"Summer has come and passed
The innocent can never last
Wake me up when September ends
Ring out the bells again
Like we did when spring began
Wake me up when September ends"
Wake me up when September ends, Greenday
Chapter 10: Somnium, Vereor.
Cody's PoV
"You okay Zack," I say to my brother as he struggles to keep up with me.
"Yea, just not used to running this much," he says, while breathing heavily. I can't blame him, it seems like we've been wondering through here for forever without any progress. In the faint light, it appears that we are in just another empty room. I wish we knew where to go, instead of just wondering along aimlessly, but each path just leads to another in a seemingly never ending circle.
"Where do we go now?" he asks me.
"I don't know."
"Come on Cody, you can think of a way to get through this." He's right, I've used my intellect countless times, but I wish I knew what to go on. I know that he is here somewhere, but I don't know where, or even who this person is.
"Zack, I just don't know what to do." We hear footsteps slowing marching down the hall. The echoes resound against the metal plating. They know where we are, and I don't know if we can escape. The footsteps continue to approach us and they seem to be coming in all directions.
"We can't just stay here," Zack says and I know he is right. He grabs my hand and pulls me through the bleak hallway. My shoulder jerks at the pain, but I just continue to follow as my mind goes through dozens of plans, but none of them make any sense. Why can't I think of anything?
After leaving the dark hallway, we find ourselves in yet another dimly lit room. Through everyplace we run, the bleakness of nothing continues to stand in front of us. "Still nothing," I say as Zack and I continue to look around the room. I reach out with my mind trying to connect with the person that told us to come here, but my calls go unanswered.
"Yea, let's keep looking," Zack says, "There has to be something here."
"Into nothingness you come, and into nothingness you shall go."
We turn around and see several figures in the darkness.
"We're not afraid of you," Zack says courageously. I wish I could share in his confidence, but we don't know what we are up against.
"Zack, don't rush into this."
From all around us they come. From the four corridors, more men come pouring in.
"Surrender, you know there is no way out."
"We'll just break our way through you!" Zack says. He can't fool me though. I can sense the fear in his voice. Even in the battles before, we were lucky to get out mostly unharmed, and this time, we are in their home, and even more outnumbered. If we can't defeat them, then there has to be a way out.
"Zack, there are too many to just kill," I tell him.
"You have a plan don't you?"
"Yea, if we can threaten the leader's life, then we can force them to surrender."
"That's a devious tactic but we have no choice," he says. I admit, I wish this would just be a fair fight, but we don't have any another options. I reach in my pocket and pull out my knife. I will have to end more lives today, but as long as the most important one continues, then it's worth it.
"So will you surrender, or make this harder than it has to be."
I grip my knife tighter as Zack pulls his out. "Go," I order, and we run at them.
The enemies continue to approach us from both sides, as the many steps echo all throughout the dark room. As one of the foes approaches us, I thrust my knife into his body, and knock him to the ground with my fist. Several more approach me, but my knife finds the ones neck, and I slice it across the two others as they fall to the ground.
I look forward and see Zack running toward the leader and notice that he is a good distance in front of me. The enemies see the opening and make a wall between the two of us. They aren't making this easy, but I'll just have to brake through them to protect Zack.
He looks back at me and sees how outnumbered I am. Zack stops for a moment and runs back toward me.
That wasn't part of the plan. I can handle myself in a fight, but I just hope Zack won't let his guard down.
They see him coming back to me and surround us, not letting me get back to my brother. I run at them again, knife poised to kill. Swinging the knife at him, it collides against his knife. This one won't be as easy, but I can't let him win. I continue attacking, but his blade deflects each swipe. I'll have to go all out to beat this guy.
Focusing my mind on my enemies, I slow them. I thrust my knife at him again, but once again, he deflects it. How is this possible? He smiles at me, apparently sensing my frustration. I slash at him several more times, but as with before, he easily deflects my attack.
This is impossible. No one has ever been able to match my speed like this. Unless… he has the same power as me. I can't let that stop me though.
I charge at him again, this time aiming my foot at his hand. Even with my immense speed, he latches on to my ankle, just as I guessed. I use the leverage to leap into the air, and shove my knife into his neck. All the others around me are still slowed as I slice through them.
Zack and I are together again, but the fight is far from over. His face shows the toll the battle has taken on him. He doesn't appear to have any bad wounds, but fighting off so many foes must be hard on him. My brother is breathing heavily and his arms are shaking. We can't let our guard down yet, they are still coming.
"Now's our chance," I say, noticing the leader is unguarded.
Zack nods as we run at him, dodging the attacks of the other enemies. I turn as I hear my brother scream in pain, and I notice blood flowing down his arm as he kicks his assailant away. Two others approach him, but he instructs me to keep going.
I reach the leader, and hold my knife to his neck. "Stand down or he dies!" I order. All of our foes back away, leaving Zack unharmed.
My prisoner begins chuckling. "What are you laughing at?"
"Your foolishness." He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a gun.
"Drop it or you die," I order as I press the knife harder against his throat. The creep ignores me and begins raising the gun. He asked for it. I slice the blade across his neck, but he escapes my grasp completely unharmed. He points the gun into the crowd and fires a single bullet.
No…
The incredibly loud bang resonates throughout the room.
No.
My reflection grasps his chest in pain.
No!
He falls to the ground as I run to him.
NO!
I look down and see the look of shock and pain in his face. Tears flowed through his eyes as he struggled to form words. The spark that once filled them begins to fade.
NO!
Zack's eyes closed as the final breath escaped his mouth.
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