※GRAPHIC VIOLENCE IN THIS CHAPTER※

Erik

A chill ran down my spine. The lodge was not a very big one. It had only one floor, and all it took to scrutinize the entire interior was a 360-degree sweep with the eye. There was no sign whatsoever of the man Jessica had mentioned, that Leroy Dawson, or the 'Elysian City Patrol team leader' quoted from her. The twisting sensation in my guts told me that there was something off. My life, at the same time, was in danger.

Nobody spoke for a full thirty seconds. It was either due to shock, an ill premonition, or downright distrust depending on that person's standpoint in this matter. Jerome King held the muzzle of his rifle high and turned to Jessica's direction. He was the one to break the precarious silence.

"You lying bitch," he snarled. "I knew you were bluffing. I knew you had something up your sleeves when you mentioned the ECP and all that bullshit."

Jessica took a step back and shook her head. "No, I wasn't lying." Her voice was indignant. She was being cornered but somehow remained poised.

"We don't see no goddamn City badge here, not even a single living soul," Jerome said as he aimed the end of the gun at my chest. I took in a short breath to prevent myself from panicking and tried not to cower. I knew that gun was loaded. His forefinger was locked on the trigger, too. One pull and I would be blasted to pieces. The power of his rifle was enough to do that and much worse if he decided to provide me a bullet shower.

Jessica stood in between the lethal instrument and my vulnerable flesh. She snatched the muzzle with her gloved hand and pushed the tip away to one side. Jerome widened his eyes behind the mask, taken by surprise at her dauntless move until a frown soon manifested to replace that expression.

"Don't threaten me and Erik like that, bastard. I said I wasn't lying."

"Really testing my limits, bitch." King yanked the gun out from her hand and connected the end of it directly with her forehead. I was about to step forward and reach Jessica's shoulders when he shot a minatory curse my way. "Move one step, and you'll see bits of this whore's brain." I was obligated to clench my teeth and plant myself on the creaky wooden floor.

"Please don't do this," I found myself begging. I found myself begging.

"What can I gain from that?"

"You want her alive. She shouldn't be your target," I pleaded.

"On second thought, having her heart hanging on my room as a trophy wouldn't be as bad," he growled. Neither Jessica nor I could respond to that without triggering the beast. I stood there helpless, unable to do anything. Like a complete idiot.

Salvation came from an unexpected origin.

"Stop this nonsense."

We all turned our heads to look at the pink-haired raider who had referred to herself as 'Ash' back in the car. She was not meeting any of our eyes but polishing the reflective surface of her silver dagger with a handkerchief in a nonchalant manner.

"What 'nonsense' are you speaking of, Ashlee?" King asked.

"That," she curtly replied, pointing at the three of us. She made a circle in the air in our direction like we were just a whole bunch of children making a commotion in her yard. Her expression was almost bored.

"What do you suggest we do, then?" Ash's peculiar behavior seemed to calm the unruly devil in Jerome King for some reason. He appeared to be puzzled and intrigued rather than affronted. The gun was withdrawn by then.

"Take a look around," Ash shrugged. She twirled the slick dagger in her hands like a habit. I got the feeling that she wasn't at all like any of the other raiders in her gang. She was somewhat distinguished from the rest-I wasn't sure if it was because of the difference in her speech dialect, the chill yet dangerous attitude, or the golden eyes that shone like two amber rocks in her sockets. Perhaps it was all three of them, and more.

King glanced around the lodge. "There's clearly nothing here unless you can see things we can't see."

Ash sighed through her mask and trudged to the other side of the building. She jerked the door open and pointed outside with her knife. "There."

"Oh," I said.

"Outside?" Jessica asked.

Ash nodded and tapped the doorframe. "Freq him again. If he doesn't answer, we'll look around."

Jessica hesitantly walked over to the door, not forgetting to steal a glance at me before she did. I gave her a reassuring nod although I was not exactly sure of anything that was about to happen, either. I watched from behind her back as she pressed a certain number on her device and adjusted the frequency.

"Dawson?" Click.

A minute of silence passed. No answer. Static noises oozed out of the small speaker of her red freq. The recipient was absent.

"See, she was lying all along. There's no use in-"

"Let's head out," Ash pulled Jessica by her arm as she cut King's words short. I followed them without bothering to look back at the man who was pushed down to the lowest position in the power dynamics in just a few minutes despite the upper hand he had here because of his deadly weapon.

My head was flooded with manifold questions, again. This strange raider who had no reason at all to 'help' us or take our side was doing so by stopping Jerome's outrage, suggesting an alternative, and pulling Jessica close to her as a sibling would. She had every reason to hate us and rip us open since we had done great damage to her people, not show hospitality. Maybe I was going too far. Maybe this was a far-fetched assumption that she was taking our side. Maybe this wasn't hospitality, but just her way of dealing with things. I was thinking too much.

It was getting rather hot inside the suit. The material was at least half an inch thick, and every movement was made sluggish because of the weight. The scorching sun did no good to alleviate the discomfort. I halted in my steps once I was a few yards away from the building to collect my breaths.

"You okay?" Jessica came to my side and asked. Alright, that was not expected. Plus I didn't want to be seen as a weakass.

"Hunky-dory," I replied.

The view to my left was supposed to be full of grandeur and majesty, what with the natural wonder unfolded beneath my feet. My knowledge of the Canyon was not sufficient, but I at least knew that it was once an illustrious park where the splendor of Mother Nature had carved its offspring to the finest. More than mere thousands of people used to visit this place just to capture the scenery in their eyes. However, all of that was concealed under a dense layer of fog that started just where the contour of the gorge started. I was sorry I could not see what lied under the haze now that I had the opportunity to step on the infamous grounds.

"We're not here for sightseeing, boy," Jerome King's voice rang against my ear and snapped me out of the short-lived trance. He roughly pushed my back and I nearly stumbled. What a bastard.

"Hey, watch it," Jessica pointed at the man in anger.

"It's okay," I brushed his non-existent hand off my shoulder and grumbled. It wasn't okay but I didn't want them to start another fight. Both of them were far too unpredictable.

We wandered around, searching through more buildings and even in the shrubs to see if our broker a.k.a. patrol leader was present. There was no sign of life nearby.

At one point, we all gathered in a vacant space surrounded by bushes and trees. King could not seem more enraged.

"There is no one here! You're wasting my time!"

"I swear something's wrong." Jessica wrapped her hands behind her neck.

"Let me tell you: you've deceived us and met a dead end. That's what it is, Garcia," King raised his rifle once again.

"Fuck off, Jerome. Deceiving is your profession." Jessica swatted the rifle with her hand and before I could stop her, she landed a punch square into the mask of the man. King staggered and looked up, a dazed air about him.

"If you do that one more time-"

"Shhh."

Ash held up her free hand, staring at a line of shrubs in the other direction. Something had caught her attention. The brawl ended there as we all shut our mouth and turned to see what she was seeing.

At first, I couldn't make out anything. I cautiously took some steps toward the tall plants until I was right behind Ash's back. The others did the same. There was just enough crevice in the wall of leaves that enabled us to inspect what was happening on the other side. Flashes of beige and red flew across the cracks.

I held my breath.

And suppressed my urge to puke.

On the other side, there were two monsters feeding on something that was recently assaulted and torn apart. I could see, if I got down on my knees, the unnaturally muscular frame of sand-colored brutes, streaks of blood crimson about their mouths and mossy fur, and eyes. Two murderous red eyes on their long faces...and an extra one lolling about on their forehead. It was a revolting sight. Their appearance, whatever those things were, could dishearten any trained poacher. And the bloody flesh they were feeding on was in such a horrid state that it was unable to define what it used to be-entrails were lying everywhere. I closed my eyes and looked away, thanking god that my suit was there to prevent the sickening malodor from seeping in.

"Mountain lions," Ash whispered.

"Those? Mountain lions?" Jessica was apparently disgusted at the sight, too.

"Monsters, they're monsters," I murmured.

"No, they're cougars. Radiation deformed them." Ash shook her head. She was so sure about it.

"Wait," Jessica whispered, alarmed. "That's a human body."

What, now?

I was not sure if my brain necessitated that information, because the internal drive to empty out my stomach returned immediately as soon as she uttered those words. Those...creatures....were feeding on a human carcass. A recent kill. A person who had been...wait, a human body? Was there a chance that it could perhaps be...?

"That's Leroy Dawson," Jessica grimly announced. "There's his bag over there."

"Well," King suddenly spoke in a loud voice, adjusting the scope of his rifle to the eye level. "There's one way to find out."

"No!"

However, it was too late. Disregarding Ash's warning, Jerome King fired once at one of the monsters which left a ghastly red hole in its side. I watched in horror as blood sprayed from its wound and a deafening shriek escaped past its overgrown fangs. The brute, nonetheless, did not fall from the shot. It was too large, too strong. All the color drained from my face as it charged toward us, glaring fury fuming from its snout in the form of saliva and blood-mixed froth.

The lion would have squashed me flat first if Jessica had not pushed me out of the way. We landed hard on the dusty ground and I scuttled back to my feet as fast as my suit could allow me. There was nothing the two of us could do except for dodge and hide as we were the only ones here without any means to protect ourselves. Thankfully, the monster's attention was fully fixed on Jerome King now.

Or not. The second lion was headed toward us. It darted at full throttle, pouncing at us with its outstretched claws and bared fangs. I rolled out of the way just in time. All the while, a big, neon red DANGER sign was dyeing my mental vision in its monstrous hue. Death was just around the corner. I would die before I could ever make it to Elysia. Before I could meet her.

I could not get to my feet this time. I must have sprained my ankle from the impact. I inched back as far as I could from the monster, but it noticed me anyhow.

Fear penetrated my core. My entire body trembled as I was left with no choice but to watch it advance on me with an arched back and slow steps-the signature pose of a predator approaching a prey before its mortal attack. Was my doom to happen in this way? My back meeting the wall of a building, I had no more room to back away. I screwed my eyes shut in defeat and awaited the razor-sharp teeth to sink deep in my neck and snap my bones into pieces. I would endure the same fate of Leroy Dawson and end up allowing my own demise to a wild beast.

Warm blood splattered across my mask. I panicked, thinking it was mine. However, there was not even the slightest pain of laceration anywhere on my body. I glanced up and witnessed an extraordinary sight.

Ash was on the monster's back, her dagger digging deep into its neck. She grunted while the monster thrashed in agony. It attempted ever so hard to throw the woman off its back, but with an inhuman strength, the pink-haired raider hung on to it even tighter and pulled out her dagger only to hack it into its third eye over and over again. The sight was so repugnant and shocking that I could not help but gape. I froze on my spot shivering. By the time the beast's life was completely reaped, Ash was covered with its blood from head to toe. She lightly hopped off the giant cadaver getting on her knees, slapped the blade into the mud on the ground. Then she scrubbed the blood off her hands with her brown handkerchief and cast the dirtied cloth away in the shrubs. She walked to me and offered a hand without a word.

"I...," I could find no words. I had not recovered from what had just happened in front of me, but took the silent hand anyway and got up on my wobbly legs.

"Erik!" Jessica came to my side, her face behind the transparent mask just as disoriented as mine. I was at least content that she was safe.

"You're welcome," Ash remarked.

I stuttered out a word of gratitude. "T-thank you." She had just saved my life. Once again, I wondered why.

"Where's King?" Jessica narrowed her eyes. Not that she cared about him. He was literally gone from the scene.

"Maybe he chickened out this time, too," I shakily pondered.

"No," Ash said. She pointed at a trail of blood that led to the edge of the cliff. "He's done for."

"What?" Jessica blurted out. She ran toward the edge, where the trail ended and the mist below lapped its end. I held her arms from behind so she wouldn't lose her footing and plummet into the nebulous void. There was a lot of emotion hidden in that simple comment. Her tormentor who had been haunting her for years was gone forever below the precipice, along with a literal monster and the monster that was hiding under his skin. Jessica stood absently for a few moments as if to gather her thoughts together and then took a step back. When she looked up at me, I could spot a faint hint of tears that never fell from her eyes. "The best way to go for that son of a bitch," she sniffled. "I'm finally fucking free." She exhaled heavily and turned around, facing Ash who was crossing her arms.

Since I didn't know what to do with her and was having a crisis myself, I volunteered to stay where I was while the two women went over to the carcass of the dead man. I unlatched the opening of my helmet for a brief moment and vomited over the edge of the canyon in spite of the risk of radiation exposure. As soon as I was done, I put my mask back on and sat on the ground with my head throbbing. I had barely survived an attack from a deformed lion, seen a raider exhibit mastery in slaughter, and was about to find out whether or not I was actually an asset valued by Elysia. This was too much to take in all at once.

***

The three of us sat around a table in the building next to the site, and there Jessica laid out three things she had acquired from Dawson (as confirmed)'s belongings.

One was a precise map to Elysia.

The second was a diary with bountiful information in it concerning the city.

The third was an encrypted document. At its header, the three alphabet letters, E, C, and P, were engraved in golden ink. The rest was unintelligible.

Ash raised her eyebrow and alternated glances between Jessica and me. "Looks like it wasn't a bluff, then."

"You kept a secret from me," I didn't meet Jessica's eyes intentionally. I felt somewhat betrayed but at the same time...I had my secrets, too.

"...It was necessary," she said. "But I'm sorry."

"Do you work for Elysia?"

"No, trust me, this is all I know. Dawson was an ECP member, and he promised me a ticket to Elysia if I brought you to him. But he also said you'll be going with me."

"Then what about all those people waiting back there? They are blindly following you, Jessi. You've been way too secretive. This isn't just about you or me anymore. It's far larger than just us two. Do you know what kind of risk you took?" I raised my voice.

"I know damn well." She fought back. "And I wasn't lying about everything. All the things I've told you about Dawson is true except for the part about him being a former Elysian. He's also materialistic, easy to bribe. I was sure I would have a chance. And now with these, we do have a full chance."

"Jessica," I finally locked my eyes with hers. "Am I really being monitored?"

"I can't say for sure, but that is what he told me."

"So it was partially a bluff," Ash concluded.

"What, are you going to kill us, now?" Jessica snapped. "Because it looks like you could in a second."

"No, I personally have nothing against you."

"Why's that?" I asked.

"Because I'm not a Blackmask," she answered. It took several seconds for both Jessica and I to take that information in. "I never bonded with any of them. I just pretended to. And I like you bunch."

I was speechless.

"What are you suggesting?" Jessica blinked.

"I'll play along, and say everything you've said is true. I'll make them all leave."

"That's it?" I asked.

"No. I go with you to Elysia," she replied.

"Alright," Jessica stood up and slammed her fist on the table. "I'm-"

Just then, a beeping noise sounded from Jessica's freq.

"You all good there?" Click. It was Josiah's voice.

Jessica hesitated for a moment before pressing the button and answering. "Yeah. Heading back." Click. She sighed and pointed at the door with her thumb. "For now, deal. If you pull any trick on us, I'll make sure to have you regret it."

Ash shrugged. "Whatever you say."

"You've got to be kidding me," I protested. "You think you can make all decisions on our behalf."

"I make the best decisions, Erik Becker." Her eyes flared. I backed down. "In other words, we have no choice."

No more conversations were made. We packed what we had obtained, and the encrypted document was entrusted to me as it was presumably a file on me. On our way back to the vehicles, my head was just on the brink of combusting. There were too many things to consider. I thought for a brief second that I should have stayed at home, but it was expelled from my mind as soon as it arrived. I had to find her.

My eyes traveled down to the document in my hands. The language on the paper was not even English or any other language that I was familiar with. It was a whole new writing system. It consisted of stick-like figures and circles that were arranged in a seemingly random manner all across the paper. I crumbled the edge of it out of frustration.

Suddenly, blinking once, I caught something amidst the fragments of symbols.

I frowned, thinking it was just a hallucination.

Then I blinked again. The four letters, this time, were more conspicuous than before. I held the paper closer to my eyes and studied it.

After another blink of the eye, it was gone.

But I had seen it.

I had seen it clearly.

My heart was thumping, and blood pounding, but I could tell no one. The letters I saw for a fraction of a second were not just constituents of any other word. It was the name that mattered the most to me. The name that hauled me out into the vast Wasteworld. The name that was leading me to Elysia.

Eden.

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It's been a long while since the last update! I came back with a longer chapter. It's full of action, suspense, and mystery! How did you like it?

Comments and votes appreciated:)