| By The Walking Inferno | Genre | Rating | Reviews | Updates |
| More from The Walking Inferno | Drama/ Action/ Adventure | PG 13 | None | No update page |
The Fog of Nightmares[]
Flynn was stood in a thick mist, barely able to see his own hands in front of his face. The ground he walked on was gooey and sparked curiosity, but he couldn't see what it was he was standing on due to the mist covering the floor. He wandered through the foggy wasteland for what seemed like hours, the air constantly shifting and changing the environment. His arms were stretched out in front of him like a blind man looking for something to guide him.
As he staggered around, he finally touched something. It moved up and down, like it was breathing. Flynn walked his fingertips further up the object and suddenly felt a nose. He fell back onto the floor in surprise and the mist around him blew away, revealing dead trees scattered around and stood there before him, was his father. He lifted his hands up and looked at his palms, they were covered in blood and shaking profusely.
He looked back up to his father, but it wasn't just him standing there any more. It was his whole family. Flynn's father whispered "It's your fault." And raised a limp bony finger at him. "It's your fault." His voice began to rise. "It's your fault." It had become a moan of the dead.
His entire family all raised the accusing finger and began to moan in an unholy choir. "It's your fault." Flynn backed away slowly, but he bumped into something. He turned to see Will standing there, the gaping hole still in his head. "Your fault."
The haunted memories began to swarm Flynn, all chanting the tune of the dead. They circled him and began closing in, slowly pacing like a hoard of zombies. Just as they were about to grab him they all stopped. Flynn looked up into his fathers pale face and blank eyes. "I'm sorry," he said. His fathers head started to turn around on the spot, cracking as it demoniacally moved in a circle. It was sickening to hear and to see, so Flynn closed his eyes to save himself the pain.
The cracking stopped and Flynn opened his eyes. He turned around and looked at the rest of his family. Their eyes looked deep within his soul, judging him, shaming him. Suddenly their eyes turned inside their heads and blood began pouring out of the sockets. Flynn's eyes widened and horror shot through his body. He looked back at his father, who had begun to melt into blood from the head down. His whole family had started to melt as well, their heads collapsing in on them selves like a wax candle. All of them added to the pool of blood that was slowly rising.
Flynn was going to drown in a sea of blood and there was nothing he could do but stand there and wait as it slowly encased his body. He tried to scream for help, but no sound was coming from his mouth. He thrashed and writhed around in the blood as it slowly rose up to his neck. In one last desperate hope of escape Flynn reached his right hand out for anyone to grab it, anyone to help him. But no one came. As It encased his head he fell through the floor into a black abyss, screaming as he fell into eternal torture.
Flynn shot up in his makeshift bed made up of earth and a layer of grass, sweat dripping from his brow. Another nightmare. They were getting worse, he was sure of it. He looked around and saw Andra and Jake still asleep inside their sleeping bags. They had been travelling together for a day now and found themselves in another wood. The sun had just began to rise, and beams of light were split apart by the trees. The wind blew gently, but just enough to rustle the leaves above.
Flynn had to clear his head, that last one felt too real. He walked to the edge of the woods until the sun was clearly in view. Flynn sat down with his legs crossed and he put the back of his hands on his knees so his palms faced upwards. He took a deep breath in and closed his eyes. As he released his breath, small flames ignited in his palms, it's warmth comforting him.
He had done this only a couple of times since he left Khana, but this time it really did help him. It kept his mind clear by only focusing it on the flame, it gave him time to think, time away from the world. He just sat there, his form becoming part of the horizon as another silhouette.
Andra felt something wrong, vibrations of footprints had awoken her from a light sleep. The footprints were light, small vibrations, not meant to wake anybody, but Andra always had trouble with her seismic sense, even ants woke her before. She looked around the small camp, expecting someone to jump her, but instead she noticed something else. Flynn was missing.
She felt some more vibrations, slowly fading away east from her position. Careful not to wake Jake, she followed them, wondering if it was Flynn. The sun beamed in her eyes from time to time, making her weave in and out of the shadows of trees.
She finally reached the outskirts of the woods and saw someone sitting on the floor, meditating. Andra hid behind a tree whilst looking at him. On closer inspection she realised it was Flynn.
Wanted to get a closer look, Andra went to go to a closer tree, but she snapped a large twig that was lying on the ground. Flynn snapped his head around and saw Andra cringing on the spot. "Hey," he said.
"Hey." Andra nervously waved.
"Come..." Flynn patted the ground next to him. "Have a seat."
Andra nervously walked over and sat next to Flynn. She looked at the sun as it crawled up into the sky. Flynn still sat there, admiring the sun and Andra failed to see what was so special about it. "It's nice, but it isn't as beautiful as a sunset."
Flynn laughed and looked at her. "You think so?" He waved his hand across the horizon slowly. "Think about it, the sunrise is the beginning of the day. Flowers turn to the sun as it rises, animals are free from predators lurking in the darkness. Everything starts again."
Andra looked at the sunrise again. "Huh, never thought of it that way before. Now that you mention it, it is kind of... nice." Then they just sat there, not saying a word, as the sun rose. Its warmth blessing them after a cold night, its light vanquishing the demons of the darkness.
After the sun had risen just above the horizon, its bottom just scraping the edge of the field, Andra and Flynn got up before it burnt their eyes with its magnificent light. Before they retreated back into the shady woods Andra stopped and took one last look at the sun, absorbing its warmth and admiring it for one last time.
Flynn walked a few places before noticing. He turned around with his arms spread wide. "You coming?"
"Yeah." She caught up to Flynn and started walking quite close to him. "How often do you do that?"
"What, sitting down? Cause it doesn't feel like often enough."
She chuckled slightly. "No, that thing you were doing with the fire in your hands."
"Oh not often, just when I have to."
Andra's face lit up. "You should do that every morning. It was pretty nice just sitting there, relaxing. Maybe with a friend?" Andra nudged him with her elbow.
He smirked a little. "Are you asking to meditate with me?"
"Maybe..." Andra said in a dragged out voice.
Flynn chuckled a little. "Okay, but on one condition. You have to be there every morning."
"I'll be there, if your gonna' be there."
"I will."
Andra stopped and so did Flynn. They stood face to face, teasing each other without saying a word. "How can you be so sure?" She asked quizzically.
Flynn stretched his arm out for a handshake. "Because, I promise. I promise I will be there every morning. And if I'm not, you have my permission to throw some rocks at me." Flynn smirked. "Deal?"
Andra grabbed his hand like a vice and shook it vigorously. "Deal."
"Let's get back then." Flynn said and began strolling back to camp. Andra stood still for a little while, the sun shining on half of her face whilst leaving the other half in the shade. She smiled a little before setting off back to camp.
When they returned to camp, Jake was kneeling over a fire, cooking this morning's breakfast. The birds had started singing their morning song, and it quickly spread throughout the woods. A choir of fluttering wings and chirps gladly provided what a radio wasn't there for, music. Flynn found it hard to believe how things were so tranquil here in this small patch of trees, when everything around him seemed to be in so much chaos and disarray.
Jake heard Andra and Flynn enter the perimeter of the camp due to the string they had set up attached to tin cans, so they would be alerted if anyone came too close. When Flynn tripped the wire and rustled the cans, the birds were startled and halted their tune. "What time do you call this?" Jake demanded, obviously furious of their absence.
"I call it early." Andra said, and walked up to the pan. "What's cookin'" She inhaled the hypnotising smell of the morning breakfast.
"Beans." Jake said as he stirred them around the pan, the sizzle adding that much more allure to the meal. "They're just finished actually. Grab a bowl and sit down, I'll give you a scoop."
Andra and Flynn both grabbed bowls from the backpack Jake had been lugging around and sat on their earth beds, waiting for food like children at a dinner table. Jake scooped one spoonful and slopped it in Flynn's bowl. He looked up at Jake with an are you kidding look and he only replied by shooting a dirty look back at him. Andra got two heaping spoonfuls of beans, carefully put in to avoid any of it going anywhere else. Jake got the left overs, which was still plenty to stave off hunger, unlike Flynn's small portion.
Flynn wolfed down his food in seconds, Andra shovelled it down like a person off the Simpsons and Jake took regular mouthfuls whilst looking at a map and his compass which was spread out at the end of his bed.
After their quick meal, Jake picked up his map and walked towards the centre of camp. "Andra, I need a table."
She stomped the ground and a small circular earth pillar was raised causing twigs and leaves to fly everywhere. "You know, I'm not just some furniture maker." Jake didn't reply, whilst Flynn snickered a little as he shovelled in another mouthful of beans whilst sat on his earth bed.
Jake laid out the map on the pillar, its surface illuminated by the sun's light peaking through the leaves of the trees above and Flynn walked over. Jake suddenly poked his finger on the map. "If we head north, we should reach Hillsview by dinner." He stroked his finger across the map to a nearby elevation that was marked by rings of lines. "We just have to pass over this hill and we should be good."
"Sounds easy." Flynn said with a tone of cockiness.
"Oh yeah?" Jake pointed towards the top of the trees at a big patch of green that blotched the sky. "That's about a quarter of the way up the hill." Flynn's face dropped as he saw the biggest hill in his sixteen years of life standing in front of him. Jake folded up the map and put it back in the backpack, as well as the other provisions they had used. "Andra, clear the site."
"Yes, boss," she said sarcastically. Andra then thrust her arms down to the floor, so she could push down all the bits of raised earth.
"Let's go."
"Do we have to?" Flynn whimpered.
"Yes." Jake said sternly, not allowing Flynn's laziness to hold him back. They all set off towards the hill, leaving behind the peace and tranquillity of the woods for a gruelling hike.
The winds were brutal upon the hill, its bitterness chilled everyone to the bone, especially since Flynn was just wearing a shirt at the time. When they reached the top, the heavens parted and rain came pouring from the clouds. This didn't help their situation. It made it impossible for them to even think straight or talk, their minds were just focused on keeping their bodies warm.
The descent was gruelling on their bones. Their heavy footsteps shook through their legs and made their shins and ankles ache. After several trips over rocks and slips, they finally made it to the other side. Andra and Flynn flopped to the ground, their chests rising and falling involuntarily and their hearts beating out of sync. "Andra... Andra..." Flynn wheezed through breaths.
"Yeah?" her response was just as weak as his. Even hours of throwing rocks around didn't wear her out like that hike.
"Why didn't... you just tunnel us through?"
Andra shot up from her exhausted position, her eyes wide and full of fury. The energy that was lost suddenly came back. "Why didn't you say that before!" Her voice screeched through the ears of Flynn and Jake, who both winced.
"We have to go." Jake said bluntly, trying to diffuse the situation before it started. He knew from personal experience that arguing with Andra was like trying to fly with no wings, you only go further down.
Flynn just threw his arm up in the air in protest. "You know what, I'm good." He flopped his arm back down to his side, making the grass squelch and a little mud fly onto his body. He didn't care though, he just needed one little break since he hadn't slept properly in almost a week. The rain running off his face was too refreshing to just walk away from.
Andra got up and grabbed Flynn's shirt. With some effort she heaved him up from the ground and back onto his feet. "If I'm going, your going too." Flynn just let out a heavy sigh and walked past Jake with his back hunched over. "Let's get this over with." he thought as they walked through the pelting rain to whatever awaited them in Hillsview.
As they approached the town, which was now covered in a thick blanket of fog that rolled in from nowhere, they realised the lack of people. All they could see was the top of some houses and a few the tops of a tall industrial chimney. They all descended into the fog becoming encased in its ominous aura.
Jake walked into the centre of Andra and Flynn and went a little bit in front of them to inspect the area. It was strange, cars lay parked on the sides of the roads, but none were on the streets. The traffic lights were stuck on red and no lights could be seen from any of the houses. Hillsview was completely deserted.
As the trio walked down the lonely road, Flynn couldn't help thinking of how the fog was all around him. It felt suspicious, constricting, yet somehow comforting. It was a shroud, providing them with cover and protection, but at the same time leaving them weak and vulnerable to whomever waited in its white shadow.
Their senses were on high alert now, and their heads were turning in every direction with an unmeasurable sense of paranoia. As Flynn looked down a road he realised something, or someone. Just standing at the precipice of the fog, before everything was lost in its void, was a man with his hands behind his back. Flynn could barely make out the man's face but he saw a slight grin, matched with the eyes of determination.
Flynn couldn't believe it. It couldn't be him, could it? He needed some form of conformation. He looked at Jake through the corner of his eye making sure he was still focused on the man in front. "Jake do you see this?"
He looked down the road Flynn was gripped to and found nothing but another empty street. "See what?"
Flynn looked back down the road. "Tha-" His reply was cut-off by shock. No one was there. His heart started to race, he had to be there, he just saw him. Flynn backed away towards a house and banged his back on the wall, making him jump and back away again with his head flicking around the roofs, looking for any sign of the man. Everything just seemed to feel like it was slowly encroaching on him. The mist seemed thicker, the slightest of noises were louder and caused his ears to twitch.
His panic attack was cut-off however, when Andra froze stiff on the spot. "Guys?" She shouted nervously over her shoulder. Jake looked at her and saw the fear in her face, then he too realised what she was talking about. At the end of each street stood a battalion of Authority agents, all stood like statues frozen stiff in their uniformed pose. Andra, Jake and Flynn all backed up to the middle of a four-way crossroad. They all dropped into fighting stances as the men in black moved slowly towards them, the fog seeming to follow them like they were its master.
As more and more agents came out of the white void and the fog began closing in, the team began looking at each other for answers to the situation. Flynn knew one, it was the only solution most of the time. Jake seemed to get the same feeling as well and they both looked at each other. "Guys, what should we do?" Andra asked urgently.
"RUN!" They both shouted in unison, and sprinted towards the nearest terrace row of houses. Flynn boosted himself up from one of the bottom floor's window ledges and grabbed the next window ledge. Jake quickly passed him by, effortlessly scaling the gutter pipe up to the roof. As Flynn pulled himself up and scrambled up to the edge of the roof, Andra took a more direct approach and used an earth pillar to propel herself onto the roof. Jake offered a helping hand to Flynn, who was struggling to pull himself up. He took it and was dragged over the edges of the slate roof, the tiles scraping his skin as he passed over them, causing small cuts on his stomach. Flynn didn't care though they had to escape.
When they were all up they ran across the roof tops, their shoes clinking against the old, loose tiles. Jake led the charge across the rooftops, guiding the way for his sister and Flynn, who hung at the back. Suddenly, out of the fog, an agent pounced upon Jake, who simply grabbed the man during mid-flight and threw him off the roof, making him disappear into the fog below. They had to keep pressing, and carried on running over the rooftops.
A second agent was hiding behind a chimney and waited for Andra to get into his range before leaping out to try and grab her. She felt him though on his first step and kicked the roof, causing slates to be sent straight into his gut. The agent, who was partially winded, went to punch Andra with what little strength he had left. She quickly countered by lifting the tiles underneath his feet and pushing him back against the chimney. She then stepped aside and pulled her hands into her chest, sending the chimney, with the man wrapped around it, out into the fog. Seconds later she heard the crack of stone and the groans of an injured man.
They continued running across the rooftop when Jake spotted a gap right in front of him. In a split-second reaction, he leaped over the 4 meter gap and made it cleanly across to the other side. "Jump!" he shouted to the others, who he couldn't see through the fog. Andra and Flynn both heard him and prepared for it, their steps becoming strides to gain more momentum. Andra saw the gap and used two plates around her feet to assist the jump over, but she went a little higher than expected and flew into the air and was ready to land with a crunch. Jake saw her part through the fog and caught her with cradling arms.
Flynn was the last one over, and as he leapt through the fog, an agent intercepted him in mid-air, bringing him down into the foggy depths below. Andra reached her hand out towards him, watching as he was forced into the abyss. "NO!" She stood there hoping that he would return.
Jake grabbed her hand and yanked her away from her frozen position. "Andra let's go!"
She violently threw away his hand. "No, we have to help him." Andra saw flashes of orange light up silhouettes in the fog. Each flash like a photograph capturing the details of the fight below. Without hesitation, she leapt down from the roof and disappeared into the fog.
"Andra!" Jake, without thinking, jumped after her. When he landed he rolled to cushion the landing and was brought into what seemed like a different place. A fireball whizzed past his head and a rock flew from the other side, blind shots probably caused by Flynn and Andra panicking.
A group of five agents appeared from the fog and wasted no time to attack Jake. He blocked two punches by one agent and side-kicked him away, quickly turning his attention to another attacker from behind, who went to kick Jake in the stomach. Jake grabbed the kick and pushed it away to clear some more space for himself. He just had to buy himself more time to prepare for attacks, and getting them away presented him with that opportunity. Two agents came from both sides of him and went for punches to the face. He ducked low, almost to the floor and grabbed their ankles. He quickly stood up, whilst holding them, and tripped them both over and onto the floor.
The agent who had been waiting for the right time attacked and went for a hook punch. Jake smacked the punch out the way, spun round, and rammed a backwards elbow into his chest, sending him staggering away trying to catch his breath. As the two tripped agents recovered and the other two began to move in again, Jake unclipped two straps on his pants and pulled out two escrima sticks. He span them around in his hands and dropped into a fighting stance, with one stick behind his back, and the other at his front. This stance allowed for a better swinging strike and kept him light on his feet, ideal for that many attackers. The agents looked at each other for a second, debating whether to attack or not, the fog encouraged them though when it finally settled and made some sort of small arena like it was begging for blood to be spilt in its mist.
Meanwhile, Flynn was shooting fireballs left and right, some connecting and others not. His flurry though made him tired, but fear would not allow him to stop, it held him like a vice, not willing to let go. An agent came from behind him and grabbed him, constricting his arms. Flynn wormed and struggled to get free, but it was no use, this guy was huge and had muscles as hard as a rock.
Another agent quickly appeared and went to attack the vulnerable bender. Flynn saw the man coming and, using the man holing him as a counter weight, lifted both his legs up and kicked a double blast of fire at him, sending the agent flying back, parting the fog as he landed into a wall. The fog quickly closed the trail he left behind and consumed the man in its accursed haze.
The man squeezed harder, making Flynn's back crunch multiple times and causing him serious pain. Instead of yelping, he sucked it up and yelled in effort as he pushed backwards against the agent who was built like a brick wall. He rammed the man into the wall of a house, making him flinch and release his hold. Flynn then turned and punched as hard as he could into the man's stomach. The agent barely moved, and Flynn looked up to find this hulking man standing at around seven feet tall with a bald head looking down at him like he was an ant. The agent snarled and picked up Flynn by his shoulders to bring him up to eye level.
Flynn let out a nervous smile. "You have very nice teeth," he said jokingly. The agent then threw him across to the other side of the street, his back grinding across the tarmac before coming to a slow stop. Flynn rested on his elbows and his forearms, barely able to move. He moved his neck side to side, his bones sickly cracking with every move. His eyes then set in front of him and a the big shadow of that bulking behemoth arose from the fog, Flynn's eyes widened and he got up, pain shooting down his back and his sides. The agent punched down towards Flynn, who rolled out of the way just in time, his fist leaving a hole in the pavement.
Flynn just looked at him in disbelief. "What have they been feeding you?" The agent roared and swung at Flynn, but hit nothing but air as Flynn ducked underneath the attack. "A bit slow there buddy." He then brought both his arms up and went to smash them down on top of Flynn, but he side-stepped the attack and blasted a fireball in the behemoth's face, making him falter and stumble back, each footstep shaking the ground.
Flynn took this chance too attack and he jumped onto the man and started striking him in the face. Frustrated, the agent pulled him off with one hand and threw him away. Flynn bounced a couple of times before levelling himself out and landing on his feet. The agent let out a primal roar and began to charge. Flynn met this challenge and did the same thing, but it was like a train versus a mouse, one was definitely going to get squashed.
At the moment before impact, Flynn set his hands alight and the agent went to punch down at him, but Flynn stopped for a split second, and as bits of tarmac flew from the impact of the punch, Flynn used his fist as a step and jumped off it. He came down on the agent's head with a strong punch, making him lean over. When Flynn landed he struck the agent in the head with a left hook, then a right hook, the fire on his fists matching the fury of his attacks. Cinders flew from the agent's face with every punch. Flynn followed through with a spinning kick across his face and another left hook. Continuing his barrage of attacks, he grabbed the back of the agent's head and brutally smacked his elbow straight on his nose, breaking it completely.
He stopped for a second and let the man stagger back, blood oozing from his nose and from cuts round his eyes. Flynn took a deep breath in and let out a massive fire blast from his hands, which burned through the fog and knocked the agent back onto the ground, unconscious, black scorch marks all over his body as a monument to his failure. Flynn stood there, panting heavily with his head looking down at the floor. More agents entered the arena of mist, their figures making the fog wisp as they moved in. Flynn looked up and smirked. "So, who's next?"
As seven agents closed in, Flynn's heart began to race, not with fear, but excitement. The adrenaline was pumping in his blood and he wanted more, he just took down a freak of nature, how could these guys stop him? He dropped to the floor on his hands and spun around, his feet flailing around and creating small whips of fire that majestically flew through the air and knocked over all of the agents. By the time Flynn got up, the air was hot and he was sweating profusely. Smoke arose from the floor and the bodies of the agents as their flesh burned, and left a disgusting smell lingering in the air. He let out a psychotic laugh between his heavy breaths. "Is that all!?" He shouted with his arms stretched out wide.
Andra however, was struggling. She din't even find Flynn, even after she thought she landed near him and she was finding it hard to see, even with her seismic sense. She felt someone approaching from behind her, so she swung her leg around and stomped it down, creating an earth wall, which smacked the man's face as he walked into into it. She then used both of her fists to launch the rock wall away and down a street, the screams of the man slowly fading away into the distance.
Another agent ran towards her from behind, but she slid her front foot back and created an earth fissure, which knocked him down to the ground. When he tried to get up Andra stomped up a small earth disk and kicked it at him, sending him into a lamppost with a cluck as he hit the metal. Two more agents went to attack her from both sides and Andra quickly raised an earth pillar up so they only hit the rock. As the agents were temporarily disabled by hitting the rock, she jumped up and landed heavily on the pillar, smashing it back down to the ground and creating two more earth pillars underneath the agents. One was sent flying into a chimney, whilst the other one landed on another roof and rolled off with a pile of slates dropping with him.
Jake stood, poised, his narrowed eyes flicking between the agents. They began walking in a circle around him, to try and confuse their opponent, but also daring each other to make the first move. Finally one got the courage to attack and ran in for a knee strike. Jake jabbed his front stick into the man's thigh, breaking the attack. He then went through with his right stick, which was behind his back, and struck him across the face. As the agent flinched, Jake jabbed the front of his sticks twice in his stomach making him bend over, winded. Using the temporary height advantage, he brought his sticks right up and struck both of them down on the agent's head, making spit and blood fly from his mouth before falling down, unconscious on the floor.
Two more agents came from the side. One went for a roundhouse kick, whilst the other went for a face punch. Jake widened his stance and blocked the kick with his left stick and the punch with his right one. He pushed the two attacks to the side and hit the one on his right in the face, making him stumble back and giving him a bit of time to deal with the other attacker. He quickly turned to block a punch with his fore arm and struck the man in the face with his right escrima stick. It's metal made a satisfying clunk against the man's head and the stick visibly shook from the impact. Jake then swiped both of his sticks at both sides of the man's neck, bringing him down to the floor on his hands and knees to be finished off with an axe kick to the back of the head.
He turned to the direction of the man on the other side, as he went in for a punch Jake destroyed it with a strong whack from his escrima stick and began a flurry of strikes to the man's body. As the agent started to wobble from the constant battering, Jake brought his right stick up to his face and smacked it across the face of the agent, sending him down to the floor.
The two that were left just stood there, looking at their fallen comrades and looking at each other like they had no chance. Jake span around and kicked both of them in the face with the heel of his boot and they dropped like a sack of rocks to the ground.
He heard the foot steps of someone behind him and he turned to strike, only to stop at the last second to realise it was Flynn, who was centimetres away from hitting Jake too.
"You..." they both whispered simultaneously, their eyes locked in a deathly gaze.
"Where's Andra?" Jake asked, both of them still locked inches away from each other. Their attention was drawn away however, when a man flew through the fog, screaming before he hit the ground with a thud.
Andra came running through the fog. "Their you are! I've been sensing all over for you!" They were all happy to be reunited, but they weren't out of the woods yet. They still had to escape before the fog cleared and they were exposed.
"We need to get out of here." Jake looked around for anywhere to go, but he could barely see eight foot in front of him.
"Hey Jake. Did you see the industrial chimney on the way here?"
"Yes. Why?" Jake wondered where he was going with this, his trust was a hard thing to acquire.
"There has to be an old storage place around here somewhere. Think about it, what would they be manufacturing if they had nowhere to put it all? We could hide out there." An agent groaned on the floor as he returned to consciousness. The trio looked at him and Flynn kicked him in the face, knocking him out again.
"They are this way!"
Jake looked towards where the voices came from and saw large shadows slowly getting smaller as they approached from the fog. "Andra, dig us a tunnel down. We'll have to borough our way there." As the shadows grew closer, they could hear the footsteps of over fifty men quickly advancing. Andra opened up the earth and jumped down, creating a small room to start her tunnel. Flynn quickly followed and Jake hopped in last, the earth closing behind him as he landed.
Flynn spawned a small flame in the palm of his hand to illuminate the tunnel in a warm and comforting orange glow. Jake pulled out his compass and looked at it. "The industrial district is in the north of town." He closed the compass and pointed north, Andra quickly began making a tunnel, pushing back the earth every few meters whilst Flynn quickly followed to keep her in the light.
A few minutes of travelling underground and Andra sensed what felt like a warehouse above them. Thrusting the earth up and breaking part a hole in the floor, they emerged from the tunnel covered in dirt and dripping wet. Andra's hair was clumped together and dirt speckled the sides of it. Flynn was exhausted and fell against a crate, quickly sinking to the ground. Dust went flying everywhere, an obvious sign that this place hadn't been used in a while.
Jake leant against a box and finally relaxed for a moment. Andra walked over to a window and wiped away a thick layer of dirt and dust with her hand. It revealed something spectacular. The fog had cleared and was slowly making its way above the hill, leaving the sky perfectly clear. One half of the sun shone through dark rain clouds, beams of light hitting the hill and giving it a brighter green than the rest of its surroundings. The other half shone clearly through the blue sky. The contrast was spectacular, the storm had passed and the rest of the day was to be enjoyed.
Andra stepped away from the window with a small smile on her face, throughout all that there was still something to look forward to. She walked over to Flynn who was still sat there vacant minded, just letting his body rest. "So big guy, how'd you do out there?"
"Well I took out a-" Flynn was cut off when a huge explosion sent Andra, Flynn and Jake flying back into a wall, followed by a huge amount of rubble and crates rolling around the warehouse floor. Dazed, Flynn opened his eyes slowly. His ears were ringing and he could hardly see a thing from all the dust that had been sent fluttering around crazily in the air, the sun reflecting off every particle. He did however manage to make out a figure amongst the dust. Him.
Flynn quickly scrambled on his hands and knees to get behind a crate before he could be seen. He looked around for Andra and Jake but found no sight of them. Panicking, he pressed his back up against the crate and prayed that he wouldn't be found. The Colonel stepped into the light of the room and looked around the baron warehouse. All he saw were banged up boxes and rubble, but blood as well. Just a tiny trail went behind a crate and the Colonel smirked in triumph.
"Well Flynn, he we are again." He started to walk slowly towards the blood trail, taking his time to savour the moment of victory. "Me hunting you, and you cowering like a baby." His insults were only muffles through Flynn's ringing ears, but his words still struck fear into Flynn's heart. "Your father would be ashamed." Flynn's ears perked up at the mention of his father and the Colonel's words started to take their hold on his mind.
"How would you know!" He shouted loud enough for the echoes to scramble the origin of its location.
"Because I knew your father well before he left the Authorities." Flynn's eyes widened and fear was replaced by shock. "Oh yes, he was one of us. One of the best." He continued pacing through the blown out path, his boots flicking up dust and dirt with every step he took, covering the bottom of his trench coat in filth.
"Your lying!" He had to be. It couldn't be true, could it?
"Your father was my student. Assigned to me by the council as they saw a lot of potential in him." He began to raise his voice a little. "Your father was very innovative in the Authorities, always thinking of new ways to kill benders." He let out a devilish chuckle "The ironic thing is, he invented the technique used against you!"
Flynn's blood began to boil and that voice was emerging in the back of his head, this time though he would let it take control. "It was quite genius at the time actually. You kill the relatives of the bender so they are cut off from the herd, and then you go in for the kill." He spoke simple and to the point, his words carrying no emotion, just as if it meant nothing like hunting an animal.
Flynn made a fist and tightened it until his knuckles where white and his entire arm was tensed, veins bulging. "But he left us when your mother became pregnant with you. He became weak, Just. Like. You."
Flynn hurdled over a blue crate and sprinted towards the Colonel. "HOW DARE YOU!" His voice was deep and rumbling, filled with a burning rage. The Colonel pulled out his pistol and fired two shots at Flynn. The first one skimmed past him and the other hit him on his right side. As the blood sprayed a red mist as he was hit, Flynn just took it and continued running.
Just as he reached the Colonel and went in for a punch, he side stepped and clotheslined Flynn, making him smack on the ground in a cloud of dust. The Colonel pressed his boot on Flynn's wound and he grunted through gritted teeth. A smile of satisfaction egged on Flynn's rage, but he was helpless to do anything. The Colonel put the pistol near his head "Time for you to join them."
He teased the trigger so slowly to savour the look on Flynn's face, his helplessness and his impending demise. The gun almost fired when an escrima stick came from nowhere and cracked him in the head, making him flail and shoot out a window on the roof, its glass falling and refracting the light across the room. The Colonel stumbled back and a boulder knocked him straight through a crate, his boy buried underneath splintered wood and polystyrene. Andra pulled Flynn up by his arm and wrapped it round her shoulders to support him. Jake caught his stick that had rebounded off the Colonel's head and looked towards the crate.
Seeing a limp hand sticking out of splintered wood he was confident that the Colonel was finished. "Let's go." Jake jogged outside through the cloud of dust and Andra quickly followed, supporting Flynn who was resting heavily on her shoulder. His eyes began to shut as the pain finally began to take hold of his body. He stumbled a little and Andra struggled to keep him up. "Come on, just a little bit further. Stay with me." As they arose from the shroud of dust, Jake was sitting in the drivers seat of a black Jeep. "Where did you get that from?"
"It had to of been his. Get in!" Andra opened up the back of the Jeep and threw Flynn onto the back-seat, blood spurting out of his side. She joined him in the back seat and put her hand over the bullet wound to try and stop the blood from being lost. She slammed the door closed and looked at Flynn with tears in her eyes.
The last thing Flynn saw was her face slowly fading away into darkness as he lost his grip on consciousness.
Author's Notes[]
- Here we have an action packed chapter that somehow became longer than it should have been.
- Jake's combat with the escrima sticks were largely based off Nightwing's combat style.
- As usual, tell me what you think in the comments below.
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