The liquid dissolved the grass and the soil under it. Even the steel rails and heavy wooden railroad ties weren’t spared. The metal sphere of the World Breaker wasn’t immune to the corrosion of the red liquid as it smashed into the soaked ground.
Ethan covered his mouth and nose to protect himself from the awful smells as he turned and ran towards the shadows of the nearby houses. Once he was safely away, he moved through backyards and alleyways towards the stadium. He could hear shouts of alarm coming from inside as the raiders and soldiers inside became aware of the destruction.
As he crept in the shadows towards the stadium, he thought of Madison and the others. He hoped he wasn’t too late.
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
When Ethan reached the stadium, he knelt to hide behind an abandoned car in the dark parking lot. Peeking through one of the windows, he saw raiders and soldiers running from the entrance. Some were only half-dressed, but all of them had grabbed a weapon.
When the number of them dwindled, he crept towards the entrance, sword and knife in hand. He paused a moment in case there was a straggler. Peering into the stadium, he saw that it was dark except for the light of the moon and a large bonfire. He heard no sounds coming from inside.
He continued to creep inside. It was strange being back in the stadium after it had been taken over. When he was last here, neat rows of brightly colored tents filled the football field on the well-manicured green grass. Now, the tents were torn down and tossed aside. In the middle of the field was a large bonfire made from whatever bits of wood and trash the raiders could find. Much of the grass had been trampled into mud by horse hooves and the heavy feet of woolly rhinos.
The Army station was much the same. The large command tent was still there, as were the two large trailers with the generators. They were dark and silent—no diesel engine or fluorescent spotlight tonight.
The satellite dish had been taken down from the tall pole next to the tent and replaced with a banner made from the skin of some huge animal. Painted in blood on the rough hide was a large, strange rune. He thought it looked like a symbol, perhaps their tribe? He didn’t dwell on it. He had more important things to consider.
He followed his memory of the dream as best as he could to find Madison and the other prisoners. He walked past the end of the field that used to be the mess area. The area was still set up with tables and chairs though they weren’t eating pork and beans anymore. He looked away when he saw a human foot near a pile of meat on a cutting board.
He made his way through the dark stadium, silent except for the crackling of the bonfire and some torches set into holes punched into walls. In the distance, he could hear the raiders yelling about something. They sounded dismayed. That pleased Ethan.
He came to the door he saw in his dream. Though he didn’t see it when he was in the stadium before, he recognized it immediately. The details were the same as he saw in his dream, including the padlock bolted to it.
A soldier stood guard in front of the door. It was one of the soldiers who took him to the edge of town and tried to shoot him. He held a round metal shield in one hand and a machete hung from his belt. The soldier saw Ethan approaching but didn’t recognize him with the mask.
“Uh…what’s going on out there?” the soldier asked, shifting his feet nervously.
Ethan tilted his chin at the locked door. “She wants them out there, now.” He hoped the guard had a key.
The soldier nodded meekly. It was apparent he didn’t believe the story, but he also didn’t disbelieve it enough to ask questions. He set the shield on the floor next to him and took out the keys to unlock the door. Ethan strode closer to the guard.
Once the padlock clicked open, Ethan lunged forward and ran his sword through the soldier’s back, the bloody tip poking out of his chest. Ethan withdrew the sword and wiped it off on the soldier’s uniform before sheathing his weapons. Then he opened the door and looked inside, afraid of what he might find.
The smell was awful. The prisoners weren’t allowed to go to the bathroom, and someone had vomited. He heard heavy breathing, some crying. It was dark in there, so he grabbed a torch and went inside.
Just like in the dream, they were huddled in the small room, which was once a storage area for tables and chairs. People sat shoulder to shoulder on the floor in the room. Some sat against the walls, and others were leaning on each other in the middle of the floor.
It looked to be a couple of dozen people crammed into a room smaller than his bedroom back home. A woman cried, “No, please, not again. I can’t take anymore.” The crying intensified.
Ethan remembered and stripped of his mask. “I’m not one of them. I’m here to get you out of here.”
“Ethan?”
It was Madison’s voice. Ethan smiled with relief when he heard her voice. “Yes! Come on. Let’s go.”
The people moved slowly. Many of them were sick or injured, and all of them were exhausted. The healthier ones helped the weaker ones. Ethan helped them out as best as he could. They breathed deeply at the cool fresh air after being locked in the small room.
Madison emerged, and she looked him over in the torchlight. Smiling, she wrapped her arms around him. Ethan wondered if she was always shorter than him. He didn’t remember that.
She looked up at him, tears in her eyes. “What happened to you? They took you away and wouldn’t tell us anything.”
“That doesn’t matter now. I’m sorry I stayed away. I should have come back sooner.” He felt his heart race with her so close and knowing that she was safe.
Andrew emerged soon after, handcuffs still dangling from his wrist, and he smiled at Ethan.
“Thank God you got here when you did, man. I don’t know how much longer we could take it,” he said.
Madison let go of Ethan. “Wait, there are others. They took some people to pull that damn machine. They’re out on the railroad tracks.”
“I know. I already took care of them. They are going to meet us north of here where the railroad meets the river. But we don’t have much time before the guards come back.”
He took the torch back into the room one last time to make sure everyone was out. He saw the bodies of a few people who had already died. Angel was one of them. Ethan sighed at his failure. He should have gotten there sooner.
Andrew patted him on the shoulder, clearly realizing what he was thinking. “There was nothing you could do. One of those Army fuckers stabbed him when he wouldn’t cut up Mrs. Pollan for food. Without a real hospital, I don’t think he ever would have made it.”
Ethan nodded and led them back to the field after picking up the dead soldier’s metal shield. It was just the right weight, strong enough to deflect an attack but light enough to not get tiring. He took them back through the field, past the mess area, and towards the entrance.
“Hello, little brother. I knew you wouldn’t stay away.”
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
Emily.
Ethan turned towards the sound of her voice. She looked and sounded older now. Gone was the pretty, high school gymnast, and now stood a cold warrior dressed completely as one of the raiders.
She wore their black leather pants instead of her yoga pants. Hanging from her hips were two of their knives. She wasn’t topless like he saw at the fire station. Now, she wore black leather armor, which exposed her tanned, muscular arms. Rather than a ponytail, her blond hair was braided back behind her head to keep it out of her eyes. Dried blood covered her face.
Behind her was the monster at the center of all of this. If she was even trying to pretend to be a redheaded girl, Ethan could see right through the illusion. She was taller than he remembered, though still shorter than him. She wore an emerald gown made of an alien fabric embroidered with strange runes in silver and gold thread.
Her skin was black and scaly, which shimmered in the orange glow of the bonfire. Her arms hung by her side, ending with long hands with three clawed fingers. Her face was flat without any nose, only
two vertical slits for nostrils. Her large amber eyes burned brightly with hatred as she strode towards him.
“You were correct, Ammtu. He did return,” she said.
“He’s my little brother. I know him better than he knows himself,” Emily replied.
Ethan kept his eyes on the two of them. “Madison, go. Get them out of here. I’ll catch up to you.”
“Ethan—” Madison protested.
“Just go.”
Emily smirked at Madison as she drew the long knives at her hips. “Yes, just go. This is a family thing. We’ll catch up later.”
Madison kissed Ethan’s cheek before reluctantly leading the survivors out of the stadium. Ethan hoped they would get away before the raiders returned and captured them.
He held the sword and shield in his hands, remembering Emily from the fire station and how fast and bold she was. He didn’t know what to expect from her, but he wasn’t expecting a happy family reunion.
“You know, it didn’t have to be like this. If you had just come with me before, then things would have been different,” Emily said as she readied herself. She held the knives like they were a part of her body, the finely-honed blades glittered in the firelight. “But now I suppose it’s too late.”
Her vagueness seemed like a taunt like she knew something he didn’t and was going to hold it over him just like when they were kids, and she figured out where the Christmas presents were hidden. She knew what he was getting, but wouldn’t tell him.
“Too late for what? What is going on here?” Ethan demanded.
Emily circled around Ethan. They studied each other. “We are becoming who we were always meant to be. We will become the rulers of this new world.”
Ethan pointed the tip of his sword at the reptilian monster who simply stood and watched. If the scene amused her, she didn’t show it. “I don’t think she’s going to let you rule over her. I think she’ll keep you as a pet. Doesn’t Ammtu mean servant?”
Emily scowled at him. “She’s been more of a mother to me than that selfish drunk who gave birth to us ever was.”
Ethan just glared at her.
Emily continued, “You know that’s why she drank, right? She didn’t want to be a mother in the first place. She hated us. You especially. She didn’t want another kid. She just did it to please dad.”
“And then he left us.”
“He left her. I was going to leave, too, as soon as I could. You wanted to be the perfect son, so that’s what you could be. You could stay home and clean up after her for the rest of your life. I was going to run as far as I could. Luckily, something better happened.”
“Yeah, you became an even bigger psychotic bitch than you were before. You never cared about anyone except yourself. That’s why you didn’t like mom. She wouldn’t kiss your ass and buy you stuff like dad did.”
Emily sneered at Ethan. “Good talk.”
She lunged at Ethan, both knives coming in at the same time towards his sides. He blocked one with the shield, but he didn’t dodge fast enough and the other cut across his waist. His leather armor was the only thing that stopped him from being gutted.
He swung his sword at her, but she was too fast. She rolled away, and his blade sliced through air. She twisted and sliced low at his legs, but he jumped back.
She continued around him, staying low. The long daggers punched at his gut, and he was only barely able to deflect her attack with his shield. The dull edge of his metal shield clipped one of her wrists and sent the dagger flying out of her hand.
This set her off balance, and Ethan took advantage, swinging his sword at her torso. With a cartwheel and a backflip, his sword clawed nothing but the air where she had stood.
She charged at him, which was a mistake. His sword gave him reach, and he cut at her only to realize that the mistake was his. She tucked into a roll under his blade and leaped into the opening he provided. Her knee slammed up into his jaw, causing him to stumble backward.
Stars blinked before his eyes so he could not see her next attack, a slash at his sword arm. The sharp blade cut into his forearm, and his sword dropped to the mud. She spun around and slammed the pommel of her knife into the side of his head. The blow drove him to his knees and onto his back, his arms lying out and the shield slipping from his grip.
She jumped onto his chest and smiled down into his swelling face, her glaring eyes surrounded by the crimson blood painted on her face. “Say hi to Dad for me.” She raised her knife over her head.
Ethan recovered just enough to punch at his sister’s face. The blow popped her head back. Seeing the stunned look in her eyes, he punched her again with his other fist. She dropped the knife as she fell backward. Ethan brought his foot up and kicked her in the stomach. A sharp oof of air blew from her mouth as she was tossed into the mud.
She rolled over onto her side to sit up. Ethan grabbed the shield next to him and threw it like a superhero. With a loud clang, it hit her in the face, and she flopped onto her back. She didn’t move again.
Ethan knew he didn’t have long to deal with the true threat. He grabbed his sword and charged at the reptilian monster, who just stood and watched. He held the sword over his head to slash down at her.
She raised a black, clawed hand and said, “No.”
The word and the gesture were simple, and yet Ethan was transfixed. He stopped his charge and slowly relaxed his arms until they hung by his side, blood dripping from his wounded arm.
He stared into her bright amber eyes. The vertical pupils narrowed like a cat’s. He could see that her eyes held him with nothing but contempt, and yet he couldn’t look away. They looked like the warm glow of a campfire on a chilly night.
She smirked at him before speaking, “Let’s just wait here until the Agrabu return. I will enjoy watching you stand helpless while they cut you open before eating you.”
Her words were terrible, but her voice was musical. The same warm feeling he felt days ago returned to his limbs. It crept from his fingers and toes and up his limbs until he was smothered in it. He hoped and dreaded that it would never end. He took deep, heavy breaths as he fell deeper into the black hole of that voice, those eyes.
Out of his periphery, Ethan saw something fly past him from behind. It slammed into the creature’s chest, causing her to stagger back and double over in pain.
The spell was broken, and Ethan lazily glanced down to see what was thrown. A can of pork and beans.
He heard Madison’s voice calling out to him, “Kill that bitch, Ethan!”
His mind cleared, he raised the sword just before the black monster could recover and look up. He slashed, and the savage sword took off her head. A crimson fountain rained from her neck.
A nightmare ended.
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
Ethan stared down at the headless body, making sure it was really dead.
Considering all of the other strange things he had seen and experienced, he half-expected it to stand up and continue fighting like some bad horror movie his father showed him when he was younger.
The amber eyes of the black reptilian creature had lost a little of their brightness but none of their hatred as they looked up at him. He heard a shuffling from behind and remembered Madison.
She walked unsteadily towards him. Fresh blood stained her dirty, pink sweatshirt from where her old wound reopened. Her throwing arm hung down by her side, and her other hand pressed on the bleeding wound.
“Is she dead? Really dead?” Madison asked.
Ethan walked to meet her, checking her shoulder. “Are you OK? You’re bleeding again.”
“Don’t worry about me, just kill her and let's get out of here.”
Ethan followed her gaze and realized that she wasn’t talking about the black monster. She was talking about Emily. He looked over at his sister, who laid still in the mud but was still breathing. He still held his sword in his hand. It felt much heavier now.
“Madison, I…” he paused to find the right words but was
interrupted by the sounds of footsteps and metal on metal. A group of six or more armed raiders and soldiers entered the stadium field.
Leading the way was a bare-chested, pot-bellied raider wearing black leather pants and a horned helmet. In his hands was a large, heavy warhammer, the head shaped like a ram’s skull. Ethan knew he couldn’t take them all and Madison was in no shape to help him.
The raider with the warhammer shouted at Ethan, “You killed my mount! You killed my Qarnu!”
Defiant, Ethan kicked the severed head of the reptilian creature at the crowd facing him. It struck the leader in the legs and fell at his feet. They all looked down. Some of them muttered, “Ilutu.”
They looked back at him, shock and a little fear in their eyes. Ethan saw the fight leave the leader’s eyes.
“I’ve killed a lot of things tonight,” Ethan said in defiance.
Ethan held his sword in front of him in one hand, while holding Madison’s hand with the other. He took a tentative step forward and saw that none of them raised a weapon to stop him.
He advanced, and slowly, they parted aside. The leader glared at Ethan. But the sight of the retreating men told him that there wasn’t going to be a fight tonight. His rhino would have to be avenged another time.
Once Ethan was clear of the raiders and soldiers and out of the stadium doors, he held Madison’s hand and led her through the dark city. He could hear sounds of shouting and fighting in the distance around him.
“What happened to the others?” Ethan asked as they moved faster.
“Andrew led them back to the railroad to go to the river. I came back to help.”
“I’m glad you did, but we need to get your shoulder taken care of.”
They passed by the wreckage of the World Breaker. Ethan was relieved to see that it was truly destroyed. The red liquid had splashed on the iron rails, and gasses rose from where it dissolved them. The railroad wasn’t going to be of use any time soon.
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