Journey in the Aftermath

Chapter 26: Important Message

This chapter is told by the POV of Antonio

I lay awake in my cot and wonder about what I've done. Both Shert and Steven are in Dhrek's hands. I was told that he wouldn't kill Steven because of him being needed for future plans or something. Volt is always very selective in what he tells me about Dhrek. I honestly think he is as in the dark as I am. I'm pretty worried about Shert however. Volt seemed pretty happy turning him over to Dhrek, like he thinks Shert isn't going to make it back.

"Loser. Get up" Volt says walking into the room. Two guys in other cots stand up and salute him. "Not you two!" He yells and they quickly sit back down. I stand up quickly and salute him keeping myself as straight as possible

"Yes sir, what can I do for you sir? Sir, am I needed sir? May I wipe sir's ass for him sir?" I say loudly with my tongue out then flip off the two jackasses that are quietly glaring at me from their cots

"How would you like a chance to go up against Devin one more final time before he dies?" He says with a sly smile

"You've peaked my interest. Where to and when?" I ask

"Now, and I'll explain on the way" he says and with that we head out, but not before one last grin towards the dweebs I share a room with. Me and Volt are waiting outside of Dhrek's little hole in the ground where he stays just outside of the community. There's no stairs so the only way in is using Dhrek's dark mist teleporting thingy

"Sooo....?" I say wanting to not be so bored

"Oh, right. So, Shert is dead, good. Steven is alive, meh. Steven gave us your ex-best friend's location, great. I get a crack at him before Dhrek kills him, awesome. You get a crack at him before I do, won't matter. And last but not least, we are announcing a..."

"What do you mean 'it won't matter'?!" I say irritated that he thinks that I can't take out Devin or even him for that matter

"Save the fighting for later." Dhrek says appearing behind Volt holding Steven by the back of his neck. Steven looks up at me glaring, covered in blood, eyes full of hatred "Let's go"

"Yeah, lets go so I can prove just how much better I am than Devin. And you, Andy" I say smirking at Volt. Dhrek uses his dark mist to transport us outside of a large structure with huge walls surrounding it

"From here on out, I don't talk. If you direct your thoughts towards me, I will hear them, but be careful, because so will this one." Dhrek says in my head and tosses Steven down to the ground "Now go. Bring me all inside. Kill no one. If they put up a fight, hurt them and then bring them. Make it quick. As for Devin, ignore him as long as possible, if he starts a fight, Antonio goes first. Should he fail, it's Volt's turn. Don't fail me. Go." He explains and me and Volt run towards the walls. I jump up right before the wall and slam my foot onto the ground at the base of the wall causing the ground to shake and the wall to crumble to nothing before me. Volt pushes me aside and bolts inside then stops. No one is in sight. I go in and start kicking down doors looking for people

"Antonio!!" Volt yells outside one of the houses. He points to the door and then to his ear. He must hear someone inside. I run towards him but before I can get there, he gets blasted by blue lightning. Devin comes walking out of the house Volt was at and is covered in blue lightning. I run up and throw a rock covered punch at his face. I get immediately blasted by his newly strengthened powers and am thrown a good 30 feet away. Volt hits him hard with his red lightning, but to no effect. Devin loads up a huge blast but Dhrek appears in front of him and knocks him out with just a touch of his finger. Me and Volt gather the rest with no trouble at all after tying Devin the a flagpole near the center of the little village thing. There are surprisingly not very many people

"List them off. Out loud. Point to each one. Make them scared of you." Dhrek says in my head again

"Madeline. Bailey. Levi. Jessica. Beth. Jack. Milton. Brody and Olivia? Really? Surprised you're both alive." I say not knowing that both of Devin's sibling would be here alive

"What the hell happened to you Antonio?" Olivia says glaring up at me "You used to babysit us, you used to sleep at our house. Devin is like your brother for fucks sake!!" I slap her hard then glare over at Devin

"Your asshole brother got Kelly killed. Be glad that he's the only one I want to see dead" I say not taking my eyes off of Devin

"Everyone listen up." Dhrek says in all of our heads together "I know that there are more of you hiding not far from here. If I go after them, things will not go as I have foreseen, so I will leave all but one of you alive so you can bring them a message from me. The unlucky one that will be killed is one of you here unfortunately. I have already made my choice so anyone who jumps up and says that they will die for the others will be killed regardless of whether or not they have been chosen. I am your god, and any attack on me to try to stop this will not only fail, but will result in your death. Now, all of you get ready, for I, your god, shall release one of you from the suffering of what is to come after today. Because the message I have for you and all of your little 'warriors' hiding somewhere beyond here, is that starting today..." He pauses and summons his scythe. He taps people on the shoulder one by one with the blade leaving a small shallow cut until there is only one left. He raises his scythe up and in one swing, cuts off the head of his victim. He walks over and sticks the head on the ground in front of Devin who is screaming, tear filled, as he looks down at Levi's severed head. "...starting today, we go to war!!"