Cheng Yi and his friends were walking towards Salem,
occasionally stopping to get their bearings, sometimes stopping to take
a rest. The journey wasn’t too strenuous. The sun was kind and the land
was carpeted with green grass. The land was a combination of low hills
and valleys, not overtly steep.
“Can we take a break?” Deej asked. “I’m getting
hungry. Where’s the nearest place to eat, Kaie?”
Kaie referred to his map. “Uh, I think it’ll be
about three miles north-west at our current direction. It’ll be slightly
over the hill,” Kaie said, looking up and pointing to the direction if
a low hill.
Suddenly, two wolves and a giant serpent appeared
at the top of the hill. The wolves had red eyes, and they were larger than
usual. Their height was almost half of Deej’s, and their sharp fangs dripped
with saliva.
The serpent had it’s eyes fixed on Cheng Yi. It
appeared to be a cross species of a cobra and a viper.
Cheng Yi, Deej and Ryuu stood in battle stance,
ready for a fight. The animals moved promptly to strike.
Cheng Yi took his rod and flipped to the back of
the serpent, then dealing it a blow to the head. The serpent swayed with
impact, but quickly regain steadiness. Turning around, it lunged at Cheng
Yi several times but Cheng Yi was able to avert all of it’s jabs.
Deej drew her sword and held it at an angle in front
of her. She waited until the wolf jumped at her before running and sliding
underneath it, slashing her sword from its chest to its belly. She swiftly
did a front flip, landing on her feet, while the wounded wolf lay fallen
behind her.
Deej walked over to inspect the wolf, only to find
it still alive and in pain. Deej looked at it in sympathy. She raised her
sword.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, plunging the sword to
the beast’s heart. The wolf died, steam arose and slowly disintegrated
into ashes, leaving behind 100 mir amongst it. Deej picked up the money.
“When a life is returned to the planet, something
must be replaced.”
Ryuu had no problem fighting the other wolf. He waited
until the wolf started to ram him before side-stepping it and strangling
it. When the wolf started to buck, Ryuu, grasped it’s neck and gave it
a final twist. The wolf too, disintegrated and left some money behind.
Cheng Yi struck the serpent several times before
it fell. The serpent disintegrated, leaving 200 mir and a remedy.
They dusted themselves clean from the battle, then
walked towards Kaie.
“So, how about heading towards that tavern now?”
Deej asked. Kaie nodded.
“Yes, we should be on our way.”
They had not walked five steps when Kaie spoke up
again.
“By the way, did I tell you that the area between
Triad and Salem are infested with mutants?”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Salem…
“So, this is Salem,” Kaie declared. “I can’t believe
we reached it by the second sunrise. Usually I reach here by the third
night.”
“What do you do when you get ambushed by those mutants?
Ryuu asked, curious. “I’ve never seen you fight one time.”
“Usually, I run,” Kaie said as-a-matter-of-factly.
Deej snickered. “I can just imagine you, outrunning
all those radioactive-modified creatures now.”
“When the adrenaline is rushing and you’re running
for your life, it’s amazing how fast you can run,” Kaie agreed.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kaie led them to the outskirts of Salem, occasionally
stopping to show them a historical site or tell an interesting story.
“So here we have the one of the five unpolluted
wells in Salem during the Holocaust. People scrambled to get water
whenever they can,” Kaie explained. Deej peered into the well. Ryuu’s eyes
began to wander amidst many twisting alleyways of Salem.
Suddenly, his eyes caught a glimpse of silver
turning into one of the alleyways.
“It can’t be…” Ryuu muttered in disbelief.
Before anyone had any time to react, a few planes
flew overhead and dropped several bombs nearby.
“Take cover!” A few of the townspeople ran for shelter,
shouting and pulling each other to get out of harm’s way. Kaie, Deej, Ryuu
and Cheng Yi ducked and ran for safety.
The bombs hit the area about a few hundred meters
away from them. The impact caused a temporary storm as pieces of wood,
concrete and debris flew about. The explosion was a minor one, but it caused
various buildings around it to crumble and burn.
“What the…? Don’t they know the war’s over?” Kaie
cursed. “Why are they bombing their own territory?”
“Are you sure those are Alexis’s planes?” Cheng
Yi asked.
“I’ve seen enough of those to last a lifetime,”
Kaie confirmed.
“Ryuu? Ryuu! Where are you going?” Deej asked. Ryuu
had wandered off into the alleyway where he had seen the flash of silver.
He did not respond to their calls.
Ryuu walked along the darkened passage, his steps
quickening to match his heartbeat. Soon he was running, running along the
winding back lanes. Finally, he arrived at a single door.
Ryuu reached out his hand to open it.
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Part Seven is here!
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