Sadness filled the group’s new van as if it had been packed in there along with everyone’s food and equipment. As Ivan drove away from the city the only sounds being made were sniffles from crying.
“It all happened so fast. Didn’t even have time to process it; they were both just alive an hour ago!” cried Dante. “And we don’t even know if the Deceiver was killed from the blast.”
“We’ll get through this together.” said Lucy as she wiped away her tears. “We have to. Now we’re not just fighting for your parents but Leeza and Mack.”
“Yeah I know, it’s just...DAMN! Why couldn’t Leeza just listen to Mack and stay in the rig?! They’d still be alive! This is Leeza’s fault!”
“Dante we can’t think like that. We don’t have the luxury of second guesses and what-if’s.” said Brock wisely. “I know Leeza should’ve stayed in the truck but she didn’t and we can’t take that back. What’s done is done.”
“I know we can’t take it back but it’s just—” Dante paused, holding back tears. “It’s just sad and infuriating all at the same time how this all transpired.”
Ivan spoke up. “It is sad how it all happened. Leeza made the wrong choice because she was so consumed by her emotions that it clouded her judgment. I mean, she had to kill her own husband and daughter; I can’t even imagine what it would be like to have to do that. I’m not saying that she was right to just go after the Deceiver the way she did, but we have to at least try to understand she made that decision from a very dark place within her. We have to learn from that and realize it could happen to any of us. So Lucy is right in that we’re not just fighting for mom and dad anymore. Mack and Leeza’s death can’t have happened in vain.”
The four all knew that they had to turn the sadness and anger of Mack and Leeza’s deaths into motivation to stay alive, keep fighting and ensure the Deceiver is dead.
Ivan stops the van.
“What are you doing?” asked Brock
Everyone was just staring at Ivan waiting to hear him answer Brock.
“We have to go back.” said Ivan looking out at the miles of road ahead of them. The way he said it sounded as if he was talking to himself with no one else in the van.
“Are you insane?!” Brock asked. “Is it not enough that Mack and Leeza died back there now you want us all dead too?!”
“Ivan this doesn’t sound like you” Dante added. “I know you want to make sure the Deceiver died and all but so do we. This just doesn’t seem like the best way to go about this. We need to wait a day or two and then we can go back and look for the Deceiver’s body; we know what it looks like now so we’ll have a better chance.”
“Guys, just hear me out.” Ivan pleaded. “This is as good a time as any; in fact, it’s the best time. We have to make sure the Deceiver doesn’t leave the city now. If we wait we might never find it if it’s still alive.”
“We’re going to get ourselves killed. This isn’t how we should go about this.” said Lucy pleading with Ivan through all the emotions of just losing Mack and Leeza. “Brock and Dante are right—I’m with them on this one.”
“So then what?” asked Ivan. “Then what?! We just go lick our wounds for a couple days while the Deceiver walks on out of the city to ruin more lives?! Destroy more families? I know it might be dead and damn it I hope it is but we don’t know that and if we risk letting it get away now we may never see it again. If that happens they died for nothing. We have to finish what they started; I don’t like it anymore than the rest of you but what other choice do we have?”
Ivan knew he was making a difficult decision to tell the group they should all go back to the city to ensure the Deceiver had been killed. He hated that he was putting all their lives in danger but he had to look at the bigger picture. They were the only people who had the best chance to kill the Deceiver that he knew of and that this might be the only chance they get.
“So what do you propose? What’s your plan?” Dante asked realizing that as much as it scared him, it was their only choice.
“Well, for one, we need to set up camp surrounding the city for the night to make sure the Deceiver doesn’t leave unnoticed.” Ivan said as he pulls out the map that they scavenged from one of the towns. He finds the city on the map and circles his finger around it. “There are four main roads leading into the city that are North, South, East and West.”
Before Ivan can continue his next sentence, Lucy interrupts. “No, no! We’re not splitting up to cover each direction. We’re not splitting up Ivan this is ridiculous!”
“Lucy how else are we going to make sure it doesn’t get away? Because if you have any ideas then I’m all ears.” Ivan replied. “I wish there was another way. I wish there was more of us so we could stay in groups but I’m coming up with the best plan I can think of with what we have. We’re wasting time sitting here though so we all need to decide as a group if this is what we want to do.”
The group sat silent for a few seconds as each one pondered what Ivan was suggesting and tried to think of a better plan—no one could.
“I don’t know guys,” Brock said, breaking the silence. “I don’t have anything better. Do either of you have anything?” Brock was now looking at Dante and Lucy who were both just staring blankly shaking their heads.
“So it’s agreed.” said Ivan. “Brock do we still have those flare guns?”
“Yes, they’re in one of these bags, but yes.”
“Okay good. We’ll each carry a flare gun at our position. Since the Deceiver was right where Leeza said it would be I’m thinking that because it wasn’t at any towns we checked along the way that it stuck to the main road and went straight there. I don’t know for sure but that seems to be what happened. I’ll drop each of you off at the main roads coming out of the city in each direction.” Ivan points out the three roads to Brock, Dante and Lucy where they’ll set up camp for the night.
“Brock I’ll drop you off at the east point, Lucy you’ll be closest to Brock because your road is Southeast of the city and Dante I’ll drop you off at the North road—I’ll take west. We all need to find cover that’s close enough to the road to spot the Deceiver if it passes you. If anyone sees it, shoot your flare gun in the air and the others will make their way over to you.”
Brock takes the map from Ivan. He measures the distance between each road and shakes his head. “Ivan there’s at least a few miles between each road; what if one or more of us gets lost in the dark trying to make it to whoever shoots off a flare? This isn’t going to work.”
“Leave a trail.” Dante said, answering before Ivan could. “If Ivan is going to drop us all off then he obviously has to get the car there so we’ll leave a trail that leads to each connecting spot. From my spot on the North road we’ll leave a trail that leads west and east; from Ivan’s spot it will lead North and Southeast to Lucy’s position and so on. This way we can’t get lost.”
“You’re a smart man Dante.” Brock said with a smile on his face. “But what do we use to leave a trail with?”
“I don’t know, twigs I guess.” Dante said as his eyes scanned outside for the first thing he could see. “We’ll just place them at any turns we make so we know which direction to go.”
“Alright so it’s settled.” said Ivan. “And if you shoot the flare gun and get spotted you run to the next position that’s counter-clockwise of your position so you don’t get lost in the confusion and we know where to look.”
Ivan started by dropping Dante off at his location first. As they made their way, they did just as Dante suggested and left a trail of twigs that would point every time they had to turn on a new road. Next was Brock. Lucy thought it would be a good idea that if Brock happened to be the one to spot the Deceiver and shoot the flare that she would go to Brock’s spot on foot because there was only a half-mile between them and Ivan could just pick up Dante on the way. Brock and Ivan agreed and so after Brock was dropped off, Lucy was last.
“Ivan I’m scared.” Lucy said as they pulled up to her spot. “I know it’s just for the night but I have a bad feeling about us splitting up like this.”
Ivan hugged Lucy. “It’ll be okay. I’m a little scared too but we just have to all stick to the plan and make it through the night. None of us are going to try and be heroes; if there’s trouble, we run counter-clockwise to the next position as discussed.”
Lucy nodded and kissed Ivan.
Ivan made his way to his spot and settled in. The plan was in motion, so no turning back now.
The time was now 3:42 a.m. Everyone was able to stay awake partially because of being too sad about Mack and Leeza’s deaths, and the other reason was motivation to find the Deceiver and make it pay for all it’s done. No one saw or heard anything up until this point, but that was about to change.
Brock was thinking about Mack and Leeza while watching the road and listening for any suspicious noises when all of a sudden he heard footsteps. He continued looking in the direction of the footsteps and noticed that they were heading towards the city.
As the footsteps came closer and closer to Brock, one of them flicked on a flashlight. Brock counted them as quickly as he could while the flashlight and moonlight teamed up to expose their numbers—eight people. Once Brock realized they hadn't been changed and that they were heading towards the city, he felt compelled to warn them about all the Slayers and Destroyers in the city.
“Psst. Hey over here!” whispered Brock loudly from the bushes on the side of the road.
“Who’s there?! asked the person, pointing the flashlight in Brock’s direction in a loud whisper. “Come outta there.”
Brock stood up slowly with his arms raised exposing his palms to show he meant no harm. “My name’s Brock. I just wanted to warn you not to go into the city because it’s been taken over.”
“Is that so?” asked the same person again, who seemed to be their leader. “And why should I believe you?”
“Because we were just there earlier today and lost two of our own. I just wanted to warn you th—”
“Who’s ‘we’?” said the man interrupting Brock.
“I’m with a group. We’re currently trying to make sure the thing changing all these people is dead.”
“Oh yeah? And where are they?” the man’s voice was starting to become more stern and demanding.
Brock was beginning to get suspicious of the group and the fact that the man doing the talking was more focused on Brock and his group than the danger that lies ahead. “What does it matter? I don’t want any trouble I was just trying to warn you.”
The man was much older than Brock; about early forties from what Brock could tell. He also had seven other people with him so it was a fight Brock knew he couldn’t win.
“You might not want trouble kid, but you found it. I’m going to make this real simple and get straight to the point; we want your supplies—all of them. So go on, do what you have to do to get the rest of your group here and you might make it out of this alive.”
Brock knew he made a huge mistake at this point and that his kindness now put his life and the rest of the group’s lives at risk. He immediately went from being worried about what these people might do to him and the others to furious. He’s been through too much at this point and unchanged people should’ve been the last thing Brock had to worry about. With his fists clenched Brock swung at the man as hard as he could and knocked him to the ground.
“Oh that was a bad move kid.” said the man laughing as he stood up. The man ducked another punch from Brock and connected with a right hook sending Brock to the ground. The man immediately started kicking Brock’s ribs; not with reckless speed, but with calculated precision. Brock started crawling to his flare gun to signal for Ivan, Dante and Lucy’s help as the man continued kicking him while he was down.
“Where you ‘goin boy?!” taunted the man. “All I wanted was your supplies and we would’ve let you get off without so much as a scratch but you had to go and ruin that now didn’t you?”
Brock managed to get to his flare gun because the man was taking his time between kicks and taunting Brock. He shot it straight into the air. As soon as he did the man called for his group to help in beating Brock even more.
“C’mon guys!” said the man, rallying his group. “Let’s give this bastard’s group not much to come and save.”
The group now all came in and were attacking Brock relentlessly. Brock couldn’t stop all of their kicks and punches and eventually stopped trying.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
“Alright that’s enough.” commanded the leader. “We don’t want him dead just yet. “We’ll need him as a bargaining chip for his group’s supplies when they get here.”
Lucy was managing to stay awake to keep watch for the Deceiver. Although she was starving and exhausted, she too was fueled by a mix of sadness and anger. She only saw a couple roaming Slayers but she was hidden enough that they continued on without noticing her. In the still and quiet night she noticed a flare set off from Brock’s direction. With excitement that Brock spotted the Deceiver, Lucy grabbed her few supplies that she had with her and started to cautiously but quickly make her way towards Brock.
Dante’s mind was racing all night. He kept replaying over and over what happened in the city and what he could’ve or even should’ve done to prevent Leeza from running off and getting herself killed. He thought of what he should’ve said to Mack that might’ve changed his mind. Every scenario played out in his head like a movie of regret. He knew he shouldn’t be doing that to himself but it was so fresh that he couldn’t help it.
Dante saw nothing all night and was starting to lose hope because no one else spotted the Deceiver either. Just then he saw Brock’s flare and suddenly his focus was now on the present moment. He didn’t set off to Brock’s location right away however because he knew the plan was for Ivan to pick him up should Brock or Lucy be the one to shoot the flare gun.
Ivan started his night off being very angry—at everything. He played over all the events from finding his parents murdered up until the last time he saw Mack. Ivan was pissed off at the world and found himself stewing in his own anger as he sat alone watching for the Deceiver. As the hours passed with no sightings, Ivan’s anger turned into sadness. Ivan hadn’t had alone time since before his life turned upside down and that was all it took for Ivan to let it all out. In his loneliness for the night Ivan began crying at everything that has happened; he fought like hell to keep it together but this was a fight that not even Ivan could win.
Once he realized there was no fighting back tears, Ivan made the most of being alone and just let the tears keep rolling. He knew he had to get it out of his system so this didn’t happen in front of anyone else. Just as Ivan’s eyes were drying up, out of the corner of his eye he seen a flash of light in the sky—Brock’s flare. He immediately wiped his eyes, ran to the car and started making his way to Dante.
Being only a half-mile away from Brock, Lucy was the first to arrive at his position. She had no idea she’d be walking into what had become a trap.
“Brock! Brock!” Lucy called out in a loud whisper. She knew she was in the right area from when they dropped off Brock earlier so she called for him. After a couple more times of calling for him a light flicked on. It was the group of people and they had a beaten and bloodied Brock on his knees in front of them with his mouth gagged.
“Sorry Brock couldn’t answer back, we had to muzzle your dog!” said the leader, laughing at Lucy. “And what’s your name sweetheart?”
“Let him go!” Lucy demanded. She was no longer whispering.
“Let him go? What the hell kind of name is that?!” the man asked sarcastically, still laughing. “I’ll tell you what, when the rest of your group gets here and we get all of your supplies we’ll let him go. How’s that sound?”
Lucy pulled out her flare gun from her bag and loaded it. “When the rest of my group gets here this will be your last night on earth.” Lucy said as she shot the flare into the sky. “How’s that sound?”
Ivan had just picked up Dante and were headed to Brock when they saw another flare shot up from his position.
“Something’s not right.” Dante said. “We had no plans to shoot another flare once someone spotted the Deceiver.”
“Maybe Lucy is just letting us know she made it to Brock’s spot.” Ivan replied.
“No, this doesn’t feel right. She wouldn’t bring even more attention to the spot. It’s bad enough we even had to shoot one flare, let alone two. Something must’ve happened.” said Dante. “When we get close we should park the car and travel the rest of the way on foot in case we need stealth for any reason. If that second flare was a cry for help we might need the element of surprise.”
“Alright, we’ll park a little ways out but we need to be quick in getting there and assess what’s going on before we just barge in blindly.”
“How’s that sound? Sounds like an idle threat to me little girl.” replied the group’s leader. “From what your boy here told me some of your group got killed today so seems to me you guy’s can’t hold your own.”
Lucy started shaking in anger. Her adrenaline was pumping now and even though she wanted to tear this guy apart, she knew that Dante and Ivan couldn’t be too far away. She calmed herself down just enough to keep talking to the group’s leader to distract them all from Dante and Ivan’s arrival. Lucy knew that the two of them would be suspicious enough at the firing of a second flare and that they would approach with caution.
“There is no need for a dead man to worry about my group; and yours will get what’s coming to you all.” says Lucy with unstoppable confidence as she gestures to the entire group.
The man motions with his eyes to a nearby member of the group to keep hold of Brock. As the member obeys like a lapdog, the leader steps forward slowly towards Lucy. “I’ve had just about enough of your talkin’. Maybe it’s time I shut you up.”
He swings at Lucy but she is too fast for him. She blocks his punch while simultaneously stepping to the side. She immediately strikes the off-balance man twice in the ribs, once in the neck, then on his nose, breaking it. He stumbles backwards and cups his nose with one hand and covers his ribs with the other. As he takes his hand off his nose, he notices all the blood and looks up at Lucy.
“You’ll pay for that you bitch!” roars the man losing all control of his emotions.
He lunges right back at Lucy with the stubbornness of a mule and throws the exact same punch. Lucy blocks the punch and steps to the side again, but this time she circles around the back of her enemy with lightning speed and kicks out his leg while pulling his head backwards slamming him to the ground.
Almost as fast as Lucy took him to the ground, the man was right back on his feet. He knew he couldn’t beat her but his pride wouldn’t let him stop; what would his group think of their leader if he couldn’t beat a girl half his age?!
So continuing on, he went to kick Lucy but in her confidence she simply deflected his kick and slapped him across his face; not to hurt him, but to humiliate him in front of his group.
This time he was done messing around. He walks ferociously toward his group and takes a pistol from one of his member’s holster. He storms back to Lucy and puts the gun right up against her cheek bone. Shaking with adrenaline and anger he says “We have Brock, we’ll get our supplies whether you’re alive or dead so if you want to see your—”
A person screams. The leader turns around and there was Dante and Ivan. They attacked from the cover of darkness while everyone was distracted with Lucy. As soon as he turned his head, Lucy disarmed the maniac with speed and precision, striking him down to the ground in the process.
“Kill Brock!” the man yelled from the ground, ignoring what Lucy had just done to him.
Immediately Lucy knocked him out with an accurate kick to the face and sprinted over to save Brock.
Ivan and Dante sliced through the members of the group in an equal attempt to save Brock. Some were killed while others merely knocked out. It didn’t matter to them because they had their older brother and that was all that mattered in the moment.
In fear of being killed himself, the person who was told to watch Brock while his leader dealt with Lucy was standing behind Brock with a gun to his head.
“Stay where you are!” the man said shakingly to Ivan and Dante who had worked their way through to Brock now. “I’ll kill him!” he cried.
From what they could see of Brock, it was already too late. Brock was unconscious and clearly lost a lot of blood.
As Lucy, Ivan and Dante were stopped in their tracks in fear of Brock really being finished off, they tried to negotiate with him.
“Put it down and step away from him and we let you walk.” Dante said nervously.
“Why?! You think I trust you? You’re murderers! I won’t be your next vic—”
The man turns his head behind him mid-sentence to find a Slayer coming right for him. He tries to shoot the Slayer but it’s too late. The Slayer is already violently attacking him and there’s nothing the man can do. In an attempt to defend himself, the man accidentally shoots Brock in the thigh, causing even more blood loss.
The three rush over to Brock and all carry him back to their car and speed away.
Ivan drove while Lucy and Dante frantically tried to save Brock.
“Lucy keep pressure on his thigh, I’ll focus on his other wounds!” Dante ordered, almost in tears.
Lucy grabbed a nearby cloth while Dante had to use his shirt.
“”Damn it Brock not you too!” cried Lucy, as she pressed as hard as she could. But her cloth filled with blood too quickly and was forced to use her shirt as well.
“C’mon Brock, you gotta wake up.” whispered Dante in a voice just barely audible enough to hear. It’s as if he knew it wouldn’t happen but tried anyways. “His pulse is there but it’s faint.”
“Just keep pressure, I’ll stop at the next town and we’ll look for a place to safely stop at.” said Ivan, pressing down harder on the gas.
Lucy and Dante couldn’t see it from the backseat while tending to Brock, but Ivan was as pale as a ghost. He was so afraid that his idea may have just cost Brock his life; he didn’t care that everyone else agreed to the plan. Even if Brock recovered, Ivan knew he could never forgive himself.
Ivan continued driving as fast as he safely could. He realized he was heading in the direction of his hometown but there would be another town before that where they can stop and tend to Brock better than from inside the car.
“We’re a couple minutes out from the next town.” informed Ivan. “How is he?”
“It’s not looking good. He’s unconscious and losing too much blood; his pulse is getting weaker also.” replied Lucy in a tense voice.
They made it into town and Ivan cautiously drove into a neighborhood. Ivan, Lucy and Dante all helped carry Brock into the closest house and gently laid him on the couch.
“Ivan put pressure on this while I go check for towels or anything we can use to stop the bleeding.” instructed Dante. He sprinted up the stairs as fast as he could.
The three of them gave their full attention to Brock for two and a half more hours before calling it. Brock was gone.
Silence. The house was as quiet as it was before they arrived. Brock’s head lay on Lucy’s lap as she caringly brushed his hair with her hand. Ivan and Dante both knelt at his side.
Moments passed, then Dante slowly stood up, paced in front of the couch a few times, then without warning he grabbed the lamp from a side table and threw it against the wall in a moment of rage.
Lucy and Ivan said nothing. They didn’t even flinch when Dante threw the lamp. All of their attention was on Brock.
“We didn’t even get to say goodbye to him! Nothing! He’s just there then he’s not. NO BIG DEAL GUYS WE JUST LOST BROCK FOR NO REASO—”
“Dante that’s enough!” cried Lucy. “We did what we could to try and save him so we don’t need you making noise and screaming attracting Slayers!”
“Dante stopped talking but he continued pacing. He wanted to cry, but was too angry to do so. First Leeza, then Mack, and now Brock; all in a matter of hours.
“What are we going to do with him?” asked Lucy, to anyone that wanted to answer. “We have to at least bury him but this place is so...random.”
“We’ll take him back home. We’re already heading in the right direction so let’s bury him next to Mom and Dad.” replied Ivan.
“Okay, I’ll go get some bed sheets from upstairs.” offered Dante.
Brock was gently wrapped in bedsheets and laid in the backseat with his head once again on Lucy’s lap. Ivan drove with Dante riding shotgun. They were going home for the first time since it all began.
Nothing was said the first few minutes on the road until Dante broke the silence. “It feels like we’re starting this whole thing over. Only now it’s starting over with three instead of five. Is this some sort of messed up dream? I mean what the hell is even happening?! An alien is changing people into these things? What are we supposed to do now? The Deceiver is long gone with no way to find it and my entire family is dea—”
“I’M your family!!” snapped Ivan as he hammer-fisted the steering wheel. His gaze pierced the black sky ahead of them while white knuckles had a deathgrip on the wheel.
“He didn’t mean it that way.” Lucy calmly stated. “You know he didn’t.”
“You’re my brother Ivan; my whole life you’ve been my brother and you always will be. Lucy is right, I didn’t mean it that way. It’s just—”
“I know you didn’t.” said Ivan, loosening his grip from the wheel. “That was my anger reacting, not me.”
“We’re all angry, and tired, and sad and hungry and everything else that this world is throwing at us.” said Lucy, still trying to bring down her man. “We’re just about there so let’s bury Brock next to your parents and get some sleep.
As they turned onto their street, Ivan slowed down so they could proceed with caution as they neared their home. The sun was starting to wake up now and the group had been awake for what seemed like days.
They carefully carried Brock to the backyard and gently laid him down next to where his final resting place would be.
All three helped dig and once finished, stood silently for a moment taking turns looking at Brock and each other.
“Does anyone want to say anything?” Lucy asked while staring at Brock.
“What’s the point?” asked Dante rhetorically in a frustrated tone.
Lucy gazed at Dante as he stared blankly at the ground understanding he didn’t want his question answered. “And you, Ivan?”
She looked at Ivan and with an expression as blankly as Dante’s, all he could do was shrug.
Everyone stood silent for a few seconds when Lucy began her final words for Brock.
“Brock, I don’t know how the events with those people… those scumbags, set in motion, but I can only imagine you were showing kindness and trying to help them out. Ya know, ever since this whole thing started, you’ve been the most level-headed of us all and you had a hold on kindness and compassion that was with you until the very end.” Lucy continued now with tears rolling down her face. “Our group is weaker now, not because we are one less than before, but because there was a strength in you that we all dreamed of matching within ourselves. We love you Brock and we will try to be the beacon of light that you were to this world… Goodbye.” Lucy bent down beside Brock, kissed her fingers, and gently placed them on his forehead.
They carefully lowered Brock in the ground and before they covered him with dirt, took a few more seconds to look at his face; it will be for the last time.
After they patted down the last patch of dirt, the group slowly and quietly went inside to find places to rest. Exhaustion outweighed the myriad of emotions everyone was experiencing and it took only a few moments for each to fall asleep.
It was early afternoon now and the group was awakened by a loud thud coming from what sounded like next door. Ivan, Dante and Lucy all shot up and darted outside.
A man was rummaging through the house next door when unaware of the group having been sleeping next door, he came out of the house.
“Who are you?” Dante asked sternly.
“I’m Dr. Jeffrey Standhill.” the man replied, caught off-guard. “And I need your help.”
“With what?” responded Lucy.
“...Saving the human race.”