Section 6: Saving the Prince

After minimal exploration in each classroom, I walked along the bloody hallway, only to suddenly hear a boyish scream from the distance. I decided to rush over to the voice, that voice is familiar and I heard it somewhere before around the University grounds.

I sneaked a peek from the classroom windows, I wouldn't want to open myself to ambush in the hallway. I saw him, the real Joel tried his best to avoid the drones shot with his teary eyes.

I wanted to help him, but rushing in without a strategy is the same as suicide. I sat on the chair in the classroom to think of a plan. However, my back injuries are quite tormenting. Unfortunately, my hand couldn't reach my back which is annoying. I just had a low tolerance to pain and wanted my back to be treated immediately. If I help Joel he could treat my back, I have to help him.

I watched my surroundings for useful items. Nonetheless, I could only find debris and pebbles on the floor.

"Oh pebbles", I thought to myself.

The drones seemed to react on the sound so if I distracted the drone with these it should work. I gathered the pebbles and any useful object that I could throw. After his first scream, Joel didn't make any sound.

It's either because he's already dead or he's hiding somewhere on this floor. The hallway is narrow and closed off, so if I throw something it should have created echoes that might have confused the drones hearing.

I immediately tested it out whether my theory worked out, I threw any kind of object toward the opposite direction that might create greater echoes.

"How many objects? Four? Three?", I talked to myself.

The plan was after creating those echoes I would hide under the teacher desk, this plan itself was risky and I was prone to danger. But if I don't do anything, Joel will be in deep trouble. I executed the plan with shaky fingers, after four or three objects I crawled quietly to the teacher's desk and hid underneath it.

The drone seemed to take the bait, but after that, he came back to Joel direction which pissed me off.

"Are you serious?", I gulped.

I decided to abandon the plan and followed the drone secretly. Luckily I found a metal bat on the way, I'm not sure whether this will be useful but I had to try.

"Okay, I'm safe", a boyish voice just came out from the room that's positioned right in front of the drone.

I had to say Joel is an idiot to the core, I was forced to hit the drone with my newly found metal bat. I just charged at a killer drone with a mere metal bat, this is really a gamble. I swung my bat to the gun panel before he could even manage to prepare his Gatling gun.

If I broke the panel, the Gatling gun would be stuck inside that stupid drone. I swung my metal bat to its field of vision to blinded him, that's when I realized I should have gone for the eyes first.

After damaging it badly, I grabbed Joel's wrist and dragged him away from the confused drone. As I expected, the drone went shooting crazy on the university which was great and I had to avoid its range of shooting while defending the petrified Joel.

The rain of bullets damaged the ceiling, I quickly ran as far as I could from the drone. The ceiling debris fell on the drone simultaneously, silencing the drone for eternity.

"That's a close one" Joel said cheerily.

I wanted to smack his pretty face if I could but I'm sure he would be shocked and mortally wounded by my action.

"Yeah that's a close one" I smiled at him, more like pretending to be smiling.

I asked Joel why he ended up being chased by a drone, to which he answered that the drone found him hiding in the lecturer room on the second floor and chased him to the third floor.

So far his testimony has been consistent with the clues that were left behind on both floors. He looked terrified and horrified by the drone, I could only pat his shoulder since I didn't really know him that well.

Joel was always mysterious and unpredictable, he had this timid nature around him. He had a lot of friends and yet I'm sure none of them know the real Joel Cassian personalities.

"Joel, do you know which floor is the surveillance room?", I asked him.

"I think it was on the seventh floor, I mean before hiding in the lecturer room I went there first", he explained to me briefly.

"Got it, can you hack?", I asked him straightforwardly.

"Yeah, I'm a basic hacker I think", he admitted.

"Good, then we have no time to waste", I said sternly.

Joel followed me from behind as I walked cautiously to the stairs area, I guess four floors to go to reach the seventh floor. As we walked up Joel stared at me uncontrollably from behind that even I felt the shiver when he stared at me that hard.

I decided to ignore him as we advance to the seventh floor with panting breath. I am not in a gaming mood for light conversation with Joel. I burst open the surveillance room which surprisingly had no traces of blood and a fight happened in this room.

I think the drones haven't made their way to the seventh floor, since the seventh floor was the cleanest floor than the floor below. I couldn't stand the pain on my back, I fell down with my bottom hit the ground first.

"Joel, I need you to treat my back" I descended on the cold floor in agony.

"Aria! What happened!?" Joel kneeled next to me.

I handed him the first aid kit bag I found inside the clinic. I begged him to open my clothes and treated the jabbed wounds on my back. Joel gulped, his milk skinned hand trails their way to my back, he opened my clothes and gasped as he saw the wounds on my back, scars on my arm, leg, and gashes around my body. He who was at first shy, braved himself to treat me.

"I'm sorry please bear with me" Joel gulped as he put the alcoholic cotton on each of my wounds.

I bit my own black t-shirt as he treated the wounds carefully. I have a low tolerance to wounds and other kinds of injuries, to even hold it this long is an impressive feat due to the bountiful stress I had because of the drone.

"Ahh!" I groaned in pain.

"Sorry, did it hurt?" Joel just asked a useless question that could be answered by looking at my pathetic state.

"I'm fine just keep going" I gritted my teeth.

Joel treated the wounds slowly to the point his treatment lasted for one hour which is excruciatingly painful for me. Joel finished his last touch on my arm, I could feel my whole body covered in a cold sweat.

Joel tidied up the first aid kit for me, which is unlike his lazy past self. I could feel the sensation of the clean white bandages on my skin, it was quite comfortable to my liking. Joel did a good job fixing me, he did it carefully so that the bandages won't feel too tight or too loose.

"Can you hack the surveillance camera? I want to see the records for these past hours" I ordered him.

"Yeah sure," he pulled out his laptop from his giant backpack.

I could guess why he almost got killed by the drones if he carried that kind of heavy backpack. I mind my own business as he typed anonymous codes I didn't understand on the screen of the laptop.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you the time, maybe around four or five hours? I couldn't remember the time he left me" I told him.

"You're looking for a friend?" he asked curiously.

"Yes" I replied solemnly.

When Joel finished his jobs, I fast-forwarded the video to find Ender's whereabouts. I don't remember what time it was, but Ender did reach the University clinic.

Ender ran to the University clinic in a hurry when suddenly a splatter of red liquids and the sound of screaming girls were heard inside the clinic. Ender pulled away from the door, only to be busted open by the drone.

"So that's when his handkerchief fell", I stroke my chin.

After the drone breakout, Ender ran away from the drone and he was never seen again in the surveillance videos. I could only conclude this as a dead end, he either died or survived from the drones that are it. I wanted to laugh so hard until I broke my lungs, I am worried, depressed, anxious of Ender wellbeing.

"Hahaha", I laughed merrily.

Joel raised his eyebrows in confusion.

"Hahahahahahahahahahaa", I laughed merrily.

I laughed like a broken doll I am, my sanity almost reached my limit. I had to mask this sadness and anxiousness I felt but how? I wonder how. I wonder whether I reached hell if I died, even if I was able to reunite with the rest of my dead friends.

I had a feeling they'll despise me for living a longer life than them, a lowly liar like me who never stayed true to myself. That's right I had to be hated and feared, I had to outsmart the enemy, I had to be another person even if the lies made my whole being suffering in an endless void.