Apocalyptic World

Chapter Six: Old Relations Gone

I walked around and the same man from the Rv park said, "You can still turn Sam in." I said, "You can still leave." The man left and I found a boulder. I sighed and decided to walk back to camp. Once I got there I saw the place being ambushed. I hid behind a tree and grabbed my kunai. I didn't move from my spot though. The raider had everyone zip tied and had a gun aimed at Sam's head. The raider asked, "Where is Nathan?" Sam said, "I don't know but when he gets back, every last one of you guys are dead." The raider was about to shoot Sam but I threw the kunai, hitting the gun, making the raider shoot the grass. The raider looked at me and said, "Here he is." I limped out and said, "You want me. Here I am." I examined my surroundings and saw five raiders. I said, "You underestimate me." The raider said, "I said that I would take you alive but I can make an exception." I said, "You made a mistake when you ambushed them. Don't make me do something I'll regret." The raider laughed and said, "We have the high ground." I said, "Ash, I need your help." My personality changed and Ash was in control. Ash drew his gun and killed the five other raiders immediately. The raider next to Sam was so scared that he dropped his gun. I took back control and said, "Still think you have the high ground." The raider was too scared to answer and I said, "Now run." The raider ran and I took the zip ties off of everyone. Catherine, Lucy, Chloe, and Tommy all were in shock. Once they were released, Chloe asked, "What kind of move is that?" I said, "I have DID and it's pretty weird." Catherine asked, "Are you able to control when he comes out?" I said, "Only sometimes. Depends on how I'm feeling." I tried to walk to Lucy but she ran away from me. I said, "It's me, Nathan. You don't have to be scared." Lucy still wouldn't move. I sighed and said, "I'm sorry for scaring you but he would never hurt you." I stood up and said, "We need to get out of Colorado now." Chloe was admiring what I did but I didn't care. I should've never been so reckless, showing Ash infront of Lucy like that. She must've been terrified but I had no choice. Once we finished gathering everything and making it seem like we were never there. We were walking and after a few hours Chloe asked, "What was with that look you had while fighting those raiders?" I asked, "What look?" Chloe said, "It was a look of death. I had a cold shiver just by sensing your presence but looking at you was a different story." Sam said, "He's developed a cold stare over the years. He's been through a lot as a kid." Chloe asked, "Like what?" Sam said, "His parents were killed when this started." I sighed and said, "My dad was killed when this started. My mom was killed before this started." Chloe said, "Oh, well I understand how you feel." I said, "Oh really. Have you ever killed someone's entire family, just to save them and now you're the country demon?" Chloe said, "No but a good cry will make you feel better." Catherine said, "He can't cry." I said, "I can but I won't." Chloe said, "Oh, you're trying to act tough in front of me." I looked at Sam and said, "I'm about to show her why people call me a demon." Sam said, "Don't do it." I asked, "How about a small scare?" Sam gave me a look and I said, "Fine." Tommy was lagging behind and already out of breath. I said, "You want to kill me but you can't even keep up with me at a normal pace." Tommy said, "I'm just old." Sam said, "You're thirty seven. I'm thirty three. Find a new excuse." Chloe asked, "How old are you Nathan?" I answered, "I'm sixteen." Chloe said, "Really, well I'm fifteen so there isn't a huge age difference." Catherine said, "Your main priority is to flirt with Nate instead of getting out of here." Chloe asked, "Why? Is that bothering you?" I said, "She has a point, Chloe. If you keep flirting with me then you'll get killed by that sleeping Exosaur." Sam said, "Sleeping What?!" I said, "Exosaur. You didn't see it over there." I pointed to our left and everyone looked at the Exosaur. Chloe said, "I can kill that thing in two seconds flat." I said, "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Chloe asked, "Why?" Sam said, "You see the pattern on its exoskeleton and size of it. It's an alpha and those things are near impossible to kill." Catherine asked, "How many have you killed?" I said, "I've killed one but you would have to thank Ash for that." The Exosaur woke up and I drew my kunai while Chloe drew her kitana. Chloe said, "New bet, whoever kills this thing first gets whatever they want." Tommy drew his gun and said, "With pleasure." Tommy started shooting the Exosaur but the bullets couldn't penetrate the armor. Chloe said, "My turn." Chloe charged after the beast and with one swift cut, sliced off the Exosaur's arm. Chloe then attempted to cut the Exosaur's head off but the armor was too tough and it sent Chloe's sword flying into a tree. The Exosaur grabbed Chloe and threw her into a tree. I sighed and said, "My turn." I walked forward and the Exosaur directed it's attention toward me. I walked forward and the Exosaur charged after me but something was off. I stopped moving and the Exosaur stopped in front of me. Sam shot at the Exosaur which made it mad and then it attacked me but I dodged the attack. The Exosaur charged after me and I threw the kunai hitting it in the throat. The Exosaur fell to the ground and I grabbed the kunai from its throat. Sam asked, "What were you thinking just standing there?" I looked at him and back at the Exosaur. I walked over to Sam and said, "I don't know." Sam said, "It was weird that it just stopped but-" I said, "We need to get moving." Chloe came running back and said, "That thing was strong." I said, "I'm impressed that you managed to separate a limb." Chloe smiled and said, "It was like cutting through butter. My blade is the sharpest in the world." I said, "Second sharpest. Don't think that I don't recognize that blade. That blade is Thomas Hohen's blade. He used it to help me with mission 6009." Chloe said, "You know Thomas Hohen." I said, "Yeah I know him. He has saved my life multiple times and I've saved his. I know that he would never just give an A ranked Mercenary Raider his blade, especially since he told me that he would never give it to anyone." Chloe said, "Well, he died last year and his will stated that he wanted you to have this sword. I decided that I was going to give it to you until I figured out your true nature." I asked, "How'd he die?" Chloe said, "Some raiders attacked our village so he fought them off.But still, his will stated that this sword is yours." I said, "You were his student. He told me about you." Chloe said, "He was an excellent teacher." I sighed and said, "Hold on to it for me. I'll get it when I need it." Chloe said, "Really, thank you." I said, "I know how you feel about that sword. That's all you got left of him. So I'm going to continue training you but this won't be an ordinary teaching method." Chloe asked, "What do you mean?" I said, "He hates this method but it's the best. I'm going to use life as your school. Each thing that happens is a lesson." Sam said, "Let's go." I nodded and we started walking again. Sam asked me, "Are you sure that you can teach her?" I said, "Thomas never would have taught her the way I am but it's the only way I know." Sam said, "I know but Thomas teaches with little pain. You teach with a lot of pain." I said, "To survive you have to fight but don't think that I won't save her." I looked up and saw the crows flying away from the direction we were heading. I said, "That's funny, crows usually follow us." Sam said, "You're about to be attacked." I said, "I know. We are in Colorado." A mercenary raider charged after me but I dodged his attack. Catherine screamed and asked, "Where did he come from?" I said, "Give me the sword now." Chloe passed me the kitana and I took it out of its sheath. I then closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I slowed my breathing and focused on my surrounding area, listening for the mercenary. Catherine asked, "What is he doing?" Chloe said, "He's sensing his surrounding area just like Thomas." I then heard a branch shake and opened my eyes. The mercenary attacked and I parried all of his attacks. The mercenary ran off again and I said, "I haven't done this in a while." Chloe asked, "Done what?" I waited for the mercenary to attack and when he finally attacked. Instead of parrying it, I dodged and took his kitana. The mercenary was so surprised by this that he lost his footing and fell. I passed the mercenary's kitana to Chloe and then put my kitana back in the sheath. I walked to the mercenary and said, "Eli sent you." The mercenary nodded and said, "Just kill me now." I said, "I won't kill you." The mercenary asked, "What?" I said, "If I wanted you dead. I wouldn't have taken your kitana. I just would've stabbed you." The mercenary said, "This isn't my family's way." I said, "Well, I'm the only member left in my family so I don't care." The mercenary then took my gun and shot himself. I grabbed my gun and said, "I was just about to ask him for directions to the nearest gas station." Chloe asked, "Was that lesson three?" I said, "Sure was." Chloe said, "You're just like Thomas." I said, "We can talk about this later. I can't fight for much longer so let's get out of here." Sam said, "Stop using your core energy." I said, "Fine but that's the only way I can walk on my leg." Sam said, "Just limp." I shrugged and stopped using my core energy. We were walking again but at a slower pace so I could keep up. Tommy said, "Now who's slowing us down." I said, "I'll kill you here and now." Sam asked, "Why are you even here?" Tommy said, "I said that I would help you get out of here." I said, "You could've fooled me." Tommy asked, "What's that supposed to mean?" I said, "Well, I fought the mercenary that tried to kill me. I killed the Exosaur that you only made mad and I'm the reason you're alive right now." Tommy said, "I can take care of myself. You guys can't." No one said anything because we all knew that Tommy was dead wrong. Lucy walked a little bit closer to me but still kept her distance. I sighed and asked, "Do I scare you?" Lucy said, "Only a little bit." I said, "You don't have to be scared of me." Lucy said, "But you changed and were scary. Just like the demon from my dreams." Catherine said, "You're having those dreams again." Lucy nodded. Catherine held her sister and continued to walk. Tommy bursted out with laughter and said, "The girl sees you as a demon too." Lucy said, "No I don't. He just changed and that scared me. I also felt how I feel when I see the demon in my dreams." I sighed and Chloe said, "That isn't a bad thing." I shrugged and kept on walking. Sam said, "Chloe's right. It isn't bad that you accidentally scared her." I said, "Maybe, maybe not but I don't want her to see me as a bad person." Chloe said, "Wait, I'm just realizing that Lucy being scared of you is affecting you more than anything else." I said, "Yeah so what? You're jealous that I'm focussed on Lucy and not you." Chloe said, "Not at all. I'm just confused." I said, "Alright but I think that we should pick up the pace. I'm still being hunted and I don't have a lot of core energy left." Chloe said, "You really do act like Thomas." I said, "Well, I do need to make it out with my life and he was the best survivalist and mercenary raider." Chloe said, "You called me an A rank Mercenary." I said, "Yeah so." Choe sighed and said, "I'm actually a C rank Mercenary. I'm not even at killing jobs yet. I'm just an information collector." I said, "I figured as much but you fought like an A rank Mercenary. You just don't know how to read your opponent yet." Chloe said, "Thomas said the same thing but I just never understood how to read my opponent." I said, "I'm assuming that he had you read your opponents starting from the head to the feet." Chloe said, "He did." I said, "Well, that's considered the easier way but I think you need to read them from their feet to their head." Chloe said, "Thomas said that you can't get enough information like that." I said, "You can't but all you need is information about their movement. If you don't know how they're going to move then you can't counter or escape. Head to foot only helps you get information about how serious they are about killing you. That could seriously intimidate someone like you and you might be frozen in fear. I read from Head to foot because I know that I'm intimidating but I only do that once. All the other times, I read their feet." Sam said, "Aren't you also able to read their breaths." I laughed and said, "Thomas could but I can't." Chloe asked, "What good is reading their breaths?" I said, "That can tell you how much core energy they're using or how much they have left." Chloe asked, "What happened on the Arbaak mission?" I said, "He didn't tell you." Chloe said, "He wanted you to tell me." I sighed and said, "The Arbaak mission was an assanation mission. Ben chose me and Thomas to go on the mission alone because we were the best of the best. We accepted and we left. We made it from LA to Billings in three days. We made it to the facility and he was there. Arbaak. We struck at night. No one saw us and if they did. They wouldn't be able to see anymore. It was the demon and the ninja working together. Most people would be in the facility for hours and only make it half way. We made it to Arbaak in thirty minutes. When we were in front of Arbaak.We immediately started to read him. He had eyes of death but I wasn't scared at all. Thomas then said that his breath was controlled but he was using core energy. I then looked at his feet position and saw that he was a part of the Night clan. We charged after him but he was faster than we thought. He was faster than us. We fought for five hours straight and he barely broke a sweat but we barely had any core energy left. We both were on the verge of death." I bawled my hand into a fist and continued, "I kept on yelling at him that we needed to leave but he wouldn't listen. We didn't know but an old friend of mine. Rachel had followed us. She charged after Arbaak but she was killed in minutes. At that moment I knew that being persistent is useless if it's just going to get people killed but Thomas didn't get the memo. He just got up and drew his sword. Thomas charged after Arbaak but I couldn't let another one of my friends die so I used the rest of my core energy and ran in front of Thomas. I stabbed Arbaak in the heart and then I passed out. I woke up a week later in the hospital. That mission was the mission where I lost almost everything. I lost my best friends and all because of a rogue clan." Chloe said, "He wanted me to know about that." I said, "Maybe but knowing Thomas. There is a deeper meaning to that story." Catherine asked, "How old were you when the story took place?" I said, "I was fourteen. Thomas was twenty." Sam said, "Storytime is over. I bet that an S rank Assassin will be next." Catherine asked, "What kind of raider is Tommy?" Tommy said, "I'm an S rank Senior Scout." I said, "No he isn't. He's still a F rank Junior scout." No one said anything and we walked for three hours. Then we heard some rustling in the bushes and stopped moving. Sam and I drew our guns and aimed for the bushes. We waited and government soldiers walked out with M4s aimed at us. One of the soldiers spoke, "Drop your weapons and put your hands up." I read his tag and said, "Listen Rogers. We don't want to hurt you so just leave us alone." Rogers laughed and said, "We have the better weapons." I said, "Maybe but we have better survival skills." Rogers snapped and yelled, "We'll shoot you." I gave him a death stare and said, "Try me." I managed to intimidate both of them and these guys are supposed to be government officials. This was almost too easy. I holstered my gun and said, "Shoot me." The soldiers were shaking. They were completely incapable of moving. I have managed to paralyze these guys in fear. I walked up to the soldiers and took their magazines. I then said, "I won't kill either of you but I'm just going to say this once. Leave us alone." The soldiers nodded and ran off. Sam said, "You're about to make the entire old world government your enemy." I said, "They shouldn't have pulled a gun on me. Besides, I didn't hurt any of them." I took a step and was surrounded by soldiers. I looked around and counted at least a hundred soldiers. I yelled, "You don't want to attack us." A soldier spoke, "Put your hands up." Sam said, "We're outnumbered." I looked around and said, "We have to surrender. I can't be the cause of any of our deaths."