by Leigh Vernon
The men brought their guns down.
"How the hell did you find me, man?" Gabe asked, getting up from where he was sitting.
"Find you?" Justin replied. "I wasn't even looking for you."
Gabe extended his arm and Justin took it in his own.
"It's been what?" Gabe asked. "Six years?"
"Eight, if you add those two years as well."
Gabe nodded and burst into laughter. The others stood, watching the exchange.
"Hey y'all, this is my man, Justin, and he's a very good guy. If he says he needs help, I'll help him. You with me?"
The others echoed their consent and Gabe turned back to the duo.
"Who is this?" he asked, turning to face Sarah.
"She's with me," Justin answered.
The big man nodded and allowed the through to the others. When they were seated, he noticed the bruises all over them and asked how they got those bruises.
"We've taken down as many of them as we could," Justin answered. "But there's more."
"How many?" Gabe asked.
"Probably twenty - or maybe fifty. It's hard to tell," Sarah answered.
Gabe turned to the others. "When I was alone out there on the street, without anything to my name, this man here, Justin, helped me. Found me a place to lay my head and put some food in me big belly. He's my brother, and now he's your brother too."
"Yeah!" The men answered.
"And what do we do for brothers?" He asked loudly.
"We help them!" They answered.
"But the people after him, who are they?" One of them asked.
Gabe grabbed the man by his collar and pushed him into the table in front of them. "Did you not hear when I said he's your brother?" He asked. There was something in his voice that scared Justin. Gabe was now a street dog.
"Let him go," Justin said to the big man, who let his hands off the man on the table. "We have a bigger enemy out there, one who will stop at nothing till the entire world is destroyed by his own greed and thirst for power. As it stands, we need all the help we can get."
Gabe laughed quietly for a while before he spoke. "I might have tried to show the man who's boss here, but he's right to have asked. Who are the people after you, and what's this talk about the end of the world?"
Justin heaved and sighed deeply. He unhooked the sword and dropped it on the table. "They're after us, and they're after this."
Gabe picked up the sword. "This is just a sword like any other. Why would anyone be after you for it?"
Justin snatched the sword back from him and stuck it into the middle of the table. He brought his hand to it and cut himself with the edge of the iron button on Gabe's coat. The sword glowed as the blood touched it, sending the others back from the table.
"He wants the sword because it's the only thing that could stop him, and he wants me because I'm the only one who can wield this sword. He has tried once and he was defeated - or something like that. He will not stop coming until I am dead."
When Justin finished his speech, Gabe grabbed the sword from the table and watched the glow fade out slowly.
"It's the Black Jade sword," he said as he felt the sword in his hands. "I never thought I would live to see this. I mean, the sword is some legend out here," he added casually.
"Will you help us?" Sarah asked. "We don't know when, but they will find this place. And when they do, we'll all be in danger."
Gabe grinned at her and returned the sword to Justin. "First of all Justin, you're a pure breed. That's dangerous to us all, very dangerous, because you might just get out there and turn on everybody. Secondly, you need to give me a name."
"A name?" Justin and Sarah asked together.
"Yeah, you know. I need to know who we're really up against."
"How about the Mayor?" Sarah said to him with a crooked look.
Gabe froze for what seemed like a long time. "The Mayor?"
Justin nodded. "Yeah, he's the very one."
"Boys, grab them guns! Now!" Gabe cried to the others who sprang to their feet and headed towards a large part of the church. They opened the door and a closet of different ammunitions was revealed. "You want one?" Gabe asked the two of them as he also grabbed a shotgun.
Sarah nodded, and he grabbed two semis and threw them towards her. She caught both with each hand and weighed them.
"She's good," one of the men pointed out.
"Very good," Justin affirmed. He walked to the closet and grabbed two pistols for himself. They had silver coatings round them.
"You sure you don't want something louder?" Gabe asked, beaming.
"Nah, I'm good," Justin answered
"Incoming!" Someone shouted from the group, and they all took cover.
The door of the church shattered into pieces as an RPG was launched at it. Men began to pour in, each one dressed in red and black masks.
"That's huge," Gabe said from where he was. "It's the nut jobs from downtown."
He was referring to a group of ex-military men known as the Cracker Jacks who had become mercenaries for hire. Most times, they acted as bodyguards or escorts for men who wanted to show the extent of their power or move cash around. This time was different; they were really doing battle and Gabe knew they had enough tactics up their sleeves.
"Men, you're in a lot of trouble," he said to Justin. "The Cracker Jacks? Really?"
Justin shrugged. Sam wasn't leaving any stone unturned this time around. He hadn't expected the little fight they had had to turn into an all-out war. Though outnumbered, they weren't outgunned, and it was a good thing he had support; otherwise, he didn't know what would have happened by now.
"Stones, cover!" Gabe shouted out.
A man got to his feet and threw tear gas at the enemies. Three others followed in quick succession before one of them shot the man down.
"All right, let's go!" Gabe shouted.
He rose first, taking out three men at once with his shooting skills. Justin let him draw fire to the other side before he took out two to his left and one who was coming around to the right. He bent quickly and examined their position. The Cracker Jacks were trying to box them in, the same thing the soul eaters had tried to do. Why were they doing that?
"Sarah!" He called. "They want us boxed in."
She nodded and rose in time to shoot at a man running towards her with full speed. Someone got hit behind her and screamed in pain as he dropped to the ground. Justin had moved to the other side, using his powers and not the guns as he took out two more. Sarah realized he was trying to stop their assailants from cornering them.
"Quickly, to the edges!" She said to the two men with her and they all moved slowly, returning fire behind the pews they used as cover.
Justin wasn't doing bad on his own; he had taken out two more men. Gabe was trapped in between two pews. They had got him pinned and were moving in on him slowly. Justin ran around the pew, stabbing into one of them with the sword quickly, and Gabe looked up at him with eyes wide open as he helped the man up. Someone fired a shot and it hit Justin from behind. Gabe's eyes flew wide open, thinking the man would drop down dead. Instead, Justin shot his assailant without even turning to look.
"What the...?" Gabe cried. "You're badass now."
Justin didn't answer – instead, he told Gabe to bend as he shot two men who had positioned themselves well behind the big man. Using Gabe's head as a propeller, he jumped over two pews at the same time, slashing a Cracker Jack as he came up to shoot. Gabe's mouth hung open; it was like he was watching a high definition action video. He realized the enemies were retreating and got to his feet. That was a costly mistake.
Justin saw her first. He knew Gabe was dead the moment he raised his head. The bullet lodged into his skull, pushing the big man into a pew as he died.
"No!" Justin shouted.
The retreating men saw the advantage and began to return. Justin looked back. They had only seven men left, and there were more than thirty enemies approaching. There was only one t
hing he could do.
He grabbed his sword and ran forward towards the advancing men. The first one got cut and fell instantly. The second one managed to shoot him on the leg before he cut him down. The others huddled close to each other, measuring him up as he stood before them. One of them fired at him and hit his shoulder. Justin ignored the pain and returned fire, catching the man in the head. He shot two others before he realized he was out of bullets. The men regained their confidence and two of them with Uzis fired at him. He withstood the onslaught long enough to get close to them. His skin had turned fiery red and he glowed brightly as he grabbed the guns first and broke them with both hands. He cut the men down with the sword and walked into the middle of the others.
"Let him be!" Gianna ordered them. "He's mine."
She got into the circle formed by the Cracker Jacks and faced Justin, who was still seething with anger. His skin was still aglow.
"Looks like you're getting to know just how powerful you are," she teased him.
He didn't answer as he measured her up with both hands on the sword. She walked round and round him till he began to get tired of the walk. He lashed out at her and she ducked, kicking him back as she did. He turned around and slashed at her. She was able to get away from being cut down completely, but the sword found a mark on her neck. She yelled in pain and turned towards him suddenly. She grabbed his hand and twisted it roughly, expecting him to cry out in pain. Instead, he twisted his hand free and landed a couple of punches to her head. One of the Cracker Jacks was unfortunate enough to try to take him out during the fight. He got a bullet for his troubles, smoke rising from Sarah's outstretched gun.
The others turned quickly and attacked Sarah, who had organized the remaining men properly. She ducked as one of them made to fire at her and shot him in the groin. He screamed and fell. Another one ran around her and tried to grab her. She propelled herself forward and returned with a blast to his head.
Justin was winning the fight with Gianna again. This time around, he was even more brutal than before, raining punches upon punches into her midrib. She howled out in pain and grabbed his hand when he launched the next punch. He tried to get away from the hold and got a kick to the back of his head. He let her go as she dropped him, taking a pose to wait for her next attack. She got her pistol instead and shot at him. He brought the sword to his face and cut the bullet off.
Gianna was shocked at the stunt he just pulled.
"You have no idea, do you?" He asked. He lunged forward suddenly, slashing the sword at her.
She ducked and dodged and wove her way out of each slice, determined not to let him best her to it this time around. He stopped and stood away from her for a while, trying to regain his breath.
---
Sarah grabbed the man beside her and shot him in the chest. Using him as a blockade, she advanced to another one and grabbed him too, shooting him in the chest as well. The third man ran back quickly, but was caught by a bullet from one of the others behind Sarah. A Cracker Jack must have been too confident, as he tried to shoot at Sarah from where he was; she blasted him through and watched him fall down, dead. She looked behind her to realize they had three men left. The enemies still numbered over fifteen.
Justin dodged Gianna's oncoming kick and returned with a punch of his own. She staggered back, obviously caught by surprise.
"You're stubborn," he said to her. "How many times do you need to die before you realize you can't win?"
She snickered and spat out blue blood. Her chest rose and fell in quick succession as she turned round and round, matching his place as he did same.
"Is he worth dying for?" He asked again before he ran towards her.
Gianna got out of the way of his slash and punched him in the back. She realized he wasn't feeling any of her kicks or punches in the state he was in; she needed something to level the playing field. Then, she remembered the white stone Sam had given her. She searched her pocket and found it immediately. It felt like just another stone to her, but she noticed Justin's glow dwindling slowly as he came near. He moved away from her and his glow brightened again.
"Looks like you're not so invincible after all," she said to him as she came nearer.
Justin tried to cut her from behind by turning around and dodging her attacks. She returned the favor by sending him a few jabs to the jaw. He felt the punches connect and howled out in pain.
"Now, that's got to sting," she said to him. "Trust me, I know my punches."
He decided it was best to stay away from her till he could get the stone out of her hand.
Sarah finished off the last man and looked behind her. There was only one man left with her, and he seemed to have been shot too as he held his side in pain.
"Are you alright?" She asked, as she went to help him.
He shook his head. "It hurts like hell," he replied.
Sarah put both of his hands on the wound. "Keep pressure on it," she told him. She tore off part of his clothes and bound the wound with it.
Sarah turned to look at Justin, still having a go with Gianna. She realized his glow was not as bright as it was before and he was holding his jaw. She patted the man on the floor before her and grabbed a gun quickly, checking the magazine and discovering there were still enough bullets in it. She reinserted it and ran towards the fighting duo.
Justin saw her first. He stopped his attack and watched as she rained bullets on Gianna, who ran out quickly. She didn't seem affected by the bullets at first, but the continuous shots were pushing her backwards. Sarah only stopped shooting when she was out of range. She grabbed another clip from a dead Cracker Jack and changed the one she had exhausted.
"Why don't you come out to play?" She shouted at Gianna, who was huddled behind an armored truck.
Justin walked towards her and whispered for her to go around the truck quietly. She nodded and proceeded slowly, careful not to make any noise. As she walked on, one of the Cracker Jacks who had only been shot in the knee woke up suddenly with a loud cry. She shot him twice in the chest, kicking him out of her way as she did. Before she could raise the gun back up, Gianna appeared right behind her. She held a knife to her throat.
"Drop the gun, slowly," Gianna commanded.
Sarah froze. She looked down at the knife and discovered it was aimed directly for her throat. If she moved at all, the cut would be very fatal. She dropped the gun grudgingly and cursed under her breath. One of the Crackerjacks ran in, obviously late to the party. He trained his gun on Justin, who was coming behind Gianna.
"Don't even think about it," he shouted at Justin, who froze.
The idea was to catch Gianna by surprise; he wasn’t concerned about the man shooting him, he was worried for Sarah instead. If he made any move, he was sure Gianna would cut her throat without second thoughts.
Gianna turned to face him, using Sarah as cover.
"Down! On your knees!" She commanded him.
He obeyed.
"You, go start the car," she said to the Cracker Jack beside her. He nodded and walked out with his gun still pointed at Justin.
"What are you going to do?" Justin asked. "You can't take the two of us at the same time."
Gianna laughed softly. "I don't need both of you."
Sarah looked at him. "Shoot her and get it over with already."
Justin shook his head. He had lost too many people on this path already. He wasn't ready to lose another one.
Gianna began to walk slowly towards the door. At first, Sarah resisted, slowing her progress. She used the knife to make a deep cut in her face and Sarah howled out.
"Try any nonsense again and it will be your throat," Gianna told her.
Justin got up and began to follow them, both hands in the air. As soon as she got to the car, Gianna pushed Sarah into the backseat. The driver turned and pointed a gun at her to keep her from going out through the other door. Gianna grabbed a gun from a dead Cracker Jack and got into the car. She held the gun to Sarah's head and told the driver
to head back. He nodded as drove out. Justin stood in the middle of the road for a while. He looked around himself; there were bodies littered round the church yard. He stumbled over one of them and fell on his face. He tried to get up, but felt even more tired. He realized the glow had sapped him of all his energy. Someone approached as his eyes fluttered and closed slowly.
Chapter 20
Sam watched as the men gathered round the table. He turned to one of them by his side and smiled broadly. The man returned his smile with an even broader one.
"Gentlemen, we are gathered here today to change the course of history. After today, there will be a change in the way the future is predicted. We will no longer be afraid of what we don't know - rather, they will be afraid of us."
"Yeah!" the men chorused.
Sam let them enjoy the moment. He had learnt that the heart of men was drawn towards fulfillment in the euphoria of their own happiness, giving little thought to that of others around them.
The noise died down and he continued. "Now, some of you have been patient enough to wait for this time and moment. You have risked it all: your money, your lives and even the lives of those you love just to get to this very moment."
He paused and checked the faces of all those present.
"Some of you have betrayed those who trusted you with their lives. You have done unimaginable things just to get to where you are today. While some would argue that the price might have been too heavy to pay, others would agree that every little drop of blood was worth it."
The Governor sat to the extreme end of the table, away from Sam. His hand was still smarting and the burn was yet to heal properly. He had paid the price - now he was waiting for his returns.
Sam drummed his hand on the table. "There's no denying that this journey has been tedious, not just for me, but for the rest of us gathered here today. You all followed me in the quest to search for answers to these questions that plague our existence as humans. Together, we have found them!"
The others cheered again. Many of them were anxious to get this over with; he had read their minds and could tell that most of them had hidden motives to why they wanted the power. One of them wanted to be the Governor by killing the one with them now. Two wanted to avenge the deaths of loved ones, while a few others wanted to amass wealth for themselves. There was only one of them whose intent was not known, only one who kept his mind clear of any motives.