Deadmans Paradise - Primroses Arrival - Book I

Chapter 3: "Farewell Planet Zena"

Hidden Bidding Arena - Planet Zena
04:24 AM

    In the early hours of the morning, as the sun barely rose over the horizon sat a tall building made of dark stone. Everything was closed off and no lights were on inside, but there was still high security. It was just a battle arena, why would they need so much security? Guards stood at every possible entrance. The building, which was placed in a dense forest was difficult to notice by outsiders unless they were hell-bent on looking for it, and didn't mind the risk of dying from the mutated poisonous insects or drones that secured the forest around the arena. Suddenly, sound broke the natural silence that surrounded the tower and the forest around it.

    Towards the back entrance with the least security, a battle took place. Four guards fought against two intruders. Vincent was one of them. He had brought Primrose to the arena to retrieve Sebastian, so he could be buried on his home planet when she left. However, he was debating whether it was a good idea or not. Was it a good idea to send Primrose to another planet to be even more dangerous, just to save his own team? The sound of blades hitting blades interrupted Vincents thoughts. Behind him, Primrose fought blade to blade with two guards. The sound of blades ripping through flesh and armour pierced the veil of silence that washed over suddenly. Vincent felt himself panic, but had to keep calm. Did Primrose lose her fight? He couldn't find out now, he had to take care of his own problem first. He quickly threw both guards into the wall with a loud crashing sound. Once he was sure they were out cold, he turned towards where Primrose was fighting. Everything went quiet once again as he spotted a shadow of a figure crouching over two bloodied forms. The figure stood up and held out a illuminated green key-card towards Vincent.

    "So, now what?" A familiar voice spoke. It was Primrose. Vincent let out a small sigh of relief. Suddenly, shouting could be heard in the distance as guards and soldiers were now aware of Vincent and Primroses position.

    "Prim, get inside and find the morgue. I'll cover you until you get inside." He said quickly, pointing towards the entrance. Primrose nodded reluctantly and sprinted to the entrance. Vincent watched as she entered the building.

    Primrose shut the door behind her as she stepped inside. Everything suddenly went quiet. The door closed out the sound from the outside. It worried her slightly, but she had to continue.

    Meanwhile, Vincent stood in front of the entrance as security guards began to come into view. There were too many to count, luckily they hadn't realized they were here earlier, or else nothing would have gone as planned. Vincent signaled in a forward motion with his left hand, sending a group of guards flying into another group. The guards, although afraid of what Vincent did, didn't relent from attacking him. The guards kept coming and it seemed almost endless, and Vincent couldn't fight them forever.

    Quick footsteps echoed through the hallway as Primrose ran, trying to find the right door as soon as possible. Taking several turns, searching several exits, and still nothing. Primrose began to panic as she was running out of options. After what felt like endless running, Primrose found herself at a door. That had to be it. There was a strange inscription on a metal plate placed at the top of the door, written in a language that wasn't native to Zenan people. Primrose looked around for a moment before patting her pockets, looking for her tech-translator. She found it shortly after and turned it on, scanning the metal plate and waited for it to translate it into a language she could understand. The small technical device narrated "Crematory." This was where Sebastian was being held. Primrose suddenly realized her current predicament. She was prepared to go inside ever since she first witnessed his death. But now, she could barely bring herself to step any closer towards the door, let alone go inside and see Sebastian again. She took a deep breath, hopefully somehow breathing in the courage to open the door. Resting her hand on the cold metal surface, she looked down at her feet. She took another deep breath, only being able to see Sebastians death, over and over. It was a memory that would forever haunt her. Haunting her far enough as to prevent her from going inside to save him and keep him from being dumped with many other nameless corpses that were lost to the same fate as him.