“Where are we going?” Alec asked the man for the sixteenth time that afternoon.
The man suddenly turned, exasperated, and looked at him.
“Can you please be quiet for a g*ddamn second and let me gather my thoughts? If you’re still confused as to what’s going on, then reality check! You almost git your ass beat to a pulp back there. Worse still, I have no idea who’s next.”
“Who was that guy?”
“Echo.”
“You see, that’s the issue,” Alec sighed, “You know everything about what’s going on, and mysteriously, I, the protagonist of this cinematic sh!tshow is still in the dark. How does that even work?”
“I’ll answer all those questions after we cross the Rubicon. For now, let’s just say I’m your guide on your journey to self-discovery.”
“The Rubicon? The transatlantic gateway? Why the hell are we going there?”
“Because everyone has a purpose to serve in this life, Alec,” the silver-haired man said, stopping and turning. “and yours isn’t gonna be served here.”
“Then where?”
“Twilight City.”
Twilight City. It was the NYC of that time – flashing lights, a technologically developed area sealed off from the rest of the world and free from all inhabitation and disturbances of the mutant animals. It was heaven on earth at that time.
“You have to be joking. Twilight city? There’s no way we’re getting there. The security there is airtight, and besides, we’d stand out there. It’s also too expensive to survive…”
“You should stop having that survivalist mentality, Alec. That’s way beneath the plans and sacrifices of Moira and Xander. You’re going to Twilight city for a whole different reason than to live and benefit among those rich b@stards who wrecked this world to fatten their pocket.”
“Oh really? Then what IS this whole different reason, pray tell?”
“Heh. The issue is that if I tell you what your mission is, you’ll most likely want to leave and go back to those woods, rebuild that shack, and continue living like a scavenger, hunting for the day’s meal and buying some bread every 2-6 days.”
”Now that you’ve said it, I don’t think I would be interested in going anywhere with you,” Alec said, causing the man to stop walking.
“I will get you into that city, even if it means I have to drag you by your two front teeth with a thousand swards impaling my body, understood? The man asked.
“I can’t understand why you are hell-bent on getting me there,”
“We were about five that went looking for you. I’m the only one alive, even though I’ve been through hellish experiences to know what death feels like,”
Alec chose to ignore the last statement. “Why are you looking for me?”
“Maybe it has something to do with that nice armor you’re wearing,” a gruff voice said, and soon they found themselves looking at two giant man-like rats with baggy, old and worn out jackets and trousers. They looked like annoying street gangsters.
“Oh, and you…” the other rat said, referring to the silver-haired man, “…I’ll be having your pole and glasses.”
As they advanced menacingly, Alec and the man kept moving back.
“What the hell are they, men that were transformed tom rats?”
“No, rats imbued with just enough DNA to make them this big and to make them capable of speaking something that remotely sounds like English.”
“So what are we gonna do?”
“For someone who survived over 10 years in the wild, you sure do ask some stupid questions, kid. We fight.” The man said, pulling out his sword which buzzed and began to glow again.
“O-okay,” Alec said, bringing his fists up to his face like a boxer. Instantly, the armor chimed, “combat mode activated!” and a helmet grew to cover his head again as it did back at the shack.
“What’s combat mode?”
“The suit has achieved perfect symbiosis and now it’s synchronized with your movements, so bringing your arms up to your face like this initiates combat mode.
“So ye both have chosen death?” the rats said, one brandishing an ax while the other produced a dagger.
“Alec, I’m taking the one with the ax. Knock yourself out with the other guy.”
*****
Alec had never been marveled by a piece of technology so much. The armor sensed all of his dodging movements and amplified them so much that he was able to avoid getting touched. Also, his punches and kicks were also enhanced, so two blows had crushed the rat’s skull.
The silver-haired man was done as well, and Alec could see a few of the black stripes had appeared, but they were receding as well.
The mystery of this man’s identity had to be solved soon.
“We’ll be crossing the Rubicon soon. We’ll have to meet someone who can get us across via the illegal route since someone will already be monitoring the border,” the man said, putting his sword back where it belonged as Alec’s headgear receded.
“And who’s this person?”
“Fraulein. You’ll like her.” The man smiled.
******
Sorry, I’m posting this late!
WIPs
I’ve been quite busy lately so I’ll be using pencils a lot, maybe when I manage my time more effectively, I’ll be adding more detail and finesse with my pencil work.
Thanks for reading!
That's great article...!! Please i need a guideline to publish stories in series