Koki’s feet dragged through the sand. The once bustling streets of Ardora were now empty and bare.
As Koki walked down the market, he saw all the vacant stands. The crates and boxes were still full of fruits and vegetables. It was noon. The sun had gone down and darkness was falling; still, no one had come to take down the shirts hanging on the clothes lines. It was like a city frozen in time.
His black uniform was torn from his left shoulder to his waist. The fabric hung open like a flap. Koki could hardly bring himself to a light jog. His legs and back were in too much pain to manage a sprint.
A clump of his blonde hair had been stuck to his forehead by dried blood. His visions of the road before him seemed to split into two.
“I need to get to the bunker. I need to get to mom and Samuka.”
He held his left arm in his right hand. The stunt he pulled earlier with the mech dislocated his finger. He wasn't able to focus his Mana long enough. He hadn't noticed it then, but when his body swung, he lost concentration on focusing his mana and the mana flow and was momentarily halted.
The pain had spread from his finger to his entire forearm.
The wind was howling and lifting the sand off the floor and into the air. Koki tucked his face into his shirt to stop the wind from biting at his nose.
He approached his home. It was as warm and beautiful as ever. He walked past the pond and saw the fish were still swimming, unbeknownst to the events the citizens had to endure.
He was tempted to open the door and have a look inside. Perhaps his mother would still be there, preparing lunch for him after a long day at the academy. Or Samuka would still be there, reading his books alone in his room, being antisocial and quiet as usual.
“No” Koki thought. “Were not being invaded. It's just like any other day. Things happened and the warriors will fight. It's still the same. I'm just coming back from the academy.”
“Just a little later this time” he muttered. “I'll just go inside and have a nap”
He walked to his Acacia door and opened it. The hinges creaked as the door opened and light penetrated the darkness inside.
Koki wiped his feet on the carpet and entered, not bothering to close the door behind him. The table was set with plates and knives. The pot was still on the stove. Koki walked to it and took off the lid.
It was chicken soup. Samuka hated soup. Koki could never understand why. The warm and golden broth always felt so nice in his stomach.
He dipped his finger into the dish. It emerged covered in oily liquid. He slipped his finger into his mouth.
“It's cold.” He put the lid back on the pot and walked into the bathroom. When he looked in the mirror his brow furrowed in confusion. Or at least one of them furrowed. The other brow was far too swollen and covered in blood to even move. Koki wet his hand and tried rubbing the blood off.
“I'm tired,” he thought, dragging his feet over to his room and throwing himself into his messy bed.
He turned around, tossing the blanket over his body. Slowly, his eyes batted open and closed before the last thing he could see out his window was the beautiful woods behind his house; and 15 or so men rushing into it.
Koki’s eyes burst open. He bolted upright in his bed. “Who the hell is going into the woods right now? Were being invaded” he thought, scratching his head.
His eyes suddenly widened. “Oh shit! We are getting invaded!” He leaped out of his bed and rushed out his bedroom, into the kitchen, and out the door.
He looked around nervously. “What am I doing here?! Wasn't I just with dad?”
He looked down at his battered clothes. His shoulder was covered in blood. “Right! I was fighting and then dad came and…”
His thoughts scattered away. “Why can't I remember?!” He looked around, desperately hoping for someone to come by so he could ask what to do.
His head was stinging in pain, and his finger was swollen and blue. “The bunker!” He thought” I had to go to the bunker!” He knew the bunker was hidden in the woods behind his house, so he rushed in behind the unfamiliar men.
The leaves and sticks crunched beneath his feet as he entered. He could no longer see the men who had been going in before.
The Ardora bunker was marked by the tallest tree in the forest. All Arodora citizens were taught to go there in case of an emergency. Since childhood, all of Ardora had evacuation drills 3 times a year.
He jogged as fast as his injured back would allow him too. Eventually, he saw the enormous tree.
It was a redwood. Its trunk was nearly as thick as a house and its top was at least 20 feet taller than any other tree in the forest.
As koki approached it, the men from earlier could be seen pacing around the tree. They were searching through the leaves frantically.
“They’re looking for the trap door!” Koki took cover behind a tree. He peered at them from behind it.
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The men were armed with swords and guns. None of them wore Ardora silk. They had on battered tunics and worn pants.
“Where the hell is it?!” one of them said. He was on all fours rustling through the leaves. “Shut up and keep looking, Lon! It's supposed to be near the big ass tree!” another one yelled to him.
Koki clenched his fists. The man who ordered the others to keep looking stood up. He looked to his right and to his left and began to walk away from the tallest tree.
“Boss, where are you goin’?” a bearded man yelled to him. He shooed the bearded man away. “Keep looking for the damn entrance, I gotta do something.” he barked.
The man walked a good distance away from his crew, looking behind him every few steps. He ended up directly in front of the tree Koki was hiding behind.
Koki could hear the man grunt and a piece of metal rattle.
“What the hell is he doing?” thought Koki.
Slowly, the man drew a long sword from behind his back. He swung directly at Koki.
Koki ducked to the ground, holding his head in his hands and wincing.
A few seconds had passed, and the man had not attacked again. Koki looked up and saw the sword was stabbed into the side of the tree.
There was a drizzling sound on the side of the tree the man was on. Koki peered behind.
The man had his belt unbuckled, pants down to his knees, and sword stabbed into the tree. His head was leaned back and his eyes were closed.
“Ahhh” the man sighed, peeing on the trunk.
“Oh my god...He didn't see me.” Koki wiped the sweat from his face. “And he's peeing on the tree!” His face flushed red and he covered his mouth, hardly containing his laughter.
“Too bad i'm gonna have to take him out”
Koki jumped to the side, revealing himself to the man. “Huh?!” he said, whipping around to face Koki.
“You little punk!” he yelled, pointing at Koki, “Were you listening to me pee?!”
He reached for the sword he had stabbed into the tree. Before he could grab it, Koki snapped a kick at the hilt, dislodging the sword and sending it flying into the air.
With the same leg, he kicked the man just below the ear. The man jumped back just in time. The kick had only grazed him, He raised his fists in a fighting stance.
With a swift turn of the hips, Koki launched a roundhouse right to the man's rib cage. The man's left arm went down to block the kick. In the blink of an eye, Koki took advantage of the man letting his guard down and redirected the path of his leg to the man's face.
His head swiveled around and he collapsed to the ground. Koki retracted his foot.
“I used to get so many guys in the tournament with that move” he thought. He walked over to the unconscious man and squatted beside him.
His face was unfamiliar to Koki, he certainly wasn't from Ardora. A person from Ardora would know where the trap door was immediately.
“Boss!” yelled one of the men back at the tall tree, “I think we got sum!”
Koki sucked his teeth. He looked at the unconscious man, and back to the direction of the other enemies. “I gotta get them away from the door,” Koki thought.
He hid behind a tree. Slowly, he went from tree to tree, advancing to the enemies gradually. Finally, he reached a tree 15 feet away.
They had found the trap door, it was positioned in a crevice under the large roots of the tall tree.
“Do we open it without boss?” a man asked. The other 13 looked at each other. “Yea whatever I guess so, he hasn't come back yet” another one with red hair responded. A woman with short brown hair squatted down next to the trap door alongside the man. She had a brown leather satchel on her shoulder. She reached in and removed two tin canisters. The other soldiers backed up when she removed them.
“Careful with those Cindy!” one of the soldiers yelled. “Ok, on the count of three, I smash open the trap door then you drop them in, got it?” the red-haired man said.
Koki’s eyes widened. He finally realized their plan. They were going to kill every single person in the bunker.
“Ready Cindy?” the man said. “Okay...1...2…”
“WAIT!!!” Koki yelled, running out from behind the tree. The soldiers drew their swords and weapons.
The red-haired man whipped around to face him. “Who are you!?” he yelled. Koki could feel his legs begin to shake. “I can't take out more than a dozen soldiers alone!” He thought
Koki shifted his feet nervously. “Well, I’m a...boss...um... boss sent me,” he stuttered.
“Woah there, kid! Don't take another step.” The red-haired man yelled, pointing to Koki with a knife. “Why did boss send you?”
Koki sighed. A bead of sweat fell from his brow. “He had to...go...take care of something. He sent me to deliver a message”
The red-haired soldier tilted his head quizzically. “Okay…” he said. “Well, what is it?”
“He said that you need to throw this in here too.” He held out a closed fist. “Lemme just give it to Cindy,” he said, pointing to the girl holding the canister.
The red-haired soldier gestured for them to put away their weapons. Koki walked over to the girl. She held out her hand to him.
Koki slowly extended his fist, right under her outstretched hand...and socked her right in the face.
The soldiers pounced at Koki, but he was faster. He removed one of the canisters from her bag and held it in the air.
The soldiers stopped. “Everybody back up! Now!” Koki yelled.
The soldiers looked at each other and took a step back. They lowered their weapons. “Hold on a minute” one of them yelled. “The kids’ bluffing! He wouldn't blow himself up!”
Koki’s face flushed red in anger, “I'm not bluffing idiot!” He pulled out the safety pin of the canister and waved in front of them tauntingly.
A cruel smirk spread across his face. “Still think I’m bluffing now?!” The soldiers were tense, some of them refusing to even blink. As nervous as they appeared, Koki refused to show any signs of discomfort.
“Oh my god, what am I doing?” There was a bitter taste in the back of his throat and his heart was pounding in his chest. His confident smile masked his immersing fear.
“Your insane kid,” a soldier mumbled. He raised a shaky arm and pointed to the canister. “T-that’s not just a grenade. Its... a mini hydrogen bomb.”
Koki looked up at the canister he was holding in the air. He could feel his legs begin to tremble. “They...they wouldn’t even find out ashes-”
“JUST SHUT UP OR I WILL YOU!” Koki yelled. He winced as the pain from the side of his head began to increase. “What do I do?” he thought. Koki looked around nervously, searching for any possible way to escape unscathed.
He thought of running a good distance away and chucking the canister to them. However, he more than likely wouldn’t be able to outrun the explosion and its shockwaves. He also couldn’t forget there were fourteen soldiers and just one of him.
“Think! Think!” His thoughts scattered away every time he tried to conjure them. He had completely lost the ability to concentrate.
He stumbled backward. His head felt heavy as a boulder and his legs weaker than sticks. His vision grew blurry and all he could make out was the outline of the soldiers.
He could faintly hear a soldier yell out, “What’s going on with him?!”
He felt his grip on the canister’s trigger weaken. Darkness grew around his line of sight and he felt his legs slip from underneath him…