Kingdom Come

by Nicol, Andy

  “I’m telling the truth…” I stepped forward and twisted my body so he could see my face, even with his own angled toward the floor. “I’m not going to walk away, no matter what.”

  His eyes were wide but he swallowed, then nodded, not looking away.

  “Th-thank you…” he murmured after a moment. His voice cracked but he didn’t seem to notice. He walked to the door then turned to say something, stuttered a moment, and then shook his head and headed out the door. That jacket of his swung around the door frame, and I was left staring after him. He was definitely in need of a friend. Your mind goes to a dangerous place when you’re alone too long; it either runs a mile a minute or there’s nothing, just blank.

  I put it out of my mind as I shoved the paper under my pillow and left for the change room.

  Carmela “Carmel” McCarthy was ready to murder me.

  “Weren’t you in charge of finding this guy, anyway? What is up with that?” I dodged her dagger and rolled straight into a wall. The arena was packed, and fans in T-shirts were cheering our names — though I was getting booed more than I usually do. Carmel and I had walked in immediately following another fight, so we had to dodge not only each other but the old blood that hadn’t soaked into the dirt yet. It was making me a little nauseated. “And how the hell did you not get hurt when you went missing?”

  I snorted, holding up my wrist.

  “Look, I’m sorry your boy toy got hit, but I had nothing to do with it … and screaming at me isn’t going to get Jeremy out of the medical ward!” Contrary to his personality and outward appearance, Jeremy was a Volatile, like me. He’d followed Carmel around like a lost puppy until Soul got to him a month before we met. As I thought about his recovery, I hit the release button and my sword extended into a chain — a one-time deal that Viktor let me test out on the dip-dyed ditz. She shrieked — and I mean shrieked — in pain and stumbled back. I moved my arm in a full circle and she jumped away, whipping her head from side to side.

  “Feeling the effects of Jeff’s cocktail?” I asked smugly. She wailed like a banshee and ran forward, staff ready to hit me upside the head.

  “Don’t you dare bring me into this!” Jeff shouted from behind the gate. Jeff was the head of medical, Louis Crane’s boss. Louis was there too, probably to support Carmela. The medic on the other side of the facility smirked and flicked his cigarette through the grate. The Headless Horseman was the perfect name for him; the old scar across his neck gave him the illusion of being decapitated. He scared me, to say the least, and I’m someone that interacts with him on a regular basis.

  He was a part of the “downtown” side of the base, where people like Carmela, Jeremy “Dracula” Vamp, and Jekyll and Hyde were the head honchos. They were questionable — probably killed people, were drug dealers, addicts, thieves … stuff like that. That was not to say that other people were not, but it was far more dangerous with them. There were also nice, normal people living on that side of the base, but they often only slept in their rooms and then spent the rest of their time with us.

  Dan, Frankie, Chrissy, Beanie and Juno, and I were the big names over here, but we mostly ignored the drama around us. We didn’t beat people up if they hadn’t done anything to deserve it — that didn’t mean we didn’t scuffle with each other, though.

  I was pulled out of my thoughts when Carmela jabbed me in the stomach, and I fell back. She stood over me and smirked. “Some star fighter you are. You look more like a skinny, little rat to me.”

  I swept her legs and got to my feet, retracting my blade and holding it to her neck. “Yeah? Well, you look more like the one caught in the trap to me.” I dug the edge of the sword into the ground beside her head, and she held her hands up in defeat.

  Josh called the winner, and I took a bow to the crowd. “And that was with one hand, ladies and gentlemen!”

  I walked out with all the swagger I had left in me, then went back to my room, fell into the shower, and rinsed the blood from my head. The bruises were already starting to form, but I reminded myself they were battle wounds that I should be proud of. Even if they hurt.

  Seven

  It was almost midnight. I had procrastinated more than I should have, but my bed was so warm and soft. There wasn’t much I could do from there, though…

  I threw a bag over my shoulder and went to the storage room. More than enough things that could be useful were there. If it were anyone else, I would have just woken them up and told them to walk with me, but Matt isn’t someone you can just wake up. There were two pipes sitting in the corner of the room, so I grabbed those, then found my friend asleep in his office. I prepared myself for the clang and pounded the pipes against each other.

  “What.?” Matt squeezed his eyes and groaned.

  “It’s Benji. Get up.”

  “Five more minutes…”

  I hit the pipes together again and he sat up, scowling behind sleepy eyes.

  “What’s going on?”

  “I need you to come with me, fast.” I went to his closet and threw clothes into the bag for him as he put his pants on and rubbed his face.

  “What’s this all about?” he yawned.

  “Just come with me. If you have a wallet, grab it.” Matt seemed to perk up. He grabbed his keys and wallet, then followed me through the halls.

  Once outside I pulled him closer and he leaned in with wide eyes. “You were on the list. Of people getting hit.”

  “What!” Matt reared back and took a step away from me. “Like … to be attacked?! H-how do you know that?”

  Shoving my hands into my pockets, I gave a sigh.

  “Benji, tell me you didn’t have anything to do with what’s been going on…”

  “I’d love to Matt, but I can’t.”

  Suddenly, I felt as though someone was watching us. I turned to look around, but I couldn’t see anyone so continued. “I was supposed to be gone too, but he couldn’t — he wouldn’t. So I tried to get myself out, but it’s bigger than just a personal vendetta … though there is one of those too…”

  Matt stared at me like I had three heads. I sighed and rolled my eyes. “His name is Soul. His code name is Crow. Someone hired him to eliminate us one by one, and if he doesn’t, they’ll hurt him. I have to help find out who did this, for all our sakes, without him getting hurt again.”

  “Yeah, and who does he have a vendetta against?”

  “Hmm? Oh, just Dan.” Everyone hates Dan for one reason or another.

  Matt nodded. “Why can’t we just tell Mr. Viktor?”

  “Because he’s been covering it all up so the fans don’t freak. Plus, I can handle it myself!”

  “Then why did you tell me?”

  “Because I didn’t want our best IT geek to bite it.”

  He shook his head. “You can’t do this yourself. I’m going to help too … I think I’ll stay away from the base for the time being though, at least until you go public with this information.”

  My hair blew off my face and I nodded. “Thank you.”

  “One more thing.” He pulled me close by the shoulder. “I think we were followed.”

  I nodded and stepped back. Instead of walking him to his sisters’ apartment, we walked into the woods. There were a few cottages, but all we wanted to do was deter whoever was stalking us. “Maybe it’s your friend?”

  “No, Crow would have let us know he was here. This … doesn’t feel right…”

  From the corner of my eye, I saw a dark shape moving through the trees. Matt saw it too. He flinched and picked up the pace, obviously nervous.

  “Hey, Matt?”

  “Yeah?” he whimpered.

  “Remember when we were in school, and you wanted to be a director?” I rolled my shoulders and stretched my neck, getting ready for a fight.

  He looked incredulous. “What the ever-living hell does that have to do with this?”

  “You used to carry a camera around everywhere. You wouldn’t happen to have one on you right now, wo
uld you? If we die here, I want proof that Crow didn’t do it!”

  Shakily, Matt pulled out the camera and aimed it into the woods. He filmed our very quick walk back to the dorms — and the terrible sounds of heavy breathing and crunching leaves all around us.

  I threw open the door to my room and dragged the disoriented blond boy in with me.

  “Why the hell are they following us? They’re trying to k-kill us! I’m going to be sick…”

  I dropped my head and pointed to the bathroom. Matt quickly ran in and did just as he said he would. When he came back, holding his stomach, he pulled my desk chair over and I sat on my couch, set in between two bookshelves.

  Matt shook his head and his voice cracked. “Are we just going to hide here for the rest of our inevitably short lives?”

  I gave a quick laugh. “I’ll talk to Dan tomorrow and we’ll sort it out.” Pulling out his little camera, Matt sat himself on the cushion beside me. He kept one eye on the door but pressed the tiny buttons until the video started playing on the screen.

  “I can’t see a damn thing,” I stated.

  “I see shadows. In the trees. Oh, my god, how did we make it out of there. There’s so many of them!”

  “Matt, you’re panicking. Did we make it back in one piece?” He gave a sheepish nod. “Then whatever is on that video didn’t get us. And if it didn’t get us out there, do you think it will get us in here?”

  “There’s a good chance!” He cried.

  I rolled my eyes and shoved him off the couch. “Matt, we need to rest. Let’s look at it tomorrow!”

  His hands balled up as he set the camera on my desk. His voice cracked when he spoke, and tears started to make his eyes shine. “What if it’s them? What if it’s Jekyll and Hyde?”

  Though my heart stopped for a split second, I sat up and leaned forward. I pointed my finger towards his nose and gritted my teeth, “Don’t you dare. You can’t throw that back at me.”

  “They could kill us, Benji! They hate you, and they won’t think twice about crushing some little pipsqueak like me!”

  My legs moved before I could even think, but I stood and grabbed his jacket. He was a kid, easily the youngest here, but I wasn’t going to think twice about slugging him. He was a little bit smaller than me. As I leaned over him, we both realized this for the first time. He bit his lip.

  “Don’t be a coward.” I jolted him towards me for emphasis. “If you ever use them against me again, I will end you. I never should have told you.”

  His eyes suddenly changed. He was still on the edge of tears, but he grabbed my hands and shook his head. “I’m not using them. I want you to realize how deep you are! If it is them — for the sake of argument — they will stop at nothing to get what they want! Benji, you know what they’re capable of. I’m just trying to —”

  “Trying to what?” I snorted, letting him go and sitting back down. “Whether it’s them or not, K9 doesn’t run. Never has, never will. Whoever it really is, let them come. I’m not afraid.” I leaned back on the pillow as Matt climbed onto the bed and shot me a glare. I pretended to ignore it as I drifted off, though from the racket he was making, I doubt Matt was having as easy a time as I.

  “K9? Ben, open up! Are you alright?”

  A furious pounding on the door matched that of the pounding in my head. It had to be Dan yelling. Matt shivered, curled up in the middle of the bed. He was still dead asleep. I looked back at the door and saw it was barricaded with my desk and a few drawers. I punched Matt, abruptly waking him up.

  “Matt, do you know how much the twins can bench?”

  “Yeah, I know everyone’s stats. It’s my job.”

  “Then do you really think that would stop them?”

  I didn’t let him answer as I shoved everything to the side and opened the door.

  “Benji, what happened with Jekyll and Hyde? They’re all up in arms about you being the one trying to take everyone out! Apparently, you and some guy attacked them in the market?”

  “What?!”

  A shower would have to wait until after I’d worked up a sweat.

  “Who the hell is this guy, Ben?”

  “Where are they? I’ll kill them!”

  Dan silently pointed toward the cafeteria and I grabbed my swords… Well, I grabbed one. It’s hard to hold a weapon when you have a cast on your hand. I’m not even sure it needs to be there anymore.

  Biotech has progressed so much we heal faster than the human race used to be able to, all for the purpose of preserving the warriors. And that would come in handy when I tore Jekyll, Hyde, and anything else in my way apart in a few short moments.

  I busted through the door to the cafeteria. The two buffoons were parading around like heroes for “revealing” who the hunter was. Granted, no one believed them.

  “You two!” I yelled.

  They spun and grinned like a pair of hyenas.

  “You stalked us yesterday. Don’t deny it. You think I’m going to let you walk away from that? Walk away and then pin this whole debacle on me?” I drew my sword from its sheath and gave it a quick practice swing as I leapt forward and pressed it to Jekyll’s neck. True to their story, despite being twins, the two were different. Jekyll was an average-looking man, scraggly sideburns and sharp cheekbones under slick hair. He’d always looked like that. Face scarred from acne too. Hyde had always had the potential to be an attractive man, but there was something in his eyes. He had neatly cut hair but he lacked his brother’s brains, which he more than made up for with his bloodlust.

  “Calm down, little doggy… You might end up in the crosswire again,” Hyde singsonged from beside his brother. I cringed and shrunk a little bit on the spot.

  “Don’t you mean ‘crossfire’?” Jekyll smirked. His voice, unlike his brother’s charming fluidity, was stronger, more intelligent.

  My breathing increased and my voice caught. “Don’t play dumb. You both know exactly what he said.”

  Dan stepped up and began speaking for those in the room who had no idea what was happening. “Can someone tell me what the hell is going on?”

  Hyde snatched my shoulders and pulled me off of his brother. “I’ll tell you! She’s the one hunting us! She and this monstrous pet of hers attacked my brother and me in the marketplace! The guy she was with has been attacking warriors all along!”

  “That’s a lie!” I shouted, and lunged at them, getting right in their faces.

  They faced each other, then caught me as I came at them and tossed me at Dan and Matt. The three of us crashed to the ground in a groaning heap as the brutes towered over us, ready to fight. I rolled off the boys and Dan stood up, roundhouse-kicking them both in the jaw.

  I leapt at them and swung my weapon, barely catching them in the stomach, not hard enough to do real damage. The warriors around us had started either recording on their personal handhelds or leaving, as the fight was getting ugly and showed no signs of letting up.

  Dan was shoved back by Jekyll, who reached for the knife he kept in his belt. Meanwhile I had somehow managed to get stuck with the larger, angrier of the two. Hyde swung his pipe at me, and I hopped back as he came towards me before falling over and crawling as far back as I could.

  “You should have known you weren’t going to survive after encountering us —”

  “Can it, Hyde. I like a good fight, but I don’t get off on slaughtering innocent people!” I said.

  “You know damn well that plague-infested freak isn’t innocent…” Hyde hissed. Like the snake he was, the statement dripped with venom, and it hurt.

  “I know damn well Crow does what he has to, to survive!” I kicked at him, but he easily dodged my feeble attempt and raised his pipe again. I was ready to take a hit, simply out of spite, when the door was quite literally broken down. Everyone froze, including our assailants. We watched as the interloper pulled the axe embedded in the door free and dragged it across the ground behind him. If I hadn’t known who the heaving, black-clad man was, I would have
stayed frozen like everyone else in the room. Instead I shoved my blade forward, catching Hyde’s leg as I leapt up and jumped from the floor to a table.

  “You shouldn’t be here —”

  “Shouldn’t — shouldn’t be alive … not after them.” Soul held his axe up and pointed towards the twins. “Hunters become the hunted!” A grim chuckle turned into a sick laugh, then into an all-out cackle. A sinister grin contorted his features as he rushed towards Hyde.

  “Sh-she’s with him!” Hyde hollered. “She’ll… Ah!”

  Soul didn’t give him a chance to finish; he took a great big swing at his face. Hyde dodged it and glared at us both as he booked it across the cafeteria to the kitchen. Jekyll took the distraction as an opportunity and jabbed at Soul with a knife, which he quickly regretted when Soul dodged the blow and tossed the brute over his shoulder and onto the floor. Jekyll’s knife clattered to the ground. Soul closed his eyes, trying to steady his breathing as he bit his lip and hunched his shoulders, swaying slightly.

  “Murderers…” he mumbled. “You should have buried me then, should have thrown the crow into a grave! Murderers! Murderers!” He slammed both hands onto the table I was standing on. I lost my balance, falling onto my back. A result of exhaustion — or, you know, a few lingering concussions.

  Soul was shaking his head, violently mouthing the words.

  “It’s okay, Crow, it’s okay now.” I was still lying sideways on the table as I tried to comfort him.

  “K9…” he said.

  I touched his shoulder, and he quickly looked from my hand to my eyes.

  “It’s okay,” I repeated.

  He suddenly jolted up and with his axe, deflected another attack of Jekyll’s knives. I rolled off the table and onto the floor as Soul twisted his body so his attacker wouldn’t reach him. A second later, Hyde was back. He headed straight for Dan, who was staring at Soul. I had to haul him out of the way as he stuttered, “B-but I thought…?”

  “Snap out of it, Dragon,” I said, shaking him. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost!”