Chapter 24: REUNION OF SORTS

Shiru looked at the man again. From the moment he caught her, he kept asking her one question only, where the cold water was. Surprisingly, he had promised to keep her alive if she showed him where the water was. At first, she thought he was lying so she deliberately tried to stall by taking him in circles around the city. This was met with a gunshot fired off near her ear making her temporarily deaf and scared beyond words. " If you really don't want to die stop messing around," he had said in her other ear coldly. They had passed through a group fighting and somehow no one bothered to look or even interfere. However, when they passed a certain hovercraft, he told her to stop. Around them, the air was tense.

Alex looked at the scene before him. Albert was about to kill a kid. " Albert"! he shouted. His voice cut through the tension like butter. Shiru froze in shock. Before her, Mwas was on his knees. He had a missing arm that was bleeding profusely and from the looks of it, was barely clinging to life. "MWANGI"! she screamed and ran towards her brother. Even though he was a nuisance, even though he hated her, he was still her little brother. She threw her arms around him crying. " Mwas wake up please look at me, look at me," she said amid sobs and tears. " It was a terrible reunion. She tried to stop the bleeding taking off her sweater and wrapping it around the remaining stub. She was crying hysterically. Mwas, who was half conscious said," Oh so you do care about me eh", he passes out.

" Since when did you start fighting kids"? Alex asked looking at the scene before him. Albert replied irritated," Since the moment he got a hit on me," Albert replied. Alex turned and looked at him in shock. A kid had actually landed a hit on him. He looked at the unconscious boy in his sister's arms with profound respect. Albert still irritated said," Put that kid in the hovercraft where the other one is," he walked away. Alvin looked at his brother and asked," Where are you going"? To which Albert replied," To hunt for someone worthy of a fight". He walked on. Alvin, who had witnessed the entire fight, had come to a horrible conclusion, his brother was a monster. A monster he could never beat nor catch up on.

Alex grabbed Shiru's hair again and pulled her away from her brother. She screamed and tried to get away from him. This only made him tighten the grip. " Take him," he told the soldier. Looking at Shiru he said coldly," You were leading me to the water right"? he smiled. The smile sent shiver down her spine. This man will kill me she thought as she merely nodded a reply. Alvin, overhearing their conversation spoke up in excitement, " I'm coming with you". Alex sighed. So much for first dibs. " Well then let's all ride on your craft then", he said loudly. Alvin moved over and gave them space while the soldier went to the back, putting the two boys in a sitting position, made room for himself.

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Kim stepped out of Shiku's house for the first time since the invasion. He wasn't in his best condition but he wanted to help the village, his home. Shiku's mother had begged him to stay with them but he politely declined. They had gone down into the lab which now acted as shelter due toit being underground. The attack had caught them treating him. Even though he said he was fine, they still had their doubts but reluctantly let him go. Kim had asked whether he could bring his friend Thia and his family to the lab. Both parents agreed.

He looked at the scene before him horrified. Chaos. Everything was in chaos. People were running here and there, children were crying, women were screaming, sounds of leza shots rang continously and the putrid smell of blood and burning flesh was everywhere. Despair hung like a cloud of dust all over the village. He looked up and saw that the barrier had taken an orange hue and had cracks everywhere.

He turned and was heading toward Thia's home when the sound of a hovercraft engine stopped him. He saw it in the far distance and, for some reason, a sense of dread filled him. He ran towards it. As he got closer, dread kept rising. For some reason, the hovercraft stopped a few meters in front of him. He quickened his paceand finally caught up to it. He looked at the passengers of the craft and went numb. There was Thia, looking dead and Mwas, without an arm. "THIAAAAA"! he screamed making all the adults turn to him. That's when he saw Alvin. "What did you do to Thia"? he asked angrily. Alvin looked at Kim. He had forgotten him. "Wait I can explain..." he said glancing at Thia. However, he was interrupted by the soldier who intercepted Kim's punch. Kim was on the offensive, too angry to think or care about anything.

The soldier pushed him back and was about to reach for his weapon when Kim attacked again. He punched the soldier's left jaw, kicked his ribs and gave him an uppercut. The soldier fell back reeling. Damn kid he thought. However he could feel something was wrong. The kid's punches weren't supposed to hurt like this, neither were his kicks supposed to crack his ribs. He looked at the kid again... A knee to the nose was what he saw. Kim then grabbed his right arm and broke it cleanly. The soldier howled in pain. This wasn't a normal fight. The remaining adults watched in awe. This were not moves of a mere child thought Alex as he reached for his gun. He had sensed the murderous intent the moment Alvin spoke. He aimed and fired. He missed. He actually missed! Alvin was shocked. The greatest sniper had missed. Alex, who had looked dumbfounded, smiled fully. No one had ever missed his shot yet right now a child had just did. He reloaded his gun and opened fire.

Shiru had looked at Kim the whole time. She noticed the change in him and realized, this wasn't normal. She had always seen him as an annoying brat who hated her and yet... this Kim in front of her was different. He was someone new. Someone she had never seen before. Was this perhaps the reason why the Deles warned her to stay away from him? When he came closer, she looked in his eyes and was horrified. Those eyes were dead. Then at the corner of her eye she saw him.

Albert had caught up to them.