I sprang up, ready for anything. We were in what may have been an area designed to dispose of hazardous materials. At a closer glance, it was indeed acid beneath us. It vehemently glowed with an orange-yellow, inspired to burn like the sun. Miller slowly rose to his feet; his age must have made the impact all the more painful. His face looked like it had been dipped in the acid that swam beneath us now.
“You are going to get us KILLED!” he shouted. I couldn’t help but laugh at the irony. This elicited a primal scream of rage ripping its way out of his throat. I was shaken by his complete descent into lunacy.
“I earned everything I’ve taken! I took it from those who were weaker than me! Doesn’t survival of the fittest mean anything to you idiots?! Why do you think your stupid friend died out there? Do you think it was an accident?! Do you honestly think he should’ve walked away intact after trying to take me head-on?!” he continued his rant. His commentary on Ortiz was too much.
“What about everyone else out there who worked for you and is dead because of it? Lesser men than him, what did they do to deserve what happened to them? Everyone in those god-forsaken hospitals, Miller!” I shouted back.
“THEY WERE THE ONES STUPID ENOUGH TO LISTEN TO ME! People will follow me like sheep because I know EXACTLY what they want to hear!” he yelled before picking up and throwing my way another steel pipe that was on the grate. I ducked down, and it landed a few feet behind me. I went over to grab it, and the moment I held it, I felt Miller smash yet another into the back of my head. I fell face-first into the grate, and he pounded the pipe into the back of my head again. I started to panic when I felt a sharp jolt of pain when the second swing hit; the medication was wearing off! I made a pitiful attempt to jab the pipe I had into his knee, but he avoided it just in time. He kicked me onto my back, so I could see the malignant glee in his eyes. He raised his pipe high, ready for a final blow.
Without warning, about ten feet away, a geyser of the acid shot up! Miller ducked down to avoid any spray, and I took my opportunity: I used every ounce of strength I had to jab Miller in the stomach, and he fell to his knees. While he was still huffing on the ground, I turned to see if there was anything on the other side of the steel catwalk. As I ran forward, I felt Miller’s own steps rattle the grate. I turned to see him limping along, pipe in-hand, still hell-bent on bringing my demise. Every one of my own steps was getting more painful as the head trauma I endured was starting to throb. The moment was ruthless; I couldn’t afford to feel pain then!
My vision was getting blurry and each one of my steps made me more unconfident. The acid flow became more erratic beneath me, lashing out more aggressively, biting more ferociously with every passing moment, sending flashes of orange and yellow soaring. I gripped my pipe tightly, and awaited Miller. Every step I took facing away from him was another chance he had to commit another deadly act upon me while I had no way to defend myself. I turned, and when he was close enough, so close that I could see his singed eyes, he clumsily swung it forward, hitting my own pipe squarely. I swung my own after his blow, aiming for his wrist to knock his weapon into the lake of fire below. This only aggravated him further. His onslaught became quicker and much more precise until he knocked MY weapon into the acid river! I turned away and ran again, deciding to risk the chance that his aim would be good enough to incapacitate me.
Up ahead, I saw an end to the catwalk. I expected to find a solid wall, no way to escape, except… what’s this? It seemed to be a mirage until I got closer and realized that it was no illusion. Through the steam, I saw a natural bridge seemed to ascend to the next level. That is, it seemed to be a ladder of tree roots, native leaves and all. Its limbs twisted up to the next platform; it seemed to grow abnormally out of the iron wall, as if nature was challenging this man-made facility. Up there, I could get a glimpse of a control panel, also with the trees and leaves sprouting from it. Once I got closer, I could see several Sci’Lyk on it! They were stomping on buttons and pulling wires, and every action yielded a different result. Some actions resulted in massive geysers like the one from before, some caused vents in the ceiling to hiss steam, and others opened and closed doors on even higher levels.
I could barely believe how these miniature creatures were able to bend nature to their will, mastering architecture both technological and earthly, convincing Mother Nature to hand over the keys to the kingdom. Trusting this earthly bridge that the Sci’Lyk no doubt created with their incredible building ability, I grasped it, but it felt like it was bending in my hands. I took a deep breath, and without looking back, threw myself upon this ladder of timber. Its beams slowly started to snap, so I quickly climbed up. I reached out for the metal platform above, but felt Miller grab my leg! He yanked on it, trying to pull me down, but I was already too far up for him to have a good grasp. He exhaled in fury, and put one of his legs upon the ladder. It started to snap, but his vengeance had no bounds. He put all of his weight upon it now, and with a deafening creek, the bottom half of the ladder fell, along with Miller.
His body and the branches slammed into the catwalk. I held onto the branches tightly, waiting for his next move. When the bridge he laid on groaned, I realized that there wouldn’t be a “next move”. It squealed and collapsed, sliding him into the damning stream below.
“No…!” Miller whispered to himself with wide eyes. No matter what he had done, my human instincts forced me to reach my hand out to catch him, but he was already far gone. His body fell into the acid along with the branches that were broken. Both immediately started to steam and hiss in immolation…
I pulled myself up to the second level. The Sci’Lyk stopped yanking on wires and levers, and simply stared at me. I quietly scooped them up in my arms, and they hardly reacted. I found a metal door off to the side, and opened it.
Ironically, there was a stairway that descended to the ground here. It twisted around this steel obelisk of lances, and each step felt like it was going to give out under me. They creaked out, whining, begging, asking, “Why don’t you just go home where you belong?”
“I wish I could…” I found myself whispering to them. Or was it to the observant darkness? Or the Sci’Lyk, the otherworldly creatures in my arms?
My adventure was finally over. There were parts of it that I would carry for the rest of my days, whether I wanted to or not. I knew deep down that Danni would always be by my side, but what about Eddy? What would happen now that Miller was gone? And just because he’s gone, the buala is still running rampant. What of that?
At the bottom step, near the gate that I knew would open obediently, the realization barreled into me.
Miller was dead.
As foolish as it sounded, I knew what had happened but it didn’t catch up with my brain until I had a moment of peace to process it. I was caught in the moment, simply fighting for my life. My conscience was split in two: had I seen a human being burn from his outermost layer to his very core, or did I watch a monster being dragged back to hell by its ankles?
I walked on toward the wall at the base of the stairway, and it hissed and crackled open. Sparks leapt at me, and my first instinct was to protect the Sci’Lyk as I made my shoulder the target of the electric burst. After studying what was beyond the shower of sparks, I realized that I was at the grave of the turret that slaughtered Ortiz. Even from beyond a sin-ridden grave, Miller’s blatant disregard for logic played with and teased the minds of his opponents. I couldn’t imagine how the spikes had all gone away, how a stairway appeared in their place, or how I ended up above ground when I was certain I descended a staircase in the basement of the tower. I shook my head, and eased my weary curiosity with whatever answer it pointed to first. Optical illusions, Penrose architecture, whatever was good enough to fill in the blanks. I shuffled my way around the wreckage and leapt onto the dirt. Danni and Eddy glumly sat with Tank, who had been fully repaired. Their eyes lit up when they saw me, especially with the Sci’Lyk in hand. Both ran up to me.
“Leo! What happen
ed? Are you ok? Why are they here?” Danni asked a million questions per minute.
“God… Miller’s dead. I pulled the smoke grenade, it bounced off of a lever on Miller’s desk… we fought in some sort of acid pit. He beat me up pretty bad, but I found these guys messing with the controls!” I held up the Sci’Lyk.
“He ended up falling into the acid and dying… and here I am. I don’t know how the Sci’Lyk got there, I’m just glad that they were…” I continued.
“God only knows how they could’ve come along with us… I guess it’s possible that they hopped in some of the cargo we brought along, and snuck inside when we weren’t looking…” Danni offered her own explanation. The three of us wordlessly looked around. Ortiz’s body had been fully cremated. U.S.P.L. soldiers prepared for the long trip home. Guerilla fighters mourned their dead leader. Jahnged’s corpse was sprawled near the gate to the spire; there was no doubt in my mind that Beich would love to get his hands on such a specimen.
“Now where do we go…?” I asked to no one in particular. I received no response, but instead looked over the land. Miller was out of power, and the power he once held on the world was loosened. Chaos still ran rampant, but perhaps another chance to restore order was given. In a way, without Miller, the rules of the land were even more loose. Any factions that ran at the very sight of him before may come crawling back out of the shadows.
“Well…we need to get the guerillas back to the junkyard. The ones who stayed there must be worried like hell, wonderin’ what happened.” Eddy reminded us. As if under a spell, the whole convoy began the trip back, but this time, with heavy thoughts. They were no longer charging into battle for the spoils of victory, but were now returning with the scars of war on their minds. Eddy, Tank, Danni, and I followed in their dusty footsteps, Sci’Lyk in hand.
Later in the day, the sun was beginning to dip below the horizon. Its decent reminded us that life was far from over, and those that fell were in a better, less chaotic place. The night would come and go, and just as it faithfully did for countless generations, the sun would return. Besides, would they really want us to mourn their death for the rest of our lives?
After a few moments of our reinvigorated steps, we came upon the bloody scene where we had been ambushed, haunted by black and red blood. Limbs were scattered on the land that was once green and peaceful but devitalized by swift disease and combat.
Hours later, the mad junkyard came into sight far quicker than any of us hoped. Even after the entire convoy arrived at the gate, the keeper refused to raise it.
“This door won’t open without Ortiz’s permission!” he defiantly stood. His loyalty was boundless, but would do him little good at this point. Nobody in the crowd wanted to break the news, but it had to be said.
“Ortiz is dead. But Miller is too.” I yelled to him from the back of the crowd. Just as I suspected, he couldn’t believe it. Who could blame him? The guard looked over the crowd, hoping he’d find some sort of impossible semblance of his leader, his master. When he didn’t find it, he dutifully raised the gate without another word. The guerilla warriors stepped back into their lawless home without any sort of goodbye. I felt awkward in this bitter farewell, standing amongst the U.S.P.L. and parting guerillas. The gate shut after the last mech trailed through the dirt.
Even though the U.S.P.L. turned to head home, Danni and I stood in place. After all the two factions had been through, they didn’t even exchange a single goodbye? Ortiz had died in combat, but it was for a worthy cause… There was no doubt in my mind that if he foresaw his death, his resolve wouldn’t have faltered at all. Wouldn’t there at least be a bittersweet acknowledgement of that mixed with the mourning?
Our response came in the form of a sharp tooth that was thrown from behind the gate. Its tip was blackened, and it was about six inches in length. Danni and I held it, knowing it had come from one of the mutants. Before we could ask, we received an answer that would strike inspiration into any man’s heart.
“It’s from the first one that Ortiz killed, a souvenir that he wanted us keep. We’ll never forget him, but we’re not helpless without him.”
“LEO! DANNI!” we heard in the distance, coming from somewhere in the U.S.P.L. convoy heading back home. Eddy, Tank, and the rest of the convoy were far off in the fading desert. We threw the tooth into our pocket, and made a mental note to keep it somewhere safe.
The U.S.P.L. HQ after the earlier attack was a pitiful shadow of its former self. Steam was streaming from its sides and tip. The bodies of mutants were strewn across its perimeter, even mutants we had not seen before. Not only were there the chaotic and ferocious red devils, but there was a breed we hadn’t seen yet. They had spider-like appendages sprouting from their human back. Most had their hairy legs blown off, but this only increased the disturbing factor of their appearance. Their human portion had shriveled limbs and a neck that was twisted beyond belief. I felt blessed that Danni and I never had to face them in combat.
The U.S.P.L. soldiers filtered into the base. One by one, they crawled back inside, just like the guerillas had. Eddy and Tank stayed outside with Danni and I. We watched the rest of the convoy pour in until every soldier was accounted for.
“It’s done.” Eddy sighed. We silently nodded, and stared at the burning tower. Eddy interrupted our thoughts.
“Well…now that we’ve fought Miller with the guerillas, things should go a lot smoother. Think about it. The news’ll spread quick. As soon as a cure is made for buala, we’ll kill what’s left of the mutants, and rebuild. We’ll rebuild everything. Nobody can stop us now. We made history! We’ve never had to deal with anything like this, but we made it through! We can make order again…” Eddy sighed once more.
“What do you expect us to do now?” I had to ask, pointing to Danni and myself.
“You two…? Well…you’re free. You’re not drafted in anymore, you’ve fulfilled your obligation. There’s nothing left that you can do. In fact, I CAN’T keep you here, you know I would. I could justify keeping you around for your blood, but everyone else wouldn’t let me keep Danni around…” he shrugged. It didn’t even need to be said that I wouldn’t stay if Danni couldn’t.
Panic struck me, and it must have hit Danni just as hard. “You can’t! There’re still mutants out there! We’ll get killed!” Danni pleaded.
“Relax! We’re tightening up security as we speak. As soon as one district is clear, we’ll move on to the next and the next and the next. We’ll clean the whole world, just like I said before.”
“Who’s ‘we’ when you want nothing to do with us…?”
Utter silence, except for the sound of Sci’Lyk scurrying around in my pockets and on my shoulders.
Danni and I trekked back to the ruins of the city after we realized we were unwanted. We kicked around an old can of soda that we found lying in the shadows of weakened titans. The sound of its dented body being kicked resonated through the empty city, trying to guide any who had lost their way.
“Hey, you know what that is?” Danni turned and pointed to a crumbling building. Pillars once held it high, and their design was inspired by Greek times, just as the prison’s was. Also much like Greek times, their history was worn and simply a memory now. It had a triangular roof with a circular window.
“No, what is—er, what WAS it?”
“It’s the court where you were tried.” she replied. I decided to walk up the short steps and take a look inside the ghost of a place that condemned me. Danni followed me inside.
Dust particles hung heavy inside, trying to choke any who dared step inside of their graveyard; it was theirs to own, Father Time rightfully said so. Danni and I were foreign invaders, just like Miller or the buala. We swept away the cobwebs, shambling the homes of the spiders, just as Miller or the buala swept away our own homes…
“It’s kind of scary how much this place went to hell after the attack, isn’t it…? It really wasn’t all that long ago.” Danni shuddered as she mused.
“Yeah…It’s like they sucked the life right out of this place…” I touched the wall and it crumbled under my hand. It revealed the side of a courtroom that was hastily built fairly recently, but for what it was worth, it may as well have been ancient at that point.
A gavel sat unattended. The rows that used to be filled to the brink were empty. I even saw the seat I once slid down, helpless. I walked up and down the aisles, trying to pay respect to the scrutinizing silence.
Danni and I left the room through the usual door instead of the wall I accidentally smashed down. Out here was a lobby much like the one in the prison. I made a mental note to go back there, too.
I cautiously ascended the stairway that was off to my left. The rail was full of dust, just like the rest of the city. Danni followed a few steps behind, ready to take action if the stairs gave out. We got to the top of the stairs without any issue, and looked outside the round window we saw before. The courthouse stood proudly, high above most other buildings in the city. We were able to see the roofs of buildings close by; we could even see the tiny little can we were kicking around, shining in the little light in the city, calling out for someone to cure its loneliness.
From our perch, we could see the massive prison. It still stood strong, but in the way that a once-powerful fortress was still threatening, yet held power over none.
“Do you wanna…?” I asked Danni, knowing that she knew exactly what I was talking about. She shrugged, and began the descent back down the stairs before me. I followed her and increased my pace until I was by her side.
We threw the doors of the courthouse open. The rotten air flowed in and out. We began walking once again to find the memory of the prison again. The little soda can still glimmered for us, but we left it; the gray skies didn’t give it the luster to call with any measure of strength.
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