Chapter 29, Don't, Please, Just Don't.
~lol~
Etrius came around a corner and tripped over something, he looked to see a crate.
"What the hell?" He asked as he got up.
He went over and examined the crate.
"Why is this here?" He asked aloud.
There was giggling from the crate, Etrius was quiet as he listened to it.
"Willy, what are you doing in a crate?" Etrius asked.
"Shh!" Willy said quietly, "I hiding!"
"Why?" Etrius asked quietly.
"Playing with Kimmy!" He said quietly, "Now shh!"
Etrius got up and moved the crate slightly just so no one else would trip over it, as he began walking away he heard someone else trip behind him, he turned to see Kim on the ground, her eyes were wide and she had a distant look in her eyes.
"What the hell happened to me?" She asked.
"You tripped over a crate." Etrius said, "I literally just tripped over the same one."
She got up and began to move it, she stopped suddenly and listened, she opened the crate.
"There you are, you little worm!" She said with an evil smile.
Willy began to squeal and squirm as he attempted to escape her grasp, she pulled him close, lifted his shirt, and began to give him tummy gummers, he laughed and kicked before she threw him over her shoulder and began to walk away.
"You know..." Boomer said from behind Etrius, "She really does make a good mother."
Etrius turned to Boomer.
"She does, doesn't she?" He asked.
Boomer nodded.
"Although I hadn't met Willy until recently." Boomer said, "How old is he?"
"Five." Etrius replied, "Six in two months."
"Damn." Boomer said, "Is everyone really that old already?"
"I know that feeling." Etrius said, "They've all grown up that quickly."
"How old is everyone else now?" Boomer asked, "I know it's been a while so I'm not sure."
"Daniel's 19, Sheila's 16, Thomas' 13, and Kristina's 10." Etrius replied.
Boomer nodded.
"And none of them share a mom, right?" Boomer asked.
"Except Tommy and Sheila." Etrius said, "They're full siblings."
Boomer was quiet.
"I'm honestly amazed that they get along as well as they do." He finally said, "Some half-siblings can't even be in the same room as one another."
"They're more like you and Razor." Etrius said, "They know they have to care for each other, and they really do."
"I'm glad they get along." Boomer said, "Has Eckard even gotten in contact with anyone's mom lately?"
"I don't know." Etrius replied, "I just know that he's single now."
"Oh, Lloyd said there was a woman or something looking for you." Boomer said, "She's at the front."
"Alright." Etrius said as he walked away.
Boomer went off to a door and went in, Beecher was sitting in there on a chair reading some sort of medical book, he looked up as Boomer closed the door.
"Why are you in my room?" Boomer asked.
"Becuase Kim's in mine." Beecher replied, "I didn't want to ask questions so I just came in here."
Boomer sighed.
"It's fine by me." Beecher said, "Just as long as nothing's broken."
Boomer went over to the closet and opened the door, he pulled out a skate board.
"Racing Lloyd?" Beecher asked.
"Yeah." Boomer said as he closed the closet, "We're making a bet."
"What's the bet?" Beecher asked.
"Whoever can knock the other off their skate board wins fifty dollars and bragging rights." Boomer replied.
"Please tell me you're not using actual weapons." Beecher said.
"Nah." Boomer said, "Lloyd found some poles we're going to use."
"Do you have someone to judge?" Beecher asked, "And also watch you two just to make sure no one dies?"
"Razor said he would." Boomer said, "He's gonna meet us outside."
"Oh, then have fun." Beecher said as he looked back at the book.
"I thought you already graduated from medical school." Boomer said.
"It's never too late to learn something new." Beecher said, "Kim said this book was new so I figured I'd read it to keep up with the times."
"You sound like an old man." Boomer said.
"And you sound like a twelve year old." Beecher said as he looked up at him.
The two of them sat there staring each other down, not breaking eye contact.
"I'm not backing down." Beecher said.
"Neither am I." Boomer said.
"I've beaten Kim at a staring contest I think I can beat you." Beecher said.
They were both quiet, when Boomer's phone rang is when he finally looked away, Beecher looked back at his book casually, Boomer picked up his phone.
"Why're you so impatient?!" Boomer asked.
It was quiet.
"Yeah, I got it." Boomer said, "I was going to be heading out in a minute for crying out loud, I was having a stare down with Beecher."
It was quiet again.
"Yeah, I'm heading over." Boomer said, "See ya in a sec."
Boomer hung up, Beecher closed the book and looked up at him.
"Are you two heading down the hill outside?" He asked.
"Yeah, why?" Boomer asked.
Beecher sat up and put the book on the bedside table.
"I think you're going to need a medic on site." Beecher said, "Especially since you're using weapons."
"You worried about people biffing it?" Boomer asked as he began to leave.
"Of course." Beecher said as he followed, "Razor's involved, isn't he?"
Boomer stopped.
"You know..." He trailed off, "It wouldn't hurt to have a medic."
"Thought so." Beecher said.
Boomer dropped his board and hopped on, he skated slowly as to help Beecher keep up, as they passed through the main part of the base Beecher saw Etrius talking with a woman, they seemed to be having a pleasant conversation, although Etrius seemed to be a little on edge and was keeping his distance, as they got closer to the door Beecher saw Lloyd waiting, he was holding his board casually and watching Etrius, Beecher and Boomer went over.
"Why's Beecher here?" Lloyd asked.
"Medic on site." Boomer said.
"Yeah, that's a good idea." Lloyd said.
"So Razor's outside?" Boomer asked.
"Yeah." Lloyd said, "He's seeing how fast he can go down the hill, although I think he was talking about the cliff."
"Wouldn't surprise me." Boomer said, "Even though he's off that medication he's still a psychopath."
"Yeah, I guess so." Lloyd said.
He reached down and picked up a wood pole and tossed it to Boomer, Boomer caught it as Lloyd picked up another one, he opened the door and quickly went out, Boomer followed close behind along with Beecher, once out Beecher looked down the three-mile hill, he looked at everyone else.
"So, Am I going to wait for you at the bottom or do you want me to follow on the bike?" He asked.
"Probably follow on the bike." Lloyd said, "That way if we biff it halfway down you can help immediately."
"Fair enough." Beecher said, "Give me a minute."
Beecher began to walk away, Razor rode over on a skateboard as well, he stopped next to them.
"Ready for the fight to the death?!" He asked excitedly.
"Yeah." Boomer said, "We're just waiting for Beecher."
"Why?" Razor asked, "Are you scared?"
"No, he just wanted to watch." Boomer said.
"Oh, okay then!" Razor said.
Soon a sleek black motorcycle drove up next to them, Beecher was on it wearing a helmet, he gave a thumbs up to the three of them, they got on their boards and began to head down the hill, Beecher followed close behind, speeding up along with them, they were swinging the rods at one another, Beecher was surprised that they actually hadn't fallen yet, he looked at his speedometer and saw he was going about forty now, he now felt a little worried for them, knowing that falling off at this speed could not only scrape them up a bunch but also break limbs, but he'd go with it, but once they reached forty-five he decided that he needed to step in.
He rode up next to them and began to make hand gestures, Boomer was the first to pick up on his attempt to save them, then he looked slightly panicked.
"Um, Razor?" Boomer asked over the sound of the bike, "How are we supposed to stop?!"
Razor looked at the bottom of the hill, he looked back at Boomer and shrugged.
"Oh god." Beecher said.
He drove ahead of them a bit and pulled out in front of them, he continued to make hand gestures until Boomer understood what was going on.
"Lloyd!" Boomer shouted, "Put the poles into the holes on the bike!"
Lloyd didn't question and put his pole into a hole near the seat, Boomer did the same on the other side, Razor didn't hold on though, he seemed determined to do it his own way, Beecher began to slow them down as Razor zipped passed, once he began to reach the bottom of the hill he grabbed a sting on his backpack and a parachute came out, it slowed him down and he even began to float slightly, he grabbed his board and began to scream as if he didn't know what was going on.
"He's a handful." Lloyd said.
"Are you sure he's supposed to be off the medication?" Beecher asked, "Because honestly, it seems like he still needs it."
"Do you even know what kind of medication he was taking?" Boomer asked.
"Not really." Beecher replied.
"He was taking Anti-depressants." Boomer said, "If anything, he's improved."
"Oh." Beecher said.
"Are you saying you didn't know that?" Lloyd asked.
"I'm not his doctor." Beecher said, "Or psychiatrist."
"That's apparent." Lloyd said, "You're a first responder, not a doctor."
"That's true." Beecher said.
Once they reached the bottom of the hill they saw Razor waiting for them, he had a cup of orange juice, or at least that's what everyone would like to think it is, although they knew it wasn't anything alcoholic, since he hates alcohol, he was drinking it with a pleasant looking smile and a distant look in his eye.
"You okay?" Boomer asked.
"Hm?" He asked as he turned to him, "Oh, no, I'm not, the sky tried to kidnap me."
Lloyd shook his head slightly, he laughed.
"Why'd they give you back?" Lloyd asked.
"I'm not sure... They insulted me on the way down as well. I'm not sure what it was about, though." Razor said.
He returned to his drink and distant look.
"Well, since no one needs medical attention I'm heading back inside." Beecher said.
He drove back up the hill and parked the bike, when he went back inside he passed the woman, they made eye contact for a second before they moved on, Beecher went in and spotted Etrius leaving the room, he hurried to catch up with him before he disappeared, ashe reached Etrius's side he looked at him.
"She seemed nice." Beecher said.
"Not really." Etrius said.
"Who was she?" Beecher asked.
"My sister." Etrius said, "She came to see me after hearing I was still alive."
"Heartwarming." Beecher said slightly sarcastically, knowing that Etrius probably didn't like her.
"Heh, yeah." Etrius said, "She doesn't like me."
"Does she even know you?" Beecher asked, "She's only three years younger than you, right?"
"I never saw her." Etrius said, "You really think my parents let me talk with her?"
He sighed slightly.
"They always thought I'd be a bad influence." He said, "Now she has the same views as them..."
He stopped walking and stared at the floor with a dissatisfied look.
"It's disgusting." He said.
"I can understand that." Beecher said, "Though it's kind of sad that she's become a hypocrite like her parents."
Etrius was quiet as he continued to walk.
"I always tried to have an open mind, but sometimes there are people you just can't understand." He said, "I can't be nice to most everyone because it's not natural for me."
"That's fine." Beecher said, "I know you're well aware we're all right behind you."
Etrius looked at him.
"Having someone to back you up is one of the best things to have." Beecher said, "All of us are right behind you to follow, Boomer, Lloyd, Kim, even Razor."
He placed his hand on Etrius's shoulder.
"If you need anything, just find one of us." He said, "It's not hard to do."
He then left him alone.
Boomer and Lloyd came back inside with Razor close behind, Kim was walking by an saw the skateboards.
"Hey." She said, "I've been planted an idea."
"Should we be scared?" Boomer asked.
"Probably." Kim said.
"Alright, hold on." Lloyd said.
He set his skateboard on the ground and braced himself for anything.
"Lay it on me." He said.
"Why don't you guys bring your skateboards when we go back to the fourth castle?" She asked, "You can't bring it to the first two because they have too many ups and downs but the fourth has a rather open concept."
"Huh." Lloyd said as he stopped bracing, "Wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be."
"So were you three racing?" She asked.
"No, we were battling." Boomer said, "Razor was judging."
She looked Boomer up and down.
"I am too." She said.
"Shut up." Boomer chuckled as he playfully punched her arm.
She laughed at him while Lloyd shook his head, she looked up at him with an evil look.
"I don't like that look." Lloyd said.
"You shouldn't." She said, "It's bad."
Before anyone could stop her she grabbed Lloyd's skateboard, she then tried to quickly skate away, only to fall only ten feet away from them, Razor cracked up laughing as he hit the ground, all four of them laughed, Kim laughing the most out of all of them.