Apocalypse game, p.32
Apocalypse Game, page 32
I placed my hands on the table. “Alright. Then unless anyone has any better ideas, this is the one we go with?”
Salvatore nodded. “It’s certainly better than an all-out war between us. If we can work together, then both groups will become stronger as a result.”
Good. Now to go and throw a wrench into everything we just agreed on.
“Okay. With that settled, there’s one more item on the agenda.” I sighed and glanced at Salvatore. “This flies in the face of the plan I just laid out, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least make the offer.”
His eyes narrowed. “What offer?”
“Join me. Become one of my pieces.”
He froze at my words. Salvatore sighed and rested his chin under his hands, lost in thought. He stayed there for a few moments, and I couldn’t blame him for that. It was a lot to take in and not something to accept lightly.
“You just had to go and complicate things, didn’t you?” He stood. “Join you? We may have fought together, may be working together, but I still haven’t decided yet if it’s worth trying to kill you just to save the world.”
“You don’t have the whole story. I can’t deny that my ultimate goal is to destroy the world.” I held up a hand as his mouth opened. “Would you let me finish? Yes, I know how that sounds, but that isn’t the be-all-end-all. My mission is to destroy the world, but I’ll be granted a wish once I do. Callisto promised me that I could set the world to rights again. Make it so this whole nightmare never happened.”
Several long seconds of silence seemed to stretch for hours as I waited for his response. I let him think while I set up part two. I bowed my head for a moment and closed my eyes.
I feel stupid for doing this, but Callisto, are you there?
“Heya, Killian, what can I do for you?”
I need my pieces.
He chuckled in my head. “Found another candidate already? I approve.” He paused. “And, yes. If he accepts, I can give you your pieces. Though I should bill you for the long-distance call.”
Bite me. Oh, wait, you can’t!
A short laugh was his reply before his voice died down and left me. During my brief lapse, Salvatore had yet to reach a decision, still staring at the table like it would jump and bite him if he looked away.
Wise shook his head. “Such a strange concept. Saving the world by destroying it? It seems like a cruel joke.” He held up his hand, motioning to me. “Putting someone like you at the forefront of this madness. Why not someone malicious or evil? There are plenty of those in the world. Why a good kid like you?”
I shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine.”
Salvatore sighed. “I guess I’m supposed to just trust what you say is the truth, your truth at any rate.”
“Believe it or not. It makes little difference to me what you believe. You believing me isn’t what I need from you. You joining me is.”
Salvatore pointed a finger at me. “It’s not that simple, and you know it. This is the end of the world we’re talking about, and I’m supposed to trust that you’re a good guy?”
I held my hands up, gesturing around me. “Have I given you any reason to doubt me so far?”
“No. No, you haven’t, but still─“
“Brother, just accept already. I trust them, even if you don’t. Killian risked his life to save me, and he personally carried me out of the darkness. If he’s telling the truth and his real goal is saving the world, then he’s going to need your help.”
He looked from me to Clara and sighed. “Perhaps you’re right,” he said. “I don’t want to trust you, but you’ve given me no justification for that. You’ve proven yourself trustworthy in the short time I’ve known you. And you saved my sister’s life. That isn’t something I can just brush off. I owe you a debt greater than I can repay for that.
“But I can’t abandon my people. Especially now.”
“You wouldn’t be. They’d be in safe hands with Wise in command.”
Salvatore was about to speak, but Clara stood up. “He gratefully accepts.”
“What?” he nearly shouted.
Clara shook her head. “Go with them, brother. This is bigger than us here, and you know it.”
“But what about you?”
She smiled. “I’ll be fine. I can take care of things here, so don’t you worry.”
“But─”
“Or do you think your sister is incapable of leading everyone here?”
Salvatore stared her down for all of three seconds before he deflated and sat back at the table. “No, you’ll probably do a better job than me anyway.”
“Excellent,” she replied.
Salvatore looked at me and nodded. “Then I guess I’ve no choice but to accept your offer.”
I smiled. “Good. Callisto, I need you.”
Salvatore and Clara gasped as I said his name and stared at me wide-eyed before Callisto appeared in the open seat at the table.
He gave me a cheeky grin. “My, my. Killian, summoning me as bold as you please. Assertive is a good look on you, my Demon Lord.”
“Holy shit!” Clara yelped.
Callisto laughed and grabbed for her ramen, twirling the noodles around the fork and plopping the mass into his mouth, only for his teeth to pass right through it. “Dammit, one of these days, I’ll be able to eat something.”
“Told you so,” I said, snickering.
Both Clara and Salvatore stared at the god in shock, to which he grinned. “What, something on my face?”
“Your eyes…”
“Aren’t they pretty?” Callisto asked, the suns in his gaze lighting up in humor. “Now, why don’t we get down to the reason I’m here? I have other business elsewhere that needs my attention.”
“So, that’s Callisto?” Finn asked, staring at the god just as the others were.
I chuckled. “Oh right, you haven’t met him yet. But what’s with the wide-eyed look? You’ve met the literal Incarnation of Death. Surely this isn’t any stranger?”
“Wait, wind that back. The Incarnation of what now?” Clara asked, staring at me.
Callisto frowned, and I hastily waved her off.
“We’ve gotten off-topic, and pissing off a god is a great way to ruin all of our lives, trust me. Hear me out, and we can talk later.”
Salvatore looked at me. “Okay, what’s next?”
“Callisto. My pieces.”
He smirked and waved his hand. The black leather briefcase appeared out of nowhere and fell to the table with a dull thud.
I snagged it, opening it and pulling out the Rook piece. It glittered, lighting up with a galaxy inside it as I slid it across the table to him. “This is one of my vicious pieces. It confers a new class to you, I don’t know what, but it’s almost a certainty that it’s going to be significantly stronger than your current one.”
Salvatore reached for it almost immediately, but I quickly pulled it out of his reach.
“You need to be absolutely certain before you accept, though. Once you take it, you’ll be part of my team, and there’s no going back.” I paused. “This isn’t something I, or Clara, or anyone else can decide for you. It has to be your choice.”
Callisto looked down at a nonexistent watch and tapped his wrist. “Time’s ticking. I have places to be, so decide now.”
Salvatore huffed. “I already made my choice.” He grinned as he picked up the Rook. “Alright, Demon Lord. Let’s save the world.”
The piece vanished in his hand, and he went wide-eyed. “Woah, that’s a rush.” Salvatore grew quiet for a long moment. “Interesting. Seems there are some things I need to settle before we can leave. And I need to catch Clara up on everything if she’s taking over for me.” He motioned to us. “All of your clothes could definitely use an upgrade. Why don’t the three of you go shopping while I take care of business here?”
I nodded. “That sounds great, actually.”
Finn laughed and picked at his torn shirt. “Good. Because my shirt wasn’t the only thing to rip, and it’s getting a bit breezy, if you catch my drift.”
“Too much info, buddy,” I replied as we stood.
As the three of us got up, so did Wise. He turned to us. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to take my men and head back to Fort Alexander. I’ll see if I can prime a few of the men close to me about what’s going to happen.”
Salvatore grimaced. “You have a choice here, Wise. You have a chance to save lives. I’d recommend not crossing us.”
He shook his head. “I won’t. I’ve made my peace with things. And I can see the brighter future that’s on the horizon. I want that for us.”
Salvatore nodded, and Wise went to collect his men while Finn, Adeline, and I went hunting for some fresh clothes.
Finn and Adeline went off on their own, and I let them. Adeline still wasn’t a hundred percent back to herself yet, so I let them have their space.
I went and picked a few of the lesser looted stores at random and found some fresh clothes in one of the outlets next to a donut shop and café. I tried to find some clothes in my size and was mostly successful. They were nothing flashy, but a clean T-shirt and a gray and black button-up did wonders to make me feel a little back to normal again. I threw them on under my Kevlar vest and jacket.
After I’d changed, I stored a pack of white undershirts and underwear still in the plastic in my bag and then went to ransack the shoe store to find a better pair of boots.
By the time I’d gotten dressed in my new clothes and got back to the food court, it appeared that the already dwindling number of survivors had thinned even further. The rest were bustling about with Clara ordering them.
“Where did everyone else go?” I asked.
“Some of the men weren’t happy about having to report to Clara and left, but most stayed. They know she’ll be a good leader.”
I nodded, smiling as I held out my hand. “Well, it’s good to have you on the team.”
He shook it, returning the grin. “Thanks. It’s strange playing for the villain’s team, even if we are trying to save the world.”
I laughed. “Tell me about it. I’m all for roleplaying the bad guy in video games, but this is a bit extreme, even for me.” My eyes widened. “Speaking of evil, what’s your new class, and what level did it drop you to?”
Salvatore snorted. “It’s called Graveling, and as luck or fate would have it, it isn’t entirely dissimilar to Acrobat. It dropped me back to level eleven but gave me a few new skills for the trouble. They’re called Bridge, which seems to be a teleport skill, Without a Trace, which hides my presence until I run out of mana, and Point Blank, a passive skill that gives me a boost to my Strength and Agility whenever I’m within three feet of an opponent.”
I whistled. “Damn, I’m kind of jealous. Sounds pretty badass.”
He grinned, despite the situation, the fever of battle alight in his eyes. “Seems I’m your new personal assassin.”
Salvatore and I talked some more while we watched Clara boss people around with deadly precision.
I smiled.
Yeah, she’s going to be just fine on her own, especially once we deal with the military.
The plan was very loose, but Clara and the other survivors wouldn’t have to worry about anything but the occasional monster if it worked out.
When Clara’s men were off getting everything ready, she came and sat down beside me.
“Good work,” I said.
“Thanks.” She beamed. “Will you come back and visit?”
I rubbed the back of my head and nodded. “As often as we can, but that might be a while. There are a lot of things we have to do, but I promise we’ll make an effort.”
The three of us talked about the future while we waited on Finn and Adeline. It took them another half hour to come back, but when they did, I smiled wide.
Adeline had a smile of her own on her face and was laughing at something Finn had said. It did my heart good to see her smile and hear her laugh.
“Hey, Kill. Check out what I found.”
She tossed a small plastic box to me, and I caught it and groaned. “Leave it to you to find what could be the last hair dye in the apocalypse. More blue, I see.”
“Also got a bunch of other colors too.” She laughed. “Figure I’d better stock up before all the roving biker gangs and drug fiends get a hold of them. Finn’s going to help me re-dye it when we get the time.”
I laughed. “Should dye his hair pink, take away some of that pretty boy confidence.”
“Hey!” Finn shouted with fake indignation and came over to rib me in the side. “You hoping some of my charms might rub off on you, Kill? Sorry, it doesn’t work like that, Hermano. But you got that goth gloom lord look down pat. Some chicks dig that.”
“Gee, thanks.”
We all burst out laughing, and it was good. It took our minds off what we were about to do.
But our little slice of happiness quickly faded, and I knew that I was just stalling for time. I stood and wiped the smile from my face.
“Alright, guys, it’s game time. Let’s get moving.”
Twenty minutes later, we had everything we needed cleared out of the mall and were back outside. The APC we’d arrived in would have gotten us back to base safely, but the steering wheel key was nowhere to be found.
“Ah hell, looks like we’re walking.”
We kept a brisk pace as we went through the city, even though we spotted several Carnival Beasts along the rooftops. Salvatore took aim at one, but it just scampered off out of sight, and from then on, none of them came close to us. They left us alone, and we returned the favor, one that I was relieved for. I didn’t want to waste time fighting monsters.
Dawn was breaking by the time we arrived back. We’d only been away for a few hours, but it felt like days. And what I knew was to come only made me want to crawl into bed and never leave.
With a heavy sigh, Finn spoke to the intercom and let us in.
Captain Reynolds was back at his workstation in the bunker when we arrived.
He looked up at us and then to Salvatore with wide eyes before clearing his throat and motioning us to follow him to his office. I shut the door as soon as we stepped inside and closed the blinds.
This was a meeting no one else needed to see.
Reynolds couldn’t fail to notice my demeanor as I dropped the blinds, and even with my back turned to him, the subtle scrape of wood as he opened a drawer was just barely audible.
Reynolds kept his hands hidden from us.
He knows something's up and is ready for us. I won’t have time to discuss anything before he draws. Gonna have to make this fast.
“Why don’t you sit down and tell me how the mission went?” he asked loudly, trying to cover up the click of him cocking the hammer back of the pistol he had under the desk, but I was listening for it and shifted in an instant.
My Demon Form was faster than Reynolds could react, and before he could move his arm, I had him by the throat, pushed up against the painted white cement wall.
With a snap, I broke his wrist and took his revolver from him. Reynolds went pale at my black eyes and horns, which were an inch from his face. My face reflected in his irises. I looked like a devil.
I squeezed tight, cutting off his airflow, letting him choke. “Yes, we really need to have a chat.”
Chapter 22- Change in Management
Reynolds’s breath caught in his chest at my transformation, and he panicked, railing against my strength as I slowly crushed his windpipe.
Fury reflected from his glassy eyes, and my blood boiled. Reynolds choked, gasping as the last of his breath faded, and I enjoyed the pain and panic in his eyes.
His eyes rolled back in his head. I dropped him.
Reynolds fell on the floor with a thud and spent several long seconds catching his breath. When he could finally control his breathing, he clutched at his broken wrist and looked at me with palpable fear.
“What are you?”
“A serious problem for you,” I said and hauled him up by the collar of his uniform, knocking his captain’s pin free in the process. “You sent us to kill innocents.”
His look of denial was plain on his face, and I knew the words that were about to leave his mouth as soon as he opened it, giving me a glimpse of his coffee-stained teeth.
I shoved him back against the wall hard enough to knock the breath from him. “Don’t even try to deny it or justify it. You know exactly what you did!”
Finn tapped me on the shoulder. “Keep it down, Kill. These walls aren’t that thick. Don’t want trouble knocking at our door just yet, do you?”
He’s right. I’m getting too emotional about this.
I turned back to Reynolds, who looked like he was about to piss himself, and grinned at him. “This is your lucky day, though, Reynolds. Because I’m willing to forget about what you did.”
“You are?” he asked, wheezing.
“You are?” Salvatore asked.
“If you make it worth my while,” I said, letting go of him.
“You want the Humvee?” he guessed, standing back up and rubbing his neck while holding his broken hand by his side.
“That and so much more. You’re going to pay for what you tried to get us to do.” I held up my hand. “You’re going to give us supplies. Food, ammo, gas, and coins. Consider it payment for the quest you tried to trick us into completing.”
“And if I don’t?” he hedged.
I hopped up on the lip of the desk and sat, forcing my face to look calm and composed. “If you don’t, I slaughter everyone here and take what I want from your corpses.”
Reynolds glanced at me sideways, not entirely buying my words. “And that’s something you think you can do?”
Alright, showtime.
I hopped off his desk and stood over him. I plastered a malicious smile across my face as I peered down at him. “I’m the Demon Lord. Do you really think it’d be a challenge?”
He gulped, and realization took hold of his mind, dripping sweat down his forehead as he stared at my horns and my eyes, forming no other conclusion than that I was telling the truth.
