A bullet grazed his bad leg, causing Nicky to nearly collapse from the pain. It was the same leg that Jacqui stabbed nearly two days ago. Two days and they were just now getting out of the building. It seemed like forever. The building was so complex; it was almost like a maze. Nicky now understood why they couldn’t go the same way they came in. It was blocked off, and now they were losing valuable time. They had just cleared a hole through the wall, and found that it lead to the outside. Raiden and Billy were doing a very good job of holding the enemy off as Nicky and Andrew took the front. All four men were good friends; Nicky had finally understood this after having it explained to him. His memory had gotten back to him real quick after that. Nicky was limping however, and struggling to keep at a steady pace with everyone else. It was proving more and more of a challenge to walk, let alone run! He knew he was holding them all back, and he just couldn’t allow his friends to die simply due to this weakness. He paused for a moment; even though chaos reigned around him. He looked behind him to see at least two dozen soldiers charging after them, firing their weapons as they did so. He knew that he needed to buy his friends some time, but he also knew they would be against any type of attempt he made. Suddenly an explosion from a tower in the building erupted, causing both fighting parties to pause for a moment to take a look at the destruction. For some reason, Nicky knew it was Vance’s doing. He knew the man was still in there, searching for one unlucky soul, and he knew the man would do anything to get to him. He knew that Vance was okay, but he also hoped that no harm came to the man from that powerful explosion. He took this opportunity to rain down some hell on the enemy below their hilly surface. He took down at least three men before the attacking party finally got their bearings. Ducking behind a rock, Nicky looked at his weapon, seeing that he didn’t have many clips left in his magazine, he fired what remaining ammunition he had in the gun at the enemy. Missing every single shot, he exchanged the now empty magazine with a new, full magazine. Looking around him, he could see Andrew and Raiden taking up position behind a large tree. Billy was behind another boulder, firing in bursts. With another two soldiers down, Nicky knew a decision had to be made in order to keep his friends alive.
Suddenly Billy started to move. It was very clear he was thinking the same thing that Nicky was. Billy called out something that Nicky couldn’t hear, but it seemed that Andrew and Raiden heard him. Both men left their cover and charged towards Nicky. Nicky couldn’t understand what they were doing until they took him by the arms and dragged him away from the battle scene. Billy gave one last nod to all three men who stopped to look at him one more time. In a courageous act of heroism, Billy had sacrificed his own life to save those of his friends. Shooting the last of his ammunition at the enemy, he was hit with numerous bullets. Falling down, Billy laid motionless. All three remaining men at this point had found suitable coverage to hide their whereabouts. Nicky watched in shock as the remaining of the enemy soldiers surrounded Billy’s nearly lifeless body. And in one final blow, he pulled out a grenade that was attached to at least three others and pulled the pin. Before the men had a chance to react, they were engulfed in the explosion. Nicky wanted so badly to run towards where Billy had just sacrificed himself to save his friend, but he knew it was too late. He couldn’t do anything as all three men just stood there, silent as they took in the sight of the destruction. Knowing that the enemy would soon send a much larger force to sweep the area and look for any survivors, the three remaining companions left, still in silence. Nicky was furious with himself, he truly wished he could have gotten to know Billy better than he did. Billy was usually outspoken, or so he was told. He was usually the first to see some kind of flaw in a certain strategy of attack. Andrew and Raiden spent a lot of time with Nicky telling him all about the man, and now his chance to truly know the man had vanished. Did he have a family that was waiting for him to come back home from the war? Nicky knew that since he was the superior officer in the group that would have to be his duty to tell that family. Andrew didn’t make it any easier telling Nicky that Billy did in fact have a family. After nearly an hour of straight running, Nicky had to rest. His leg wasn’t getting any better, and that last hour had taken so much more energy than one would hope. He looked at his friends who panted slightly, they were in much better shape than he was it seemed. And how couldn’t they? They hadn’t been stabbed in the leg. It was Andrew who broke the silence first.
Andrew Sanders: “I know what’s on both of your minds right now, Billy was-“
Nicky put up a hand to halt anymore speaking from Andrew.
Nicky Trix: “Now is not the time Sanders.â€
Andrew Sanders: “My name isn’t Sanders sir. It’s Reynolds.â€
Nicky was taken back a little from that, what was Andrew really saying here?
Andrew Reynolds: “My real name is Andrew Reynolds; I used Sanders to cover up my real last name.â€
Raiden decided to chime in this time.
Raiden Blaze: “Why? Why not just go with your actual name?â€
Andrew let out a sigh as he looked up at the grey sky. In the distance, more explosions could be heard. Nicky smiled to himself, he knew that Abram was probably causing most of that damage.
Andrew Reynolds: “I committed a crime prior to joining the military. I killed a guy, and I needed to get away. I needed to hide, so what better place than the military?â€
Raiden got up from his seat which was a fallen tree stump. He walked away, most likely to make sense of everything. Nicky didn’t blame the man; this was a lot to take in from a man with whom they had all spent nearly five years serving in the military with. Nicky was kind of glad that both these men told him some stories while they escaped the building in which Nicky was taken hostage. They had also told him that he was their captive for nearly two months. The world was turning upside down real fast. It made Nicky somewhat nauseas. Nicky decided to speak up on the subject they were discussing.
Nicky Trix: “So, why not come clean with us in the beginning?â€
Andrew Reynolds: “Would you have accepted me, knowing that I had killed a man? And I don’t mean in a military manner, I mean the way I did, on the streets. I killed simply out of anger. Who could accept a man like that?â€
Suddenly the entire area became quiet. All three men didn’t speak for the rest of the day as they continued on their way, darkness was falling however, and they needed to make camp. To travel out at night was considered suicide. The cold would get them first, but there were also some radioactive hot spots in some areas. They quickly made camp, and fell asleep, taking turns keeping watch. The night went on without a word, and without any surprises.
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Jacqui Monroe walked briskly down the hall, she had to get out fast or that monster Abram would surely get her. He had taken care of Zasalamel fairly easily. She knew she would be no match for the crazed man once he laid eyes on her. She could hear explosions and other sounds of destruction around her as she made it to her room, which was occupied by many people that she wanted to see. There was one of her officers Aaron Asterisk. Next to him was the towering Heath Venomous, her vampire man. And two other men she was very happy to have right now and one of them in particular. She looked at him and smiled a very sinister smile. He was known as Eric Snow, one ruthless man. He would show some over confidence, but in the end was pretty capable of getting the job done. Then there was the man only known as Multiplex, a genius! He had created a device capable of cloning people. It had turned to work in their advantage. The war was easily flowing in their favour; this minor setback at this base was nothing to them. They lost some good men, but it was for a greater cause. She couldn’t help but notice that the scientist had a small device on his wrist, noticing the quizzical look she was giving him, he answered in kind.
Multiplex: “It’s my own personal cloning device, to help me work more efficiently. It only works for me. Some strange side effects however.â€
Jacqui only nodded, not truly caring what the man had for himself. She was just curious what it was, she didn’t need to know what it was for. Suddenly, a few gunshots could be heard close to their location. Knowing that the angry Abram Vance was closing in on her, she motioned for them all to get moving. She looked at Aaron and nodded. He knew right away that she wanted him to stay and sacrifice himself so they would have some kind of chance at escaping. With a solemn look, he nodded back and walked out the doorway into the hall. His pistol at the ready, he waited for Abram to come around the corner as Jacqui and the rest of the group left. He knew he was just a peon in her eyes, that he was replaceable. He didn’t like that thought too much however, but he knew that he couldn’t speak his opinion on it. Either way he would have died, whether it be by her hands, or Abram’s. Looking back one final time to see the rest of them leave, he turned around to the face of an enraged Abram Vance. Without losing composure, he stalled.
Aaron Asterisk: “Ah, Abram, so nice to see you again.â€
Abram breathed heavily as he walked closer and closer to Aaron. Aaron pulled up his pistol, aiming right at Abram’s head. Abram stopped dead in his tracks and began to laugh. With a dumbfounded look on his face, Aaron asked what was so funny to the older man.
Abram Vance: “The bitch just left you here? Left you to what, to kill me?â€
Abram laughed nearly hysterically. Aaron shot once, high above the man’s head. It was a warning shot, to let Abram know that Aaron wasn’t afraid to shoot him. Suddenly Abram took on a much more serious tone, and both men looked intently at each other. Another explosion behind Abram went off in the distance, causing a slight rumble in the building. Abram finally broke the silence that had sat between the two for some time.
Abram Vance: “Sad, you weren’t on my list for another little bit, oh well. This was bound to happen though, so I can live with this.â€
Aaron Asterisk: “Not unless I kill you first!â€
Abram instantly knew what was going to happen, and he acted quickly. Ducking out of the aim of the pistol he charged forward and tackled Aaron. Wrestling the pistol out the man’s hand he tossed it away before getting back up. Aaron slowly picked himself up, which turned out to be a big mistake. Abram ran up and grabbed his neck and with mighty force began to tighten his grip. Suddenly the world became one big blur as the life was slowly draining out of Aaron each second that went by. In an act of desperation he began to move backwards, and drove Abram into the wall. The first blow did little to the older man who was still holding the vice grip on Aaron’s neck. Aaron did it again and again until the hold loosened enough for Aaron to take Abram’s arm and throw him over Aaron’s shoulder. Abram let out a gasp of shock and pain as both men fought with such tenacity, both with one goal; to kill the other man. Suddenly more explosions began to erupt, but this time with more consistency, and Abram knew right away that it was self destructing. Aaron became distracted with the explosions which gave Abram enough time to pull out his own pistol and shoot Aaron in the back of the head. Abram truly wanted to toy with him more, but he needed to get out quickly, so he had to kill the man the easy way.
Abram began to run to where he knew the armoury was, he wanted to stock up on weapons and ammo first. Before long he was out of the now completely destroyed and flattened building. Knowing full well that Jacqui and the rest of her crew had fled for their main base, Abram headed in the direction he assumed would lead him to the person he wanted to see the most.
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Raiden Blaze: “I’m exhausted; we’ve been going non-stop for a day now! I need to rest.â€
Nicky was thankful someone had spoken up about the long journey. His leg was getting worse and worse each step he took. He knew his leg was starting to become infected, and without proper medical equipment, he could all but lose it. That was something Nicky couldn’t afford to happen. He needed to get back home; he needed to tell people about Billy. Needed to tell his family about the sacrifice he made nearly two days ago. He still couldn’t believe it either. Billy was too nice of a guy to go the way he did. By all rights he should have died of old age, around his family. But in the end he knew this is what Billy would have wanted. Billy would have sacrificed his life for the others to live any day. He was just that brave of a man. And Nicky hoped to make sure his life did not end in vein. As they all sat down around a small fire that Andrew had started they ate what little food they could. They needed to keep their strength for days to come; they also needed to save their food. It was quickly becoming scarce, and they didn’t know where to find more food.
A sudden branch breaking caused them all to stop doing what they were doing and just stay still. Looking around Nicky didn’t see anything out the ordinary, until he heard the click of a gun’s safety mechanism. He could tell by the looks of Raiden and Andrew's faces that someone was pointing a gun directly at the back of Nicky’s head. Nicky decided to try and talk to the mystery person holding a gun to his head.
Nicky Trix: “What do-“
Mystery Person: “I’ll do the talking here. Now that I have all three of you here, I am now in control. I’ve been sent to kill only one of you though. They never told me anything about you two. But I don’t mind, it’ll give me something to do. But first, Lieutenant Trix.â€
Nicky’s eyes opened wide as his name was called out like that. He didn’t know what to think, he didn’t know what to do. At the man’s command, Nicky turned around to a very unfamiliar face.
Mystery Person: “Do you know who I am?â€
Nicky shook his head; he honestly didn’t know who this man was. The man seemed to take great offense as he went on to list off all of his accomplishments, his upbringing and anything a cocky young man would say. Judging from his features, Nicky would have guessed he was in his mid twenties. When the man revealed himself as the hired gun of Jacqui Monroe known only as Eric Snow, Nicky only blinked. The man seemed extremely infuriated about this and backhanded Nicky hard enough to cause him to bleed a little.
Eric Snow: “Respect me you piece of shit! Know who I am!â€
Nicky began to stand up very slowly, and it seemed the man had no worries; he was after all holding a gun to Nicky’s head. With great speed that impressed even him, Nicky drew his sidearm and aimed it square in between Snow’s eyes. Snow gasped slightly out of shock, he obviously wasn’t expecting that. He could hear Raiden mutter something quietly and smiled. Raiden was usually the guy to try and lighten the mood. Nicky was not in any mood to change it however. This was a dead serious mood, and his life depended on his full focus. Both men did not falter their stances as they stared each other down. This was such an intense moment that sweat began to drop from Nicky’s forehead. He was nervous, but confident enough that he could buy some time. Suddenly Raiden and Andrew brought their rifles to bear and aimed at Eric Snow. Nicky heard the noise behind him, and was quite upset with their plan.
Nicky Trix: “Lower your weapons, and walk away. Get as far from here as possible. This is between him and me.â€
Raiden attempted to rebuttal but Nicky wouldn’t have any of it.
Nicky Trix: “I order you both, as your commanding officer to retreat.â€
Those words seemed to really hit hard as both men hesitantly did as ordered and began to fall back. As both Raiden and Andrew walked away, without looking back heard a gunshot. They knew that someone had died, and that the other would stay there, savoring the moment.
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Abram Vance: “So, it’s come down to this, eh? I’m not going to lie; I wasn’t expecting this for quite some time. It’s pretty cool that my bucket list is coming to life and finding me. But what interest do you have in the kid?â€
Abram asked as he looked straight ahead towards the towering Heath Venomous. Heath didn’t speak, or even more for a long time. He just stood there, with a blank look staring a hole through Abram. For a few long moments, both men stood in silence. Suddenly that silence was broken as Heath took a deep long breath.
Heath Venomous: “I chase after the very same thing you desire, freedom. You and I both know he holds the key to that. And much like you, I am willing to kill to get it.â€
Suddenly without warning, Heath charged.
