“The best way to escape your problem is to solve it.” – John Gemperle
Number Twenty-Nine
The darkness around her did not simply fade like in the movies. Reality was harsher. Brutal. She walked for what seemed like eternity, before she gradually grew so weak she had no choice but to collapse on the solid ground. Thirst and fatigue made her head pound in the nastiest ways. Her shoulder wound throbbed in pain. She was losing blood. Lots of blood.
She was done for. She was so sure that she was at her limits when the unexpected happened. Maybe it was Fate. Maybe it was Cecilia’s guiding hand.
The ground above her cracked and caved in, the fissure allowing streams of light to reach her. Tiny particles of dust floated in the air.
She could hear shouts and explosions from above. The tunnel shook as more explosions occurred. The opening grew and grew, until one adult body could fit in.
A way out.
But she had no strength left.
No strength left.
Kill him.
Kill him!
KILL HIM!
The thoughts were loud, angry. . . and downright scared.
Atom woke up with a start, drenched in his own sweat, his odd amber eyes blankly staring ahead of him. The thoughts came from the other room, from seventeen furiously working minds, all thrown together in a heated argument, a battle of wills and opinions and self-interests, an obvious lack of unity between the top ranks of Creed. They were falling apart at the seams, driven to desperation by the Lights’ tactics, distrustful of one another, each one wanting to dominate their strategic meeting in order to prove who’s stronger, who’s smarter, and who’s better than the rest. They were just bickering. Foolishly making more conflicts that seeking answers.
Not even the current Master could handle them to make a unanimous decision.
But they had made a decision, every single one of them. It’s just that not one of the current Equations was voicing it out of fear from the more powerful Gifted amidst them. Deep inside though, Arashi and Ivan and Kreuz had reached the same conclusion. They just didn’t want to acknowledge it.
They would soon, once they knew how dire the situation was.
Kill Krad, and we kill Falcon.
Remove the head and the Light will not advance.
A little sacrifice for the common good of our kind.
Atom clenched his jaw and covered his ears with his bandaged hands. He screamed. And screamed and screamed and screamed, but he couldn’t drown out their filthy thoughts. He wanted to tell them to shut up. He wanted them to shut up!
They could not kill his brother.
As long as he was breathing, as long as he’s alive, he would never abandon Krad. His father might have turned against him. Even his own Master now plotted to eliminate him alongside his minions. Krad had no one else on his side but him.
He promised to be by his side forever. Them against the world. Them against these supernatural monsters.
But he was just a kid. One kid. How could he save him from an army of Gifted soldiers? How could he save him from Falcon’s clutches?
There had to be a way.
Think, Atom, think!
Unwillingly, his Gift scanned every miniscule thought within his range. Hundreds of voices reached him, and instead of brushing them off or tuning them out, he embraced them and sorted them. Perhaps, he could find a way out. Maybe one of these people could help him.
Dying thoughts.
He bit his inner cheek to keep himself strong, but he could feel the pain in the minds of those who were killed. He shrank back, immediately withdrawing his Gift from those left outside the Command.
For a whole minute, he let his consciousness float as he stared at the white-washed walls. He was alone, and for that he was grateful. He would have to escape from here and find Krad, but before that, he had to find a way to remove Falcon from Krad’s body.
Think! You’re a genius! Think harder!
And as he tried to ignore the deafening thoughts from the Equations in the other room, it suddenly dawned on him.
The answer that he was looking for.
Silence.
Arashi was silently cleaning his rifle. No one dared approach him, and no one even tried to include him in the strategic meeting taking place within the same room. He was expressionless, his movements robotic. Ivan could only glance at him from time to time because he was too busy explaining to the current Equations the information he, Rael and Krad gathered for the past years.
Rael and that mind reader kid were still recuperating in the adjacent rooms, their bodies not tolerant to the chemical composition of the toxins in the sleeping gas that Krad – no, Falcon used.
There was a rumbling noise outside the barred windows, one that everyone pretended not to exist. Bombs. The Light was still attacking. There was no time to rest. He knew that even now, a lot of the Bases were fighting, still fighting. Bullet against bullet. Blade against blade. Gift against Gift.
Everything was so fucked up, he didn’t know how to make this lunacy stop
The sliding doors opened and a Base saluted. “Agent France reporting.” He bowed waist down to both Master Vladimir and Kreuz. The former master just shook his head, resigned.
“Speak,” Vladimir ordered, folding his hands over the black marble table.
“Yes, sir.” The Base straightened as he leafed through the papers he was holding. “The Southern regions from Panoma Avenue to the piers are under the control of the enemies. All aviation activities are suspended. Twenty of the fighter jets are lost, fifty under repairs and only eighteen fighter jets and two helicopters are functional. Ten of them reported lost. Foreign ships at the southeastern dock have been destroyed. Approaching vessels, both aerial and aquatic, are treated as enemies within the 5 mile radii of the island. Medical and sustenance supplies from the Reserves are to be distributed later at 01:00.”
One of the Equations asked, “The non-fighters?”
“The 96% of the civilians have been evacuated. The fleet reported to arrive in the US territory at 20:06. Entry had been granted by Navy Commander Clinton.”
“Any signs of ex-Agent 00?” Kreuz stated lifelessly. All head turned to him. He hadn’t spoken a single word ever since he found out that Abcidee was not with Arashi. That she could be anywhere, everywhere, in this god-forsaken island.
The Base lowered his head. “She is still MIA. I apologize, sir.”
Silence enveloped the room.
“Dismissed,” the Master said, and the agent hurriedly stumbled out of the room. Ivan laughed and then coughed in order to break the icy tension, but it didn’t.
And then, Arashi walked out. All eyes followed him, some with disapproval, the others with relief, while the rest did so with mild interest. Ivan stood up and quickly ran after him.
Ivan slowed down to a jog once he reached the retreating ex-agent. “That was dra-ma-tic and jaw-dropping,” he shook his head as he recalled Vladimir’s expression. “Never pegged you as a fame whore, man. I bet that nosy 05 has started burying whatever’s left of your reputation down the shithole.”
“I don’t care.”
Arashi was still pissed off by the fact that he was outsmarted by Falcon AND that he was at fault why Abcidee was missing. He didn’t know that he was assigned to collect Abcidee and escort her to the submarines. And it was all because he joined with Ivan’s ragtag team! If he didn’t abandon his position, then he would have ensured her safety. They wouldn’t be in this situation – no Falcon and no Abcidee.
No wonder Master Kreuz was so distracted.
Arashi punched the solid walls in anger, skinning his knuckles.
Ivan jumped like a mother hen. “Arashi!”
His friend whirled to him with bloodshot eyes. “I’m so stupid! I shouldn’t have left her! I should have been stronger! I should have – “
Ivan punched him in the gut, his own expression enraged. Arashi doubled over in pain.
“Get back to your senses!” Ivan yelled. “We made a mistake. So what? You gonna wallow in self pity? Act! Dammit! We took a risk, and we failed. That’s why it’s called a risk, moron! Because we don’t know whether we’ll succeed or not. I made a decision, you made a decision. Now, we fix it. Even if I kick you around all day, we will be no closer to our goal. Do you understand me?”
“You think I’m throwing a pity party?”
“Yes, dammit! What else do you call this?”
“Damn you!” Arashi was about to deliver a heavy blow under the ribs when Ivan counter blocked it and instead, pinned him to the ground. Arashi elbowed him to release himself from Ivan’s grip.
Ivan sneered. “Have you forgotten the rules in Creed’s handbook? Emotions are the bane of our trade. Get your brains sorted out. Our mission is Krad. He is our priority!”
Arashi retaliated with a power kick to the head. “I’m not like you, Ivan!” He grabbed Ivan by the shoulder and pushed him against a wall, breathing down on him like an angry bull. “I can’t control my feelings! I love her, and it’s irrational! Without her, I can’t think straight. I feel like someone is trying to pull out my heart. Like something is blocking my lungs. When she’s not with me, I can’t breathe. How do you expect me to get rid of this? You’re asking me the impossible. I can’t get rid of her here!” He jabbed his heart. “It’s like asking me to live without air. If I can, I would have done it a long time ago!”
Tears started flowing down his eyes. “Dammit.” He held his head with both hands and bent his knees. He tried to pull himself together, but he couldn’t. “I hate this. I hate the me that loved her. He’s useless without her. So stupid. Really, really stupid.”
“Arashi…”
He had never seen the man cry like this. Tears, yes, but all out crying? It was pretty much unnerving.
“I know where Abcidee Faye Creed is,” a small voice said. The two reflexively assumed defensive stances. Atom only studied them with his odd amber eyes. “In exchange, I want you to grant me one wish.”
Ivan straightened. “One wish?”
He nodded. "Help me save Krad."
"Wha --"
"But --"
Atom simply turned around and started running.
“Follow me.”
I'm sorry. I promised to finish this in October, but I failed. *sighs* Feels like subsconsciously, my mind doesn't want to let go of this story.
I will get back to this tomorrow to edit it. Kindly point out mistakes once you spotted them. Thank you!