Meridiana High School, 8:27 AM
Adrian walked into the office, looking like he hadn't slept for most of the last two days. He
pulled a hand-written note out of his pants pocket, and placed the short message in Dr. Zack's
message box before collecting his own messages about the school's current activities. Adrian waited
for a few minutes, and was rewarded with the front doors slamming open to reveal four people trying
to get inside at the same time.
The vanguard of the small group was Lucas, looking about as harried as one could get
without having ripped clothing. Right behind him was Lori, Erin, and Hazel, and the entire group was
covered in dust. "Okay, what in the world happened to you four?"
"Hello Adrian. We were up at about three in the morning, and nearly got killed in a gunfight."
Adrian sighed, wondering where Lucas got his store of good luck from.
"Well, you're still alive, so that's a pretty good thing. So anyone we know in the fight?" Erin
passed her left hand over her face, trying to keep a neutral expression but was caught by Adrian, who
raised an eyebrow in a silent question. Erin slashed her free hand over her throat, which is the
universal gesture to keep quiet.
Lucas didn't see the gesture behind his back, and Lori and Hazel had disappeared somewhere,
so he started speaking again. "Well, it was pretty dark, and I only caught a glimpse of the person, but
she was definitely fast moving, agile, and loaded for bear."
"Really? How do you figure that?"
"Why do you think we're covered in dust? She blew out a wall right above us with one shot
from a gun!" Lucas was actually excited instead of scared, but he quieted down as some other of the
early students started to look at him oddly. Adrian sighed again, than heard the lump of lard
commonly known as Mr. Tilman walk into the school. The first thing the obese principal did was look
at the clock, then he noticed the two dust-covered people in the middle of the hallway.
"What the hell happened to you two? Were you watching the mayhem between the police and
those ugly freaks last night?"
"Actually, we were trying to track down the source of those horrible howls that were
scattered all over the city last night." Lucas shuddered as he spoke, remembering the almost-demonic
groaning scream that had awakened him at two in the morning.
"Really. I'm surprised that you're still alive, Lucas. Look, I'm pretty busy, but if you see our
perpetually missing teacher today, give her my regards." With that, Tilman walked into the office,
leaving all three people looking at each other quizzically.
"Okay, he's definitely getting weirder as time goes by. Personally, I'm wondering when he's
going to retire." Lucas scratched at his scalp, sending a cascade of dust onto the much shorter Erin.
"Hey caveman, keep your dandruff to yourself. Why don't you go and get your messages
from the office?" Erin growled at Lucas, and he took her suggestion, taking his leave of the vehement
teen and Adrian. Adrian looked at Erin, shrugged, and gestured for her to precede him to the English
classroom.
"So, what was the bit you wanted to tell me?" Adrian started almost immediately after he had
closed the door and Erin sat on a desk before she revealed what she had wanted to say.
"Well, I recognised the armour the person was wearing, as well as the gun. It's Sara." Erin
fidgeted as she spoke, but Adrian's reaction was nothing short of surprising. He actually dropped the
copy of Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" he was convincing the class to read, and his jaw followed the
thick tome to his desk.
"Could you please repeat that, Erin? I just don't believe it."
"The person who's the focal point of all the heavy gunfights in the city since yesterday, and
the source of those evil little noisemakers is our friend, Sara D'Arnise." Erin ground her teeth
together as she thought of all the possible things happening to her older friend, and imagined herself
flaying Jose with a scourge to try and feel better.
Adrian digested Erin's statement, and swore under his breath for a few seconds. "Well, we
can't do anything about it for a while yet. Hopefully, Sara will be around for a long time after this.
After all, she's probably tougher than I am."
Erin snickered at Adrian's tacit reference to his nightlife, then nodded and left the classroom
in time for the first bell to go off.
Near the Tower, 9:43 AM
Sara woke up, feeling slightly better, despite being in a dumpster, and surrounded by
darkness. She felt her forehead where she had hit the dumpster, and whistled softly when she touched
the slightly sticky lump at her hairline. *Okay, I'm never gonna touch vodka again. Now, how am I
gonna get out of this?*
Sara used her left hand to push at the dumpster's lid, and wasn't surprised to feel the heavy
steel lid stay put. She activated her armour, allowing the material to enhance her strength before she
hauled off and punched the lid of the dumpster off of the metal basin like it was made of tissue paper.
Sara got out of the dumpster, wincing as the bones in her right wrist announced their state of being
with a sharp spine of pain that shot up to her shoulder before fading to a dull throb.
She swore softly as she landed on the uneven concrete beside the dumpster, and swore again,
loudly, when the dumpster's lid crashed down to the earth less than ten feet away from her. *Okay,
maybe I should've restrained myself a bit.* Sara checked how much ammo she had used, and mentally
tallied up what she had done. *Okay, I've used almost eight magazines, and five chem-ex cards. Now,
I've tallied two, maybe three, kills and that bitch teen slaughtered the other two on the rooftop. I'll
have to give her a card.*
Sara jumped to the rooftop she had taken a fall from, and, after landing, she looked around
for anything that could reveal where the spec-ops team had disappeared to. Soon, instead of finding
anything, Sara heard a whistling roar, and she noticed a plane flying overhead with an engine belching
smoke. *Well, this day has already spiralled down the shitter. Time to leave.* Sara jumped East,
towards the school, and was quickly spotted by children and adults alike, mainly because she decided
that bouncing off of rooftops was too risky.
Sara had dropped to ground level, right in the middle of a farmer's market to boot. When she
landed, not only had she smashed a portable stall into scattered early fruits and splinters, but had
given the proprietor a heart attack because of the great speed she was moving at. As Sara moved
towards the school, occasionally jumping onto smaller buildings to clear large obstacles such as
crowds, everyone that saw her could only catch a glimpse of a cloak-wearing form, moving like the
legions of hell were after her.
Shipping Warehouse #27, 10:00 AM
"We have a confirmed contact. She's moving East towards the High School. Let's go." The
commander swore at the addition as he took command from the dumbassed lackey, and armed his
gauss pistol for what he felt would be the last day of hunting. Just as the remnants of his squad got
to open air, the commander heard a piercing groaning howl, which rose and fell in pitch, setting
everyone's teeth on edge. "Well, the entire fucking city now has a fix on our friend. Let's go." With
that, the commander led his squad into the city again, heading to the High School.
Meridiana High School, 10:01 AM
Adrian was just starting on the second class of the morning, when he heard something that
could only be mistaken for a chainsaw mating with a horse. Just after the horrible noise ended, he then
heard something that didn't surprise him. Outside of the classroom, all the teachers had appeared,
wondering what had happened. Adrian took it to the next level, and decided to go to the roof of the
school to find out what was up there.
He excused himself from the classroom, walked calmly up the stairs, and heard some dull
thumps from the roof. Adrian started running to the rooftop staircase, and charged up the steps faster
than a normal person could. Uncharacteristically, Adrian body-checked the door to the roof, and
stopped in his tracks at the deadly tableau being played out on the roof.
Six people were standing in a ragged line, all pointing ugly-looking guns at a seventh person,
who was holding an extra-large gun that was smoking faintly. Three of the people in the line turned
to face Adrian, and the seventh person took the opportunity presented at having the firepower arrayed
at her halved. She dropped down to one knee, firing a shell from the big gun at the rooftop in front
of the three people that were still pointing their guns at her.
The shell smacked into the tar-paper rooftop and exploded, sending fragments of the rooftop
flying towards the three people. Adrian noticed the three people bringing their guns to bear on him,
and dropped backwards down the staircase, earning some bruises, but saving himself from being
perforated by several gauss slugs, which punched holes the size of basketballs through the far wall.
A second volley of shots rang out, punctuated by the deeper, louder, and longer roar of the heavy
gun, cut short by a shrill scream of pain.
Adrian, normally having nerves of ice, felt icy tendrils of fear crawl down the back of his neck,
and he ran down the stairs to Dr. Zack's Physics classroom. Opening the door, Adrian simply grabbed
Dr. Zack by his arm, and pulled the older man out of the classroom. "Adrian! What in the name of
god?!?"
"Quiet Tony, we're going to the roof." Adrian pulled Dr. Zack to the upper part of the
stairwell, and with silence greeting them, they walked onto the roof. On the roof was a dead body,
looking like it's chest had been crushed by a medium-sized wrecking ball. Dr. Zack walked over to
the corpse, turned the body onto its back, and whistled faintly as he probed at the gaping chest wound
that had been covered by the person's armour. "Amazing. This wound seems to be cauterised by a
blast of heat."
"Really? How did you figure that with the armour covering most if the wound?" Adrian
looked again, and noticed that the armour had retracted from the wound, apparently for easy access
from a medic. Just as Adrian began to lean towards the corpse, a loud thump behind both people
caused them to turn around in alarm. There, leaning against the wall, was the person who had fired
the heavy gun.
The person's armour retracted from her mouth, revealing a thin rivulet of blood trickling from
the right side of her jaw. "Boo. Well, this piece of ordnance is useless. Hello Tony."
"I don't believe that we've been introduced..."
"Sorry. I'm known as the Knife. Also, you've known me for almost seven months in my
normal identity."
"Normal identity?" Adrian and Dr. Zack echoed the same statement simultaneously, and the
woman whispered something to answer their question.
"Well, I've been here for a while, and am known for tormenting Lucas." Sara smiled grimly,
making her look like death warmed over. Sara's skin was almost translucent, and she was holding her
left hand over one of her ribs.
"Sara? What in the name of god?"
"I'm the Knife. I once was Selina Del Naryen, Biologist, Bounty Hunter, and Widow." Sara
removed her armour's cape for a few seconds, keeping herself partially in shadows to keep herself
hidden from the spec-ops team. Dr. Zack walked over to her, and noticed that Sara's left hand was
covering a long gouge that was bleeding freely.
"Sara, what happened to you?"
"A gauss slug happened. It punched through my armour, skipped off one of my ribs, and
jammed the action of my gun, rendering it useless. Look, just get Lucas, Erin, Reba, and Cyb. Go to
the crater north of here, and I'll probably see you there."
"Sara..." Dr. Zack's statement was drowned out by a series of loud pops, which resolved
themselves as gunshots. Sara took the opportunity to drop her gun, strip her ammo belt of the
remaining magazines, and put her cape back on before she jumped away from the school, heading
north, towards where the Isle of Doom had exploded three years ago.
The Crater, 5:48 PM
Sara landed at the edge of the mile-wide crater, staggering towards a cluster of bushes as she
felt the wound in her side start bleeding again. She swore silently as she was again leaving a blood
trail for her opponents to follow. Sara's armour was now scarred and pitted, despite its ability to
repair itself fairly quickly. Her cape had been shot at enough times to cut it down to just over ten feet
long, and what remained was so heavily perforated that it looked like a flexible sieve instead of a
cape.
For herself, Sara was wounded in several places, including her right wrist and wounded side.
In addition to those injuries, Sara had also taken a bullet in her right thigh, which left an extremely
large bruise that hampered her mobility. Her knife, held loosely in her right hand, was covered in
blood, much of it from the trooper that she had decapitated. The remaining troopers were still after
her, like a pack of jackals harassing a wolf.
Simultaneously, Erin, Lucas, and Reba were charging through the forest as fast as possible,
only minutes away from the crater. Dr. Zack and CyberSix had taken a different path, but were just
as far away as the others. Back at the crater, Sara stanched her wound by keeping her hand pressed
against the bloody gash. Even then, Sara was so heavily pumped up on adrenaline that she didn't feel
anything.
She slowly drew her sword from over her shoulder, and stood up to continue her retreat. The
result was a volley of shotgun fire, quickly followed by a louder volley of swearing. Sara jumped
across the crater as fast as possible, inviting several more volleys of gunfire at her. Soon, the remnants
of the spec-ops team appeared, and jumped after Sara, allowing their armour to shift into forms that
could maximise their abilities in close combat.
Soon, Sara was standing with no escape in any direction. Behind her was a three-hundred foot
long drop into the ocean, and on either side of her was the same, with the addition of jagged rocks
along the way. *Well, Davey Crockett was in a better position. At least he was in a fort.* In front of
her were the four remaining spec-ops troops, one of them being Vincent. "Well, looks like I'm gonna
have to kick all your asses. Who's first?"
Sara's answer was when two of the troops rushed her and she immediately lashed out with
her sword, which, acting of its own accord, easily sliced off the male trooper's right arm, and
continued to carve a chunk out of his right side. The man dropped like a sack of potatoes, and died
soundlessly soon afterwards. However, Sara was hard pressed to continue with the extreme exertion,
as more blood spilled from her injuries, slowing her down and making her weaker.
The other person who had gotten into close combat with Sara was much luckier, avoiding the
sword several times, and had managed to knock the knife from Sara's bad hand. Sara was tiring
quickly, and when one of the two that had hung back pulled a gun, she couldn't dodge. The gauss
slug punched into Sara's upper left arm, shattering the metal bone, and rendering her arm useless.
Sara screamed in agony as the slug exited through the back of her arm, twisting her around before
she dropped to her knees, still holding onto her sword.
"Well, looks like the rabbit's been snared."
"Come closer and I'll show you just how much I like you Vincent." Sara spat a glob of blood
onto the grass in front of her, and glared at the person who had shot her. Vincent shrugged, then
raised the gauss pistol again, aiming at her left kneecap. He fired twice, shattering Sara's left knee
into shards of bone and metal, then did the same to her right knee.
"Why...? I...only...wanted...to...live..in...peace. So...why?" Sara was gasping for air, but her
right hand had snuck into her pouch of cards. Vincent hadn't noticed that his own group had also
become surrounded, but the commander and the surviving trooper had noticed. "Well, mainly it's
because you sold out on your obligation to do whatever the boss told you to do."
"That's...a...load...of...shit. You're just vengeful." Sara's right hand had reappeared, holding
almost twenty red cards. Vincent laughed, then lifted Sara up by her hair.
"Well, It's been nice talking to you. By the way," Vincent leaned in towards Sara, and
whispered his next words into her ear. "I killed James." Sara's eyes widened, then she slowly exhaled
as Vincent placed the muzzle of his gauss pistol against her left eye.
CyberSix had just finished knocking out one of the two troopers that were guarding the
unique tableau of Sara's bleeding form being held up by a vicious-looking man. Time seemed to slow
to a crawl as Sara's hand snapped upwards, and the man began to squeeze his gun's trigger. Six heard
something, and it took her almost half a second to realize that it was her voice screaming.
The gun fired, and Six could see the cloud of pink mist slowly expand behind Sara's head as
it was pushed backwards. The next thing she saw was a large blast of heat and light as Sara's right
hand relaxed, revealing the crushed mass of cards that detonated in a wave of explosions that
obscured Sara's falling body, and engulfed her killer.
Time accelerated again, and the explosion blew outwards, knocking Six to the ground, and
causing her ears to ring. Six sat up, and on the scorched patch of ground where Sara had stood was
only the person who had shot her. Six stood up quickly, having weathered the blast better than Reba
or Erin had. She walked over to the scorched spot, and saw something lying on the ground where
Sara had been.
Six picked up the long knife, its hilt burned off, and gingerly handled the hot metal until it
cooled down. "Why Sara? Why'd this have to happen?"
Erin, Reba, and Lucas all walked to where Six stood, and looked down at the ocean. There,
barely visible in the fading light, was a small red stain in the clear water. Dr. Zack finished tying up
the two troopers after removing their weapons and other equipment, then walked to the small group
surrounding Six.
"She never wanted to go back. She'd have preferred death to capture."
"I know Tony. I just wish we could've known each other a bit better." Six collapsed to her
knees, still holding the knife, and looked out over the ocean which had swallowed her friend. The sun
had set, bathing the group in darkness before they returned to the city, handing their two captives
over to the police. Afterwards, the group separated, with an agreement to meet at Sara's house in
two days.
Adrian walked into the office, looking like he hadn't slept for most of the last two days. He
pulled a hand-written note out of his pants pocket, and placed the short message in Dr. Zack's
message box before collecting his own messages about the school's current activities. Adrian waited
for a few minutes, and was rewarded with the front doors slamming open to reveal four people trying
to get inside at the same time.
The vanguard of the small group was Lucas, looking about as harried as one could get
without having ripped clothing. Right behind him was Lori, Erin, and Hazel, and the entire group was
covered in dust. "Okay, what in the world happened to you four?"
"Hello Adrian. We were up at about three in the morning, and nearly got killed in a gunfight."
Adrian sighed, wondering where Lucas got his store of good luck from.
"Well, you're still alive, so that's a pretty good thing. So anyone we know in the fight?" Erin
passed her left hand over her face, trying to keep a neutral expression but was caught by Adrian, who
raised an eyebrow in a silent question. Erin slashed her free hand over her throat, which is the
universal gesture to keep quiet.
Lucas didn't see the gesture behind his back, and Lori and Hazel had disappeared somewhere,
so he started speaking again. "Well, it was pretty dark, and I only caught a glimpse of the person, but
she was definitely fast moving, agile, and loaded for bear."
"Really? How do you figure that?"
"Why do you think we're covered in dust? She blew out a wall right above us with one shot
from a gun!" Lucas was actually excited instead of scared, but he quieted down as some other of the
early students started to look at him oddly. Adrian sighed again, than heard the lump of lard
commonly known as Mr. Tilman walk into the school. The first thing the obese principal did was look
at the clock, then he noticed the two dust-covered people in the middle of the hallway.
"What the hell happened to you two? Were you watching the mayhem between the police and
those ugly freaks last night?"
"Actually, we were trying to track down the source of those horrible howls that were
scattered all over the city last night." Lucas shuddered as he spoke, remembering the almost-demonic
groaning scream that had awakened him at two in the morning.
"Really. I'm surprised that you're still alive, Lucas. Look, I'm pretty busy, but if you see our
perpetually missing teacher today, give her my regards." With that, Tilman walked into the office,
leaving all three people looking at each other quizzically.
"Okay, he's definitely getting weirder as time goes by. Personally, I'm wondering when he's
going to retire." Lucas scratched at his scalp, sending a cascade of dust onto the much shorter Erin.
"Hey caveman, keep your dandruff to yourself. Why don't you go and get your messages
from the office?" Erin growled at Lucas, and he took her suggestion, taking his leave of the vehement
teen and Adrian. Adrian looked at Erin, shrugged, and gestured for her to precede him to the English
classroom.
"So, what was the bit you wanted to tell me?" Adrian started almost immediately after he had
closed the door and Erin sat on a desk before she revealed what she had wanted to say.
"Well, I recognised the armour the person was wearing, as well as the gun. It's Sara." Erin
fidgeted as she spoke, but Adrian's reaction was nothing short of surprising. He actually dropped the
copy of Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" he was convincing the class to read, and his jaw followed the
thick tome to his desk.
"Could you please repeat that, Erin? I just don't believe it."
"The person who's the focal point of all the heavy gunfights in the city since yesterday, and
the source of those evil little noisemakers is our friend, Sara D'Arnise." Erin ground her teeth
together as she thought of all the possible things happening to her older friend, and imagined herself
flaying Jose with a scourge to try and feel better.
Adrian digested Erin's statement, and swore under his breath for a few seconds. "Well, we
can't do anything about it for a while yet. Hopefully, Sara will be around for a long time after this.
After all, she's probably tougher than I am."
Erin snickered at Adrian's tacit reference to his nightlife, then nodded and left the classroom
in time for the first bell to go off.
Near the Tower, 9:43 AM
Sara woke up, feeling slightly better, despite being in a dumpster, and surrounded by
darkness. She felt her forehead where she had hit the dumpster, and whistled softly when she touched
the slightly sticky lump at her hairline. *Okay, I'm never gonna touch vodka again. Now, how am I
gonna get out of this?*
Sara used her left hand to push at the dumpster's lid, and wasn't surprised to feel the heavy
steel lid stay put. She activated her armour, allowing the material to enhance her strength before she
hauled off and punched the lid of the dumpster off of the metal basin like it was made of tissue paper.
Sara got out of the dumpster, wincing as the bones in her right wrist announced their state of being
with a sharp spine of pain that shot up to her shoulder before fading to a dull throb.
She swore softly as she landed on the uneven concrete beside the dumpster, and swore again,
loudly, when the dumpster's lid crashed down to the earth less than ten feet away from her. *Okay,
maybe I should've restrained myself a bit.* Sara checked how much ammo she had used, and mentally
tallied up what she had done. *Okay, I've used almost eight magazines, and five chem-ex cards. Now,
I've tallied two, maybe three, kills and that bitch teen slaughtered the other two on the rooftop. I'll
have to give her a card.*
Sara jumped to the rooftop she had taken a fall from, and, after landing, she looked around
for anything that could reveal where the spec-ops team had disappeared to. Soon, instead of finding
anything, Sara heard a whistling roar, and she noticed a plane flying overhead with an engine belching
smoke. *Well, this day has already spiralled down the shitter. Time to leave.* Sara jumped East,
towards the school, and was quickly spotted by children and adults alike, mainly because she decided
that bouncing off of rooftops was too risky.
Sara had dropped to ground level, right in the middle of a farmer's market to boot. When she
landed, not only had she smashed a portable stall into scattered early fruits and splinters, but had
given the proprietor a heart attack because of the great speed she was moving at. As Sara moved
towards the school, occasionally jumping onto smaller buildings to clear large obstacles such as
crowds, everyone that saw her could only catch a glimpse of a cloak-wearing form, moving like the
legions of hell were after her.
Shipping Warehouse #27, 10:00 AM
"We have a confirmed contact. She's moving East towards the High School. Let's go." The
commander swore at the addition as he took command from the dumbassed lackey, and armed his
gauss pistol for what he felt would be the last day of hunting. Just as the remnants of his squad got
to open air, the commander heard a piercing groaning howl, which rose and fell in pitch, setting
everyone's teeth on edge. "Well, the entire fucking city now has a fix on our friend. Let's go." With
that, the commander led his squad into the city again, heading to the High School.
Meridiana High School, 10:01 AM
Adrian was just starting on the second class of the morning, when he heard something that
could only be mistaken for a chainsaw mating with a horse. Just after the horrible noise ended, he then
heard something that didn't surprise him. Outside of the classroom, all the teachers had appeared,
wondering what had happened. Adrian took it to the next level, and decided to go to the roof of the
school to find out what was up there.
He excused himself from the classroom, walked calmly up the stairs, and heard some dull
thumps from the roof. Adrian started running to the rooftop staircase, and charged up the steps faster
than a normal person could. Uncharacteristically, Adrian body-checked the door to the roof, and
stopped in his tracks at the deadly tableau being played out on the roof.
Six people were standing in a ragged line, all pointing ugly-looking guns at a seventh person,
who was holding an extra-large gun that was smoking faintly. Three of the people in the line turned
to face Adrian, and the seventh person took the opportunity presented at having the firepower arrayed
at her halved. She dropped down to one knee, firing a shell from the big gun at the rooftop in front
of the three people that were still pointing their guns at her.
The shell smacked into the tar-paper rooftop and exploded, sending fragments of the rooftop
flying towards the three people. Adrian noticed the three people bringing their guns to bear on him,
and dropped backwards down the staircase, earning some bruises, but saving himself from being
perforated by several gauss slugs, which punched holes the size of basketballs through the far wall.
A second volley of shots rang out, punctuated by the deeper, louder, and longer roar of the heavy
gun, cut short by a shrill scream of pain.
Adrian, normally having nerves of ice, felt icy tendrils of fear crawl down the back of his neck,
and he ran down the stairs to Dr. Zack's Physics classroom. Opening the door, Adrian simply grabbed
Dr. Zack by his arm, and pulled the older man out of the classroom. "Adrian! What in the name of
god?!?"
"Quiet Tony, we're going to the roof." Adrian pulled Dr. Zack to the upper part of the
stairwell, and with silence greeting them, they walked onto the roof. On the roof was a dead body,
looking like it's chest had been crushed by a medium-sized wrecking ball. Dr. Zack walked over to
the corpse, turned the body onto its back, and whistled faintly as he probed at the gaping chest wound
that had been covered by the person's armour. "Amazing. This wound seems to be cauterised by a
blast of heat."
"Really? How did you figure that with the armour covering most if the wound?" Adrian
looked again, and noticed that the armour had retracted from the wound, apparently for easy access
from a medic. Just as Adrian began to lean towards the corpse, a loud thump behind both people
caused them to turn around in alarm. There, leaning against the wall, was the person who had fired
the heavy gun.
The person's armour retracted from her mouth, revealing a thin rivulet of blood trickling from
the right side of her jaw. "Boo. Well, this piece of ordnance is useless. Hello Tony."
"I don't believe that we've been introduced..."
"Sorry. I'm known as the Knife. Also, you've known me for almost seven months in my
normal identity."
"Normal identity?" Adrian and Dr. Zack echoed the same statement simultaneously, and the
woman whispered something to answer their question.
"Well, I've been here for a while, and am known for tormenting Lucas." Sara smiled grimly,
making her look like death warmed over. Sara's skin was almost translucent, and she was holding her
left hand over one of her ribs.
"Sara? What in the name of god?"
"I'm the Knife. I once was Selina Del Naryen, Biologist, Bounty Hunter, and Widow." Sara
removed her armour's cape for a few seconds, keeping herself partially in shadows to keep herself
hidden from the spec-ops team. Dr. Zack walked over to her, and noticed that Sara's left hand was
covering a long gouge that was bleeding freely.
"Sara, what happened to you?"
"A gauss slug happened. It punched through my armour, skipped off one of my ribs, and
jammed the action of my gun, rendering it useless. Look, just get Lucas, Erin, Reba, and Cyb. Go to
the crater north of here, and I'll probably see you there."
"Sara..." Dr. Zack's statement was drowned out by a series of loud pops, which resolved
themselves as gunshots. Sara took the opportunity to drop her gun, strip her ammo belt of the
remaining magazines, and put her cape back on before she jumped away from the school, heading
north, towards where the Isle of Doom had exploded three years ago.
The Crater, 5:48 PM
Sara landed at the edge of the mile-wide crater, staggering towards a cluster of bushes as she
felt the wound in her side start bleeding again. She swore silently as she was again leaving a blood
trail for her opponents to follow. Sara's armour was now scarred and pitted, despite its ability to
repair itself fairly quickly. Her cape had been shot at enough times to cut it down to just over ten feet
long, and what remained was so heavily perforated that it looked like a flexible sieve instead of a
cape.
For herself, Sara was wounded in several places, including her right wrist and wounded side.
In addition to those injuries, Sara had also taken a bullet in her right thigh, which left an extremely
large bruise that hampered her mobility. Her knife, held loosely in her right hand, was covered in
blood, much of it from the trooper that she had decapitated. The remaining troopers were still after
her, like a pack of jackals harassing a wolf.
Simultaneously, Erin, Lucas, and Reba were charging through the forest as fast as possible,
only minutes away from the crater. Dr. Zack and CyberSix had taken a different path, but were just
as far away as the others. Back at the crater, Sara stanched her wound by keeping her hand pressed
against the bloody gash. Even then, Sara was so heavily pumped up on adrenaline that she didn't feel
anything.
She slowly drew her sword from over her shoulder, and stood up to continue her retreat. The
result was a volley of shotgun fire, quickly followed by a louder volley of swearing. Sara jumped
across the crater as fast as possible, inviting several more volleys of gunfire at her. Soon, the remnants
of the spec-ops team appeared, and jumped after Sara, allowing their armour to shift into forms that
could maximise their abilities in close combat.
Soon, Sara was standing with no escape in any direction. Behind her was a three-hundred foot
long drop into the ocean, and on either side of her was the same, with the addition of jagged rocks
along the way. *Well, Davey Crockett was in a better position. At least he was in a fort.* In front of
her were the four remaining spec-ops troops, one of them being Vincent. "Well, looks like I'm gonna
have to kick all your asses. Who's first?"
Sara's answer was when two of the troops rushed her and she immediately lashed out with
her sword, which, acting of its own accord, easily sliced off the male trooper's right arm, and
continued to carve a chunk out of his right side. The man dropped like a sack of potatoes, and died
soundlessly soon afterwards. However, Sara was hard pressed to continue with the extreme exertion,
as more blood spilled from her injuries, slowing her down and making her weaker.
The other person who had gotten into close combat with Sara was much luckier, avoiding the
sword several times, and had managed to knock the knife from Sara's bad hand. Sara was tiring
quickly, and when one of the two that had hung back pulled a gun, she couldn't dodge. The gauss
slug punched into Sara's upper left arm, shattering the metal bone, and rendering her arm useless.
Sara screamed in agony as the slug exited through the back of her arm, twisting her around before
she dropped to her knees, still holding onto her sword.
"Well, looks like the rabbit's been snared."
"Come closer and I'll show you just how much I like you Vincent." Sara spat a glob of blood
onto the grass in front of her, and glared at the person who had shot her. Vincent shrugged, then
raised the gauss pistol again, aiming at her left kneecap. He fired twice, shattering Sara's left knee
into shards of bone and metal, then did the same to her right knee.
"Why...? I...only...wanted...to...live..in...peace. So...why?" Sara was gasping for air, but her
right hand had snuck into her pouch of cards. Vincent hadn't noticed that his own group had also
become surrounded, but the commander and the surviving trooper had noticed. "Well, mainly it's
because you sold out on your obligation to do whatever the boss told you to do."
"That's...a...load...of...shit. You're just vengeful." Sara's right hand had reappeared, holding
almost twenty red cards. Vincent laughed, then lifted Sara up by her hair.
"Well, It's been nice talking to you. By the way," Vincent leaned in towards Sara, and
whispered his next words into her ear. "I killed James." Sara's eyes widened, then she slowly exhaled
as Vincent placed the muzzle of his gauss pistol against her left eye.
CyberSix had just finished knocking out one of the two troopers that were guarding the
unique tableau of Sara's bleeding form being held up by a vicious-looking man. Time seemed to slow
to a crawl as Sara's hand snapped upwards, and the man began to squeeze his gun's trigger. Six heard
something, and it took her almost half a second to realize that it was her voice screaming.
The gun fired, and Six could see the cloud of pink mist slowly expand behind Sara's head as
it was pushed backwards. The next thing she saw was a large blast of heat and light as Sara's right
hand relaxed, revealing the crushed mass of cards that detonated in a wave of explosions that
obscured Sara's falling body, and engulfed her killer.
Time accelerated again, and the explosion blew outwards, knocking Six to the ground, and
causing her ears to ring. Six sat up, and on the scorched patch of ground where Sara had stood was
only the person who had shot her. Six stood up quickly, having weathered the blast better than Reba
or Erin had. She walked over to the scorched spot, and saw something lying on the ground where
Sara had been.
Six picked up the long knife, its hilt burned off, and gingerly handled the hot metal until it
cooled down. "Why Sara? Why'd this have to happen?"
Erin, Reba, and Lucas all walked to where Six stood, and looked down at the ocean. There,
barely visible in the fading light, was a small red stain in the clear water. Dr. Zack finished tying up
the two troopers after removing their weapons and other equipment, then walked to the small group
surrounding Six.
"She never wanted to go back. She'd have preferred death to capture."
"I know Tony. I just wish we could've known each other a bit better." Six collapsed to her
knees, still holding the knife, and looked out over the ocean which had swallowed her friend. The sun
had set, bathing the group in darkness before they returned to the city, handing their two captives
over to the police. Afterwards, the group separated, with an agreement to meet at Sara's house in
two days.