Licensed Apocalypse

*sixteen* Yes, I Need Help

"What?" Eric demanded. "You saw him? You couldn't have seen him!" Lucis nodded viciously.

"I did, I swear." Lucis said. "I didn't see his face but I knew it was him."

"Get inside." Eric said firmly, his face stone. Lucis nodded and ran inside, his injured arm bouncing. He jumped the traps as Eric slammed the door behind him. "I saw someone too." Eric said after a few seconds. "Right when I opened the door. I saw someone run."

"It was him." Lucis said, his voice full of certainty.

"What did he want?" Eric asked, eyes turning from stone to concern.

"He didn't want anything." Lucis said, face contorted from the memory. "He said he trusted me." Lucis finally looked up to meet Eric's eyes. "His exact words were 'so you'd choose the newbie over me'." Do it, Lucis. Kill him. Eric's face paled even further. I'll do it. You haven't killed a real person before. Sadness wracked at their chests. See you on the other side. Blam.

"It's my fault." Eric said. "I couldn't do it. I couldn't kill him. He wants revenge."

"We didn't kill him." Lucis said.

"You tried." Eric reminded him. "You pulled the trigger. He should've died."

"But he didn't. He's alive." Lucis said. "And he's somewhere out there."

"We have to leave." Eric said. "He knows we're here."

"Where's the only place we can go?" Lucis asked. "He knows how we think!" Something dawned on Eric.

"The facility place!" He exclaimed.

"They're trying to kill us, Eric!" Lucis almost screamed.

"We were safe last time!" Eric said. "They trust us now! And he doesn't even know it's real!" Lucis stood there, bottom lip quivering.

"Fine." He said. "We leave at dawn."

**

Just after dawn. They had reached the facility and had gotten in undetected. So far, so good.

"I haven't seen you in awhile, cadets." A voice said. The two turned to see the younger officer. "What happened to your arm Eric?" He asked Lucis. "Did Oliver have anything to do with this?" By Oliver he ment Eric. Lucis shook his head.

"No, there was a little fight between the cadets, I'm fine." He quickly lied.

"Fight's shouldn't and rarely ever break out." The young man said, More concern flooding his eyes.

"It was an accident." Lucis said. "Someone bumped into someone else and got pushed into me. Nothing too bad." The officer nodded. "Have you gotten that properly checked out yet?" He asked.

"No." This one wasn't a lie. "They just threw a cast on it and gave me some painkillers and antibiotics." The man nodded.

"Get it checked out immediately. We don't want any promising cadets injured for the tests."

Promising? Tests?

Lucis and Eric fought off the urge to look clueless which of course, they were.

"It's that way." The young officer said, pointing down a hallway.

"Thanks." Lucis said and walked towards the hallway. Eric followed him as the man turned away. "Do you think this place will work?" Lucis asked his friend in a hushed whisper. Eric nodded.

"I hope so." He whispered back. When they reached the room the man sent them to (it had a label on its door that read med bay) there was already someone being treated. It was a girl who looked a few years younger than Eric and Lucis.

"What broke?" An elderly woman asked.

"Wrist." Lucis said.

"Come here." The woman said, peconing for Lucis to sit on a hospital bed. "How long has it been like this?"

"Two days, counting today." Lucis said. The woman pulled in air through her teeth.

"This is going to hurt." She warned Lucis as she began to unwrap Eric's untidy mess of bandages. Meanwhile the little girl was watching them intently. She had crystal blue eyes that rivaled Lucis' emerald green ones. Her head sat on a slight tilt as she watched the woman treat Lucis' injury.

"I haven't seen someone break anything before." She said in a soft angelic voice that matched her kind, soft features and blonde hair. "And I've been here my entire life." She slid off the hospital bed and walked over to Lucis. "I haven't seen you two here before." She said, glossy lips revealing perfectly white teeth. She was the definition of perfect. "And I know everyone."

The old woman spoke for them. "Their cadets. They aren't always in the same place." As the healer said the word 'cadets' the little girl's face filled with wonder.

"Your cadets?" She asked, angelic voice filled with awe. "I never see cadets around here anymore." She enunciated her words too much.

"Yes, and I'm afraid you'll never see them again." The woman said, almost done with cleaning Lucis' arm. "They look test ready."

"Already?" The girl said. Lucis didn't think anymore awe could fill her features.

"Don't say that." The old woman pulled some gauze out of a cabinet. "The best, most promising cadets get tested." We don't want any promising cadets injured for the tests. Eric opened his mouth to ask what the tests were but he closed it. He had the feeling that cadets were supposed to know what the tests were.

"What are the tests?" The girl asked.

"Only cadets really know." The old woman said. She had almost finished with Lucis. "Everyone who passes the tests becomes our protectors. The officers."

The thing the girl said next chilled Eric and Lucis' bones. "What happens if you don't pass the test?"

"No one knows. It rarely ever happens. The last, and first, time it happened was a couple years ago. No one knows what happened to the two young boys. He just vanished."

"What was their name?"

"It was Jack and Oliver." The old woman said. "I saw them being pulled past this room bolted to stretchers. They were both screaming and struggling. A few moments later someone ran past. Whoever it was, they were being chased by officers." She lightly patted Lucis' wrist with a smile. "You're all good." Lucis nodded and thanked her.

"I hope to see you again!" The girl waved as the two boys left.

"Lucis, did Oliver ever leave the house for over a day?" Eric asked silently. Lucis nodded.

"Yes. And when he came back, he wasn't the same for days." Lucis said. "He said he was trying to help us. And I believed him. With all my heart."