I haven't updated in a while, sorry about that! I've been busy with school. Also...I'm lazy. I've steadily been writing about a sentence a day of this chapter, but I finally decided to finish it today!
Now just a heads-up, this story will most likely alternate between the main plotline and other parts on the side that ultimately connect to the main one. I tend to do that with things I write, I dunno.
By the way, what do you guys think of this so far? Anything I should add or change? Constructive criticism is always welcome!
Gilbert awoke to silence and bright sunlight from a nearby window hitting his sensitive eyes. His hissed in pain when he opened them, and immediately pulled the bed covers back over his head. Just as he began to fall asleep again, he realized something: he had just nearly been blinded by sunlight. It was morning. He had slept through the entire night without Mikkel waking him up for his watch shift. This meant that now, his partner had either fallen asleep, which would have put them in danger, or he had been awake through the entire night and now was exhausted, which also put them in danger for now and the future.
The silvery-haired messenger groggily sat up, rubbing his burning eyes and avoiding the small window as he grabbed his blaster from the foot of the bed. The rest of the building was quiet, meaning that at least there weren't any mutants around. The television was still on—the news anchor was talking about some explosion that happened the night before in the Center—and from where he stood in the living room area, Gilbert could hear breathing and movement just outside. Preparing to use his blaster just in case, he crept towards the door, slowly opening it and looking around outside.
"Oh, hey, Gilbert," Mikkel, who was sitting on the ground against the wall, greeted, sounding like he hadn't gotten any sleep in days. He had his armor on, and the little lights on his upgrades that would normally be glowing the symbolic color of one's territory were turned off—a sign that he was in stealth mode. In another case, it could mean that he was dead as well.
"Um," Gilbert started, staring at the dead-looking pile of metal in front of him, "everything okay...?"
Mikkel nodded and groggily stood up as his armor retracted back into his hands and feet and the lights blinked back on. He didn't seem to have any major injuries, at least from what could be seen at the moment. "Hm? Oh, yeah, there was this small group of mutants here earlier, but I kill 'em all." He gestured to the motionless heap of bodies of the large, grotesque monsters a couple dozen feet behind where Gilbert stood. With a loud yawn, he stretched his arms above his head, but quickly stopped mid-yawn and let them drop to his sides, grimacing in pain. He turned his back to the other, too focused on trying not to cry out to say anything.
"Shit..." Gilbert breathed, gaping at the long, open slice spanning across his friend's back. It wasn't bleeding; there didn't seem to be any signs of it ever bleeding at all, despite how large it was. Instead, it seeped a thick lime green liquid that radiated a bit of heat and light. "You let yourself get scratched?! Their poison will kill you!"
"I don't remember getting hit at all... I didn't even know they were poisonous mutants. They seemed normal to me," he replied in a strained voice with another yawn. "I guess I was half asleep... But a little mutant poison won't hurt me! We have a whole closet of first-aid supplies and stuff here. I'll be fine." He stumbled inside like a mildly drunk man and took off his ripped shirt before flopping down onto the couch with his back facing up.
Gilbert rushed to the first-aid closet and dug through the endless supplies before finding a roll of bandages and a shot designed to stop the effects of mutant poisoning, or at the very least slow them depending on the poison's strength. He ran back to Mikkel, who had quickly fallen asleep, and jabbed the needle into his arm. He noticed as he dressed the wound that he remained asleep the entire time. Nudging him awake, Gilbert said, "Alright, you should be okay. Now let's get going. I'll drive the whole five hours, since you really need sleep."
After gathering all of their things and locking up the building, the two messengers hopped into their jeep, with Mikkel stretched across the back seats to rest. Gilbert whistled to himself while he drove to fill the unsettling silence, and he glanced over his shoulder to the back seats every once in a while, just in case. The worst part was that Mikkel looked dead with the way he slept: uncharacteristically silent and unmoving.
About two hours later, they drove past the strong guarded gates of one of the Central territory's three entrances. Gilbert smiled and waved at familiar locals he drove past on the streets of his home as he made his way to a research facility where their delivery would be received. He left Mikkel to continue sleeping while he parked in front of the advanced-looking building and hopped out to grab the metal box and bring it inside. A man at a desk in the busy lobby directed him down a hallway and to an elevator, which he rode up to the top level of the five-story building.
The top level was significantly quieter than the first, with only one or two other people walking in the hallways at any given time. Gilbert found his way to a steel door, which he could hear the sounds of metal clashing together, drilling, and hammering behind. When he knocked, the sounds abruptly halted and heavy footsteps got closer to the door before they stopped. The large door was opened, and an equally large man appeared on the other side, strangely clad in a formal suit with a bulky mask, large gloves, and a metal chest plate. He had no visible upgrades, but seemed so big and strong that he probably didn't need any. Inside, there were metal parts and scraps and wires everywhere in unorganized piles surrounding a couple tables where various tools sat. The man, who obviously didn't have time for conversating, quickly took the box Gilbert held, slammed the door shut, and got back to work.
On the way back, there was a sudden loud crashing sound outside. Gilbert shrugged it off and didn't think much of it until he heard the sounds of panic among numerous people. He rushed to the nearest window and scanned the part of the territory that was within view, and tried to focus his enhanced hearing. Way far off to his right, he could see the west side of the tall wall surrounding the territory—or rather, what was left of it. The thousand-foot wall had several gaping holes in it from which flying mutants were pouring in. These didn't look like average flying mutants. They seemed to be armored and twenty times larger than any other flying mutants would be. The monstrous creatures descended upon the panicking public with bared teeth and claws dripping poison while soldiers and even a few messengers rushed to the scene.
Gilbert stared in horror as a large section of the wall began to give way and crumble with a thunderous rumbling sound, like the sound of boulders tumbling down a hill multiplied by fifty. Civilians still nearby were instantly crushed as a cloud of dust from the falling debris blanketed the surrounding area and spread outwards.
This finally prompted Gilbert to do something, but he couldn't waste time taking the elevator down or running down the stairs. Knowing his upgraded legs would keep him from getting hurt on the ground, Gilbert backed away from the window as far as he could, took a deep breath, and sped towards the window, finally smashing through it and landing on the ground with a thud. He brushed some broken glass off of himself and ignored the bleeding cuts he had gotten from some of them as he ran down the street to the wall as fast as he could.
"Schieße!"
He slid to a halt and turned around after realizing something: Mikkel was still in the car. He flung open the back door and shook Mikkel, who was unbelievably still asleep. "Mikkel! Wake up!"
The blonde groggily sat up with half-lidded eyes. "What? Are we in Central territory yet? I'm still tired!" He rubbed his eyes and stretched, looking around them. His eyes went wide and came to a dead stop when he spotted the fallen wall and the mutants swooping down to take the lives of innocent people, sometimes by lifting them up high into the air and dropping them. Gilbert grabbed him by the arm and pulled him out of the jeep.
"What the hell happened?!" he asked as they began to run to the devastation. Without waiting for an answer, he covered himself in his armor and kept his eyes looking straight ahead. During his time with Mikkel over the past few months, Gilbert had noticed that he can go from childish and immature to dead serious in seconds when the situation called for it. He wondered if he had always been like that.
By the time they arrived, the mutants had dispersed throughout the territory as more entered over the crumbled part of the wall. About two dozen soldiers and three messengers were there, while more raced down the streets to warn or save civilians. Mutilated bodies littered the area and even detached limbs could be seen here and there, all covered in a thin layer of dust, blood, and bright green mutant poison or blood. The soldiers and messengers shot at the advancing mutants, but their blasts would either hit them with no effect or bounce right back. Sometimes a weak spot would be hit, and the monster would spiral down to the ground, but those were only a few lucky hits.
Gilbert and Mikkel pulled their blasters off of their backs and joined in on the shooting, and the former decided to run elsewhere to help kill mutants who had flown to other parts of the territory. A few blocks over, Gilbert found a large soldier backed up against a building wall shooting at one of the mutants as a little girl hid behind him, clutching his leg as if her life depended on it. She was screaming and crying, and the soldier kept glancing back to her to tell her that everything would be alright. Although he hated soldiers, Gilbert decided to help him out by blasting at the mutant and distracting it. The bloodied soldier took the chance to lift the girl into his arms and carry her to a safer place, and then returned minutes later to resume fighting the mutant, which was still alive and angrier than ever.
The soldier ultimately realized that their efforts were useless. With a deep, strong, and strangely familiar voice, he yelled to Gilbert, "It is no use! Fall back!" He then motioned for the messenger to follow him, shot a couple more failed blasts at the mutant, and started running with great speed. Gilbert sprinted after him, quickly catching up as the mutant started to fly after them. Luckily, they both has upgraded legs that gave them the advantage with speed. The soldier quickly stopped at a military vehicle where the little girl from earlier sat and scooped her up. He led Gilbert through the streets and into the military's Central territory base, where other civilians were pouring in for safety.
He looked at the girl and gave a small smile. "I have to get back to defeating those evil monsters now, so this nice messenger is going to help you find your parents, okay?" he said to her in a friendly, softened tone. She nodded and glanced at Gilbert as the soldier carefully handed her off to him.
Gilbert smiled at her as she waved goodbye to the soldier, who gave a quick wave back and then left. "Now let's go find your parents. What's your name?" After she told him her name, he carried her through the growing crowd shouting for her parents.
Within seconds, a frantic couple appeared in front of him. The girl instantly jumped into the woman's arms and hugged her tightly. The man gave him a grateful smile. "Thank you so much!" he exclaimed. The couple continued to tell him how happy and thankful they were, but were soon cut off by a low droning above. Gilbert ran outside and saw a small plane with the Western territory colors and symbol painted on it. A plane. Most people in the territories didn't even know what a plane was. There was only one living person who knew how to—oh. Gilbert scowled, knowing exactly who was up there flying that plane.
Several people ran out of the building while others pressed themselves against the windows to watch the plane in awe as it circled around in the air and blasted at the mutants, killing them a lot more easily than those shooting from the ground. After the area was clear, the plane did some loops and tricks in the air. Gilbert rolled his eyes and thought, Show off. After the little air show, the plane flew away to kill the remaining mutants around the territory, leaving the people at the military base in amazement and excitement.
A few hours later, Gilbert met with Mikkel back at their jeep outside of the research facility with a letter to deliver to the Center. Everything had finally calmed down, and no more mutants were coming in for the time being. Fortunately, where the wall was destroyed, there was still a fifty-foot section of the lower half left standing, which was enough to keep out most mutants. The rest of Central territory was surprisingly alright structurally for the most part, but a good chunk of the population now lay lifeless in pools of debris and blood. The air smelled like metal and one could hear sounds of distress or despair anywhere they went as the public took in the devastation of their home.
Just as the pair of messengers were getting into their vehicle, the soldier from earlier ran past, backtracked, and stopped next to the driver's side. "You," he said to Gilbert. "I noticed before that you seem familiar. Do I know you?"
From this close, Gilbert certainly knew who this was under all of that dust, dirt, and red and green blood. He cleared his throat and quickly answered, "Nope! You must be thinking of someone else. It's been nice meeting you, though. Bye!" He got in the jeep and slammed the door shut, avoiding any further eye contact and frowning a bit. The soldier sighed and left.
"What's wrong?" Mikkel, who was now sitting in the front passenger's seat without his armor, curiously asked.
"Nothing..." He started the car as he debated on whether or not he should just change the subject. "That was my brother. He hasn't been able to fully recognize me since last year. I don't know what happened to him."
"He's your brother?! You're related to Captain Ludwig Beilschmidt?!" Mikkel blurted out, getting excited.
Gilbert raised an eyebrow while he started the car. "Uh, yeah. You haven't realized that? I mean, I know he isn't as awesome as me, but we have the same last name."
"Oh, right! I guess I never really connected the dots there, haha," said the other with a chuckle and a shrug. "And, I know what happened to him. They wipe certain personal memories of higher-ranked soldiers so they don't have to worry about friends and family while focusing on work. Don't take it personally when he acts like he doesn't know you. He can't really control that. There is a way to trigger his memories, but I don't know what it is. I'm not supposed to tell anyone any of that, anyway, but that doesn't matter anymore."
"I see..." Gilbert replied, still frowning. "Alright, let's go!" The jeep drove off, only to be stopped again at the eastern exit by a soldier. Not just any soldier. It was her.
She leaned on the jeep on Mikkel's side, grinning at him through the open window. "Hey, Mikkel! I haven't seen you in a while! What's up, dude? Did you see me out there flying around? It was so cool!"
"Yeah! That was amazing!" Mikkel exclaimed, smiling back at her with his eyes lit up. He looked back at Gilbert. "Amelia, this is my new messenger partner, Gilbert Beilschmidt." Gilbert turned to face them, but made no attempt to give a friendly greeting or even a smile.
"Beilschmidt? Oh my god, are you related to Ludwig? No wonder you look so familiar! I can totally see the resemblance! Wait, are you his brother?" Her grin disappeared. "Dude, it must be hard having a bro who doesn't know who you are. I'd never want my sister or friends to forget me, and vice versa."
Funny, you didn't seem to have a problem when you killed—
"Wait, wait, I know who you are!" Amelia's grin returned, and she was practically jumping through the window by now. "You're one of the top messengers! Along with Francis and Antonio, right? Hey, I actually know Francis! How is he? I haven't talked to him in so long! He used to tell me about the stuff he did out in the wilderness and stuff. He talked about you and Antonio a lot!" She dropped her voice to a whisper and leaned in more. "He even used to talk to me about freedom from the King. I wonder if he would've joined that rebellion that kinda died down a while ago."
Gilbert just sat there, staring at her in confusion. Either this was some kind of horrible, sick joke, or she really didn't know. He shot a look at Mikkel, who looked extremely uncomfortable sitting in the middle of this. He directed his eyes back at Amelia, who also now wore a confused expression. "You don't know, do you?" he finally asked her. She shook her head slowly. "He... He's dead. They both are."
"Huh?" Horror mixed with the soldier's confusion. "He's dead? No, no, no, he can't be. You're kidding, right? Please tell me you're kidding." Her voice quivered a bit by the end of her sentence.
"...I'm not kidding, sorry." He was caught off guard by this reaction, since his last memory of this girl before today was her shooting the very person they were talking about in the head. "They've been dead for months." And you were the one who killed them.
Her hand flew to her mouth and she shook her head. "No way... Oh god, I never got to say goodbye or anything! I'm losing everyone! First the Center Emergency Hospital tells me that my sister was never there when I know for a fact I brought her there weeks ago, and now this!" She put her head in her hands and groaned in frustration, anger, and agony. "Can you tell me what happened?"
Still in shock at her behavior, Gilbert exhaled. "A couple soldiers came one night to kill them... They actually were part of the rebellion. I... I never knew that they were until that night. They didn't ever tell me." His grip on the steering wheel tightened and his knuckles turned whiter than they already were.
"Are you serious?" She banged her normal fist on the side of the jeep and her face twisted into a grimace. "This sucks! The King is so—" She widened her eyes and cut herself off before finishing, and looked around. "The King is so...great and...noble. Hey, are you guys going back to the Center? I need a ride. They're keeping my plane here for minor repairs."
Mikkel gave Gilbert a pleading look. The latter sighed heavily and grumbled, "Fine." Amelia thanked him and got in the back seat before they started driving again, passing the gates and entering the dark wilderness between Central territory and the Center.
Approximately two hours later, the trio reached the rest area at the midpoint between the two territories and decided to stop there for the night. Inside, they sat in the kitchen and ate sandwiches for dinner. Gilbert didn't like the idea of being in the same room as the person who killed his best friends, but actually seemed like he was warming up to her. He figured that Mikkel was right about her. The one thing that he still wasn't clear on was why she didn't remember that one night.
Amelia sat up on a table, telling the messengers about life as a soldier. Apparently, a lot had changed since Mikkel was one not too long ago, because he seemed almost as surprised as Gilbert at everything she said. "—and they also do this thing where every time there's a new mission, they send info to our brains that determines how... How do I put this? How emotional we're allowed to be, I guess. Like today, since we were saving people, we were allowed to be compassionate and sympathetic or whatever, but if we were going to kill or capture some criminal, they block those things in our minds. It's...efficient." She frowned in disgust. "I don't like it. It's horrible and evil and inhumane and I'm glad they don't monitor what we say because I'd totally be dead by now!" She took a deep breath and resumed eating her sandwich in anger.
Gilbert was more or less amazed. It was almost like she really did hate the King and his system. Did he actually feel bad for her? Maybe he did. He didn't even know. But he realized that maybe he could actually get along with this person.
"Another thing they do," she continued after finishing the sandwich, "is—and Mikkel, you probably remember this one—erase parts of our memory regularly so we don't remember killing people or doing terrible things and live with the guilt. Again, it's efficient. They get things they want done as quickly as possible. It's stupid, but it works in their favor. I just have all these blank spots in my memory and I'm really not comfortable with it." She shook her head and jumped down from the table to make another sandwich.
Gilbert looked at Mikkel, then at Amelia, then at the floor. Was that really true? Could that be why she didn't remember killing Francis and Antonio? Did this mean that Mikkel had killed people and also didn't remember? How many? Questions that would never be answered swirled around in Gilbert's mind as he tried to process everything Amelia had told them about.
"We should ask her," Mikkel whispered to Gilbert, pulling him from his thoughts. "You know, about the whole," he dropped his voice to an even lower volume, "rebellion thing. This is probably our best chance. I'll do it if you want me to." Gilbert gave him a reluctant nod.
"Hey, Amelia!" Mikkel said, walking up beside her as she put her sandwich together. "What do you think of the King? We won't tell anyone, we promise." He put his elbows on the table and his chin in his hands as he looked at her, waiting for an answer.
She hesitated, unsure of what she should say and if she could trust Gilbert, who didn't seem to like her that much. "I... I don't like him. He's responsible for the deaths of innocent people who just wanna change our society for the better. And now because of his bullshit system, my sister is missing and one of my friends is dead! That dude is made up of evil and lies! I wish I could do something about this, but the rebellion is dead and the government pretty much controls me."
"Amelia." Gilbert stood and joined them at the counter with a smirk. "The rebellion isn't dead."