Last Dawn of a Horde

Chapter Nine: The First Prince ~3 John

~John~

James attacked one of the guys.

The shorter one stumbled down, and I came out of the bars; the bars weren’t charged anymore, and it’s a pleasure I can practically inhale oxygen again. My knees felt limp, though, like some kind of lulling gas was loaded inside that stinking cell.

I pounced on the taller guy, and then I realized he’s less than what I expected—I thought he had this utmost strength, but now I believe he just had this height. That’s all.

Freedom surely bloomed inside my chest. I don’t know how to bars unlocked themselves, but whatever Physics force that is, I thank it. I took down the man’s lab gown, and he was wearing this ordinary yellow worker suit. James kicked aside the leather case I have a bad feeling at, and he positioned himself on top of his victim.

“Tell me who you are and what did you do to us!” James roared. His face went red in anger; before the dude can even talk, he punched him right through the nose, and his lips were about to bleed.

The other one on my grip tried to escape as well, but I took him down on the floor too. I banged his head on the wall three times, and I stopped because I saw a drip of blood on the wall where he hit his head. He stumbled down, but when I checked his pulse he’s still alive, but unconscious.

James’ enemy was still dead quiet, and then my best friend ripped the mask off his head. I see a middle-aged man, and because of something, James was reluctant in punching him more.

“I’m asking who are you and what are you doing to us?!” James screeched. He punched him again, and I bet her can’t talk at that state now. His face was puffy and bleeding, blood was spewing on his mouth.

Finally, the man spoke.

“Please—spare—my—life,” he mumbled. Red blood came out of his mouth by every word he says. “Didn’t—want the—job—but I had—no choice—they—will kill our—families,” he continued.

James felt pitiful; I can see it in his eyes, and he brings his fist down.

“Who made you do this?” James asked; his voice was still warning and careful.

“Doomsday—terrorists,” murmured the man.

James bared his teeth, and he balled his fist tighter it turned chalk-white. “What is inside that case?”

I took a glimpse on the case, and it was still unscathed and still untouched. Silver gleamed from it, and James didn’t look any kinder.

“Concoctions,” breathed the man, like every breath he takes was torture to him.

“Hell I know that’s some shit you want to inject to us!” James blurted out. “What’s it for?”

“I’ll not say,” said the man.

With a powerful blow, James knocked the man out. I assure the man is undergoing a lot of difficulties in staying alive, but knowing James and myself, I could’ve done the same thing. He was pitiful, but he can atone it by telling information—something he didn’t take for good.

James wiped the blood off his fist. “I’m sorry I had gone monsterlike,” he apologized. “How’s your guy?”

“Knocked off, too,” I answered.

He sighs, and takes an empathetic look around the cell where we’ve been locked for hours. He takes the case, takes a glimpse on its contents one last time, and closed the case. He takes the handles, and I pretended that I’m not looking at him.

Since there’s nothing around here to use as weapon other than the case, I decided to kick off a bar off the jail. It still had wires, but at least I got a weapon.

“Too bad I didn’t have the Zeus’ Bolt,” said James. “I would prefer to blow the whole place.”

“I think we’re underground,” I said in contempt.

He sniggered. “Old news. We still need to stay alive well, or someone’s going to mega kill us.”

I nod in agreement. “Where are we going, anyway? I bet this place is a labyrinth maze or something.”

He checked everything—the dent on the wall, the switches, and he winked at me as he strips off the white overalls of the men we just discombobulated.

We found nothing but strap-ons of safety shirts, a bundle of silver keys, electronic padlocks, PDA’s, and extra gas mask. I would’ve thrown them away if James didn’t have such a wonderful idea.

“We need to get these in case we run out of weapons,” James suggested. “I would not hesitate on driving these keys to someone’s eyes like what Odysseus did to Polyphemus.”

Remembering the story makes my gut churn, but I didn’t yield.

“Now we need to have a plan,” James said.

Suddenly, the taller dude I got in my hands was groaning to wake, and I knocked him out again. More minutes to pass and they’ll wake again. I’m already feeling jeezed about these nasty, criminal things, and I don’t think I can ever see myself the way I do before I got here.

We spent three minutes on slumping the two mad men inside the cell where we had been, and five full minutes on just figuring out the buttons that we need to restore whatever electric prowess the cell had. I felt a little guilty about taking a single bar off the cell, but when James and I worked on it, the torture machine still works the same way it had been, complete or deprived of one piece.

Evidence wouldn’t be much of use now, right?

We left the place with the crime scene still untouched. I’m wondering on how much we’ll laugh when we get to see other people react to that scenery. We’re awesome.

But as you can see, the place outside that dingy cell wasn’t exactly different. It had white paint all over, and if you haven’t known that this place was the abode of the evil, you’ll probably have mistaken the place for a meeting place.

James and I left our mouths hanging down—there was a silver elevator door about seventeen feet away. The red lights on its top were never moving, and it’s dead quiet here. If you’re smart, you’ll probably agree that we are just in a corridor—we have to pass another door.

I was a bit bothered by a small control panel on the left side of the wall and the spy camera perched high on the corner of the wall, and it was shaking left to right like a head saying “No.” Using my pole, I knocked the camera off, and its lenses broke.

“Good job, John,” said James, tapping my back as he smiles. “Probably they’re spying on us still.”

I smiled back, and urged him to go on. But just as before James take his very first step, I extended my arms and James halted, his feet still high in level with his other ankle.

“What?” James asked, turning a nervous eye at me, and I figured out he was surprised.

“Don’t take a step,” I said, looking around like there were a hundred pairs of eyes looking straight at me. “I saw red lasers, and they will alarm in no time.”