Never Say Die

by D J Sternowski-Korzec

  As everyone is having a good time at the party, the General and the other highly ranked military members are searching for Synx’s spy. The spy is at the party, but knows he is being targeted. He can tell all of the highly ranked military members are searching for the person that was responsible for the explosion. He will not attempt to kill anyone at the party, especially Sarah and Raider. However, he will not give up so easily when it comes to killing them. He is going to try to kill them after the party is over. The spy has not received any orders from Synx, because he is out of action. The spy is free to do whatever it feels right to do. He has a plan already set up. There is a deadly trap inside of Raider and Sarah’s household. The trap will go off once somebody enters the home. It will seem as if it was an accident.

  The party is coming to an end. The General and the highly-ranked members of the military did not find the spy, but they do not plan on giving up so easily. They will keep looking for the spy until it is captured. The spy leaves the party and heads back to its house. Sarah and Raider head over to their house after the party is over with the remaining members of their household. They are all very tired and will go to bed immediately. Of course, they do not know a lethal trap is inside of the house. Synx’s spy poked a hole inside of the main boiler pipeline, releasing its toxic gas.

  Unfortunately, Chelsea was the first one to enter the household and inhaled the toxic gas. She immediately shuts the door after inhaling the toxic gas. She pukes and falls down to the ground. Her eyes roll to the back of her head and she begins to drool. They immediately rush her to the hospital and alert the General of what has happened. The General is not happy to hear this news. He will be sending people over to inspect the house and remove the toxic gas. Sarah and the rest of her household will be staying at the General’s house.

  Meanwhile, Synx’s doctors are working on Synx and Gronder’s surgeries. They are making sure all of the holy water and metal from the crossbow arrows are removed from their bodies. They are removing every bit of dead flesh from their bodies. There is a lot of blood and flesh being removed from their bodies. The doctors are putting all of the flesh and blood into buckets. They will be feeding the fortress’s pigs with all of this blood and flesh. The doctors are not having any problems with the surgeries at all. Both of their surgeries are going very well and are expected to be finished a lot sooner than expected.

  In about five days, Sarah and Raider will be attacking Synx’s military base. They will be attacking Synx’s daemonic nursery in hopes of destroying a very powerful weapon or creation. Of course, they will be searching the daemonic nursery for any signs of a new weapon being created or the chamber that contains Gronder. Raider’s squadron, of course, will be the ones to break into and search inside of Synx’s fortress. This time, they will not be searching through the whole entire fortress and get out of there as quickly as possible without running into any trouble. However, breaking into his fortress and not running into trouble is highly unlikely. His fortress is always flooded with guards and military members. There is not one part of the fortress that is not heavily guarded or doesn’t contain any military members. Leah will be joining Raider’s squadron for this mission. This will be Leah’s very first mission. However, this will not be the very first time she has worked with Raider. Sarah and her squadron will be looking out for trouble outside of the military base as Raider’s squadron enters the fortress. Synx and Gronder will be combat ready when Raider and Sarah arrive.

  Chapter 13

  Daemonic Nursery

  Four days later. Synx and Gronder’s surgeries went well and they recovered earlier than expected. Raider and Sarah are getting ready for their next mission. Leah will be joining Raider’s squadron for this mission. Of course, she is very nervous to be going on this mission. She doesn’t know how dangerous this fortress truly is, but knows this is the most dangerous place on the planet. She knows a lot of people have died going into enemy territory and many have been severely wounded. However, she is very glad to be working alongside Raider. They have been working with each other a lot for the past couple of days. Leah helped Sarah and Raider both recover. She also helped them get ready for combat. Synx and Gronder have been secretly training with each other inside of Gronder’s secret training area. They are both very pissed off about the outcome of their previous attack on humanity. They are both very pissed off about not killing Sarah or Raider. But, they will not be giving up so easily and their next opportunity will come a lot sooner than they expect.

  Raider, Sarah and Leah are getting ready to leave for their next mission. Raider and Sarah’s squadrons will each have five members in them. They do not want to have a large group of soldiers, because they don’t want to have a large death count. Leah is very excited, but also very nervous to be meeting the other four people that will be joining Raider’s squadron. She is hoping she will run into somebody she knows very well. Luckily, one of her older sister’s friends will be joining Raider’s squadron. Her name is Shelby. Shelby has been in the military for five years. She is a master crossbow user. The crossbow doesn’t require any ammo whatsoever. The crossbow uses a very powerful energy source that has been blessed. Of course, it doesn’t make any sound when it is fired. If it did make any noise she wouldn’t belong in Raider’s squadron.

  Everyone is getting their gear ready for combat. Leah is getting ready next to Shelby. Leah says to Shelby, “Hello.” Shelby replies, “Hello, Leah. I’m very surprised to see you here, is this going to be your very first mission?” Leah replies, “Yes, but this is only going to be the second time I am in combat. I helped defend the military base when it was attacked the last time. I’m glad to see you’re still alive.” Shelby replies, “I’ll protect you and guide you through this mission. But promise me you will protect me as well.” Leah replies, “Deal, but I don’t think you really need much protection. You probably have the most experience out of all of us.” Shelby smiles and doesn’t say a word. They all get into formation and go over the plan. After they are done discussing the plan and everyone is in agreement, they get into formation and head out for their mission.

  Leah and Shelby are next to each other in formation. They have their guns and melee weapons at the ready. Shelby’s melee weapon isn’t really traditional. She doesn’t have a sword, knife or any form of an axe. Shelby has a lightweight, but very powerful, spear. But what makes her spear so special is she can split it in half and create another spear out of it. Shelby has mastered the use of both of her weapons. She will be the one to watch on this mission.

  Raider and Sarah’s squadrons are making their way through the forest and into the swamp. They are expected to reach the desert by nightfall, if they do not run into a lot of trouble along the way. They plan on getting out of this forest and swamp as quickly as possible. As they are making their way through the forest, they run into a very large creature. The creature looks like a wolf on the left side of its body and a dragon on the right side of its body. This creature doesn’t have a name, because they don’t really know what to call it. The eyes of this creature are red and yellow like a dragon. It has the tail of a dragon and wings on its back. The dragon half of its body is red and the wolf half of its body is gray. The creature takes a moment to realize there is an enemy close by it. Once it spots Raider and Sarah’s squadrons it growls at them to try to intimidate it. It quickly realizes that they are not easily intimidated. So, the creature attempts to howl for backup, but it is killed before it even can take another breath. Shelby fires the crossbow directly at the creature’s mouth and splits it in half. Everyone looks at Shelby, because they are very impressed by the power of her weapon. Her weapon easily split the creature directly in half and killed it. Now that the creature is dead, they are able to move forward.

  Leah is very glad to have someone like Shelby on this mission. Judging by the way she killed the creature, this mission is going to be a lot easier with her around. They have some of the strongest soldiers on this mission. Nobody has anything to worry abou
t, other than their enemy.

  They continue to make their way through the forest, but run into a big problem. There must have been some kind of earthquake or landslide in this forest, because there is a football field sized trench they need to cross over. This is going to take up a lot of their time and they do not know what creatures will be waiting for them along the way. They descend into the trench and make their way across it. So far, it appears nothing has made this place its habitat. But they will quickly learn there is something lurking inside of the trench and is watching all of them.

  Raider and Shelby are the first ones to descend into the trench, Sarah is the last one to descend into the trench. As they are descending into the trench, they are being watched by a very dangerous creature that they have never seen before. The creature looks like a giant salamander with crocodile teeth. It is slowly approaching them and getting ready to attack.

  Everyone from Raider and Sarah’s squadrons have reached the bottom of the trench and are getting into formation. Just as Sarah gets into formation and Raider’s squadron is a couple of yards ahead of them, the giant salamander attacks Sarah’s squadron. The giant salamander charges after them with its mouth wide open at high speed. For the most part, everyone is able to step out of its way and attack the creature. Unfortunately, a promising young man gets torn in half by the giant salamander and gets eaten. The giant salamander flings the top half of his body into the air and down its throat. All of the members from both squadrons attack the creature with their guns or melee weapons. Raider jumps onto the skull of the giant salamander and begins to tear out its eyeballs one by one with his swords and claws. The giant salamander roars and creates a sonic boom as Raider gouges out its eyeballs. The mighty roar from the creature knocks down everyone from both squadrons. The creature is not too happy about losing its eyes. It knocks Raider off and strikes him with its tail. He goes flying into a tree and breaks through it. The tree collapses, but luckily it doesn’t fall on top of him. Instead, the tree falls down next to him.

  The blinded giant salamander shakes its head and tail all over the place, because it can no longer see and is outraged. Fortunately, no one else is killed in this battle. Raider stands back up and charges after the creature. Shelby, Leah, Sarah and another member of Raider’s group kill the creature with their guns by shooting it in the chest and head. The giant salamander cries before it collapses and dies. Now that the giant salamander is dead, they continue to make their way into the swamp and into the desert. Fortunately, they do not run into any more trouble inside of the forest. However, they do run into more trouble inside of the swamp.

  Raider and Sarah’s squadrons make their way into the swamp and immediately run into trouble. There is a very large bear hanging from two limbs of a tree with no skin remaining on its body. The bear is not currently being eaten by anything, but they can tell something was eating it. One member from Raider and Sarah’s squadrons walk up to the bear to examine the bite marks on it. It appears what was eating it is not too far behind and could be watching them. They head back into formation and get ready to attack whatever was just eating it. They all look around for anything that can kill and will eat a bear, but they do not find this creature. So, they slowly and carefully leave this location. Fortunately, they were not under attack by this creature. The creature was hiding underneath them and was waiting for them to leave. This creature is afraid of humans and doesn’t have any plans of attacking one. The creature crawls out of the ground and consumes the bear until there is nothing left. This creature is very small, but very powerful. It is part fox and lynx. Bears are its main source of food and humans are its greatest prey. Humans love to hunt these creatures, because of their fur and tasty meat.

  Raider and Sarah’s squadrons are marching their way through the swamp, but run into another obstacle shortly after they climb up the waterfall. It appears the waterfall was once blocked and created a giant flood. The swamp water has extended a lot. The water is much deeper, denser, wider and darker. There is no possible way to cross this water without anyone drowning or dying. They need to find a way around it or create a boat to cross it. However, Sarah immediately crosses out the boat option, because it will take too much time to create enough boats for everyone to cross and it would be very dangerous with this kind of wood. So, they are all going to walk around this flooded area together. Unfortunately, they will not make it into the desert before nightfall. However, they will not stop moving until they are out of the swamp and into the desert. It is nearly impossible to set up a safe base camp inside of the swamp, because of the soil and water.

  They eventually make it out of the swamp and into the desert without anyone dying or running into any more dangerous creatures. They begin to set up base camp and go to bed as quickly as possible, after they are done eating of course. After everyone is done eating, they are all ordered to go to bed and get a good night sleep. Raider will be sharing a tent with Sarah. Leah and Shelby will be sharing a tent with each other. They are not allowed to do anything but sleep. They aren’t even allowed to talk to each other.

  Everyone is able to sleep through the whole entire night, besides Raider. He wakes up and carefully sneaks out of the tent without Sarah even noticing. He walks far away from the campsite, but far enough for him to see it and for them to see him. He lies down in the sand and looks at the beautiful sky. He accidentally falls asleep and sleeps in the middle of the desert until the morning. Sarah will not be happy with him.

  The next morning. Sarah wakes up and rolls over. She quickly jumps out of bed and leaves the tent to go find Raider. She looks everywhere for him until she sees him off in the distance. He is still sleeping in the desert sand. Sarah marches over to Raider to wake him up. She is not happy with him at all. She walks over to him as he is heavily sleeping and slaps him in the face to wake him up. Raider asks, “What was that for?” Sarah replies with an aggressive voice, “You know exactly what I mean! You shouldn’t be sleeping out here and you know that! Get up and help pick up base camp!” Raider crawls out of the desert sand and walks back to base camp with Sarah. After they are done picking up base camp, they make their way through the desert and eventually make it to Synx’s fortress.

  As they are marching through the desert, Raider spots something in the far distance. He doesn’t bother telling everyone else about what he is seeing, because they are too far away to be a threat. However, he will keep an eye out for them, because he knows how dangerous they are. What he is seeing is a group of highly dangerous hell hounds and their leader. Their leader’s name is Rogue. Rogue works for Synx inside of the desert to keep enemies out or anything that may be a threat to the fortress. Raider has worked with Rogue before. He is a very dangerous creature. Rogue is half hell hound and half demon. He is not nearly as powerful as Synx or Gronder, but he comes very close to being as strong as them. However, Rogue and his hell hounds have the ability to take down a large army all by themselves. Raider really hopes they do not run into them along the way. There will be no chance of surviving an attack by them. Rogue and his followers are stronger than Synx and Gronder altogether.

  Fortunately, Raider and Sarah’s squadrons do not come across Rogue and his followers. However, they do run into a deadly sandstorm along the way. They all lay down in the desert sand on their bellies with their faces in the sand. They all hold each other’s hands and brace themselves for the sandstorm. Unfortunately, a member of Raider’s squadron dies from the sandstorm. She was holding hands with the Leah before she died. The sandstorm was so powerful it lifted her off of the ground and threw her sky high. She was thrown up into the air so high it was impossible for her to survive. She comes slamming into the desert sand, but she died from impact on the way down. After the sandstorm is over, they all take a look at her body. It is not at all a pretty sight.

  Now that the sandstorm is over, they make sure everyone is doing okay and nobody has severe injuries. Of course, Raider will be doing all of the healing to those that got injured. Luckily, nobo
dy has huge injuries, so the healing process doesn’t take very long and they can keep moving forward. After they are all done being healed, they check out the body of the fallen comrade. Her name is Cynthia. Cynthia did not have a lot of experience on missions, but she did have a lot of experience analyzing dangerous creatures. She has nearly read every book the World Army has to offer on dangerous creatures. It is a shame they lost somebody this smart and intelligent. Cynthia’s body has very few patches of skin left. The sand on her body tore up her skin and flesh and dug into her bones. It was a very painful death, but it was quick. After they are done paying their respects towards Cynthia, they continue to head towards Synx’s fortress.

  Eventually, Raider and Sarah’s squadrons arrive outside of Synx’s fortress. Sarah and her squadron lay down on the desert sand to protect Raider and his squadron from any potential enemies or threats. Sarah and two of her members will be watching Raider and his squadron. The other member will be looking out for any threats behind them. They all have to alarm everyone about what they see if there is a potential threat. Raider and his squadron make their way into Synx’s nursery. Raider and his squadron are all very nervous, because this is the most dangerous place on the planet. Also, there is a good chance they will run into Synx, Gronder and the remaining wives of Synx. The last thing they need is to run into any of them. They will be extra careful when entering the fortress.