The Kingdom

Chapter Seventeen

 Reilious stood in front of his army in the football field, directing them on where they would go when the attack began that night.

"Alright, the left side, you will be strafing the army from the left, easy to remember. The right side, same thing, except on the right. You guys in the middle, you'll be split from the front and the back. The front will come with Talia, Deryle, and I while the back comes from, you guess it, the back. This way, we can surround the capital and hold a blockade without having to be hostile immediately. If they refuse, then we take the capital by force. If, and I repeat, if, we fail, scatter. It'll be harder to find us that way. In a week or so you will get a call to meet up here or at a different location." he announced.

The soldiers separated into their squadrons, getting into their vehicles. They exited the school parking lots, driving down the rubble-filled streets of New Heaven to the highway. Reilious followed, going last with Deryle and Talia in the van.

"If this doesn't work, it was good knowing you guys," Reilious said.

"If any of you die, don't expect me to move on," Talia replied.

"Uh, let's try to be positive," Deryle said.

"Probably a good idea," Reilious said.

Talia kissed Reilious on the cheek. "How's that for positive?"

"Spicy," Deryle chuckled, only to get a glare from her.

The trio finally got onto the highway, the large amount of vehicles confusing civilians as the large convoy passed them. Darkness fell upon the convoy as it neared the capital, and they turned off their lights.

Reilious grabbed the radio. "Activate the EMP and begin the attack."

The first set of vehicles got off the exit as the city went dark, the second set following soon after. Reilious turned off at the next exit, along with the next two sets of vehicles. Each set had almost one hundred cars in each.

"What the hell just happened?" the king asked one of his servants, standing up from his throne.

"The city is in a power outage, technicians are working on the matter," the servant answered.

The king nodded as Reilious' army surrounded the Capitol Building. He looked out the window, seeing the silhouettes of the vehicles blocking the exit.

"Who the fuck are they?" he asked, stress building up.

"I will go see," another servant responded, walking out of the throne room and to the front doors.

The servant opened them, where Reilious was standing. Reilious was wearing his suit he stole from The Night, his skull mask dimly lit by the sunset casting light from one of the streets. The servant looked straight ahead, then up at the mask. He fainted on the spot.

"Did not expect that..." Reilious said, looking down at the man now on the ground.

A mentally-stronger servant walked out. "Who are you?"

"My name is Reilious Johnstone," he replied.

The servants eyes widened and she ran back inside, slamming the doors shut. Reilious tilted his head, looking back at Talia and Deryle, who shrugged. Seconds later, the Capitol Building windows opened, assault rifles poking out from each.

"Well shit..." Reilious replied as the rifles began firing.

The soldiers stormed the doors, the turrets from the trucks firing into the windows and slowly taking out the defenders. Reilious tried walking into the front door, which was now locked.

"You really thought that would work?" Deryle asked.

"Nope," Reilious replied, taking out a grenade.

Deryle and Reilious backed up as Reilious threw the grenade, the front doors opening right as he did. The grenade blew up, killing the soldiers that were about to exit. The flew back as the trio ran in, soldiers following in with them.

Reilious turned on his night vision in his helmet as a flash was heard from beside him in another hallway. He ducked behind a couch as soldiers began firing. This was the first standoff.

Talia threw a knife, hitting a royal soldier in the face. She ducked behind a counter, now abandoned because of the attack. Gunfire echoed through the halls as workers began running from their offices, some being caught in the crossfile as the flashes lit up the darkened halls and rooms. A grenade blew a glass wall of an office into smithereens as soldiers fell to the ground, the rebels moving onto the next floor. Reilious lead the trio into a side room, Deryle shooting the sniper in the window in the head from behind. Talia shoved the woman aside, climbing out the window and onto the fire escape as Reilious and Deryle followed. They hurried up the fire escape as full-on war broke out, the night exploding into light as grenades exploded and royal police lights got closer.

Reilious smashed a window, rolling into an abandoned office. He waited for the trio to get inside before he took out his shotgun and kicked the doors open. The throne room stood dark, the king glaring in their direction as he saw the doors open. He yelled at soldiers near him, ordering them to fire at the trio. Reilious ducked behind a pillar, Deryle hiding behind the wall from the office. Talia ducked behind a counter, throwing a knife at the nearest soldier to her.

Reilious looked around the corner of the pillar and shot, hitting a royal soldier in the face as more rebels entered the room, surrounding the royals. The royal soldiers put their hands up as the rebels outnumbered them, the king growling as Reilious walked up to him.

"Hello, your highness," Reilious said through the helmet. "I believe this crown may belong to us."

"What the hell do you want?" the king demanded.

"I, no, we, want you dethroned. You are hungry for power. Your men are dying outside, I am quite surprised you aren't winning. But that's besides the point, there are thousands of people who want you dead, so I'm here to play Death," Reilious smirked under the mask.

Rebels soldiers handcuffed royals, taking them out of the room.

"You know what though? I'm going to give you the pleasure of seeing the face of your killer before you die," Reilious said, taking off his helmet.

He lifted his shotgun to the king's head, staring him in the eyes. The king stared back, smirking.

"What's that smirk for?" Reilious asked, kicking the king in the knee, causing him to fall into a kneel.

"You forgot that I am a king of war," the king responded, revealing a grenade- pin pulled.

Reilious turned to run as the grenade exploded, killing the king and causing Reilious to be knocked off his feet, hitting his head against a pillar and falling to the ground.

"NO!" Talia screamed through the sudden silence, running up to Reilious.

Deryle followed her. "MEDIC! WE NEED A MEDIC OVER HERE!"

"No no no no no Reil... please..." Talia said.