My Digital Partner!

Chapter 20. A Deadly Encounter

I arrived at the town... It all seemed to be a quiet place... I was exhausted after driving for 15 hours straight without any rest at all... I wasn't sure that I could trust this place... It seemed very sketchy, so I went off the road and decided to rest behind some sand dunes, it wasn't comfortable, nor did it guarantee my safety that night, but at the very least, it was secluded and hidden, I wouldn't have to worry much about getting shanked or robbed while I rest or something... It was cold that night, so I dug my legs into the sand and used it as a blanket, the sand had been scorched by the sun and thus it was dry, it served as a good insulation that night...
I couldn't sleep, it was normal for me because I had insomnia but I kept thinking about Cupa... I felt guilty... She really wanted to come along... I would have brought her along if I knew it wasn't this dangerous... Back at the eatery, I wasn't even a tenth done with my journey and people already tried to kill me... In fact, I should be dead right now... If not only for the training I received from Tesla...

My communicator  suddenly started to ring... I answered it... The advantage I had with the device was that no one can hear my conversations except me and the caller/receiver... It's sort of like telepathy... I loved this device... It was the coolest thing I sto... I mean... Received from DT...

Eric: hello?

Cole: Eric...

Eric: oh hey Cole... What is it?

Cole: Tesla assigned me to be your Intel support...

Eric: listen... Don't trouble yourself... I can do this by myse...

Cole: hear me out on this sir... There are things in that town you might not know about... And as much as possible, we want the mission to be quick, silent and completed... I'll be sure to show you my best asset to you on this... Sir...

Eric: ok ok fine then... Thanks...

Cole: don't mention it sir...

Eric: wait a minute... Tesla sent you right?

Cole: yeah? Why?

Eric: she knew?!

Cole: DT spoke to her... Tesla wouldn't agree at first but then he mentioned that you were doing this mission... It immediately changed her mind... But she wasn't too happy about it...

Eric: I'll talk to her after the mission... Give her my thanks....

Cole: sir yes sir...

Eric: and dude... Don't call me sir... We aren't in battle camp anymore....

Cole:... Yes... Ok...

Eric: I'll talk to you later...

I ended the call... And just as I did so, I heard footsteps coming towards me... I pretended to not notice and stood up and walked towards my sky cycle... The footsteps increased in speed as whatever or whoever was making them came closer and closer behind me... And then... Just as it was getting louder, it stopped... With my sword in hand, I slowly turned around... In front of me, was a figure... With a bloody grin, a pale face... I jumped back... The man stabs at me with a knife only inches away from my face... I managed to regain my balance and stab him back with my sword... But something was wrong... He was... Still smiling... He looked as if he didn't even feel anything... He sliced at me and I tried to dodge... But it was too late, his knife digs into my shoulder and I fell backwards... I got up... My vision a blur... All I could see was the silhouette of my assailant, as well as his knife... Dripping red with my blood...

I tried to slice but it was as if my body was failing me... I couldn't heal fast enough......." Time... To... Die...." The attacker said in a raspy voice... I bolted at him... My anger... Rising... I didn't... Know what I did after that...

Eric rushed his attacker... His only weapon was this... Rage... Unrelenting rage... His eyes glow a crimson red... Blood flows down from his eye sockets... Eric kicks the attacker back... His attacker regales at this... His attacker stabs Eric repeatedly but Eric still fought back... Eric was bleeding profusely and at this point... Without his regeneration, he won't be able to last long... Eric fought with every last ounce of his strength and managed to kick his attacker off of a cliff nearby though he was sure his assailant would still be alive... Eric limped his way to his sky cycle and rode off... But before long, his injuries started to worsen, his vision grew dark and he fell off his sky cycle...

Meanwhile, at Evan's house...

Evan and Andr have been playing with the cat... Evan had unwittingly sat on the remote control for the stasis device that was keeping Cupa at bay... It switched off the device and woke Cupa up from her stasis slumber...

Cupa: Evan... What happened?! Where's Eric?!

Evan: oh... Crap...( he's gonna kill me...)

Evan: he went out on the mission...

Cupa: what?! Without me?!

Evan: he was worried... Cupa... You need to understand that the danger there is unpredictable... We lost a lot of men there... Very skilled men to be precise...

Cupa: that's why I wanted to come with Eric! Who knows if he's in danger right now! He went by himself!

Andr: what are you planning to do now?

Cupa: .... Andr... Can you take me to him?

Andr: I'm sorry but I don't know where to go... Evan might...

Evan: I'm sorry... But I promised Eric to keep you safe...

Cupa: Evan... If you're not going to help me on this, I'll go out and find him myself...

Andr: you should know better than to not help her Evan...

Evan: fine... But you have to be cautious okay? Do you know how to fight?

Cupa: Eric taught me everything he knows...

Evan: not everything... Okay... His last signal was here at the desert area... His signal is not moving he's probably resting...

Andr: why would he sleep in the desert?

Cupa: what's wrong with that? In Minecraftia, I'm used to sleeping wherever I wanted to...

Evan: Back to the serious topic... Andr let me borrow one of your ender pearls please?

Andr: *sighs* the device again...

Cupa: what device?

Andr: he made a device which makes use of ender pearls to teleport the person that its beam is directed to anywhere in the globe... Or so he says...

Evan: you ready?

Cupa: Yes...

Evan: try not to get into trouble...

Evan beams Cupa near Eric's position... Cupa arrives... She raises her pistol and looks around... She uses the tracer and moves towards Eric's position... She was thinking about what she was gonna say to Eric since he lied to her... She approaches his position and saw three people kicking someone... It was Ajax, Terry and Kheil again... They were kicking a severely injured Eric...