Book 2: Preventing Londinium

The Bullet That Broke The Silence

It's been 2 months since John let me stay at the house. Ryan still barely talks to me, but I'll keep my promise to John to protect him no matter what. I'm in John and Alex's garage training, as it's all I do lately. Ryan comes in but, before he says anything, a punching bag comes flying past his face into the wall. "James! Look where you're sending those things BEFORE you hit them." he demands, staring at me in anger. John has recently given me a new eye and arm and, while they are downgraded compared to the ones I lost, I am grateful nevertheless. "Sorry Ryan, I had to let off some steam." I replied, setting the bag back up. Ryan informs me that dinner is ready, if I want it. "Ok then, let's head back inside." I tell him, as I follow him into his parents's dining room, where Alex has prepared a lovely roast lamb.

But, as we sit down to eat, we hear multiple vehicles pulling up outside, and a soldier giving us demands. "OPEN UP!" he commands, "OR WE WILL SEND SOMEONE IN TO BRING YOU HERE HIMSELF!". Ryan goes to the front door, and before John and Alex can interfere with his actions, I hold them back and tell them to go and hide in the attic. They run upstairs, and Ryan opens the door. A soldier begins speaking to Ryan, but I can't hear their conversation. Suddenly, the man seems to become agitated, and shoves Ryan further into the house and reaches for his handgun. Luckily, I'm faster than him, and I grab the man's wrist before he can even place his finger on the trigger. "What the he-" *SNAP* "ARRGHHHH!!" he screams as I snap his wrist, causing him to drop his gun. He shoves me away, and snaps his wrist back into place painfully. Unfortunately for him, the past 2 months have given me time to practice different fighting techniques and I even learnt some Pak Mei. When the man charges at me, he grabs me by the collarbone with both hands, but I kick his leg, which causes him to drop me. As soon as my feet hit the floor, I strike him 6 times in the chest before pulling him closer and elbowing him in the jaw with my new prosthetic arm.

As he hits the floor, I hear more soldiers surrounding every window and every door in the building. "Ryan, quickly, to the attic!" I command him. But before we can get up the stairs, someone kicks their way through the window at the top using a rope. I sprint ahead and punch the man's rifle to the side, proceeding to boot him against the wall and jab him in the throat, rendering him unconscious. I signal for Ryan to come towards me, and I open the attic. "James, get up here!" demands John, but I tell him to keep his family hidden while I get rid of these guys. John and I shut the attic door and I silently maneuver through the top floor until I see a soldier at the bottom of the stairs. I look around, and spot a pair of scissors on a small table in another room. 'This must be where Alex knits and sows' I think to myself, equipping the scissors and heading back to the stairs. As soon as the man turns towards the stairs, I dive headfirst down them, penetrating his neck with the blades. Before he can make too much noise, I cover his mouth and open the scissors, causing him to bleed a lot at a more rapid pace. 2 men enter the room and run at me, but I kick a stool at one's legs, causing him to fall over. While he's getting back up, I grab the other guy and slam his head against the wall. As the first man gets back to his feet, I grab the stool from before and slam it over his head. While he is on his knee, I kick him so that he is on his back, and proceed to hit him an ungodly amount of times in the chest before finishing him off with a right hook to the cheek. Before I go to fight the rest of them, I grab a smoke grenade from one of the unconscious soldiers.

But I suddenly hear Alex screaming, and I charge up the stairs. There's a man guarding the attic, so I turn him around with a strong hit to the face and snap his neck in under 2 seconds. I climb up towards the family, and see Ryan being held with a gun against his head. Before the soldier notices me, I quietly roll the smoke grenade towards him. By the time he notices me, I'm directly next to him. Before he can give me any instructions, the grenade goes off, and I shoot the man with his own pistol. The soldiers start to realise that they're in trouble, and we all hear them driving away. I race downstairs and out of the front door, only to be greeted by a Mecha Guard!

I dodge his steel boot and lunge my fist towards his leg. When he stumbles, I hop onto his back, but before I can do anything, he reaches behind him and launches me across the pavement. Just as the Mecha Guard begins to get nearer to me, a gunshot sounds, and the man runs towards the house. It turns out that John had grabbed a handgun and opened fire. I get to my feet and run to the garage, scrambling through every drawer and toolbox until I find the perfect screwdriver for the job. I sprint back into the main building and launch myself onto the Mecha Guard's exoskeleton. I proceed to plunge the screwdriver into his suit and disabling it completely, including the oxygen vent that goes directly to his mask. The lack of air causes him to tear off the suit and fall to the floor. He faces me, but begins crawling away, stuttering. "H..hey man, I didn't mean any of that stuff that I did, I was just following my orders!" he states. But before he says another word, I turn him over, grab the back of his head and slam his face into the floor, knocking him out cold. "John, Alex, Ryan, it's all clear!" I call out to them. Sadly, this small victory only paved the way for a greater failure. As they enter the room, a gunshot sounds, and Alex falls to the floor. John dives down to tend to her, and I tackle Ryan into another room to avoid the gunshots. "Ryan, look at me." I instruct him, "Head outside and get your father's truck ready to go for the nearest hospital, ok? Go!". Ryan heads out and I rush back into the room, using my arm and the furniture for cover. I pick up Alex and, with the help of John, we all get into the truck and begin the 3-4 mile drive towards Exmoor Hospital. I tell John to cover the wound, but he's in shock, so I hop to the backseat and begin tending to Alex myself.

We arrive a few minutes later and Alex is taken into a surgery room immediately. But we weren't fast enough. A surgeon leaves the room and heads over to us and gives us the news that she passed away from the wound. Ryan breaks down, and John throws his phone across the room. I simply bury my head in my hands. When we eventually leave the hospital, John puts a hand on my shoulder, points at me, and looks me dead in the eyes, stating "You, me, and Ryan. In three days, we're getting back into London." and proceeds to walk back to the truck.