18 Walls

by Teo Xue Shen

  “I assume you’ll be a part of this?” I ask slowly.

  She nods darkly.

  “I want his head as much as you do.”

  “No, no, hold up,” says Raine, shaking her head and blinking furiously. “You’ve been holed up in your room for weeks. You can’t expect to fight like you usually do. And what about your Extension? We all thought you were a Neutral before that. What’s gonna become of it? And…”

  “I wasn’t idling,” April interrupts softly. “You remember the mess I made with the furniture?”

  “How can I forget?” Raine retorts. “That doesn’t mean you are ready for this.”

  “That was practice. Resh saw it the moment he came into my room. He knew that the marks on the door were made by an Extension.”

  Raine continues staring at her, slack-jawed. In the front seat, Ivy’s trying her best to keep her eyes on the driver, sneaking confused glances over her shoulder every now and then. Seeing the looks of disbelief on our faces, April tears off a tiny corner of the map, no bigger than the tip of her little finger. She holds it up, then releases it into the wind. The tiny speck of white flutters off behind the vehicle, until even my sharpened senses can track it no longer. Without warning, something lashes out. The viciously barbed tail of a stingray. April’s Extension. It impales the piece of paper and dangles it triumphantly in front of us. Raine’s jaw clamps shut. There’s no arguing with that.

  “Anyway, you need me,” April continues, her eyes filled with sorrow. “My Extension is the only one that can easily pierce…Rick’s. Which means I can take down the Hekatonkheires, given the opportunity.”

  “Welcome back,” I say dryly, offering her a hand.

  She shakes it solemnly.

  “I hate to interrupt your touching reunion, but we’re about to enter one of the war zones,” the driver cautions.

  “Oh? Suddenly helpful, are you?” Ivy sneers.

  “I don’t plan on throwing my life away,” he spits in reply. “Just you wait. I’ll slit your throats while you sleep.”

  Yep. He definitely hates us. I would too, if I were him. I don’t have time to dwell on it any longer. Bullets begin to fly as we rumble on, right into the centre of a battlefield. Right away, I can tell our side is losing. Wave after wave of Heires stagger forward, annihilating everything standing in their way. Entrenched, wounded and fighting desperately are our soldiers, stubbornly laying down their lives in a valiant but futile bid to halt the onslaught. A couple of the Heires have been rendered useless, their remnants decorating the scorched ground. Groups of soldiers have banded together, using their numbers to wear down and eventually destroy their enemies. Still, it’s hopeless. For every Heire destroyed, at least thirty to forty soldiers are killed. This is what we’re looking at if no one stops the Captain. Complete and utter annihilation.

  “Help!” a voice screams.

  A young girl. She’s the last one left in her group. A Heire has her in its clutches, a snake-like Extension latched onto her arm. Instinctively, I move. Cursing, I leap off the vehicle and slam a pincer onto the Heire’s head, ripping apart its Extension with two other pincers. The girl falls from its clutches, only to be caught by Raine, who tosses her at Ivy. Raine then joins in the fight, striking repeatedly at the Heire with her Extension. It retaliates with horrifying efficiency, attacking us with eight types of Extensions. Tendrils, tentacles, scythes, clubs, pincers and more. This is an impossible fight.

  “Go!” I yell to Ivy. “Get her to a safe place! We’ll catch up…”

  My words die in my mouth. The Heire stops in its tracks, gibbering madly. April’s Extension is sticking out of its head. Somehow, she managed to take advantage of our intervention to sneak behind it and stab it in the head without having to deal with its multiple Extensions. She retracts her Extension with grim satisfaction, gesturing for us to get back into the vehicle.

  “What do we do with her?” Ivy shouts when we return.

  The girl is gripping her arm tightly, her fingernails digging into her own flesh, drawing a tiny stream of blood. Her face is white with pain, her lips pressed tightly together in an effort to control her screams. She’s a brave one.

  “Drop her off at the nearest field hospital we come across,” I reply, scanning the horizon worriedly.

  If our little stunt had been noticed by the other Heires, we’d be dead in minutes. Fortunately, we leave the nightmarish place unmolested, plagued only by the final shrieks of the doomed soldiers, accompanied by the heavy, obstinate retort of gunfire.

  “Where’s the nearest field hospital we can take her to?” Raine asks our frightened driver. “Come on. Hurry up before she dies.”

  The driver hesitates, watching her bandage the wounds of the girl. Then, he comes to a quick decision.

  “Eighty kilometres west,” he replies.

  “Take us there,” Ivy orders.

  She doesn’t have to. He’s already spinning the wheel, changing our course.

  “Who’re you people?” the girl asks, her voice trembling with pain.

  She’s about our age, her short, jet-black hair tied neatly behind her head. Angled jaw. High cheekbones. A vaguely hooked nose.

  “You don’t have to know that, sweetheart,” Ivy says. “We’ll probably never meet again.”

  “At least tell me your names,” she insists. “I’m Kyrie. I owe you my life. If there’s anything…”

  “There’s nothing,” Raine says sharply, but she accedes to her request. “I’m Raine. That’s Ren, Ivy and April.”

  “I’m Max,” our driver introduces himself.

  He could have told her everything. He could have asked for her help. But he doesn’t. Not a single word about our apparent betrayal. Instead, he floors the accelerator.

  “Pull up,” Ivy sighs when a military base comes into view. “I’ll carry her in.”

  Max does as he’s told. Again, he could have driven us right into the clutches of his people. He could have ruined our plans. And yet again, he doesn’t. He simply waits, the engine humming, for Ivy to return. A commotion breaks out inside the military base. Ivy comes sprinting out, vaulting over the gate while shielding herself with those beautiful wings of hers. She makes it to the vehicle unscathed.

  “Those troublesome bastards,” she wheezes, panting heavily. “Can’t they treat a patient without asking me all sorts of strange questions? I’m pretty sure they don’t need my surname to treat the girl.”

  With that, we’re off. Aside from a couple of breaks, we don’t stop till nightfall, carefully avoiding places where conflicts are likely to take place. Unfortunately, time and gas supplies say otherwise. We’ll have to cut through areas similar to the one we went through earlier if we intend to carry out our plans. Keeping that in mind, we settle down for the night. Parked nicely between two gigantic pillars of what could once have been a majestic skyscraper, the vehicle is almost invisible from afar. Still, I’m not taking any chances.

  “Sentry duty?” Raine queries.

  “Took the words right out of my mouth. I’ll take first shift.”

  I go to take over for Ivy, who’s perched on the roof of the vehicle, keeping a close eye on Max and her surroundings. The night is serene, punctuated occasionally by brief bouts of muted gunfire. Sound travels. We must be miles away from the nearest war zone. A puff of smoke rises from the vehicle’s window. Max is sitting inside, a glowing cigarette wedged between his lips.

  “Hey.”

  “You talking to me?” he mumbles, taking the cigarette out of his mouth.

  “Yeah.”

  “What?”

  “Why didn’t you turn us in?” I ask. “You had plenty of chances.”

  “Why did you save the girl?” he shoots back. “She wasn’t part of your plan.”

  Silence. Questions we don’t have answers to.

  “Ren?”

  I turn around, relieved to see April standing by the side of the vehicle.

  “Yeah?”

  “May I have a word?”r />
  I glance at Max.

  “Yeah, yeah, leave your sentry duty to me as well, why don’t you,” he says sarcastically. “Might as well give me a gun while you’re at it.”

  I toss him my rifle and march off, April in tow. The look on his face is priceless. We walk till we’re out of earshot.

  “The Heires,” April speaks suddenly. “Something’s amiss.”

  I wait.

  “Extensions are organic materials, meaning you need a human body to produce them,” she explains. “You can’t just create a machine and attach Extensions to it. Besides, you’ve seen their frightening rate of regeneration. Extension after Extension. No matter how many you rip off, they produce new ones in seconds.”

  She has a point.

  “But a normal person wouldn’t be able to move that fast, right? Nor can we hold so many different types of Extensions in one go.”

  “That’s where I’m lost,” April admits. “You’re right. There’s a limit to how much a person can do.”

  “Maybe further enhancements to already modified people?” I muse. “But that would mean that we’ve been fighting against people all this while.”

  “Does that make you uncomfortable?”

  “Somehow, yes.”

  “Me too,” she whispers. “I hate it. First, the Savages and now, this.”

  Her eyes are haunted. Take care of her, Rick had said. I honestly don’t know if I can honour that wish.

  “There’s something else I’ve been wanting to mention,” I frown. “Now that you brought it up, the creature I fought on Street 51 was clearly agitated by our bullets. In fact, I killed it with bullets. It doesn’t add up. Unless it wasn’t a Heire…but that’s physically impossible for a human being…”

  My voice trails off.

  “I don’t know,” April chews on her lower lip. “We’ll find out soon enough, I guess.”

  When we return, Max is sitting at the exact same spot, a new cigarette between his lips. He looks perplexed.

  “I was joking about giving me a gun,” he says after I bid April a good night.

  “Yeah. So was I.”

  “You gave me your rifle as a joke?” He raises his eyebrows incredulously. “I might just shoot the lot of you.”

  “Except you won’t.”

  “Don’t push your luck,” he sighs, handing me back my rifle. “I’m no saint.”

  “That makes two of us.”

  For the first time, a hint of a smile reaches his face.

  “Say, was that violent red-headed girl telling the truth when she said you were trying to kill the Captain?”

  “That’s the general idea. And her name’s Ivy.”

  “Can I ask why?”

  “He killed my parents. And a member of our squad…”

  “Oh, so that’s the…”

  “But it’s not just that. You’ve seen the Heires. How long do you think Singapore can hold out? How long do you think the rest of the world can last if this war continues dragging out? I can’t sit idly by. If he’s bent on wiping us all out, then we’ll go to him first. This could be our only chance.”

  “You guys are insane,” he chuckles. “But I hope you succeed.”

  Our conversation dies. There’s nothing more to say. The night passes. Early next morning, we’re off, heading directly towards a second, unavoidable war zone. I can’t help but wonder if we’ll make it to our final destination. Our vehicle slows. The path ahead is stacked with rubble, making it nearly impossible to move forward. Before I can ask Max to make a detour, the rubble blows apart. Raine lashes out once more with her Extension, finishing the job. A cesspool of sickening violence is revealed. It’s almost identical to the first war zone we came across. First, all we see are retreating, panicked soldiers, yelling madly at us to turn the vehicle around. Next come most of the wounded and the medics, nearing the brink of exhaustion as they drag themselves onwards, a shiny sheen of sweat coating their grimy faces. Behind them are the stragglers, the ones who stubbornly hold their ground so that their comrades may escape. And finally, the relentlessly advancing Heires.

  We drive through their midst, heading straight for the Heires. We pass the ruins of a building. A group of soldiers have taken cover behind the rubble, firing continuously at their enemies. The expression on their faces is one of resignation as they watch the Heires advance through the hail of bullets. As the Heires draw nearer and nearer, they begin to retreat. One, however, stays behind. The soldier removes his helmet and lays his rifle on the ground beside him. He draws a pistol, sliding the muzzle into his mouth. His finger tightens on the trigger.

  Ping. The pistol shatters. April leaps towards the man, wrestling him to the ground. Max slams his foot down on the brake and the vehicle screeches to a halt. I join April on the ground, holding the soldier back. For a moment, we’re the only ones left standing between him and the Grim Reaper. Raine goes after his retreating comrades. Yep. The same Raine who once said that suicide was a viable choice. Maybe it’s because this soldier still has comrades left on this world. I don’t have time to think. I have to calm him down somehow. There’re also the Heires to consider. To my surprise, April starts singing. That strange, haunting melody about a regretted suicide. The man’s struggles gradually subside, but they don’t cease completely. There are tears in his eyes. Then, his comrades return for him and he’s whisked away, dragged through the rubble and out of sight.

  “Wait!” one of the soldiers calls out. “Thank you! You…”

  “You have no idea how many of your people we’ve killed,” I say softly. “It’s better we forget this ever happened.”

  “REN!”

  Something hits me in the back. It was Raine who screamed. It was also Raine who leapt at me. And also she who absorbs the full impact of a Heire’s attack. One meant for me. Gasping, she collapses at my feet, the air knocked clean out of her lungs. Her Extension saved her life. April takes down the Heire.

  “Raine! Are you…are you…”

  “I’m fine,” she snaps. “Haul ass.”

  I scoop her up and run. Halfway to the vehicle, I realise she’s blushing. Honestly, she chooses the weirdest moments to be embarrassed about herself.

  “Hurry!” Ivy screams from the vehicle. “They’re closing in.”

  This is bad. By the time we reach the vehicle, four Heires are leaping towards us on their monstrous grasshopper-like Extensions, closing the distance at an incredibly fast pace. Two more have been dealt with by April, caught unaware as she skulks insidiously amongst the rubble, a cold, emotionless mask upon her face. That is what they’ve made her. A silent, deadly assassin.

  Thankfully, we make it to the vehicle in time and Max takes us out of there. The Heires turn their attention to easier prey, as if they’re part of a sickening game where the number of people they kill translates directly into points. We press forth, ignoring the cries of the damned which resonate behind us. It’s an awful feeling, to be blessed with the ability to help but unable to do so. A mixture of guilt, anguish and agonising reluctance chips away at my conscience, if I had one to begin with. Shaking my head, I turn my attention to Raine. She has her shirt pulled up, exposing her back. Ivy is inspecting the wound, gingerly rubbing some sort of cream onto it.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be,” she sniffs. “I’m fine.”

  A purplish welt has formed on her back where the Heire hit her.

  “Are you sure? Shouldn’t we get something…”

  “What are you? My mother?” she flicks her hand in my direction. “Buy me lunch after this and we’ll consider it even.”

  “Ooooh, it’s a date,” Ivy chimes in, looking way more excited than any of us. “Can I come too?”

  “Shut up,” Raine mutters, slapping her hand lightly. “And how long are you going to rub that shit in? It’s stinging.”

  “It’s good for you,” Ivy retorts.

  “What’s good for me is a way to make our plan succeed. It’s just a damn bruise so quit looki
ng so worried, will you?” she glares at me. “I didn’t fawn over your ass like this even when you were beaten halfway to hell.”

  “Actually, you kind of did,” Ivy snickers. “You even slept in a chair in the hospital while waiting for him to wake up.”

  “I’m gonna seal up that mouth of yours,” Raine threatens, pulling away from Ivy.

  We carry on until nightfall. Dinner is disgusting. I sit mournfully on the hood of the vehicle, reluctant to take a bite from the packet of compressed ration in my hand. It’s even worse than the mush they served in the canteen. April is sitting a couple of metres away from the vehicle, leaning against a broken pillar. She doesn’t move a muscle, staring blankly into space. I want to comfort her, but I can’t think of anything to say.

  “Let her mourn,” Raine says, placing her hand on my shoulder and boosting herself up onto the hood of the vehicle beside me. “Give her some time. It’s not like you don’t feel it too, right? A certain emptiness he left behind.”

  I nod.

  “It’s not just Rick,” I sigh. “Without Sean and Hyung, it just seems so incomplete and lonely.”

  “Mmhmm.”

  “You know, sometimes, I think we should just give up and return,” I mutter. “At least we get to keep our lives. Whenever I think about fighting against such an impossible foe, I get so afraid I feel like I’m suffocating. I’m afraid to lose you. I’m afraid to shatter whatever we have left. I’m…”

  “Ren,” she says softly. “Be quiet.”

  She clasps my face gently between her hands, caressing my cheek. Her hands are rough. Those stunning blue eyes of hers, once chalked with pain and sadness, are now filled with something else. Hope? Excitement? I can’t tell. Her eyelids flutter shut. Then, she presses her lips against mine. A kiss. Her lips are soft, like the petals of a velvet rose. The rest of the world melts away. I lose track of everything else, existing only in that one moment, both infinite and infinitesimal. My heart is hammering away in my chest so loudly I think she must have heard it. We run out of breath and break apart, wide eyed and breathing heavily. A lock of hair has fallen across her face and she hurriedly sweeps it behind her ear. I’m grateful for the darkness which conceals the fiery red blush on my cheeks. I want to speak, to break the awkward silence between us, but I don’t trust my own voice.