A/N: Just one more chapter left...
Chapter 28: Truce
R-H
Despite being an acquaintance, it was heartbreaking to discover that Rahim was having suicidal thoughts.
Nobody knew this, but I secretly related to him on a personal level after he told us how he felt - because... I was walking down the same road after I met up with Rais. It was the culmination of a lot of things and if I'm honest, I'm actually surprised that I survived long enough for Libby and Kyle to come along and make me realise that I had to bail out of there. I still can't describe how thankful I am! But with that being said, I didn't want to put the Tower in any more danger than I already did and I knew I had to be upfront with them if I wanted to stick around and help them.
At least, you managed to get Rais off Libby's back. Do the same for the Tower when you get the chance, and there you go.
"Kyle, do you copy?" Dr. Zere's voice from the other end of my buddy's radio, suddenly interrupted my thoughts.
"Yeah, I copy," The American responded, despite visible concern painting his face. I know how you feel, mate. He's going to be fine. "What can I do for you?"
"I thought I'd let you know that my research is ready to be delivered,"
"Wow, okay, great," Kyle grinned, only to sadly continue with: "I'm afraid we can't come down just yet, though. Something's up with Rahim,"
"Oh dear, is he okay?" Imran asked worriedly.
"He will be, don't worry," Our friend reassured him. "Let's just say it's a case of, um," A sigh of mild annoyance, accompanied by a struggling frown. "What's the word I'm looking for, here?"
"Harran's taking its' toll on him?" I offered.
"Cheers, bud," The scout replied appreciatively, before proceeding to address Zere again. "Did you hear what Henry said?"
"I did, and I'm sorry that Rahim is struggling," The doctor answered sympathetically. "How about you let me know when you're ready to come down?"
"Okay, thanks Zere. Talk to you soon," Kyle bade him a fond farewell, before switching his radio off. "Glad to hear that's progressed,"
Brecken and Libby both smiled in agreement, whilst I was steeling myself together for what was presumably my final moments in the Tower. "Guys, could I talk to you about something?"
"Sure, what is it?" The Tower's leader responded in a friendly manner, also earning the attention of my other friends. Okay, Henry - do it.
"Thank you," I began, taking a breath before explaining myself. "First of all, the reason why I didn't tell you this sooner is because I've been thinking of the right way to do so, when I should have been upfront to begin with,"
"Go on," Kyle urged with confusion, as Libby flashed me a concerned look.
"Rais ordered me to blend in with your crowd and kidnap Libby when I had the opportunity," I had to force myself to get straight to the point, remorse threatening to take over as I couldn't bring myself to glance at the stares of horror my three friends were giving me. I bl**dy deserve them - so, go on right ahead. "But I abandoned it, because I didn't want to risk putting her and all of you in any more danger than I must have done already - so after..." An anxious gulp. "After Dawud did what he did, I decided that was enough and I lied to Rais that Libby had been cremated, so he wouldn't try anything,"
One or two seconds with silence later, and Brecken thankfully broke it with: "Well, Henry. Thank you for your honesty,"
I sighed sadly. "If you want me to leave, just say,"
Hearing this, the only girl in our group frantically shook her head. "Hey, you've earned your place here and I'm sure everyone else would agree - right?" Cue her turning to face Brecken and Kyle with concern. The latter didn't hesitate to respond with "Yeah,"
"There you go," She affirmed, turning back to face me anxiously. "And I appreciate what you did, but what if Rais comes after you?"
"Honestly, I'm fine with that," I replied, my heart giving a painful lurch when I noticed how anxious she was. "I, um, I know this sounds horrible - but you can't avoid funerals here. That's the truth,"
Don't worry about me. Main focus, right now: Rahim.
Said focus and Jade then emerged from the Headquarters with tear-streaked but content faces, which prompted Libby to nervously ask: "Is everything okay?"
"I..." Rahim answered solemnly. "I think so,"
"Really?" Kyle asked in a pleasantly surprised manner.
"Yeah," The lad confirmed, allowing a ghost of a smile to appear. "I think we're gonna... I think we're gonna put this behind us,"
"That's great," I complimented happily, whilst Kyle and Libby both embraced the Aldemir siblings excitedly and Brecken flashed a pleased grin. "Do you want to head back up?"
"Thanks, but how about another time?"
"Alright," Good thing we saved the game and had everything turned off before we came down here, then.
Cue Jade to change the subject. "So, have we missed anything?"
"Just one update," Brecken beat us to answering. "Zere called to tell us that he's got his research ready, and all that's left is to find a route to Camden,"
"Nice," Rahim said, before a worried frown painted his face. "But what about the volatile nest? That has to go at some point, right?"
"And it will, when you feel up to it," His sister reassured him firmly, earning a completely dumbfounded glower. He thinks that she's f*cking with him, isn't he? Poor lad... He then struggled to find a response as he kept opening and closing his mouth, which only influenced her to try a more kinder approach. "I mean it. Just tell us when you're ready, then you can walk us through your plan and we'll execute it,"
"D-Does that... Does that include me?" The older kid stammered in shock, despite still feeling suspicious.
"Precisely,"
Hearing this, a glimmer of hope briefly flashed - but suspicion was still present. C'mon buddy, your sister isn't trying to get you on her good side and then throw you under the bus like Rais would. You can trust her! If he appeared to sense what Libby, Kyle, Brecken and I were thinking, neither of us could tell.
"Jade, I—"
Static from Brecken's radio unfortunately interrupted, much to his indifference. "Sh*t, sorry, hang on a minute," He then switched it on. "Hello?"
"Brecken, I've got a situation here and I could use a helping hand!" An incredibly fearful Imran's voice came through the other end. Oh god...
"Woah, woah, woah, slow down Zere! What's wrong?"
"Rais' men are her—" The doctor shouted with terror, only for a sudden blast of static to interrupt and Brecken to yell: "Zere?! Zere, talk to me!" F*ck!
Cue Kyle and I to take off sprinting towards the elevator with Libby, Jade and Rahim on our tails as the Tower's leader frantically ordered: "Get down there, guys! We can't let them take him!"
Already on it!
(The Slums in Harran, Turkey, The Middle East, Europe - 11:00am...)
H-K
And thus, we've reached Stage 2: The Storm.
Quite frankly, I still believe you've earned the right to call me an inconsiderate dumb*ss - because looking back, a part of me still wishes that I did more to help Rahim before he was brave enough to tell us what he was going through. Maybe if I had, then... Argh! I know this is the guilt taking over, but you get where I'm going with this. It was also just... just gutting to find out that the poor kid's depression had descended to the point where he considered taking his own life - when he had so much to live for at his age; meeting an awesome girl, reuniting with his siblings and the possibility of returning to the Pre Outbreak world, all of it! With that being said, I... I couldn't describe how glad I was that he was still kicking. Hopefully we can help him out, and maybe the gamer nerd he was will get to come back?
Okay, put that to one side for now. Focus on Zere.
Seconds after Henry, Jade, Rahim, Libby and I made it down to the first floor and exited the Tower, the five of us didn't hesitate to bail for the playing court in a blind panic. C'mon, please don't be too late. Please tell us Zere's still there and in one piece! Despite the hope that we'd manage to save him, I'd be lying if I said that I didn't have a sinking feeling that Rais' men had already up and left with the poor doctor feeling terrified for his life ... and it turned out that my suspicions were correct when we arrived to what was... pretty much a scene pulled straight out of a horror movie!
Those f*cking sh*theads!
The fenced in playing court was a complete f*cking mess, and it didn't help that the freshly mutilated corpses of the innocent guards and scouts sent the smells of blood our way. Libby seemed to agree as she immediately turned the other direction and stuffed a fist against her mouth to prevent herself from vomiting, which prompted an equally disgusted Rahim to check up on her. I know, kids. I know. Meanwhile, Henry was left silently reeling with exasperation and neither of us could blame him, considering that he was one of the few bandits who had the good sense to bail from Suleiman.
"Y-You're too late,"
The hateful yet pleased voice snapped Henry out of his thoughts and he turned to see one of Rais' goons slowly bleeding out on Zere's truck, smirking at him. This prompted my girlfriend to approach him in two strides and swiftly place her foot on his neck, cutting off his air supply whilst Henry stared down furiously. "What did you do to Zere?"
"W-W-What do you t-t-think we did, b-ba-a-ackstabber?!" The bandit choked out in retaliation, shooting a glare at Libby. Oh f*ck! H-How... H-How did Rais find out?! The look of pure alarm on our faces was all he needed. "A-All y-yo-ou have to do is...! Is hand her over,"
"In your dreams, f*ck you very much!" Henry growled in a fit of fury, prompting Jade to press her foot onto the bandit's neck violently with silent rage - before his gurgles fell lifeless along with him. Meanwhile, the young girl felt like she was reliving horrible memories as her walls were slowly crumbling by the minute. She was rocking back and forth, inhaling and exhaling to calm down and violently trembling in shock. The final straw went to tears bubbling up and her throat turning hoarse, thanks to her now glitched breathing...
"Libby, Libby, look at me, look at me," I tried calmly, cupping her face to get her attention - despite the visible anxiety I felt too. "We're finding another way to get Zere back without jeopardising you, okay?"
"But what if there isn't?!" She demanded in terror.
"There is," I reassured her firmly. Cue a split second nervous pause. "We'll figure something out,"
I then fished my radio out of my pocket. "Rahim, can you make sure Libby's alright - whilst I talk to Brecken?"
"Yeah, sure," The older kid replied, equally fearful for the poor girl's well being.
"Thanks," I said appreciatively before I turned towards Henry and Jade, switching my radio on. "Brecken, bad news. Zere's been kidnapped and Rais has told us that if we hand Libby over, we'll get him back,"
"Goddamnit! You see what happens when you f*ck with him?! You and Jade should never have hit that school!" The Tower's leader angrily scolded.
"Well, thanks for making us feel even worse!" I fired back sarcastically, before furiously telling him: "Because I don't know how else we can get Zere back without putting Libby at risk!"
Hearing this, Brecken sighed and tried a kinder approach. "Look, Kyle - I'm sorry. I know I'm being hard on you but you have to understand why,"
"I get it," I muttered. Because of everything going to sh*t.
"Some of our people spotted a big knot of bandits heading back to Rais' Garrison, and that's got to be where they took Zere," My friend explained with a hint of worry. "You guys figure out how to get him back alive and make sure that he does, you hear me?"
"I hear you, expect an update soon," I solemnly responded, switching my radio off and flashing an utterly helpless glance at my surrogate daughter. God...! What the f*ck do we do now?!
Libby sensed the terror we felt and despite her anxiety, a look of determination painted her face. She took a deep breath and... "Guys, send me to the Garrison,"
"What?!" Rahim glowered with fear, whilst Henry, Jade and I shot her looks of alarm. NO!
"I-If handing me over is the only way to get Zere back, I'll do it," The young girl murmured sadly, as I felt three familiar presences. I know, Adam, Hannah and Reagan. I know. "Yes, this is stupid - but at least you guys and Zere won't get hurt,"
"Libby, we're not letting you die there!" The older kid insisted in a blind panic. "We'llwe'llwe'lll we'll think of something else!"
"Rahim, it's okay," She reassured him gently. "Besides, maybe... Maybe you guys can sneak in behind me and we get Zere, that way?"
Alright. Solid plan, I suppose.
Hearing this, Henry sighed with concern. "Alright, if you're serious about this, then we'll... we'll do it,"
"Okay," The younger girl replied bravely, fishing out her radio and switching it on. "Hello, does anyone copy?"
"Well, well, well," Rais greeted in a sinister manner on the other end. F*ck you, *sshole. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"I'm willing to make a truce," Libby icily got straight to the point.
"In exchange for what?"
"You hand Zere back in one piece if you let me come by," She responded calmly. "Just don't hurt Henry or the Tower,"
Upon hearing her words, there was a brief moment of silence - before Suleiman came back with a response. "Very well, then. We'll be waiting for you,"
Lib, you're one brave kid...