and shot up, grabbing their now clean sports clothes for the day ahead. The two changed quickly and headed downstairs, running into Wolfia who was wearing all dark grey, they had black combat boots, a black sheath with their haladie was strapped around their waist, they had their bandanna wrapped around their head like a hijab. In their right hand, there had a Holobracelet that was ejecting a hologram of Wolfia's notes, in their left arm they had a hoverbike helmet, it was dark grey with black stripes, black one-way glass that would cover the face. They sighed at the two girls before them and said grumbling, ‘I was coming to wake you guys up, did you even set an alar- You know what, I don't care, come on let's get you some food.’
So they headed downstairs in silence, walking past the paintings and pictures of landscapes and animals, turning into the dining room where everyone else was eaten breakfast and their friends were all very sleep deprived. Jay was trying hard to not fall asleep as they ate breakfast, Wren had small bags under her eyes and was making coffee with a lot of sugar, Luis was eating his pancakes quickly and drank a lot of orange juice, Loki also had coffee but was drinking it quickly and making some more, Pandora and Talia were eating toast, Jackson stabbed his crumpets with his knife over and over again. The only person who seemed ready to go was Wolfia who was eating a rolled up pancake like a corndog, they were typing and adding notes to their notes or looking at the model of the bank, watching the scavengers’ holograms move around the place and noting what weapons they had.
Sighing Saskya grabbed a slice of toast and buttered it, Jules grabbing an apple to munch on. It was a silence of fear around the table, not knowing what to say or do as they ate their food quickly. When everyone was done and had tidied up for themselves Wolfia gestured the group to follow them, still eating a rolled up pancake like a corndog. They lead the group upstairs and into a corridor most haven't been down before, reaching a large metal door that read “Authorised Personnel Only” and opened the door without hesitation.
The room inside was a large changing room, coat hangers and lockers on one wall the other had showers with large, dark blue curtains to cover someone when showering. That is not what everyone was gaping at, they were gaping at the uniforms on the far wall.
The uniforms on the wall were like the ones spies in movies wear, pure black, knee and elbow pads visible, a bulletproof material around the chest and thighs and metallic looking metal stretching across the uniforms in random places, such as down the middle of the torso, the uniforms were hanging from their hoods, above the uniforms there were dark grey plastic cases hanging on another coat peg from a black string.
‘Are those the uniforms we are going to wear?’ Talia asked judgingly.
‘They look like black spiderman suits, do they have webshooters?’ Jay said, confusing most of the group, Wolfia laughed as they shook their head, they walked to the uniforms, grabbing the furthest of the left. The uniform in question lit up, the two circles on the shoulders to be exact, the glow was a dark red. Twisting the uniform around, to show the back, Wolfia revealed a symbol faintly glowing, it looked strange. A snakehead or a stag or a shield face the people couldn’t tell, if you were to draw a line down the middle it would be a mirrored. Wolfia sighed at the expressions given to them, and said, ‘Alpha, it's the symbol for Alpha. One the Alpha gets their symbol the rest of the pack automatically does as well, just like a wolf pack.’
‘You really like wolves don't you?’ Pandora observed. Wolfia's eyes flickered to the weapon room's door by the showers then back to Pandora.
‘You could say that, anyway, they are connected to you by IDs on the holograms, for example I'm 1, Wren is 2 and Niji is 3. They are connected by numbers through these bracelets,’ Wolfia showed the bracelet on their wrist and tugged on it slightly, showing it to the group, who leaned in to get a better look, then continued to instruct them, ‘OK you hologram IDs are as follows: Wolfia is 1, Wren is 2, Niji is 3, Jay is 4, Aaron is 5, Loki is 6, Luis is 7, Pandora is 8… Panda is 9… Jules is 10, Jackson is 11, Talia is 12, Saskya is 13 and Isaac is 15… That's impossible unless we have another member we don't know about… That is something to worry about another day, come on you idiots grab your box and uniform and change in the showers or somewhere in the corner.’
So everyone took their uniform in order of their number, leaving out uniforms for the ones, not present, Luis took the box from the above row of pegs and opened it. Walking to a free shower before it was taken by someone else, he pulled the curtain shut and began to change.
Wren was glaring at Wolfia as they instructed her how to drive the bus/van vehicle to the bank because was going to Wolfia ride their bike in front of the vehicle, the vans was a stolen SWAT van just repainted to the logos, it is able to fit 15 armed soldiers. The group was piling into the back, all except Saskya who was gonna ride shotgun, she was kind of scared the fact Wren was driving.
10 minutes later, everyone was comfortable in the back and they were shutting the doors, Saskya sat patiently on the shotgun seat was looking at the music until Wren climbed onto the driving seat and shut the door. Wolfia was on their crimson hoverbike that was already roaring with life, they looked at Wren and nodded before raising their helmet and putting on their head, covering their face. They twisted the handle and the hoverbike did a louder roar of the engine, mocking Wren to hurry up. Wolfia zoomed off ahead on the road, Wren sighed glancing at Saskya before starting the engine.
Once they were on the main road, Saskya put the Frozen soundtrack into the radio, only Jay seemed to know what the soundtrack was from, she stood up and screamed the lyrics, everyone groaning but smiling.
Wolfia was speeding down the road, the van close behind, a group of troktikas chasing them, Wolfia spun their hoverbike around and zoomed back towards the van. They pulled their legs up into a squat on top of the hoverbike’s seat, slowly as the bike zoomed forward they rose upwards. The bike was closing onto the front of the van, Wren was panicking and was trying to move out of the way, then Wolfia jumped off the bike, the bike seems to make itself go flat and zoom under the van. Wolfia landed on the roof of the van with a thud, they grabbed their M21 Sniper from the holster on their back, twirling it around in swift motion and started shooting the troktikas. Wren looked at the side wing mirror, watching Wolfia shoot the troktikas, she bit her lip as a large amount of the infected caught up to the van, thinking fast Wren turned to Saskya and yelled, “TAKE THE WHEEL!”
‘I DON’T EVEN KNOW HOW TO DRIVE!’ Saskya screeched as Wren squeezed over the wall of front seat chairs to where the others were, Jay was already up and walking to the back of the bus where the back doors were. Opening the doors the two reached for their weapons, it was a quick motion to where Wren and Jay shooting down the large amount troktikas. Wren reloaded her pistols with one hand and continued to shoot the infected animals, the aim she has made it so all the shots hit between the middle of the eyes or if the animal was turned in the side of the head. Jay aimed differently, mostly in the chest area but she also shoots for important organs and limbs. The others were in a scramble to retrieve their weapons, then the bus swayed dangerously, the people inside the bus flew into the left wall of the bus, either hitting each other or getting squashed.
Wolfia flew off the bus but grabbed onto the side, they yelled through the chaos, ‘WHO THE HELL IS DRIVING!’
‘SASKYA!’ Wren yelled back which was replied with a lot of curses in Spanish, Wren replying something in broken Spanish, probably taught by Wolfia. Wolfia pulled themselves up the bus and shot down more troktikas, they seemed to be whistling loudly, their hoverbike seemed to be listening to their commands like a sheepdog, it ran through the troktikas. Once the hoverbike was next to the us
Wolfia jumped on to it and yelled;
‘SOMEONE WHO KNOWS HOW TO DRIVE, TAKE THE WHEEL AND STOMPED ON THE ACCELERATOR FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!’ As soon Wolfia finished yelling Wren cursed and slotted her guns, grabbing the nearest person which happened to be Luis and told him to shoot the troktikas. She climbed over the front seats, pushing Saskya out of the driver’s seat and taking the wheel and stomping on the accelerator, the bus’ wheels spun whilst being in one place then the bus speed forward.
Luis and Talia pulled the doors shut as they zoomed away from the troktikas, Wolfia leading the group further and away from the threat…
It was dusk, the sun was colours of pure ichor, a golden yellow that mixed with the colours of growing darker blue sky, the grass of the far hills were shimmering in the soft breeze of the cool air of France’s hot summer. A small farmhouse stood surrounded by fields of corn and wheat, a large coop for animals, pigs and chickens wandering around as the two owners of the farm worked on fixing the pen to stop foxes from entering. Inside the attic room of the farmhouse, which was full of old child toys in boxes, posters of British and American bands covered the walls, a bookshelf full of English books as well and in the corner an untidy bed sat a sixteen-year-old boy, He wore glasses that sat on the brim of his nose which covered his ocean blue eyes as he read his comic book, Spider-Man, His mid-length glossy black hair that got in the way of his reading, but he didn't seem to mind cause he was used to it.
So he didn't hear it a large shriek came from the field that lay outside his window he himself was listening to music through his iPad that is his sister got for him for his birthday, he hasn't seen his sister in a while, she would him text him every month but there was no reply when he asked how she was you see if she was in England, in Oxfordshire no less and he was starting to worry only slightly. On the farm there is no TV no contact to the outdoor white world except Luis's iPad, the nearest town was 10 miles away and it takes ages to get there, through the tiny car and the horse are the family once owned sadly died 2 years ago.
Then another shriek, louder and higher than before finally made Luis pull his headphones out and look over at the window on the other end of his windows, sighing he carried his iPad to look out, he saw nothing except darkness overhead, it was an ashy colour and was not what you would expect in the summer.
Four months later most of the animal were dead, the crops were dying and the family were running out of food, the water from the well produced a light blue liquid that swirled around in it, the chickens were ripping themselves to shreds with their own claws, the same blue liquid instead of blood and the pigs were acting aggressive towards the family though they were normally calm to some extent. Luis’ family would receive calls everyday from “Government Officials” that said they needed to go to the town where they would receive the help they needed which the families politely declined. But it didn’t stop the food running out, the lighting breaking and the water becoming more of the blue liquid then the water itself.
One day Luis’ mum, who was the fastest of the family decided it is time to go get help from the town, after arguments and arguments, the two other people of the family agreed. She left that morning and she didn’t come back until the two days after’s evening, her hair was cut and her eyes were wild, full of anger and fear at the same time. It was Luis who noticed her first, he ran out to go greet her, ignoring his father’s objections, yelling, ‘Bonjour mère! Avez-vous eu de la nourriture?’
Then he stopped. He almost cried out as he saw her, her hand was covered in the blue liquid, it seemed fresh and was dripping ever so slightly, in her other hand, a feather creature was dripping the same blue liquid. She had her dead titled eyes looking at the ground, as if deep in thought, her mouth hung out slightly and she was slouched instead of her usual uprightness. Luis asked quietly, ‘Mère?’
His past gone mother looked up at him as soon as the words came out of his mouth and screeched, running at him, her jaw open wide revealing chipped teeth covered in the blue liquid, he stumbled back but fell on a stone, his mom was close until she violently jerked backwards suddenly when a loud bang his Luis’ ears. He looked behind him and saw his father holding a shotgun, it was aimed at his mother, he lifted it up and pulled it again, with a click he pointed the gun towards his wife. Luis stumbled up as another bang and a whistle of wind went past him when he ran to his father, who was yelling at Luis, ‘Accéder au portail!’
He knew the way, he ran up the stairs and climbed the ladder into his room, looking out of the window doing so, his mother was standing in front of a defenceless father. He looked away as his mother ran towards his father, grabbing the Government teleporter and opening it, only taking his iPad and jumper with him as he jumped through.
Loki, himself, was sitting on the highest point of the roof of the building a few centimetres from the bubble around the house’s roof, he had a laptop in his lap, and he was watching Wren and Wolfia doing one-on-one training in the jungle gym. Wren was using her two pistols and was firing at Wolfia who was dodging the bullets or deflecting the bullets with their two blades. Wren stopped firing and ran up the jungle gym, Wolfia climbed up on the other side, running across two thick horizontal poles, jumping from pole to pole as Wren fired her bullets out of the pistols in her two hands. Wolfia dodged another bullet but lost their footing and fell, grabbing the pole whilst slipping through the middle. Something caught their wrist on the wooden pole, Wren stopped firing and was about to help Wolfia out but they swung left and right until they flipped over the pole onto the pole with perfect balance and pose. Wolfia looked up at Wren who was frozen; using this opportunity Wolfia ran forward and kicked the two guns out of Wren’s hand. Out of everyone in the House, Wren and Wolfia trained the most, even though everyone has regular one-on-one training sessions with Wolfia, it was obvious they just wanted to be around each other.
Loki sighed, Wren and Wolfia fighting was interesting to watch but it always ended quickly. With that, Loki went back to his computer looking at the model of Alpha Reign Wolfia sent him through their “tattoo” on the side of their face, a soft breeze blew his brown hair away from his face, his headband was no longer around his head but tied on his wrist. Changes were made to everyone in this building to change people’s, haircuts, hair dyed and general appearances, people wearing prescription glasses received contact lenses.
A few minutes into typing, Loki felt and heard a loud annoying buzz from his pocket, sighing he moved his right hand and tugged his new GPhone free from the pocket. He took the but long metal cuboid, facing it vertically, and pressed the middle of the 5 buttons, in doing do a holographic phone appeared, ejecting itself from the tiny camera on the upwards end of the cuboid. The hologram showed a large 13 with text underneath reading: All personnel resort to the entrance hall, do not use the front door.
Loki's mind shifted to being hyper-alert, he shut his laptop down and closed the top, looking down at Wren and Wolfia whilst doing so, the duo were both looking down at their GPhones, worry and confusion written on their faces was visible to Loki who was far away. The two placed their weapons in their rightful places at their sides and heading towards the house, having to climb down the jungle gym. Loki sighed as he carefully climbed the slanted roof to the wide window to the attic.
He slid through the window and closed it behind him, a satisfying click from the lock made Loki start walking away and to the door of the large dusty attic, boxes of china and Christmas decorations piled into the space free, a box full of ancient items called movies, CDs and the strangest a large box of what seemed to be a strange spinning toy of different colours and shapes. A large, old TV sat in the corner a white sheet covering only slightly, layers of dust surrounding it and its wires. Whilst opening the wooden door with a screech, Loki pulled the doorknob off as the door opened, he looked at the painted gold doorknob and then placed it on a box nearby. Sighing as he closed the door as best he could behind him then walking down the barren halls of the top floor of the Haus of Ashes.
When he got to the entrance hall most people were there already, Wren and Wolfia emerging from a window near the front door. Niji hobbled into the room fronting due to the ankle brace on his foot plus leg. Saskya stood by the open front door, Aaron was standing on the other side of the door looking confused. Once everyone was settled, Saskya began clearing her throat, ‘I was walking around Haus with Aaron, just talking, and we started wondering who was in charge.'
'I was wondering that as well,' Jay stated, taking a bite of a bacon sandwhich.
‘I have questions, the first one is why bacon?’ Wolfia questioned, turning to Jay for their answer.
‘No sane person doesn't like bacon,’ Jay replied jokingly.
‘Bold of you to assume I'm sane,’ Wolfia said joking along with Jay, they turned back to Saskya and asked their next question, 'Why do you wanna know?'
‘Because we need someone to follow, it's strange to just have someone randomly lead us,' She explained quietly, the others nodded and agreed.
'How about a leader, two second-in-commands and a third-in-command, the rest can be soldiers,' Jules suggested.
'I agree, I think Wolfia should be in charge,' Wren said.
'Why Wolfia?' Niji asked, curiosity getting the best of him.
'Cause I'm the only one who has been on the field for the Rebellion,' Wolfia snapped, no one countered their argument, Wolfia sighed then said, 'If I'm in charge, Wolfia and Niji are second-in-command and Jules will be third-in-command, no question need to be asked about why I choose them.'
‘Everyone go back to your knitting, we're done here,’ Wren sarcastically said, who was staring at Wolfia’s expression of “should I tell them” with worry. Everyone started to leave, still talking in their conversation groups, as soon as each of them got back to what they were doing they received a notification from their own GPhones. Opening their holographic phone they read what it said a message from Wolfia who had the number 1. The text read:
It pains me to show you this due to what it says, but due to some arguments Wren and Isaac convinced me to show you.
Another text was sent through this time a photo, in the photo, it showed a large TV screen, the TV screen had large robotic writing on it, the writing itself said:
“A halo, two flags and some mistletoe,
To save the world cost sacrifice,
Poison their minds and affect their lives.
Save the world or let it fail,
The traitor’s limb will be our hail.
Immortal, immortal with no depth,
An oath that leads him to death,
Loyal will be their fault, breath for breath.
May the howl of a broken heartbreak the enemies’ instead.
For blood is blood and love is love.”
To save the world cost sacrifice,
Poison their minds and affect their lives.
Save the world or let it fail,
The traitor’s limb will be our hail.
Immortal, immortal with no depth,
An oath that leads him to death,
Loyal will be their fault, breath for breath.
May the howl of a broken heartbreak the enemies’ instead.
For blood is blood and love is love.”
~
Another week went by quickly, the group training in the day and having fun/bonding or sleeping at night.
This night everyone was up and restless all of them sitting in the living room, they all seemed to be laughing at something Jay said. Wolfia leaned into Issac, both laughing. Pandora smiled and did a small snort, Talia shaking her head but grinning, Wren laughing, Niji smirking along with Loki and Aaron, Luis was laughing loudly next to Loki, Jules was smiling thinly, Jackson, as well as Jules and Saskya, was leaning on Talia, snorting. After the laughter died down and Jay was making fun of random group members in a passive-aggressive tone, Wolfia received buzz from their pocket, followed by a lot more buzzes. Turning to them Isaac, raised an eyebrow as Wolfia struggles to get their GPhone out of their shorts’ pocket, Wolfia waved him off and stood up from the sofa to answer the call, walking into the kitchen.
Jay looked at the door Wolfia left through and looked at Isaac for answers, she mouth “are they alright” and was replied with Isaac making a phone gestured next to his ear mouthing, “got a call.” Jay nodded and continued to have a roast battle with Talia.
Meanwhile, Wolfia walked to the other side of the kitchen and took a glass then proceeding to fill the glass with orange juice from the fridge, taking a sip they finally answeres the call. Wolfia knowing not to expose themselves said, ‘!Hola!¿Quien as este?’
‘Estoy Oficial Shada desoutebilión, ¿estas Wolfia?’ A deep panicked man said quickly.
‘Officer Shada! You're alive, everyone said you were dead,’ Wolfia replied loudly, no longer leaning the counter, they began to panic.
‘We have not time for that! I need help, I'm stuck in a vault at a bank on the edge of southeastern Cambridge, I've contacted many other Alphas and Spies but they won't get here in time, you're my only hope!’ He was talking quickly and overcome with fear, but he sounded off, Wolfia thought it was because of the fact he was in a vault. They double tapped on the marble counter revealing a holographic screen, swiping and tapping quickly to find the bank, ‘I'm stuck in this vault, I've lost all my weapons and recourses. I was jumped by these people, they sell Rebels to the SWAT teams. I managed to escape but I ran to hide, my ankle is broken. Please, please I need your help.
‘Sir, we'll be there at 10am at the latest, we need two hours of sleep before we come and help you, you must hold of as must as we can, the vault, from my holographic scan, is in the most secured area-’
‘I KNOW WHERE IT IS I JUST NEED YOU GET HERE!”
‘- there is ten scavengers trying to get into the vault but unsuccessful, they will most likely wait till the SWAT team come, they won't come straight in the morning like we will, so we will be able to get you out before they come. I will order my team to sleep and I will alert them tomorrow, your life is in my lands but so is the members of my team,’ Wolfia replied calmly ignoring the interruption, they were writing everything down, copying the layout of the bank into a file. They paused waiting for an answer, trying to calm their breathing.
‘Please… Please come and get me, I want to see Diana again… please-’ he was fighting back a sob, Wolfia frowned but sent a message to their Betas: Wren and Niji to get everyone to bed quickly, tell them I've received a distress signal from an Officer of the Rebellion and they need sleep due to the fact they have a heist tomorrow. Please, they need to be ready for tomorrow, especially you Wren, you're leading the mission.
‘You will see Diana tomorrow I swear Shada, but I have to plane everything out to receive-’ they were cut off by the hanging up sound that followed the ending of a call. Pressing the button to end the all, Wolfia left the kitchen and went to the walk-in food cupboard. They pulled a rope from the corner to reveal a set of emergency stairs that lead upwards to the second floor, sighing as they walked up the stairs. They were in another walk in the cupboard but this time the shelves were filled with weaponry.
~
Jules woke to the sound of ringing, she heard Saskya groan from the twin bed next to her own, looking at the clock it read 1:55 am, she wondered for second unknowingly why they woke up at that time. She heard Saskya roll in her bed, then Saskya sat straight up, Jules heard her friend curse a numerous amount of pretty vulgar words.
‘JULES GET UP WE WERE SUPPOSED TO BE UP 10 MINUTES AGO!’ she practically screeched, Jules turned over in her bed and shot up, grabbing their now clean sports clothes for the day ahead. The two changed quickly and headed downstairs, running into Wolfia who was wearing all dark grey, they had black combat boots, a black sheath with their haladie was strapped around their waist, they had their bandanna wrapped around their head like a hijab. In their right hand, there had a Holobracelet that was ejecting a hologram of Wolfia's notes, in their left arm they had a hoverbike helmet, it was dark grey with black stripes, black one-way glass that would cover the face. They sighed at the two girls before them and said grumbling, ‘I was coming to wake you guys up, did you even set an alar- You know what, I don't care, come on let's get you some food.’
So they headed downstairs in silence, walking past the paintings and pictures of landscapes and animals, turning into the dining room where everyone else was eaten breakfast and their friends were all very sleep deprived. Jay was trying hard to not fall asleep as they ate breakfast, Wren had small bags under her eyes and was making coffee with a lot of sugar, Luis was eating his pancakes quickly and drank a lot of orange juice, Loki also had coffee but was drinking it quickly and making some more, Pandora and Talia were eating toast, Jackson stabbed his crumpets with his knife over and over again. The only person who seemed ready to go was Wolfia who was eating a rolled up pancake like a corndog, they were typing and adding notes to their notes or looking at the model of the bank, watching the scavengers’ holograms move around the place and noting what weapons they had.
Sighing Saskya grabbed a slice of toast and buttered it, Jules grabbing an apple to munch on. It was a silence of fear around the table, not knowing what to say or do as they ate their food quickly. When everyone was done and had tidied up for themselves Wolfia gestured the group to follow them, still eating a rolled up pancake like a corndog. They lead the group upstairs and into a corridor most haven't been down before, reaching a large metal door that read “Authorised Personnel Only” and opened the door without hesitation.
The room inside was a large changing room, coat hangers and lockers on one wall the other had showers with large, dark blue curtains to cover someone when showering. That is not what everyone was gaping at, they were gaping at the uniforms on the far wall.
The uniforms on the wall were like the ones spies in movies wear, pure black, knee and elbow pads visible, a bulletproof material around the chest and thighs and metallic looking metal stretching across the uniforms in random places, such as down the middle of the torso, the uniforms were hanging from their hoods, above the uniforms there were dark grey plastic cases hanging on another coat peg from a black string.
‘Are those the uniforms we are going to wear?’ Talia asked judgingly.
‘They look like black spiderman suits, do they have webshooters?’ Jay said, confusing most of the group, Wolfia laughed as they shook their head, they walked to the uniforms, grabbing the furthest of the left. The uniform in question lit up, the two circles on the shoulders to be exact, the glow was a dark red. Twisting the uniform around, to show the back, Wolfia revealed a symbol faintly glowing, it looked strange. A snakehead or a stag or a shield face the people couldn’t tell, if you were to draw a line down the middle it would be a mirrored. Wolfia sighed at the expressions given to them, and said, ‘Alpha, it's the symbol for Alpha. One the Alpha gets their symbol the rest of the pack automatically does as well, just like a wolf pack.’
‘You really like wolves don't you?’ Pandora observed. Wolfia's eyes flickered to the weapon room's door by the showers then back to Pandora.
‘You could say that, anyway, they are connected to you by IDs on the holograms, for example I'm 1, Wren is 2 and Niji is 3. They are connected by numbers through these bracelets,’ Wolfia showed the bracelet on their wrist and tugged on it slightly, showing it to the group, who leaned in to get a better look, then continued to instruct them, ‘OK you hologram IDs are as follows: Wolfia is 1, Wren is 2, Niji is 3, Jay is 4, Aaron is 5, Loki is 6, Luis is 7, Pandora is 8… Panda is 9… Jules is 10, Jackson is 11, Talia is 12, Saskya is 13 and Isaac is 15… That's impossible unless we have another member we don't know about… That is something to worry about another day, come on you idiots grab your box and uniform and change in the showers or somewhere in the corner.’
So everyone took their uniform in order of their number, leaving out uniforms for the ones, not present, Luis took the box from the above row of pegs and opened it. Walking to a free shower before it was taken by someone else, he pulled the curtain shut and began to change.
~
Wren was glaring at Wolfia as they instructed her how to drive the bus/van vehicle to the bank because was going to Wolfia ride their bike in front of the vehicle, the vans was a stolen SWAT van just repainted to the logos, it is able to fit 15 armed soldiers. The group was piling into the back, all except Saskya who was gonna ride shotgun, she was kind of scared the fact Wren was driving.
10 minutes later, everyone was comfortable in the back and they were shutting the doors, Saskya sat patiently on the shotgun seat was looking at the music until Wren climbed onto the driving seat and shut the door. Wolfia was on their crimson hoverbike that was already roaring with life, they looked at Wren and nodded before raising their helmet and putting on their head, covering their face. They twisted the handle and the hoverbike did a louder roar of the engine, mocking Wren to hurry up. Wolfia zoomed off ahead on the road, Wren sighed glancing at Saskya before starting the engine.
Once they were on the main road, Saskya put the Frozen soundtrack into the radio, only Jay seemed to know what the soundtrack was from, she stood up and screamed the lyrics, everyone groaning but smiling.
~
Wolfia was speeding down the road, the van close behind, a group of troktikas chasing them, Wolfia spun their hoverbike around and zoomed back towards the van. They pulled their legs up into a squat on top of the hoverbike’s seat, slowly as the bike zoomed forward they rose upwards. The bike was closing onto the front of the van, Wren was panicking and was trying to move out of the way, then Wolfia jumped off the bike, the bike seems to make itself go flat and zoom under the van. Wolfia landed on the roof of the van with a thud, they grabbed their M21 Sniper from the holster on their back, twirling it around in swift motion and started shooting the troktikas. Wren looked at the side wing mirror, watching Wolfia shoot the troktikas, she bit her lip as a large amount of the infected caught up to the van, thinking fast Wren turned to Saskya and yelled, “TAKE THE WHEEL!”
‘I DON’T EVEN KNOW HOW TO DRIVE!’ Saskya screeched as Wren squeezed over the wall of front seat chairs to where the others were, Jay was already up and walking to the back of the bus where the back doors were. Opening the doors the two reached for their weapons, it was a quick motion to where Wren and Jay shooting down the large amount troktikas. Wren reloaded her pistols with one hand and continued to shoot the infected animals, the aim she has made it so all the shots hit between the middle of the eyes or if the animal was turned in the side of the head. Jay aimed differently, mostly in the chest area but she also shoots for important organs and limbs. The others were in a scramble to retrieve their weapons, then the bus swayed dangerously, the people inside the bus flew into the left wall of the bus, either hitting each other or getting squashed.
Wolfia flew off the bus but grabbed onto the side, they yelled through the chaos, ‘WHO THE HELL IS DRIVING!’
‘SASKYA!’ Wren yelled back which was replied with a lot of curses in Spanish, Wren replying something in broken Spanish, probably taught by Wolfia. Wolfia pulled themselves up the bus and shot down more troktikas, they seemed to be whistling loudly, their hoverbike seemed to be listening to their commands like a sheepdog, it ran through the troktikas. Once the hoverbike was next to the us
Wolfia jumped on to it and yelled;
‘SOMEONE WHO KNOWS HOW TO DRIVE, TAKE THE WHEEL AND STOMPED ON THE ACCELERATOR FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!’ As soon Wolfia finished yelling Wren cursed and slotted her guns, grabbing the nearest person which happened to be Luis and told him to shoot the troktikas. She climbed over the front seats, pushing Saskya out of the driver’s seat and taking the wheel and stomping on the accelerator, the bus’ wheels spun whilst being in one place then the bus speed forward.
Luis and Talia pulled the doors shut as they zoomed away from the troktikas, Wolfia leading the group further and away from the threat…
It was dusk, the sun was colours of pure ichor, a golden yellow that mixed with the colours of growing darker blue sky, the grass of the far hills were shimmering in the soft breeze of the cool air of France’s hot summer. A small farmhouse stood surrounded by fields of corn and wheat, a large coop for animals, pigs and chickens wandering around as the two owners of the farm worked on fixing the pen to stop foxes from entering. Inside the attic room of the farmhouse, which was full of old child toys in boxes, posters of British and American bands covered the walls, a bookshelf full of English books as well and in the corner an untidy bed sat a sixteen-year-old boy, He wore glasses that sat on the brim of his nose which covered his ocean blue eyes as he read his comic book, Spider-Man, His mid-length glossy black hair that got in the way of his reading, but he didn't seem to mind cause he was used to it.
So he didn't hear it a large shriek came from the field that lay outside his window he himself was listening to music through his iPad that is his sister got for him for his birthday, he hasn't seen his sister in a while, she would him text him every month but there was no reply when he asked how she was you see if she was in England, in Oxfordshire no less and he was starting to worry only slightly. On the farm there is no TV no contact to the outdoor white world except Luis's iPad, the nearest town was 10 miles away and it takes ages to get there, through the tiny car and the horse are the family once owned sadly died 2 years ago.
Then another shriek, louder and higher than before finally made Luis pull his headphones out and look over at the window on the other end of his windows, sighing he carried his iPad to look out, he saw nothing except darkness overhead, it was an ashy colour and was not what you would expect in the summer.
Four months later most of the animal were dead, the crops were dying and the family were running out of food, the water from the well produced a light blue liquid that swirled around in it, the chickens were ripping themselves to shreds with their own claws, the same blue liquid instead of blood and the pigs were acting aggressive towards the family though they were normally calm to some extent. Luis’ family would receive calls everyday from “Government Officials” that said they needed to go to the town where they would receive the help they needed which the families politely declined. But it didn’t stop the food running out, the lighting breaking and the water becoming more of the blue liquid then the water itself.
One day Luis’ mum, who was the fastest of the family decided it is time to go get help from the town, after arguments and arguments, the two other people of the family agreed. She left that morning and she didn’t come back until the two days after’s evening, her hair was cut and her eyes were wild, full of anger and fear at the same time. It was Luis who noticed her first, he ran out to go greet her, ignoring his father’s objections, yelling, ‘Bonjour mère! Avez-vous eu de la nourriture?’
Then he stopped. He almost cried out as he saw her, her hand was covered in the blue liquid, it seemed fresh and was dripping ever so slightly, in her other hand, a feather creature was dripping the same blue liquid. She had her dead titled eyes looking at the ground, as if deep in thought, her mouth hung out slightly and she was slouched instead of her usual uprightness. Luis asked quietly, ‘Mère?’
His past gone mother looked up at him as soon as the words came out of his mouth and screeched, running at him, her jaw open wide revealing chipped teeth covered in the blue liquid, he stumbled back but fell on a stone, his mom was close until she violently jerked backwards suddenly when a loud bang his Luis’ ears. He looked behind him and saw his father holding a shotgun, it was aimed at his mother, he lifted it up and pulled it again, with a click he pointed the gun towards his wife. Luis stumbled up as another bang and a whistle of wind went past him when he ran to his father, who was yelling at Luis, ‘Accéder au portail!’
He knew the way, he ran up the stairs and climbed the ladder into his room, looking out of the window doing so, his mother was standing in front of a defenceless father. He looked away as his mother ran towards his father, grabbing the Government teleporter and opening it, only taking his iPad and jumper with him as he jumped through.
Niji scuttered along the hallway, he was getting Isaac who was in the training floor of the mansion, the training floor is as it seems. A whole floor filled with military level training facilities, a boxing square in the centre, punching bags in rows which were mostly damaged, new punching bags stacked on top of each by the row of bags. Niji, having a sprained ankle that should be healed in a week, hasn’t used the floor but was eager to, he passed the stairs and got to the elevator. He lifted himself up to press the button, on doing so the doors opened almost immediately, he walked in and sighed as it shut and went up.
A few minutes later he was walking around the training floor trying to find Isaac, he eventually found Isaac at the corner of the floor on the far end, Niji found him sitting with his back facing him. Isaac was rubbing his left palm, a blue faint smudge covered his hand, this concerned Niji so he asked, ‘What's that on your hand?’
Isaac jumped and immediately stood up, his fists slightly raised, he had panic in his eyes and he had a dried blood coming from his nose. He looked Niji up and down then lowered his fists sighing, he stretched his back and asked Niji, ‘What do you want?’
‘Wolfia messaged me, they’re on their way back but answer my first question,’ Niji informed him, the end of the sentence became a command.
‘It’s nothing, how long till Wolfia will be back?’
‘Nothing? Why are you hiding it?’ Niji asked.
‘Because I don’t need people I hardly know butting into my life,’ Isaac snapped, which was very uncharacteristic of him, Niji stepped back and put in his hands up in defence. Isaac looked at him, the anger in his eyes immediately softened, ‘I didn’t mean to snap at you, something is seriously wrong with me, I don’t know how or why. I get angry so easily. Like the other day, I was mad at one of Jay’s jokes for no reason, it was actually really funny but I was so mad. I hate it.’
Niji didn’t have words, he always thought Isaac was fine, no problems and fine with the world. Niji should have looked deeper, and now as he does he sees a man slowly breaking.
‘We get in, get the Officer and then we get out, if we are spotted we have Loki to hack into the radios to turn them off quickly, you should all receive a holographic layout map of the building. Enemies are green, we are gold and the Officer is blue. We have our numbers floating above our heads as well as our ranking, there is a list of our numbers should hover above the map, if not, well good luck guessing the numbers,’ Wren was explaining to the group pointing and indicating appropriately, the group themselves were standing awkwardly in the Haus’ tight van, they were discussing their plan of attack. After arguing quietly as they did so, trying not to draw attention to the broken down garage were they hid the van in the town where the bank was. Wren continued, ‘Jay will be sniping by the smallest window but it has a view of the whole room, Saskya will be guarding her, remember to call in if someone is killing you and if your backup is needed urgently you will able to break the glass then join us.’
Saskya nodded at Wren, Jay and her shared a glance which was of reassurance between the two. Wren kept looking at the map, scanning the people moving, she kept having a feeling of doubt as she looked at the movement of the men, it was unstructured and slow, unnatural.
‘Pandora will stay here with the van, Pandora whatever you do stay here and guard. Luis, Jules, Talia, Loki, Jackson and me will be in on the ground assault. Jackson, you and Talia shall stay at the doors, you will be the first to enter and the last to come out, you will be taking down any people who are trying to shoot us four behind our backs. Once we get Loki to the behind desk room, where the vaults are I will stand guard with Jule and Luis, protecting Loki as he hacks into the system. Once the door is opened Loki and I will retrieve the Officer, once we have the Officer secured we will have Jay throw an explosion on the furthest wall, which is the western one. Good luck everyone, we have to work as a team.’ Wren finished, she leant back and looked around at her friend's faces, remembering what Wolfia said:
“You're not born a leader, you grow to be the Alpha.”
Saskya and Jay tiptoed as they shuffled along the wall to the ladder, once at the ladder they went one at a time, trying hard not to make a lot of noise or make notice of themselves. Fear and determination was their only emotions at that moment, ‘one false move and the whole operation is blown’ Wren's exact words were to the pair, which was highly encouraging.
They crept along the roof of the bank's entrance room, the lights on their suits were producing a tiny amount of din light so the pair could see what they were doing but not get spotted. Climbing up the second ladder to the main roof, Saskya slipped a tiny bit on a slippery service only to be caught by Jay who smirked at Saskya. Once on the main roof, the two crouched and ran to the large glass dome in the middle, this lead to Saskya carefully broke some of the glass so she could open it more with her armoured gloved hand, making a space big enough for Jay and Saskya to hook on the metal railing around the roof with a grappling hook. From there, they lowered down onto a high up platform, able to see the whole room.
Saskya tied the grappling hooks to the edge of the platform, making it so they stayed in place, an easy way out if needed. Jay got into position, abling herself to see every corner of the first floor. The dome in a strange place, in the centre of the building but it went down further than needed, the bottom of the dome was connected to the roof of the first floor, but the floor of the second. This meant Jay couldn’t see any parts of the second floor, though not many of the Scavengers were actually on the second floor but more the first.
A voice through the ear made Saskya and Jay jumped a little, ‘4.Delta and 13.Delta, are you ready to commence the operation?’
‘2.Beta we are ready, our position is not noticeable from the ground, we are turning on our night vision and turning the suit’s lights off now.’ Saskya replied as she and Jay carried out what they said they would, pressing the fourth buttons on their wrists, the glow of the suits dying. Then they pressed the first buttons on their wrists three times in a row, pulling their suits` hoods over their head, immediately a glass shield appearing from the rim around their hoods and the shield able to block out any gas except from oxygen. The glass shield produced a night vision tint of green, abling the two to see clearly in the dark room, the bad side of the night vision, it only goes as far as 10 steps so they are mostly blind.
‘Commencing operation, 11.Delta open the door,’ Wren’s voice ordered making Jackson, who was by the door, nod in understanding. He turned to the door and placed a flat sharp knife through the gap of the door at the top, he pulled the blade down sawing the locks in the door. A minute later he was at the bottom of the door, pulling out the flat knife, he looked at Wren who was muttering something into her earpiece, probably ordering Jay and Saskya to ready themselves. Wren turned to the door and nodded to Loki and Jules, both of whom raised their guns as Jackson was ordered to fully open the door.
The three flooded in, their guns up and masks on, the night vision allowing them to see. They spun around, the lights on their handguns facing as to where their users pointed, Wren had her pistols looking in different directions and making sure she doesn’t miss anything. The three moved slowly to the other side of the room, but nothing seemed to there, no movement and no people. Jay, who was watching over the three from Jay’s and Saskya’s position above, was muttered something to Saskya, ‘Saskya scan the area on the first floor, something isn’t right.’
‘Understood, I will do that now,’ Saskya replied, clicking the buttons on the suit’s wrist, the holographic model of the bank appeared in front of her, she enhanced her vision on the first floor of the bank, revealing the moving models of Wren, Jules, Loki and Luis, with Jackson and Talia standing by the door guarding it for the group. Then there was a sudden movement of green that went back to black near Luis, Saskya stared at the space, then looked away for a second. A green person ran at Luis who was walking with his back facing the green person, Saskya panicked and screamed into her earpiece, ‘LUIS LOOKOUT!’
Luis turned at the last second, the person knocked him off his feet with force, making his head hit the floor sharply and making him yelp. He grabbed his gun and pushed it against the person’s neck trying to stop them from attacking him as he lay on floor, the man pulled the gun from his neck and raised it above his head, he started to swing it down with force when a steal axe landed into the side of his head. Immediately, Luis pushed the man off him and sat up straight away startled, Jules worked forward and collected her axe.
‘Wren, there’s more of them, on your floor there headed towards you. Get to the vault and get the Commander and leave, also Loki turn the lights, switch off your night vision.’ Saskya advised, as soon he was told, Loki pressed all the buttons on his suits’ left wrist. A holographic tablet appeared in front of him as their unit started to run towards the vault, he pressed a lot of buttons of the bank’s lighting system.
‘Lights are on.’ Loki said, right on cue the lights turned on, Wren, Loki and Jules managed to turn their night vision off before the lights turned on and was blinded by a piercing light.
A minute later they were at the vault and surrounded by animalistic men, they had clothes but they were torn and covered in blue liquid, IOS, but at that time it was to the group's belief that only animals could get infected. Wren shouted orders at Loki who was unlocking the vault, whilst the other three guarded him, Wren shot multiple bullets in ten seconds and reloaded with only a thumb to do so, Jules swung her axe around her head and a split open the animalistic men, Luis shot at legs to make sure he didn't kill anyone and Jay, from above, shot advancing IOS who ran towards the floor unit and on the other side of the room, Jackson and Talia tried shooting with their handguns from afar.
‘Vault is open!’ Loki yelled at Wren who gave the swift order for Luis and Jules to guard the door, the other two opened the gate of the vault a smidge and ran inside, hardly any light came through. They didn't bother to turn on the night vision, the large hallway like room echoed their footstep as they ran inside, a few steps in Loki tripped over and cursed.
Wren turned the pointer light on her assault rifle and pointed it at Loki, enabling him to see what he tripped on. Loki got up and looked at the object that tripped him, a leg, disgust filled Loki's emotions. He turned on his pointer light on his handgun and directed the light to the leg, he went up the leg to the body, Wren mimicked this action from a different angle. The body was a pale red, lying on its stomach, cuts snakes up different parts of the naked body, it was clear the man was dead when they reached the face. The face had open eyes that didn't shine like normal eyes, the mouth was opened in a small gap, a golden ichor coloured liquid was coming from the inside, then Wren knelt down and lifted the head slightly higher, for her to see.
‘He's obviously dead, why are you checking?’ Loki asked Wren shook her head and looked up at him, ‘he's not dead?’
‘Not that, it's Commander Shada, the person we were supposed to get, Wolfia showed me a picture of him beforehand. Why is he dead, he should be alive, this body died two days ago from it looks like,’ Wren observed, she looked at the cuts on the man's back, the same golden liquid escaped from the wounds. ‘Loki get Saskya to do a scan of the vault, quickly.’
Loki touched his earpiece, and muttered Saskya’s name, no reply, he did it again and no reply. He looked at Wren, and told her his problem, she looked up and frowned. She touched her own earpiece and spoke Jules name, no reply.
‘Loki run back and get Jules or Luis to contact Saskya, then come ba-’
‘No,’ a voice commanded from the darkness of the vault, cutting off Wren. Loki, who dropped his handgun, and Wren spun to the direction of the sound, Loki's duelled blades fell from the inside of his sleeves like daggers, made from stainless steel and a handle with leather. Wren raised her assault rifle, the pointer light shining on a chair, the chair faced away and had someone strapped down on it. A bag covered the person's head, they struggled against the restraints of the rope, wrapped around their chest and leg.
‘Who are you?’ Wren asked, clicking her gun click to make the person freeze, Loki shuffled closer to the chair and poked his right sword into the back of the bag, the bag instantly ripped open. Loki stumbled back and rose his hand in a surrender position with his blades still in hand, Wren lowered her pistols and gestured in a “really” kind of way, Loki gesture to the tip of his blade. Wren face-palmed and sighed, ‘just take the bag off, Loki.’
‘Ok, sure,’ he replied, he walked up to the chair and person and ripped the bag off. A waterfall of dark hair fell, it was ruffled and damaged. Wren, let her hand drop as she recognised the hair, she thought for a second and let Loki look at her in confusion. Wren repeated herself, ‘who are you?’
‘Wolfia? Is that you?’ the person asked, Wren and Loki looked at each other and shrugged.
‘Well, Wolfia isn’t here, but I get your confusion but Wolfia is more stabby stabby and this one is more thinky thinky,’ Loki said, he let his duelled blades go back up his sleeves, then he walked up and pulled the ropes off with simple physics.
‘I think Wolfia is more thinky thinky than me, I’m more stabby stabby,’ Wren admitted whilst gesturing, with her pistols in hand, waving them about.
‘Interesting.’
‘Truly.’
‘Not to ruin your moment, you asked for my name, it is Eryn Hearth,’ the person said, they had a posh but simple voice, turning into the other two's lights. They had pale skin, that clashed with their dark clothes and hair, deep black eyes reflected the light, a skinny frame which was covered in scars and they had no hand or leg. They were a warrior in the flesh, Loki could tell as he looked at them.
Wren stopped forth and held out a hand, for Eryn to shake, trickly she did. Then she gestured out behind Loki, ‘could you get my leg and arm, there behind you’
Loki, who was confused, grabbed what he was asked. He handed the fake hand and leg to Eryn who quickly put the leg on with a click, she connected to mental stripes that connected the prosthetic, she first did her arm which was able to move it's fingers and moved in strange directions and then the leg that moved it's toes one by one and such. Eryn walked up to the two and looked at both of them as if expecting something, they waited a while in silence, Eryn signed then muttered, ‘They are a new design of prosthetics and are we leaving because we should.’
‘Let's go, Loki ready yourself, Eryn… You can use my pistol,’ Wren looked at Eryn holding her wolf engraved pistol, an understanding past through them, Eryn took it and ready herself. The three nodded and ran to the door, their footsteps echoing every step, Loki let the blades fall from his sleeves, Wren took back her gun and reloaded mid-run and handed it back. By the vault's gate the three stood either side if the door, Wren standing in the middle and pushing the door open. They rushed out preparing for a fight.
It was quiet, bodies lay on the floor, IOS infected bodies. Wren looked further ahead and froze, Jackson, Luis, Jules, Pandora and Talia were sitting on their knees, arms tied behind their bags and Pandora and Jules had their mouths covered up.
‘LUIS!’ Loki yelled as he spotted them, it was a bad move on his part because in the result of it, Wren, Loki and Eryn were knocked out from behind.
‘She was hit unconscious, she's perfectly fine,’ a French-accented voice replied.
‘Your sarcasm is not needed.’
‘She's waking up.’ a different voice confirmed.
Wren woke, blinking hard at the light, her head throbbed as she sat up, she tried to rub her eyes but her hands were tied back. A few seconds of blinking hard and wincing, Wren's eyes opened properly, in front of her Jackson was examining her, his hands tied back as well. She looked around, seven pairs of eyes were watching her. She glanced around the surrounding area, there were men with large guns circling the group and talking to one another in a different language, but Jay and Saskya weren't there, probably safe up on the ceiling.
‘What's happening?’ She asked, her voice steady due to trying to stay calm for the group.
‘Well Wren, it appears you got yourself into a lot of trouble,’ a voice called out the group turned to face the voice and most exclaimed as they did so.
‘You,’ Jackson spat as Panda walked up to his once friends, he wore a military uniform that had two shining gold medals on the left chest area.
‘Jackson, how's Niji? I miss him following me around like a lapdog,’ Panda teased, Jackson, however, seemed to let go of any walls that could stop his anger. He stood up and ran towards Panda, jumping and swinging his leg around into the side of Panda's face. Panda fell to the floor but remained conscious, he laughed and stood up to an angry Jackson, he walked forward and punched him in the face, the group crying out. Then he punched Jackson in the stomach so hard Jackson recoiled, another punch landed on his stomach, a kick in the shin, Panda kept going.
‘STOP! STOP, YOU SON OF A-’ Wren shrieked but was cut short when Jackson yelled, Panda had punched him in the chin causing him to fall to the floor. Panda smiled with satisfaction and pushed Jackson back into his group of friends. Wren didn't hesitate, she stood up, letting the guns point to her, she simply said cruelly, ‘What do you want, you unloved selfish idiot?’
‘You see Wren, Miss Hearth here is a well-known spy amongst the rebellion, but our mole told us all we need to know about her,’ Panda walked around gesturing, most turning to look at Eryn, who rolled her eyes. Panda continued, ‘Not to mention, Pandora Erye, Luis Moreau, Loki Uso-Tsuk, Jackson John Wells, Talia Avion Everton have been found, all of which are associated with the government's most wanted, Wolfia-’
‘You forgot Saskya Sunshine,’ a voice called from the back, Wren and everyone turned with puzzlement as they saw Saskya sit there, all innocent.
‘Jay wake up!’ Saskya hissed, she looked down at her friends, five of which were tied up, Wren, Loki and another girl emerged from the vault's gate and noticed the other five, Loki called out Luis’ name. Someone came up behind the three and knocked them out, Saskya winced and turned back to a sleeping Jay and grabbed her shoulders to shake her ‘Jay, wake up!’
‘I’m awake,’ Jay snapped awake, she looked in Saskya’s worried eyes, she kept glancing down to the ground floor, Jay followed her eyes and looked over the edge of their platform, she yelped then said loudly, ‘HOLY S-’
She was cut off by a hand clasping over her mouth and pulling her away from the edge, Saskya did this to stop the guards from seeing the two. After a few seconds past and Saskya let Jay go, she scowled at her then crept into a squatting position and moved to the grappling hooks, gesturing to Jay to follow her.
Once they climbed down the ladder, the two discussed their plans, Saskya starting, ‘How about, I can sneak to the group after stealing a pair of cuffs, make it look like I've been there the whole time.’
‘I like that idea but, the van, I don't know how to drive it,’ Jay whispered as they hid behind a bush close to the van. Saskya thought for a minute then decided on something mentally.
‘Set off explosions.’
‘What?’
‘Wren's plan, you need to set off an explosion, but where?’
‘I'll set off three, one nearer the van about 20 feet, then a one further away, for example, the corner of the building and set it off 45 seconds after. The last one will be on the furthest wall of the building from the door the others came through and I will set one on the wall closest to the door once everyone is through. Also, I should take out a lot of the entrances to stop the guards or any troktikas,’ Jay said, making Saskya look at her with bewilderment, Jay saw her expression and shrugged.
‘But how will you set the explosives in time? From I saw, the bank is pretty big, it will take ages to set explosives where you said,’ questioned Saskya this made Jay smile widely, ‘I dislike that face.’
‘Good. Now, I need to sneak into the front of the van.’
‘What?’
‘Trust me’ Jay whispered as she crouched low and jogged quickly up to the van, once at the front door she opened it by scanning her thumb on the door handle. The inside was cold and dark, a breath of the air hit Jay, she shivered and continued to grab a black box under the driver's seat with two hands.
She ran back to where Saskya was readying herself to start the plan, she placed the box down and opened it, on the deep part of the box there was a black cushion and four large spherical objects. The roof of the box had a screen with buttons and switches on the sides around it. Jay grabbed the four spherical objects and examined them, they were like black tennis balls, the stripes going inwards and producing a faint light, a circular area that dipped down only slightly had a button representing the top, on one part a camera was placed.
‘This will be fun. Saskya, you can start going but I'm making a private channel on the earpieces so we can talk, I don't need the others knowing they might react unwontedly,’ Jay explained to Saskya, she pressed the buttons on each of the four spheres, they started to hover, the screen on the box lit up and viewed four separate sections of vision. The spheres turned to Jay, cameras facing her, the screen showing the angles of the cameras from each viewpoint. Jay pressed her earpiece and they all flew up above the treeline then zoomed towards the bank.
Saskya ran off following the spheres, Jay watched her go then turned to the screen and set the spheres in their needed placed. Her fingers hovered a blue button that should release shrapnel from the first sphere.
‘I’m ready when you are Jay.’
Saskya felt the vibration of the explosion before she heard it, the explosion did its job, drawing the men and IOS infected people with them, four men ran past Saskya’s hiding spot, she acted quickly and didn’t think it through. She grabbed the last man and knocked him unconscious with the handgun they were all asked to carry. The other men heard the grunt the man made when he was knocked out and turned around, Saskya had pulled herself and the other man behind a large tree. One of the men, who was America, asked the others, ‘Where’s John?’
He was replied with shrugs and “I don’ know”, the first man sighed loudly and muttered for the others to continue to the explosion.
Saskya mentally sighed before, grabbing the cuffs of the man and any weapons, she kept the cuffs but threw the weapons far as she could. Saskya turned to the door the others first came through, she walked up slowly and cautiously, grabbing her katana and pushing the first half of the blade into the second part with the floor, putting it up her tight leg uniform. She opened the door, slipped inside, the lights on her suit immediately dimmed and she pressed the buttons on her wrists to turn of the night vision.
She watched her friends, who were talking to Panda, waiting for the perfect moment to run over. Jackson ran up to Panda and kick him in the side of the head, the men around the group moved to stop him. Saskya quickly ran up to the group, sitting behind Loki as she put the cuffs on loosely in front of her. It took a while but she managed to do it, by the time she did it Jackson was sitting down next to Wren who standing up with guns pointed at her, Panda started talking.
‘You see Wren, Miss Hearth here,’ From Saskya angle Panda seemed to gesture to the person Wren and Loki saved from the vault, ‘is a well-known spy amongst the rebellion, but our mole told us all we need to know about her, not to mention, Pandora Erye, Luis Moreau, Loki Uso-Tsuk, Jackson John Wells, Talia Avion Everton have been found, all of which are associated with the government's most wanted, Wolfia-’
‘You forgot Saskya Sunshine,’ Saskya called out in an innocent voice, knowing it was a bad idea, Panda turned to her as she stared back.
‘Since when have you joined us?’ asked Panda in a sly smirk.
‘I’ve always been here? I’m just small,’ Saskya acted confused and unknowing, Panda looked at the men around the group, searching for an answer. The men shrugged and looked away, not meeting Panda’s eyes, Saskya showed her cuffed wrists to Panda who narrowed his eyes in suspicion.
‘As I was saying,’ Panda continued, Saskya droned it out, she looked at Loki’s cuffed wrists in front of her, he had tried to unlock them but failed. She reached out and tapped above the cuff on his left hand, he turned and raised his eyebrows as Saskya grabbed her katana and let the point of the blade come out a part.
‘Try to move your wrists away from each other,’ Saskya whispered so only Loki could hear, he did as followed, then Saskya positioned the blade and cut through the metal easily. When Loki’s hands wear-free, he started to reach for his sleeve when Saskya nudged his shoulder with her own and shook her head, gesturing to the other’s handcuffs, Loki nodded and quickly moved his hands in front of him and together. He started to unlock Luis’ cuffs, Saskya turned to Eryn and cut her cuffs. Eryn didn’t move but stayed ready to attack.
About ten minutes later, most of the group’s hands wear free but waiting to strike, Wren and Jackson still had their cuffs but didn’t need them to be undone, Jackson’s nose gushed with blood from the beating, he hastily spat out the glob of red that filled his mouth after biting his tongue on impact of the blow.
The ground rumbled, sending everything to rattle uncontrollably, then a massive boom made everyone spin around in confusion and horror. Panda barked orders at the men to go see what was happening, a quarter left the room. Saskya smiled, touching her earpiece, she spoke softly, ‘Good job, Jay.’
‘Thanks, I try my best. Ready for round three?’
‘Yep.’
A third rattle followed by a massive boom shook everything. Panda, yet again, yelled at the men to go to the explosion, two-quarters of the men left. A few seconds later, multiple explosions took place, a visible one on the other side of the room that caused Wren to crouch down and huddle with the rest of the group and multiple others close by. Wren turned to Saskya and demanded answers, Saskya panicked at her expression and yelped, ‘This is the part of the plan where we leave!’
The group stood up straight away, and moved to their weapons, all but Wren and a beaten up Jackson who was yelling at Saskya to set them free. Panda yelled at the men to start firing, they responded slowly and turned to the group too late, the nearest men were already lying on the floor unmoving or moaning loudly.
‘GET TO THE VAN!’ Wren commanded, giving Eryn her assault rifle. The group started to do as commanded and ran for the door, most running backwards to shoot at men. Jules, Loki and Saskya, who had close combat weapons, ran for the van. Loki tripped on the floor, the door was closed and insight, the group were nearly there. Loki stood up but was grabbed by Luis who pushed him to the side as he was a wave of bullets zipped past him. Luis grunted then carried on running, Wren firing at the men over his head.
A few minutes later, the group were in the van, Jackson was being treated on by Jules and Talia, Pandora, Saskya and Jay were talking amongst themselves and Wren, Loki and Eryn were discussing plans near the front with Eryn driving. Luis was leaning against the back door, his eyes were dropping, he kept drinking water and looking at the left shoulder skin under his uniform, a needle sized hole was in it.
‘We need more bandages,’ Talia called to Wren, she walked over to where Jackson was being tended to, he was falling into unconsciousness and jerking awake. He kept choking out large splats of red liquid onto a cloth Jules put under his chin, his right eye was swollen and along with his tongue.
‘And fuel,’ Loki yelped as he noticed the fuel tank, it was dangerously low and was blinking.
‘There’s a petrol station up ahead,’ Wren said, remembering the layout of the road when Wolfia showed it to her.
‘What about Panda and his men?’ Pandora asked, Saskya nodded and Jay pointed at her over dramatically. Wren scratched the side of her head and sighed, gesturing to the black box with the spheres.
‘Use the Tennis Booms and scout for drones or men, we need to get stuff.’
‘Tennis Booms?’ Jay asked in amusement.
‘I didn’t name them, neither did Wolfia, so don’t ask them.’
With that, Loki and Jay went on the Tennis Booms and scouted out, the screens showed nothing of concern, so the group went to the petrol station, many getting off to raid the store by the petrol and diesel tanks, Jules found bandages and other medicals, Wren found a slushie machine and made a blue raspberry slushie for herself and Jay spotted so she made herself a slushie. Eryn and Pandora filled up the van’s tank with diesel whilst they could, Luis watching from where he stood with Saskya who was talking to Loki.
‘You done yet?? We have to go,’ Wren yelled as Jules, Jay and her came back, she slurped on her slushie and prepared for the drive.
"Loki, Wren, I don't feel so so good," Luis gasped after everyone collected themselves into the van, his voice was broken. The others turned to Luis, who was stumbling towards the two he called out to, Wren ran towards and grabbed him to stop him falling, Loki coming to help. Luis was light, the left shoulder where he was shot was stained to a burnished gold. Luis' feet tumbled under him and he fell to the floor, Loki knelt down and lifter Luis into his arms, as if cradling him
"You'll be ok right?" Loki asked frantically, he looked up at see everyone had gathered around unsure what to do. Wren's face was completely pale, her eyes were hollow. Wren knelt down and ripped the area where he was shot, golden liquid came from wound instead of normal blood. Wren breathed in a sharp breath of fear. Loki looked in her eyes for orders but received a pain and sadness.
"The liquid... is a quick working poison, its called Ambrosius, it means immortal in Latin. It... people thought it would help them, it didn't help them... It-" her voice wavered, Loki didn't understand, everyone else did. Luis was looking at the ceiling, his eyes going blank.
"Loki, is that you? I only see gold, I don't understand, my whole body it hurts, help," Luis cried, Loki looked up trying to find an answer in the faces of his peers, he looked at Wren to be received with tears running down her face and an expression of pure distraught. Wren and Loki locked eyes, Loki's pleading for help, Wren's telling him what is about to happen. Luis muttered something in French, "Deux drapeaux... I can't believe it, I'm gonna die. Two flags, deux drapeaux... Bisexual and French... I don't wanna go... I only see blue... Blue... Two flags."
That was the last time Loki saw his friend's chest rise and fall...
A few minutes later he was walking around the training floor trying to find Isaac, he eventually found Isaac at the corner of the floor on the far end, Niji found him sitting with his back facing him. Isaac was rubbing his left palm, a blue faint smudge covered his hand, this concerned Niji so he asked, ‘What's that on your hand?’
Isaac jumped and immediately stood up, his fists slightly raised, he had panic in his eyes and he had a dried blood coming from his nose. He looked Niji up and down then lowered his fists sighing, he stretched his back and asked Niji, ‘What do you want?’
‘Wolfia messaged me, they’re on their way back but answer my first question,’ Niji informed him, the end of the sentence became a command.
‘It’s nothing, how long till Wolfia will be back?’
‘Nothing? Why are you hiding it?’ Niji asked.
‘Because I don’t need people I hardly know butting into my life,’ Isaac snapped, which was very uncharacteristic of him, Niji stepped back and put in his hands up in defence. Isaac looked at him, the anger in his eyes immediately softened, ‘I didn’t mean to snap at you, something is seriously wrong with me, I don’t know how or why. I get angry so easily. Like the other day, I was mad at one of Jay’s jokes for no reason, it was actually really funny but I was so mad. I hate it.’
Niji didn’t have words, he always thought Isaac was fine, no problems and fine with the world. Niji should have looked deeper, and now as he does he sees a man slowly breaking.
*
‘We get in, get the Officer and then we get out, if we are spotted we have Loki to hack into the radios to turn them off quickly, you should all receive a holographic layout map of the building. Enemies are green, we are gold and the Officer is blue. We have our numbers floating above our heads as well as our ranking, there is a list of our numbers should hover above the map, if not, well good luck guessing the numbers,’ Wren was explaining to the group pointing and indicating appropriately, the group themselves were standing awkwardly in the Haus’ tight van, they were discussing their plan of attack. After arguing quietly as they did so, trying not to draw attention to the broken down garage were they hid the van in the town where the bank was. Wren continued, ‘Jay will be sniping by the smallest window but it has a view of the whole room, Saskya will be guarding her, remember to call in if someone is killing you and if your backup is needed urgently you will able to break the glass then join us.’
Saskya nodded at Wren, Jay and her shared a glance which was of reassurance between the two. Wren kept looking at the map, scanning the people moving, she kept having a feeling of doubt as she looked at the movement of the men, it was unstructured and slow, unnatural.
‘Pandora will stay here with the van, Pandora whatever you do stay here and guard. Luis, Jules, Talia, Loki, Jackson and me will be in on the ground assault. Jackson, you and Talia shall stay at the doors, you will be the first to enter and the last to come out, you will be taking down any people who are trying to shoot us four behind our backs. Once we get Loki to the behind desk room, where the vaults are I will stand guard with Jule and Luis, protecting Loki as he hacks into the system. Once the door is opened Loki and I will retrieve the Officer, once we have the Officer secured we will have Jay throw an explosion on the furthest wall, which is the western one. Good luck everyone, we have to work as a team.’ Wren finished, she leant back and looked around at her friend's faces, remembering what Wolfia said:
“You're not born a leader, you grow to be the Alpha.”
*
Saskya and Jay tiptoed as they shuffled along the wall to the ladder, once at the ladder they went one at a time, trying hard not to make a lot of noise or make notice of themselves. Fear and determination was their only emotions at that moment, ‘one false move and the whole operation is blown’ Wren's exact words were to the pair, which was highly encouraging.
They crept along the roof of the bank's entrance room, the lights on their suits were producing a tiny amount of din light so the pair could see what they were doing but not get spotted. Climbing up the second ladder to the main roof, Saskya slipped a tiny bit on a slippery service only to be caught by Jay who smirked at Saskya. Once on the main roof, the two crouched and ran to the large glass dome in the middle, this lead to Saskya carefully broke some of the glass so she could open it more with her armoured gloved hand, making a space big enough for Jay and Saskya to hook on the metal railing around the roof with a grappling hook. From there, they lowered down onto a high up platform, able to see the whole room.
Saskya tied the grappling hooks to the edge of the platform, making it so they stayed in place, an easy way out if needed. Jay got into position, abling herself to see every corner of the first floor. The dome in a strange place, in the centre of the building but it went down further than needed, the bottom of the dome was connected to the roof of the first floor, but the floor of the second. This meant Jay couldn’t see any parts of the second floor, though not many of the Scavengers were actually on the second floor but more the first.
A voice through the ear made Saskya and Jay jumped a little, ‘4.Delta and 13.Delta, are you ready to commence the operation?’
‘2.Beta we are ready, our position is not noticeable from the ground, we are turning on our night vision and turning the suit’s lights off now.’ Saskya replied as she and Jay carried out what they said they would, pressing the fourth buttons on their wrists, the glow of the suits dying. Then they pressed the first buttons on their wrists three times in a row, pulling their suits` hoods over their head, immediately a glass shield appearing from the rim around their hoods and the shield able to block out any gas except from oxygen. The glass shield produced a night vision tint of green, abling the two to see clearly in the dark room, the bad side of the night vision, it only goes as far as 10 steps so they are mostly blind.
‘Commencing operation, 11.Delta open the door,’ Wren’s voice ordered making Jackson, who was by the door, nod in understanding. He turned to the door and placed a flat sharp knife through the gap of the door at the top, he pulled the blade down sawing the locks in the door. A minute later he was at the bottom of the door, pulling out the flat knife, he looked at Wren who was muttering something into her earpiece, probably ordering Jay and Saskya to ready themselves. Wren turned to the door and nodded to Loki and Jules, both of whom raised their guns as Jackson was ordered to fully open the door.
The three flooded in, their guns up and masks on, the night vision allowing them to see. They spun around, the lights on their handguns facing as to where their users pointed, Wren had her pistols looking in different directions and making sure she doesn’t miss anything. The three moved slowly to the other side of the room, but nothing seemed to there, no movement and no people. Jay, who was watching over the three from Jay’s and Saskya’s position above, was muttered something to Saskya, ‘Saskya scan the area on the first floor, something isn’t right.’
‘Understood, I will do that now,’ Saskya replied, clicking the buttons on the suit’s wrist, the holographic model of the bank appeared in front of her, she enhanced her vision on the first floor of the bank, revealing the moving models of Wren, Jules, Loki and Luis, with Jackson and Talia standing by the door guarding it for the group. Then there was a sudden movement of green that went back to black near Luis, Saskya stared at the space, then looked away for a second. A green person ran at Luis who was walking with his back facing the green person, Saskya panicked and screamed into her earpiece, ‘LUIS LOOKOUT!’
Luis turned at the last second, the person knocked him off his feet with force, making his head hit the floor sharply and making him yelp. He grabbed his gun and pushed it against the person’s neck trying to stop them from attacking him as he lay on floor, the man pulled the gun from his neck and raised it above his head, he started to swing it down with force when a steal axe landed into the side of his head. Immediately, Luis pushed the man off him and sat up straight away startled, Jules worked forward and collected her axe.
‘Wren, there’s more of them, on your floor there headed towards you. Get to the vault and get the Commander and leave, also Loki turn the lights, switch off your night vision.’ Saskya advised, as soon he was told, Loki pressed all the buttons on his suits’ left wrist. A holographic tablet appeared in front of him as their unit started to run towards the vault, he pressed a lot of buttons of the bank’s lighting system.
‘Lights are on.’ Loki said, right on cue the lights turned on, Wren, Loki and Jules managed to turn their night vision off before the lights turned on and was blinded by a piercing light.
A minute later they were at the vault and surrounded by animalistic men, they had clothes but they were torn and covered in blue liquid, IOS, but at that time it was to the group's belief that only animals could get infected. Wren shouted orders at Loki who was unlocking the vault, whilst the other three guarded him, Wren shot multiple bullets in ten seconds and reloaded with only a thumb to do so, Jules swung her axe around her head and a split open the animalistic men, Luis shot at legs to make sure he didn't kill anyone and Jay, from above, shot advancing IOS who ran towards the floor unit and on the other side of the room, Jackson and Talia tried shooting with their handguns from afar.
‘Vault is open!’ Loki yelled at Wren who gave the swift order for Luis and Jules to guard the door, the other two opened the gate of the vault a smidge and ran inside, hardly any light came through. They didn't bother to turn on the night vision, the large hallway like room echoed their footstep as they ran inside, a few steps in Loki tripped over and cursed.
Wren turned the pointer light on her assault rifle and pointed it at Loki, enabling him to see what he tripped on. Loki got up and looked at the object that tripped him, a leg, disgust filled Loki's emotions. He turned on his pointer light on his handgun and directed the light to the leg, he went up the leg to the body, Wren mimicked this action from a different angle. The body was a pale red, lying on its stomach, cuts snakes up different parts of the naked body, it was clear the man was dead when they reached the face. The face had open eyes that didn't shine like normal eyes, the mouth was opened in a small gap, a golden ichor coloured liquid was coming from the inside, then Wren knelt down and lifted the head slightly higher, for her to see.
‘He's obviously dead, why are you checking?’ Loki asked Wren shook her head and looked up at him, ‘he's not dead?’
‘Not that, it's Commander Shada, the person we were supposed to get, Wolfia showed me a picture of him beforehand. Why is he dead, he should be alive, this body died two days ago from it looks like,’ Wren observed, she looked at the cuts on the man's back, the same golden liquid escaped from the wounds. ‘Loki get Saskya to do a scan of the vault, quickly.’
Loki touched his earpiece, and muttered Saskya’s name, no reply, he did it again and no reply. He looked at Wren, and told her his problem, she looked up and frowned. She touched her own earpiece and spoke Jules name, no reply.
‘Loki run back and get Jules or Luis to contact Saskya, then come ba-’
‘No,’ a voice commanded from the darkness of the vault, cutting off Wren. Loki, who dropped his handgun, and Wren spun to the direction of the sound, Loki's duelled blades fell from the inside of his sleeves like daggers, made from stainless steel and a handle with leather. Wren raised her assault rifle, the pointer light shining on a chair, the chair faced away and had someone strapped down on it. A bag covered the person's head, they struggled against the restraints of the rope, wrapped around their chest and leg.
‘Who are you?’ Wren asked, clicking her gun click to make the person freeze, Loki shuffled closer to the chair and poked his right sword into the back of the bag, the bag instantly ripped open. Loki stumbled back and rose his hand in a surrender position with his blades still in hand, Wren lowered her pistols and gestured in a “really” kind of way, Loki gesture to the tip of his blade. Wren face-palmed and sighed, ‘just take the bag off, Loki.’
‘Ok, sure,’ he replied, he walked up to the chair and person and ripped the bag off. A waterfall of dark hair fell, it was ruffled and damaged. Wren, let her hand drop as she recognised the hair, she thought for a second and let Loki look at her in confusion. Wren repeated herself, ‘who are you?’
‘Wolfia? Is that you?’ the person asked, Wren and Loki looked at each other and shrugged.
‘Well, Wolfia isn’t here, but I get your confusion but Wolfia is more stabby stabby and this one is more thinky thinky,’ Loki said, he let his duelled blades go back up his sleeves, then he walked up and pulled the ropes off with simple physics.
‘I think Wolfia is more thinky thinky than me, I’m more stabby stabby,’ Wren admitted whilst gesturing, with her pistols in hand, waving them about.
‘Interesting.’
‘Truly.’
‘Not to ruin your moment, you asked for my name, it is Eryn Hearth,’ the person said, they had a posh but simple voice, turning into the other two's lights. They had pale skin, that clashed with their dark clothes and hair, deep black eyes reflected the light, a skinny frame which was covered in scars and they had no hand or leg. They were a warrior in the flesh, Loki could tell as he looked at them.
Wren stopped forth and held out a hand, for Eryn to shake, trickly she did. Then she gestured out behind Loki, ‘could you get my leg and arm, there behind you’
Loki, who was confused, grabbed what he was asked. He handed the fake hand and leg to Eryn who quickly put the leg on with a click, she connected to mental stripes that connected the prosthetic, she first did her arm which was able to move it's fingers and moved in strange directions and then the leg that moved it's toes one by one and such. Eryn walked up to the two and looked at both of them as if expecting something, they waited a while in silence, Eryn signed then muttered, ‘They are a new design of prosthetics and are we leaving because we should.’
‘Let's go, Loki ready yourself, Eryn… You can use my pistol,’ Wren looked at Eryn holding her wolf engraved pistol, an understanding past through them, Eryn took it and ready herself. The three nodded and ran to the door, their footsteps echoing every step, Loki let the blades fall from his sleeves, Wren took back her gun and reloaded mid-run and handed it back. By the vault's gate the three stood either side if the door, Wren standing in the middle and pushing the door open. They rushed out preparing for a fight.
It was quiet, bodies lay on the floor, IOS infected bodies. Wren looked further ahead and froze, Jackson, Luis, Jules, Pandora and Talia were sitting on their knees, arms tied behind their bags and Pandora and Jules had their mouths covered up.
‘LUIS!’ Loki yelled as he spotted them, it was a bad move on his part because in the result of it, Wren, Loki and Eryn were knocked out from behind.
*
‘Do you think she's OK?’ A voice called out from the darkness.
‘She was hit unconscious, she's perfectly fine,’ a French-accented voice replied.
‘Your sarcasm is not needed.’
‘She's waking up.’ a different voice confirmed.
Wren woke, blinking hard at the light, her head throbbed as she sat up, she tried to rub her eyes but her hands were tied back. A few seconds of blinking hard and wincing, Wren's eyes opened properly, in front of her Jackson was examining her, his hands tied back as well. She looked around, seven pairs of eyes were watching her. She glanced around the surrounding area, there were men with large guns circling the group and talking to one another in a different language, but Jay and Saskya weren't there, probably safe up on the ceiling.
‘What's happening?’ She asked, her voice steady due to trying to stay calm for the group.
‘Well Wren, it appears you got yourself into a lot of trouble,’ a voice called out the group turned to face the voice and most exclaimed as they did so.
‘You,’ Jackson spat as Panda walked up to his once friends, he wore a military uniform that had two shining gold medals on the left chest area.
‘Jackson, how's Niji? I miss him following me around like a lapdog,’ Panda teased, Jackson, however, seemed to let go of any walls that could stop his anger. He stood up and ran towards Panda, jumping and swinging his leg around into the side of Panda's face. Panda fell to the floor but remained conscious, he laughed and stood up to an angry Jackson, he walked forward and punched him in the face, the group crying out. Then he punched Jackson in the stomach so hard Jackson recoiled, another punch landed on his stomach, a kick in the shin, Panda kept going.
‘STOP! STOP, YOU SON OF A-’ Wren shrieked but was cut short when Jackson yelled, Panda had punched him in the chin causing him to fall to the floor. Panda smiled with satisfaction and pushed Jackson back into his group of friends. Wren didn't hesitate, she stood up, letting the guns point to her, she simply said cruelly, ‘What do you want, you unloved selfish idiot?’
‘You see Wren, Miss Hearth here is a well-known spy amongst the rebellion, but our mole told us all we need to know about her,’ Panda walked around gesturing, most turning to look at Eryn, who rolled her eyes. Panda continued, ‘Not to mention, Pandora Erye, Luis Moreau, Loki Uso-Tsuk, Jackson John Wells, Talia Avion Everton have been found, all of which are associated with the government's most wanted, Wolfia-’
‘You forgot Saskya Sunshine,’ a voice called from the back, Wren and everyone turned with puzzlement as they saw Saskya sit there, all innocent.
*
‘Jay wake up!’ Saskya hissed, she looked down at her friends, five of which were tied up, Wren, Loki and another girl emerged from the vault's gate and noticed the other five, Loki called out Luis’ name. Someone came up behind the three and knocked them out, Saskya winced and turned back to a sleeping Jay and grabbed her shoulders to shake her ‘Jay, wake up!’
‘I’m awake,’ Jay snapped awake, she looked in Saskya’s worried eyes, she kept glancing down to the ground floor, Jay followed her eyes and looked over the edge of their platform, she yelped then said loudly, ‘HOLY S-’
She was cut off by a hand clasping over her mouth and pulling her away from the edge, Saskya did this to stop the guards from seeing the two. After a few seconds past and Saskya let Jay go, she scowled at her then crept into a squatting position and moved to the grappling hooks, gesturing to Jay to follow her.
Once they climbed down the ladder, the two discussed their plans, Saskya starting, ‘How about, I can sneak to the group after stealing a pair of cuffs, make it look like I've been there the whole time.’
‘I like that idea but, the van, I don't know how to drive it,’ Jay whispered as they hid behind a bush close to the van. Saskya thought for a minute then decided on something mentally.
‘Set off explosions.’
‘What?’
‘Wren's plan, you need to set off an explosion, but where?’
‘I'll set off three, one nearer the van about 20 feet, then a one further away, for example, the corner of the building and set it off 45 seconds after. The last one will be on the furthest wall of the building from the door the others came through and I will set one on the wall closest to the door once everyone is through. Also, I should take out a lot of the entrances to stop the guards or any troktikas,’ Jay said, making Saskya look at her with bewilderment, Jay saw her expression and shrugged.
‘But how will you set the explosives in time? From I saw, the bank is pretty big, it will take ages to set explosives where you said,’ questioned Saskya this made Jay smile widely, ‘I dislike that face.’
‘Good. Now, I need to sneak into the front of the van.’
‘What?’
‘Trust me’ Jay whispered as she crouched low and jogged quickly up to the van, once at the front door she opened it by scanning her thumb on the door handle. The inside was cold and dark, a breath of the air hit Jay, she shivered and continued to grab a black box under the driver's seat with two hands.
She ran back to where Saskya was readying herself to start the plan, she placed the box down and opened it, on the deep part of the box there was a black cushion and four large spherical objects. The roof of the box had a screen with buttons and switches on the sides around it. Jay grabbed the four spherical objects and examined them, they were like black tennis balls, the stripes going inwards and producing a faint light, a circular area that dipped down only slightly had a button representing the top, on one part a camera was placed.
‘This will be fun. Saskya, you can start going but I'm making a private channel on the earpieces so we can talk, I don't need the others knowing they might react unwontedly,’ Jay explained to Saskya, she pressed the buttons on each of the four spheres, they started to hover, the screen on the box lit up and viewed four separate sections of vision. The spheres turned to Jay, cameras facing her, the screen showing the angles of the cameras from each viewpoint. Jay pressed her earpiece and they all flew up above the treeline then zoomed towards the bank.
Saskya ran off following the spheres, Jay watched her go then turned to the screen and set the spheres in their needed placed. Her fingers hovered a blue button that should release shrapnel from the first sphere.
‘I’m ready when you are Jay.’
*
Saskya felt the vibration of the explosion before she heard it, the explosion did its job, drawing the men and IOS infected people with them, four men ran past Saskya’s hiding spot, she acted quickly and didn’t think it through. She grabbed the last man and knocked him unconscious with the handgun they were all asked to carry. The other men heard the grunt the man made when he was knocked out and turned around, Saskya had pulled herself and the other man behind a large tree. One of the men, who was America, asked the others, ‘Where’s John?’
He was replied with shrugs and “I don’ know”, the first man sighed loudly and muttered for the others to continue to the explosion.
Saskya mentally sighed before, grabbing the cuffs of the man and any weapons, she kept the cuffs but threw the weapons far as she could. Saskya turned to the door the others first came through, she walked up slowly and cautiously, grabbing her katana and pushing the first half of the blade into the second part with the floor, putting it up her tight leg uniform. She opened the door, slipped inside, the lights on her suit immediately dimmed and she pressed the buttons on her wrists to turn of the night vision.
She watched her friends, who were talking to Panda, waiting for the perfect moment to run over. Jackson ran up to Panda and kick him in the side of the head, the men around the group moved to stop him. Saskya quickly ran up to the group, sitting behind Loki as she put the cuffs on loosely in front of her. It took a while but she managed to do it, by the time she did it Jackson was sitting down next to Wren who standing up with guns pointed at her, Panda started talking.
‘You see Wren, Miss Hearth here,’ From Saskya angle Panda seemed to gesture to the person Wren and Loki saved from the vault, ‘is a well-known spy amongst the rebellion, but our mole told us all we need to know about her, not to mention, Pandora Erye, Luis Moreau, Loki Uso-Tsuk, Jackson John Wells, Talia Avion Everton have been found, all of which are associated with the government's most wanted, Wolfia-’
‘You forgot Saskya Sunshine,’ Saskya called out in an innocent voice, knowing it was a bad idea, Panda turned to her as she stared back.
‘Since when have you joined us?’ asked Panda in a sly smirk.
‘I’ve always been here? I’m just small,’ Saskya acted confused and unknowing, Panda looked at the men around the group, searching for an answer. The men shrugged and looked away, not meeting Panda’s eyes, Saskya showed her cuffed wrists to Panda who narrowed his eyes in suspicion.
‘As I was saying,’ Panda continued, Saskya droned it out, she looked at Loki’s cuffed wrists in front of her, he had tried to unlock them but failed. She reached out and tapped above the cuff on his left hand, he turned and raised his eyebrows as Saskya grabbed her katana and let the point of the blade come out a part.
‘Try to move your wrists away from each other,’ Saskya whispered so only Loki could hear, he did as followed, then Saskya positioned the blade and cut through the metal easily. When Loki’s hands wear-free, he started to reach for his sleeve when Saskya nudged his shoulder with her own and shook her head, gesturing to the other’s handcuffs, Loki nodded and quickly moved his hands in front of him and together. He started to unlock Luis’ cuffs, Saskya turned to Eryn and cut her cuffs. Eryn didn’t move but stayed ready to attack.
About ten minutes later, most of the group’s hands wear free but waiting to strike, Wren and Jackson still had their cuffs but didn’t need them to be undone, Jackson’s nose gushed with blood from the beating, he hastily spat out the glob of red that filled his mouth after biting his tongue on impact of the blow.
The ground rumbled, sending everything to rattle uncontrollably, then a massive boom made everyone spin around in confusion and horror. Panda barked orders at the men to go see what was happening, a quarter left the room. Saskya smiled, touching her earpiece, she spoke softly, ‘Good job, Jay.’
‘Thanks, I try my best. Ready for round three?’
‘Yep.’
A third rattle followed by a massive boom shook everything. Panda, yet again, yelled at the men to go to the explosion, two-quarters of the men left. A few seconds later, multiple explosions took place, a visible one on the other side of the room that caused Wren to crouch down and huddle with the rest of the group and multiple others close by. Wren turned to Saskya and demanded answers, Saskya panicked at her expression and yelped, ‘This is the part of the plan where we leave!’
The group stood up straight away, and moved to their weapons, all but Wren and a beaten up Jackson who was yelling at Saskya to set them free. Panda yelled at the men to start firing, they responded slowly and turned to the group too late, the nearest men were already lying on the floor unmoving or moaning loudly.
‘GET TO THE VAN!’ Wren commanded, giving Eryn her assault rifle. The group started to do as commanded and ran for the door, most running backwards to shoot at men. Jules, Loki and Saskya, who had close combat weapons, ran for the van. Loki tripped on the floor, the door was closed and insight, the group were nearly there. Loki stood up but was grabbed by Luis who pushed him to the side as he was a wave of bullets zipped past him. Luis grunted then carried on running, Wren firing at the men over his head.
A few minutes later, the group were in the van, Jackson was being treated on by Jules and Talia, Pandora, Saskya and Jay were talking amongst themselves and Wren, Loki and Eryn were discussing plans near the front with Eryn driving. Luis was leaning against the back door, his eyes were dropping, he kept drinking water and looking at the left shoulder skin under his uniform, a needle sized hole was in it.
‘We need more bandages,’ Talia called to Wren, she walked over to where Jackson was being tended to, he was falling into unconsciousness and jerking awake. He kept choking out large splats of red liquid onto a cloth Jules put under his chin, his right eye was swollen and along with his tongue.
‘And fuel,’ Loki yelped as he noticed the fuel tank, it was dangerously low and was blinking.
‘There’s a petrol station up ahead,’ Wren said, remembering the layout of the road when Wolfia showed it to her.
‘What about Panda and his men?’ Pandora asked, Saskya nodded and Jay pointed at her over dramatically. Wren scratched the side of her head and sighed, gesturing to the black box with the spheres.
‘Use the Tennis Booms and scout for drones or men, we need to get stuff.’
‘Tennis Booms?’ Jay asked in amusement.
‘I didn’t name them, neither did Wolfia, so don’t ask them.’
With that, Loki and Jay went on the Tennis Booms and scouted out, the screens showed nothing of concern, so the group went to the petrol station, many getting off to raid the store by the petrol and diesel tanks, Jules found bandages and other medicals, Wren found a slushie machine and made a blue raspberry slushie for herself and Jay spotted so she made herself a slushie. Eryn and Pandora filled up the van’s tank with diesel whilst they could, Luis watching from where he stood with Saskya who was talking to Loki.
‘You done yet?? We have to go,’ Wren yelled as Jules, Jay and her came back, she slurped on her slushie and prepared for the drive.
"Loki, Wren, I don't feel so so good," Luis gasped after everyone collected themselves into the van, his voice was broken. The others turned to Luis, who was stumbling towards the two he called out to, Wren ran towards and grabbed him to stop him falling, Loki coming to help. Luis was light, the left shoulder where he was shot was stained to a burnished gold. Luis' feet tumbled under him and he fell to the floor, Loki knelt down and lifter Luis into his arms, as if cradling him
"You'll be ok right?" Loki asked frantically, he looked up at see everyone had gathered around unsure what to do. Wren's face was completely pale, her eyes were hollow. Wren knelt down and ripped the area where he was shot, golden liquid came from wound instead of normal blood. Wren breathed in a sharp breath of fear. Loki looked in her eyes for orders but received a pain and sadness.
"The liquid... is a quick working poison, its called Ambrosius, it means immortal in Latin. It... people thought it would help them, it didn't help them... It-" her voice wavered, Loki didn't understand, everyone else did. Luis was looking at the ceiling, his eyes going blank.
"Loki, is that you? I only see gold, I don't understand, my whole body it hurts, help," Luis cried, Loki looked up trying to find an answer in the faces of his peers, he looked at Wren to be received with tears running down her face and an expression of pure distraught. Wren and Loki locked eyes, Loki's pleading for help, Wren's telling him what is about to happen. Luis muttered something in French, "Deux drapeaux... I can't believe it, I'm gonna die. Two flags, deux drapeaux... Bisexual and French... I don't wanna go... I only see blue... Blue... Two flags."
That was the last time Loki saw his friend's chest rise and fall...
Talia knew grief was a disease of life that everyone felt or had extreme versions of it, no matter who they are. She watched from the sidelines as Loki attacked Wolfia, they let it happen, taking the beating. Isaac, Wren and Eryn stepped forward to pull him off them, he tried shake the three but was unsuccessful. Talia watched as Niji ran up to a beaten and broken Jackson and screamed at Wren for answers. Grief.
Three weeks later Wolfia explained something that made Loki walk out with the door slammed, Isaac to turn away from his love and Niji feeling betrayed.
They gathered the group into the lounge, Eryn as well, Wolfia made everyone sit down and waited for everyone to be comfortable and quiet. They looked away and started, ‘When I came back from leaving Wren and the rest of the unit, I walked to my room I share with Isaac to sleep, I remembered a man who was infected and attacked me, with Isaac and Wren, when I first joined Alpha Reign. I remembered what I learnt from being a spy for the Rebellion, humans are getting infected, I remembered the Valiosos in the test tubes. I hacked into Alpha Reign’s system, I found out who is infected and who is a Valiosos.’
They paused, letting the group process the information when Loki, who hadn’t talk in weeks, spoke, ‘Who's not a Valiosos?’
‘Isaac, Panda, Jules, Pandora and… Luis are not a Valiosos,’ They said quietly, Isaac, Jules and Pandora froze and looked at one another, Loki fumed, Wren shook her head, Niji rubbed his tired eyes.
‘So you’re saying we could, what, die?’ Isaac snapped, Wolfia flinched but they said nothing in reply, answering Isaac’s question. Wren studied Wolfia’s expression and understood what it meant.
‘There’s more, just say it,’ Wren commanded.
‘Ambrosius, the poison that killed Luis, it’s fast working on people who are not immune to becoming infected…’ Wolfia spluttered, Loki stood up, he turned to Wolfia and screamed words of hatred, Eryn pulled him back down into the seat and gestured to Wolfia to continue. Wolfia nodded at her, their strength seemed to spread across their face, ‘Thanks Eryn, now let me tell you what it’s like to live with IOS, imagine you have a voice in your head, yelling at you to laugh with joy and scream with anger at the same time, telling you to kill everyone you love and it makes you go insane, it you believe no one loves you! Then once you get the voice in your head, your body starts to deteriorate into this insane creature, you bleed IOS instead of blood, you spit IOS, you become IOS! Do you know what the acronym for IOS is? No you probably don’t, well it is Immediate Organ Suspension. So, you yell at me and scream at me but I didn’t know! All I ever wanted is to get Wren, Niji and Isaac out of the hell hole of Alpha Reign. I DIDN’T PLAN ANY OF THIS! I DID NOT WANT LUIS TO DIE, I KNOW YOU ALL THINK THAT I DID! I DIDN’T! I JUST- I just want to get away…’
Wolfia fell to the floor, Jay walked up to help them but stopped as she noticed Loki standing up and storm out of the room, slamming the door, she noticed Isaac turning away from Wolfia, she saw the expression of deep betrayal on Niji’s face as he whispered, ‘So you used Jackson and Luis to save Wren, Isaac and me? Getting someone killed to save us?’
Two weeks later at 3:18am when Isaac knew what he had to do, he was lying awake, restless, anxiety-ridden but brave. He got up and swung his legs over the side of his and Wolfia’s shared bed, he stretched and grabbed his bag. In a few minutes, he had his belongings, a toothbrush, two knives and a small pistol with 20 bullets, he stared around the room and left, closing the door. Left his favourite shotgun in the corner to collect dust.
Walking down the central hall of the floor, he noticed a light was on and the door was open from the room two down from him, he peaked in and glanced around. Jackson was lying on his bed, bandages covering his bare chest, he was sleeping on his side facing towards Niji who was sitting on a chair next to Jackson’s bed, they were holding hands. Isaac smirked and turned the light off before shutting the door, remembering the days were Wren, Wolfia, four other friends and him would get into a lot of trouble, mostly getting injured and sent to hospital, if one was injured another one of his friends would stay by the wounded person all night until the doctors asked them to leave.
Once downstairs he took three cans of baked beans and five cans of chicken curry, four containers of water and two snack bars from the storage unit, once he got the food he crept towards the back door, he reached for the doorknob when he heard the doorknob screech, Isaac stepped back and watched as the door opened.
Wolfia came through the doorway, their face tired and worn, stumbling into the back room hardly noticing Isaac as they walked straight into him. Isaac snorted at their antics and stopped them from slipping over by hugging them, Wolfia uttered something in Spanish, ‘Gracias, amor.’
‘Anytime,’ Isaac responded with a chuckle, he looked down at Wolfia who buried their head further into his chest. The two had made up after he found Wolfia sitting on the roof, their expression was blank and they had a bottle of alcohol, immediately Isaac opened the window and climbed onto the roof, grabbing the bottle and throwing it as far as he could. Wolfia signed and looked up at him, they asked him if he was still mad at them, he denied it, they told him not to lie. Isaac pulled them to their feet and kissed them, they pointed of that isn't an answer and Isaac rolled his eyes and said that he could never be mad at them.
‘Well I'm going to bed, you joining?’ Wolfia murmured into his chest.
‘I'm on patrol, so no.’
‘What day is it?’
‘Thursday,’ Isaac said after some hesitation, trying to remember when he did patrol. Wolfia shrugged and pulled away from Isaac, then passed him and walked away before stopping and turning to Isaac.
‘I love you, you know that?’ Wolfia questioned, they looked up at Isaac and raised and eyebrow.
‘I know, I love you too,’ Isaac smirked at them, they turned and walked away, skipping almost with giddiness. As soon as he heard their footsteps die, Isaac turned to the door and hesitated. Hesitation, it fills people with the doubt when they themselves don’t need it, it fills people with the dread of having to make a decision and it fills Isaac with the pain of leaving Wolfia.
Isaac took his last breath in Haus of Ashes and opened the door, letting the prickle of the freezing air hit his face then pulling a gas mask over his mouth.
Loki sat on the rooftop, the same place where he had sat five weeks ago which seemed ages ago, he watched the clouds of ash swirl and move with the other clouds. He got up and started to climb back into the window, he made his way to Wolfia’s study. In his mind, four words repeated, over and over again. Stay calm for him. Stay calm. For him. Stay calm for him.
When Loki reached the door for Wolfia’s study on the top floor, he was about to open the door when he heard yelling, screaming almost. Plucking any courage he had, he opened the door slightly, the three inside not hearing the click of the door due to the loud yelling.
Wolfia was sitting at their desk, face emotionless, bags of dark under their eyes, they had pale skin and their cheeks hollowed out. Wren was on the other side of the desk, slamming her hands against it and yelling at Wolfia. Niji stood on the side of the desk, watching Wren as she screamed words of hatred at Wolfia.
‘GET UP! YOU IDIOT! YOU HAVEN’T EATEN IN DAYS! YOU LEFT FOR FOURTEEN DAYS AND RETURNED TO JUST GO TO THE BLOODY TOILET. THEN YOU LEFT AGAIN! NOW YOU’RE BACK, WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO? RUN A AWAY AGAIN? MOST LIKELY! WOLFIA, ISAAC LEFT, JUST DEAL WITH IT! HE’S BEEN GONE FOR THREE WEEKS, HE WOULD BE BACK BY NOW IF HE WANTED TO BE FOUND!’ Wren screamed, Niji flinched at her words but didn’t say anything, Wolfia got up and stared into Wren’s eyes and said coldly.
‘I was sick. If you don’t understand what type of sickness it was then I don’t see how you’re my friend. Now Loki is listening to you yell at me. If you would kindly leave so Loki could give me the information Aaron, Talia and him found,’ Loki’s eyes widen and he moved back from the door and made it seem like he was never there, he was about to turn and walk away, when a voice called him from the room, ‘Loki don’t walk away.’
Loki sighed and walked into the study, the two second-in-commands were now standing to the side of the room, Wren looked furious and Niji looked bored. Loki awkwardly took a seat opposite Wolfia, who was fiddling with the promise ring on their finger, they sat down and gestured to Loki to start. He took a deep breath and started, ‘After some digging, Aaron, Talia and I found a source going to a woman named Hera James, she is someone who has IOS in her system but every month she is given a jab that almost freezes the virus in place, to stop it from spreading. Hera was a well-known woman of business before Yellowstone and the leak of IOS, we believe she is centred in a party mall in the Infected City, which was once called Swindon. If we get enough information to her jab, we may be able to figure out a cure if we ever go to the Rebellion's base in London.’
There was a silence, one you would expect before a hurricane, the three in front of Loki pondered the information they were given, Wolfia gestured to Wren and Niji to say something as they lent their elbows to the desk placing their face in their hands. Wren raised her hand as if asking for a question, Loki looked up at her and nodded, ‘Yes?’
‘Yeah hi, I like this idea, if we get information about the jab, it could lead to finding a cure and Wolfia, you said we might go to London one day in the few months prior, we have a mission’ Wren said, Niji moaned with anger making Wren snap, ‘What!’
‘Yes, that would be useful BUT that involves going to a place full of IOS infected people. Friendly reminder, Pandora and Jules can get infected, if we go they could get infected!’ Niji argued back.
‘Then we steal some of the jabs for them, just in case!’
‘THEY COULD DIE! WE COULD DIE!’
‘AND THAT WOULD CHANGE ANYTHING HOW?’
‘THE FACT THAT WE COULD DIE DOESN’T SEEMED TO FAZE YOU?’
‘I HAVE PRACTICALLY GIVEN UP ON LIFE, HAVEN’T YOU?’
‘THAT’S NOT OK!’
‘YOU TWO SHUT UP LIKE SHUT IT,’ Wolfia hissed, the two who had now moved around the room when they were arguing. Loki watched the oldest person in this room, stood up and punched the wall, denting the wall and making their knuckles red. Wren and Niji deflated immediately, eyes full of anger changed into concern.
Loki didn’t feel comfortable in that room.
‘Wolfia…’ Wren started.
‘Don’t!’ Wolfia barked, they turned around and took their seat again, staring at the wall with a blank expression. A minute of silence ended with Wolfia throwing their hands up with frustration, ‘Ok, I’m hungry, tired and I doubt that everyone will be happy that we suddenly organised a mission, again. I will think of what to do as we cook food and let everyone give their views then we will decide, this is not for only three people to decide.’
‘Ok, let’s go make dinner,’ Loki agreed, getting up and leaving with Wolfia chasing him, trying to avoid the arguments between them and the two second-in-commands.
Eventually, the four made a large portion of spaghetti and meatballs, a portion for fourteen, leaving two portions left. Wren notified everyone through their holographic phone that it was food, soon enough the rest of the twelve appeared, they took their seats at the table.
Wolfia sat in the middle of a large wooden between Jay and Saskya, Loki opposite them, the rest of squad sitting with close friends, Niji and Jackson were close together with Niji’s right hand under the table and Jackson’s left. Obviously holding hands.
They started dinner talking about training and memories from the Alpha Reign or random funny moments elsewhere, then the topic of “When’s our next mission?” from Jules. Wolfia choked on their spaghetti, Wren snorted in her blue raspberry juice, the same colour as the slushie she had before Luis died, and Loki and Niji glanced at each other.
‘Loki, I think you should tell them,’ Wolfia gestured to him, Loki smirked.
‘I’d rather not, I think Niji should.’
‘I’m good, how about you Wren?’
‘Sadly, my large amount of I-don’t-really-care juices come into play,’ Wren finished, lifting her glass and nodding in a sarcastic gratitude, ‘Wolfia, back at you.’
‘Loki just tell them already,’ Wolfia sighed.
‘Right yeah, we have an idea, when digging, Aaron, Talia and I found a source going to a woman named Hera James, every month she is given a jab that almost freezes the virus to stop it from spreading. Hera was a noted woman of business before Yellowstone and IOS, we believe she is the Infected City, which was once called Swindon, a city-town. If we get enough information, we may be able to get a base of a cure. Having said that Wolfia, Wren and Niji think it would be better for everyone to know and decide to make a mission out of it.’ Loki explained the same way he did to the three first. There was silence as everyone processed and thought of what to say, Wolfia after a minute added.
‘We should do a vote if most agree on going, we go and get the information. If most say no, we stay here for a lot longer and if it’s a draw, then we go to the Rebel base with no hesitation,’ giving many different options for the people to choose. Half a minute later Wolfia started, ‘I’ll start, I’m voting yes.’
‘So will I, thanks for starting by the way,’ Wren said sarcastically, Eryn pointing at Wren as if to say: "That’s my answer".
‘Me too, I think it is a good idea,’ Talia agreed.
‘No, I say no, I don't want to see another one of my friends die!’ Niji argued against their votes and to persuade more people to say no, Jackson nodding with him.
‘Four yeses, two nos,’ Wolfia commented.
‘Aaron and I are voting yes, we need this jab,’ Loki said after having a conversation with Aaron through each other’s eyes.
‘No, also why are you agreeing with this, Loki, I’d thought you would be against this,’ Saskya snapped.
‘What is that supposed to mean? Just because, oh what? Because of Luis? NEWS FLASH, LUIS IS DEAD AND WE HAVE NO POWER TO CHANGE THAT!’
Silence with a tone of horror flooded the room. Saskya felt guilt spread through her body, the others glared at her for a second and turned back to Loki who was fuming, Wolfia groaned and gestured to Loki to leave the room. Loki stared at them, dumbfounded but angry, ‘Why do I need to leave?’
‘Because I told you so, you made your vote and you need fresh air so, if Jules would kindly vote then join you,’ Wolfia commanded and Jules, suddenly bewildered by being spoken to, spat out her apple juice into her food. Loki stormed out the room, slamming the door of the kitchen, many flinching as he did so.
‘Right ok, pressure, I will be voting no.’ Jules stuttered quickly before joining Loki.
‘I too, will be voting no, this is a bad idea, one of us could get very hurt,’ Jay said, no humour or jokes spread across her now serious face, Wolfia nodding with understanding but didn’t change their vote. Everyone turned to Pandora, she had the biggest amount of power at that moment, she could make the group stay at Haus of Ashes, straight London or get that information and jab, that possibly could have helped millions of people if the Rebellion could improve it.
‘Pandora, it is six versus five, vote no it will be a draw and we go to London, vote yes and we go to Swindon. As I say that, I realise no one wants to go to Swindon, so good luck,’ Wren pointed out, Wolfia snorted. Pandora turned to Wolfia and thought of how she could get the information out from them she needed, and then vote.
‘I will vote when you tell us what the “Prophecy” means, otherwise you can count me out of anything,’ Pandora glared daggers into the Alpha’s eyes, they swallowed down the saliva.
‘Alright, someone get Loki and Jules,’ Wolfia commanded, Talia got up and brought a-calmed-down Loki and Jules back into the room. They glared at Pandora and started, ‘A halo, two flags and some mistletoe, it is referring to who dies, Luis was two flags and the other two… I don’t know.To save the world cost sacrifice, that makes my previous statement true due to three dying and maybe more tragedies. Poison their minds and affect their lives, nightmares, shellshock, insomnia, PTSD and extreme anxiety, poisons to the mind and affects lives badly, mental illnesses caused by war. Save the world or let it fail, a cure for IOS will save humanity and the creatures that walk our Earth, hence saying our world due to the fact plants need us creatures to breath in their oxygen. The traitor’s limb will be our hail, Panda and next line. The three lines next are about how the first line people die, Immortal, immortal with no depth, an oath that leads him to death, loyalty will be their fault, breath for breath, the “immortal immortal” refers to Luis, the oath one could be any of the males in our group and loyalty, that’s bit obvious. May the howl of a broken heart break the enemies` instead, I have no idea and then finally for blood is blood and love is love probably referring to the “breath for breath part”’
A deafening silence seemed to freeze the air, Pandora and many others stared at the table in front of them. Wolfia reach over the table then took Wren’s half eaten spaghetti and halved it, scraping it into their own bowl and given the rest to Jay who shrugged.
‘Yes, I vote yes,’ Pandora said after a minute silence.
‘This is a very bad idea, we will die,’ Talia pointed out as Niji and her walked down the street, pretending to be in love, they turned a corner and saw the multi-coloured flashes of light from the mall. Hundreds of people coming in and out of the mall, the ones coming out were acting abnormal and bizarre.
‘At least we agree on something,’ Niji replied, he looked over his shoulder to see the street behind them was empty other than the occasional IOS rat. Talia elbowed him in the side and hooked her arm around his, Niji stopped and looked at the arm hooked on his with bewilderment.
‘Stop acting strange, also sorry I had to something that straight couples do, Jackson isn't here to get jealous,’ Talia smirked, Niji spluttered which made Talia laugh really hard. They reached the doors and slid through the crowd, trying to ignore the looks of insanity written on each the faces around them. Once inside they could only gape at the size of the mall, it was large, as you would expect a mall to be, there were at least ten thousand people in there. Loud ear-bleeding music was drowning out the screams, shouts and talking. Niji’s eyes stung due to the bright lights blinding him every few seconds, Talia with the same problem. Niji grabbed hold of her arm and pulled her through the dancing crowd in front of them, holding his breath as the intoxicated air hit the two. They found a wall, but was still suffocated by people and smoke, the two put their heads close together and shouted at each other in order to communicate, ‘We need to find Wren, Jay and Jackson!’
‘Pardon?’ Talia shouted back, only hearing murmuring from Niji.
‘WE NEED TO FIND WREN, JAY AND JACKSON!’ Niji repeated, Talia finally catching his words and nodding. They formulated a plan with gestures, eventually the two split off in different directions, weaving through the crowd.
Wren was not amused.
She was waiting with Jackson waiting for Jay to get back with the information needed to find where Hera James was.
Loki was hacking into the system, Aaron stood guard with Eryn and Jay. Wolfia, Jules and Pandora leant on the railing by a few feet away from the other three, Jules and Pandora were distant from Wolfia, Wolfia however scanned the crowd as well as protecting Jules and Pandora. When people accidently brushed past the three, Wolfia tensed and glared at the people until they properly passed and they didn’t talk or say anything.
‘I got her location, Jay get to Wren then find Niji and Talia,’ Loki commanded whilst he sent Jay the data through his earpiece. Wolfia nodded at Jay, as if a command. Jay ran off, she pushed between a couple who got intimate and were close to the group.
‘Come on, let’s split up. Pandora, Jules with me, the rest of you can sought out the rest,’ beckoned Wolfia. They walked past the couple, Jules and Pandora following them and the three disappeared from the sight of the others.
‘Excuse me, ma’am, you can’t go through here,’ A guard said at the first door to the VIP room, Hera James was just beyond the door and it made Talia frustrated. Niji squeezed her hand in reassurance, he looked at the guard and faked smirked, putting a posh accent on.
‘Darling, don’t be so stupid. Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.’
‘Sorry to assume, sir!’ the guard moved to the side and opened the door to the room.
Niji, Talia and two hooded figures walked down a long hall into the room and were instantly hit with a wave of smoke. The room was covered in a light mint, the cushions that lay on the floor were the mint colour, the walls were the mint colour and the smoke that filled that plagued the air. On the cushions on the far side of the room, there were multiple people, one of which made the group freeze. It was Isaac.
Isaac noticed Niji and Talia and stood up quickly, the people around him stared in confusion. He walked over and exclaimed with a fake wave of enthusiasm, ‘My friends you are finally here! Follow me we have much to discuss!’
He pushed Niji, Talia and the two other figures towards a wall to the right of the main room, when about to hit the wall it moved backwards then left into the wall. Once all five of the people were in the room, the door shut and Isaac turned to the group. The room was a pastel green with yellow strips, a bunch cushions littered the floor. Talia finally getting better notice of him, he was unnaturally clean, his hair was still the messy bed head Talia saw him last, he didn’t have a smidge of dirt and turmoil spread across his gorgeous face.
‘What are you doing here?’ Hissed Isaac, one of the figures removed the hood off to reveal it was Wren. Wren scowled at Isaac, then she slapped him. The other three eyebrows’ raised as Isaac rubbed his cheek, he growled, ‘What was that for?’
‘For leaving, what else, idiot,’ Wren snapped, ‘Did you really think it was a good idea? Leaving Wolfia was one of the most stupid ideas, other than coming here of course.’
‘I had no-’ Isaac stammered but got interrupted by Wren’s anger.
‘You truly have invented the newest kind of stupid, a damage you can never undo kind of stupid as if you opened all the ages in a zoo and you know you are stupid. Wolfia hasn’t slept for weeks, when they eat they throw it back up, also not to mention the fact they left for two weeks looking for you!’ Wren practically screamed, Niji tried to put his hand on her shoulder but she shrugged it off, she took a step closer to Isaac who backed towards the wall. Wren advancing, ‘Truly, you didn’t think this through, because Isaac, Wolfia is dead inside because of you.’
That hit Isaac, he froze and fell to the floor. Wren retracted, knowing full well she went too far, she backed off and listened to the whimpers of Isaac. Niji backed towards the other hooded figure, who was Jackson who wrapped his arms around Niji’s shoulders and hugged him. Talia flinched and moved towards Isaac but was stopped by yelling coming from outside of the door, Wren looked painfully at the door and then around at the others. Wren and Jackson nodded at each other then pulled their hoods over their heads and gestured to the other two to move forward to the door, Niji took a glance at Isaac before pushing on the door.
‘Get the hell off me!’ a familiar voice cried out, Talia and the others watched as seven figures were pushed into the light mint room along with a lot of guards, they had bags covering their heads and ropes bound their hands. They were lined up on their knees facing the furthest wall from the door, where the people smoking and laying on the cushions lazily, from where one of the most gorgeous ladies stood up.
The lady had long, golden red hair which was tied in a disordered bun with two sticks to hold it up, lose strands fell across her pale, broad shoulders. A tight black dress that faded into a neon green rested on her curves and body, her tall slim legs moved the dress slightly as she walked forward, she had sea green eyes that penetrated through the various people. She elegantly strode to the line of bagged figures, she pointed at the middle figure, the guards around fumbled other themselves as most raised their guns fixing on the figure who was pointed out. She clicked her fingers, causing a bulky guard grabbed the person and threw them on the floor in front of the women. The guard pulled the hood off them, to reveal Wolfia, they had a bloody nose and a swollen mass surrounding their right eye, Wren making a noise of surprise.
‘Wolfia-’ the women had a slow but cruel voice that sent shivers running down the four, the women smirked, ‘What was your surname again?’
Wolfia looked her straight in the eye and spat a glop of red slime onto her black high heels, the woman sighed and kicked Wolfia in the stomach. A cry escaped from their mouth but they didn’t topple over, the lady looked down in disgust at Wolfia, Wolfia looked up at her, ‘Leave my friends out of this, Hera, they don’t know anything.’
‘Exactly, guards,’ Hera ordered, suddenly Talia and the others were thrown the floor, Wren’s hood flew off her head revealing herself. Wolfia sucked in a breath but wiped any emotion off their face, as guards pulled Wren onto her knees, placing a gun to her the back of head, her dark grey and messy hair covering her face. Hera turned back to Wolfia and smiled a gorgeous grin, ‘Now we have the cards on the table, what do you suggest we do?’
‘Tell us what’s in the jabs and we leave you alone,’ Wolfia suggested.
‘Hmm, how about I kill one of yours and you get the information you need,’ Hera countered slyly Wolfia shook their head, they seemed to be swaying slightly as if trying to stay awake. Hera sighed in frustration, ‘Wolfia, you know what you deserve, but you haven’t experienced your punishment. I will free your friends, giving them four of the jabs, if you stay.’
‘Wolfia don’t!’ Wren cried out causing the guard holding to her kick her in the spine. Hera snapped her fingers, the guards surrounding the other six bagged figures ripped their bags off each of the heads, revealing Loki, Jay, Pandora, Jules, Aaron and Eryn. Talia counted the numbers of people in their groups, someone was missing but Talia didn’t know who, it was on the tip of her tongue.
A silence filled the room, a distance puff of smoke sizzled quietly from the corner, everyone was staring at Wolfia, waiting for their decision. Wolfia looked up at Hera, not looking at anyone or anything else, ‘I’ll stay, leave my friends alone. Let them take the jabs and you have beat the living hell out of me.’
‘Wolfia, you are such a dumb f-’ Jay screamed, the guard behind her kicking her in the back of the head hard enough to knock her out, making Jules, next to her cried out over her friend. Hera smirked and looked back at Wolfia, a mischievous smile permanently planted on her face, she clicked her fingers and pointed towards a couple of guards. Three guards walked towards a random room, he pushed against it to reveal a room, on the other side a lavender walled room was visible, they left for a few seconds before returning.
They carried a dark grey case enlaced with rose gold, as well as a small plastic table. They placed the table by Hera and the case on top, opening the case Hera took out a medium sized syringe. The syringe had an orange liquid filling three-quarter of the inside, a long needle covered in a plastic cover came from the top. Wolfia stood up, their legs shook as they walked towards the case, Hera letting them, when they reached the case, they took three of the syringes. Hera gestured to the guard with the gun to Wren’s head, he lowered the gun and let Wren walk forward, her hands shook as she stared at Wolfia, her eyes filled with a betrayal only Wolfia could understand.
Wren took the syringes before, moving next to Aaron and lowering herself to sit on her knees. Wolfia turned back to Hera and averted their eyes to the floor, Hera snarled a grin, showing her perfect snow-white teeth. She tutted and turned to the cushions, taking a seat in a clear space, Wolfia stood, shaking almost violently. Hera called out, ‘Now before we let you leave, we must do one more thing to Wolfia and of course, we’re going to make you watch.’
Wolfia’s head snapped up, they had stopped shaking, Hera suddenly looked alarmed. Wolfia sprinted towards her, a knife slipping from their sleeve, covered in their own blood, guards advancing but only to be stopped by Wolfia slashing up their legs and bodies. It was Aaron who stood up first from the group, he kicked the guard behind him in the shin, hard enough for the bone release a horrifying crack. The others following his lead in their own ways and fighting styles, Wren spinning around and kicking her guard in the head, Jules continuously punching the guard until she knocked her out, Loki sweeping to the floor and knocking his guard to the floor, then stamping on the guard’s back. Pandora dodging the fists from her guard until he tripped over himself, then she kicked him in the stomach. Niji used the back of his head to headbang his guard’s nose, then turned around and kneed him in between the legs. Jackson dropped to the floor and threw the guard over him. Eryn fought two guards, she jumped up and kicked her legs into a straddle hitting both guards.
Wolfia moved simple towards Hera, who was now standing behind a wall of angry and drunk smokers, her face filled with amusement. Wolfia kicked a guard in the face, sending multiple cracks ripple through the air, they were so close to their target when a bang shot through the air, a second later Loki screamed, making them turn. Loki was clutching his arm, a red stain spread across the white shirt over his suit. The others turned to him as well, the closest few running forward towards him, Jules picking up Jay's arms and dragging her to Loki. The group had their guard down, not noticing the person who slipped into the room, Hera did, they came towards Wolfia, they were short, her hair split in half, one side pastel pink and the other pastel blue, a face full of hatred directed towards the group’s leader.
Saskya lifted her arm up and threw the syringe, filled with a green liquid, into the arm of Wolfia when they weren’t looking. Saskya laughed as Wolfia cried out in pain...
Saskya was waiting by the bus-van, the others were in the mall a couple streets down, she was bored of waiting so she started practising her swordplay. A few minutes had passed when a man walked up to her carrying a case, he placed it on the floor and opened it. He spun it around to face Saskya, who had frozen and walked off. The inside was a screen on the lid, it was static, on the lower half of the case a syringe with a greenie liquid sat surrounded by cushions, a pair of rubber gloves, a flask filled with a maroon liquid, a tub with one small white pill and a small knife.
Intrigued and confused, Saskya walked forward and gazed at the items. Not a second passed until the static screen fixed into a video from a security camera, but it seemed off, edited almost. It viewed a person leaning against a wall of a large alleyway, they seemed to be panting and covered in blood. Saskya instantly recognised the person, it was her sister Rays Sunshine, the same brown hair (before Saskya dyed it), same face structure and same face of exhaustion.
The voice turned on, it was a woman's voice, elegant and slow, ‘Saskya Sunshine, this is a clip from last year, after you have watched it, you will know what kinds of people you're following blindly.’
The voice cut off, it was replaced a scratchy sound of laboured breathing and gunshots. Saskya watched as another familiar face popped up on screen, Wolfia. Wolfia was carrying someone, someone who was missing a leg and a hand, with a jolt she saw Eryn. Wolfia dropped Eryn on the floor next to Raya and
‘We have to leave her, she will die if we continue to carry her around, she's losing to much blood,’ her sister stated, Wolfia looked up at her, judging by Raya's surprised reaction she knew Wolfia glared at her. Raya raised her hands in a surrendering type way, ‘It was only a suggestion, Wolf.’
‘I'm not leaving her,’ Wolfia snapped, they pulled bandages from their pockets and started working on covering their friend's wounds. A few minutes later, Wolfia froze and looked at Raya, they leaned fully upwards and stood up, robotic like. They took the gun from beside Eryn and fiddled with it, Saskya's whole body tensed. Wolfia spoke cruelly and slowly, this was unlike themselves but Sasksya didn't care, ‘Yes, I might not leave her, but I can certainly leave you.’
‘Wolf, what do you mean?’ Rays asked in worry, Wolfia turned to them and raised their arm, the gun pointing towards Raya's head. Raya screamed, ‘STOP PLAYING AROUND!’
‘I don't want to do this. I have to. I'm sorry. Oh, don't worry. I'll tell your sister that you lived,’ Wolfia whispered slowly, they pulled the trigger and the screen turned to static. Saskya stared in shock, she started questioning her loyalty.
The screen flared into focus of a beautiful lady, the lady had long golden red hair and sea-green eyes that were piercing right through Saskya, she smirked at Saskya’s face. The lady tutted and started the conversation, ‘Saskya Sunshine, my name is Hera James, I heard you were an associate of one Wolfia Lýkos Psychí and I mean no harm as I say this, that is a bad idea. The video you saw was from last year, when Wolfia Lýkos Psychí, Eryn Heart and Raya Sunshine were ambushed by snatchers for the government, Eryn was injured prior to the attack but was mortally wounded in this one, Wolfia at the time hadn’t eaten in weeks and Raya had a sprained ankle. Out of the two Wolfia had to choose someone to leave behind, they chose Raya, they shot her and saved Eryn.
‘Having said that, let’s talk, my naive child. You follow Wolfia into the trap of Rebellion, but have you seen what the Rebellion have done? What will happen when your friends join them? Does your leader even know what they, the rebels, are doing? It’s time you learnt a lesson,’ Hera snarked, Saskya lost the ability to speak, unable to think, numb to the bone as she listened, she didn’t want to, yet Hera continued, ‘It’s time that you understand, don’t count on anybody else in this world. Like you, I once hoped for friendship, a place amongst my own but they were childish wishes and dreams. I can finally see, so open up your eyes, view the world from where I stand, me among the mighty and if you are not careful, you will be caged at the Rebellion’s command. Remember that my dear.’
The screen switched from Hera’s snarling face to a video from a low quality camera, the person holding the camera was high up somewhere, most likely the top of a building. It zoomed on to a street, there were a hundred people marching down it, their fists rising up and down in protest. In the middle someone held up a white flag, it had a wolf with a sword in a red circle plasted in centre, the symbol seemed to scream strength. Then police came from the opposite side street, they had plastic shields and were slightly crouching, advancing to the swarm staggered closer and closer. The hundreds of people shouted in protest, the camera zoomed outwards and it focused on someone on a McDonald’s roof, he was screaming and he was waving a gun in his hand, the audio picked up something he said, ‘GOVERNMENT ARE NO LONGER OUR FRIENDS!’
The man chucked a circular object into the police, which caused the police to turn to it as an explosion appeared into existence, men flew back onto the street. Screams cracked and jittered in the audio of the video, Saskya winced as she examined the scene, parts of humans were burning around the road, just outside a shop, the camera focused on a child was screaming over a body of a women. A shot hit the audio and the child fell to the floor, as well as the surviving few from the attack. Finally letting loose of any tranquility, the protestors stampeded down the road, the shooter on the roof shot any police that started to run to save casualties and the wounded. The flag bearer stood on top of a car and waved the flag, causing Saskya to get hit with a memory, the memory was of when Wolfia was standing near the fire in the forest. They were talking and mentioned the Rebellion’s symbol was same as the one on the banner.
The video shut off, the static reappeared, leaving Saskya to process everything about her choices, Wolfia knows everything, it’s the feeling of regret and betrayal. The pain that comes with trusting someone so much then they kick you down the stairs and laughs, that was the feeling seemed to affect Saskya so badly. Her mind stretched into possibilities, trying to find an answer to solve her problem, but they all pointed to one option. Revenge. Kill them. Kill Wolfia…
Wolfia shrieked, collapsing to their knees, their whole body stiffened and numbed, they were paralysed. Saskya marched to them slowly, she drew a petite flask with a rubber cork on the top with a bubbling maroon fluid with a visible white pill dissolving, she pulled the cork off and grabbed Wolfia’s jaw. Dripping the contents fell down their throat involuntarily, they choked as Saskya poured the whole flask into their mouth. Once the bottle had no more of the liquid, Saskya tore her hands of Wolfia’s jaw and murmured, ‘That's for my sister.’
Wolfia's eyes filled with confusion and betrayal, they slumped to the floor and choked on the liquid, then started to spasm, their body shaking extremely violently. They screamed which caused Wren to turn to them, she cried out, the others gasping as they watched Wolfia hit their head against the floor to knock themselves out. Saskya raised a knife that appeared in her hand and was bringing it down as an explosion shrieked from outside, making the building shudder. Everyone froze and looked around, Wolfia stopped hitting their head and looked up. Only to see Isaac, they sucked a breath as the two caught eyes, his were full of sadness and horror, their torture and the remains of betrayal. With that, Wolfia’s eyes faded into unconsciousness, Wren finally reached them then pulled their body towards the others and away from Saskya.
The friends huddled together, Hera James seemed to have disappeared from the room as the roof fell with a loud explosion. Jules screamed as chunks of rock fell from the roof, a large piece of rock was falling down upon them, Aaron and Jackson immediately dropped anything they were holding and lifted their hands to the air, catching the rock and shoving it to the side.
An ear bleeding chopping whooshed through the smokey air, multiple times a second, the conscious people of the group looked up, covering their eyes from the dust and soot. A hovercraft with multiple tones light grey as a paint, silvers, cloud white, bone white, grey-tint and ect, a large symbol was branded near the front. The symbol was circular, inside the circle, a pair of wings, split by an arrow shape and a strange M shape.
‘It’s the rebels!’ Eryn cried her hair blowing in the wind uncontrollably, ‘It’s a medical rescue craft!’
‘What are they doing here?’ Niji demanded, the helicopter was lowering down above them flying through the charcoal smoke, two cargo holds opened in unison, two ladders from one side and two metal ropes from the other slithered down. People in SWAT looking armour flew down from the ropes, they were hard to see, for all except one was wearing black and the one not wearing black was in a dark purple.
The one in purple reached the floor first, landing with a soft thud before striding towards the group pulling of their helmet. The person in front of them had bright blonde hair tied in a tight ponytail that barely reached her shoulders, pale and smooth skin that made her bright blue eyes stand out more bright than the sky on a summer's day. She stood around five feet and nine inches, multiple weapons were sheathed around her waist and a shotgun slanted around her back.
‘Are you guys Wolfia’s squad? My name is Skylar Hall, known as Ghost,’ she asked calmly, the group looked around at each other, then stared at Wren and waited for her response and decision.
‘We are,’ she returned carefully.
‘Great, I’m here to get you to London.’
*
Three weeks later Wolfia explained something that made Loki walk out with the door slammed, Isaac to turn away from his love and Niji feeling betrayed.
They gathered the group into the lounge, Eryn as well, Wolfia made everyone sit down and waited for everyone to be comfortable and quiet. They looked away and started, ‘When I came back from leaving Wren and the rest of the unit, I walked to my room I share with Isaac to sleep, I remembered a man who was infected and attacked me, with Isaac and Wren, when I first joined Alpha Reign. I remembered what I learnt from being a spy for the Rebellion, humans are getting infected, I remembered the Valiosos in the test tubes. I hacked into Alpha Reign’s system, I found out who is infected and who is a Valiosos.’
They paused, letting the group process the information when Loki, who hadn’t talk in weeks, spoke, ‘Who's not a Valiosos?’
‘Isaac, Panda, Jules, Pandora and… Luis are not a Valiosos,’ They said quietly, Isaac, Jules and Pandora froze and looked at one another, Loki fumed, Wren shook her head, Niji rubbed his tired eyes.
‘So you’re saying we could, what, die?’ Isaac snapped, Wolfia flinched but they said nothing in reply, answering Isaac’s question. Wren studied Wolfia’s expression and understood what it meant.
‘There’s more, just say it,’ Wren commanded.
‘Ambrosius, the poison that killed Luis, it’s fast working on people who are not immune to becoming infected…’ Wolfia spluttered, Loki stood up, he turned to Wolfia and screamed words of hatred, Eryn pulled him back down into the seat and gestured to Wolfia to continue. Wolfia nodded at her, their strength seemed to spread across their face, ‘Thanks Eryn, now let me tell you what it’s like to live with IOS, imagine you have a voice in your head, yelling at you to laugh with joy and scream with anger at the same time, telling you to kill everyone you love and it makes you go insane, it you believe no one loves you! Then once you get the voice in your head, your body starts to deteriorate into this insane creature, you bleed IOS instead of blood, you spit IOS, you become IOS! Do you know what the acronym for IOS is? No you probably don’t, well it is Immediate Organ Suspension. So, you yell at me and scream at me but I didn’t know! All I ever wanted is to get Wren, Niji and Isaac out of the hell hole of Alpha Reign. I DIDN’T PLAN ANY OF THIS! I DID NOT WANT LUIS TO DIE, I KNOW YOU ALL THINK THAT I DID! I DIDN’T! I JUST- I just want to get away…’
Wolfia fell to the floor, Jay walked up to help them but stopped as she noticed Loki standing up and storm out of the room, slamming the door, she noticed Isaac turning away from Wolfia, she saw the expression of deep betrayal on Niji’s face as he whispered, ‘So you used Jackson and Luis to save Wren, Isaac and me? Getting someone killed to save us?’
*
Two weeks later at 3:18am when Isaac knew what he had to do, he was lying awake, restless, anxiety-ridden but brave. He got up and swung his legs over the side of his and Wolfia’s shared bed, he stretched and grabbed his bag. In a few minutes, he had his belongings, a toothbrush, two knives and a small pistol with 20 bullets, he stared around the room and left, closing the door. Left his favourite shotgun in the corner to collect dust.
Walking down the central hall of the floor, he noticed a light was on and the door was open from the room two down from him, he peaked in and glanced around. Jackson was lying on his bed, bandages covering his bare chest, he was sleeping on his side facing towards Niji who was sitting on a chair next to Jackson’s bed, they were holding hands. Isaac smirked and turned the light off before shutting the door, remembering the days were Wren, Wolfia, four other friends and him would get into a lot of trouble, mostly getting injured and sent to hospital, if one was injured another one of his friends would stay by the wounded person all night until the doctors asked them to leave.
Once downstairs he took three cans of baked beans and five cans of chicken curry, four containers of water and two snack bars from the storage unit, once he got the food he crept towards the back door, he reached for the doorknob when he heard the doorknob screech, Isaac stepped back and watched as the door opened.
Wolfia came through the doorway, their face tired and worn, stumbling into the back room hardly noticing Isaac as they walked straight into him. Isaac snorted at their antics and stopped them from slipping over by hugging them, Wolfia uttered something in Spanish, ‘Gracias, amor.’
‘Anytime,’ Isaac responded with a chuckle, he looked down at Wolfia who buried their head further into his chest. The two had made up after he found Wolfia sitting on the roof, their expression was blank and they had a bottle of alcohol, immediately Isaac opened the window and climbed onto the roof, grabbing the bottle and throwing it as far as he could. Wolfia signed and looked up at him, they asked him if he was still mad at them, he denied it, they told him not to lie. Isaac pulled them to their feet and kissed them, they pointed of that isn't an answer and Isaac rolled his eyes and said that he could never be mad at them.
‘Well I'm going to bed, you joining?’ Wolfia murmured into his chest.
‘I'm on patrol, so no.’
‘What day is it?’
‘Thursday,’ Isaac said after some hesitation, trying to remember when he did patrol. Wolfia shrugged and pulled away from Isaac, then passed him and walked away before stopping and turning to Isaac.
‘I love you, you know that?’ Wolfia questioned, they looked up at Isaac and raised and eyebrow.
‘I know, I love you too,’ Isaac smirked at them, they turned and walked away, skipping almost with giddiness. As soon as he heard their footsteps die, Isaac turned to the door and hesitated. Hesitation, it fills people with the doubt when they themselves don’t need it, it fills people with the dread of having to make a decision and it fills Isaac with the pain of leaving Wolfia.
Isaac took his last breath in Haus of Ashes and opened the door, letting the prickle of the freezing air hit his face then pulling a gas mask over his mouth.
*
Loki sat on the rooftop, the same place where he had sat five weeks ago which seemed ages ago, he watched the clouds of ash swirl and move with the other clouds. He got up and started to climb back into the window, he made his way to Wolfia’s study. In his mind, four words repeated, over and over again. Stay calm for him. Stay calm. For him. Stay calm for him.
When Loki reached the door for Wolfia’s study on the top floor, he was about to open the door when he heard yelling, screaming almost. Plucking any courage he had, he opened the door slightly, the three inside not hearing the click of the door due to the loud yelling.
Wolfia was sitting at their desk, face emotionless, bags of dark under their eyes, they had pale skin and their cheeks hollowed out. Wren was on the other side of the desk, slamming her hands against it and yelling at Wolfia. Niji stood on the side of the desk, watching Wren as she screamed words of hatred at Wolfia.
‘GET UP! YOU IDIOT! YOU HAVEN’T EATEN IN DAYS! YOU LEFT FOR FOURTEEN DAYS AND RETURNED TO JUST GO TO THE BLOODY TOILET. THEN YOU LEFT AGAIN! NOW YOU’RE BACK, WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO? RUN A AWAY AGAIN? MOST LIKELY! WOLFIA, ISAAC LEFT, JUST DEAL WITH IT! HE’S BEEN GONE FOR THREE WEEKS, HE WOULD BE BACK BY NOW IF HE WANTED TO BE FOUND!’ Wren screamed, Niji flinched at her words but didn’t say anything, Wolfia got up and stared into Wren’s eyes and said coldly.
‘I was sick. If you don’t understand what type of sickness it was then I don’t see how you’re my friend. Now Loki is listening to you yell at me. If you would kindly leave so Loki could give me the information Aaron, Talia and him found,’ Loki’s eyes widen and he moved back from the door and made it seem like he was never there, he was about to turn and walk away, when a voice called him from the room, ‘Loki don’t walk away.’
Loki sighed and walked into the study, the two second-in-commands were now standing to the side of the room, Wren looked furious and Niji looked bored. Loki awkwardly took a seat opposite Wolfia, who was fiddling with the promise ring on their finger, they sat down and gestured to Loki to start. He took a deep breath and started, ‘After some digging, Aaron, Talia and I found a source going to a woman named Hera James, she is someone who has IOS in her system but every month she is given a jab that almost freezes the virus in place, to stop it from spreading. Hera was a well-known woman of business before Yellowstone and the leak of IOS, we believe she is centred in a party mall in the Infected City, which was once called Swindon. If we get enough information to her jab, we may be able to figure out a cure if we ever go to the Rebellion's base in London.’
There was a silence, one you would expect before a hurricane, the three in front of Loki pondered the information they were given, Wolfia gestured to Wren and Niji to say something as they lent their elbows to the desk placing their face in their hands. Wren raised her hand as if asking for a question, Loki looked up at her and nodded, ‘Yes?’
‘Yeah hi, I like this idea, if we get information about the jab, it could lead to finding a cure and Wolfia, you said we might go to London one day in the few months prior, we have a mission’ Wren said, Niji moaned with anger making Wren snap, ‘What!’
‘Yes, that would be useful BUT that involves going to a place full of IOS infected people. Friendly reminder, Pandora and Jules can get infected, if we go they could get infected!’ Niji argued back.
‘Then we steal some of the jabs for them, just in case!’
‘THEY COULD DIE! WE COULD DIE!’
‘AND THAT WOULD CHANGE ANYTHING HOW?’
‘THE FACT THAT WE COULD DIE DOESN’T SEEMED TO FAZE YOU?’
‘I HAVE PRACTICALLY GIVEN UP ON LIFE, HAVEN’T YOU?’
‘THAT’S NOT OK!’
‘YOU TWO SHUT UP LIKE SHUT IT,’ Wolfia hissed, the two who had now moved around the room when they were arguing. Loki watched the oldest person in this room, stood up and punched the wall, denting the wall and making their knuckles red. Wren and Niji deflated immediately, eyes full of anger changed into concern.
Loki didn’t feel comfortable in that room.
‘Wolfia…’ Wren started.
‘Don’t!’ Wolfia barked, they turned around and took their seat again, staring at the wall with a blank expression. A minute of silence ended with Wolfia throwing their hands up with frustration, ‘Ok, I’m hungry, tired and I doubt that everyone will be happy that we suddenly organised a mission, again. I will think of what to do as we cook food and let everyone give their views then we will decide, this is not for only three people to decide.’
‘Ok, let’s go make dinner,’ Loki agreed, getting up and leaving with Wolfia chasing him, trying to avoid the arguments between them and the two second-in-commands.
Eventually, the four made a large portion of spaghetti and meatballs, a portion for fourteen, leaving two portions left. Wren notified everyone through their holographic phone that it was food, soon enough the rest of the twelve appeared, they took their seats at the table.
Wolfia sat in the middle of a large wooden between Jay and Saskya, Loki opposite them, the rest of squad sitting with close friends, Niji and Jackson were close together with Niji’s right hand under the table and Jackson’s left. Obviously holding hands.
They started dinner talking about training and memories from the Alpha Reign or random funny moments elsewhere, then the topic of “When’s our next mission?” from Jules. Wolfia choked on their spaghetti, Wren snorted in her blue raspberry juice, the same colour as the slushie she had before Luis died, and Loki and Niji glanced at each other.
‘Loki, I think you should tell them,’ Wolfia gestured to him, Loki smirked.
‘I’d rather not, I think Niji should.’
‘I’m good, how about you Wren?’
‘Sadly, my large amount of I-don’t-really-care juices come into play,’ Wren finished, lifting her glass and nodding in a sarcastic gratitude, ‘Wolfia, back at you.’
‘Loki just tell them already,’ Wolfia sighed.
‘Right yeah, we have an idea, when digging, Aaron, Talia and I found a source going to a woman named Hera James, every month she is given a jab that almost freezes the virus to stop it from spreading. Hera was a noted woman of business before Yellowstone and IOS, we believe she is the Infected City, which was once called Swindon, a city-town. If we get enough information, we may be able to get a base of a cure. Having said that Wolfia, Wren and Niji think it would be better for everyone to know and decide to make a mission out of it.’ Loki explained the same way he did to the three first. There was silence as everyone processed and thought of what to say, Wolfia after a minute added.
‘We should do a vote if most agree on going, we go and get the information. If most say no, we stay here for a lot longer and if it’s a draw, then we go to the Rebel base with no hesitation,’ giving many different options for the people to choose. Half a minute later Wolfia started, ‘I’ll start, I’m voting yes.’
‘So will I, thanks for starting by the way,’ Wren said sarcastically, Eryn pointing at Wren as if to say: "That’s my answer".
‘Me too, I think it is a good idea,’ Talia agreed.
‘No, I say no, I don't want to see another one of my friends die!’ Niji argued against their votes and to persuade more people to say no, Jackson nodding with him.
‘Four yeses, two nos,’ Wolfia commented.
‘Aaron and I are voting yes, we need this jab,’ Loki said after having a conversation with Aaron through each other’s eyes.
‘No, also why are you agreeing with this, Loki, I’d thought you would be against this,’ Saskya snapped.
‘What is that supposed to mean? Just because, oh what? Because of Luis? NEWS FLASH, LUIS IS DEAD AND WE HAVE NO POWER TO CHANGE THAT!’
Silence with a tone of horror flooded the room. Saskya felt guilt spread through her body, the others glared at her for a second and turned back to Loki who was fuming, Wolfia groaned and gestured to Loki to leave the room. Loki stared at them, dumbfounded but angry, ‘Why do I need to leave?’
‘Because I told you so, you made your vote and you need fresh air so, if Jules would kindly vote then join you,’ Wolfia commanded and Jules, suddenly bewildered by being spoken to, spat out her apple juice into her food. Loki stormed out the room, slamming the door of the kitchen, many flinching as he did so.
‘Right ok, pressure, I will be voting no.’ Jules stuttered quickly before joining Loki.
‘I too, will be voting no, this is a bad idea, one of us could get very hurt,’ Jay said, no humour or jokes spread across her now serious face, Wolfia nodding with understanding but didn’t change their vote. Everyone turned to Pandora, she had the biggest amount of power at that moment, she could make the group stay at Haus of Ashes, straight London or get that information and jab, that possibly could have helped millions of people if the Rebellion could improve it.
‘Pandora, it is six versus five, vote no it will be a draw and we go to London, vote yes and we go to Swindon. As I say that, I realise no one wants to go to Swindon, so good luck,’ Wren pointed out, Wolfia snorted. Pandora turned to Wolfia and thought of how she could get the information out from them she needed, and then vote.
‘I will vote when you tell us what the “Prophecy” means, otherwise you can count me out of anything,’ Pandora glared daggers into the Alpha’s eyes, they swallowed down the saliva.
‘Alright, someone get Loki and Jules,’ Wolfia commanded, Talia got up and brought a-calmed-down Loki and Jules back into the room. They glared at Pandora and started, ‘A halo, two flags and some mistletoe, it is referring to who dies, Luis was two flags and the other two… I don’t know.To save the world cost sacrifice, that makes my previous statement true due to three dying and maybe more tragedies. Poison their minds and affect their lives, nightmares, shellshock, insomnia, PTSD and extreme anxiety, poisons to the mind and affects lives badly, mental illnesses caused by war. Save the world or let it fail, a cure for IOS will save humanity and the creatures that walk our Earth, hence saying our world due to the fact plants need us creatures to breath in their oxygen. The traitor’s limb will be our hail, Panda and next line. The three lines next are about how the first line people die, Immortal, immortal with no depth, an oath that leads him to death, loyalty will be their fault, breath for breath, the “immortal immortal” refers to Luis, the oath one could be any of the males in our group and loyalty, that’s bit obvious. May the howl of a broken heart break the enemies` instead, I have no idea and then finally for blood is blood and love is love probably referring to the “breath for breath part”’
A deafening silence seemed to freeze the air, Pandora and many others stared at the table in front of them. Wolfia reach over the table then took Wren’s half eaten spaghetti and halved it, scraping it into their own bowl and given the rest to Jay who shrugged.
‘Yes, I vote yes,’ Pandora said after a minute silence.
*
‘This is a very bad idea, we will die,’ Talia pointed out as Niji and her walked down the street, pretending to be in love, they turned a corner and saw the multi-coloured flashes of light from the mall. Hundreds of people coming in and out of the mall, the ones coming out were acting abnormal and bizarre.
‘At least we agree on something,’ Niji replied, he looked over his shoulder to see the street behind them was empty other than the occasional IOS rat. Talia elbowed him in the side and hooked her arm around his, Niji stopped and looked at the arm hooked on his with bewilderment.
‘Stop acting strange, also sorry I had to something that straight couples do, Jackson isn't here to get jealous,’ Talia smirked, Niji spluttered which made Talia laugh really hard. They reached the doors and slid through the crowd, trying to ignore the looks of insanity written on each the faces around them. Once inside they could only gape at the size of the mall, it was large, as you would expect a mall to be, there were at least ten thousand people in there. Loud ear-bleeding music was drowning out the screams, shouts and talking. Niji’s eyes stung due to the bright lights blinding him every few seconds, Talia with the same problem. Niji grabbed hold of her arm and pulled her through the dancing crowd in front of them, holding his breath as the intoxicated air hit the two. They found a wall, but was still suffocated by people and smoke, the two put their heads close together and shouted at each other in order to communicate, ‘We need to find Wren, Jay and Jackson!’
‘Pardon?’ Talia shouted back, only hearing murmuring from Niji.
‘WE NEED TO FIND WREN, JAY AND JACKSON!’ Niji repeated, Talia finally catching his words and nodding. They formulated a plan with gestures, eventually the two split off in different directions, weaving through the crowd.
~
Wren was not amused.
She was waiting with Jackson waiting for Jay to get back with the information needed to find where Hera James was.
~
Loki was hacking into the system, Aaron stood guard with Eryn and Jay. Wolfia, Jules and Pandora leant on the railing by a few feet away from the other three, Jules and Pandora were distant from Wolfia, Wolfia however scanned the crowd as well as protecting Jules and Pandora. When people accidently brushed past the three, Wolfia tensed and glared at the people until they properly passed and they didn’t talk or say anything.
‘I got her location, Jay get to Wren then find Niji and Talia,’ Loki commanded whilst he sent Jay the data through his earpiece. Wolfia nodded at Jay, as if a command. Jay ran off, she pushed between a couple who got intimate and were close to the group.
‘Come on, let’s split up. Pandora, Jules with me, the rest of you can sought out the rest,’ beckoned Wolfia. They walked past the couple, Jules and Pandora following them and the three disappeared from the sight of the others.
~
‘Excuse me, ma’am, you can’t go through here,’ A guard said at the first door to the VIP room, Hera James was just beyond the door and it made Talia frustrated. Niji squeezed her hand in reassurance, he looked at the guard and faked smirked, putting a posh accent on.
‘Darling, don’t be so stupid. Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.’
‘Sorry to assume, sir!’ the guard moved to the side and opened the door to the room.
Niji, Talia and two hooded figures walked down a long hall into the room and were instantly hit with a wave of smoke. The room was covered in a light mint, the cushions that lay on the floor were the mint colour, the walls were the mint colour and the smoke that filled that plagued the air. On the cushions on the far side of the room, there were multiple people, one of which made the group freeze. It was Isaac.
Isaac noticed Niji and Talia and stood up quickly, the people around him stared in confusion. He walked over and exclaimed with a fake wave of enthusiasm, ‘My friends you are finally here! Follow me we have much to discuss!’
He pushed Niji, Talia and the two other figures towards a wall to the right of the main room, when about to hit the wall it moved backwards then left into the wall. Once all five of the people were in the room, the door shut and Isaac turned to the group. The room was a pastel green with yellow strips, a bunch cushions littered the floor. Talia finally getting better notice of him, he was unnaturally clean, his hair was still the messy bed head Talia saw him last, he didn’t have a smidge of dirt and turmoil spread across his gorgeous face.
‘What are you doing here?’ Hissed Isaac, one of the figures removed the hood off to reveal it was Wren. Wren scowled at Isaac, then she slapped him. The other three eyebrows’ raised as Isaac rubbed his cheek, he growled, ‘What was that for?’
‘For leaving, what else, idiot,’ Wren snapped, ‘Did you really think it was a good idea? Leaving Wolfia was one of the most stupid ideas, other than coming here of course.’
‘I had no-’ Isaac stammered but got interrupted by Wren’s anger.
‘You truly have invented the newest kind of stupid, a damage you can never undo kind of stupid as if you opened all the ages in a zoo and you know you are stupid. Wolfia hasn’t slept for weeks, when they eat they throw it back up, also not to mention the fact they left for two weeks looking for you!’ Wren practically screamed, Niji tried to put his hand on her shoulder but she shrugged it off, she took a step closer to Isaac who backed towards the wall. Wren advancing, ‘Truly, you didn’t think this through, because Isaac, Wolfia is dead inside because of you.’
That hit Isaac, he froze and fell to the floor. Wren retracted, knowing full well she went too far, she backed off and listened to the whimpers of Isaac. Niji backed towards the other hooded figure, who was Jackson who wrapped his arms around Niji’s shoulders and hugged him. Talia flinched and moved towards Isaac but was stopped by yelling coming from outside of the door, Wren looked painfully at the door and then around at the others. Wren and Jackson nodded at each other then pulled their hoods over their heads and gestured to the other two to move forward to the door, Niji took a glance at Isaac before pushing on the door.
‘Get the hell off me!’ a familiar voice cried out, Talia and the others watched as seven figures were pushed into the light mint room along with a lot of guards, they had bags covering their heads and ropes bound their hands. They were lined up on their knees facing the furthest wall from the door, where the people smoking and laying on the cushions lazily, from where one of the most gorgeous ladies stood up.
The lady had long, golden red hair which was tied in a disordered bun with two sticks to hold it up, lose strands fell across her pale, broad shoulders. A tight black dress that faded into a neon green rested on her curves and body, her tall slim legs moved the dress slightly as she walked forward, she had sea green eyes that penetrated through the various people. She elegantly strode to the line of bagged figures, she pointed at the middle figure, the guards around fumbled other themselves as most raised their guns fixing on the figure who was pointed out. She clicked her fingers, causing a bulky guard grabbed the person and threw them on the floor in front of the women. The guard pulled the hood off them, to reveal Wolfia, they had a bloody nose and a swollen mass surrounding their right eye, Wren making a noise of surprise.
‘Wolfia-’ the women had a slow but cruel voice that sent shivers running down the four, the women smirked, ‘What was your surname again?’
Wolfia looked her straight in the eye and spat a glop of red slime onto her black high heels, the woman sighed and kicked Wolfia in the stomach. A cry escaped from their mouth but they didn’t topple over, the lady looked down in disgust at Wolfia, Wolfia looked up at her, ‘Leave my friends out of this, Hera, they don’t know anything.’
‘Exactly, guards,’ Hera ordered, suddenly Talia and the others were thrown the floor, Wren’s hood flew off her head revealing herself. Wolfia sucked in a breath but wiped any emotion off their face, as guards pulled Wren onto her knees, placing a gun to her the back of head, her dark grey and messy hair covering her face. Hera turned back to Wolfia and smiled a gorgeous grin, ‘Now we have the cards on the table, what do you suggest we do?’
‘Tell us what’s in the jabs and we leave you alone,’ Wolfia suggested.
‘Hmm, how about I kill one of yours and you get the information you need,’ Hera countered slyly Wolfia shook their head, they seemed to be swaying slightly as if trying to stay awake. Hera sighed in frustration, ‘Wolfia, you know what you deserve, but you haven’t experienced your punishment. I will free your friends, giving them four of the jabs, if you stay.’
‘Wolfia don’t!’ Wren cried out causing the guard holding to her kick her in the spine. Hera snapped her fingers, the guards surrounding the other six bagged figures ripped their bags off each of the heads, revealing Loki, Jay, Pandora, Jules, Aaron and Eryn. Talia counted the numbers of people in their groups, someone was missing but Talia didn’t know who, it was on the tip of her tongue.
A silence filled the room, a distance puff of smoke sizzled quietly from the corner, everyone was staring at Wolfia, waiting for their decision. Wolfia looked up at Hera, not looking at anyone or anything else, ‘I’ll stay, leave my friends alone. Let them take the jabs and you have beat the living hell out of me.’
‘Wolfia, you are such a dumb f-’ Jay screamed, the guard behind her kicking her in the back of the head hard enough to knock her out, making Jules, next to her cried out over her friend. Hera smirked and looked back at Wolfia, a mischievous smile permanently planted on her face, she clicked her fingers and pointed towards a couple of guards. Three guards walked towards a random room, he pushed against it to reveal a room, on the other side a lavender walled room was visible, they left for a few seconds before returning.
They carried a dark grey case enlaced with rose gold, as well as a small plastic table. They placed the table by Hera and the case on top, opening the case Hera took out a medium sized syringe. The syringe had an orange liquid filling three-quarter of the inside, a long needle covered in a plastic cover came from the top. Wolfia stood up, their legs shook as they walked towards the case, Hera letting them, when they reached the case, they took three of the syringes. Hera gestured to the guard with the gun to Wren’s head, he lowered the gun and let Wren walk forward, her hands shook as she stared at Wolfia, her eyes filled with a betrayal only Wolfia could understand.
Wren took the syringes before, moving next to Aaron and lowering herself to sit on her knees. Wolfia turned back to Hera and averted their eyes to the floor, Hera snarled a grin, showing her perfect snow-white teeth. She tutted and turned to the cushions, taking a seat in a clear space, Wolfia stood, shaking almost violently. Hera called out, ‘Now before we let you leave, we must do one more thing to Wolfia and of course, we’re going to make you watch.’
Wolfia’s head snapped up, they had stopped shaking, Hera suddenly looked alarmed. Wolfia sprinted towards her, a knife slipping from their sleeve, covered in their own blood, guards advancing but only to be stopped by Wolfia slashing up their legs and bodies. It was Aaron who stood up first from the group, he kicked the guard behind him in the shin, hard enough for the bone release a horrifying crack. The others following his lead in their own ways and fighting styles, Wren spinning around and kicking her guard in the head, Jules continuously punching the guard until she knocked her out, Loki sweeping to the floor and knocking his guard to the floor, then stamping on the guard’s back. Pandora dodging the fists from her guard until he tripped over himself, then she kicked him in the stomach. Niji used the back of his head to headbang his guard’s nose, then turned around and kneed him in between the legs. Jackson dropped to the floor and threw the guard over him. Eryn fought two guards, she jumped up and kicked her legs into a straddle hitting both guards.
Wolfia moved simple towards Hera, who was now standing behind a wall of angry and drunk smokers, her face filled with amusement. Wolfia kicked a guard in the face, sending multiple cracks ripple through the air, they were so close to their target when a bang shot through the air, a second later Loki screamed, making them turn. Loki was clutching his arm, a red stain spread across the white shirt over his suit. The others turned to him as well, the closest few running forward towards him, Jules picking up Jay's arms and dragging her to Loki. The group had their guard down, not noticing the person who slipped into the room, Hera did, they came towards Wolfia, they were short, her hair split in half, one side pastel pink and the other pastel blue, a face full of hatred directed towards the group’s leader.
Saskya lifted her arm up and threw the syringe, filled with a green liquid, into the arm of Wolfia when they weren’t looking. Saskya laughed as Wolfia cried out in pain...
Saskya was waiting by the bus-van, the others were in the mall a couple streets down, she was bored of waiting so she started practising her swordplay. A few minutes had passed when a man walked up to her carrying a case, he placed it on the floor and opened it. He spun it around to face Saskya, who had frozen and walked off. The inside was a screen on the lid, it was static, on the lower half of the case a syringe with a greenie liquid sat surrounded by cushions, a pair of rubber gloves, a flask filled with a maroon liquid, a tub with one small white pill and a small knife.
Intrigued and confused, Saskya walked forward and gazed at the items. Not a second passed until the static screen fixed into a video from a security camera, but it seemed off, edited almost. It viewed a person leaning against a wall of a large alleyway, they seemed to be panting and covered in blood. Saskya instantly recognised the person, it was her sister Rays Sunshine, the same brown hair (before Saskya dyed it), same face structure and same face of exhaustion.
The voice turned on, it was a woman's voice, elegant and slow, ‘Saskya Sunshine, this is a clip from last year, after you have watched it, you will know what kinds of people you're following blindly.’
The voice cut off, it was replaced a scratchy sound of laboured breathing and gunshots. Saskya watched as another familiar face popped up on screen, Wolfia. Wolfia was carrying someone, someone who was missing a leg and a hand, with a jolt she saw Eryn. Wolfia dropped Eryn on the floor next to Raya and
‘We have to leave her, she will die if we continue to carry her around, she's losing to much blood,’ her sister stated, Wolfia looked up at her, judging by Raya's surprised reaction she knew Wolfia glared at her. Raya raised her hands in a surrendering type way, ‘It was only a suggestion, Wolf.’
‘I'm not leaving her,’ Wolfia snapped, they pulled bandages from their pockets and started working on covering their friend's wounds. A few minutes later, Wolfia froze and looked at Raya, they leaned fully upwards and stood up, robotic like. They took the gun from beside Eryn and fiddled with it, Saskya's whole body tensed. Wolfia spoke cruelly and slowly, this was unlike themselves but Sasksya didn't care, ‘Yes, I might not leave her, but I can certainly leave you.’
‘Wolf, what do you mean?’ Rays asked in worry, Wolfia turned to them and raised their arm, the gun pointing towards Raya's head. Raya screamed, ‘STOP PLAYING AROUND!’
‘I don't want to do this. I have to. I'm sorry. Oh, don't worry. I'll tell your sister that you lived,’ Wolfia whispered slowly, they pulled the trigger and the screen turned to static. Saskya stared in shock, she started questioning her loyalty.
The screen flared into focus of a beautiful lady, the lady had long golden red hair and sea-green eyes that were piercing right through Saskya, she smirked at Saskya’s face. The lady tutted and started the conversation, ‘Saskya Sunshine, my name is Hera James, I heard you were an associate of one Wolfia Lýkos Psychí and I mean no harm as I say this, that is a bad idea. The video you saw was from last year, when Wolfia Lýkos Psychí, Eryn Heart and Raya Sunshine were ambushed by snatchers for the government, Eryn was injured prior to the attack but was mortally wounded in this one, Wolfia at the time hadn’t eaten in weeks and Raya had a sprained ankle. Out of the two Wolfia had to choose someone to leave behind, they chose Raya, they shot her and saved Eryn.
‘Having said that, let’s talk, my naive child. You follow Wolfia into the trap of Rebellion, but have you seen what the Rebellion have done? What will happen when your friends join them? Does your leader even know what they, the rebels, are doing? It’s time you learnt a lesson,’ Hera snarked, Saskya lost the ability to speak, unable to think, numb to the bone as she listened, she didn’t want to, yet Hera continued, ‘It’s time that you understand, don’t count on anybody else in this world. Like you, I once hoped for friendship, a place amongst my own but they were childish wishes and dreams. I can finally see, so open up your eyes, view the world from where I stand, me among the mighty and if you are not careful, you will be caged at the Rebellion’s command. Remember that my dear.’
The screen switched from Hera’s snarling face to a video from a low quality camera, the person holding the camera was high up somewhere, most likely the top of a building. It zoomed on to a street, there were a hundred people marching down it, their fists rising up and down in protest. In the middle someone held up a white flag, it had a wolf with a sword in a red circle plasted in centre, the symbol seemed to scream strength. Then police came from the opposite side street, they had plastic shields and were slightly crouching, advancing to the swarm staggered closer and closer. The hundreds of people shouted in protest, the camera zoomed outwards and it focused on someone on a McDonald’s roof, he was screaming and he was waving a gun in his hand, the audio picked up something he said, ‘GOVERNMENT ARE NO LONGER OUR FRIENDS!’
The man chucked a circular object into the police, which caused the police to turn to it as an explosion appeared into existence, men flew back onto the street. Screams cracked and jittered in the audio of the video, Saskya winced as she examined the scene, parts of humans were burning around the road, just outside a shop, the camera focused on a child was screaming over a body of a women. A shot hit the audio and the child fell to the floor, as well as the surviving few from the attack. Finally letting loose of any tranquility, the protestors stampeded down the road, the shooter on the roof shot any police that started to run to save casualties and the wounded. The flag bearer stood on top of a car and waved the flag, causing Saskya to get hit with a memory, the memory was of when Wolfia was standing near the fire in the forest. They were talking and mentioned the Rebellion’s symbol was same as the one on the banner.
The video shut off, the static reappeared, leaving Saskya to process everything about her choices, Wolfia knows everything, it’s the feeling of regret and betrayal. The pain that comes with trusting someone so much then they kick you down the stairs and laughs, that was the feeling seemed to affect Saskya so badly. Her mind stretched into possibilities, trying to find an answer to solve her problem, but they all pointed to one option. Revenge. Kill them. Kill Wolfia…
Wolfia shrieked, collapsing to their knees, their whole body stiffened and numbed, they were paralysed. Saskya marched to them slowly, she drew a petite flask with a rubber cork on the top with a bubbling maroon fluid with a visible white pill dissolving, she pulled the cork off and grabbed Wolfia’s jaw. Dripping the contents fell down their throat involuntarily, they choked as Saskya poured the whole flask into their mouth. Once the bottle had no more of the liquid, Saskya tore her hands of Wolfia’s jaw and murmured, ‘That's for my sister.’
Wolfia's eyes filled with confusion and betrayal, they slumped to the floor and choked on the liquid, then started to spasm, their body shaking extremely violently. They screamed which caused Wren to turn to them, she cried out, the others gasping as they watched Wolfia hit their head against the floor to knock themselves out. Saskya raised a knife that appeared in her hand and was bringing it down as an explosion shrieked from outside, making the building shudder. Everyone froze and looked around, Wolfia stopped hitting their head and looked up. Only to see Isaac, they sucked a breath as the two caught eyes, his were full of sadness and horror, their torture and the remains of betrayal. With that, Wolfia’s eyes faded into unconsciousness, Wren finally reached them then pulled their body towards the others and away from Saskya.
The friends huddled together, Hera James seemed to have disappeared from the room as the roof fell with a loud explosion. Jules screamed as chunks of rock fell from the roof, a large piece of rock was falling down upon them, Aaron and Jackson immediately dropped anything they were holding and lifted their hands to the air, catching the rock and shoving it to the side.
An ear bleeding chopping whooshed through the smokey air, multiple times a second, the conscious people of the group looked up, covering their eyes from the dust and soot. A hovercraft with multiple tones light grey as a paint, silvers, cloud white, bone white, grey-tint and ect, a large symbol was branded near the front. The symbol was circular, inside the circle, a pair of wings, split by an arrow shape and a strange M shape.
‘It’s the rebels!’ Eryn cried her hair blowing in the wind uncontrollably, ‘It’s a medical rescue craft!’
‘What are they doing here?’ Niji demanded, the helicopter was lowering down above them flying through the charcoal smoke, two cargo holds opened in unison, two ladders from one side and two metal ropes from the other slithered down. People in SWAT looking armour flew down from the ropes, they were hard to see, for all except one was wearing black and the one not wearing black was in a dark purple.
The one in purple reached the floor first, landing with a soft thud before striding towards the group pulling of their helmet. The person in front of them had bright blonde hair tied in a tight ponytail that barely reached her shoulders, pale and smooth skin that made her bright blue eyes stand out more bright than the sky on a summer's day. She stood around five feet and nine inches, multiple weapons were sheathed around her waist and a shotgun slanted around her back.
‘Are you guys Wolfia’s squad? My name is Skylar Hall, known as Ghost,’ she asked calmly, the group looked around at each other, then stared at Wren and waited for her response and decision.
‘We are,’ she returned carefully.
‘Great, I’m here to get you to London.’
The sound of the heart monitors beeped uncomfortably in Aaron’s ears, so much so, he pulled the pillow over his head, the sound muffled but still deafening. The smell of clean sheets drew him out of tiredness and into confusion, he leant upwards and gazed around. There was a distinct smell of cleaning products, Aaron found himself in a white room with white-sheeted beds, white curtains, white walls and nurses with white clothing. Swinging his legs off the bed, Aaron pulled the IV needle from out of his arm when he got caught on it.
Wandering around the room, he noticed the familiar faces lying on the nearby beds, Loki, Jay, Talia, Pandora and Jules were among the faces. His bed was next to Wolfia’s, he only figured out it was Wolfia by the tag on the clipboard that hung on the end of their bed, they had multiple tubes going into their body, blood streamed through most of them and the others had clear general anaesthesia and morphine flowing through them. They had a clear oxygen cylinder mask strapped with a black elastic band, their breathing was slow and raspy through the mask, reminding Aaron of a film villain from an extremely old movie. Wolfia’s eye was swollen in a black lump with a mixture of multiple dark blues and purples, it made Aaron wince to look at. It was also apparent that Wolfia was wearing a medical bay’s gown, light blue and white checked patterns, a pulse oximeter sat on their index finger connected to their heart rate monitor next to their bed. Which beeped every couple of seconds, unlike the average heartbeat, theirs was sluggish and inconsistent; it was slow and cruel — struggling to survive.
Hesitating, Aaron left Wolfia and continued exploring the medical bay. He noticed the large double door with blue tinted glass, he looked through the window and saw numerous amount of persons walking past the door, chatting, laughing, being normal. Most of the people wore cherry red leather uniform, black shoes, dark grey buttons on their jacket only a few had buttoned up, they had purple stripes across their cuffs getting thinner each stripe, the number of stripes varied with each person and Aaron assumed it was the ranking system. Other passers-by wore their own clothing, hoodies, crop tops, shorts, leggings and more, all seemed comfortable and happy.
He opened the door, the nearby people stared at him, it didn’t help that his clothes were unhealthily dirty, covered in soot and dust, making his clothes a lot darker than they actually were. Aaron ignored the looks and walked forward into a hallway, where he could hear loud amounts of talking, turning to the right, he saw three people. One of the people was a familiar face, Skylar Hall, the one who saved them from Hera’s clutches and the other two, a boy and a girl. The boy had messy but short dark brown hair, tanned skin and had a lanky build, he stood at around 5’8. The girl had short wavy hair cut in across her jawline, her skin was pale but smooth, she had a short but thin structure standing at around 5’4. The three all wore their own clothes, varying in different types, Skylar, a white blouse with a grey shirt underneath, with black leggings and white combat boots; the boy wore a blue shirt with jeans and black trainers whilst the girl had a black t-shirt, a grey cardigan over the top, with high waisted grey jeans and black converse.
Aaron walked up to Skylar and the other two, Skylar’s head snapped up and stood up, ‘Aaron, right? How are you?’
‘Where am I?’ He replied to Skylar, who looked back at the other two who were staring at Aaron as if he was stupid.
‘You’re in London, the Rebellion’s base. I brought you and your friends here, we had to knock you all out before we got to the main site of the base due to privacy, you were the first of your friends to wake up from the anesthesia, congrats.’ Skylar said, Aaron rose his eyebrows in surprise and stared at the three in front of him. Aaron walked towards the door of the infirmary but was stopped by the boy with dark hair.
‘They have to wake up by themselves, it would be strange to have strangers staring down at you after you just fought. So for now, you will wait with us until at least four other people wake up,’ the boy explained.
Aaron was 5’10 whereas the boy was at least six feet and had the expression boredom. The boy carefully nudged Aaron towards the chairs near the door, Aaron slumped down and let his head tilt back, hitting the wall with a thud.
Aaron’s head was spinning with questions, many of them circled the topic that was most confusing. Why did Saskya hurt Wolfia? And why did she betray us?
‘The girl, Saskya Sunshine, has been dealt with. She was taken by one of the extraction crafts to the Penitentiary, she is being questioned as we speak.’ the girl explained, noting Aaron’s expression as she took a seat next to him. Aaron pulled his head up and looked down at the girl, who had held out a hand. ‘I’m Tera,’ she gestured to the boy as she spoke, ‘his name is Edison, most call him Ed.’
Aaron shrugged and shook her hand, ‘Aaron Reaper, most call me Aaron.’
About fifteen minutes later, Talia burst through the doors, her long brown hair tangled and clothes covered in soot. The people passing by halted for a second and stared at her before scuttling past. Aaron stood up and pulled Talia into an awkward hug, she froze but allowed it. Aaron stepped back and let Skylar, Tera and Ed explain. A few minutes later, Jackson and Niji came in, the two then retreated to the floor, slumping against the wall as they waited for the next person to come bursting in. It was Wren who came in next, startled and covered in soot like the rest of the group, she began barking for answers before noticing Tera and Edison.
‘Ter? Eddy? What- I thought you guys had died, you didn’t reply to Wolfia or Isaac’s calls.’ Wren flung herself at Tera and hugged her, then quickly turned to Edison and embraced him.
The three were talking quickly amongst themselves, a feeling of excitement infecting them as the old friends rejoiced in each others’ presence. However, their reunion was short-lived, as Skylar reminded Tera and Ed that they still needed to show the five around.
Eventually, the three agreed that Ed should stay and wait for the others, if they were to wake up, letting the other two show the five at the moment around.
The Rebellion’s base was mostly underground with a few building above ground. The training sector was split a quarter above ground and three quarters underground, the above ground had the firing range that spread across the flatted out ground, hidden by a warehouse type of a building that is built with an elevator that speeds down to the underground training sector, it is the only entrance to the inside that building. The next building above ground is a bunker where they kept hovercrafts and missiles, usually where most of the Rebellion’s squadrons are used to extract refuges or drop soldiers at mission points. Under a section of concrete mixed silicon carbide to form a barrier against air strikes, underneath that barrier is the first floor, there a storage full of artificial weapons and supplies for war waited patiently for use, the next level, Training Deck, was the second combat/agility improvement based level, this level had a pool, a running track, street simulators and a knife throwing range. The Training Deck was also home to Order, Order was where the council for the Rebellion discussed publicity stunts, general strategies to supporters, extractions and political subjects. The third level was called Domicile, this was where the living quarters are, along with classrooms for the younger children, a medical bay was most injuries were treated and the Triclinium where breakfast, lunch and dinner are served for all to enjoy. The fourth level was called the Yard, a level of the trees used for oxygen, there was also livestock that was tested each week in case of them becoming troktikas, the refugees who lived in the Rebellion’s base, but not apart of battle, work there as payment for their accommodations. The last floor is ordered as the Penitentiary, a prison where the people who disobeyed the Rebellion or Government spies, that are found, are sent to and it was rumoured there was a laboratory. Below the last floor, there’s an emergency bunker, this is only used if there’s an air raid or an outburst of IOS in the Rebellion.
Aaron lay awake as he went over in his head the floors of the base, he woke up randomly at midnight his mind wandering so far he couldn’t stop it, so there he was. Aaron didn't know what time it was as he swung his legs over the bed and stood up, he looked around in the dimly lit apartment trying to remember where the door was. The apartment was large, one of the largest in the base, able to house fourteen people which were evident due to the state of it. The beds were capsule type areas of which plain white sheets lay upon a mattress with single white feather cushions, a book stand was cut into the wall next to the bed to make space for photos or personal objects could have been kept. The order of the beds was lined across a thin corridor, cut into their own capsules, down one side of the corridor there was a wall and the other a thin staircase propped against a wall. Aaron glanced at the others’ beds, Wren's was empty, as per usual, the closest bed to the stairs, Niji, Eryn, Jackson, Pandora, Talia, Jules and Jay were sound in their bed. He sighed then moved across the room, treading lightly as he did so, scared that he would have woken the others.
Aaron crept down the stairs to the main floor of the apartment, living room and jointed storage that was small compared to the Haus of Ashes, the living room there was around the size of the apartment that the group was given but Aaron found it calming. A grey tinted window with drawn white curtain lined the wall, it showed the inside of the main area of Domicile. The triangular prism shape that stretched vertically to the high up ceiling had rows of floors with apartments along the walls. Aaron opened the door and opened onto a dark corridor, the lights of the corridor were dimmed to a minimum so the Rebellion’s staff and refugees could have some shut-eye before a day of work. Looking over the edge of the barricade of the corridor into the main room of Domicile, he scanned the floor of the Domicile, in case of any guards.
Across the room, Aaron saw Skylar Hall standing outside her apartment, talking to a dark-skinned woman in an officer suit, they seemed to have been arguing so Aaron left them to it and strolled further down the corridor.
Aaron walked past the rows of beds until he reached the ANE section, here there were only fourteen beds and three were in use, when he got to the designated bed he sighed at the sight.
Wren Claren was sound asleep next to the bed in a chair, she had her long legs propped up against the edge of the bed, her dark grey hair covering her tired face and her breathing was slow. Lain upon the medical bed was Wolfia, the doctors removed the dye in their tangled hair so it was an ashy grey, its apparently original colour. Wren asked the doctors why they did this, they told her that the Rebellion’s leader ordered it and they had no authority over it. The swollen lump that once ruined Wolfia’s eye was gone replaced with a light blue shade of skin around the area, their once perfect nose was crooked and they no longer had blood being extracted and replaced from their body. Their heartbeat was quicker than last time, healthier and stronger.
‘Wren, wake up,’ Aaron shook her shoulder, murmuring to Wren to wake up. She woke up with a start, brushing the hair out of her face and moving her legs off the side of the bed.
‘I’m totally not sleeping by my dying best friend’s bedside hoping I talk to them one last time,’ Wren said snidely dragging herself to sitting position, Aaron sighed and walked over to Wolfia’s side, they’re raspy breathing filled the cold air as Wren recognised Aaron. Wren leaned forward and put her face in her hands, ‘Wolfia isn’t dying, I’m just worried. As per usual.’
‘I get it, I’d be in pieces if Jules or Sas-’ Aaron cut off, Wren looked up and stared at Aaron. Wren stood up and moved to sit on edge of Wolfia’s bed, she took her right arm and pointed to Aaron a small animal permanently inked on Wolfia’s wrist like a sign of honour. It was a cat inked by blue colouring made from different variant lengths of lines, small but visible and detailed with a smaller bird sitting on its head. Wren lifted her own left sleeve, there on her wrist was a wolf, it was like the cat on Wolfia’s wrist, red ink instead of blue but the wolf had a slanted mistletoe crown and a numerous amount of arrows stuck in the back of the creature.
‘We got this when I turned sixteen, Wolfia was seventeen and careless, they just started dating Isaac and they wanted to prove that they cared for me, more than Isaac,’ Wren muttered, she glimpsed at Aaron before taking a shaky breath, ‘When Wolfia wakes up, they will decide what happens with Saskya. I heard a group of the Rebellion’s higher uppers discuss Saskya’s situation, here attempting to murder a spy of the Rebellion is an act of treason against the name of the fight, punishable by death or a life sentence. This act against the government started 2060, a lifetime sentence doesn’t sound that stupid and something that isn’t possible. Anyway, they want Wolfia to talk to Saskya before they justify Saskya’s fate and they want them to talk to Hera, which I find idiotic.’
‘Are they stupid?’ Aaron said quietly, Wren shrugged and moved back into her seat. She rubbed her eyes and yawned, she waved off Aaron, as he looked at her with a raised eyebrow, ‘How about we go back to the apartment and we can come back tomorrow.’
Wren stared at Aaron for an awkward second before sighing and pushing herself up, she adjusted Wolfia’s oxygen mask that was slipping off before turning down the hall and walking off. Aaron jogged up next to her and descended with her down the medical bay.
They walked in a peaceful quiet but when the two were at the stairs, Wren kept going towards the elevator.
‘Wren, only people with the correct access can go in the lift, we have to take the stairs,’ Aaron called to her, Wren turned to him and held up a grey bracelet, an officer rank singular.
‘I’ve been to asked to look after it for Wolfia since they took our uniforms, this is the only high tech we have until they wake up,’ Wren said, Aaron nodded and joined Wren who murmured, ‘It’s lift not elevator, who says elevator?’
With that statement, the door opens and the duo wandered into the cube. Wren pressed their floor number and stepped back next to Aaron.
‘Americans say elevator,’ Aaron pointed out.
‘Yes, I know, it’s dumb,’ Wren argued.
‘You say scone weirdly,’ he said with a smile, as an American, Aaron pronounced scone as “scon”, he proceeded to mimic a British accent by saying “scone”.
‘You’re going that low? How about when Americans say data?’ Wren countered, saying data as “Dada”, she continued with “a-lume-in-um”.
‘Oh shut up,’ Aaron joked, the two were grinning at their banter. The elevator still lifting upwards to their floor, flashes of light through the crack of the door was eerie in such a tight space. The door dinged after a couple seconds, signalling that the two were at their floor.
‘How’s the food here? I haven’t had any yet, only the the hospital food.’ Wren asked as the door swooshed open.
‘Terrible,’ Aaron said as they walked out of the lift.
‘Perfect.’
Loki grabbed a flask full of coffee on the table, with his prosthetic arm he twisted the lid off the flask then set the flask down so he could grab a cup. He placed the cup down on the table and then moved his prosthetic arm to pick up the flask of coffee, he made his hand to tilt the flask. A stream of hot brown liquid came from within the container, pouring into the cup and filling it up, placing the flask on the table before picking up the cup and giving it to the nurse a few feet away.
‘Alright,’ the nurse said as he scribbled on to the page before lowering the clipboard to smile at Loki, ‘You are now officially discharged, if your new arms falters please alert a doctor here, remember to do your exercises so you don’t get a blood clot and make sure you look after your other arm as well. We don’t want you to lose your other arm!’
Loki nodded clumsily before flashing a small smile towards Niji and Jackson who were standing nearby, Niji threw his hands up and gave Loki thumbs up whilst Jackson yawned.
A few minutes later Loki had grabbed his clothes and was about to leave when he passed Wolfia’s bed, Wolfia had been moved from ANE to the normal section of the medical bay a week prior but still needed some cautious treatment that had to deal with. Wolfia sat on the edge of their bed, they wore bay’s gown, they seemed dazed and emotionless. The female doctor who accessed Wolfia appeared distressed as Wolfia quarrelled with her.
‘Why can’t you just discharge me, I’m fine,’ Wolfia said calmly, the doctor rubbed her temples in frustration and looked like she was about to scream.
‘You have four medical conditions that still need to be treated!’ she hissed, she looked around and saw Loki staring at the two, Wolfia turned to him as well and weakly smiled. The doctor noticed this and asked Loki, ‘Do you know, Wolfia?’
‘Yeah, I do but-’ he stammered.
‘Do you think Wolfia should be discharged,’ the doctor said interrupting Loki. Loki looked at Wolfia, their eyes were pleading him to say yes. The heterochromatic colours of their eyes danced as they stared into the canopy green of Loki’s, the lights of their eyes were faded, no longer the same suffocating glowing intelligence like when the group first meet them all those months ago in Alpha Reign. Loki felt the pang of sadness as memories flashed through his mind, he remembered the smile on Wolfia’s face when Isaac kissed them after a year and half of separation. That smile was no longer the same, it was a mask they placed on their face to make sure everyone thinks they’re fine, they feel burdened not to show emotion so they could protect all of the group.
‘Yea, I think they should be,’ Loki quietly muttered, the doctor threw up her hands in anger.
‘Fine! Wolfia you can go tomorrow, today you can follow Mr Uso-Tsuki and his acquaintances around, like Mr Uso-Tsuki, you are not allowed to engage with any actives your training group are doing. I believe you are at “point throwing” in the Training Sector, I'm alerting the instructor not to allow either of you to precipitate. Good day,’ the doctor growled before spinning on her heel and walking toward the office at the end of the medical bay. Loki watched her leave before turning to standing up Wolfia, they stumbled but kept balance. They took a step and almost fell over, Loki slid across the floor and took their arm to keep them upright.
‘Wolfia? How are you?’ Jackson asked Wolfia as Loki and them wandered up to the couple.
‘I’m fine,’ they justified in a monotone voice, Niji looked at Loki and gestured with his eyes to Wolfia, Loki mouthed “they’re coming with us.”
‘Oh,’ Niji whispered and then looked worrying at Wolfia, who was walking out of the hospital already. The gown they wore swayed from side to side as Wolfia waddled towards the door, earning looks from passing people. Wolfia turned to the three and simply said:
‘You coming?’
‘Nice work, Jules,’ the voice of Tera Mère called out in praise, Jules felt herself relax as she moved back upright and into a stable stance. She turned and moved towards Aaron who had a sly smirk on his face, it was proud but hiding sorrow and Jules knew it was but the sorrow was declining with each month as Aaron became happier. Talia passed Jules, switching places with her and readied herself.
‘Ok, this time Talia, keep your eye on the target and relax your mind. Imagine your shooting your handguns at the target, but with a knife instead of a gun and you have aim and throw it,’ Skylar encouraged Talia, who sighed and looked at her with an unamused expression.
‘So just throwing a knife?’ Talia asked sarcastically.
‘Yes, basically,’ Skylar admitted making some of the others snort.
‘Useful,’ Talia turned back to the target, she took a deep breath and focused on the centre of the rings of red. Jules watched her as she saw Talia’s scrunched up mind loosened as she relaxed, Talia twirled the knife in her fingers before fixing her stance and moving her arm back then quickly back, letting the blade slip out of her hand.
The door behind the targets opened as soon as Talia threw the knife, Jules yelped and ran forward like many of the others. Talia’s throw was off course, it sailed through the air and towards the door. Skylar yelled out, bounding across the room as if trying to stop the knife but when the door opened fully and the knife aiming a person with long dark grey hair.
A flash of movement, a slam of a door and a rush of footsteps. Wolfia held the knife an inch from their face, their eyes were narrowed but their breathing was heavy and panicked. They lowered the weapon and dropped it onto the floor with a clunk, the door behind them opened that revealed Loki, Niji and Jackson who looked dazed.
‘Wol-Wolfia?’ Wren croaked, she stepped forwards but Wolfia, in a stoic manner, shrugged and wandered to the benches near the wall. The Training Sector was short but wide, divided into sections, a shooting range split by the type of weapon, a swimming pool that was used to see how long someone could survive underwater, a motor track where the groups had to race to see who can be the scapegoat and then the jungle gym where you tested to see how physically capable you were in an intense situation.
‘Leave them be Wren, I’ll talk to them,’ Loki said, locking his forest eyes with Wren’s storm ones, after a moment Wren sighed and turned around walking back to the targets. Jules winced at the tension that floated in the air, her eyes surveyed the room, taking in the awkwardness which created the tension. Jules looked around at her peers and friends, remembering how much each of them had changed over the months of being together.
Jay Harmth, the jokester, the fox of tricks, no longer joked as much as she did. When she did they were quick and not as amusing, the jokes were filled with meaningless humour that annoyed the rest of the group instead of lifting morale like they used to. Then there were the rare times Jay made a joke that caused a ripple of laughter throughout the whole group, the shine in Jay’s eyes gleamed at the laughter. The eyes that used to hide an explosion of hidden emotions died down as she became close with the others, a sense of self-control washed over her as she did, dimming the glow of humour that Jay emitted from her. The Joker to the strong.
Pandora Erye, the one who hid away her emotions, at least to Jules, was happier. The subtle change of her speaking was the evidence to her happiness, she spoke more, she voiced her opinions instead of letting others take charge and she let her dazzling smile show. Talia and Pandora developed a friendship that was strong and trusting, the duo would walk with each other and laugh together. Beforehand, the two stayed as far as away as they could from each other due to the conflicts of their personalities. Pandora seemed to trust the group, she managed to get Wolfia to explain what the “prophecy” and told them to warn everyone the dangers in the world. She was the voice of reason, not the silent. The quiet to the voiced.
Talia Avion Everton, the flirt of the group was no longer flirtatious as she was, she no longer flirted with Aaron but befriended him alongside Pandora. Her brown hair was tied up in a messy ponytail and she wore no lipstick which clashed with her old style of never getting messy. During training she would get dirty instead of standing to the side and never do the activity at hand, she really had grown. The flirt into the warrior.
Wren Claren, the follower of the group, who would do whatever everyone else was doing and being rude to anyone who talked to her. She spoke then with a spring in her voice, she was kinder and more gentle. She leads the group with her head held high, a pride stance as she discussed with the higher power in replacement of Wolfia and Wren made sure everyone was comfortable with all activities before proceeding. Jules admired her courage as she noticed the void that stood next to Wren and Eryn, the spaces for Wolfia and Isaac haunted Wren as she lead the group and it was painful to witness. The follower into the leader.
Eryn Hearth, she was moved to another “unit” but before she left she spoke with confidence saying how it was an honour to fight by the group’s side. When the group meet her, she didn’t talk to anyone but Wolfia, then she started to talk more and give her opinions. The forsaken to the friend.
Niji Nintai Sutoraiku, the hidden love for the same gender. Jules observed Niji look down at Jackson and peck him on the lips then wander towards Wren, which made Jules smirk. With Panda, Niji would do anything he asked because he didn’t want to lose his friendship with Panda and when Panda left, it broke Niji, he became miserable unless he talked to Jackson. With Jackson, Niji smiled and laughed at Jackson’s bad jokes. Jules never had been happier for the couple as she watched the two laugh and kiss one another. But space hung next to Niji, like Wren, the presence of someone missing from his side, it was Panda Alexandria presence missing. The locked to the opened.
Aaron Reaper, Jules’ friend and fellow group member of 37, one of the most mature people the group had. When Aaron revealed he was 18 and not older, it took many by surprise but not Jules. Aaron used to follow Jules and Saskya around without any need to jump into conversations and disagree with anything mentioned, to some extent it was the still the calm Aaron Jules always knew but he took more risks than before and he spoke his mind. Like the others, Jules could see the void of someone who should have been by Aaron’s side, Saskya Sunshine, the girl who nearly murdered Wolfia and betrayed the whole group. When around Aaron, Jules would feel as if she was finally safe, safe from the beating drum that played in her head everytime she thought of her family. The old to the young.
Loki Uso-Tsuki sat with Wolfia on the benches to the side of the training hall, the two were doodling upon a piece of light blue paper. Jules smirked and let her mind wander about how everyone has changed but Loki had changed so much. Jules remembered the look on Loki’s face when Luis died in his arms, how the colour drained from his face and the tears stopped falling. Loki’s eyes never shone as they used to, the once bright intelligent spark that lay within the circle of forest green was broken into a look of sadness. Then there was the truth of Loki always being Loki, he was still clever and knew the right answer to just about anything. The shadow of what used to be there still loomed behind him, Luis, it clung to him and screamed with every chance it got. The happy to the damned.
Jackson John Wells, however, hasn’t changed that much, to Jules’ opinion. He still lazily walked around and yawned every minute but Jackson seemed to get involved with a lot more activities with the group. With Niji, Jackson was energetic and he acted giddy. Niji and Jackson were in love, it was clear to anyone who paid attention that they were dancing around each other and they always stood near to each other as if a string of fate was pulling them together. In the group, Jack seemed to have this role of being annoying to the others but he now had this maturing aura surrounding him as he grew up around his new friends. At Reign, Jackson hung around Isaac, the two became close friends and joked together, generally being idiots but when Isaac ran away it hit Jackson with a wave of sadness that Niji fixed. The irritating to the loved.
Jules stared around at her friends she made, the tears left on their cheeks were like scars; eternally sunken into their skin like the apocalyptic nature of their plagued world. The group took the same bullets, fought the same battles and breathed the same breath. Jules noted the way everyone had a role in the friend group, Wolfia was the leader, Isaac was the glue, Saskya was the child that everyone protected and the others had their own roles. But, what was Jules’ role?
‘Hey Jules, you alive, kiddo? We going to lunch, you coming or you just gonna stand there?’ Wren joked, Jules snapped out of her thought and turned to the now leaving group. Aaron glanced back at her and grinned, Jules’ heart leapt at the gesture and walked up to him. Talia put her arm around Jules shoulders and pulled her on, grinning at the protest from Jules.
The girl rose up, her eyes adjusting to the bright light that shone through the glass, making her cover her eyes with a hand before reaching the edge of the window. The cry before exploded again, this time closer and louder, causing the girl to step away before she was noticed by the warden. She backed herself into a corner and held her breath, staring out of the glass as a buff and tall man stomped past holding a man with a shaved head and a large number of electric shock burns across his skeletal like body by his neck. The girl stayed in the corner, holding her breath until the warden’s victim’s screams died out. With a long breath in, the girl allowed herself to relax but she kept staring out of the glass, she gazed towards the cell opposite hers.
The person who occupied the cell was never there, at the start her and Isaac would talk across the cells, resolving their differences and becoming friends again. But one night, Saskya woke up to loud commanding voices ordering Isaac to leave the cell and follow them. She never saw him after that, but his cell looked like it was still being used which confused the sixteen-year-old.
The girl fiddled with her pink and blue hair as she felt anxiety rise within her. The question that popped up on her mind every hour of every day reemerged itself, the question seemed to haunt the girl as she ate the revolting food she had to eat every day or she would die and the question as it seems, laughed at the girl as she did anything.
‘Where are the others?’ Saskya asked herself.
Wandering around the room, he noticed the familiar faces lying on the nearby beds, Loki, Jay, Talia, Pandora and Jules were among the faces. His bed was next to Wolfia’s, he only figured out it was Wolfia by the tag on the clipboard that hung on the end of their bed, they had multiple tubes going into their body, blood streamed through most of them and the others had clear general anaesthesia and morphine flowing through them. They had a clear oxygen cylinder mask strapped with a black elastic band, their breathing was slow and raspy through the mask, reminding Aaron of a film villain from an extremely old movie. Wolfia’s eye was swollen in a black lump with a mixture of multiple dark blues and purples, it made Aaron wince to look at. It was also apparent that Wolfia was wearing a medical bay’s gown, light blue and white checked patterns, a pulse oximeter sat on their index finger connected to their heart rate monitor next to their bed. Which beeped every couple of seconds, unlike the average heartbeat, theirs was sluggish and inconsistent; it was slow and cruel — struggling to survive.
Hesitating, Aaron left Wolfia and continued exploring the medical bay. He noticed the large double door with blue tinted glass, he looked through the window and saw numerous amount of persons walking past the door, chatting, laughing, being normal. Most of the people wore cherry red leather uniform, black shoes, dark grey buttons on their jacket only a few had buttoned up, they had purple stripes across their cuffs getting thinner each stripe, the number of stripes varied with each person and Aaron assumed it was the ranking system. Other passers-by wore their own clothing, hoodies, crop tops, shorts, leggings and more, all seemed comfortable and happy.
He opened the door, the nearby people stared at him, it didn’t help that his clothes were unhealthily dirty, covered in soot and dust, making his clothes a lot darker than they actually were. Aaron ignored the looks and walked forward into a hallway, where he could hear loud amounts of talking, turning to the right, he saw three people. One of the people was a familiar face, Skylar Hall, the one who saved them from Hera’s clutches and the other two, a boy and a girl. The boy had messy but short dark brown hair, tanned skin and had a lanky build, he stood at around 5’8. The girl had short wavy hair cut in across her jawline, her skin was pale but smooth, she had a short but thin structure standing at around 5’4. The three all wore their own clothes, varying in different types, Skylar, a white blouse with a grey shirt underneath, with black leggings and white combat boots; the boy wore a blue shirt with jeans and black trainers whilst the girl had a black t-shirt, a grey cardigan over the top, with high waisted grey jeans and black converse.
Aaron walked up to Skylar and the other two, Skylar’s head snapped up and stood up, ‘Aaron, right? How are you?’
‘Where am I?’ He replied to Skylar, who looked back at the other two who were staring at Aaron as if he was stupid.
‘You’re in London, the Rebellion’s base. I brought you and your friends here, we had to knock you all out before we got to the main site of the base due to privacy, you were the first of your friends to wake up from the anesthesia, congrats.’ Skylar said, Aaron rose his eyebrows in surprise and stared at the three in front of him. Aaron walked towards the door of the infirmary but was stopped by the boy with dark hair.
‘They have to wake up by themselves, it would be strange to have strangers staring down at you after you just fought. So for now, you will wait with us until at least four other people wake up,’ the boy explained.
Aaron was 5’10 whereas the boy was at least six feet and had the expression boredom. The boy carefully nudged Aaron towards the chairs near the door, Aaron slumped down and let his head tilt back, hitting the wall with a thud.
Aaron’s head was spinning with questions, many of them circled the topic that was most confusing. Why did Saskya hurt Wolfia? And why did she betray us?
‘The girl, Saskya Sunshine, has been dealt with. She was taken by one of the extraction crafts to the Penitentiary, she is being questioned as we speak.’ the girl explained, noting Aaron’s expression as she took a seat next to him. Aaron pulled his head up and looked down at the girl, who had held out a hand. ‘I’m Tera,’ she gestured to the boy as she spoke, ‘his name is Edison, most call him Ed.’
Aaron shrugged and shook her hand, ‘Aaron Reaper, most call me Aaron.’
About fifteen minutes later, Talia burst through the doors, her long brown hair tangled and clothes covered in soot. The people passing by halted for a second and stared at her before scuttling past. Aaron stood up and pulled Talia into an awkward hug, she froze but allowed it. Aaron stepped back and let Skylar, Tera and Ed explain. A few minutes later, Jackson and Niji came in, the two then retreated to the floor, slumping against the wall as they waited for the next person to come bursting in. It was Wren who came in next, startled and covered in soot like the rest of the group, she began barking for answers before noticing Tera and Edison.
‘Ter? Eddy? What- I thought you guys had died, you didn’t reply to Wolfia or Isaac’s calls.’ Wren flung herself at Tera and hugged her, then quickly turned to Edison and embraced him.
The three were talking quickly amongst themselves, a feeling of excitement infecting them as the old friends rejoiced in each others’ presence. However, their reunion was short-lived, as Skylar reminded Tera and Ed that they still needed to show the five around.
Eventually, the three agreed that Ed should stay and wait for the others, if they were to wake up, letting the other two show the five at the moment around.
*
A month had passed since the friends were rescued, their lives had changed so much the last half of the year it hurt to think about. They lived, in the Rebellion’s base.The Rebellion’s base was mostly underground with a few building above ground. The training sector was split a quarter above ground and three quarters underground, the above ground had the firing range that spread across the flatted out ground, hidden by a warehouse type of a building that is built with an elevator that speeds down to the underground training sector, it is the only entrance to the inside that building. The next building above ground is a bunker where they kept hovercrafts and missiles, usually where most of the Rebellion’s squadrons are used to extract refuges or drop soldiers at mission points. Under a section of concrete mixed silicon carbide to form a barrier against air strikes, underneath that barrier is the first floor, there a storage full of artificial weapons and supplies for war waited patiently for use, the next level, Training Deck, was the second combat/agility improvement based level, this level had a pool, a running track, street simulators and a knife throwing range. The Training Deck was also home to Order, Order was where the council for the Rebellion discussed publicity stunts, general strategies to supporters, extractions and political subjects. The third level was called Domicile, this was where the living quarters are, along with classrooms for the younger children, a medical bay was most injuries were treated and the Triclinium where breakfast, lunch and dinner are served for all to enjoy. The fourth level was called the Yard, a level of the trees used for oxygen, there was also livestock that was tested each week in case of them becoming troktikas, the refugees who lived in the Rebellion’s base, but not apart of battle, work there as payment for their accommodations. The last floor is ordered as the Penitentiary, a prison where the people who disobeyed the Rebellion or Government spies, that are found, are sent to and it was rumoured there was a laboratory. Below the last floor, there’s an emergency bunker, this is only used if there’s an air raid or an outburst of IOS in the Rebellion.
Aaron lay awake as he went over in his head the floors of the base, he woke up randomly at midnight his mind wandering so far he couldn’t stop it, so there he was. Aaron didn't know what time it was as he swung his legs over the bed and stood up, he looked around in the dimly lit apartment trying to remember where the door was. The apartment was large, one of the largest in the base, able to house fourteen people which were evident due to the state of it. The beds were capsule type areas of which plain white sheets lay upon a mattress with single white feather cushions, a book stand was cut into the wall next to the bed to make space for photos or personal objects could have been kept. The order of the beds was lined across a thin corridor, cut into their own capsules, down one side of the corridor there was a wall and the other a thin staircase propped against a wall. Aaron glanced at the others’ beds, Wren's was empty, as per usual, the closest bed to the stairs, Niji, Eryn, Jackson, Pandora, Talia, Jules and Jay were sound in their bed. He sighed then moved across the room, treading lightly as he did so, scared that he would have woken the others.
Aaron crept down the stairs to the main floor of the apartment, living room and jointed storage that was small compared to the Haus of Ashes, the living room there was around the size of the apartment that the group was given but Aaron found it calming. A grey tinted window with drawn white curtain lined the wall, it showed the inside of the main area of Domicile. The triangular prism shape that stretched vertically to the high up ceiling had rows of floors with apartments along the walls. Aaron opened the door and opened onto a dark corridor, the lights of the corridor were dimmed to a minimum so the Rebellion’s staff and refugees could have some shut-eye before a day of work. Looking over the edge of the barricade of the corridor into the main room of Domicile, he scanned the floor of the Domicile, in case of any guards.
Across the room, Aaron saw Skylar Hall standing outside her apartment, talking to a dark-skinned woman in an officer suit, they seemed to have been arguing so Aaron left them to it and strolled further down the corridor.
*
The pharmaceutical bay was named Triclinium, it was the second largest domain in the base, covering the bottom floor of the Domicile and the only way to the other three floors. Aaron had only been there twice when Skylar rescued the group and brought them over three counties, the second time was to visit Jay and take her up to the apartment at least forty floors up. As Aaron opened the door he felt a chill ran down his spine, the haunted beep of the heart monitors as they measured the hearts of the wounded, the glow animated of the machines and emergency lights cast a dark theme to the room that was made to help people from dying.Aaron walked past the rows of beds until he reached the ANE section, here there were only fourteen beds and three were in use, when he got to the designated bed he sighed at the sight.
Wren Claren was sound asleep next to the bed in a chair, she had her long legs propped up against the edge of the bed, her dark grey hair covering her tired face and her breathing was slow. Lain upon the medical bed was Wolfia, the doctors removed the dye in their tangled hair so it was an ashy grey, its apparently original colour. Wren asked the doctors why they did this, they told her that the Rebellion’s leader ordered it and they had no authority over it. The swollen lump that once ruined Wolfia’s eye was gone replaced with a light blue shade of skin around the area, their once perfect nose was crooked and they no longer had blood being extracted and replaced from their body. Their heartbeat was quicker than last time, healthier and stronger.
‘Wren, wake up,’ Aaron shook her shoulder, murmuring to Wren to wake up. She woke up with a start, brushing the hair out of her face and moving her legs off the side of the bed.
‘I’m totally not sleeping by my dying best friend’s bedside hoping I talk to them one last time,’ Wren said snidely dragging herself to sitting position, Aaron sighed and walked over to Wolfia’s side, they’re raspy breathing filled the cold air as Wren recognised Aaron. Wren leaned forward and put her face in her hands, ‘Wolfia isn’t dying, I’m just worried. As per usual.’
‘I get it, I’d be in pieces if Jules or Sas-’ Aaron cut off, Wren looked up and stared at Aaron. Wren stood up and moved to sit on edge of Wolfia’s bed, she took her right arm and pointed to Aaron a small animal permanently inked on Wolfia’s wrist like a sign of honour. It was a cat inked by blue colouring made from different variant lengths of lines, small but visible and detailed with a smaller bird sitting on its head. Wren lifted her own left sleeve, there on her wrist was a wolf, it was like the cat on Wolfia’s wrist, red ink instead of blue but the wolf had a slanted mistletoe crown and a numerous amount of arrows stuck in the back of the creature.
‘We got this when I turned sixteen, Wolfia was seventeen and careless, they just started dating Isaac and they wanted to prove that they cared for me, more than Isaac,’ Wren muttered, she glimpsed at Aaron before taking a shaky breath, ‘When Wolfia wakes up, they will decide what happens with Saskya. I heard a group of the Rebellion’s higher uppers discuss Saskya’s situation, here attempting to murder a spy of the Rebellion is an act of treason against the name of the fight, punishable by death or a life sentence. This act against the government started 2060, a lifetime sentence doesn’t sound that stupid and something that isn’t possible. Anyway, they want Wolfia to talk to Saskya before they justify Saskya’s fate and they want them to talk to Hera, which I find idiotic.’
‘Are they stupid?’ Aaron said quietly, Wren shrugged and moved back into her seat. She rubbed her eyes and yawned, she waved off Aaron, as he looked at her with a raised eyebrow, ‘How about we go back to the apartment and we can come back tomorrow.’
Wren stared at Aaron for an awkward second before sighing and pushing herself up, she adjusted Wolfia’s oxygen mask that was slipping off before turning down the hall and walking off. Aaron jogged up next to her and descended with her down the medical bay.
They walked in a peaceful quiet but when the two were at the stairs, Wren kept going towards the elevator.
‘Wren, only people with the correct access can go in the lift, we have to take the stairs,’ Aaron called to her, Wren turned to him and held up a grey bracelet, an officer rank singular.
‘I’ve been to asked to look after it for Wolfia since they took our uniforms, this is the only high tech we have until they wake up,’ Wren said, Aaron nodded and joined Wren who murmured, ‘It’s lift not elevator, who says elevator?’
With that statement, the door opens and the duo wandered into the cube. Wren pressed their floor number and stepped back next to Aaron.
‘Americans say elevator,’ Aaron pointed out.
‘Yes, I know, it’s dumb,’ Wren argued.
‘You say scone weirdly,’ he said with a smile, as an American, Aaron pronounced scone as “scon”, he proceeded to mimic a British accent by saying “scone”.
‘You’re going that low? How about when Americans say data?’ Wren countered, saying data as “Dada”, she continued with “a-lume-in-um”.
‘Oh shut up,’ Aaron joked, the two were grinning at their banter. The elevator still lifting upwards to their floor, flashes of light through the crack of the door was eerie in such a tight space. The door dinged after a couple seconds, signalling that the two were at their floor.
‘How’s the food here? I haven’t had any yet, only the the hospital food.’ Wren asked as the door swooshed open.
‘Terrible,’ Aaron said as they walked out of the lift.
‘Perfect.’
*
‘After your medical examination, I and the other doctors agreed that you should be discharged after one quick test,’ the nurse said to Loki, Loki nodded and walked over to the side table by his bed. His left arm was entirely metal, a neural interface connected the movement of the arm with his mind, it moved with the commands from his brain. The bullet that made him lose his arm had splinted the humerus in such a way that it could not mend for at least five years, so with permission from Loki, the doctors amputated the arm. In replacement, the doctors decreed the energies to design something in replacement. The nurse looked up from his clipboard and nodded at Loki to continue with the assignment.Loki grabbed a flask full of coffee on the table, with his prosthetic arm he twisted the lid off the flask then set the flask down so he could grab a cup. He placed the cup down on the table and then moved his prosthetic arm to pick up the flask of coffee, he made his hand to tilt the flask. A stream of hot brown liquid came from within the container, pouring into the cup and filling it up, placing the flask on the table before picking up the cup and giving it to the nurse a few feet away.
‘Alright,’ the nurse said as he scribbled on to the page before lowering the clipboard to smile at Loki, ‘You are now officially discharged, if your new arms falters please alert a doctor here, remember to do your exercises so you don’t get a blood clot and make sure you look after your other arm as well. We don’t want you to lose your other arm!’
Loki nodded clumsily before flashing a small smile towards Niji and Jackson who were standing nearby, Niji threw his hands up and gave Loki thumbs up whilst Jackson yawned.
A few minutes later Loki had grabbed his clothes and was about to leave when he passed Wolfia’s bed, Wolfia had been moved from ANE to the normal section of the medical bay a week prior but still needed some cautious treatment that had to deal with. Wolfia sat on the edge of their bed, they wore bay’s gown, they seemed dazed and emotionless. The female doctor who accessed Wolfia appeared distressed as Wolfia quarrelled with her.
‘Why can’t you just discharge me, I’m fine,’ Wolfia said calmly, the doctor rubbed her temples in frustration and looked like she was about to scream.
‘You have four medical conditions that still need to be treated!’ she hissed, she looked around and saw Loki staring at the two, Wolfia turned to him as well and weakly smiled. The doctor noticed this and asked Loki, ‘Do you know, Wolfia?’
‘Yeah, I do but-’ he stammered.
‘Do you think Wolfia should be discharged,’ the doctor said interrupting Loki. Loki looked at Wolfia, their eyes were pleading him to say yes. The heterochromatic colours of their eyes danced as they stared into the canopy green of Loki’s, the lights of their eyes were faded, no longer the same suffocating glowing intelligence like when the group first meet them all those months ago in Alpha Reign. Loki felt the pang of sadness as memories flashed through his mind, he remembered the smile on Wolfia’s face when Isaac kissed them after a year and half of separation. That smile was no longer the same, it was a mask they placed on their face to make sure everyone thinks they’re fine, they feel burdened not to show emotion so they could protect all of the group.
‘Yea, I think they should be,’ Loki quietly muttered, the doctor threw up her hands in anger.
‘Fine! Wolfia you can go tomorrow, today you can follow Mr Uso-Tsuki and his acquaintances around, like Mr Uso-Tsuki, you are not allowed to engage with any actives your training group are doing. I believe you are at “point throwing” in the Training Sector, I'm alerting the instructor not to allow either of you to precipitate. Good day,’ the doctor growled before spinning on her heel and walking toward the office at the end of the medical bay. Loki watched her leave before turning to standing up Wolfia, they stumbled but kept balance. They took a step and almost fell over, Loki slid across the floor and took their arm to keep them upright.
‘Wolfia? How are you?’ Jackson asked Wolfia as Loki and them wandered up to the couple.
‘I’m fine,’ they justified in a monotone voice, Niji looked at Loki and gestured with his eyes to Wolfia, Loki mouthed “they’re coming with us.”
‘Oh,’ Niji whispered and then looked worrying at Wolfia, who was walking out of the hospital already. The gown they wore swayed from side to side as Wolfia waddled towards the door, earning looks from passing people. Wolfia turned to the three and simply said:
‘You coming?’
*
‘Jules, throw the axe,’ Skylar instructed, Jules felt a wave of pressure hit her, the eyes of her peers digging into her back. She shook the feeling off, then concentrated on the target 30 metres from where she stood. Jules pulled her arm back and flicked the weapon out of her hand. With a whistle through the air of the blade of axe released a funk as it hit the wood, it was jammed just to the right of the centre of the target.‘Nice work, Jules,’ the voice of Tera Mère called out in praise, Jules felt herself relax as she moved back upright and into a stable stance. She turned and moved towards Aaron who had a sly smirk on his face, it was proud but hiding sorrow and Jules knew it was but the sorrow was declining with each month as Aaron became happier. Talia passed Jules, switching places with her and readied herself.
‘Ok, this time Talia, keep your eye on the target and relax your mind. Imagine your shooting your handguns at the target, but with a knife instead of a gun and you have aim and throw it,’ Skylar encouraged Talia, who sighed and looked at her with an unamused expression.
‘So just throwing a knife?’ Talia asked sarcastically.
‘Yes, basically,’ Skylar admitted making some of the others snort.
‘Useful,’ Talia turned back to the target, she took a deep breath and focused on the centre of the rings of red. Jules watched her as she saw Talia’s scrunched up mind loosened as she relaxed, Talia twirled the knife in her fingers before fixing her stance and moving her arm back then quickly back, letting the blade slip out of her hand.
The door behind the targets opened as soon as Talia threw the knife, Jules yelped and ran forward like many of the others. Talia’s throw was off course, it sailed through the air and towards the door. Skylar yelled out, bounding across the room as if trying to stop the knife but when the door opened fully and the knife aiming a person with long dark grey hair.
A flash of movement, a slam of a door and a rush of footsteps. Wolfia held the knife an inch from their face, their eyes were narrowed but their breathing was heavy and panicked. They lowered the weapon and dropped it onto the floor with a clunk, the door behind them opened that revealed Loki, Niji and Jackson who looked dazed.
‘Wol-Wolfia?’ Wren croaked, she stepped forwards but Wolfia, in a stoic manner, shrugged and wandered to the benches near the wall. The Training Sector was short but wide, divided into sections, a shooting range split by the type of weapon, a swimming pool that was used to see how long someone could survive underwater, a motor track where the groups had to race to see who can be the scapegoat and then the jungle gym where you tested to see how physically capable you were in an intense situation.
‘Leave them be Wren, I’ll talk to them,’ Loki said, locking his forest eyes with Wren’s storm ones, after a moment Wren sighed and turned around walking back to the targets. Jules winced at the tension that floated in the air, her eyes surveyed the room, taking in the awkwardness which created the tension. Jules looked around at her peers and friends, remembering how much each of them had changed over the months of being together.
Jay Harmth, the jokester, the fox of tricks, no longer joked as much as she did. When she did they were quick and not as amusing, the jokes were filled with meaningless humour that annoyed the rest of the group instead of lifting morale like they used to. Then there were the rare times Jay made a joke that caused a ripple of laughter throughout the whole group, the shine in Jay’s eyes gleamed at the laughter. The eyes that used to hide an explosion of hidden emotions died down as she became close with the others, a sense of self-control washed over her as she did, dimming the glow of humour that Jay emitted from her. The Joker to the strong.
Pandora Erye, the one who hid away her emotions, at least to Jules, was happier. The subtle change of her speaking was the evidence to her happiness, she spoke more, she voiced her opinions instead of letting others take charge and she let her dazzling smile show. Talia and Pandora developed a friendship that was strong and trusting, the duo would walk with each other and laugh together. Beforehand, the two stayed as far as away as they could from each other due to the conflicts of their personalities. Pandora seemed to trust the group, she managed to get Wolfia to explain what the “prophecy” and told them to warn everyone the dangers in the world. She was the voice of reason, not the silent. The quiet to the voiced.
Talia Avion Everton, the flirt of the group was no longer flirtatious as she was, she no longer flirted with Aaron but befriended him alongside Pandora. Her brown hair was tied up in a messy ponytail and she wore no lipstick which clashed with her old style of never getting messy. During training she would get dirty instead of standing to the side and never do the activity at hand, she really had grown. The flirt into the warrior.
Wren Claren, the follower of the group, who would do whatever everyone else was doing and being rude to anyone who talked to her. She spoke then with a spring in her voice, she was kinder and more gentle. She leads the group with her head held high, a pride stance as she discussed with the higher power in replacement of Wolfia and Wren made sure everyone was comfortable with all activities before proceeding. Jules admired her courage as she noticed the void that stood next to Wren and Eryn, the spaces for Wolfia and Isaac haunted Wren as she lead the group and it was painful to witness. The follower into the leader.
Eryn Hearth, she was moved to another “unit” but before she left she spoke with confidence saying how it was an honour to fight by the group’s side. When the group meet her, she didn’t talk to anyone but Wolfia, then she started to talk more and give her opinions. The forsaken to the friend.
Niji Nintai Sutoraiku, the hidden love for the same gender. Jules observed Niji look down at Jackson and peck him on the lips then wander towards Wren, which made Jules smirk. With Panda, Niji would do anything he asked because he didn’t want to lose his friendship with Panda and when Panda left, it broke Niji, he became miserable unless he talked to Jackson. With Jackson, Niji smiled and laughed at Jackson’s bad jokes. Jules never had been happier for the couple as she watched the two laugh and kiss one another. But space hung next to Niji, like Wren, the presence of someone missing from his side, it was Panda Alexandria presence missing. The locked to the opened.
Aaron Reaper, Jules’ friend and fellow group member of 37, one of the most mature people the group had. When Aaron revealed he was 18 and not older, it took many by surprise but not Jules. Aaron used to follow Jules and Saskya around without any need to jump into conversations and disagree with anything mentioned, to some extent it was the still the calm Aaron Jules always knew but he took more risks than before and he spoke his mind. Like the others, Jules could see the void of someone who should have been by Aaron’s side, Saskya Sunshine, the girl who nearly murdered Wolfia and betrayed the whole group. When around Aaron, Jules would feel as if she was finally safe, safe from the beating drum that played in her head everytime she thought of her family. The old to the young.
Loki Uso-Tsuki sat with Wolfia on the benches to the side of the training hall, the two were doodling upon a piece of light blue paper. Jules smirked and let her mind wander about how everyone has changed but Loki had changed so much. Jules remembered the look on Loki’s face when Luis died in his arms, how the colour drained from his face and the tears stopped falling. Loki’s eyes never shone as they used to, the once bright intelligent spark that lay within the circle of forest green was broken into a look of sadness. Then there was the truth of Loki always being Loki, he was still clever and knew the right answer to just about anything. The shadow of what used to be there still loomed behind him, Luis, it clung to him and screamed with every chance it got. The happy to the damned.
Jackson John Wells, however, hasn’t changed that much, to Jules’ opinion. He still lazily walked around and yawned every minute but Jackson seemed to get involved with a lot more activities with the group. With Niji, Jackson was energetic and he acted giddy. Niji and Jackson were in love, it was clear to anyone who paid attention that they were dancing around each other and they always stood near to each other as if a string of fate was pulling them together. In the group, Jack seemed to have this role of being annoying to the others but he now had this maturing aura surrounding him as he grew up around his new friends. At Reign, Jackson hung around Isaac, the two became close friends and joked together, generally being idiots but when Isaac ran away it hit Jackson with a wave of sadness that Niji fixed. The irritating to the loved.
Jules stared around at her friends she made, the tears left on their cheeks were like scars; eternally sunken into their skin like the apocalyptic nature of their plagued world. The group took the same bullets, fought the same battles and breathed the same breath. Jules noted the way everyone had a role in the friend group, Wolfia was the leader, Isaac was the glue, Saskya was the child that everyone protected and the others had their own roles. But, what was Jules’ role?
‘Hey Jules, you alive, kiddo? We going to lunch, you coming or you just gonna stand there?’ Wren joked, Jules snapped out of her thought and turned to the now leaving group. Aaron glanced back at her and grinned, Jules’ heart leapt at the gesture and walked up to him. Talia put her arm around Jules shoulders and pulled her on, grinning at the protest from Jules.
*
A ringing shriek hit the ears of the girl, a normal morning greeting, her eyes opened slowly as she sat up. The pounding in her head made her feel nauseous as she rubbed the sleep dust out of the corners of her heterochromatic eyes, one a taffy pink and the other an ice blue. Her scenery wasn’t attractive, she sat in a grimy cell with painfully white walls, the bed that she sat upon was slimy and lumpy, the glass that represented the bars of a normal cell had moss stretching up the sides and the floor was a dull grey stone.The girl rose up, her eyes adjusting to the bright light that shone through the glass, making her cover her eyes with a hand before reaching the edge of the window. The cry before exploded again, this time closer and louder, causing the girl to step away before she was noticed by the warden. She backed herself into a corner and held her breath, staring out of the glass as a buff and tall man stomped past holding a man with a shaved head and a large number of electric shock burns across his skeletal like body by his neck. The girl stayed in the corner, holding her breath until the warden’s victim’s screams died out. With a long breath in, the girl allowed herself to relax but she kept staring out of the glass, she gazed towards the cell opposite hers.
The person who occupied the cell was never there, at the start her and Isaac would talk across the cells, resolving their differences and becoming friends again. But one night, Saskya woke up to loud commanding voices ordering Isaac to leave the cell and follow them. She never saw him after that, but his cell looked like it was still being used which confused the sixteen-year-old.
The girl fiddled with her pink and blue hair as she felt anxiety rise within her. The question that popped up on her mind every hour of every day reemerged itself, the question seemed to haunt the girl as she ate the revolting food she had to eat every day or she would die and the question as it seems, laughed at the girl as she did anything.
‘Where are the others?’ Saskya asked herself.
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