End of the Suburbs

Chpt 13: Lightning

I hear the sound of Casper growling.
I look beside Hades and see him baring his teeth.
He's scared.
That means I can't afford to be.
I take a deep breath and start to bolt towards them.
Casper attacks, grabbing Hades by the leg.
He doesn't let go.
Hades refuses to fall.
He shakes trying to get free.
Finally he takes the back of the gun and hits Casper in the head hard enough that it causes him to let go.
He kicks Casper off and raised the gun towards him.
I won't reach him before he pulls the trigger.
BOOM

The gun fires.
It's concealed by a cloud of dust.
I get closer and see Hades bleeding.
A knife is sticking out of his hand.
He snarls as he snatches it out.
Casper is still standing in front of him next to a divot in the ground where the shot was fired.
I whistle to Casper and he comes running.
He greets me with a big embrace, diving into my arms.
The moment is interrupted by the sound of clicks from the gun.
Hades turns and points at me.
Casper starts to growl but I call him off.
I send him to Duffy as I raise my sword.
As impossible of a fight it night seem I'm prepared to go up against him.
Before I could make a move,
*cra-crack*
The end of a whip flies out snapping Hades in the back before he fires.
He screams intensely in pain.
It's Bill.
Before Hades can recover Bill swings the whip again.
*cra-crack*

This time it hits him in the legs causing his knees to buckle.
He drops.
The gun hits the ground.
I go to grab it but the whip reaches out and coils around it.
With the snap of the wrist Bill pulls it to him.
I'm relieved.
My relief quickly fades as I look into his eyes.
I don't recognize him as the man who called me his partner.
His eyes are emotionless.
Cold.
He raises the gun towards me.
I slowly back down.
I'm in the middle of a blink when,
BOOM
It goes off.
I keep my eyes closed afraid of what I'll see when I open them.
BOOM
It fires again.
This time I flinch.
I wasn't expecting it.
I open my eyes and see it's not pointed at me anymore.
Instead it's pointing in the direction of one of je infected Skulkers.
"You really know how to cause a commotion."he says jokingly.
Looking in his eyes I catch a glimpse of the person I knew.
"We made a deal. Get your people out of here." he says.
I rush over to Duffy and tell him we have to leave.
Us along with the rest of the scavengers race towards the open fence.
Just before we leave the floor a voice calls out.
"Wait," he says.
It's V.
"We have to save the others." he says.
The warriors were kept in the cage on the arena floor.
Women and children were kept deeper inside one of the back rooms.
That's where I'd find Donnie.
I tell Duffy to get everyone outside and meet at the church.
V, Casper, and I run in the opposite direction to help the others.
Inside the halls people are still panicking.
They hadn't realized Hades wasn't in charge anymore.
"Stop!"One of the Skulkers guarding the doorway commands.
Without hesitation I charge him.
I use the wall to kick off and land directly in his chest with my knees.
The impact knocks him unconscious.
We keep going and make it to a room.
One of the walls is a curtain made of metal.
I try to pry it open but it won't budge.
I try using both my swords.
Still nothing.
V manages to find a doors
It's made of wood so we can't see what's on the other side.
V gets ready to kick it down.
I stop him.
I knock on the door.
"Hello?" I say
A second passes.
I press my ear up against the door.
I hear movement and whispers from inside.
Finally someone responds.
"Hello?" a shy voice says.
It's a woman.
"Move away from the door, I'm gonna break it down." I say.
I wait for the sound of movement.
Once I feel like they're clear I step back and with one big kick I break the door off the frame.
The room is full of stacked cans and supplies filling the room.
Food, water, and more.
Inside there's more than just one woman.
There's about 10 women of varying ages.
I look around.
I don't see Donnie.
Before I can say anything someone comes at me from behind one of the shelves.
Casper starts to growl waiting for a command.
They try to pin me but I shift and counter pinning them against the wall.
I hold my sword to their neck.
I don't press down.
I slow down just enough to realize its a woman.
She's wearing a hood and face covering but her eyes are unmistakable.
They're bright blue.
The same as the woman in my dreams.
"I'm not here to hurt you." I say.
I loosen my grip on my sword.
"It's okay. You can let him go." V says taking off his mask revealing his face.
He's a little older than me.
He must've been here since he was my age, probably younger.
I'm confused but then I realize, she loosens her grip on me and I look down to see a knife held against my stomach.
I'm impressed.
V comes inside and the girl gives him a hug.
She says it's good to see him.
They know each other.
V walks past and grabs a bag and starts to fill it with things from the shelves.
The mystery girl immediately joins him.
I follow along and do the same.
The others help.
We gather as much as we can carry and run.
V maneuvers through the halls avoiding any of the roaming Skulkers.
We find ourselves outside the arena.
It's nighttime.
Too dangerous to leave but it's just as dangerous to stay.
I race to grab my bag where I left it.
I rush to meet everyone at the church.
Theres a crowd of people.
With everyone here we make our way to the outside of the gate.
Back to the river.
We follow the trail.
Casper and I lead the way.
Duffy takes the rear and V the middle.
We move slow to accommodate those who are weakened from being in cages.
We can't stop.