FAITH’S POV
I didn’t want to shoot Joseph. He seems to be an honorable man, not to mention he is Harley’s brother. However, he wouldn’t let me leave, and it was none of his business if I was here or not. Therefore, he shouldn’t have gotten in my way. But he did, so I took his weapon, and shot him. The scary thing is, he didn’t even react. No grimace or sound of pain, just… silence. And, after running, he looked back, and saw him, just standing there, staring at me… It was creepy.
I kept running, until I had circled around the high school, and was on my way to the building where Eli had died. Dominika must still be in there. I thought. If she’s not, she’s alive, and I must kill her, to avenge my Eli.
I stopped moving after an hour, when I had reached the spot. The spot where my Eli had died. This is it. Time to see if the bitch is alive. I entered the building.
Inside, I could see a wreck. The entire first floor was destroyed. However, after a quick glance around, I could see that there was only one elevator shaft, and the doors were open. I walked towards them, quietly swinging my M16 off my shoulder, switching the safety off. I peered around the shaft, and I saw a bloody mattress and, after close study, I could see a trail of blood, leading to one of the rooms. I cautiously walked over, and I saw Dominika, sitting upright, bandaging one of her wounds. I took a step forward, and accidentally kicked over the can alarm she had set.
She looked up, startled, snatching her revolver off the desk next to her, and pointed the muzzle of the gun at me. “Faith.” she stated.
“Dominika.” I replied. “You know why I am here.”
“Yes, because I killed Eli in self-defense.” she responded.
I slightly lowered my rifle. “What do you mean self-defense?” I asked.
“Not all these wounds are from being thrown down the elevator shaft. I had multiple of these before that fight. I was injured, trying to tend to myself, when I heard the gunfire outside. When I looked outside, Eli saw me, and ran inside to kill me. I begged him not to, but he insisted, so I had no choice but to fight him. I didn’t even mean to kill him. It was an accident. I hit him, and he stumbled over the banister and broke his neck.” she put her face in her hands, and sobbed, “I would never do that to you, Faith. I lost Ryan not too long ago, so I know how much it hurts to lose someone you love that much. I could never, ever do that to you.”
I lowered my rifle completely, and stared at her, confused. I didn’t expect to hear her side of the story… and everything she said was possible. Only two things didn’t make sense.
“Two questions.” I declared.
She looked at me, and I could see the tears on her face. “Yes?”
“If it was self-defense, why did Eli have so many broken bones? Secondly, how did you survive the fall?”
“The mattress.” Dominika sobbed out. “And I had to keep hitting him… He wouldn’t stop coming after me.” she sobbed harder. “It’s all my fault.”
I dropped my gun, and walked over to her. I pulled a chair over, and sat next to her. “Shh, it’s not your fault.” I said softly, stroking her hair. “It’s not your fault…”
She looked up at me, and hopefully asked, “It’s not?”
I shook my head. “No, it’s not.”
“Thanks.” Dominika said. She leaned her chin on my shoulder, her face inches from mine.”Whose fault is it then?”
I thought hard, and, the more I thought about it, the angrier I got. “Harley’s. He must’ve told Eli to go kill you, no matter what.” I stood up angrily. “Eli, of course, listened, because he trusted Harley! All this, because Harley can’t seem to drop his need for revenge!” I looked at Dominika. “He’s responsible for the deaths of Ryan and Eli. If he isn’t killed, his irrationality will lead to more people dying.”
“What are you saying?” Dominika inquired, standing.
“I am saying that I will join you. I will help you destroy anyone in our way, until Harley is stopped. Even if it means the death of my sister.”
Dominika stood there, speechless. Then, she hugged me tightly. Then she pulled back, her face really close to mine. “Thank you.” She whispered.
“You’re welcome.” I quietly replied, studying her beautiful face. Every scar. Every freckle. The intensity in her blue eyes. Unable to resist, I leaned forward and kissed her. Caught off guard, she didn’t respond for a few seconds, but when she did it was amazing. The best minute I’ve had for a long while. When she pulled back, I gazed at her, disappointed.
“Why did you do that?” She asked. “Don’t get me wrong, that was the most amazing kiss of my life… But why?”
“You are so beautiful…” I lovingly said. “I have always liked you. But I was with Eli, and you were with Ryan, so I never was able to talk to you about it. Now, however, I feel like if we don’t, I will regret it. So...what do you say?”
Dominika gazed at me for a few seconds, her expression unreadable. Suddenly, she leaned forward and kissed me back. “I love you Faith.” she declared. “I always have.”
“Wanna, go upstairs?” I asked her, trying to make my voice sound sexual.
“Sure, what do you have in mind?” she asked.
“Things like-”
KAYTIE’S POV
We are attempting at finding Faith. And Harley is worried.
We are heading to where Harley is sure Faith went, and that is the building where Eli was murdered. Where Dominika’s body should be. Harley’s brother, Joseph, told us that he threw her down an elevator shaft, but anything is possible. We must be ready for anything. I’m glad he brought me. I will help him out the best I can.
I looked around. I know why he chose who he did. He chose me for my skills in combat. He chose Amy, due to the fact that her frontal lobe is gone (yes, he told me) she won't think twice about ending Dominika’s life, if necessary. However, the damage to her brain has caused her to become reckless. And he brought Monte, in the hopes that Monte’s sense of morality will help him grant Dominika mercy. However, I know very well that won’t happen. He is going to murder Dominika if she is still alive, even if she surrenders. And I will help him do it. The bitch just does not deserve to live.
“Kaytie.” Harley whispered. “If Faith is dead, I will allow you to kill Dominika as brutally as you want. If not, she’s mine. Got it?”
I nodded. “Understood.”
“Make sure you remember that.” he quietly stated, turning. We stepped forward, directly in front of the building where Eli died. Harley glanced at us, and, with a gesture, stepped forward, with us directly behind him.
When we stepped inside, I could instantly see something wrong. There was only one elevator shaft, and it was opened, with bloodstains in drips, leading to a room directly across the hall. Harley must’ve had the same realization, because he quietly said, “Follow my lead,” and stepped to the side of the door, using the wall as cover. We followed him, me and Amy taking the other side, and Monte beside him.
Harley peered into the room, M16 at the ready, but lowered it. He looked at me, confused, when an object slammed into the side of my head, knocking me out cold.
HARLEY’S POV
Faith stood over Kaytie, 2x4 in hand.
“What the hell, Faith!” I shouted. I heard the boom of a shotgun, and saw Amy topple forwards, dead, due to the massive hole that was blown into her chest. Behind her stood Dominika, holding said shotgun, which she tossed to the floor. She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could say a word, Monte charged at her, bellowing in anger. He grabbed her, and hurled her into the wall, the one that was four yards away. He charged at her again, still raging.
I heard the click of the hammer of a gun, and, looking at Faith, found myself staring down the barrel of a gun.
“After all this time, you would kill me?” I asked her. “It’s been six years Faith. For fucks sake, how did we go from me marrying you and Eli to you trying to kill me?”
Her hand shook, and she whispered, “Eli is dead.”
“
And that’s it? Six fucking years, of us being steadfast friends, and it turns out Eli-the guy you were dating for only a month when we began talking-was holding us together?” She didn’t respond, but her arm trembled violently. I stepped forward, and slowly began walking to her, still talking. “I always knew if it was Eli or me, you would choose Eli. And I understood that. But you are like a sister to me. Whenever you needed me, I was there. Whenever I needed you, I was there for you. You are going to kill me for Dominika? The one who killed Eli?”
“You wouldn’t understand.” she whispered.
“You’re right. I don’t understand. But I do know this - you aren’t going to shoot me. You told me yourself once. You love me as your brother, as your family. You couldn’t kill me.”
“You’re right.” Faith quietly said, “But the ones who aren’t family- I’ll kill them.” She began to swing the gun downwards, towards Kaytie, but I leapt forward, tackling her. We rolled, and she swung the gun up, but I slashed my Jagdkommando Knife at is, knocking the gun out of her hand. She unsheathed her combat knife, and slashed at me. I jumped back, and hurled the knife at her. She sidestepped, attempting to dodge… which I predicted. The knife slammed right into her left leg, just above her kneecap, exactly where I predicted.
MONTE’S POV
I fought viciously, going head-to-head with her. After recovering from my initial attack, she drew her sword, causing me to draw my machete. In her injured stated, I was quickly overpowering her, despite her range advantage.
“Monte.” she hissed. “You I want dead especially.” she swung her sword over her head, and slashed it downwards, towards my head. I sidestepped, and, when the sword hit the ground, I slammed my foot on the center of the flat of the blade, causing the sword to break like a bundle of hard pasta.
In other words, it shattered. Violently.
So violently that a few shards flew and impaled themselves into my left leg.
I yelled in pain, and stepped back, my leg feeling as if it was on fire. Dominika took advantage of that, kicking my leg, causing me to scream, and my knee to buckle in pain.
She laughed. “To think I thought I was going to lose.” She kicked me in the head, causing an eruption of black and red lights to explode in front of me. I landed on the ground, dazed. I felt a sharp pain as something pierce the side of my head, and then, it all faded away.
HARLEY’S POV
Faith screamed, falling to the ground, and I ran over, pulling out my knife, and kicking her backwards, Leonidas-style. She flew back a few feet, and landed on the ground, dazed. She looked up, saw me pointing my Colt 1911 at her head. I looked up, and that was when I saw Dominika impale the side of Monte’s head with what looked like a shattered sword. I yelled in anger, and that’s when Faith pulled out a pistol, and shot me in the thigh. I shouted in pain, and slammed my gun into her head, knocking her out cold. Dominika started to shoot at me, and I jumped back, under cover, till she had to reload. I ran to Kaytie, picked up her unconscious body, and charged out as fast as I could with my injured leg.
I ran a few blocks before stopping to catch my breath, and because Kaytie’s weight, alongside my injured leg, was causing my knee to buckle. I lowered Kaytie to the ground, propping her up against the wall.
“Kaytie.” I said. I slapped her. “Kaytie!”
Her eyes snapped open, and she grabbed me by my shirt, flipped me, and slammed me into the pavement. I saw a white flash, and when I regained my senses, I noticed the pressure on my chest, and saw her revolver in my face.
“Kaytie.” I said weakly. “That’s how you thank me for saving my life?”
“Oh. Harley. Sorry.” She got off of me, and I sat up, rubbing my head.
I glared at her. “What?” she asked.
“That fucking hurt.”
“Well, sorrryyy. I was protecting myself from potential danger.”
I shook my head at her, and winced. Moving my head hurt. “I’m not a danger to you.”
know it was you at first.” she responded. She studied me, and the realized I was injured. “Shit! You’re bleeding!”
She scrambled over to her supply bag to get her first-aid supplies, only to realize it was gone.
“It was left behind.” I told her, when she looked at me. “It was you or the bag.”
“Fuck…” she muttered. She walked to me, and started rifling through my bag, until she found my first aid supplies. She pulled out a blowtorch, a glove, some antibiotic cream, and gauzed.
“This is going to hurt.” she warned. I nodded, and she put the glove in front of my face. “Here, bite down on this. It’ll prevent you from biting your tongue off.” I nodded again, and bit down. She turned the blowtorch on, and proceeded to cauterize my leg. I roared my muffled agony, and passed out.
I roared in laughter at the joke Ryan told me. It was filthy and dark, my favorite. I looked around at my close friends: Ken. Kaytie. Faith. Eli. Ryan. Dominika. Monte. Joselito. Eveline. Dusk. Jada. A banner was hanging over us that said, “HAPPY 20TH BIRTHDAY HARLEY. I smiled. This meant the horror that has been my life these last few months-it was all just a dream. This was my birthday.
“Harley.” Ken said. “I’m sorry.”
“What for?” I asked.
“This is impossible.” Ryan said. “I’m dead.”
I looked at him, and saw wounds, bullet and blade. I looked at the others in horror. Jada’s face looked like it was stitched together in a horrifying smile. Monte had a sword sticking out of his head. Eli’s face smashed in. Joselito was missing a hand. Dusk, Faith, Kaytie, Eveline, Ken- all bleeding from multiple wounds.
“Harley” Eveline whispered. “I need to warn you. The path you are going down-it will lead to your death.”
“What path?” I asked.
She gestured around the room. “Us. You know very well what we are-we are you’re subconscious’s. You’re closest friends. We represent the different insanity in your mind.”
“So what are you?” I demanded. “What are you supposed to be, my voice of reason?”
She laughed, and pointed at Ken. “No, he is. I represent your awareness of insanity-the one who reminds you of your increasing levels of mental instability. And I am warning you-someone will die, and you will snap.” She gave an evil smile. “Good luck.”
November 20th, 2018, Two Days Later
I awoke in pain, not knowing where I was. I reached for my Colt, only to realize it wasn’t there.
“Hey.” Kaytie murmured. I then realized that she was right there, re-applying an antibiotic to my leg. “How you feeling?”
“Leg hurts…” I muttered.
“That is expected. You did take a bullet from point-blank range, you know.” Kaytie responded, not looking up.
I grunted, and looked around. I saw my supply bag was propped adjacent to the wall I was leaning on, and my equipment was either next to, or in front of it.
“Where are we?” I asked.
“We are twelve blocks away from where Dominika was. Unfortunately, the direction you ran-and the direction I ran-took us further and further away from the High School.”
I shook my head. “It doesn't matter. I’m going to take time to recover, and then we are going after them again. They want to be traitors? Fine. I’ll give them the same treatment I gave Brooke. I made it very clear what happens to traitors. There is no special treatment here.”
“I agree.” said Dominika, walking in the room. She glared at me. “You badly injured my lover.”
“Hey,” I interjected. “She got me back. No need for revenge.”
She shook her head. “I’ve been trying to kill you. You really think I’m going to leave when you are right there, defenseless?”
Kaytie rose, turning. “I will defend him from you.”
Dominika laughed the scorn evident in her voice. “You foolish woman. You really think you can beat me?”
Kaytie unsheathed her blade, and upholstered her pistol. “Let’s find out, bitch.”
Domin
ika mirrored Kaytie’s movements, and laughed again. “I hope you’re ready for the last day of your life.” I rolled out of the way, as their swords collided midair.
EVELINE’S POV
Chaos.
When Harley left without naming his replacement, a feeling of unrest was, well, felt. When the recon group Dusk sent consisting of Oliver, Ace, and Alice came back with the news of Amy’s body hanging out a window, and Monte having been torn limb from limb, and his head on a stick, chaos erupted. Everyone assumed that Harley, Kaytie, and Faith all suffered the same fate. At first, it was only an argument that erupted between Frank and Ace, but then people started taking sides. Now we have full-out combat going on, with Ace, Alice, and Kyanna fighting Frank, Phillip, and Jose. The stupidest thing? They are fighting who the new leader is-Ken or Dusk. And they refuse to listen to anyone. Madison tried, and ended up getting shot in the belly, and had to be rushed to the infirmary by Phoenix and Lance.
Now, they fight on the upstairs floors, and we are down here, hoping no one dies, and trying to figure out what to do.
“You guys really depend on Harley that much, huh?” Joseph asked, as a muffled explosion shook the ceiling. Joseph wanted to go and see for himself, not believing Harley would’ve been defeated by Dominika. However, the injury Faith gave him is too dangerous, as it is too close to his kneecap. According to Phoenix, he shouldn’t walk for too long, as it could lead to the wound opening again, and if he pushed himself even more, he would take irreversible damage to his leg.
“Guess so.” Dusk replied bitterly. “And now he is gone, and everyone has fallen apart.”
Oliver shook his head. “It’s funny. Most of the people out there have talked shit about Harley, and even planned an assassination on him. And look at this. The minute he disappears, they all go insane.”
“You would think comrades-in-arms would get along better.” Joseph muttered.
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