Chapter 44

“Why are we stopping? Don't you know that it is terrible for me and us?” Melia demanded, full of shadows, and some of them escaped as she talked, skimming like mist that danced in weird patterns.

“What is terrible?” William asked.

Zep pointed at her as he knelt and looked at William. “She is our token of safety. How else would we fly above New York City like wasps before a spider web?”

“How else?” Melia laughed and pinched her fingers. “In pieces. Little ones.”

Shadows? William thought, sizing Melia. So we had protection. I wondered about it, but why Luke hadn't said anything about her? Well, he said there are Walkers on his team, so... she is one of them. Looks imposing. Like them.

Melia was as young as Anna, but her features were broader and quite strong. Her face and eyes were sharp and her shadows gave her an uneasy impression.

“Just so you know, going over the New York City was bad... Zep. I felt a disturbance even though my Shadow Waves and Dome of Chaos worked well at the first pass. We have been seen a while ago and it didn't feel great in the slightest. What was that? Who? I mean, I tried. Really.”

Zep knew the issue already; she told him about this via a little device hiding behind their ears. That was one of the reasons this stop was unfortunate because they encountered a problem along the way.

“No idea. Some work ended up interrupting this mission. That is that,” Zep explained right when more teammates walked over to see or help with what was about to happen. Melia was unhappy about it and hated how Luke was gone before she had a chance to speak to him. But he was her senior, so she had no choice but to swallow her pride like this mission.

***

Down, falling through the air, Luke was approaching a moving boat at a steady pace. He was about to miss it, as it kept steering away from his path.

“Hmph! You aren't going anywhere. You are my responsibility,” Luke puffed his chest up with the same vigor that he showed William a while ago. Unlike many of his peers, Luke was mastering his Arcalyst as his priority due to his overall talent and complex ways of his System and Emblem. It wasn't bad or good. It was just one of many ways Walkers clutched their powers and focused on what might be good.

A wave of bright particles shined in the sun, appearing much faster than before. A Cube spread and moved, pushing through his uniform and his jacket. It went down, connected to him with little strands that once more washed over himself. Luke landed on it with his feet. Crouching down, he regained his footing and flew onwards much faster than the boat, leaving a thin light lines behind.

Looking at it, he noticed five people on board, scurrying over it and trying to do something. That was suspicious because he showed his status. Normally, most boats would stop. Now, they were looking up with fright, disappointment, and helplessness.

There were a couple of women and a bunch of men. As far as Luke watched, no one was a Walker. Lowering his altitude so he could see and speak better, Luke shouted. “Who in their bloody minds is traveling in such waters? Federation is ahead but this water and pace is not good.”

“We can travel anywhere we can!” shouted one of the burly men, not wavering in front of a Walker. He was an abnormality among them, as he stood his ground and seemed experienced.

“This is a bloody section of the sea that is off-limits. It is close to a goddamn New York City!”

“We don't care!”

“It is under the jurisdiction of the Federation to provide safe waters and lands. This ain't it, fools. You could die, waste time and your life and resources, while giving some Darks ways ahead.”

Luke wasn't entirely sincere. The Federation was constantly under the surveillance and eyes of numerous Walkers, but also Darks, who wanted to seize that place. But it was protected far too tightly due to the existence of Assembly Island and great formations around the whole place. Even if some boat pointed to that place, it would hardly change a thing.

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Even if an Incursion happened, there were ways to protect people and lands, and see no hopeless terms. It was possible due to time, restraints in a good place, and decades spent on the largest project of the past century.

“No place in the world is in possession of someone! Hell for Darks that means it. We seek refuge! What else?” This time, one of the women further back shouted, giving Luke a firm look.

“Bloody hell...” mumbled Luke and figured these fools were serious. Then, he jumped from his Cube and hoped this wouldn't end that worse for him when back home. If so, someone will seriously need to fix it up.

Striking the deck, he crouched in the very middle of the boat in a heartbeat, landing firmly on his feet, and looking surrounded.

“I will ask some bloody questions first. They could be worse than bloody depending on the cooperation, alright?” He stared at them, whereas his Cube drifted above him, going with the flow of the boat.

The group of people showed some hesitation before one of the men grabbed something from one blanket around some crates. He moved quickly, stepping forward, and pointed a weapon straight at Luke's head.

With a shotgun in hand, some self-assurance was guaranteed. It was a truth that many people in North America grew up with. Darks or people alike, it didn't matter.

But Walkers?

Luke wasn't enjoying this, but he wasn't in a foul mood. “Five... no, six people in total. What are you doing here, riding a rather nice boat right past New York City?” Luke calmly asked, ignoring the shotgun creeping on the back of his head. Luke pointed his question to the woman who showed some restraint, hugging a blanket.

“Shut the fuck up, fucking Walker! Who do you think you are?! Some sort of god?” The man with a shotgun yelled and almost shot Luke down. He looked worked up due to the journey or history, looking like a thug, and his grasp on the shotgun wasn't shaking all that much. Scars showed his past, and broad shoulders and size made him even bigger than Luke, who was rather normal-looking, as far as Walkers were.

“Pointing a gun at a Walker is not always a good idea. I don't get where that assures goes for normal people. I mean, how do you want to do this anyway? Reach the Federation and hope for the best in this suicidal mission where even helicopters are reaching their limits. I get the need to survive, but there are many ways to do this. Camps and many people do...”

“I said fuck the shit up,” the man agitatedly mumbled, biting his own tongue and butchering his sentence. He didn't care. He knew that people living in the Federation weren't petty people. They were chosen ones, either brought by luck, people, or experience. Not just anyone could come there from Outside, as its space held limits and refugees were far big in number.

Luke sighed. “Alright, we are quite past the New York City. Many miles from the closest corner of the habitable shores, while much more is forward. What is this plan? How about some answers to my ears?” Luke kept his cool and talked, pointing to his ears.

“W-we have enough gas for the whole journey! We can pay for ourselves.” Mumbled another woman in the back, hiding herself behind a man.

“Yeah, right. Paying for lives? Who do you think the Federation is? If you would survive this, perhaps you would get there. Sure. Would you?”

“We would!” the man with a shotgun said. “Why are you here? Why that helicopter... or what stopped you? You should've ignored us.”

“Am I a villain all of a sudden?” Luke asked. “I am a soldier by profession. Walker is a mere weapon. I protect and kill and deal with many missions. Rescuing is one thing.”

“So...”

“But I don't like you, eh? I mean, what is death and some hopes in the eyes of Darks that tracks you behind? You don't even know it.”

“This boat is fast!”

“I am faster, so what about some Darks?”

The man hesitated. “Protect us then! It is your duty.”

“Says a man aiming a shotgun at me,”

“We don't trust anyone! Outside is that sort of place. Can we pay for your trust?”

“Pay?” Luke didn't like where this was going. “Gas is more important than life? Hilarious. The Federation could take anyone, obviously. In hell....” Luke stated in a sarcastic tone.

“Do you have a fucking idea how many people are dying out there in these waters, hoping to reach the Paradise, Walker?” The man with a shotgun expressed his struggle, pushing his weapon to Luke's temple fiercely, but all that Luke was feeling was just a mild inconvenience.

“In fact, I do. Who deals with it? People? Walkers? Their death is bad news and nothing surprising. Darks are hunters. They can sense and feel things. They kill and do it all over again. Escaping them isn't wrong, however. It has its merits and bad choices. Some are idiotic. Trying to reach a constructed island in the middle of the god-damned ocean is questionable. What answer do you want? A ship to this so-called Paradise? A bridge? There are so many ships out there that are operational that even the Federation has none to spare. Each is also protected while boats like these are hardly fitting to appease some Darks. Just a poke and it breaks.” Luke eased his step and the whole boat creaked under it.

People shuddered and knew this boat was still good. It kept their weight and their stuff, yet it couldn't take Luke's step that well.

“Then what the fuck we are supposed to do?”

“Do you want to blow my head off? It will be your death anyway.”

“Please, Marcus! Stop this!” the woman with a blanket yelled and unwrapped the blanket.

A sight that wasn't all that surprising reached Luke's eyes.

A glint of a third eye.