Dead Souls: Alive

Escape

Chapter XVIII : Escape

Visinia City, Outskirts
February 14, 09h50

A path forged from intertwining passages presented itself. Each and every step bore a new road leading to a different chunk of this vast and dense underground base. Skyler walked with a cautious nature, heeding Eddie's directions and warning which would ultimately lead to him finding Wyvern. Along the path, glass sealed away the breaths of the undead; hundreds filled up contamination rooms and they all laid in wait. This, a suggestion that they have either been tamed or manifested. Many questions and scenarios entered and escaped his mind, eager to discover the real truth of what exactly transpired to their world.

"D-17. That's the room Neo's in." Mentally, he took note once a sign indicated C-17. From observation alone, the sequence of the rooms were twenty per alphabet, so he inevitably neared the D section. He passed three more rooms until he finally breached the vicinity he was long awaiting. Suddenly, light was no longer a concept visible to his eyes. Through his surprise, an automatic function lit up his mask in green, turning on night vision. "This is some CoD shit. Load Shedding, perhaps." Shaheem's equipment brought more and more surprise to him, he began growing fond of it. Soon reaching his destination, eyes lit up in hope and the end of the tunnel filled with a bright light. There laid Wyvern on a stool. To his front was a man, crouching.

Elsewhere, particularly where Kieran was, Eddie stepped with purpose. Rain had no hindering effect on his trekking before he reached Kieran's right side. With his attire still equipped, Kieran assumed it were Skyler. However, a split second thought tapped his shouler, he now required confirmation. 'Mask off.' He gestured with his hands, lips aiding in his order. Slowly, Eddie inevitably released the grasp his mask had on his visage. An image different from that of Skyler's appeared and he now went on the defense.

"Settle down. I mean you no harm." Scarred above his eye brows, he spoke through the sealed window, his voice naturally muffled. The cross attained from childhood trauma spoke along with him. A face most uncommon and rare with a pair of ears which could much be mistaken for an Elf's. Eddie repeated the code he had received from Kieran's ally, even under the ravaging rain above and instantly earned trust from the youngest. Immediately after, Kieran let him in through the back door. "I'm assuming Sky did what he does best. He talked you out of it." Eddie nodded, sinking into the seats behind Kieran who sat in the driver's own. Suddenly, Eddie picked up faint knocks to the car, as if someone had been locked inside the boot. "Are these Heem & Theo? Always knew they weren't suited for this."

"Perhaps, mayhaps. Wanna visit them?" They spoke like comrades, as if they had never once been on opposing sides. Kieran trusted whomever his eldest 'brother' did, for he knew none of his instincts were incorrect. Unsealing the boot was a task too easy for the two, with a little extra effort put in due to the car's current condition. Both men instantly breathed out sighs of much relief, springing out of the car's boot and noticing Eddie's sudden emergence with the enemy. "Lord Zmeesc won't be pleased by this. Care to explain, Edinson?" Still in turmoil, Theodore recollected his thoughts and spoke mid exhaustion.

"You aren't my superior, Theodore. Even your name suggests that. Though even if you were, I wouldn't listen because I've now severed my ties with the Salbatics. Zmeesc's ways of operation have been clouding my vision for too damn long. Now I've met with a couple of fellas who might just finally drag me out of these shackles of despair. Contact him as you may wish, just know that you will always be a bitch he can use in his games of trickery." Edinson Raeburn, a man of sheer stature and a skill in blunt expression. Facial features were always neutral, whether angry or in joy, not a single feature were to move in accordance; a rare specimen. Theo, a tad bit plump with the face of a baby took a few moments to analyse the situation. Shaheem on the other hand remained quiet, seemingly in a reverie of his own. A second turned to ten then fifteen until Theodore decided on his route. "Fine. We'll walk together."

Kieran leaned against the car, eyeing the other man who seemed much taller yet skinnier than Theodore. He was no normal man. Moments after Theodore confirmed his alliance with Kieran and Eddie, Shaheem turned towards Theodore and a palm graced his mid section. Without noticing a single thing, blood began gushing out like a fountain had just been opened. "Huh?" His strength vanished with the rain which now began to wane. "Theodore!" Exclaimed Edinson, though it was a tad bit too late before Shaheem bolted towards the shed they left from. "Stay here and tend to him!" Eddie let out with fury, following Shaheem's movements.

"Ah shit shit shit! How could we not have noticed!" Kieran was in a situation much dire. As a biology student, he knew to halt the blood before anything else. With haste, a tear in his trousers ensued and pressure to the wound immediately followed. "Look at me, you're gonna be alright! Luckily he missed your vitals. To me, he was looking to tear your guts open." Theodore took shallow breaths, just as he was supposed to. Perhaps training was a thing in this Salbatics organization, incase of moments where death greeted its members.

"Shaheem!" Eddie's voice shoved away the rain and pierced Shaheem's fragile ears. In pursuit of the perpetrator, Eddie withdrew his pockets knife and hurled it towards his nape. Through instinct alone, Shaheem managed to duck, though a scratch to his right ear sliced away a chunk of his flesh. "Why?!" The pursuer inquired. Coming to a stop in front of the shed, Shaheem turned to face his worst nightmare. He knew to never once face Edinson in a match, but now he was facing his demons, so they say.

"You and Theo, you're weak. How can you have your morales switched up by a single talk?" He inquired, facing Eddie with a glare that drilled a hole in his skull. "You're mistaken. Our morales were never aligned with your 'Lord'. He abducted us as kids and raised us to be serial killers without our consent. It was either life or death for us, and our parents were only given the latter. Are you happy with the way he made you his bitch? The way he took your life and made it his to use however he likes? Are you a dullard?" Eddie's tone was regular, not a single emotion hindering his ability to speak. The showering rain turned to drizzle, hair now soaked and drenched in mother nature's tears.

"We're not the same. You for one had a life of lovey dovey, you never had to sleep hungry, or wake up hungry. Why the hell do you think I'm like this? Skinny ol' Heem without any flesh to show. Are YOU a dullard? How can I go back to nothing when I can thrive with Lord Zmeesc? You must not flatter yourself. Your loved ones are all dead, you're returning to nothing, only despair awaits you at the end of your journey." Shaheem said his final words before settling into his boots. Shivering no longer, heat from his head conjured a wave of steam on his hair. Anger brewed within, Eddie's betrayal had lit a light in him, and his resolve showed through the piercing glare.

"Now I'm ma—"

"Shut the fuck up."

Eddie curtailed his words, not allowing him to finish. Before he could step towards Eddie, Skyler emerged from the shadows behind Heem and delivered a single knock to his head, knocking the lights out of him. To his right was Wyvern, unscathed. "You folks just don't shut up, do you?"