A Reason For Being

Chapter Thirty-five

Sora

"Do you think backup is coming?" I say. We sit outside on the step with our radios. We both have half a sandwich and a cup of tea.

"I don't know. Can I ask you a question? Who killed your parents?" Ted questions.

"They died in the Okami attacks," I say. I wash the sandwich down my throat with a sip of tea. We're vastly running out of tea bags.

"I know that, but was it Peace Keepers or someone from the Sector?" Ted questions.

"Why does it matter?" I say.

"Just answer the question and don't even think about lying to me because I'll know if you are," Ted says.

"Peace Keepers killed my mum, but someone from the Sector killed my dad," I say.

"Who was it?" Ted says.

"It was your dad. It was Aki," I say.

"Holy shit," Ted says.

"It wasn't his fault. He was trying to protect his family and the Sector. He's not a monster. He didn't know it was us," I say.

Before we can talk further, Kei and Izumi sprint out from the tree line. They are breathing heavily. As if they have been running.

"We all need to get the hell out of here. Shingetsu is coming," Izumi says.

"What the hell did you do, Kei?" I spring to my feet and poke his shoulder.

"I didn't do anything," Kei snarls. Everyone comes outside to see what all the commotion is about.

"Akuma has an ability that allows him to manipulate others. He's using Matsu to lead the wolves to the humans, but Matsu doesn't know where the bunker is, so he's going to lead them here. We need to go now!" Izumi explains.

Then like a scene from a nightmare, a rocket from an RPG hurdles into the fort. There's a massive explosion. My body is frown into the sky and lands on the ground with a thud. I hear some sort of buzzing sound. I look up and see nothing but black, thick, smoke. The fort is on fire. I feel an urge to get a bucket of water and try to put the fire out, but there's no time besides you'd need more than a bucket of water to put this fire out. Ted reaches for my hand and pulls me to my feet. I help everyone else stand. They seem OK. Luckily no one was inside. We hear yelling and screaming as the wolves charge towards us.

"We'll head to the bunker. We can lose the wolves at the ravine," Ted says. Kobayashi frees Kaza's horse. The mare flees. Aki and Kobayashi lead the way. Followed by Ginga, Haruki, Kei, Izumi, Kaz, and me, with Ted at the rear. We run as fast as our feet can carry us but the wolves are close behind. We reach the ravine and run across the bridge made of rope. As we reach the end of the bridge, the bridge below our feet falls. They must have cut the bridge on the other side. I grab a piece of rope, and Ted grabs my foot. We dangle precariously above a hundred feet. I tell myself not to let go. If I do, then we both die.

I pull myself up with the rope until I can reach a hand that's stretched out towards me. The hand pulls me up from the ravine until I'm back on safe ground, with Ted following me from behind. We made it. I look behind us and see a familiar face on the opposite side of the ravine. It's Matsu, but it's not him. His gentle smile is gone, and his kind eyes are aggressive.