Chapter 51 - Recovering Oliver

Strider led the way and Rynold followed right behind him. They were making their way away from the radio tower building and straight into the other side of town.

Despite the earlier attempts to find tracks of Shyft and Oliver earlier before, there were no signs as to where they went. Shyft's [Torrential Displacement] marks disappeared over time and, by the time Rynold got there, the tracks that the spell left were already gone.

So, Rynold had to check for other options and Strider was the one that made the most sense to use in this scenario. Sight failed them since Jack can't spot either of the two so maybe smell would work.

And it did.

Strider was fast but Rynold didn't have trouble much keeping up. Despite the somewhat quiet surroundings and the random wandering ghouls around, Rynold was focused on the task at hand. He couldn't stand losing another friend.

On the way to where Oliver was, Rynold found himself ever so slightly shifting in and out of focus, thinking that somehow this was all his fault. But he was determined to fix it. To fix the damage he had caused for not being there.

Not long, Strider and Rynold finally found Oliver who was laying on the ground, unconscious.

Upon closer inspection, Rynold noticed that his best friend's clothes were really worn out. By acid, to be more accurate. Oliver was in a very sorry state but, luckily, he was still alive. Despite his rather pale complexion and overall stature that looked like he had died several times over, he was alive.

This was a good thing as far as Rynold was concerned but now a new question stands. Where's his uncle?

There weren't any signs of Shyft that made it seem like he had never existed in the first place. But Rynold knew better and decided to look around. Even though there weren't any tracks to follow, it was important to actually check the surroundings first.

Strider whimpered and tried to wake Oliver while Rynold was simply silent and looked around. There wasn't anything of note, really, so Rynold decided to try the radio again.

He pressed down on the talk button and called out, "Hello, Shyft? You there?" he asked.

There was no response. Well, from Shyft anyway.

"Yo, did you find Oliver?" Jack radioed back.

Not the answer he was hoping for, Rynold frustratedly sighed and replied, "yeah, he's alright. He looked like he was struggling before passing out but he's alive, at the very least. How's it going over there?"

"Oh thank god, he's alright," Jack said, with a sigh of relief in his words. "We're doing okay here, at least. Do you think that he knows what happened to Skye?"

When X appeared in front of Jack carrying Skye, he was surprised at first that the Mech Knight suddenly showed up. But, it didn't take long for him to realize that something must've gone wrong. As soon as Jack approached Skye, his suspicions were confirmed.

Rynold didn't know how to respond to Jack's question and only said, "we'll have to see once he wakes up." He was pessimistic at this point since he couldn't have imagined that something this bad happened. Steeling his heart, he propped his best friend up with Oliver's hand over his shoulder.

Before leaving the forest though, Rynold radioed in once more. "We're going to make it back there in a few minutes. Talk to X and keep an eye on Eileen too. Something this traumatizing can be bad for a kid her age."

Jack paused before replying, "Got it. I'll find a place for Skye to... you know," he said hesitantly, "don't worry about Eileen, she's actually taking a bit of a nap now."

He suddenly paused to register what Rynold said before speaking, "wait, what do you mean by talk to X?"

"Dude, figure it out on your own. I still have to get there, remember smartass?" Rynold sarcastically responded. There really wasn't any time for this as he put the radio back into his pocket and started to walk out of the forest.

Oliver was mostly dangling because he was unconscious but there was no way around it if Rynold wanted to carry him out. He can leave it to Strider but Oliver was too huge for the wolf to carry.

Regardless, the two and the unconscious ragdoll made their way ever so slowly out of the forest.

They were slow but at least they were making progress. It took a long amount of time just for them to get out of the forest, however, the street had even ground so walking or dragging is easier.

A few blocks into the street, Rynold finally noticed a wagon that was made for carrying produce was abandoned on the street. The things in the wagon were mostly spoilt since they were left in the open air for a few days now but the wagon itself was still useful.

Rynold put down Oliver and made him lean on the wall of a building and went to get the wagon.

He dumped all the rotten fish that was on the wagon onto the street and moved it back to where Oliver was. He planned to use the wagon to carry Oliver so that they would meet with Jack faster than their current pace.

Rynold turned around to move the wagon but there was something aloof going down. A shadowy figure was moving in the darkness and approaching Oliver.

It was dark. There was no electricity to provide some lighting from the lamps and porch lights on the street and the moonlight was somewhat blocked by the houses. However, the figure that moved was unmistakenly there.

Rynold dropped the handles of the wagon and ran straight to Oliver. He was faster than the figure and was able to block what seemed like a blade that would've struck Oliver's neck.

A clang of metal was heard that echoed throughout the night.

Rynold managed to block the blade that would've hit Oliver and swatted the unknown figure. His gauntlet missed the unknown assailant but he managed to get him away from Oliver. Rynold turned around to try and spot the figure and saw that Strider was actually kicked to the side before the poor wolf could even react.

"Who are you?!" Rynold said, enraged.

The figure took a step forward and lowered his hood that made Rynold see the guy's face in the moonlight.

"Is that how you treat your elders?"

It was Shyft. He was listening to the radio communications between Rynold and Jack the whole time and managed to circle back to the street where Rynold would eventually walk. He planned to kill Oliver without notifying his nephew in the most stealthily way possible. It was an opportunity that he took advantage of.

Too bad, he failed. Rynold lowered his guard in surprise but recovered at a second's notice. He didn't expect this to happen, but, then again, who would've been able to see this coming?

"Uncle? Explain this," Rynold gritted his teeth, "now!"

"Look at you, big man," Shyft laughed mockingly before continuing, "you remind me of your dad in the last few minutes of his life."

Rynold's eyes widened. He couldn't believe what the guy was saying in the slightest bit. They seemed so close in the old world but how could such a dynamic suddenly change out of nowhere?

Rynold clicked his tongue in dismay. Considering his options, he couldn't just charge at his own uncle because he still felt some sort of sentiment towards the guy. But, then again, he just couldn't forgive him.

"Don't make me do something that we'll both regret!" Rynold threatened as he extended his drill to its full size.

"Scary," Shyft chuckled sarcastically. "You see, I tried to make sure that your friend there won't be a burden to you anymore. I mean, just look at the guy. He's pathetic! And the girl that was with him was even worse. Your dad's final words were that I would take care of you. I just made sure that I would do right by your father."

"And that means you try and kill off my friends?" Rynold snarled back. "You think this is right? That I'll just abandon people because of no good reason?!" he paused and raised his drill and pointed it at his uncle.

"Leave before I change my mind."

Shyft stepped back in the sudden pressure that Rynold was producing. It was like he was staring down at a cornered animal. Dangerous when pushed to extreme circumstances. It looks like wouldn't be able to change Rynold's mind.

He then suddenly smiled in response and a cheeky one at that. "You're going to regret this in the long run, kid. You should've left them when you had the chance."

Shyft slowly turned around and walked away. Rynold lowered his guard until a hand grabbed his leg out of nowhere.

Rynold looked down to see who or what grabbed him.

It was Oliver. He managed to wake up at this very moment but he was still too weak to move or even speak.

In a hushed tone, Oliver murmured to Rynold, "d-don't let him... go."

Rynold kneeled to be eye-level with Oliver, only to say, "I'm sorry."