Chapter 3
Senel's group reached the end of the path and hid behind a thicket, looking up at the massive Castle Rexalia. And then they looked at the large army of hypersapiens walking blindly in front of it. Additionally, the drawbridge was up, blocking the entrance. Everyone pulled out their laser guns, preparing to defend themselves.
"Whoa!" Norma cried. "There are hypersapiens all over the place!"
"We'll have to bust our way through!" Senel said. "Let's go!"
"Everyone, hold on!" Jay stopped them. "That may not be necessary."
"You got a better plan, Jay?" Moses asked.
Jay paused, looking carefully at the hypersapiens, particularly the castle residents, whose heads weren't covered by the helmets like the soldiers had.
"They have a far-off look in their eyes," he explained. "It looks like they can't see very well. Remember how that first hypersapien was oblivious to Will's approach?"
"Yeah, what about it?" Senel asked.
"It may be possible to sneak past them, if we remain quiet and move slowly," Jay said. "But the moment they spot us—"
He was cut off when Thyra suddenly screamed, "Oh Nerifes!!"
The group spun around to see another large group of hypersapiens was coming at them, taking awkward steps as they swung their arms about limply, snarling viciously. Some of them even carried weapons, such as swords or axes.
"Ahh!" Norma and Shirley both aimed their guns and began to fire their shots.
"Well, never mind then," Jay spat. "We'll just do it Senel's way."
"We've gotta move!" Senel called.
"Right. Let's go!" Will agreed.
"YAHOO!!" Moses let out his ear-piercing battle cry as he jumped out from behind the thicket with his spear ready.
Senel ran into the battle, throwing hard punches, knocking one hypersapien into the others behind it with the bowling pin effect. Chloe used her sword to slash the attacking hypersapiens. The others carefully made their way through the crowd, shooting the distant hypersapiens with their laser guns, or shoving them away when they got close.
Shirley sensed something behind her and quickly ducked as a hypersapien swung its axe at her. She rose again, shooting the hypersapien in the back with her gun. Another soldier rushed at her with its axe, but Shirley threw a kick to its stomach. As she saw yet another hypersapien rushing at her, Shirley tossed the current hypersapien aside, and kicking the third in the chest.
Thyra attempted to run through the field, but paused when she saw some more hypersapiens coming at her. She quickly aimed her gun and fired, blasting the hypersapiens with the laser shots. Another hypersapien came from behind, grabbing her leg, but Thyra raised her fists and brought them down sharply into the hypersapien's back, sending it straight to the ground.
Norma also made her way through the field, shooting the hypersapiens around her. She shot one hypersapien, which fell to the ground at her feet, dropping an axe. Norma picked it up and hurled it forward, striking another hypersapien in the chest.
"Strike! You're out!" she called.
Grune walked through the field as casually as humanly possible, smiling her usual sweet smile and humming to herself. She aimed her gun and fired at the attacking hypersapiens. One of the soldiers managed to reach Grune, grabbing her by the shoulders. Grune grabbed the soldier back, spinning in circles.
"Rolling, rolling, whee!!" Grune tossed the hypersapien soldier into the air with a sweet giggle.
Will moved through the field, blasting the hypersapiens with his laser gun as well. When he sensed more attackers behind him, he pulled out his large hammer and spun around, whacking the hypersapiens who were coming up from behind. He faced forward again and rammed his hammer into the hypersapiens ahead of him.
"Beast!" Senel thrust his hands forward, unleashing a dome of energy that took the shape of a beast. The attack blew the hypersapiens forcefully away.
"Phantom Blade!" Chloe performed her spinning attack with her sword, repelling all the hypersapiens around her within range.
Jay used his dagger to ward off the attacking hypersapiens. When they began to crowd around him, Jay simply planted his fists on the ground and spun around, kicking the hypersapiens with his feet in a breakdancing maneuver. "Hawk Talon!" When the attack was completed, Jay sprang to his feet and ran towards the castle.
Shirley unleashed a large teriques to take out the hypersapiens in front of her. Another hypersapien came up from behind, wrapping its arms around her. "Ahh!"
Spotting his comrade in trouble, Moses rushed to her rescue, knocking the other hypersapiens aside with his elbows. He then threw his spear at the hypersapien attacking Shirley. The hypersapien roared in response, but still kept a hold on Shirley as it fell, taking her down to the ground with it.
"Ahh!" Shirley screamed as she struggled in the hypersapien's grip.
"Hang on!" Moses made his way over to her, shooting the hypersapien in the head with his laser gun, releasing its grip on Shirley. Moses then held out his spear towards her. "Here, grab this!"
Shirley reached out, grabbing the spear, and Moses pulled her to her feet.
"There's too many of them!" she cried.
"You ain't kiddin'!" Moses responded.
"We can't keep fighting them like this!" Will called. "We have to get into the castle!"
"I'll go bring down the drawbridge!" Senel said.
"Here, this'll help! Lion Rain!" Moses threw his flaming spears into the air, and the spears rained down on the hypersapiens, clearing a path to the castle.
"Thanks, Moses!" Senel ran over to the moat next to the bridge and dove straight into it.
"Senel!!" Shirley ran to the moat also, then turned and fired her gun at the remaining hypersapiens. Moses ran to her side.
Senel swam across the moat as fast as he could. But when he got halfway, something suddenly pulled him underwater. He opened his eyes, realizing that it was a hypersapien that had pulled him under. He struggled underwater for a moment, trying to break its grip on him.
Shirley and Moses paused and turned to the moat, but there was no sign of the Alliance Marine.
"Hey, where'd he go?" Moses asked.
Just then, Senel emerged in the water, gasping for breath with the hypersapien soldier still grabbing him by the neck.
"Senel!!" Shirley screamed as she dove into the moat after him.
"Shirley!" Moses called. "I ain't goin' in that water!"
Instead, he aimed his gun, shooting the hypersapien in the water, breaking its hold on Senel. But right afterwards, another hypersapien popped out behind Shirley, pushing her down into the water.
"Shirley!" Senel swam to the hypersapien, punching it in the face.
"Senel, I got this one!" Moses called. He shot the hypersapien in the head, blowing it up, and Shirley emerged from the water.
"Shirley, are you okay?" Senel asked.
"Ah...yes," Shirley said.
"Come on." Senel and Shirley both swam to the other side, climbing up the rocks to the cranks that held the bridge up. Each of them took one of the cranks.
"You ready?" Senel asked.
"Yeah," Shirley nodded.
"Then turn!"
They both strained to turn the crank, slowly lowering the drawbridge over the moat.
"All right, they got the bridge down!" Moses called.
"Way to go, Senny!" Norma cheered.
"Let's hurry!" Chloe called.
The rest of the party broke out of the crowd of hypersapiens, running across the bridge, joining Senel and Shirley at the door. The hypersapiens stumbled after them, swinging their arms wildly, trying to grab whomever they could.
Senel looked out into the field, noticing that Grune was still out there. "Grune, come on!"
"Over here, G-Girl!" Norma called. "Hurry!"
"Hmm?" Grune looked up. "Oh...yes, I'm coming."
The party continued to fire their guns at the hypersapiens, knocking them to the ground, or off the bridge into the moat.
Grune walked towards the bridge, but a hypersapien grabbed her from the side, biting her shoulder. Another hypersapien grabbed her from the other side, and another began chewing on her leg.
"Oh dear..." Grune muttered softly as she closed her eyes. "They're eating me..."
Slowly, the hypersapiens began to drag Grune to the ground.
"No, they got G-Girl!" Norma cried.
"Grune!!" Senel shouted.
"Fireball!" Shirley unleashed three fireballs, knocking the hypersapiens off Grune. However, Grune still lay on the ground motionless.
"We're too late; she's already out!" Will called. "Let's get into the castle!"
Shirley turned and jerked on the door, only to find that it would not budge. "No, the door's locked!"
"Damn it!" Senel snapped.
"We could blow the door, but then we wouldn't be able to keep the hypersapiens out," Jay said.
"Forget it!" Senel said. "I'll look for another way in. You guys stay here and hold them off!"
He began to run down the strip of land along the castle walls.
"Senel!" Shirley cried.
"Coolidge!" Chloe began to follow Senel. "I'm coming with you!"
Will and Jay stood in front of the group, fighting off the hypersapiens that crossed the drawbridge.
As Senel and Chloe ran down the path, a hypersapien soldier leaped out of the water, landing between them. Chloe gasped and fell to the ground, and the hypersapien climbed on top of her. Senel quickly ran to her aid, shooting the soldier in the head, spraying its blood in Chloe's face. With a disgusted look on her face, Chloe shoved the body aside.
"Are you okay?" Senel asked as he helped Chloe to her feet.
"Yeah, thanks," Chloe said, wiping the blood from her face.
Another hypersapien climbed from the moat in front of Senel. It swung its axe at him, but Senel dodged the attacks. He then punched the creature twice in the face, then threw it over the edge and into the moat. Chloe looked down for any more hypersapiens that might jump out.
Senel paused as he spotted a window behind him. "Look, here's a window!"
"Can you get through, Coolidge?" Chloe asked.
Senel let his fingertips glow, and then began to punch his way through the window glass.
Another hypersapien climbed up in front of Chloe with an axe. Chloe tried to block the axe with her sword, but the axe sliced cleanly through the blade near the hilt.
"Damn!" Chloe stared at her hilt in disbelief.
She felt the anger rising within as the hypersapien advanced on her. With the broken sword in her hand, she whacked the hypersapien across the face.
"Die, you son of a bitch!" she growled as she punched the hypersapien again, knocking it into the moat.
Senel climbed through the window as four more hypersapiens climbed out of the moat. "Chloe, come on!"
Gasping as the hypersapiens surrounded her, Chloe ran to the window. Before she could climb through, the hypersapiens brutally grabbed her, biting her at various points of her body. Chloe let out an ear-piercing scream in response.
"Chloe!!" Senel reached out and grabbed Chloe's wrists, pulling her towards him.
"Ahh!!" Chloe screamed again as the hypersapiens continued to chew on her. As Senel pulled her against him, she quickly threw her arms around him. "Coolidge!!"
"Argh!" Senel grunted as he pulled Chloe through the window and out of the hypersapiens' grasp. He set her down on the floor, then stood up to battle the attacking hypersapiens.
Chloe weakly dragged herself to the wall, where she leaned against it.
"Beast!" Senel unleashed his base eres, forcefully knocking the hypersapiens back into the moat. Finally, he closed the wooden shutters, locking them tightly.
"Oh no, Chloe!" Senel knelt down in front of the knight, placing his hands on either side of her face. Chloe's head only slumped over as she lost consciousness.
"Chloe, wake up!" Senel pleaded as he shook her gently. "Can you hear me? You've got to hang on!"
Chloe suddenly opened her eyes and looked up at him...but Senel instantly noticed the redness in her eyes.
"Chloe??"
"Raaaahhhh!!" Chloe roared as she viciously grabbed Senel, biting him hard on the shoulder.
"Argh!" Senel quickly pushed her off, crawling away from her. "Chloe...I can't believe it. She's..."
Chloe stood up awkwardly, swinging her arms wildly, snarling just like the other hypersapiens. Senel continued to back off until he heard the pounding noises in the distance.
Damn...I almost forgot about the others! he thought
He stood up and turned the corner, running down the wide corridor until he reached the door. Upon opening the door, the party members quickly squeezed inside and closed the door. However, one hypersapien managed to squeeze through, grabbing Thyra's ankle on the floor.
"Ahh!" Thyra screamed as she fell to the floor, kicking the hypersapien repeatedly with her free leg.
"Ah!" Shirley gasped as she shot the hypersapien with her laser gun. Thyra kicked the body one more time, freeing her other leg.
"Is everyone all right?" Will asked.
"It appears that we all made it intact," Jay said, "except Grune, that is."
"Whew, I thought we were goners." Moses slapped Senel in the back of the head. "It sure took ya long enough to let us in!"
"Senel, are you okay?" Shirley asked. "You look really pale and clammy, and your coloring doesn't look good."
"Senny, is that a bite on your shoulder?" Norma asked.
"I'm fine; it's just a scratch," Senel insisted.
"You don't look fine," Will said.
"You're startin' to look just like Jay!" Moses threw in.
Jay rolled his eyes at the comment, but still waited for Senel's story.
"And where's C?" Norma asked.
"Senel, what happened?" Will asked sternly.
Senel paused for a moment. After seeing what happened to Chloe, keeping up this façade would be dangerous. Senel dropped to the floor, reclining on his back.
"It's Chloe...she became one of those things...and then she bit me."
No one showed any outside reaction, but they all felt the chill in their spines.
"Will, let's heal him," Shirley said.
"Right," Will agreed.
He knelt down next to Senel, releasing his healing eres over his upper body. Shirley knelt down next to Will, giving out some eres of her own.
"Wait...you don't understand..." Senel muttered in between gasps.
"Just relax, Senel," Will said.
A moment passed as Will and Shirley kept trying to heal Senel, while the others watched intently. Senel only let out a series of deep, rasping breaths.
Suddenly, Senel's body twitched. He let out a fierce snarl as he lifted his head, biting Will's arm.
"Argh!" Will screamed in pain as he pulled his arm away, then quickly pinned Senel down.
"Ah!" Shirley gasped as she stood up.
"Senny!?" Norma cried.
"What in the hell!?" Moses asked.
"He's become a hypersapien," Jay said calmly, his voice filled with horror.
"So suddenly?" Thyra asked.
"Senel..." Shirley watched with great sadness as Senel continued to lash out at Will with his growls and snarls.
Will looked at the bite on his arm as he continued to pin Senel down. "So now we know that the infection is spread through the bite."
"Teach...then that means..." Norma began.
"It means that I'm infected as well," Will told her. "The rest of you will have to go on without me."
"Will...we can't just leave you," Shirley said.
"We don't have a choice. It won't be long before I turn as well. Hurry and go, and take this with you." Will pulled out the DNA scanner with one hand and held it out.
Jay took the scanner from him. "Got it. Let's hurry."
The five remaining party members – Jay, Moses, Norma, Shirley, and Thyra – began to run down the corridor deeper into the castle. As they passed the next corridor, Chloe raced out, wrapping her arms around Jay. The boy quickly threw her off without hesitation, shoving her into the wall.
"C!?" Norma cried.
"Everyone, run!" Jay ordered.
The party continued to run down the corridor. Chloe pursued them only a short distance, stumbling and flailing her arms out. She then gave up, then turned around, walking very slowly in an awkward manner, her arms hanging limply at her sides.
Still pinning Senel down, Will watched Chloe in the distance.
"Chloe..." he said softly.
Senel snarled viciously as he lashed out at Will once again. Will continued to watch Chloe carefully as she slowly made her way towards him. She looked around blindly, breathing heavily, letting out a soft snarl.
Will knew that it wouldn't be long until Chloe attacked. He had to get away quickly, which meant that he would have to release Senel. As Chloe moved closer, Will quickly stood up and approached her quickly but cautiously. Now freed, Senel stood up and lashed out at Will again from behind. Chloe let out a roar of her own as she too lashed out with her arms. Will slipped past her, running down the corridor, going into the first room he saw. He slammed the door shut and leaned against it as Senel and Chloe crashed into the door, slapping and scratching at it like wild animals.
Will listened to the pounding and the snarling behind the door. Somehow this situation reminded him of when he first met Senel and Chloe. The way Senel beat up the Bantam Bouncers...and the way Chloe was recklessly attacking the bandits at the Misty Mountains. They had relied only on instincts back then. Just like now, as hypersapiens, Senel and Chloe could only act on instincts, to prey on those who were not infected.
Will looked at the bite on his arm once again as he could feel the virus taking its toll within his blood. "Already, half of our group has been infected," he lamented to himself. "And the mission is only just beginning..."
