*Author's note – I am very proud to have reached 1000 read! To mark this milestone, I present a double length, p.o.v. flip! Enjoy!*
Chapter 8 (part 2) KRUGER
A single ray of light shone through the inky darkness of death. He had felt this sensation before, the feeling of rejuvenation; the feeling of life after death.
I awoke to the sound of alarms bleeping madly.
Where the fuck am I?
There was commotion somewhere beside me; a struggle of sorts. There was a crack of bone hitting metal and breaking on impact. Highly tuned ears picked up the sound of bleeding life from an unlucky victim. Too bad that wasn't mine, I thought a little jealously. Only I did the killing around here. If anyone else thought they were good enough to claim this territory, they were rivals. Earth was mine.
Wait… I realized in a split second that I wasn't on Earth, but on Elysium. How the fuck did I get here, again? This amnesia didn't make sense. Nothing did right now.
I heard a light gasping beside me, and a labored breathing not of a man. I imagined the scenario from what I could see in my peripheral, three-sixty vision.A girl who looked no older than thirty had a knife in her hand and a gun in the other. She was moving in slow motion, just like everything was. She looked familiar, but I couldn't remember why.
With newfound strength, I hauled my carcass up from whatever platform I was on. In an expert stride, I caught the girl's wrist with a hand that didn't even feel like my own. As soon as I touched her, I could feel a strange warmth spread through my body. This feeling was alien to me. Maybe it was a side effect of the amnesia; a restless feeling in my gut and an anxious longing feeling.
Clearly, the girl didn't feel the same.
A knife came flying through the air, straight at my temple. In my peripheral vision, and I avoided it with the ease of second nature. I caught her wielding hand with trained precision, lowering it with more strength than I intended. The girl glared at me, but not before cursing loudly. She shot daggers at me. Her pretty amber eyes were filled with her dilated pupils. Underneath all that anger was another, dominant emotion. It was a look I saw often when people saw me; pure fear.
I tried hard to remember who she was, but no recognition came. I could feel my face grimace in confusion and annoyance. She tried to wrench her hand free.
"What will you do Kruger?! Well? What's it gonna be?"
Her anger surprised me. In her anger, I recognized something about her. It was the way her lip curled up to reveal her teeth; it looked like me when I snarled.
I know you, girl…
She took the opportunity when I was pondering to rip her hand free and bolt away. I was left sitting on what I could now distinguish was a Medbay. Did I die recently?
It all came flooding back in a violent rush.
Protea.
The single name rang in my head louder than the alarms sounding now. I bolted after her. My keen sense of hearing picked up the sounds of approaching Armadyne bots. Those tin cans would tear her to shreds. I had to stop her somehow.
Just before she rounded a corner, I pounced on her, grasping her tightly in my arms and covering her mouth. She'd hate me, I know, but I just didn't care. I dragged her back away from the view of the bots, who then barreled by. Stupid security tinker toys…
The girl bucked out of my hands and before I knew it, I had a knife to my throat. I could feel the ridged blade pressing into my flesh. I didn't want to admit that I was scared by her ferocity, but I certainly was turned on.
A smirk must've crossed my face, for she spat at it. "Fucker," she hissed, lowering the knife. Oh boy, I like it when you talk dirty… I wanted to take her right now, I easily could. But part of me felt like it was chained up. There was something about her that was different than any Elysian girl I had seen before, let alone any other girl. She was different than the others.
She murmured a threat about to Delacourt, swearing revenge for her fallen family. I nodded intermittently, to look like I was listening to her, and not transfixed on the curve of her neck so deliciously vulnerable. I listened, mildly amused, until she turned to look at me with fierce gold-brown eyes. "You're gonna help me."
What did she mean by that? She wants me to help her take down Delacourt? I couldn't let her kill my commanding officer. That's a no-no, I thought, who would pay me bills then?
I had to admit, though, the icy bitch did need to be taught a lesson. Protea had a look on her face that screamed murder. I was impressed at her tenacity, but here was no way that her revenge would ever come to fruition. I wanted to say something. That part of me that didn't want to do things to her was forefront in my mind, coaching me to turn away. She seemed utterly transfixed, however.
To humour her, I nodded to an extent I thought was genuine. She took it as an answer and ran off down the hall again.
I wish she'd stop doing that, I mentally snarled as I jogged after her, she's gonna run straight into one of those—
As if on cue, an Armadyne bot rounded the corner. Its gun was aimed straight at Protea's head.
Everything slowed.
Raising my new sword, I sliced clean through the bot's neck. Damn. This Elysian metal sure was something to be envied. Its head clattered to the ground as Protea leapt gracefully over its body.
Life resumed its normal pace.
I didn't know how long she would keep this up for. Still being active according to Elysium, I had no choice but to stay with her. I hated being under control all the time, especially when I wasn't killing things, but it paid well. Looking around, I checked the map on my device. There was no where she could go from here. She would be trapped if she continued on this path. She would trap herself. Then I'd pick up where I left off and take her to Delacourt to finish the job I was sent to do…
Right?
I didn't have time to think right now. Shifting my katana into one hand, I unlatched my berserker handgun with the other. I had a moment of wonder. What could the girl do with a weapon like this? It was standard issue, but to high ranking mercenary agents. Curiosity peaking, I handed the gun to her, somewhere deep in my gut finding the courage to trust her not to turn it on me.
"Careful," I warned, "it's got quite t'a kick to it." Berserker guns were my favourite. Sending out thousands of bullets instead of one got the job done so much quicker. However, I still preferred my knife to anything else.
The next bot that came around the corner got a mouthful of the specialty ammunition. I nearly doubled over in laughter when I saw Protea's face when she turned around. She only sneered at me when I smirked widely at her. You're quite adorable when you're confused, I thought gleefully. Something about her just then shifted from pure hatred to something else. Amusement, maybe? I wasn't very good at emotions…
She mumbled something. I looked at her questioningly, for I didn't hear what she said. I don't think it mattered, because she ran off down the hall again.
Oi, oi, little lady… I sighed as I jogged after her. Keenly aware of her tension, I saw that her hands were tightly clutching the berserker gun. The barrel was aimed right down her hip. With her luck, she'd probably blow off her own legs before I ever had a chance to get between them.
Can't let that happen. In a gesture I thought was kind, I lowered the gun for her. I was met with such hostility I couldn't help grit my teeth in anger. How insolent she was behaving. It took all my physical strength not to pin her by her throat to the ceiling.
I stalked off down the corridor, face flushing red with frustration. The taste of blood washed over my tongue as I realized I was biting the inside of my cheeks.
Damned girl…
Luckily, the dead end at the end of the corridor diverted my attention from the antagonizing girl. This was the place I knew she would end up. This was the trap, and she knew it.
Protea examined the corridor that led to nowhere. She looked at the hatch-like door that stood about four feet high, set in the middle of the wall. It was a silly, standard issue escape hatch, essentially. Elysians were stupid enough that they never considered making a decent one because they were arrogant enough to think they'd never need one. I couldn't help but roll my eyes at the CCB's security system. I had seen better security at a pub.
Protea, however, did not reflect my distain. Instead, she took to foolishly wailing as loud as possible, sending out a beacon for the security droids. My face screwed up in a startled position.
Normally, I was used to the sound of weeping women; it was just part of my job. But seeing Protea cry these desperate tears…
What is happening to me?
When I looked at my device, it indicated that the hatch lead nowhere. How fucking useful is that, then?! Goddamn Elysium.
"Just kill me…"
I stiffened at the girl's words. There was so much desperation in them. She sounded so tired of everything…
I thought hard about what she had wanted me to do earlier. She wanted me to help her kill Delacourt for killing her family. She wanted to take over Elysium, with my help. Why did she persist on staying just within my reach, but so far out of it? What was it about her that made me so unsure of myself? And why did I want to keep her safe?
I sighed deeply, knowing I was forever going to regret what I was about to do.
"Delacourt can wait."
Just as a herd of Armadyne bots tumbled around the corner, I ripped open the escape hatch door with newfound strength. Sunlight shone in through the little door overlooking all of Elysium.
This is gonna be a long way down…
I dove for the mesmerizing girl, already curled up. I scooped her into my arms, and before she registered what was happening, flung her out the hatch. I shot the Armadyne tinker toys the bird before diving head-first out the open hatch after Protea.
I had been trained to fall. Piloting the Raven, I had to know what to do in case of an emergency evacuation. Falling was the easy part; landing hurt like a bitch.
My trajectory was straight down. Expertly, I pulled my arms to my sides and shot forward, getting closer to the falling Protea. When I was close enough, I spun her around in the air. She was unconscious, but she found enough strength to cling to my chest as we barreled through the sky some two hundred feet above the ground.
Desperately, I pulled at a tab on my breastplate. It had to be the parachute. There was a fleeting moment of terror when I tugged at it. If my instincts weren't right, gravity would pile drive me into the ground through Protea. At least, if I died this way, I'd finally get under her skin.
I braced when I gave a final yank. I heard the chute billow open. My arm slung protectively around Protea and locked in a vice grip. The parachute billowed pathetically as we sailed through the air like a bullet. It didn't deploy correctly. Fuck.
With fevered urgency, I spied a swimming pool large enough to host a small country and bucked my body in its direction. With what little fabric had deployed as the chute, I was able to aim straight for the water. I channeled all my remaining energy into holding onto the girl.
Even though we were headed for water, this landing would break bones, I knew that much. At the very last second, I twisted in the air so that Protea was above me.
'Brace for impact.'
The water felt like ice; cold and solid. In my head, I heard my ribs popping and my hip shatter. Protea was ripped upwards from my arms. Though I still clung to her, I felt her body awkwardly thrust up in the water. Amidst the chaos, I felt a jolt of fear for the girl. Something in my black heart told me my own injuries didn't matter. All that mattered was getting her to safety.
Gathering the limp Protea in an agonized movement, I shattered the surface of the crystalline water. I limped through the water, keeping Protea as high above the surface as possible. The pain of my broken hip would not hinder me.
I gritted my teeth hard against the agony and waded out of the pool. Fortunately, it was one of those gradual, rampy-type pools that only filthy rich people could afford. I half limped, half dragged myself and the girl out of the water.
The CCB building loomed to my right, glinting like a blade in the sunlight. There was a lush, manicured lawn to my left and a white marble house at the end of it. I thought about taking the house by force, healing Protea on a Medbay and leaving her there. She was smart enough that she'd find her way from there. She wouldn't have to deal with me anymore.
Fuck! Not a part of this bloody heaven. It dawned on me that neither of us had Elysian citizenship, and therefore, couldn't use a Medbay. Desperation threatened to cloud my mind. I couldn't let that happen.
Sodding wet, deadweight in my arms, and in agony, I managed to creep off into the bushes out of sight. I picked a shady spot under cover of the foliage of a palm tree.
Getting to the ground three feet from me was gonna be difficult.
Clenching my jaw tightly against the pain that ensued as I crouched, I managed to get low enough to the ground that I could plunk myself down. A plunk never hurt so much.
I readjusted the broken girl in my arms. I laid her beside me, leaning her against my chest. She was so vulnerable. When she was awake, she was vicious, but incapacitated…
Tempted, my hand snaked down towards her waist, intending to take a feel while I could. Strangely, as if guided by invisible strings, it changed course from her ass to her hips. I gingerly pressed down with two fingers. If my instincts were right, she had a bad break in the crash. Sure enough, even in her unconscious state, I saw her pretty face crinkle in pain.
I felt a twang in my chest just then. The sight of this girl dead to the world, and maybe even dead, made me feel something I hadn't felt in a long time; despair.
I don't know how long I sat there with her.
The sky began to darken in the light of early dusk. I supposed that no one was looking for her anymore. They had just assumed I finished the job when I threw her out the window.
They will look for the body.
They won't find it.
Ever.
I decided there, in the simulated Elysian night, that I would keep her safe forever…