The Kingdom

Chapter Fifteen

Reilious woke up on the old, carpet-covered floor band room of the school, opening his eyes. He looked around, seeing everyone else was asleep still, then checked his watch. Three thirty in the morning. No wonder he was the only one awake.

He got up slowly, walking over to the door and opening it quietly, or as quiet as the door could handle. He walked out into the hallway in time to see a small light disappear from around a corner to his left. He ran down the hall, making sure the Royals weren't back, taking out his pistol from its holder on the side of his pants. He turned the corner, aiming his pistol.

In his face was Talia, the pistol square with her forehead.

"Holy shit, Reil! You scared the hell out of me!" she said in a harsh whisper.

Reilious put his pistol down. "Sorry, I'm just very cautious."

Talia sighed and looked out the broken window, then back at him. "It's fine."

A beam of light shined through the window, and the two ducked against the wall, hearing the sound of multiple vehicles and helicopters. The vibrations from the sudden movement shook the school, a couple loose tiles dropping from the ceiling. Reilious got up slightly, looking out the window as the school's old fire alarm went off.

The soldiers who weren't awake by the vehicles were woken up by this alarm and got up, running through the school to their defense positions. A few took out their sniper rifles and put them in the windows next to Reilious and Talia. Then a voice came from outside.

"Do not be afraid, Carmal. We are here to help," a voice, a female one, Reilious noticed, said from outside. "If Reilious Johnstone could speak with me out front, that'd be swell."

Reilious and Talia switched glances, and Reilious nodded to a soldier, who yelled back an agreement. Reilious got up from his spot and walked down the hallway and around the corner to the main entrance. He pushed the doors open to see what looked like around one hundred vehicles all aimed at the school, and he gulped.

"Oh shit..." Reilious said as a small group of people walked up to the front door.

"Good morning, Mr. Johnstone. I apologize for the commotion of our transportation, but the backup from Prospirto, West Kolari, and Lennämme are here. Global Renokal will be here shortly," one of the soldiers announced, saluting.

Reilious saluted back looked behind him. He nodded to the soldier in the doorway, who took out his radio and talked into it. A few moments later the alarms went off, leaving the building and the area around it completely silent.

Talia and Deryle walked out, half asleep. The soldiers in front of Reilious saluted, and Deryle waved, Talia nodding a greeting.

"Now that you three are here, we would like to speak with you somewhere of your choosing," the soldier in front said.

"Fules' old mansion, follow me," Reilious replied, walking to the parking lot where his van was parked.

The soldiers walked back to their own vehicles, and the small convoy drove across the city to the mansion. They parked out front and the trio got out, walking up the path as the soldiers looked at the poor state of the mansion.

"Don't worry, it's stable," Reilious said.

The soldiers nodded and followed him into the building, up the stairs, and through the helicopter, though they were hesitant. They followed Reilious through the armoire and down the stairs to the secret meeting room.

"Ahh, so this must be where you called us originally, Mr. Johnstone," one of the soldiers suggested.

"Yes, take a seat," Reilious replied, sitting down at the head of the table. Talia and Deryle stood on either side of him and the soldiers sat down in the extra chairs.

"Alright, now, what are your names?" Reilious asked, looking at the soldiers.

The one who had been speaking the most replied first. "I am General Trecartin, but you may call me Scorch. I am here from Prospirto."
The next soldier spoke, and they went around the table. Lieutenant Farrell of Global Renokal, General Wilford of West Kolari, and Lieutenant Reed from Lennämme. The trio listened closely to what they said about their own plans for confronting the king.

Reilious got up and walked over to the computer, typing out something while the others talked. He pulled up a file and started writing a log.

May 20, 2084

The backup that the leaders had talked about have arrived at approximately 3:57 AM this morning. We have had a meeting, and we talked about as follows:

We will build our base on what's left of the high school. The soldiers who cannot be housed within the school will be setting up camp in the field and surrounding buildings.

I am apparently the leader of the one thousand man army created, but luckily I have Talia, Deryle and the generals to help me.

Let's get this show on the road...

The meeting ended and everyone walked upstairs except for Talia and Reilious. Talia walked up to him, kissing him on the cheek. Reilious smiled, wrapping an arm around her as he shut off the computer. He turned to face her.

"So when did you get all these people?" she asked him.

"I guess Fules had allies, and surprisingly The Night wasn't on the allies list," he replied.

Talia nodded.

"Oh, I just remembered, you never told Deryle and I your last name," Reilious pointed out.

"Ahh... Right... My last name," Talia nervously replied. "It's uh... Zykalo."

Reilious' eyes went larger. "What?"

"Yeah, you're dating Fules' daughter," she replied, nervously smiling. "Surprise?"
"Oh wow, huh..." Reilious looked at the floor.

"What?"
"This reminds me of one of book websites I read stories on in school about cliches in stories."
"Are you saying our relationship is a cliche?" Talia looked up at him.

"It just reminded me, alright?" Reilious said with a chuckle. "Let's go get some breakfast."

Talia nodded and got on her tiptoes, kissing him. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed back, rubbing her back.He pulled away from the kiss and moved his hands to her waist.

"So are you just going to stand here and stare at me or are we going to eat?" Talia teased.

"Yeah yeah, let's go," Reilious smiled, walking to the stairs.