(Flakenwell – Occupation: Lit/RoT) (Amos)

  The sounds of swords clashing and clans chanting fill the air as Lit breaks down, one by one. Despite the chaos, the city remains connected compared to others, largely due to Lit’s trench systems built outside. There's little point in fighting for a city if it's just going to be surrounded and cut off from the rest of the clan. Being under siege is the last thing any clan wants.

  Amos and his clanmates walk at least a meter apart. Sara, Marisa, and John follow suit, cloaked and hooded. Upon entering the city, a few players were tempted to battle them until they drew close enough to see their identities and the capes they carried.

  Christ moves closer to Hypno. “This teleport block seems to be worldwide…”

  “Yeah, mate. It feels like resources aren’t respawning and crops are maturing faster,” Hypno replies, lifting a cigarette to his mouth. Casting a tier-one Finger Torch, he lights the end. “In short, we better get Zero and head back to the house.”

  “Amen,” Christ replies.

  Amos’s gaze darts from one side of the street to the other as Lit members chase RoT Hybrids. They sprint from building to building, alley to alley, street to street. Although they seem to be moving at the recommended speed of fifty miles per hour, they appear unable to push themselves further. The level advantage of the WAL clan feels unfair, though it’s in magic that his peers excel. He’ll work on it eventually, but for now, he must focus on bringing Zero back.

  After twenty minutes, they reach the northern gate. RoT is advancing toward the eighteenth parallel before midnight. Cattle are towing cannons, some marked as Lit, but most bearing the Reign of Terror’s crest.

  Xander’s gaze snaps to the left. “You guys feel that?”

  Everyone focuses past the dead bodies toward the path RoT is taking.

  Sara approaches Xander, pulling back her hood. “Brian?”

  “I sense Ship’s presence nearby…” Xander begins walking in the direction he's looking. The others follow until his slow pace quickens into a sprint toward a man lying on the ground with cracked ribs nearly poking through his skin. “SHIP!” Xander drops to his knees beside his clanmate. Placing his head on Ship’s chest, he hears the labored breathing clearly. Gauntlets vanish as he carefully removes Ship’s chainbody.

  “Don’t tell me…” Hypno says.

  Xander lightly presses on Ship’s chest. “Holy shit… How…”

  “What do you mean how?” Amos asks.

  “Most of his chest is imploded,” Xander gazes up at his clan. “In this condition, he shouldn’t be able to breathe like he is now.”

  Sara lowers herself. “I can’t think of any hospital besides the one in Cockington that is active. But that's too far away, and if they found out it was a WAL member, we’d be in a worse position.”

  “Sara…” Christ says before getting cut off.

  “I know.” Black rods protrude from her palm until they are a few feet taller than Ship. “I don’t know what I expected to do coming out here.” Snapping one rod off as another emerges from the same palm, she gazes at her friend. “Marisa, John, take his cape and your cloaks and stick the rods through the fabric to make a stretcher.”

  John and Marisa nod before lowering themselves and following Sara's instructions.

  Xander reaches under Ship’s arms while waiting for Amos to lift his feet onto the stretcher. Dusting himself off, Xander stares at Sara. “Be safe.”

  Sara nods.

  Christ leans in for a kiss on her cheek.

  Marisa and John lift Ship as they circle the city's west side, hoping to avoid unnecessary contact, leaving Sara behind for protection.

  As they disappear from view, Xander begins to shake his head. “We need to stop this madness soon…”

  They reach the eighteenth parallel from the shore at a steady-paced jog for an hour. Along the two-mile trench, only the northern section fires off cannons. The south is defenseless as hand-to-hand combat takes place. RoT is exploiting their weak spot.

  “That’s a lot of people…” Carp says. “Do you think Zero managed to actually pass them?”

  “Either that or he did more than just pass by,” Christ replies, placing his hand on Carp’s head.

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  “What do you suggest we do? By now, Lit must think we backstabbed them,” Vodka asks.

  “I think we should just walk past them,” Amos suggests.

  Christ scratches his head. “That sounds like a bad idea. Just walking by a battle as a group of feared people who…” Christ quotes his fingers before dropping his hands again, “‘backstabbed them.’ Yeah, it sounds like they’ll just let us pass.

  “I wasn’t saying they’d let us pass.” Amos shrugs, shaking his head. “I meant to save us some rest time if something occurs.”

  Before Christ could respond, Smokey interrupts him. “I’d have to agree with Amos; wasting our energy on something uncertain isn’t wise. We should conserve our energy, especially if we run into Durial or any of Sanity’s lackeys.”

  Christ shifts his gaze down the long trench. “Then we have to stay close together. One moment out of formation, and we’re screwed.”

  “Formation, huh?” Xander says. “Amos!”

  Amos turns to Xander with a questioning look.

  “You're our guy to get Zero back to us, but remember what Vodka said. Please…”

  Until this moment, Amos had been thinking about what Vodka told him, but actually comprehending it was a different story. Is he really being forced to kill his best friend of seven years? “Why me?”

  Xander sits against a rock. “Because I care about Zero, despite his outburst against me. He is like a little brother. You’re the only one who might show him a difference.”

  “No, I mean, why do I have to kill him?” Amos asks, his voice firmer.

  A cigarette appears in Xander’s hand. “No one ever said kill… It’s your judgment. But I should tell you that he is dragging us through the mud, even if it isn’t his intention.” Lighting the cigarette with the tip of his finger, Xander gazes along the coast. “And… I don’t know… You’re still a kid, after all.” He shakes his head, exhaling smoke, leaving the filter hanging from his mouth. “All I know is you’ve known Zero for a long time. Your bond with him must be stronger than ours… What I mean is, I have faith in you.” Xander’s southern accent softens as the sun's reflection in his eyes calms the intensity.

  Cannons echo, only to be drowned out by the waves eroding the rocky beach nearby. The atmosphere becomes tense as they stare at one another, waiting for Amos to provide an answer that hasn’t come.

  Amos isn’t deep in thought, but he now feels a heavy weight. It might come down to them or Zero. Shaking his head, Amos takes a few breaths of air he has been holding back. “I’ll do my best.” The shore breeze blows his hair back.

  “Sometimes, that's all you can do.” Xander removes the half-finished cigarette from his mouth, sticking the ashy end on a rock behind him before standing. He holds his hands out. “Care for a prayer?”

  (Valley Of Bell – Occupation: Lit/Sanity) (Zero)

  Xander clears his throat. “Dear Heavenly Father…”

  Zero breathes heavily, and no matter how many breaks he takes, his body feels like it will crumble away any minute. Fighting RoT, destroying the first trench, only to be countered by one of the strongest Lit squads, his battle with Ship, destroying Lit’s southern defense at the eighteenth parallel, and now finishing off three squads, one after another. Everything starts to catch up to him.

  “Please give us guidance because we are in our darkest days right now.”

  Eighteen dead bodies surround him, and his muscles feel like they are expanding and contracting. His gaze falls short as steam escapes his mouth once again. Hot, hot steam.

  “In John 16:24, it is said, ‘Until now, you have not asked anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.’ I fasted on it, pondered it, and prayed on it.”

  Dizziness causes his body to wobble. Zero thinks of everything and everyone. But as it becomes more meaningful, his thoughts drift to his mother.

  “Because it seems our friend, our brother, lost himself in this world. But I guess you can say we are lost as well.”

  Zero stands only to stumble over a dead body and trip over another.

  “So I’d ask, guide me as I surrender myself to you…”

  Zero stumbles up again but manages to regain some control.

  “Amen.”

  The white room fades in and out around him. Just as his head throbs, he struggles to think clearly. He might actually be at his limits. Falling against the trunk of a tree, Zero slides down it. Though he doesn’t want to rest, he has no choice.

  You still have more to finish.

  Zero refuses to respond or give in to their constant criticisms.

  So are you finished here? After all you have done… You're done?

  Zero gazes at his unsteady hand until a figure comes into his blurry view.

  “Zero…”

  Zero stumbles back up, warhammer drawn from his inventory. His vision remains blurry as he blinks quickly. Clear as day, his gaze focuses on Cazel.

  “Mate, what's going on?”

  Kill him.

  Zero remains silent.

  “The news these past few hours has had your name and WAL’s plastered all over it. I had to ditch our cape because of it,” Cazel explains.

  Zero remembers the first time he met Cazel. They were young, thinking they could take on the world alone.

  “Speak to me, man. We are brothers in this world, mate. It's been that way for a long time.”

  Zero eyes his best friend, anxious about what his next moves will be. “Are you going to stop me?”

  Cazel’s eyes widen before calming. “No…”

  Taken aback by Cazel's response, Zero questions, “Why?”

  “I’ve always respected your judgment, Zero. You never acted out of character, and I know you’d never harm those you care about.” Cazel’s gaze drifts between the trees, down the hill, and five miles of forest to the coast. Land where three giants will soon meet. Focusing on the dead bodies, he quickly turns back to Zero. “Though I can’t speak for the others… Or even Amos. They could be here any minute, and your confrontation with them will determine that respect.”

  Zero leans back against the tree trunk.

  Cazel walks past him without another word.

  Zero is too deep in this mess he made. But he doesn’t regret it…