Nuclear Knights

Chapter Three

Chapter Three“Joppo, I saw something strange during the attack,” Ryan said as they walked behind the crowd. “What?” Joppo asked. “Someone in silver, it, well, it looked like it was controlling the monster. I tried to chase them down but whoever it was disappeared,” Ryan said and Joppo shrugged.

“I've got no idea what that could be, I've never heard of anything like that. Maybe the Hadoth people will know something,” he replied and continued. “Why would you run after someone like that?” Joppo asked. Ryan wasn't sure and didn't have an answer.

“Well, if you see any more weird people in silver, maybe it's best to just steer clear of them for now,” Joppo added as they walked. Ryan wasn't okay with that, but figured it was the best course of action, at least for now.

They got into the village and the place was a mess the farther they walked. The crowd ahead of them started to wail. Houses were smashed into rubble and smoke rose up into the sky. Thankfully no major fires had broken out yet.

The beast's stroll through town could have been worse, Joppo supposed. He had a sigh of relief and thanked the universe for small favors. His hut was intact besides a large wooden beam sticking through the side of the wall.

“Alright, I'll meet you out at your bike in twenty minutes. I need to talk to Lisa while I'm gone. I hope your place is still standing, good luck,” Joppo said and walked towards his house. Ryan could only hope for the best at this point.

Ryan broke away from the crowd and made his way back to his house, thankfully the creature didn't get this far into the town. His simple place was just like he left it. He walked to the door and unlocked it, stepped inside.

“Sorry about this, but I had to test out my theory,” a voice said in the dark and Ryan pulled his blaster immediately in the direction of the voice. A woman walked out of the dark, dressed in the silver clothes as before. He noticed right away that her eyes were dark purple.

“I, well, I have some questions,” he said and she crossed her arms. “No one has ever seen me work before. I just wanted to meet the person who did before I killed you,” she said with a smile and lifted a strange looking weapon in his direction. Ryan fired and the green blaster beam hit her silver clothes and dissolved harmlessly into green sparks.

She pulled the trigger on her weapon and a blue beam hit Ryan in the stomach and knocked him straight back through the door, tearing it off its weak hinges in the process. Ryan landed on the ground and his wound sizzled. He heard footsteps coming towards him. “I know you're not dead, also I know you're not willing to talk but I need to know. Did you happen to tell anyone else you saw me? Because that would be really inconvenient,” she asked him.

Ryan opened his eyes. “I'm not going to—” she pointed her weapon at his head. “You tell me who you told or I'll bring my pet back and kill everyone. No one is going to miss this garbage fire of a village, but I'd rather not attract any unneeded attention until the time is right. One more time, who did you tell?” she asked again and narrowed her purple eyes at him.

“Joppo, Matt. That's all. I swear, that's all,” Ryan said between breaths. She smiled, nodded and sighed. “I have no idea who they are. You're going to have to show them to me,” she said knelt down, pulled a syringe filled with bright red liquid and injected him with it. Ryan's pain faded just a few seconds after she pulled the needle out.

“What in the hell did you do to me?” he asked and sat up. “First aid kit, you wouldn't understand and you're not going to live long enough to care anyway,” she said and put the syringe back where she got it. Then she tossed him two tiny metal spheres and they landed on his chest. “Put one on each of the people you told and don't tell anyone. Remember, everything you see here is one monster attack away from obliteration,” she said to him with a smile.

“How did you even find me?” Ryan asked as he sat up. “You're going to be dead in ten minutes. Who cares,” she replied and disappeared before his eyes. Ryan looked around and was really surprised no one was around to see any of this. “Damn it,” he said to himself and had no idea what to do next. He supposed he was being watched, too. He picked himself up and was still sore from the experience but glad to be breathing, at least for now.

He walked back to his now damaged place and went inside. Then he found his travel pack. In a world like this you had to always keep a thing like this on hand. He picked it up and put the strap over his shoulder. None of this seemed real, but the fading pain was a good reminder that he needed to think of something to prevent the disaster that was coming.

There was no reason to trust the stranger. If she really could control the beasts, nothing was stopping her from unleashing the monster on the town again even if he did what she wanted. Ryan looked at the trackers in his hands and knew what he had to do. There was no choice and it was worth the risk. He squeezed the metal orbs in his hand and walked away from his house and started to make his way back to his hoverbike.