It took me a long while to regain my bearings in the foreign city. Elizabeth had left to co-ordinate her troops for the upcoming assault, and I was still too depressed to walk more than a few inches at a time.
Was it true, what she said? Had I been blaming myself for Harry's mental illness, when it was the virus that made him this way? Would that happen to all of us?
After wandering away from the Fleshy side of the half-lit metropolis, I found my friends gathering outside on the street, far from the Paris-themed hotel.
They seemed to be waiting for me, and I guessed that Elizabeth tipped them off to my arrival. Against my better judgement, I decided to pretend that my previous encounter never happened.
TB was the first to notice my approach, his eyes scanning the direction I came from with a knowing nod. He realised what was over there, and that no good would come of discussing it aloud.
"Walker, about time you showed up."
"Showed up for what?" I asked, curious about everyone's lightened smiles. Even Tomás, pretending that his freshly-blackened eye didn't sting like hell.
"The grand opening, of course. I'd always warned Boudica that we'd need facilities to house refugees, in the event of a statewide crisis. It's been something of a pet project for me."
"And it's just opening now?" I narrowed my eyes, still in a bitter mood.
"Well, your group are the first civvies to be granted special access to the base. Enough talking, you want to see it or not?"
The half-baked Puppet didn't wait for an answer. Reaching into his back pocket, he pulled out a slender tablet and popped open several applications. It seemed as though he never went anywhere without being plugged into something electronic, I noted silently.
His fingers tapped on a slider, raising it to the max. Reacting in real-time, a bright flare burst into view in front of us, forcing everyone to shield their eyes.
"Oh, my! What on earth is that?" Belle winced, rubbing her pupils back into existence.
I managed to gather my senses, at least long enough to read the blaring sign. After a heavy chugging noise, the nearby water fountain churned into life with a dribble of dark-brown liquid. Caesar's Palace was once again brimming with light and energy, just like the days before.
I'd barely even noticed the abandoned lot, when we passed by earlier. This only surprised me further, once it suddenly erupted and captured the entire city's attention. All of our attentions, except for Charlotte's.
"Are you insane?! The infected will see those lights from miles away! And you're wasting limited water! Turn it off!" The teenage girl berated TB, who appeared almost offended by our lacklustre reactions.
"Telos will be bringing them in sooner or later... and the only water being wasted is sewage. I got clearance to test all of the Palace's systems for one night, so we might as well use them."
"Are you serious?! Nice one, Vinnie!" Tomás patted TB on the shoulder heartily, whooping as he began sprinting towards the giant casino. "Now that's what I call a wedding reception! Woohoo!"
Beth ran after the idiot, followed by Blessing and a waddling Belle. Charlotte threw another uneasy glance up at the hundred-or-so lit windows, never having seen so much electricity being consumed at once.
She must've known it was suspicious, and from what I'd learned earlier, there was definitely more to this eyesore than a 'systems test'.
"Vinnie, is that your name?"
YOU ARE READING
||Series Removed|| OTB
Horror(Sexy chicks inside. Or dudes. Whatever you like, it's totally in here. What, you callin' me a liar?! Come and check it out if you don't believe me!!) After the devastation left in the wake of the Turpin's Tilt, Daniel has learned his lesson - the n...
