Chapter 9

'The payloads are all droppped sire' The hooded figure doesn't reply, he sat on his throne sipping his wine cup.


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Naix was lying on a pool of her own blood. 'Leong pick me up and go west from here untill you see a 50 foot high granite wall' Leong picked her up into his arms and everyone started walking to the east. 'Is it painful Miss Niax?' 'Its fine Regna'. They have been walking for 10 minutes, Niax's wound stopped bleeding. They passed one neighbourhood after another. 'Same, can you carry her? my arms are sore' Same nodded and went to carry Niax. She was asleep, its was probably the only way that she could ignore the scrching pain coming from her would. Same looked at Niax sleeping face and thought 'Can't belive that someone who has so much suvival experience would look so beautiful'.

A large grey wall meterialized infront of them. Same shook his arms 'Hey Niax, wake up' Niax was slowing waking up from her slumber. 'Uhh.. we're here already? ok now you guys need to walk along this wall untill you find a gate' 'Can you walk Niax?' 'I think so' Same lowered her feet first. Niax stood firmly, her bloodstained tank top glowed in the afternoon sun. 'what are you guys looking at?? lets go!'. They walked for hours and still no gate. Regna was not the athletic type, Same saw her panting and offered help to carry her, but she denied. Same leaved her be and they kept walking.

The scorching afternoon sun soon became a big orange sun slowly creeping back into the horizon. Lexis complained 'how long are we gonna keep walking??' something in Niax snapped 'SHUT YOUR FREAKING HOLE UP! YOU THINK I DON'T WANT TO SIT DOWN AND HAVE A REST? THERES 15000 PEOPLE LIVING IN THE INNER RING, DO THE MATH! LARGE POPULATION EQUALS TO LARGER CITY WHICH COMES TO LONGER CIRCUMFERENCE OF A FREAKING GRANITE WALL! I HAD MY ARM SEVERED AND I DON'T SEE ME COPMPLAINING?' Lexis was silent, used to Niax shouting so he decided not to complain anymore. The silver crecent moon shone above them. Then, they saw it, a 50 foot high reinforced steel gate. 'Ok we're here, now lets see where i buried that comm device' Niax looked around infront of the gate. 'Everyone look for some tree nearby, i buried it under a tree that is marked by a carving' 'What carving?' asked Leong. 'There's just one tree with a carving here so its not hard to find. The five went around the trees nearby and looked for any carvings.

'Its here boys!' Niax waved the boys over. they all gathered around the tree. Same saw the carving, it was very faint but its still visible "L+N Forever". 'Now you guys dig around this tree untill you guys find a walkie-talkie, i'm gonna rest, come Regna let go sit and watch these boys suffer' Lexis gave a reluctant look and went digging with the rest. Under a nearby tree they sat. 'I saw the carving Miss Naix' 'Funny huh?' 'No, not really, i think its kind of romantic' 'Yeah, this place used to be a park where me and Lingard used to hangout, its near our old houses, but now it all barren and deserted' 'Oh, so how did Lingard treated you?' 'Oh he's the usual nice guy. Always there to help.' 'Oh, i see'. 'I found the walkie-takie Niax!' Lexis raised his hand holding the walkie-talkie. 'Well lets get to work Regna.' Niax took the walkie-talkie and started shaking it. 'Its dynamo powered so yea, it needs recharging.' After a minute of shaking, the LCD screen of the walkie-talkie lit, showing the channel its in now. Niax turned the channel knob to a specific channel, pressed the button and spoke 'Pretty woman you read?' there was silence. 'Pretty woman you read?' then the walkie-talkie let out a distinct scratching sound and a voice materialized 'Is that you Desperate girl?' Everyone tried to hold back their laughter 'Its me Pretty woman, can you open the gate to the inner ring?' 'At this hour? yeah i think i can do that, wait there for 30 minutes i'll be right out' 'Roger Pretty woman'

'Why the weird code names?' asked Lexis. 'That person over the walkie talkie is a childhood friend of mine' 'ahhh i see'. After just 15 minutes the steel door roared and moved very, very slowly. 'Wow, thats fast!' Said Lexis 'I guess she misses me alot.' The gate opened enough to fit one person, a shadow appeared. 'Niax!' The shadow ran towards Niax and hugged her. 'Nice to see that you're fine Annix' 'Oh i miss you soo much Niax!' Then the girl jumped back 2 feet and screamed. 'Where's your right arm Niax? what happened' 'Long story, you think you can give us shelter for a few days?' 'Oh of course! you don't even need to ask, who are these nice people?' 'They're my convoy, we're gonna assasinate the emperor.' 'Ahh okays come this way everyone' They went through the gate one by one, at the other side, it was a metropolis. Casinos, restaurants, convenient stores. It looked like home to Same, Leong and Lexis. 'Everyone please wear this cloak' Annix passed a cloak to everyone. Annix pressed the buttons infront of the gate and it closed. 'Everyone follow me, stay low and don't make a sound' Everyone walked with annix in their cloaks.

Half an hour has gone and they are in a neighbourhood now. Annix walked to a house and knocked on the door 'Open the door, its mommy' then the person who opened the door looked the same age as Annix. 'Quick everyone get in'.

Everyone was sitting in a circle in the living room. 'Mom, Who are these people?' Same looked at Annix's daughter, she had two pigtails with some pink highlights on her hair, She wore a T-shirt that goes all the way to her knees, probably her pyjammas, she had hazel eyes. 'Oh this this auntie Niax you remember? when you were in grade school?' 'I forgot mom' 'okays, Niax would you introduce these people to us?' 'Sure, this here is Leong, Lexis, Same and Regna' 'And this here is my daughter Yaru' Yaru bowed. 'So let get you guys ready for sleep, Yaru can you borrow some of your clothing to Regna?' 'Sure mom' 'and you boys can just go to the cupboard over there take take what ever clothes you want' 'Huh? you have guys clothes?' asked Same. 'Yeah they were my late husband's' Then an awkward pause went throught the room and Niax interupted 'okays you guys get some rest'

'So we have 1 guest room so the boys can sleep there while Regna sleeps with Yaru and Niax is with me, any objections?' Everyone shook their head 'Okay now good night everyone'