Ashelin kicked angrily at a stone in her path and dug her hands deeper into her pockets against the chill wind. The Sun had set, and rain clouds were gathering in the darkening sky, she looked up at them; daring them to rain on her. They took on the dare, and heavy, cold raindrops started to fall on her, running down her back and dripping off her hair. She tilted her head back in frustration, and turned her collar up, but as she peered through the rain for a quick way back into the city, she saw movement. Shaking herself, she started to head back to the city, but there it was again, that movement just out of the corner of her eye. Remembering her Krimzon Guard training, she continued walking for a few steps, then whipped around, ripping her gun from its holster as she did so. She saw what was following her, and her eyes widened in terror.
Keira held Jak's hair back as he spat blood into the copper bowl Samos was holding out to him. The moment Daxter had got Jak back into the bed; he had run for Samos, who was in a nearby safe-house talking with Torn, Keira and Jinx.
Keira and Samos had hurried back to the Hideout to find Jak spitting blood over the side of the bed. Secretly, Samos had no idea what was wrong with Jak, or what had caused the sickness, or how to cure it; he just had to hope that Jak would pull through, and that no one would ever find out about his lack of knowledge. Especially not Keira.
Jak slumped back onto the pillows with his eyes shut. Daxter, stood by his shoulder, peered into his face with concern. Beads of sweat stood out on Jak's forehead, and his lips were red with blood. Daxter sat down on the pillow, and sighed as he looked at him. Jak was conscious, and his breathing was deep, but Daxter could hear him wheezing, and every breath seemed to catch in his chest.
"Ok." Said Daxter, standing up and addressing Jak.
"Listen, you." Jak's eyes flickered open, and he looked at Daxter.
"I have had it up to here with you being ill." He took hold of the front of Jak's shirt and eyeballed him, their faces mere inches apart. "Get better. Now." Jak smiled at him, and sat up slightly, wincing as his broken ribs objected.
"I'm fine, I'm fine. Look," He said, sitting up further, "I'm fine see?" Daxter raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, he's fine. I thought so." Keira laughed at the two of them, and pushed Jak back down.
"You will not be told will you? Rest!" She scolded playfully. Jak sighed; he hated staying in bed like this.
Ashelin pulled out her dagger from the Metal Head's jaw, and pushed the beast off, where it had fallen on her as it died. She stood up, wiping the creature's saliva from her face, and picking up her gun where it had been knocked from her hand. She really did hate Dead Town.
A strange noise, half way between a sigh and a groan escaped the metal head's jaw. Ashelin crouched down, and looked at its face; it seemed different from other metal heads, bigger, and it was a slightly different shape, and the shoulders were smaller in comparison to its body. Ashelin shook her head and turned away. But out of the corner of her eye, she saw dark eco starting to trickle out of it mouth.
The rain was heavier now, and night was falling. Ashelin decided to swallow her pride and return to the Hideout. She did, after all, want to check on Jak. She was stood in front of the door, waiting for it to open, when an unfamiliar and somewhat unnerving howl cut through the night air. She turned around slowly, looking back at the metal head she had killed. But it lay still. It was too dark and rainy for her to see the other metal head standing on the rubble behind it. Even so, she shivered and pushed through the door before it was fully open.
The Hideout door opened, briefly letting in the sound of the thunder and rain outside, only for it to be silenced again as the door slid neatly shut. Ashelin pulled her hair through her fist, squeezing out the water, trying to delay the time when she would have to go in properly. She sighed, then proceeded down the steps.
"Torn?" Is that you?" Came Keira's anxious voice. "Jinx?" Ashelin heard Jak and Keira whispering, and her heart beat harder.
The door at the bottom of the steps opened before Ashelin reached it, and Keira stood in the frame, pointing a gun up the stairs with shaky hands. "Don't move!" She called, seeing Ashelin move, but not realising who it was, "I'll shoot!"
With one quick movement, Ashelin had the gun from Keira, and had her pinned against the wall.
"I'd like to see you try, little girl." She sneered. She really was not having a great day.
The lights in the hall were Keira was struggling with Ashelin flicked on, and Jak stood in the doorframe, leaning on a wooden crutch.
"Uh, is everything ok?" he asked curiously. Ashelin dropped Keira like a hot pistol, and touched her hair self-consciously.
"Yes." She said breezily. "Everything's fine."
"Ah ha. I see." Jak looked quizzically at Keira, but she jut shook her head. He blinked, then, thoroughly confused, turned and headed back into the Hideout. Ashelin sighed, then headed after him, leaving Keira to glower at her from behind.
Torn and Sig came back later that night, to spend the night in the Hideout. Torn sat down by Jak's bed, and started to fill him in on the day's events.
"Metal Heads are advancing on the south side, and there just seems to be more and more Krimzon…" Torn faltered.
"Krimzon…" He stopped, Jak looked at him. Torn started coughing.
"Not you too chilli pepper!" Exclaimed Sig, launching himself towards Torn and banging him on the back. Jak sat up and looked anxiously at Torn.
"Torn? You ok?" Jak suddenly felt very strange. It was one thing him being sick with a mystery illness, but now he seemed to have given it to Torn too, which meant that maybe all of them would catch it, even Keira…
"I'm fine! It's nothing." Said Torn straightening up and swallowing the blood that had gathered in his mouth.
"Torn," Started Samos, "I really think you should…" He looked into Torn's eyes, and tried to put his hand on his forehead to check his temperature.
"Didn't you hear? I'm fine."
"Where've I heard that before?" Mumbled Daxter, just as Torn staggered sideways grabbing onto Sig to keep himself up.
"Torn, you are not fine." Stated Sig. "And I am not going to argue about it." He added as Torn opened his mouth to protest. Torn shook Sig off, and tried to steady himself, but he lost his balance again, as darkness closed in from the edges of his vision, and he lost consciousness. Jak stood up quickly and between him and Sig, they manoeuvred Torn into one of the other bunks.
"Now what are we going to do?" Asked Sig, as Jak sat down again heavily on his bunk, holding his head.
Happy Christmas everyone! Another chapter for Christmas! And guess what? You get another cliffhanger! Ish. Well, sorta. But you'll live. Whatever. Now review.
Happy Holidays Everyone! xx