Walking Dollar Bills

Chapter 43 (2/2): Terse Talk about Eternity

"Here! This is it!" shouts the young man.

Earl dips towards the ground and lands in a soft bed of sand. Zala leaps off his back and the young man climbs out of his arms. The three glance up at the monstrous building modeled after the Dictator's face.

The young man shakes his head at the building, "This is where they ambushed us. It's a long flight of stairs, but you'll probably just fly up there."

Zala taps the man's wire thin arm, "What about you? You can't walk all the way back home."

"He may not have to," says Earl nodding towards a black ATV a yard or two away.

"Good idea" says the young man holding out two arms.

Zala and Earl each take an arm and the three shake hands.

"Have a safe trip back!" says Zala waving at the now departing Nationalist.

"Come back with good news or don't come back at all" shouts the young man with a big smile as he mounts the ATV.

Zala and Earl wait for the ATV's engine to roar before moving forward. The young girl wraps her arms around Earl's shoulders and he commands a gust of wind to lift them to the top of the skywalk. Rising in the air gives them a better view of the hideous building.

"Amara has to be in there," says Zala.

Earl notices a gray cloud of dust drifting into the air near the upper-left side of the building. He wonders if he should check it out, but Zala jumps off of his back and races down the long pink skywalk.

"Careful, whoever designed this forgot to put a rail up" says Earl observing his surroundings.

He glances ahead and groans at the symbolism facing him. They're literally walking into the belly of the beast. His stomach starts to flip.

"It was inevitable that our paths would cross again, fellow Viper" says a familiar voice.

Earl feels like a bucket of wet cement has been tossed on him. Slowly, he twists his neck around and catches sight of him. The assassin, Toure.

"I see you've reunited with your Hornet best-friend as well" continues Toure, eyeing Zala, who races back to Earl.

"What do you want?" asks Earl, staring at the torn bandages and exposed burns, gashes, and cuts that cover Toure's body.

He notices that the Viper carries a steel blade in one hand and a second steel blade with his tail.

"I want the final pill. That should be obvious. I've seen firsthand the power those pills grant" says Toure lifting his charred and scarred arms into the air, "Imagine if I had that power. I could single-handedly usher in a new world where the Viper race is at the top of the social order."

"You just won't let that dream die?" says Earl.

For some reason, Earl finds it harder to talk. His throat feels bloated and his leg keeps shaking. Although Toure's body is riddled in wounds and bandages, Earl believes that the Viper has gotten stronger since their last face off.

"It's our dream. Everything I do, I do for our race" says Toure. He senses Earl's nervousness and laughs, "I don't intend to harm your Human, I just want the pill."

Toure lifts his tail so that the sharp end of his blade points at Earl's throat,

"But if you disagree, we can settle this right now."

Zala pushes her body in front of Earl and spreads her arms out. She glares at Toure with hard eyes. Toure lowers his weapon.

"You're just as naive as your best-friend," says Toure, "The power of those pills belongs in the hands of someone with a righteous cause. You and your friends don't deserve that power."