by Vu, Andrew
But I am not dead, yet. Despite the agony I feel mentally and physically, I’m still breathing, I’m still aware of my surroundings. I see the human, dog, and wolf approaching me, guns still pointed straight in my direction.
“Don’t move,” the human says.
“Don’t worry,” I say, moving my lips slowly. “I don’t have anywhere to go.”
“Apollo, Fenrir, go look for the other one, Alex. We lost him in the firestorm with Tiago, he’s probably hiding…”
A bright light hits my eye and it appears to go through the human. His head swings back and I see a cloud of blood puff from his front cranium. He falls to his knees and his back bends on his legs awkwardly. His arms collapse to his sides and the gun in his hands plunges to the ground. Finally, the back of his head slams on the floor. His eyes are still open, glazed over, but I’m sure he was already dead before he hit the ground.
The wolf and dog look stunned and even I’m bewildered by his sudden death. It happens so fast, I don’t even have time to think about what happened.
“Commander!” The dog runs over to his body to see if he is okay, but it’s useless. He’s dead as a doorknob. I see his snout shaking and lips snarling, but his grief is interrupted by someone’s presence. He looks up and I look to the right where the dog is staring.
Things now make so much sense. There I see Alex, smoking pistol in one hand, bomb in the other. Suddenly, I can’t help but jeer a little. At least one of us might make it out alive.
Chapter 31 – Apollo Bradley - Fable
November 17, 3040 4:47 AM
I’ve felt anger a few times in my life, but never rage. Rage is different from anger. When you’re angry, you become mad for brief moments. Perhaps you do something you regret, but there’s still something holding you back from going over the edge.
With rage, there’s nothing holding you back. No morals, no conscience, just raw emotion. It blinds you. The moment that Commander Trevor died, that’s what I felt. It was pure, it was unbridled, it was personal.
Commander Trevor, a mentor, a colleague, an idol, lies motionless on the floor. Blood trickles down from the hole in his cranium, his body bent in an uneasy position. Just a minute ago, he was barking orders while we were in the fight of our lives. He was our main support, I looked to him for guidance not only in this shootout, but in so many other facets of my life. He was the person I wanted to model myself after. I wanted to climb the ranks of the Dog Alliance and eventually become what he was, a respected leader and model soldier.
He was also a good guy. Sometimes you have friends that aren’t truly your friends. Dogs, humans, whomever, that you call late in the night for advice and would be annoyed that you rang. Friends who tell you they’ll see you later, but you never hear from them again. Commander Trevor was far from this. He was a great friend, honorable, dependable, and caring. When times got rough, or when I’d worry about an upcoming mission, he was the guy I could call to make sure that things were going to be okay. It wouldn’t matter when I bothered him because it wasn’t a bother at all. They have that saying about how dogs can be loyal to humans. After meeting Simon, I know that it can work vice versa.
He was a leader through and through. Sure, he had moments of weakness, what human doesn’t, but there isn’t anyone else I would have heading this mission. He commanded the charge against the enemy and he paid the ultimate price for it. He didn’t die heroically, he died from the shot of a coward, who killed him at the least suspecting moment.
I look at the culprit, a whopping, enormous mass of creature and I see nothing but the enemy. This waste of life we call a halfkind is responsible for killing my best friend. I will make him pay dearly. I will give him agonizing wound after wound, and it’s not until I have him, and all his kind, begging for mercy that I will fire my final shot.
We gave them a chance to come peacefully. We tried that with Oscar, yet he wanted to rip Commander Trevor’s head off. We held back against Curtis and he blew our teammates out of the sky. We let our guard down against this freak. No more holding back, it’s time to recognize the enemy and take him down.
“You better stand back,” Alex Lawton says to us as he holds a metal canister. “This thing is like the one Curtis had. I activate it and all of us are gone, so stand the fuck back!”
He looks agitated and scared. His arm shakes, eyes blink furiously, and his snout twitches. He took a coward’s shot at Simon. I see nothing but weakness in him, so I step closer.
“I said, get back!” he yells frantically.
The gears in my helmet move a little and a barrel sticks out.
“Fire,” I say softly.
A shot rings out of my head and hits him directly on his shoulder. His mouth opens wide and he roars out a bellow that echoes through the station. His canister drops harmlessly onto the floor and I see his wound smoking, smoldering as pieces of red and black float into the air.
“Ow, goddamnit!” he says.
“Fire,” I say again.
The shot hits him in his other shoulder and his body twists in reaction. He wobbles back a few feet, as if he is going to fall, but his legs catch him before his knees buckle. The gun he has drops from his hand and falls to the floor. It bounces for half a second until it succumbs to its weight.
“Ugh,” he says. He doesn’t react as strongly to the second one. The pain overloads his mind.
“Fire,” I say once more.
The shot careens forward and hits him square on the knee. His leg falls limply to the ground and causes him to kneel over. His arms are dull, unresponsive, and collapse to his side. He grits his teeth and clenches whatever he can as he tries to comprehend the agony that shoots through his body.
“Fire,” I say again.
Another knee cap has been demolished and blood bursts from it like a broken water balloon. His legs give in and he lands square on his ass. He adjusts his body a bit. The only thing he can control is his back and he tries hard to keep it straight. But it’s pointless.
“Fire,” I say one last time.
This shot goes directly into his chest, above his heart. He instantly falls over backward, head on the ground, looking straight up. He’s still alive, but I’ve completely disabled him using my pistol. Like a surgeon, I’ve dissected my target using nothing but focus and precision. I don’t want to grant him a quick death. I want him to feel every shot piercing him, I want him to know that his demise will be painful.
Fenrir looks at me stunned, but also inquisitively.
“He’s not going anywhere,” I say to him. “Keep your gun pointed at him, make sure he doesn’t do anything funny.”
I walk over to where Tiago is laying. He’s still alive, but his wound and heavy breathing suggest he might not last that long. I don’t have much time to get my answers.
I stare him down and he does the same. His lips are tight, his eyes narrow and unfriendly.
“Where are the other two?” I ask him.
He’s taken back by my question and looks at me peculiarly.
“I don’t know… what you’re talking… about,” he says.
“Don’t play dumb with me,” I say. “I know about the twins, I met them personally. We had briefings on your whole family before our mission. They’re the only two left. Where are they?”
He reacts with a hint of surprise, but goes back to his stonewalled demeanor.
“I don’t know,” he says. “They left with… Oscar and I haven’t seen them… since.”
“Is that so?” I say. “That’s too bad. I was going to offer you some medical help in exchange for the information. Your wounds are bad, but treatable. With the right staff working on you, you’ll survive. Tell me where they are and I can guarantee that they’ll be here in ten minutes.”
“You think… I can still… be saved? You do see what I see… right?”
“It wouldn’t hurt to try. Cooperate and I might even throw in an order to release you.”
He looks at me hesitantly and thinks caref
ully about my offer. “You’re bluffing. The second… I tell you… you’ll kill me.”
“I’m a dog of my word. It won’t happen,” I say.
“Why do you want them… anyway?”
I pause and think about Simon. “Because my commander died before he could complete his mission. I intend to finish it for him. Besides, during my run in with the twins, they beat me. Let’s just say I think they’re dangerous, especially since they have an older brother like you.”
He shakes his head cautiously. “No, you’re wrong… they aren’t dangerous. And I don’t care what you offer. You can throw me a tablet… with an order from the United Species Alliance that would guarantee my freedom… that I’ll never be persecuted again… and I would throw it back at you if it meant ratting out… the twins. I’ve done a lot these past few days… done some horrible things… but this is where I draw the line.”
“You betrayed the others. What’s one more?”
“They’re different. The ones I gave up were useless… incompetent. The twins are special. I’d tear up a million… of your petty contracts.”
“Really?” I ask. “Freedom is a valuable thing you know. Us dogs, wolves, animals as a whole, we’ve spent hundreds of years trying to grasp it from the clutches of humans, and through much sacrifice, struggle, and opportunity we got it. I’m offering it to you for a much lower price. Don’t you want that?”
Tiago lets out a light chuckle.
“I do. But I don’t… trust you.”
“That’s too bad.”
I arm the barrel in my helmet straight at his head.
“No, wait!” someone yells. Alex Lawton’s head is lifts up, grimaces, and looks straight at me. “I’ll take that deal.”
Tiago looks over and, at first, doesn’t seem appalled by the betrayal. It’s almost as if he thinks it’s a joke, that Alex would never do anything so out of line. From his face, I can tell Tiago doesn’t believe the words.
“I want to live, I want to be left alone in peace,” Alex adds on, his face showing nothing but truth.
I don’t sense that he is bluffing. And as Tiago figures out the situation more and more, he doesn’t either. A few seconds ago, he looked confident and skeptical in his brother, but now he looks upset and flabbergasted.
“No, Alex… don’t,” he warns him. “You can’t… trust them.”
Alex shakes his head. “My wounds hurt, but they can heal with the right treatment. If I don’t get it, I’m dead. Also, I can be free if I take the offer. I have nothing to lose.”
“And the twins?” he says desperately.
“I don’t think they’re as special as you do. You’ve revered them for years and I never understood why. It’s your weakness and you’ve taught me that weaknesses should be disposed of. I’m sorry, brother, I’m done taking orders from you.”
“But they’re your… brother and sister,” Tiago says sadly.
“I care as much about them as I do for the others that have died,” Alex muses. “To me, they’re another sacrifice so I can live.”
A heartbroken Tiago shakes his head in disbelief. “Where did you learn… such treachery?”
Alex looks squarely at his brother. “From the best.”
Tiago doesn’t respond, just looks up at the ceiling despondently and remains quiet.
“So,” I say, “where are they?”
Alex closes his eyes and musters the strength to say it. “They’re back where this all started, back on the corner house on Chakming Drive.”
“Thank you,” I say. I think of Commander Trevor. “Fire.”
The blast speeds through my helmet and through Alex’s skull. His head blows backward fiercely and the shot vibrates the rest of his body, swaying it up and down on the ground for a second until it finally stops and he lies motionless.
I then turn my attention back to Tiago. He doesn’t look startled at the events that just transpired, only disappointed. He sees the barrel on my helmet adjust and knows what’s coming for him.
He looks at me and he looks at Fenrir. He closes his eyes and says, “I am no dog… I am no wolf… I am only myself. I am… free.”
“Fire.”
I take a final shot and it screams out of my helmet into Tiago’s heart. He grimaces a tad bit, but with his last ounce of energy, he tilts his head backward in peace and smiles.
I walk away from him and past Fenrir, who has kept the same dismayed expression throughout both killings. He doesn’t say a word, just looks at me with careful eyes.
“C’mon,” I say. “We have work to do.”
Chapter 32 – Fenrir Snow - Sunrise
November 17, 3040 5:32 AM
We’ve made it to 1523 Chakming Drive. It took about twenty minutes, of traversing through the dawn-lit Primm streets, but we are here.
Apollo’s gears have switched, he’s in full rampage mode. The only thing that guides him is his blind fury. Tiago and Alex Lawton felt his wrath for killing the Commander, his teacher, his comrade. Now it seems that the dog is here to complete the job and finish his circle of revenge.
He’s made things personal. Any halfkinds left alive are no longer individuals to him, just enemies that need to be eliminated. He wants to get even. It’s no longer about the mission, or the honor of duty for the United Species Alliance, it’s about himself. Completing our mission will be his final parting gift to Trevor’s corpse.
I find myself in a mixed frame of mind concerning the events that have transpired. These halfkinds may have killed more than half my team and our fearless leader, but I can sympathize with their cause more than our own. If we had left them alone, if the order had never been made by the United Species Alliance, perhaps things could’ve ended peacefully. We didn’t have to kill them, we could’ve co-existed. Instead, the order is the order and it’s caused a lot of unnecessary bloodshed.
We backed them into a corner and the only thing they can do is fight back. It’s for their survival. Unlike the dog, for them it’s been anything but personal. We are their faceless enemy. We are not victims, they are. We are the murderers, it’s just that we murder in the name of our leaders.
Things made themselves so clear during our raid on the Li station. With wrath coursing through his veins, Apollo brought out their vulnerabilities and exploited them in order to finish them off. He tricked Alex and rubbed Tiago’s demise in his face. Trevor’s death has completely transformed him into a dog on a mission, a relentless killing machine that now won’t stop until his friend is avenged. There is no honor in that.
I already had doubts about my role as an assassin for the Brotherhood of Wolves. Now I’m at the brink of quitting. I don’t want to fail my colleagues, but as we get closer and closer to the end, things feel so wrong. These halfkinds aren’t criminals or dangerous crime bosses, they’re civilians.
I think about Tiago’s last words, dog and wolf and himself. What could he have possibly meant? The question leaves me confused and I thought about those last lines on our way here. I still haven’t come up with an answer.
We’re at the porch and the front door is cracked open. The house is dilapidated, the paint, chipped and worn off. The inside looks vacant. Apollo has his scent booster on and gives the ground and air a sniff. He looks around and breathes the smells in deeply.
“They’re here,” he whispers. “Their odor is everywhere around the premises and it’s fresh. Alex was telling the truth. Let’s proceed.”
“Let me go in first,” I tell Apollo.
“Be my guest.”
I nudge the door open with my nose and stick my head out. I look to the right and see nothing. I look to the left and see a cat halfkind with a giant stick that crashes down, right over my back. Crap.
It hits me hard and I fall flat on my stomach. Luckily, my armor absorbs most of the impact, but it still hurts like hell. I roll around so my head faces the ceiling and I see the cat halfkind raise the stick again, preparing for another strike. He swings wildly downward, but I evade it and ro
ll out of the way just in the nick of time. I recover and get back up to my feet.
We stand face to face. He’s lean, but toned. His face is an odd but appealing mixture of whiskers, hair, and a pink nose. His alluring yellow eyes narrow and look at me harshly. The stare down thickens the air with tension. Neither of us are willing to make a move, we stand there and gaze at each other cautiously.
However, a move is made, but not by either of us. Apollo storms in and shoots at Isaac. A blast hits him in the arm and he falls to his side. He keels over, but Apollo continues his assault. He shoots another ball of energy and it hits him again in the arm. Now the cat halfkind is on the ground, doubled over.
The adrenaline takes over his body and the cat halfkind gets up. But Apollo’s attack is relentless. He shoots him again, now on his forearm, and he kneels on one knee, the other hand clutching his wounds. This time he stays down.
“No!” Another voice creeps up behind me and I see his twin running towards him. She lunges and embraces her brother as he struggles to maintain his posture. Her body covers his completely.
“Move over!” Apollo yells.
She doesn’t budge an inch.
“Do it, Iris,” her brother says. “He’ll kill you if you don’t.”
She reluctantly complies and stands to the side.
“Now on your knees, hands behind your head,” Apollo barks out.
She’s frightened and trembling. Tears are rolling down her eyes. She’s about to cry hysterically at any moment. Iris Lawton slowly puts both knees on the ground and raises her hands behind her head.
Apollo looks at Isaac Lawton. “You too.”
Isaac lowers his other knee and raises one arm behind his head.
“I said both arms,” Apollo demands.
“I can’t,” he retorts, scowling over his injury. “You kind of shredded one.”
“Very well,” Apollo says.
I take a look at Isaac Lawton. He can barely open one eye from the pain shooting through his body. His teeth grind so hard they might crack. He inhales in air intensely with intermittent pants coming out here and there. Blood flows down his arm like a steady river flow. It empties in drips and stains the floor with dark, thick crimson circles.