Chapter 14: "The outside world"
It was dark. The sky a dull black colour with few stars twinkling mysteriously. The moon was split in half with a few scattered chunks around it. We were facing barren land and a shed not too far. Considering that to be the garage, we headed towards it.
There were no Kreons in sight, probably because they were searching for us inside. As I glanced behind me, I saw the building where I was a prisoner for a year. It was made with black metal and was triangular in shape. It had no windows and only one huge door. The building was ten stories tall and towered above us, making it quite a frightening sight indeed.
As I said before, the land was barren, therefore there were no trees, no grass, no sparkling rivers, nothing to hide behind if a Kreon spotted us. Only the cracked ground underneath our feet and the devastated moon above us. Luckily, we reached the shed unhindered, and sure enough, there were three hoverbikes in them.
Hoverbikes looked quite complicated to me. They were Kreon-made but were quite similar to the airbikes humans used to have. It had a pointed, triangular steering wheel and numerous colorful buttons, but it had no wheels. How on earth were we going to drive this? I thought.
Thankfully, Alex somehow knew how and he instructed us, and it seemed quite easy. We climbed onto them in pairs- Haley and Natoe on a yellow one, Wanda and Leon on a red one while Alex and I took a black one.
"There they are!" shouted a hoarse, angry voice behind us.
I jerked my head behind us. It was the Kreons; they had found us.
Alex revved up the bikes engines and pressed a red button, making the bike accelerate forward. The others did the same. As we raced through the barren land, we gained a good distance from the Kreons, and I was hoping that we would lose them, but we didn't. The Kreons found hoverbikes of their own and were soon chasing us.
"Hold on tight, Trinity!" Alex said to me as he accelerated even more.
He didn't need to tell me. I was already holding on to him quite firmly, for I was scared like hell. I was praying that my friends didn't get hurt. At my right side were Haley and Natoe, with Natoe riding the bike. He was concentrating hard and gaining speed. Haley was constantly glancing behind us with terror in her eyes. At my left were Wanda and Leon. Wanda had her eyes shut and was clutching onto Leon for her dear life. Leon's face was pale with fright (or probably because Wanda was holding onto him so tightly).
A laser shot whizzed past my ear and would've hit me if Alex hadn't swerved violently at the right time. I was confused; I thought they were afraid to harm me. Sure enough, the Kreons realised their mistake and began shooting at my friends. Natoe dodged the bullets quite expertly, but Leon wasn't so lucky. A laser bullet grazed past Wanda's arm, tearing the cloth there and creating a deep cut. Wanda screamed in pain as blood gushed out.
Alex saw what had happened and pressed a few buttons to make a laser gun emerge.
"Trinity, I need you to shoot the Kreons!" he shouted back to me.
I didn't hesitate and grabbed the gun. They would pay for shooting my friends. I adjusted myself on the bike and aimed at one of the Kreon's bikes behind us. A small, red, laser bullet shot out of the gun as I pulled the trigger. However, it did not hit them, as the Kreon I aimed for, dodged the bullet. I fired shot after shot but they expertly avoided them. From the corner of my eyes, I saw Haley sporting a similar gun, and firing at the Kreons. Wanda, even with a wounded arm, sported a gun as well, and we were shooting at the Kreons.
Frustration and anger built up in me, as I continued firing, but none of my shots hit the Kreons. I was having a hard time holding the large gun, and balancing myself on the bike. However, one of my shots hit a Kreon’s bike, and it started losing velocity. Grinning in anger, I thought, One down, five more to go.
The bike crashed to the ground, igniting instantly. A shot from Wanda caught a Kreon square in the face, and it’s bike crashed as well. I didn’t feel mercy for the Kreons. Only hatred and anger were pulsing in my veins. The other Kreons didn’t care about their fallen comrade, and continued their chase.
I screamed in horror, as a shot hit Haley and Natoe’s bike. It grazed past their bike, but dealt damage. Smoke was erupting from the bike’s sides, and its speed was faltering.
“Alex, do something!” I screamed.
Alex motioned to Leon, and they swerved onto either side of Natoe and Haley.
“Climb on!” shouted Alex, as he tried to maneuver the bike, as well as dodge the bullets that the Kreons behind us were constantly firing.
Natoe climbed onto my bike, and Haley climbed onto Wanda and Leon’s. No sooner had they switched, than their previous bike crashed onto the ground.
“That would’ve been messy,” murmured Natoe behind me.
I suddenly heard a scream. I sharply looked to my side where I saw a Kreon bike riding closely beside Wanda, Haley and Leon. There were two Kreons on that bike, and one of them had grabbed Wanda’s neck, and the other was aiming its gun at their bike. I shot at the Kreons, but I was too late, the Kreon that was aiming, had fired.
I watched in dismay as Leon’s bike started falling.
“NO!” I screamed, “Alex, we need to do something!”
“I can’t,” he shouted in frustration, and fright in his voice.
“WHAT?”
“The Kreons must’ve shot us at sometime. My brakes are jammed, and the steering wheel isn’t working,” he replied.
“So we watch them DIE?”
Alex didn’t answer me. His hands were clenched on the steering wheel, and he was jabbing at random buttons to no avail.
“N-No! I will not let them die! NO!” I cried, tears forming in my eyes. I looked behind me to find Natoe’s face stricken with horror.
“We need to help them!”
But even as I said that, I saw Leon’s bike crash to the ground right before my eyes. It did not burst into flames immediately, and I saw the bodies of Wanda, Haley and Leon, sprawled on the ground, a few feet away from their bike, unmoving.
“Why won’t they run? RUN!”
My screams did not reach them as our malfunctioning bike sped away from them. I watched helplessly as one of the Kreons hung back to investigate. We were speeding away from them, and I yearned to go back, but I couldn’t. Their bodies were in the distance now, and they were still on the ground.
The Kreons following us were advancing, and Natoe took the gun away from me, to fire them himself. I could see him shaking with anger, as he aimed at one of them and fired. One of his shots struck home, and the Kreons crashed to the ground. However, there was still one left, and they were gaining on us.
Just then, the one bike following us, fired a shot, and it hit our bike. I felt the speed decrease.
I saw the barren, cracked ground coming closer. I held onto Alex tightly, and closed my eyes to brace myself for the impact.
A loud boom resounded in my ears as our bike crashed to the ground. I was knocked off my seat and hit the ground hard, hearing a loud crack, as pain jerked up my arm. I hit my head on something, and saw lights before my eyes. However, they soon disappeared, as I slipped into unconsciousness.
