Rise of The Fallen (unedited Version) (COMPLETED)

Chapter 10

As the gunshot went off my ears were ringing as I stared blankly ahead of me. My hand was shaking and I couldn't register the words coming from the man's mouth. 

It took me a few moments to snap out of my shocked state and for the ringing to die down only to be replaced by screaming as the man lay on the ground yelling profanities. 

The pistol in my hand felt heavy and I quickly got to my feet and lowered the smoking gun to look down at my assailant. He was holding his bleeding stomach while laying on the ground. 

"y-you!" He still had his gun in his hand though it had some of his blood on it now, and he tried to raise his arm to point it at me again but I wouldn't let him. 

Throwing the empty gun in my hand away I pinned his arm down and we both struggled for the gun he held. He no longer held his wound and grabbed at my arms desperately, covering me with his own blood.

I managed to wrangle or free from his grasp and pushed away, standing up once more to train the loaded weapon at him. He realized he wasn't going to get the chance to fight back and covered his wound with one hand before raising the other bloody palm up. 

"w-wait please! I'm sorry! D-don't shoot me!"

I glared down at him, keeping the weapon pointed at him. "enough games, tell me why the hell did you try to kill me… what are you really out here for!" I snapped at the man and he groaned in pain slightly, panting after the struggle we just had. 

My heart was racing and I admit I was terrified. He almost killed me. But I had managed to pull my gun on him and shoot him before he even realized. Even with how scared I was at this moment, I covered it up and kept my hands from shaking.

"Tell me why you were trying to kill me!" I snapped again. Taking a step forward I had my finger on the trigger, adding the slightest bit of pressure. 

"Okay okay! Please! I- we were out here looking for you! We were given orders to eliminate you by our leader!" he held his bloodied hand up in surrender while scooting away with his other arm.

Their leader? Why would they want me dead?! I've hardly been on xanadis for long and I've not met any other humans not messed with anyone's stuff. Why am I being targeted by the camp of convicts out here!? I've done nothing to your group!"

"l-look it's nothing personal Lass…we are just doing what we were ordered to-"

"if you try lying to me again I'll blow your brains out…"

"I ain't lying! Look when I told ya we were doing jobs for the big men upstairs, I meant it! That wasn't no lie! Sometimes sending us exiles down here ain't enough of a punishment so us lucky ones get offered goods in return for hunting down the poor suckers who pissed someone of power off!"

Immediately my mind went to the man who initially sentenced me to exile. What he did was against the law. I wasn't given a fair trial. Did he put these goons up to get rid of me? To silence me? But why? There's no chance of me ever getting off this planet. The orbital security grid assures that no ships come or go… sending me here was enough to tie up loose ends with me. wait… how were they getting these orders in the first place?

"how are you getting orders from people in krosa, no one should even have any form of communications on this planet?" 

"Our leader has a transmitter. He's been here the longest, a few years at least! I don't know the full story but he said he found it on some abandoned ship or something."

A ship? There's a ship on the planet?

"and the weapons? How did you get these guns?"

"They are supplies given to us from our patrons. They send pods full of various goods and supplies when we do as they ask…"

This is unbelievable. I'm not so sure I can trust half the words spewing out of this man's mouth but if what he says is true then not only am I in more danger than I thought, but there's more going on here on this planet than I initially thought. 

If there really are people who after me then I have to prepare myself, I have to evade them at all costs. I won't be able to trust anyone on this forsaken planet…

"look girly. I'm just doing what I'm told you think I wanted to be out here looking for Ya?" he chuckled but groaned in pain while sitting up. "I'm just trying to survive down here just like you…"

I glared at the man, coming out of my thoughts. "we are nothing alike… I Don't use or kill others for my own personal gain! I've done nothing to deserve this."

"Oh don't give me that crap, you're about as innocent as the rest of us lass. I don't know what you did, frankly I don't care. There's only two ways this is gonna end. One you get eaten or killed by some freaky alien animal or you get a bullet through the head by our men. With how dangerous this forest is you as well just let us do you the favor of making your death quick."

My grip on the pistol grew tighter but I lowered it to where It was no longer pointed at him. "I'm not giving up that easily." I spoke through gritted teeth.

"I don't want anything to do with you or your people, so go back to your leader, tell him to leave me alone or else!" 

He started laughing as he sat upright. "I don't think you are understanding anything I'm saying girl. You are as good as dead in this forest. You are barely surviving out here on your own.

He stood up holding his bleeding side. "You are alone, you have no supplies, no food, this shelter is barely secure. That gun in your hand? You have ten bullets. How long will that last you? How do you plan to defend yourself from the wildlife without any weapons? You can't rely on anyone else in this fucked up planet because us convicts will be more inclined to hunt you down than help you. Don't even get me started on the natives…"

He started stepping closer and I stepped back and he continued to talk. "Have you seen what they do to our kind? They'll tie you to a tree. Cut you open, but keep you alive just enough so that the wild animals and flesh eating insects swarm on your body and eat you alive." 

He continued stopping forward and I kept stepping back, holding the gun up in front of me aimed at his chest. "That is if they don't drag you through the forest, hang you from a tree and skin you. You should know by now those savages are faster, stronger. You have no chance of out running them, much less fighting them off. Imagine if they find your little hideout. What will you do?"

He chuckled as he stood before me. "You have nowhere to run or hide, the forest claims all lives in time… you might last a few days, maybe a few weeks if you're lucky. But you have no chance surviving out here. you. are. alone. And no one lasts out here by themselves. 

Gritting my teeth I glared back at the man. "You're wrong. I can and will survive no matter what! Nothing is going to stop me from trying, and I will fight till my last dying breath!"

He smiled and realization hit me as I looked down at his other hand he had been keeping hidden, that now held the poisoned arrow. "then get ready to meet your god!" he lunged at me with the arrow and I pulled the trigger twice.

The defining ringing from the gunshot hurt my ears as I fell back with the man's body overtop of me. I quickly shoved him off and looked for any signs of life, but he was completely limp. 

My heart was racing as I looked at him before quickly looking all over my own body for any cuts possibly left behind by the arrow. 

To my relief I found nothing. I sat back against the cave wall letting everything sink in and letting the shock fade away. 

Silence filled the cave as I came to terms with what I had learned and what I had done. Shakily I lifted the gun and removed the magazine to count how many bullets were left. 

Eight total. 

Replacing the clip I sat there and watched the entrance with an iron grip on the pistol. What were the chances something heard those gunshots?

As much as I wanted to get away from the man's dead body, or just sleep, it was too dangerous to leave at night and I couldn't risk something coming in while I slept. Not tonight, not now.

Taking a shaky breath I closed my eyes and tried my best to calm myself down.

 I'm alive… that's all that matters…I just hope I can keep it that way until morning…