(Reverence 6, 59 / 7:55PM)

  (Ground Strike Force)

  Benn, Johnny, Elizabeth, Jenny, and Luna.

  Half of the strike force continued to move without discretion. All of their weapons on standby, they pushed through without looking back at Stan’s group, leaving the group of geeks to deal with the female spartan.

  Pushing down his eyes, Johnny gnced at Benn, who ran beside him.

  (Johnny) Are you sure it’s a good idea to leave the weakest men to deal with the strongest woman?

  (Benn) Wits are better than strength.

  (Johnny) I know, but…

  (Luna) Those nerds will be fine.

  Luna spoke out from the back, her voice coarse and commanding despite not ordering Johnny to do anything.

  Swaying her arms up and down, she had her hands lowered to her waist, with the soles of her feet pressing onto her boots. Stomping along the metallic floor, her breath hardened the more she ran, causing her throat to mummify from the ck of water.

  (Luna) They could pull rabbits out of their ass for all I know, but they know how to handle themselves in a fight.

  (Johnny) Really?

  (Luna) I’m positive, yeah.

  Johnny nodded, moving his head up and down while Elizabeth’s grip on his hand tightened evermore. Gncing at the cat-girl, her eyes gred to the floor, her cheeks puffed out like chipmunks since she had ballooned them.

  Lifting a warm smile, he tried to calm her down, but she averted her face away from his. Pushing out air from his mouth, his shoulders slumped down, his face lifted by his smile.

  (Johnny’s thoughts) Huh, never seen this side of her. I always knew she would be the jealous type, but not this bad.

  Benn noticed the door to the next train compartment completely open, leading him to stop well in his tracks. The others' suit, they pced themselves in the back of Benn, who pointed the barrel of his gun to the door. Closing his eyes, a soft echo ran against his soul like a gong, shaking the nothingness of the pitch of bck.

  Feeling the world on a deeper level, his soul felt as if he left his body, with his command.

  (Benn’s thoughts) Give me eyes on the next train cart.

  In return, he felt his body being sucked into another creature.

  Instead of having two eyes, he had 7000 of them. His view of degree being 360, he was none other than a simple housefly, its body flying coarsely through the train cart. Settling itself onto the top of a cabinet, the fly took in the surrounding environment of the cart, its thousands of eyes analyzing every set of…

  It wasn’t furniture.

  It was a garden, full of pnts and small mango trees stretched as far as the eyes could see. No windows were present in the room, only the high dense lights from above shone on the pnts and trees, deeming itself a fake sun.

  (Luna) What’s in there?

  (Benn) A garden. Looks massive, too massive.

  (Johnny) Yeah, the garden is two train carts long.

  (Jenny) Is there anyone in there?

  Benn commanded the fly to fly around without speaking, buzzing through the air while having its body caress the top of the ceiling. The walls were painted white, the fly zoomed across the cart before ying its eyes on two people, both a man and a woman.

  The man wore a thin brown jacket and had a bushy mustache and turquoise hair. The woman wore a bck dress, while her high raised heels dug into the low grass beneath her feet.

  Immediately knowing who the couple was, Benn’s jaws ground against one another, leading Johnny to push his eyes down.

  (Johnny) It’s them huh …

  (Benn) Yeah.

  (Johnny) I’ll deal with them.

  Elizabeth’s hand twirled his body to him. Looking up at his push-down face, he let his eyes wander onto the floor, letting them sink deep into the cold metal. The silence was too awkward to see, everyone else took a few steps away from them, leading their attention onto the decorations of the train cart.

  While Benn snapped back into his main body.

  (Elizabeth) And I’m going with you.

  (Johnny) You know how strong my parents are. Me and you cannot deal with my dad and mom’s curse.

  (Benn) Then how about I come along?

  Benn wielded his heavy machine gun with his right hand, having it smudge onto his right colrbone as the barrel of it pointed to the ceiling. His usual ft frown pressed on his face, he had his eyes stared directly at Johnny.

  His right arm rexed, and he pushed down his cheeks and face.

  (Benn) Me and you could be a duo, while Elizabeth could handle it on her own.

  (Johnny) Now wait just a second.

  (Elizabeth) That’s a good idea. With both of your weapons being the same, then you could—

  (Johnny) I said wait.

  Johnny’s voice began to coarse, his lips and eyelids twitching.

  Clutching her hands together, he looked solely into her eyes, mixing his blue irises with her brown ones. Seeing herself in his eyes, he also saw himself in hers, their hands locked together by their fingers.

  Gulping, Johnny’s smile quivered, leading him to seem as if he was losing it.

  (Johnny) W-What if you…

  (Elizabeth) During the fight on Lagefor, you got hurt badly, not me.

  (Johnny) We’re not talking about—

  (Elizabeth) But I didn’t have a scratch on me, so please.

  Her hands raised his to his chest, along with the corners of her eyes snting to the top of her nose. Sparkling her eyes, she lowered her head, her forehead millimeters from pressing onto the area between his chest and stomach.

  As for Johnny, his breath got stuck in his throat, leading his imaginary words to crumble like snow. His eyes widened, and he moved his feet back an inch, leading her to follow along with his movement.

  (Elizabeth) Let me go with you.

  Johnny lowered his hands to his waist, leading her hands to do the same. Slowly, he nodded his head, as a rge exhale of air plowed out from both his nostrils and throat.

  (Johnny) Ok…

  Letting go of her right hand, he still clutched onto her left like a lifeline, as they pced themselves near the door leading to his parents. With Benn walking right behind them, Johnny turned his eyes to the rest of the strike force.

  Since Benn was going to go along with him and Elizabeth, it meant Luna and Jenny would be the ones to reach the first cart. Seeing an old window cracked and creaked with old age, he nudged his head toward it.

  (Johnny) I think using the sides of the train would be better for you guys, that way you could reach the first cart without battling any opponent.

  (Luna) So you want us to scale the rest of the train by the sides?

  (Johnny) It’s up to you.

  Luna folded her arms below her chest, tilting her head to the right as her eyes narrowed. Looking toward the old gss window, she walked toward it, with Jenny hanging in the back.

  Punching the gss window with just her right hand, thousands of gss shards pinched her knuckles and skin. Her blood staining the floor and shards red, she lowered her hand, signaling Jenny to go first.

  (Luna) Come on.

  (Jenny) You could’ve thrown a rock or something.

  (Luna) Who cares.

  As the two women began their extra stealth force mission, it just left the three of them to be right near the door. Both Johnny and Elizabeth clutching their hands firmly, he took note of Benn who pced himself near the door.

  His finger was already on the trigger, and his back shriveled under the cold metal.

  (Johnny) Wait on my count. We gotta py it smart ok?

  (Benn) Of course.

  Nodding to Johnny’s proposition, Johnny and Elizabeth walked into the garden of Nod.

  Their eyes trailed the familiar white ceiling and low-hanging grass, their ears scrunching from the crunch of the yellowish-green wn. Walking slowly, they trailed their feet silently and swiftly until an older couple began walking toward them.

  Being of course his mother and father, Johnny had his weapon holstered along his back, hiding away from his parent's view.

  (Doug) Where the hell were you, Johnny?!

  (Johnny) Sorry father, but me and Elizabeth were in the barracks. We heard all the noise coming from the previous compartments, and we didn't want to take our chances.

  (Doug) Oh really? Now you’re against them?

  (Johnny) Not exactly, but they’re upset that I didn’t help them during their previous raid on the train.

  Doug raised his right hand up to his cheek, using one of his fingers to scrape off chunks of dirt littering his skin. Letting it shower onto his boots, he lowered his hand to his thigh, pushing his eyes down while staring at his son.

  And in the flick of a switch, his eyes darkened, along with his voice reaching a low lower than cotton-mouthed mosses.

  Which caused every spore along his and Elizabeth’s body to open out.

  (Doug) I call horseshit, boy.

  ______________________________________________________________________________

  (Reverence 6, 59 / 7:45PM)

  (Christian and Pacifica)

  A brown van prowled through the one-ne road.

  Its engine roaring, its wheels spinning, not even the heavy wind could direct the van off course. Riding through the bck asphalt, a young man and woman gazed into the one-ne road, with the man being the driver and the woman riding passenger.

  The van going double the speed limit, the tanned man saw the speedometer barely reach the tip of the red zone, meaning it went fast enough for the RPMs to maintain a steady level. His eyes gazed at the road, as well as the oil heat of the engine if he were to put too much on the pedal…

  It would overheat the engine.

  And if he pressed too low on the gas, he would wastefully spend more time driving.

  (Pacifica) We’re going to make it, no need to fret.

  (Christian) It’s better safe than sorry.

  (Pacifica) It’s-It’s better if we don’t push this thang to its limits. That red-haired boy would never let us hear the end of it if we damaged his baby…

  The heels of her feet pressed onto the dashboard, and she slumped herself into the leather seat while having her hands clutched on her stomach. Seeing the sun glow a mahogany orange, she smacked her lips before turning her head to her brother.

  His eyes concentrated on the road, speed, and RPMs all at once, Pacifica pced her left hand onto his arm, causing him to loosen his shoulders. Letting out a simple breath of air from his lungs, he pced his head and upper back onto the seat.

  As prior, he had it hunched.

  (Christian) I just want this pn to be a success, unlike the other times.

  (Pacifica) That boy would get it done. I know of it.

  (Christian) And he’ll rescue your elf in shining armor…

  (Pacifica) Hey, you leave my leaf-licker out of this!

  Despite her dark-completed skin, her cheeks blushed red, as she pulled out her boots from the dashboard. Turning her head away, her eyes gazed at the passing ndscape in front of her eyes, her lips pressed firm.

  Christian chuckled inside, his throat jumping dryly as he finally began to destress.

  Looking forward, he noticed a green sign with white imprinted letters, causing him to squint.

  “Buellford - 10 Miles”

  “Marston Bridge - 15 Miles”

  The other line was faded as if it was covered up.

  Passing the green sign, Christian pressed on the gas pedal the most it could go, ignoring the RPMs on the van. Having the gear to be on the highest setting, the engine crackled and roared like thunder on a silent night.

  (Christian) One final stretch.

  Plowing chunks of sand from the outer banks of the road, the van created its own sand storm which followed it. Just one final stretch, one final stretch to finalize Luke’s gamble. And out of all the missions he and her received, it had the utmost importance.

  Checking on the soldiers, seeing if they had already blown up the bridge.

  A simple yet decisive mission, and Christian cannot fail it. Gripping the leather steering wheel, his fingers tried to dig deep into the material, but it only scraped and scratched.

  Riding toward their destination, they couldn’t even stargaze at the sun settling into the horizon.

  ______________________________________________________________________________

  (Reverence 6, 59 / 7:56PM)

  (Christian) Here it is.

  The howling of the engine returned to its slumber.

  Getting out of the van, both Christian and Pacifica sm the doors on the way out. Their boots settled into the pavement below, and both of them gazed at the metallic wooden bridge in front of them.

  The bridge connected the edge of a canyon toward another, with the tracks leading into the tunnel just beyond the gap. Large metal legs holding up the monstrous infrastructure, both her and him pced their hands onto their waists, as they analyzed the section of the bridge beneath the tracks.

  For one, there was a cat-walk section, mostly used for workers or builders when constructing the bridge a long while back.

  (Christian) The Marston Bridge. I wonder how it got its name from.

  (Pacifica) Didn’t you know the old legend?

  (Christian) About this bridge? No.

  She released scorn of dry air from her lungs, parching her lips with her CO2. Swaying her head back and forth, she began walking toward it, her boots ccking on the pavement of the cement.

  Her eyes pushing down, both she and him walked toward the catwalk where the soldiers were stationed.

  (Pacifica) The man who was named after this was something. They said he defended his wife and son from outws with just a shotgun. Shot twenty-one times, and that boy wasn’t going to kick the bucket until every outw was dead.

  (Christian) Jesus …

  Christian raised both his hands to the back of his head, using his fingertips to caress his scalp like he was washing his hair. Now digging his nails into his hair, he swayed his head right and left before lifting a small smirk from his right lip.

  Scanning his eyes on the bridge, The Marston Bridge, it gave him a sense of awe and confidence. A man defending his wife and son? Sacrificing himself? Was this tale original or something pulled out of a video game?

  (Christian) A man amongst men …

  (Pacifica) They said he died alone … but …

  She stopped walking and looked up to the orange-glowing sun, the fmes of the star barely settling into the horizon. Letting both of her hands drop to her thighs, her eyes shone on the nearest star to Terra, ignoring the rest of the other stars appearing above the night sky.

  (Pacifica) He lived amongst men…

  She trailed the st few words like a fishing line.

  Pcing both of her hands into her pockets, she continued with her walk toward the catwalk. Gulping down saliva stuck to her gums, she gasped it out loud to the world.

  Both of them seeing a dder, Pacifica began climbing down first, gripping the wooden handlebars with her smooth palms. Splinters already pinching her skin, she managed to reach the bottom, letting her eyes trail…

  (Pacifica) What the …

  She glued her feet deep into the metal walkway.

  As Christian began climbing down the dder, he had his eyes glued to the canyon edge of the mountain before turning his head to Pacifica. Instead of focusing his eyes on her, there was something else he traced his eye with.

  (Christian) Holy…

  In front of them, the bodies of men y ft on the walkway, spurring out kes of blood from their backs.

  Holes, three to four of them pierced and oozed out their bodily fluids, looking to be the handiwork of a sword or something with a bde. The smell assaulted their nostrils, they wrinkled their noses as the smell resembled the waste of a hot outhouse.

  And all of them wore outdoor brown jackets and khaki jeans. Seeing this, Christian and Pacifica had their hands motionless to their sides, their eyes trailing the many dead bodies one by one.

  (Christian) Who did this…

  Walking toward the ke of dead bodies, the edges of his boots sunk deep into the pool of blood, staining his brown boots red. Along with Pacifica, the pool of blood rippled with every step she walked, her fingers curling inward to her palms.

  Dripping from the edges of the catwalk, some of the blood swept off to the canyon below, leaving both Christian and Pacifica to stop right in front of the man-made ke. Christian, who analyzed the three-holed wounds from the corpse, his body…

  Fumed.

  (Christian) I know who did this …

  (Pacifica) Who did it, brother?

  (Christian) The wound is from a javelin.

  Her eyes widened, and her fingers began to stab itself into her palms. Gritting every enamel within her teeth, her eyes darkened the darkest pitch of bck she had ever done.

  Her blood mingling with the ke full of death, her scleras showcased pure white, as the strands of her hair moved to her upper eyelids. Looking around, her crazed eyes analyzed even the tiniest bits of dust or footprints, trying to configure where the javelin-wielding woman might be—

  (Vivy) Well, well, well. If it isn’t my favorite sibling trio—no, duo.

  Vivy stood at the far end of the catwalk, wielding her bleach-made javelin spear with her right hand. Having her bleach-made shield on her left hand, she pushed her right lip to the bottom of her ear, tilting her head back while smirking at them.

  Pacifica stood there, watching her with eyes beyond the want for killing. Like a predator, she didn’t let her eyes trail off her for one second, as a strand of hair moved in between her eyes.

  (Vivy) Aww, I’m sorry. Didn’t know that useless speck of a man would mean that much to you.

  A barrel pointed straight at her.

  Turning her attention to the crimson-red Christian, his cheeks flustered the reddest he’s ever been, sealing his lips like a lock. His scleras crimsoned, his finger was already on the trigger, the tip of it kissing the metal.

  Clenching his teeth, not a trail of voice meeped from his lips. In return, Vivy tilted her head up all the way and began to chuckle.

  As if she was possessed by a demon, she dropped both her shield and javelin to clutch her stomach, while hot air soared from her throat from every chuckle. Her eyes wide-eyed, she hunched her back and tilted her head down to the ground, her eyes staring at the metallic floor.

  (Vivy) Oh, I just love to see angered faces. You're going to shoot me with that rifle? Oh please~

  He pulled the trigger.

  Sending the hot bullets toward the woman, she already gripped the handle of her bleach-made shield, raising it to block her from the lead. Smming dead center, the bullet rippled throughout the entirety of the hard stone bleach, causing her hand as well as her body to tremble.

  Feeling her bones rumble, she gripped her javelin as well, wrapping it around her fingers and her top palm. Sliding her right foot back, she maintained her shield to cover her frail body, her turquoise hair flowing with the desert wind.

  He then ceased, since he only shot out half of his chamber.

  (Vivy) Somebody wants revenge~

  Not a meep of their throats conjured a voice or groan.

  Instead, both took a step back. Pacifica stretched out her hands and arms, letting her fingernails glisten with the air around her. Having her palms face the ceiling, a small greenish liquid trailed through the center of her hands.

  Taking a step forward, she had her lips churned down to her jawline, followed by her eyes and face unletting the simplest of light to shine on her face.

  Without taking a step forward, Christian glued his feet to the metal floor, darkening his face as remembered what he came here to do. It was to destroy the bridge, and upon seeing where the explosives may be…

  They were on the other side of the catwalk, tucked away in a dark corner. Looking to be untouched, there was a way to hit two birds with one stone.

  Christian moved his face to Pacifica’s ear, his voice meek as a husked mouse.

  (Christian) She hasn’t touched the dynamite. I’m going to leave you to fight with Vivy. Understood?

  Pacifica didn’t nod, but her feet moved on its own without reason. Lowering her hands down to her waist, her knuckles faced the direction of the smirking face Vivy, who tapped her shoulder with her javelin.

  Walking forward as well, she turned to her right, and spit out whatever rotten saliva situated between her cavity-filled teeth.

  As the battle between acid and base commenced.