Chapter IX: Unfortunate Predicament
"I knew something wasn't right." David laughed,
"I can explain..." I stammered,
"Do you really need to?" he replied in a tone that seemed rhetorical,
"Errm..." I hesitated,
"It's not like you haven't dreamt of 'charming' one, is it?" David smirked,
I just squinted at him, jokingly of course. Latias, however, was giggling to herself cutely.
"Well don't think there'll be any of that 'Hogs of War' stuff happening!" I said,
David laughed at the thought of our inside joke, about me putting 'Hogs of War' into ye ol' PS1 and a rather...rude image appearing. Damn piracy!
"Phew...for the love of God, I hope, there won't be." David laughed, heartily,
"I had five-one pound coins for ages, and they're still there, un-spent!" I laughed trying to 'milk the joke'.
Latias stopped giggling and floated on the spot thoughtfully, wondering what I meant. David shook his head, disapprovingly.
"Sick child." He jested,
"Well, we can't stay here making innuendo about history, can we?" I said,
"Maybe you can't." David replied,
"Well I guess I have to tell you the story of 'bravado'" I sighed,
Four hours later alongside some food...
"So that news report about the wierdos going into the woods, was a kidnapping-slash-Pokénapping of you, Latias and Josh? This is the sort of crap that you'd expect in a fan-fic, not life." David stated,
"Tell me about it. And what's more, my knowledge of weapons is nothing t be sniffed at. Or to be taken shot at." I laughed,
"So how did it feel to actually remove someone from existence? Even if they were evil?" David asked,
"Terrible. Like something inside me snapped. I felt sick knowing that I'd just ended a life with my own hands. In knowing what I did, it had to be done. If not he would have killed me, therefore jeopardising any chance of rescuing Latias." I replied,
I took a quick glance at Latias. She was sitting on my bed, behind me, listening intently to the rescue attempt made by me and Josh. She appeared fairly flattered by how I referred to it as 'jeopardising' the attempt to save her if I had been injured or even killed. As though she was a great deal to me. Obviously she was very precious to me. She just never really took it into consideration until recent events. Giving a brief smile, I turned back to David.
"You said that later on you were in a dark corridor where you found other soldiers. You killed them too, no?" David continued,
"Yeah. The first time I killed someone was a bad hit to the conscience, to say the least. After that, when I said something snapped, it's like I lost morality towards anyone who dares to hurt anyone close to me. I didn't care what happened to them, as long as they couldn't hurt her. I felt they had to pay for what they did." I replied, recollecting.
"I can't really see you as being a bloodthirsty killer, to be honest. Even if someone was trying to hurt someone you were close to." David said,
"Yeah, neither can I really, but this was different. It's not like it's some sort of RPG where a metaphorical person who's supposedly close to you is in danger and you have options. This was the real deal. Knowing, in the back of your mind, people are trying to kill you, people are trying to kill your friend and people are trying to kill someone you love, things change in your mind. You know that if you don't attempt to escape. You don't attempt to save them. They will die. And there's no continues out there." I stated, in a monotone voice.
"Hell, at least games have come in handy for you now" David laughed,
"Well, if they hadn't, I would have been screwed, Josh, possibly, and Latias..." I stopped and turned to Latias.
"Well, you get the idea." I continued, whilst leaning over and kissing her on the forehead gently.
She dipped her head slightly and giggled to herself, sweetly. David simply rolled his eyes at the sight, without uttering a word.
"So what's the thing about Surge? He give you a badge?" David asked, trying to turn my attention away from my open emotions.
"Ha ha! No he give me something more valuable. Stitches in my arm to stop me bleeding to death and my life in general." I replied, jesting slightly,
"Wait, stitches?" David quizzed,
I lifted my sleeve and showed him the five stitches I had on the underside of my right arm.
"And it bloody hurt too!" I laughed,
"You land on metal or something?" David asked,
"Try being shot. Well, taking a glancing blow." I smiled, "That's how the bullet got wedged, otherwise it would have come out the other side." I laughed,
"So Surge did some 'emergency surgery' then? What was he like?" David probed,
"He saved my life, so he knew what he was doing, for sure. Something just didn't seem right. He said they've been keeping an eye on me and Latias for some time. They as in 'the Vermillion Army', I'd imagine. Just something about his mannerisms didn't seem right." I said,
"Not to make it sound like twenty-questions, but, in what way?" David asked,
"He seemed to be keeping something from me. Something important that he couldn't tell me. Then again, a Lieutenant of his stature means that he probably can't tell me certain things. It's just it seems like he was keeping something to himself when he shouldn't have." I replied,
"Well, it's over now isn't it? After all, you said that he'd be keeping an eye on you still, for your own safety." David said, trying to assure me.
I turned to David with a thoughtful look. I wasn't sure whether to agree with him or not.
"I certainly hope so." I replied coldly.
Getting off the bed, I went to the window and looked out to the view of houses. Looking at all the bricks lined up carefully to form a house. A solid, comfortable place where one shouldn't worry about anything. What a load of bullcrap. This is sad. Over the short time I've been in the Kanto region I've come to realise that sitting at home not doing anything in complete comfort means you're not living life at all. Leaving the comfort zone to venture out into new places, meeting new people and even discovering something, as cliché as it sounds, can change a person.
"Since my unintentional visit to 'Kanto', I've come to realise, life here; is crap and boring. No-one ever does anything worthwhile. Before being kidnapped all I did was sit on my arse playing bloody 'Black Ops' and 'MW2'. Where's that going to get me in life, really?" I thought out loud,
"Well it did help you escape their facility, didn't it? Wasn't totally wasted." David said,
Turning back to David to continue, I said, "When we were captured, as terrible as it was, I felt like I was in danger."
"Well no crap. You were beat around the back of the head, kidnapped, held hostage for information, shot someone, got shot and nearly got blown up." David replied,
"I meant that it felt good to feel the need to be using an emotion other than boredom." I replied, "Let's go downstairs. We've been up here for hours." I suggested, as I left the room
"yeah, then we can get cracking on the aforementioned boredom, you spoke of." David jested as we headed down the stairs,
"I'm gonna get a drink. You want one?" I asked as I headed into the kitchen,
Just then, the doorbell rang.
"I'll get it!" My mum called, as she paused 'Diagnosis Murder',
I took a peek at the frosted glass on the front door, out of curiosity. Grey clothes.
My mum turned the key in the door and slowly pulled it open. A group of men wearing different shades of grey stood at the door, at least five. Each had a small lump on their left hip.
"Crap..." I whispered as I hid against the wall next to the door, pulling Latias beside me.
"Whoo?" She 'said', cocking her head to the side slightly,
"For God's sake, leave us alone!" I thought to myself, "I have got a bad feeling about those guys." I whispered to David,
"Things just get more and more cliché as life rolls on by, huh?" David whispered back,
I simply frowned at him. If these guys really are affiliated with 'S.P.A.S', despite them all wearing grey outfits and all having bald heads for some STRANGE reason, then we're pretty screwed. Unless we leave. Right now...
"Quick, follow me!" I hissed,
I dragged them to the back door, and unlocked it quietly. I could hear my mum answering questions like 'Do you have a son' and 'Are they home at the moment'. Not particularly sure why my mum was answering the questions because I know probably wouldn't...
I quickly ushered everyone outside into the back garden and out through the gate, silently closing the kitchen door behind me.
"It's important you listen to me carefully. We need to get out of here now. We're going to try and sneak past them and up to Joshes house. If they don't see us or they don't care that we're going, everything's fine. If not bloody peg it. If things go belly up, take Latias with you and go as fast as you can to the left, through the industrial estate, and lose them." I instructed,
"What about you?" David asked, whilst Latias gripped my hand, tightly,
"I'm a big boy now. I can handle myself!" I smiled,
I knew in my gut that something was going to happen and we needed to get out alive. These buggers just won't leave us alone for crying out loud. I carefully, and quietly, unlatched the second gate lock and pulled it open. We crept carefully over the grass behind the car and went to get on the pavement. One of the men turned around and saw us. He turned back to face the door.
"Phew. Looks like they're not who I thought they were." I sighed,
He did a double take and shouted whilst pointing.
"Bollocks..." I said under my breathe, "RUN!" I shouted, pointing towards the industrial grounds.
David began to sprint down the road with Latias tagging right behind him.
"GET THEM!" One of the men shouted, "TWO OF YOU WITH ME!" He shouted again, as my mum slammed the door shut and locked it.
"Nice to know she's bothered about my safety like she was earlier." I thought,
I then remembered what I should be doing. Running for my bloody life.
I began to run down the road in the opposite direction to David, namely the incredibly arduous way as it's probably about twenty-minutes longer.
"Cross country better help me out on this one" I panted as I ran past my school.
Plumes of dust and stone puffed up around my feet as loud cracks sounded behind me.
"Sometimes, I hate it when I'm right..." I thought to myself as I realised that those 'lumps' on their hips really were what I thought they were.
The day's just get better and more cliché as they arrive. I'm starting to think my life's turned into a fan-fiction...
"I wish I'd picked up a smaller weapon as well and brought it with me." I huffed, running down the hill towards 'One-Stop'.
Suddenly there was an even louder crack that rang out from in front of me and a loud "URRGH!" from behind.
"THEY'RE EVERYWHERE, DAMMIT!" I yelled as I 'dolphin-dived' behind a car, winding myself and scraping my right arm on the concrete.
I'd much prefer to land like this than shed my blood onto the pathway. Looking behind I noticed that the tallest of the three bald men lay sprawled out on road, where we crossed, which was slowly becoming increasingly stained. He'd dropped his pistol onto the ground, and it'd scraped along the floor towards me. An M1911 by the looks of things. I quickly seized it as another shot ripped through the leg of one of the remaining men, who was bewildered at what was going on. I dropped the magazine, from the pistol, into my hand to check how much ammo was left. Enough for now.
"Crap! I got a jam!" a familiar voice sounded from the bushes.
I re-inserted the mag and turned to face the remaining man. He stared at me as he reloaded and aimed. I pulled back the chamber and fumbled about trying to put my finger around the trigger again. As he pressed the trigger, another loud crack sounded, causing his gun to fly out of his hand, as he recoiled out of pain. I stood up and took aim, and squeezed the trigger. He made a thud as he hit the floor. I wiped sweat from my forehead and looked around at the houses along the street. I saw a pair of blinds suddenly close. Someone must have been watching the firefight. Remembering the person that took two of them out to start with, I rolled behind the car I was near. I checked one of the men's belt-line for any spare mags, and swapped one for my half empty case, sticking three more into my pocket and prepped for any more self-defence that I had to do.
"Calm down, Lucas." They called, "It's me, Pryce." They continued.
I watched through the back window of the Megane I was behind and saw a ghillied figure jump over the wire fence and onto the road. He removed his mask, and sure enough, it was Pryce. I stood up and walked over to him, Colt clasped in my right hand.
"Why is it you've turned up just as I'm about to get shot?" I laughed, thankful he was there.
"Well, that's my job." He replied, with a smile, "As I was heading back to base I noticed a group of guys, clad in grey clothes, walking up to your house. I decided to tail them for a while. When I realised that they were gonna ring your doorbell I landed the chopper in the countryside, down the road, and ghillied up. I knew roughly which direction you'd be heading in and set up. I knew that you'd be alright until then." He said,
"Well it's bloody good to know you're right!" I replied,
"I saw six of them. We took out three. Where's the other three?" Pryce asked,
"They chased after David and..." I stopped,
"We've got to stop them. Where are they heading?" He asked,
"I sent them to Josh's house, and to try and lose them." I said,
Pryce looked thoughtfully for a moment. "We need to get to them NOW." He said, "There's no way they'll lose them. They've got the means of keeping track of you, somehow, and they'll try to kill your friends now they know where they're heading, to put it bluntly." He said,
"Well let's stop dicking around and help them." I said, worried for their safety, and especially, hers.
"Not with a pistol you can't. I've got stuff in the chopper, but, we'll have to be quick, they can't wait forever." Pryce said.
More guns? Another firefight, to save the girl? Brilliant...