Chapter 25

Showdown

Caleb approached the boy with a careful manner, enough not to startle him and make things from bad to worse. Jill lowered her gun and scanned the room thoroughly making sure none of them were left. She did see the massacre but wondered how that happened. She walked carefully and entered the room and checked every corner and stopped by the window. She looked outside and saw more crows gathering above the skies. It was getting dangerous every second that passed. She scanned the outside the outside and found Carlos guarding the main door of the house with Marcus covering him from the second floor with a sniper rifle.

"Are you alright?" Caleb asked again, finding himself pretty much dumbfounded from his previous question.

The boy only stirred himself and avoided any eye contact from the boy opposite of him. He was curled up in a corner feeling like it's the end of the world. But it probably is. He himself wasn't even sure if he still alive. He saw more of them outside so he just kept running around inside the house with his 'parents' following him.

Caleb asked the same question for the third time now, getting irritated now and stood up now. The boy finally looked at him with fear still in his eyes. His eyes followed the boy as he walked around the room and neared up to his female companion. They talked a little and left the room. Fear struck him again and his voice was finally brought up. "Wait!"

"Oh shit!" William Briggs exclaimed as he viewed the others from above the copper. Everyone was down except for David and Matthew who were petrified from their position. He scanned the area for possible enemies and found them. An unknown person is holding Alice in captive but there was still no movement. He reached for his headphone and contact Marcus back at the house but before he could touch is earphones, someone pushed him from behind. He fell but was able to grab the helicopter's landing skid however his sniper fell with a shattering sound. He quickly looked up and took a good peek at the culprit and surprised to see the unknown man in black. He looked back at where Alice was, seeing her on her knees but was already trying to stand up. He looked back again to the unknown man.

"How did he?" William asked himself in surprise.

However, behind the man was Eric Williams with a gun pointed at his skull ready to fire. One of the pilots removed his belt and took out his pistol from his holster and also pointed at the man. Suddenly a small metal ball was dropped from the enemy's hand and suddenly emits a large amount of smoke instantly.

"Damn…a smoke bomb!" Eric exclaimed. He could clearly see a faint streak of light coming from the smoke. "A knife..?" he crouched down instantly as he felt the swift slash of knife ran through the tip of his hair. He suddenly heard shriek coming from the co-pilot and could see blood all over his face. The chopper's movement was already wavering and he could clearly see blood on the windshield of the chopper. The pilot was surely dead. Suddenly a kick was delivered by the enemy. He was able to block it preventing from being hit in the face but he was thrown outside of the helicopter but grabbed the landing skid opposite of Briggs'. The helicopter's movement is predictable and starting to make for a crash on a house. Briggs could clearly see the enemy jumped on one of the roofs. The helicopter continued its way for the crash.

"Fuck!" Eric exclaimed under his breath.

Caleb and Jill got out of the house with a new addition, Aiden Crest. Jill showed him inside the house for him to meet the others aside from staying safe. Caleb stayed in front of the house and looked at the sky which is now clear of crows except for the smoke in Alice's direction which worries him a little. He noticed Marcus was already gone and could only think that he was on his way there.

Jordan and Thomas got out of the house and approached him. He smiled at them and looked back at the smoke.

"Where's that smoke coming from?" Jordan asked.

"I don't know yet but I'm sure it was Alice's direction. I'm sure Marcus Oliver is on his way there." Caleb replied.

"Should we back him up?" Thomas suggested, thinking there would be a negative response. He looked at Caleb who was still staring at the smoke with deafening silence.

"I think we should go." Caleb finally spoke. "Do you have your guns?"

"Yup!" Thomas and Jordan answered in unison.

Jill, Steve and Carlos were the only adults present with the younger ones. Most of them were still chatting with each other except Aiden who kept silent in a corner. He finally spoke up and said "Where's the boy who rescued me?" in a shy manner.

"They're probably upstairs." replied Jill, assuring him enough that they were safe although she was not entirely sure. She was actually worried at the back of her mind.

"I better check them." Steve spoke up. He left the room walked up the stairs and took a good look outside. "Shit, they aren't here." He thought to himself. He ran outside and looked in all directions. He saw some movement inside some of the houses and he concluded that it is already time for all of them to wake up.

He ran back to the basement and looked for Jill. "The three of them are gone."

The three of the boys are walking thoroughly through the silent street with their guns at the ready. Some already made their way out to the streets so they have to shoot them and make unnecessary gunshot noises. As they walked on something hard hit Caleb. There was something wrong within the area. A faint source of life was dwelling nearby. It stopped him in his tracks alerting the other two. The source was gone and would show up from time to time. It was following them and was sure that it wasn't normal. He knew well that this person is inside his range and could have detected him sooner. He concentrated a bit more and found out that there were two people. They are definitely within his range. Something might have been interrupting hi senses.

"Come out now!!" he shouted and looked at the house left of them. The others pointed their guns at it. "I know you two are there. I can sense you very well. I didn't what you did to interrupt it but it wasn't enough." He shouted again. He lifted a finger up and made a small fireball. "I won't hesitate to burn that house down." The two stared in amazement.

There was still no response from them. "Get in cover you two." He warned his comrades. He threw the fireball at the house and it exploded. The house was inferno and he knew Icarus was already controlling him. One of his eyes turned red and the other remained his natural deep blue color. For once they aren't dominating each other inside his body. Something wasn't right. There still life inside that inferno and it's the same signature. Two people came out and the fire didn't catch them. It's like there was an invisible force field protecting them. The fires just ran through the space, encircling them. They walked into open space and the fire circulating around them diminished and was soon gone.

They took a good look from them. Their faces were all too familiar. From he knows they were the ones responsible for some deaths at the quarantined area. In Caleb's mind is justice while in Icarus' is challenge. The other with the jet black wavy hair ran for cover, while the other with brown hair stood their. He looked a lot like him only with different eyes.

He pointed his gun at Adam. The other raised his arm. He shot all of his bullets out inside the clip but it stopped at mid-air. He now knew well that this person too is an experiment. The bullets fell and a massive amount of energy gathered in front of his hand. It was forming electric current that it was visible. He released it but was interrupted by a jet of water that was taken from the grass on the lawn. He shot out electrified jets of water to his opponent but was able to dodge it. He ran at the opposite direction and gathered lots of debris using a part of his telekinetic abilities. He threw all of them at him but was crushed the opposite force.

Adam thought of a counter attack. He slammed his palm on the ground and a large crack extended toward his enemy in a snake-like movement. The ground shook hard that large rocks popped out from the crack. Icarus understood the implementation of force that was delivered and imitated the attack with a larger amount of force. The two cracks met up in the middle of the road which caused a huge tremor that can be felt throughout the city. Dust obscured their sight and Icarus delivered a wind-slice that cut through the ground spikes and reached the Adam's spot, who was not there. He saw through the attack and evaded it effectively. He showed up a few meters at Icarus' right and blew a large amount of fire imitating his first attack. Fortunately, Icarus quickly used his telekinetic abilities to send a good amount of water from a nearby broken pipeline to interfere the attack. He then sent hundreds of tiny water jets from the used up water. It was followed by a large jet of water.

Adam dodged most of it except the larger one because of a homing effect, hitting him hard and causing him to roll on the ground. But before he could regain his balance, his enemy was already in front of him, about to deliver a kick but he quickly slammed his palm to the ground which formed a spike in front of him, causing Icarus to back out in his attack and withdrew a good amount of distance. He stood up as both experiments were still in a good shape to continue their battle.

Since Caleb wasn't completely dominated by Icarus' persona, he tried to sense the other and they were both fine. They ran back to the house's direction which probably is safer than continuing to Alice's direction because they weren't sure. He thought that it might have been Thomas' decision because he's the elder one.

Caleb's persona was still slowly being dominated by Icarus' since he needs more of his abilities in order to defeat the threat. He also sensed that his companion was still nearby. He could clearly feel that he's a bit more exhausted than before. Calling huge amounts of energy for Icarus' telekinetic ability took a lot out of them. He was sure it was the same for the opposite side.

Steve could surely feel the tremor that had just hit the area. He was on one of knees. It was followed by another making him more worried about the others back at the house. They should have gotten out of the basement now. He scanned the area for anything out of ordinary and had just found it. Two boys were running to his direction with panicked faces painted on them. He stared at them both enough to realize what they had done wrong before looking at the smoke's direction. There were now two places where smoke is coming from.

"What is happening?! Where's Caleb?!" Steve asked the two.

"Caleb was left behind because he was fighting someone." Thomas replied after catching his breath.

"What?!" Steve shrieked in confusion. "Get back to the house now! Jill will handle the both of you! Be careful on the way, you're both in deep shit you know that!"

Steve cautiously ran towards the direction of the nearer smoke. The whole area was in total confusion and the infected ones running around the place only made it worse. Most people would probably dead by now and more will be. The place would be overrun by them and they have to get the hell out of the place quickly unless they want to join them. Making matters worse is his nephew was fighting and he knows very well now what some of his nephew's capabilities are. He kept running forward until he could saw the fire that was spreading in the area.

Alice stood up as she glared upon the person in black on top of the roof of one of the houses. He was obviously staring at her and there's no doubt about it. He jumped down to the ground and started walking towards her. He was still in a good distance away from her but she knew to well that there is no escape from this mysterious person. She grabbed the small pistol strapped into her boots and fired the first bullet. It obviously missed him because he was now out of her sight. She scanned her front before checking her back. He was nowhere to be found until she noticed the small shadow near her own. She quickly strafed backwards as he fell on the spot with two short swords on each hand. A part of her cloak has a slice on it, under her right ribs specifically. She quickly took aim and fire but he jumped too quickly above her and let go of his swords from above. She dodged it was caught off guard. He was already on the floor making a low sweep kick that hit her left shin making her flip forward landing on her back hard. She took another aim and shot again but obviously missed but made the enemy back a good distance away from her. Seeing this chance, she stood up but the enemy was just too fast. He was already back in front of her ready to deliver another blow which was now impossible to block. He hit her hard on the stomach and following up another under her left rib. She was thrown backwards and rolled on the floor.

She coughed up and could see blood on her palm. The effect was now starting to show as the blows ravaged some parts of her body. She was obviously no match against her opponent. She knew that she would be unconscious in a few seconds as she laid down her head on the cold cemented street floor, looking away from the enemy. She could see someone showing up, Marcus Oliver. "Shit…"

Adam could now clearly see his enemy. His skin was dead gray with fiery red eyes and sharp teeth. He realized he was already fighting a monster now not a person unlike before. He doesn't have the advantage of this fight and he knows that very well indeed. His enemy doesn't even have a scratch on him while he already had a few bruises and scratches. A part of his cloth was completely torn off. His enemy's movement drastically changed as his speed rose and some of his attacks were now completely unblockable. It was now mixed with his telekinetic abilities which also made things worse. He can now leave images of him from his previous fight making the battle more confusing. He looked at his enemy as his image faded away into nothingness.

"Damn!!"

He just showed up from behind ready to strike. He blocked the strike with his right elbow but he could practically feel his bones dislocate from its proper position and emit pain throughout his body. He turned around counter-clockwise and delivered a high sweep by his left leg. It was almost a hit but the image faded away too. He showed up in front of him but he tried to strike it but it was also an image. He then noticed three head-sized fireballs coming from three different directions. His momentum from his previous kick let him continue his spin and used his raw telekinetic ability to shield himself from the flames. As he scanned the area for the enemy a huge ground spike popped out of his right side. He dodged it by moving backwards but his enemy was on top of the spike. He delivered a kick but Adam dodged it effectively. He dropped to the other side of the spike and kicked it, shattering the spike which headed for Adam. He grabbed hold of it but the force still sent him a few feet backwards. The enemy was nowhere to be found again. Pain still was emitted again by his devastated elbow.

The enemy just appeared from his back and deliver another high kick which he effectively dodged by rolling forward. He threw the spike at the enemy but he only caught it and the image faded away. He stood up as the spike reappeared from his left which headed straight for him. He dodged it again by moving backwards but another spike appeared coming from his back. He was caught off guard by this time and it hit him really hard on his lower spine. He was thrown forward. But before he could land on the ground, the enemy in appeared at his side kicking him straight to the chest sending him straight to the wall of one of the houses. He couldn't breathe properly and his lower body was paralyzed by the spike. The battle was hopeless but decided he should try that one.