Admire (DJ x Commander)

Chapter 11 : GLADIATOR

"...Gladiator?" Commander looked at him in disbelief. 

Gladiator's head snapped toward him, and he scrambled back up onto the dock quickly.

"Holy s-"

Gladiator put his hand over Commander's mouth quickly. "ShhShhSSSHHH" He whispered. "You can literally NOT tell anyone." He removed his hand.

"Why?? I- I thought you di--" Commander whispered back.

"It's- a really, really, long story."

"Right, of course. Sorry. I'm usually not this- unstable." Commander cleared his throat. "I've got time." 

Gladiator inhaled and let out a big sigh. "You really want to know about it? Now?"

Commander stared daggers into him.

"Listen, Com, it's really complicated. I don't know if I want to talk about it." Gladiator rubbed the back of his neck.

Commander inhaled sharply. "Please." A flash of hurt seemed to rush through him. "The troop hasn't seen you in years. I haven't seen you in years. What happened..?"

Gladiator took a deep breath and sat down carefully next to Commander on the dock. 

"It was a while ago, you know? How long have you been out here now? Three years? Maybe more?"

"Something like that."

"I was only there for about one. I must have missed so much."

"You have. We've missed you."

"Have you, really?" Gladiator smiled somberly and chuckled. 

"Yeah, of course, you kinda just.. went missing. Ace and Pursuit-"

"I left them behind. I had to." Gladiator blurted. 

"What? Why? You chose to leave?" 

"They were my friends, you know? I had to- protect them." 

"From..?"

"Them. They found me. They found us."

The memory was fresh in Gladiator's mind, even though it happened years ago.

The sun was shining, birds chirping, finally coming back north after the long winter. 

The team was just finally getting on their feet. Scavenging was going wonderfully, and they found a fairly intact abandoned warehouse to stay in. Food was in abundance, and everything was okay. Towns nearby were easy to find, and people were always in need of help and protection. 

Things were alright, maybe even good, but bad things always come to good people.

Gladiator, Ace Pilot, and Pursuit had ventured out to search for supplies, as some of their reserves were starting to run low.

Gladiator didn't really consider anyone a close friend, but he always felt like Pursuit and Ace Pilot deserved a chance, so he spent some of his time with them.

Usually, he scavenged on his own, but today, it just felt right to be with them. 

So, they went out. 

Just as the sun began to dip, staining the sky with radiant oranges, Gladiator separated from the others, but only momentarily. 

And that was just enough.

The deep-blue uniformed people had surrounded him quickly, creeping out from the bushes and neighboring farmland. 

"Guess you finally found me, huh?" Gladiator said, clutching the backpack he wore, tensing up. 

"I thought you'd be more excited to see us, considering all we've done for you." The man was tall. He wore a gas mask on his face, along with the others, but he had the most badges out of anyone, and wore a sort of square-looking hat, the same navy blue as his uniform. He chuckled. "And we didn't just find you."

"...Ah." 

"Figured you were-- hiding. With that Commander a while ago." He said bitterly. "You should really come back, you know. You're a very important asset." 

"I'm not going back, and you know that." Gladiator assured, his tone flat and unreadable. 

"You may not have much of a choice, unless you want to see your little pilot friends die." He gestured to a barn not too far away. "We've got hay drenched in gasoline in there, and fuses just waiting to be set off. A fire would be a horrible way to die."

Gladiator glanced over to the barn.

"They walked in to scavenge just a little bit ago. It's your choice." 

"Just because I didn't want to kill a bunch of people? Seriously? They aren't even infected! I-"

"It's. Your. Choice." He added emphasis on the last word, and rolled down his sleeve to reveal a metal cuff with a screen. His finger hovered over it.

He looked back and forth between the uniformed man and the barn. "I-- Fine! Fine! I'll go. I'll go with you."

"I'm glad you made the right choice."

"I just need to set my stuff down here. They're unarmed I can't just leave them with nothing."

"I don't think that would be very smart of you."

"It'll be just one second." 

Gladiator turned away from him and unsheathed his sword quickly, slashing at his wrist, slicing the cuff off, as well as a chunk of flesh. 

The man yelled, and clutched his wound. "THEY'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU FOR THIS! NEVER!" He groaned. "GET HIM!" 

The other uniformed people were alarmed at Gladiator's sudden retaliation and clumsily drew their pistols, but Gladiator, miraculously, managed to knock them out of their hands. He kicked them away and slashed at whatever he could cut, almost impaling one of them. 

Blood littered the ground and the guards left as quickly as they came, through the cornfields, and back to whatever plane or helicopter they arrived in. 

Gladiator remembers collapsing on the ground, and finally realized his arm had sharp pain piercing through it. It looked like a bullet had just grazed his upper arm, but it wasn't so bad that he would need medical attention immediately. 

He sat for what seemed like hours, simply thinking about his next course of action. He realized with a heavy heart that he had to leave. The people that had found him would keep coming back, keep threatening the others that lived alongside him. 

He drew a spare sword he had brought along, and sat it down by where he fought, the blood setting a scene that something had happened, and that he may have been killed. He hoped it would discourage anyone from looking for him. He also set down some of the supplies he had that the team would need most, and went on his way, going wherever seemed right. 

Gladiator told Commander about all of this. 

"So, after a few months alone, I found this place. I changed my whole appearance, voice, you name it, so I could try and- protect you guys."

"Those arrogant, stupid-" Commander cried out with rage.

"We can talk about them some other time. They'll probably be back soon anyways. I've been doing a great job at avoiding them, but now we're all together, and that probably isn't good news for us." 

"That's why you've tried to avoid us?"

"For the most part, yes." 

"...Well, what now?" 

"For once, I don't really know." 

"Are you going to tell the others?" 

"Eventually." 

"Ace and Pursuit are gonna be relieved, you know."

"Yeah." Gladiator sighed, and looked into the horizon. "I know."

----

Happy Thanksgiving, guys! Hope you enjoyed this fresh new chapter. Have a great day!