Chapter 5: Zombies and Dark Secrets
"Zombie or ghoul inside you!? HA! Damn that really cracks me up. Woot! Damn! Just admit it Jack, you my friend, have a sick sense of killing people," said Kumi.
"Whatever. Shit. How many kills you got?" asked Jack.
"Enough to last me a few weeks," said Kumi.
"Jenny was right. You do eat too much," said Jack.
"Well I'm hungry. Are you telling me to starve myself so I can stay in shape? Hell I lose five pounds every time I get a really good screw," said Kumi.
"You know what? I'm not even going to ask what you did before you were recruited by the Dark Alliance," said Jack.
Bum"I told you it was dangerous," said Bum panting for breath as he collapsed on his butt after wiping out a group of zombies.
"I'm looking for my dad, but he's not in his office," said the girl.
"It doesn't matter Ashley, it's still dangerous running off alone," said Bum.
"What about you. You were alone too," said Ashley.
"Well I can take care of myself," said Bum.
"Then that means I can take care of myself too!" retorted Ashley before she ran off in the direction of the guardhouse.
"Hey wait up! God damn it! Babysitting was not part of the job," said Bum to himself before he ran off after Ashley.
Guardhouse"Man where the hell is that kid?" asked Kumi as she crushed another fag.
"Don't know. Maybe I was wrong about him being able to handle himself," said Jack.
"Shittt, when he gets here I'm gonna rip his balls out and feed it to him," said Kumi as she felt her pockets for another smoke only to come up with an empty pack of smokes.
"Don't look at me. I quit a long time ago," said Jack before Kumi even turned around to look at him.
"Damn. Fuck it. I'm going inside. I'm hungry as shit. Hell I wouldn't mind getting drunk again," said Kumi as she opened the guardhouse door.
Jack sat quietly on the steps in front of the guardhouse for a few minutes before gunshots rang out from inside the building. Shortly afterwards, the breaking of furniture could be heard. Then a few more shots rang out and it was silent. After sitting on the steps of the guardhouse and gazing into the dark night sky that was littered with stars for a few minutes, Kumi opened the door and plopped down on the steps next to Jack giggling with a smirk on her face.
"Lucky bastards had a whole case of smuggled Karajama rum and sticks," said Kumi happily as she popped off the of the bottle of rum and opened up a bag of fried potatoes spiced with salt and vinegar.
"Ugh. I wouldn't eat that if I were you," said Jack eyeing the bag of fried potatoes.
"Why?" asked Kumi as she lit a Karajama stick.
"That stuff taste nasty," said Jack as he watched Kumi put a slice of fried potato in to her mouth. A few seconds later she spat it out and threw the bag of potatoes in front of here and lit it up with gun fire. "That was the nastiest shit I tasted in my entire life!" shouted Kumi.
"I told you not to eat," said Jack chuckling at Kumi's behavior.
"Tch. It's not fun drinking alone," said Kumi as she handed Jack a bottle.
"Thanks," said Jack as he popped off the cap on the bottle and took a swig of the liquor, before putting a Karajama stick in his mouth and lighting it.
"I thought you quit," teased Kumi.
"Well, I did," said Jack as he inhaled the intoxicating gas and some oxygen into his lungs.
"You know, I always wondered, what was the point of me existing in this world. I just never quite got it. There are nights when I'm lonely, even if my friends are there and I think about those who are dead. How does it feel to be dead?" asked Kumi.
"I don't know, why don't you ask the zombies? I'm sure they know," said Jack before he blew out a long stream of white smoke.
"Hey you're a pretty good smoker. Why'd you quit? Blowing smoke out like that is cool enough to get you the dumb bitches," said Kumi before she took another puff.
"Shit happens," said Jack.
"Oh, I see. Jenny got you to quit didn't she?" asked Kumi.
"Nope. I quit before I even met her," said Jack as he leaned back and starred into the night sky.
"Tch. You always gotta spoil the fun don't cha," said Kumi before she leaned back and starred at the night sky as well.
"No, I just like to stick to the truth," responded Jack.
"You know, I just can't seem to find the fun in life anymore. I mean killing things and putting myself in danger is the only thing that might entertain me. Only problem is, it's just that it dies down and I feel miserable after a while. Some days I just stand on top of a rooftop and think. What would happen if I had jumped, I never had a good childhood to remember anyway. My mom made me sell myself on the streets when I was nine. She would take all the money I earned and blow it all on drugs and gambling. My dad would beat my mom and me whenever he got pissed. Eventually my mom stabbed my dad and she was hanged for murder. I was out in the streets supporting myself in whatever way I can. The phoenix gang accepted me, but everyone in there were guys. At first they treated me nice, but the moment I hit pub and grew tits they shoved me around and fucked me like I was just another cheap whore. You know that pain you get when your most trusted companions betray you and treat you like shit?" asked Kumi as she dropped the empty bottle of rum and closed her eyes and a few seconds later she was snoring lightly.
"No I wouldn't," said Jack to himself as he finished the bottle of rum and continued to puff on the Karajama stick.
Hour Later"Sorry, I made you guys wait so long," said Bum as he hopped down from a two story building carrying Ashley on his back.
"Man what happened to you?" asked Jack.
"I picked her up while she was looking for her dad. Then we were being chased by entire mobs of the undead," said Bum.
"So that's where all the zombies went. Kumi and I were wondering for a while about where all the zombies went," said Jack as he cocked his rifle.
"I had to hop over rooftops to escape the bastards when they surrounded us," said Bum as he sat down panting for breath.
"They followed you here though," said Jack as he heard he shook Kumi who was still asleep. "Hey Kumi, wake up, come on let's go. We got an entire mob waiting for us to kill."
"Huh? What? Is that you Jack? No, don't do that, what happens if Jenny finds out?" said Kumi unconsciously.
"God damn it. She's still out," said Jack as he ran inside the guardhouse to search for anything that might provide useful.
"Come on let's go inside," said Bum as he picked up Kumi and brought her inside.
Inside the Guardhouse"Bum! Bring in those bottles! And take these stinking bodies out!" shouted Jack as he rummaged through the mess of broken furniture.
"Hey kid. Wake up the big sister for me, alright? Thanks," said Jack as he found a standard imperial rifle along with a full pouch of ammunition.
"Alright here," said Bum as he placed the crate of bottles on a table that wasn't broken.
"Here take this," said Jack as he threw the rifle and pouch of ammo to Bum. "Your going to find that useful. Just pull that trigger thing over there while you aim at the zombie. It's just like a crossbow."
"You mean this?" asked Bum as he pulled the trigger and the rifle jumped in his hands. "Holy shit!"
"Be careful you idiot!" shouted Jack as he ran upstairs and came down with a hammer and a box of nails.
"Here start helping me board up these two windows," said Jack.
The moans were beginning to grow louder and Jack was starting to panic. The sound of the undead was larger than he had ever heard. Bum must have roused up every zombie in the entire sector. He continued to slam the hammer into the nails for each piece of good spare wood that he had. After a few minutes of faulty boarding, Jack went to the table and took whatever cloth he could find and dipped them in alcohol. After repeating the same procedure twelve times, he stuck each cloth into the open bottles.
"It's a good thing she smokes," said Jack as he took Kumis' lighter. "Wait for me outside and bring out a few of those bottles," said Jack before he picked up Kumi and brought her upstairs.
"Alright continue trying to wake her up. Slap her if you have to alright? We'll be outside," said Jack and he ran off to join Bum outside before Ashley could respond.
Outside of the Guardhouse"Damn! You really roused up every single undead in this sector. Hell there is enough to go from here all the way to the south gate if they lined up in single file!" shouted Jack.
"So uh, how do you shoot this thing?" asked Bum.
"Alright here, you aim through this thing here and line it up with that piece of iron there, then you breath in and let out half a breath and while you let out the other half of the breath you slowly pull the trigger. That's it. It's semi automatic, so you don't have to do the annoying procedure of the outdated rifles. Just aim for the head and watch out for any deader that tries to sneak up on us," said Jack as he patted Bum on the back.
"Damn looks like we're in for one hell of a night," said Bum as he aimed the rifle at one of the undead.
"Damn right we are. Alright here. Toss this at any big mob that you see. Toss it in the center ok," said Jack as he passed a lit bottle of rum to Bum.
"What does it do?" asked Bum.
"Watch and learn," said Jack as he tossed a bottle at the mob advancing towards them, and upon impact, it exploded and engulfed the zombies in flames.
"I think I'm starting to love these new inventions," said Bum smiling as he tossed his bottle at the mob.
"That mob is so thick that I can't even see the end of them!" shouted Jack as he begun to fire his rifle.
"Damn! This rifle thing is hard!" shouted Bum as he tried his hardest to control the gun's recoil. "Can't I just cut them down?"
"Do they look human to you? They don't know fear idiot. Shut up and concentrate on killing them!" shouted Jack over the gunfire and as he fired careful and precise shots.
"I don't know how you do it!" shouted Bum as he threw another bottle at the mob.
"Hey careful! We only have nine left now!" shouted Jack.
"I can count you know!" retorted Bum as he fired his rifle.
Bohm Bohm"Shit! Three o'clock! Zombies!" shouted Jack as he shifted his aim right and fired on the incoming zombies. Bohm Bohm Bohm Bohm.
"Jack! We got some more on our six!" shouted Bum.
"Don't tell me! Shoot those fuckers!" shouted Jack as he continued to down zombie after zombie.
"Jack! Their getting closer!" shouted Bum.
"I know! Back to the stronghold! Go! I'll cover you!" shouted Jack as he swung around on his six and fired a few shots. Bohm Bohm Bohm.
Jack shifted his aim left and crouched down and fired three more shots. Bohm Bohm Bohm. Shifting his aim again, Jack fired the remainder of his magazine into the crowd. Bohm Bohm Bohm Bohm Bohm. Jack ejected the magazine and discarded it, before running towards the door while reloading. Jack swerved around again and fired two more shots before he backed into the guardhouse and slammed the door shut.
Inside Guardhouse"Bring the remainder of the bottles here!" shouted Jack.
"Here light them and hand them to me. Leave only one behind ok," said Jack as he fired a few more shots through the holes of the faulty boarding.
"Here!" shouted Bum as he handed Jack a bottle.
Jack lobbed a bottle through the holes in the boarded window at the incoming zombies and burnt them to crisp when the bottle exploded. He continued this for a few more times before he ran out of bottles. Eventually Jack was firing his rifle like mad alongside Bum who kept on missing.
"Fuck it! Bum get your ass up there and wake Kumi up!" shouted Jack as he reloaded his rifle.
D.A. Headquarters"How did the assassins do in killing Jack?" asked a man in black suit as he walked into the room with magical orbs floating in the air all around him.
"We lost contact with them about an hour ago sir," said a mage before he telegrabbed a floating orb.
"That's the visualization we received before the entire squad was wiped out," said another mage.
"What a pity. Oh well, they were expendable, I should have known better than to trust the Zamoraks" said the man.
"Sir, should we send our replacements for Leon after him?" asked a third mage.
"No. Send in Dick. He's one of the best after Leon. I really want to see how good he is. The replacement team would be overkill, and pull up the image of him fighting with zamoraks," said the man.
The first mage let the orb that he had telegrabbed float towards the man in the suit. The man in the suit watched carefully as Jack was confronted by the 13 zamorak worshippers who had undergone body enhancement experiments. He watched as Jack was nearly torn to pieces by the Zamoraks before Jack's skin begin to peel off and show a sign that he was already an undead. The man simply smiled at this image and bared his fangs.
"Gentlemen, what we are about to witness is going to be the biggest evolution of all life. Hopefully, our little experiment Jack would be able to live up to our standards," said the man in the suit before showing his fangs again.
"Shit," said Jenny before she turned away from the door only to find the man in the suit was already behind her.
"Leaving so soon Jenny? I thought you would be happy when you came home, of course for a beautiful girl like you, we would not resort to any corporate punishment now would we?" teased the man in the suit.
"Of course we wouldn't!" shouted Striker as he roundhouse kicked the man right in the chin. The kick only sent the man stumbling back a bit.
"Ah, Mr. Striker. I was wondering when you would show up. Born in Draynor Village on a small farm, became a squire at the age of nine to help support your family of eight. At the age of ten your entire family excluding you, your smallest sister and your brother were killed in a vampire attack. You became a junior knight at the age of 12 and your sister went missing along with your brother. Their whereabouts are still unknown. You became a full-fledged knight at the age of 14 and slew a countless number of dragons by the age of sixteen. Four years ago, you abandoned your career of a knight based on the injustice and conspiracies you found in the system. You then became a mercenary, and you have became a close friend of Jaz from the Side Street Families as well as a business associate of the Red Mountain Boys who have established themselves well over Gielinor. Your fighting capabilities are above those who are considered elite. You may be very well a legend yourself. In fact, you may be as good as Jack himself. Of course, Jack would be nothing without the extra substances in his body. Without those substances, your kill counts in the previous war would well over ride his by a few thousand. You're a natural killer. It's a pity that we could not have you join us in our delicate cause," said the man.
"How the fuck do you know so much about me when I already told you no," said Striker.
"We would have to know almost everything about you before we would ask you to join our cause Mr. Striker," said the man.
"Bet you didn't know this!" shouted Striker before he shot two bolts at the man before he threw down a smoke bomb that he held in his right hand.
"Come on let's go!" shouted Jenny before she began to step backwards slowly and firing her pistols in to the smoke.
"Screw it! Keep moving!" shouted Striker as he took Jenny's hand and pulled her along with him.
"Little did you know, that you too, were admitted into our experiments but at an earlier age," said the man.
"I always knew you were mad, but I guess I was wrong. Your insane. You've lost it," said a feminine voice.
"And who might you be?" asked the man.
"You don't need to know," said the woman in the silky black dress with a smile before she pulled out her pistol with Saradomain decorations on it.
"Oh. You're the new bitch of Saradomain, Anna," said the man.
"Smart mouth," said Anna as she fired a shot at the man before disappearing in an instant and appearing again behind the man with her pistol aimed at his heart before firing again.
"Your three hundred years too early to fight me on the same level bitch!" shouted the man as he appeared behind Anna.
"You know, it's guys like you that can't get settled down and have a family," said Anna before she fired more shots at the man.
"It's bitches like you that we men don't want to settle down with!" shouted the man before he lunged for Anna and grabbed her by the shoulder and sank his fangs into her neck.
"Fuck off!" shouted Anna as she was pushed to the ground when the man had sunk his fangs into her throat.
"I never had a female vampire before," said the man.
"You won't ever have a female vampire," croaked Anna as she kicked the man off of her and held her bleeding neck.
The man lunged at her, only to catch thin air. A second later his head was implanted into the floorboards by Anna who had dropped from the ceiling and landed a kick on the back of his head.
"I can barely talk now. Bastard bit my vocal cords," said Anna as she let her hand go of the wound and it began to heal by itself.
Striker and Jenny"We should be safe here," said Striker as he fell down onto the floor gasping for breath.
"What did you find out?" asked Jenny.
"Here, take the files. It appears that Jack was in a experimental program called EVOLUTION. The name says it all," said Striker.
"It doesn't say his date of birth, area of birth, or any other background information about him. All these files start with him at the age of 14. What the hell is going on?" asked Jenny.
"It means that they don't know Jack's true identity, no one knows," said Striker as he pulled out his canister of water.
"Except for Ken," mumbled Jenny.
"What? Who?" asked Striker.
"Ken. I met both him and Jack at the same time," said Jenny.
"That means, that their both not from this world," said Striker.
"What?" asked Jenny.
"Look, right next to Jack's file, I found a file on a guy named Ken Wilder. He had no background information either. He was two years older than Jack, and he first appeared at the same time as Jack. It seemed fishy as to how these two incidents are related, but there was no surreal and solid evidence, but there was another file that dated a rift in time or some type of warp that might have happened in the desert of Al Kharid. The residents saw a giant shiny blue light in the desert. Now the scientists and mages that wrote these reports proposed the possibility of the existence of an entirely different world, and these two worlds were linked based on time collision between the worlds that made a rift in the natural space, which allows communication and travel," said Striker.
"What! That's insane! That's not possible," said Jenny.
"Based on how crazy these guys can be, I find it hard to believe myself," said Striker.
"What's that?" asked Jenny pointing at the numerous folders clipped inside Jack's file.
"Oh this. I think your going to find this pretty interesting. Here check it out. It states that they gave Jack multiple identities, Daniel, Locke, Reeves. The problem is that everyone of those files contain a serial code for an experiment number. At the end of these files, every single one says on probation due to lack of meeting requirements as subject zero three. I think we're looking at an entire underground research here that we don't even have a clue of what it is about," said Striker whispering his last words.
"I think that's enough," said a man in black blazer and black dress pants.
"Can we finish this mission and go home? I want to read," said a kid who looked like a younger version of Jack.
"Sanders! I thought you were dead! I saw Jack kill you!" shouted Jenny as she went for her guns, but Sanders beat her to it.
"Not quiet you little two faced bitch. You just never noticed that I was a vampire now did you?" asked Sanders.
"So how is it possible for you to stand in the sun right now?" asked Striker.
"I think you should have guessed by now after reading all those files," said Sanders.
"Scientific enhancements, you're a freak of evil," muttered Striker.
"Nor are you perfect yourself Striker. Perhaps I should give you another file on yourself," said Sanders before he pulled out a vanilla folder from inside his blazer.
"Don't bullshit me. You got nothing on me, besides my battle status and my past, and who the hell is that? I know that's not Jack," said Striker raising his voice.
"My name is experiment number eight two four six, my current mission is to terminate the two objectives standing right in front of me" replied the kid that looked like Jack before he leapt for Striker.
"Shit!" shouted Striker before jumping back to dodge a downwards hack from the Jack look alike.
"You can't kill me Jenny!" shouted Sanders before he appeared behind Jenny and grabbed her by the shoulders.
"Not today freak!" shouted Jenny before elbowed the vampire in the gut and backhanded him in the face.
Striker dodged another swipe made by the kid before he had to duck again and do another back flip to avoid a few more attacks. The experiment never stopped to let Striker to even pull out his sword. Slipping on a rock, Striker fell in his retreat, but as the kid came down with his sword to finish Striker off, Striker lifted his leg and kicked the kid in the stomach before rolling him over his fallen body with only his leg. The kid flew off Striker's leg and crashed into a rock cracking his neck.
"Phew, thank mother earth for nearly screwing me over and saving my life," said Striker as he wiped sweat off of his forehead.
"Striker! Help me out here god damn it!" shouted Jenny just before she received a punch to her face that sent her flying into a tree.
"Uhnnghnn…" moaned Jenny as her eyes began to close from the impact she made on the tree. Her body fell down onto the ground leaving her body shape in the bark of the tree.
"Shit," muttered Striker.
"Hmm. Pity, that experiment just woke up two days ago. Too bad. Those things don't come cheap, the Dark Alliance definitely won't be happy with you killing off their specimen Striker," said Sander as he began to slowly draw his sword. However, before he was completely able to pull out his sword, a silver bullet penetrated his heart and ceased his entire body functions.
"Go to hell asshole," muttered Jenny smirking as she loosely held her smoking pistol while she was still in the dirt.
"You little…" was the only two words that Sanders can mutter before he disappeared in a puff of black smoke and rain of ash dropped to ground.
"Come on, let's take a look at you," said Striker as he helped Jenny, but before he could even lay her down against a tree, he heard a gigantic explosion that came from the Dark Alliance Headquarters.
Not a moment later, Anna landed gracefully on the ground in front of Jenny and Striker carrying a silver case and a vanilla envelope. Her left thigh was stained with crimson blood and she was covered with dirt.
"Not the best place to have an introductory meeting, but here are some of the contents. If you're interested, you can find us at the Draynor Manor. Invite Jack as well. Oh and you dropped something," said Anna as she handed Striker the envelope and the files along with his own before disappearing in a cloud of dust.
"Well, that was completely random," said Striker holding the files, still confused as to whom that woman was and what she was talking about.
Jack"Why didn't you wake up me up earlier!" shouted Kumi as she jumped to another building.
"Because, you were completely wasted. I even slapped you twice, before Bum accidentally groped you when he was reaching for another magazine!" shouted Jack as he carried Ashley on his back.
"Jeez, you two sure look like couples," said Bum as he followed them.
"One more word out of you kid, and I will sock you in the mouth so hard that you won't be able to tell the difference between shit and fries," said Kumi as she stopped at a building to catch her breath.
"I don't know about you, but I'm saying fuck this part time job. As if running around all night wasn't enough. It's almost dawn. I'll say we have scarped in enough kills to earn us a good amount of gold to live for a few years," said Jack before he broke through a house window with the butt end of his rifle and stormed the room.
"Ok it's clear!" shouted Jack as he signaled for Kumi and Bum to come in.
"Damn I'm beat," said Kumi as she plopped down on a couch in front of her.
"Hey I said the room was clear. Not the entire building," said Jack as he stayed alert.
"Yeah, you and Bum can take care of it. Ashley and I will stay here," said Kumi waving them off.
"Umm, this is my daddy's office," said Ashley.
"What? That means we're right back where you started?" asked Bum in surprise.
"Well, I never quite got into his office. I was hiding in one of the lower offices, and when I tried to get in, it was locked. In fact the entire floor was locked down for some reason," said Ashley.
"Well, it don't seem locked anymore," said Jack as he examined the broken down door.
On instinct, Jack pointed his rifle at the couch and whispered loud enough for Kumi to hear clearly, "Kumi, get away from that couch now!"
Kumi who felt something was wrong quickly rolled off the couch just as a zombie toppled the couch over and grabbed at the area where Kumi was resting a while ago.
"That's daddy! Daddy!" shouted Ashley as she began to run towards the zombie.
"No don't!" shouted Bum as he restrained Ashley.
Jack quickly proceeded towards the zombie and kicked it in the gut before sliding behind it and breaking its neck.
"Wow, and you could have shot it," said Kumi who still had her guns pointed at the dead zombie.
"Shut up. Your probably going to wake up the entire building. By now it's probably infested with zombies," whispered Jack as he checked the door again.
"Daddy," whispered Ashley.
"That's not your dad, he's gone. Look he left a note for you," said Bum as he found a notebook that was covered in blood.
To whomever that may find this notebook. It appears the time has come for me to leave this world. I am writing this as I am on the tip of my sanity. These undead were not brought about by their population rise. They were experiments unleashed by our king, whom has been cooperating with the Dark Alliance. I have discovered the unconventional truth behind his actions. In order to bring him to justice, there are files assembled with evidence in my desk. Also if you happen to come across a little girl by the name of Ashley, please take care of my daughter. I am beginning to lose my san…
The rest of the entry was covered in my blood and illegible scribbles. There were words in blood that spelled flesh and brains, and hunger. As Bum finished reading the journal, the wardrobe next to the couch burst open with a female zombie staggering out of it. Kumi fired off a shot without second thought and the zombie fell dead onto the floor. Not a second later the entire floor was filled with moans and banging.
"Shit. We gotta go. Bum search his desk and the entire room for anything useful, evidence, whatever that was mentioned in the notebook. Stuff it into the bag here," said Jack as he poured out the garbage from the garbage bag and gave it to Bum.
"Kumi grab that shotgun right there and watch the door way, pop any thing that comes close," said Jack as he grabbed a liquor bottle and popped the cap open.
Jack began to poor the alcohol all around the room while leaving half of the bottle full. He then ripped off a piece of rag from a window cloth and stuffed it into the bottle while shaking the bottle so the rag would be soaked in alcohol. Scrounging the room for matches, Jack found none. He then dug through the pockets of the dead woman and found only a single match.
"Bum you got the files?" asked Jack over Kumi's consistent firing of the shotgun.
"Yeah. Come on, get Ashley we gotta go. We're out of time, come on let's move it! Go go go!" shouted Jack as he pushed Bum towards Ashley who was crying over her dead father.
"I'm out!" shouted Kumi as she tossed aside her shotgun and walked towards the Jack.
"Alright that's it! Let's go! Out the window!" shouted Jack as he struck the match.
"Come on Ashley, we gotta go. Come on," said Bum as he picked up the crying girl and put her over his shoulder and climbed out the window.
"Fire in the hole!" shouted Jack as he threw the bottle down on the floor just as a group of zombies entered the room. The office was engulfed in flames and Jack quickly climbed out the window with the fire licking at his feet.
"Come on, down that tree," said Jack as he pointed at giant yew tree.
As Jack, Kumi, and Bum made it down the tree to the ground along with the crying Ashley, they quickly ran towards the barricade as the sun rose.
"Halt! Before proceeding, you must go through a health check to prevent the infection," said a guard.
"We just want our pay," say Kumi before she tossed the kill counters at the guards and pointed her pistols at them.
"Um, very well, this way," said the guard who was stunned at Kumi's fast reaction.
As the guard led them to a temporary camp, Jack saw a kid in his late teens who looked like Striker, but he wore the fatigues of a soldier from Ace's guild.
"Your going back out there?" asked the kid.
"There are still men out there, along with civilians. It don't matter, nobody gets left behind, and you out of all people should know that," said the man before scooping up the rest of his breakfast with his fork and finishing it.
The kid quickly cocked his rifle before reaching for extra magazines.
"Hey, don't even think about it Brooklyn. I'm better off on my own. Besides it's your leave, enjoy your vacation eh?" said the man giving the kid known as Brooklyn a light punch before walking away with the other soldiers.
"Right here. Let's see. Looks like you got a good amount of kills here. All of you," said the guard as he examined the counter and wrote down on a bank note, the amount of money each person received.
"Man this is only going to last me a few months!" shouted Kumi looking at the seven digit number on her paper as they were walking back to Jack and Jenny's bar.
"Well at least we got the money," said Jack as he walked in through the door of his home.
"Jack! We have to talk," said Jenny as she waited at the counter with Striker.
"What's wrong Jenny? You look like a mess," said Jack examining the dried blood on Jenny's body.
Hour later"So what both of you are telling right now, is the fact that I was one of the DA's experiments and guinea pigs," said Jack.
"We're not saying exactly that Jack, what we're trying to say, is that do you remember your past. Do you remember everything that has happened to you, while you were here, in our world?" asked Striker.
"Of course I remember my past," said Jack.
"Do you feel gaps at all? A gap in your entire memory, something blank?" asked Striker.
"No! What is this? Some kind of interrogation?" asked Jack?
"We're trying to find out, if you, we mean you, who are you?" asked Striker.
"I'm… I'm… Reeve, no wait I'm Daniel, no I'm Locke…um, uh, I'm Jack!" shouted Jack as a female voice muttered a variety of different names through his mind.
"Are you sure now?" asked Striker.
"Yes I'm sure. I'm sure. I'm Jack. I've always been Jack," said Jack whose breathing has begun to grow harsher.
"Ok then, what was your last name?" asked Striker.
"Fung. Jack Fung. That was my full name," said Jack.
"Wrong. All that was only a fragment of your memory Jack. You can't even remember who you are. You can't even remember clearly, your own real name," said Striker who has begun to raise his voice.
"Um, Striker, I think we should do this some other time, I mean Jack is all tired from last night I think," said Jenny.
"NO! We don't handle this now, he won't remember anything about what has happened to him in the blanks. He will never fill in the blanks, and if he can't, then he is one of them," said Striker putting his hand on his sword.
"What are you doing? Stop it!" shouted Jenny who has begun to grow hysterical.
"Your real name Jack. Can you remember it? Can you remember anything to fill in those gaps! You worked for the DA Jack! You worked for them after you formed your first little mercenary band with Anna a.k.a. Killerine, Kaos Li, Chrono C. Young, Wei, Lilian a.k.a. Skygirl, Big Bear, Little Devil, Louis Ortiz, Champer, Buck, and Kenny! You sold out your team for money! You did missions that put the life of your teammates at ultra high risk, just for some money! You finally had it after Big Bear, Little Devil, Louis, Champer, Buck, and Kenny were killed in a ambush set up by the DA themselves, because they felt you were growing too powerful! By the time you realized, it was too late! You went in to their headquarters alone, and guess what, they knocked you out and used you for experiments and missions! They wiped several parts of your memory Jack! The moment you remember your real name, is the moment, YOU remember everything!" shouted Striker whose face was red now after shouting so much at Jack.
"My name, I can't remember it, what is it? I can't do it Striker! I can't remember my name! Big Bear, Little Devil, Louis, Champer, Buck, Kenny, I don't remember any of them!" shouted Jack who has now covered his face with his hands.
"What about experiment number zero three huh? Is that really who you are! Are you one of them! Are you one of those cock sucking mindless sons of bitches! Huh? Are you one of them Jack? Are you! It's a very simple question Jack. What…is…your…name?" asked Striker.
"Number Zero Three. Number Zero Three. Number Zero Three, stasis cell six, EVOLUTION program, ugh... my name, my name is… Jack…W..il…ds. Jack Wilds. I was born in Kalm on the Eastern Continent. I enlisted in the Shinra S.O.L.D.I.E.R. program the moment I turned fourteen. I got into First Class because of my outstanding medical skills along with my gunmanship and computer hacking capabilities. My commanding officer was Lt. Ken Martini. Through him, I got to know Zack, whom was always the life of the party with Ken. All members of S.O.L.D.I.E.R. were injected with mako energy to enhance our performance capabilities. My rank was nothing but a mere corporal because of my support skills. In close range combat, I was nothing more than a liability. I was sent on a mission to check out a reactor, but by the time we got there, someone already has planted a highly explosive charge that blew up the reactor and the next thing Ken and I knew was that we were laying in the grass by the country side, which was in Draynor Village," said Jack in a monotonous tone. Jack's breathing has calmed down and his eyes were dull as if he were in a trance.
"Anything else that you want to tell us Jack?" asked Striker.
A smile crept along Jack's lips breaking his trance, "I remember, I remember, everything."
"Good to have the real Jack Wilds with us," said Striker before he let out a long sigh.
"All thanks to you bro, and hey, I'm still me dude," said Jack as his smile grew bigger.
"Jack!" shouted Jenny as she jumped into Jack's arms and hugged him while crossing her legs around his hips.
"Woah relax baby, I know who I am now, and you don't need to worry," said Jack as he kissed Jenny on the lips.
"Alright man. It's good to know that you ain't one of those freaks. Cause we just had a dealing with one of those clones of you, and hell they sure can fight like you man. Scares the shit out of me, and here I was thinking I was one of the best," said Striker.
"You are one of the best Striker. I feel it," said Jack tipping his face to the right so he can see Striker, but his vision was quickly blocked by Jenny who had now begun to tongue him.
"Mmm, oh damn, hey I'll catch you later Striker, little lady here is getting feisty alright," said Jack.
"Damn Jenny! You freaking slut! Go upstairs! Me and the girls don't want a public showcase down here!" shouted Kumi as she came out of the bath with Ritz and Kim.
StrikerIt was about late morning around ten thirty or so when Striker finally sat down on a bench in Varrock next to a fountain in front of the smithy. He opened the vanilla envelope that the woman in the black dress had handed to him. Inside the envelope he only saw an outline of his information. Reading it slowly, he dropped the envelope when he was done. He too had been an experiment of the DA. However, he was only mentally reconditioned, so that he may perform better as a soldier. His case was not severe as compared to Jack, however the only blank he had was during his childhood. He could not remember the time before he was four years old. That probably meant it was only minor and nothing as sophisticated as Jack. However there was another white envelope inside the vanilla envelope. Inside was another letter with neat cursive handwriting.
Dear Mr. Striker,
Our organization has a business proposition for you. If you wish to know more about your past, in return for some bodyguard services and good pay, you can find us at the Draynor Manor.
Without a second thought, Striker stuffed the letter back into the envelope and pocketed the files before making his way down to the general store to grab him some food and water before he began his one day walk to Draynor Village.
Jack and Jenny 1 P.M.
"We should do this more often," say Jack as he laid on his back and putting out a cigar.
"Oh shut up Jack. I was just caught up in the moment," said Jenny as she pulled on pair of baggy cargo jeans and clipped her black lace bra in place.
"Then I guess you should get caught up in the moment more often," said Jack as he began to put on his boxers.
"Is that so? I was afraid you couldn't keep up with me," teased Jenny as she tied up her hair and slipped into her flip-flops before opening the door and heading down the stairs.
Jack simply grinned and pulled up his blue cargo pants and his blue beater before fastening his custom sheath to his back.
Downstairs
"So I was saying, gimme the money on Monday, our you gonna find your mom, your sister, and your girlfriend pregnant, with the same baby daddy, all at the same time," said Marcus.
"Man shut up Marcus, you full of shit, we know that you ain't cut out to be some love machine. I mean you a player and all, but you ain't that good homie," said Jaz.
"Look at the kid talk trash like he running with us again. The kid just got out of a University, and now he trying to act all hard?" asked Renny.
"At least he ain't a pussy Renny," said Kumi behind his back.
"What the fuck? What you doing here bitch?" asked Renny.
"I'm working. What the hell you think I'm doing?" asked Kumi.
"Oh working as a hoe right? Alright, let me see you dance bitch," said Renny.
"Hey fuck you bitch, the fuck I look like to you huh? A prostitute?" asked Kumi.
"Hey, watch your mouth around me Kumi. You, you used to be my hoe. Remember that I was grateful enough to give you a life.
"I was grateful, until you turned me into a prostitute bitch!" shouted Kumi before she pulled out her pistols and aimed one at Renny, and the other at Jaz who aimed his at her.
"What the hell is going down here? Kumi I let you watch the shop and, oh! Hell no bitch! Put your gun down Jaz!" shouted Jenny as she pulled out her guns and aimed it at Jaz and Marcus who had his gun aimed at Jenny.
"Tell your home girl to put hers down first," said Jaz as he focused his aim on Kumi.
"Put your guns down, now," said Ritz as she held a knife against Marcus's throat.
"God damn it Marcus, how the fuck you let her sneak up behind you fool," said Jaz.
"Same goes to you," said Kim who held a knife against Jaz's throat.
"Man what the fuck is going on down here!" shouted Jack as he aimed his rifle at Kumi.
"Jack, put your gun down," said Jenny who shifted one of her pistols to Jack.
"Oh, so that's how it is now huh? Alright, let me do all of us a favor and pull the motherfucking trigger right now. How 'bout that huh? I shoot Kumi, she shoots that little prick right there, you shoot me Jenny, and both Marcus and Jaz shoots you, and you shoot Jaz at the same time, but instead you miss and hit Ritz. How 'bout that. Everyone in this fucking room dies, except for Kim. Why don't well all do that huh? A five way homicide. How 'bout it?" asked Jack.
"Jack, don't do anything stupid," said Jenny.
"Fuck this, why don't we all die in one piece," said Jack as he shifted his aim to Kim.
"Kumi, did you draw first?" asked Jenny.
"Yes," answered Kumi.
"Put your gun down Kumi," said Jenny.
"No," replied Kumi while keeping her aim on Renny who was literally wetting his pants.
"Fuck this," said Jack as he pulled the trigger, and all he heard was a click.
Moments latter everyone else pulled their triggers and everyone got clicks. Ritz and Kim lowered their knives and everyone began to laugh at each other and pointing at one another's stupidity before they suddenly pulled out their knives.
"Looks like everyone was empty," said Kumi holding her knife at Renny.
"Why don't everybody sheath their knives, and we reload our guns, go for a round of beer and then we can get back to shooting each other eh? Makes it less messy for us ladies," said Jenny.
A murmur of agreement spread out through the group and the tension was eased for the time being and everyone sheathed their weapons.
Backroom
"What was that back there Jack? Why the fuck were you pointing the gun at Kumi?" asked Jenny.
"Listen, I know Kumi had problems in her past, and Renny was probably one of them, but having two guns pointed a Kumi while pointing guns and putting knives near their throat wouldn't save Kumi if she had fired a shot. I never cocked my gun in the first place alright. I never intended to even hurt anybody in that room, well maybe except for Renny, he was a dickwad, but seriously, would you have shot me if I had pulled the trigger even knowing when I had no bullets and you did.
"I couldn't, because I never cocked my gun either. Besides, if I couldn't do it the first time around, what makes you think I would be able to shoot you the second time?" asked Jenny as she pushed Jack up against the wall and whispered to him softly in his ear before walking away slowly and into the bar.
"Well I don't know Jenny, you might have one of your days when you start flipping out on me," said Jack.
"Shut up before I really shoot you Jack," said Jenny waving her hands to dismiss Jack's comment.
