The Kingdom

Chapter Four

 Reilious slammed down on the gas as he drove away from the ruins of New Heaven, slowly outrunning the Royal army. The smoke faded away little by little until he was speeding down a blue-sky-covered highway. It would have been a beautiful day to go for a drive, if the passengers weren't wanted criminals.

As he drove farther down the highway, the Royals still in pursuit, other civilian vehicles started appearing onto the highway, blocking some ways of escape. Reilious weaved in and out of the vehicles as the Royals turned on their sirens to make the civilians pull over. This gave the Royals the upper hand, as they had authority over the road.

Reilious looked into his rear view mirror, then back ahead at the road. The sky was beginning to turn a yellowish red as the sun set on the horizon. He looked in his rear view mirror again, checking for any new additions to the chase.

Talia took out a grenade, making sure not to hit any innocents, and tossed it out the window. It landed on the ground and exploded, making a Royal swerve off the road and into the guardrail, hitting a civilian car after.

"Shit, didn't think they'd do that," she said, turning back around in her seat.

"That's what happens when you blow stuff up," Deryle replied, sarcasm in his voice.

"Shut it, Deryle," Talia responded.

Reilious looked at the fuel gauge, noticing he still had plenty of fuel left. He looked out Talia's passenger side window as the sun was blocked out. The airship had caught up with them, nearing closer to the van.

A few black unmarked cars sped up the road behind the Royals, some armored BMWs, others black spray-painted humvees. One of the humvees pulled a closed trailer, also spray-painted black. All of their headlights and taillights were turned off, keeping the secret of their existence. The windows of the vehicles were tinted almost all the way, also black from the outside.

These unmarked vehicles drove up through the Royals, causing the Royals to get suspicious. The humvee pulling the trailer drove up into the front, giving space between Reilious and the Royals as the unmarked cars stayed inside the group of Royals, as well as behind them.

The trailer roof and walls opened up slowly, creating a peacock-like shield and also revealing a large gun. The gun lit up, creating a beam of light in directions of the Royals, one for each of the vehicles other than the other unmarked ones. The barrel of the gun then glowed red, and with a whirring sound shot the leading Royal vehicle, blowing it up instantly and incinerating the front half. It killed all the soldiers inside.

It did the same to a few others until a helicopter fired at the gun, blowing it up in a ball of plasma. The rest of the vehicles revealed turrets on both fenders with the sound of mechanical clunks, both aimed at the Royal army on either side of them. They opened fire, tearing through the armor and the bodies of the soldiers inside each, then leaving the vehicles where they were, driving around them or plowing through them.

Reilious looked in the rear view mirror yet again, watching the explosion of the gun and the destruction, as it caused the trailer shield to collapse, hitting the ground and creating sparks.

"Who are these people?" Talia asked.

"I don't know, but they're on our side, I think," Deryle responded.

"Don't get too positive about that," Reilious responded.

The humvee released the trailer, the other vehicles driving around it and up to Reilious, passing the first humvee. They surrounded Reilious, boxing him in as more Royal helicopters flew in. Other helicopters, the same color as the unmarked vehicles, flew in as well. They shot missiles at the Royal helicopters, blowing them up into fireworks of melting metal and shrapnel.

The airship had come close enough for its cannons to get targets, shooting the unmarked helicopters out of the sky, along with some unmarked ground vehicles that were behind farther than the box surrounding Reilious. The cannons also tore up portions of the highway, as well as some of the land around it when the cannons weren't the most accurate. 

Reilious heard the sound of jets as they flew overhead as well, beginning to hit the Royal airship with their own missiles and machine guns. The airship tried to shoot these as well, but was noticeably losing because of its lack of speed. One missile hit the cockpit of the airship, causing it to tip over, leaning heavily towards the highway.

The vehicles surrounding Reilious began to speed up, and Reilious decided to do the same. They sped away as the airship collided with the ground, Royal helicopters unlucky enough to collide with it getting crushed or destroyed, blowing up. The airship collapsed under the force of the collision, fire engulfing the front as it hit first, then a massive explosion occurred. This shook the van Reilious was driving, causing the mild panic all three of the passengers inside.

Over his CB radio, Reilious heard a voice. "Reilious Johnstone, is it? We just saved you ass, you're welcome," a woman's voice spoke.

Reilious picked up the mic, pressing the button to speak. "And you are?"

"You can call us the Night," the woman responded, "Follow us."

Reilious looked at Talia and Deryle, both still surprised about what had just happened.

"I say we go for it," Deryle said, "They did just blow up an airship."

"Yeah, but what are they?" Talia asked, looking at the vehicle out her window.

"I don't know," Reilious said, looking at the CB radio and then back at the road. "Don't do anything stupid, and we'll join you. I don't feel like dying today."

"Yes, good. Follow the vehicles in front of you and they will lead you to our rendezvous point. There, you will be given further instructions," the woman consulted.