Empire

Chapter 48

Samoa's POV:

I hoisted the corpse over my shoulder and carefully snuck out the back to where the burners were. As I put his body on the ground and stood in silence, paying my respects to our dead friend.

I opened the burner door and looked around to make sure I wasn't being watched. When I was sure, I kicked Wales' shoulder lightly.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Wales muttered, opening his eyes slightly.

"I'm sure," I whispered. I grabbed a nearby sack of old pig's organs and threw it into the burner. Wales took off his shirt and was about to throw it in when he quickly removed the special pin from it. We stood there for a few seconds, watching the fire engulf everything.

"You are dead now," I sighed, shutting the burner and turning to him. I handed him a casual t-shirt to wear.

"I guess so, I just really hope that these wings work," Wales said, pulling out a set of mechanical wings that he had hidden there earlier in the day.

"Look, you know the deal, you don't come back here until the Empires have fallen," I explained to him. He nodded and took off. This was our only chance and it had better work, for my sake and his.

As soon as he was out of view, I walked back inside and decided to stop along Wales' hallway. Flowers lined the walls and others stood there in silence mourning our friend. I knew that Madi had been the most upset. I saw her standing in the hallway, holding a single daffodil.

Despite the lack of tears, she looked absolutely distraught. I put my hand on her shoulder.

"He is in a better place now," I sighed. She didn't acknowledge me, but I could understand why.

I continued to walk down the hallway, winding in and out of people sobbing until I made it to NZE's office. I just walked in. I knew he didn't mind if it was me.

But, he wasn't there. I shut the door behind me and walked towards his desk. I noticed something in the rubbish bin. It was familiar. I pulled it out only to realise it was a photo album. I started looking through it. There were pictures of me and my brothers. All when we were really young.

There were pictures of Niue with a rugby ball taped to his hands and another with Cook setting fire to a microwave. And, there was one with Tokelau, fast asleep in a tree. I felt sad looking at the photo. But when I heard the door open, I didn't stop looking. I felt NZE behind me, looking down at the album as well.

"I don't want to remember those days." NZE muttered. I closed the album and handed it to him.

"So many people in our lives die and there is nothing we can do. We can miss them, but that only hinders us. Some people we just need to forget," He sighed, putting the book back in the bin.

"Wales has been disposed of," I said.

"Yes. we don't want the others to know. The longer we keep up this charade, we can distract the other Empires," He muttered.

Scotland's POV:

Do this, do that. It's all I ever hear. People here make empty promises and blame it on the alcohol. I hate it and I love it. I can tell people I'm doing something, but they won't care when they find me in my room drinking. It's like people are wasting their breath.

So here I am, outside with a bottle of whiskey in my hand, lying on the ground. The sun set about an hour ago and I enjoyed the peace and quiet. Well it was peaceful and quiet until I heard that creaky window open. A rope dropped out and almost hit me in the face. I sat myself up and watched as someone descended the rope.

As soon as their feet touched the ground they saw me. It was Gray. She looked down at me and let out a small disappointed sigh. She grabbed back onto the rope and climbed back up again.

"Hey, where are you going?" I asked, grabbing onto her ankle.

"Let go, I'm going back, I promise," She muttered, trying to shake me off.

"Look, I couldn't care less if you are trying to escape or not, I just want to know where you are going," I shrugged, still not letting go of her.

"Why do you want to know?" She sighed.

"I want to get out of here too," I shrugged.

She let go of the rope and landed on the ground.

"How do I know that I trust you?" She asked.

"I bring whiskey as a peace offering," I muttered, holding up my half empty bottle. She looked at it.

"Hmm, fine. You can join me but I'm not telling you where we are going until we get there," She stuck her hand out, waiting for me to shake on it. Well that is what I thought. I went to shake her hand, but she pulled her hand away.

"They whiskey. I want your peace offering," She rolled her eyes. I was reluctant, but I handed my whiskey over to her and she immediately took a swig from the bottle and stuck it in her backpack.

She started walking off. I guess I wasn't bringing anything with me. I followed after her.

While we were walking, I noticed something around her neck.

"Are you wearing a tie?" I asked, confused.

"Yeah. Uncle Meri said I could have it," She explained.

"Did you just call him uncle?"

"How many questions are you going to ask?"

"Oi, you took my whiskey, you can at least answer me."

"That whiskey was a peace offering, and I don't have to tell you anything."

"You are Australia's kid, aren't you?" I said with a grin.

"He isn't my dad. It doesn't matter what people say, no one is who they once were, we can't trust anyone," She said.

"But you trust me, right?" I asked. She ignored me and fastened her pace a little.

"Right?" I repeated.