CHAPTER 15
Ryker woke up with a start. Had he only imagined the noise of war machinery? He took a deep breath, realizing he was sleeping beside Alexia. Those dreams were nonstop, even if he had her beside him already. She was fast asleep, occasionally frowning, and he shook his head and gave a soft smile.
All of a sudden, the world shook, and dust fell from the ceiling. He quickly sat up, startling Alexia. “Get dressed,” he told her, seeing her eyes wide and in a panic. Alexia did as she was told, her hands shaking.
He grabbed her hand, leading her down the hall as the remaining community panicked and shouts and screams filled the halls. They ran to the military base, breathless. He saw the community heads were already there, working in a frenzy with what they could.
“We expected this,” Leopold said. “That’s why only a quarter of the population is left.” He eyed the young lady beside Ryker. Whatever was going to happen began with Ryker’s and Alexia’s lineage. They were star-crossed lovers, so it seemed. Survival was paramount, but how long could they hold out? By the looks of it, their weapons could only hold off a maximum of half a day for a full assault. The Auberons had built the compound to withstand two nuclear bombs, but that had been before, when the world had heavily relied on nuclear weaponry.
Things were different now, and Leopold had no idea what Caledon had in store for them. Ryker listened to the Alaskan military defensives. Offensives had to be minimal, he knew. Their stored ammunition wouldn’t last a month with what Caledon and his military had brought in. Their old sensors spotted fifteen jets, a host of tanks, and helicopters.
“The weresoldiers will have no weapons,” he spoke up. “They’ll be relying heavily on their enhanced bodies.”
Leopold gazed at Alexia. “Can she help us? With her blood?”
Alexia was looking at his codename: Silverfox. It was Leopold, a trusted adviser of Ryker’s grandfather. She felt he was the only rational person here, despite what he had gone through.
Ryker shook his head. “We don’t have the weapons for that. Our best move is to take down Caledon. He’s the only one holding this together.”
“Who else do we have to watch out for?” Leopold asked.
“Aside from the weresoldiers? Caledon’s son, Lt. Stephen Caledon. He’s as bloodthirsty as the werebeings he has trained.”
“The boy with the new arm,” one corporal said. “He was televised. We caught that feed. For valiantly defending the motherland. He had been given a new arm.”
Ryker nodded, remembering the black and titanium arm he had sported as they had taken Alexia away with their cruel hands. That man had been Alexia’s older brother, a man who probably didn’t know or who probably didn’t care. There was never going to be an opportunity for a treaty; there was never going to be a peace between them. It was going to be a bloodbath on both sides unless they came up with something brilliant…
Alexia was quiet as she listened. She could feel the frosty gaze of the remaining officers in the room. Her presence was unwanted, and she knew they must’ve thought of her as a spy. “I’ll surrender,” she suddenly spoke up amid the din of the conversation.
Ryker stopped. “What?”
The room fell deathly silent.
Alexia closed her eyes, mustering her courage to talk to them. “I’ll surrender when they get here.”
“That doesn’t mean they’ll stop. He has a bone to pick with each one of us,” Sarah’s father said.
Alexia shook her head. “He’ll be distracted. I know I’m not the only reason he’s here. He wants to destroy the people my older brother helped-” she paused, remembering what her brother had said.
“I want you to live a long life; I want you to be the happiest you’ll ever be. I want you to be happy for the rest of your life. I want to give you that chance to be free from everything that’s destroyed our family,” his voice choked.
“You’ll remember things soon, Alexandra,” he told her. “You’ll remember everything, and I want you to be safe when you do.”
“Come now, you don’t expect a girl to stop this, do you?” a doubtful corporal said.
Ryker nodded at Alexia. “Go on.”
Leopold nodded, giving the girl the floor.
Alexia took another deep breath. “I’m not sure what he’ll do. But if he’s as cold and calculating as you say he is, he’ll find some use for me first. A display of power is what he’ll do. He’ll show he’s in control.”
“Where are you going with this, Alexia?” Leopold asked.
“I’m walking out of here,” she replied.
Ryker seemed to read her mind. “You aren’t walking on that lake.”
“They won’t know it is, right? It’s been buried under tons of snow for years now…” she said, remembering a conversation she had had with a doctor.
Ryker shook his head. “No, it’s too risky for you-”
“Then all the better,” she said, unable to believe she was actually saying this, asserting herself. “There will be lesser to deal with. Just those that aren’t with him.”
“He won’t sacrifice his troops for one person,” a colonel scoffed.
“But he will for a daughter, a daughter he needs for his troops,” Leopold said in a quiet voice. “How many so far? The tanks and jeeps?”
“Twenty-five jeeps and ten tanks,” Sarah’s father said. “ETA is in twelve minutes.”
The rest of the men began to mutter and talk aloud, considering or denying Alexia’s plan.
“Will you do it?” Leopold asked her, knowing there was still a host of people in the shelter, people who couldn’t leave now unless they wanted to face certain death. There had to be a sacrificial pawn, but he wasn’t willing to let the last Auberon out of his sight.
Alexia nodded. Leopold muttered instructions, and the men left the room, all except for Alexia and Ryker.
“What in the hell do you think you’re doing?” Ryker spoke, aghast.
“Saving people, as much as I can,” she told Ryker. “It’s not a foolproof plan; I’ve only based it on what I’ve known so far about this place. We’re in an islet; there’s a lake before they can get to us.”
“They’re desperate, but you don’t have to be,” Ryker said, trying to talk her out of it. “I’ll go. They want me, too. I’m a traitor; think of what they’ll have to show the country.”
“Not as much as my father wants me back,” she said. “At least I’ll be face to face with him after so long.”
Leopold watched, and his heart felt heavy. He had been empathetic about Alexia’s plight, but a Caledon couldn’t stay here, unless it was by some miracle. He had done his best, done his best for over thirty years in this community, only for all of his careful choices to end with a reckless one by a Caledon.
“What makes you think he won’t kill you there?” Ryker snapped at her, feeling heat rise in his face.
“Don’t shift now,” Alexia warned him, unconsciously holding onto her neck. “He won’t. He might have a televised show of this. If he wins, it’ll serve as a warning to the remaining werebeings out there.”
“Then we won’t let him win,” Leopold said.
“Don’t do this,” Ryker pleaded with her, grabbing her hand.
Alexia looked at his hand and shook her head. “Ryker, this has to stop. You said so yourself.”
“I didn’t mean that you have to do this,” Ryker protested, disbelieving that his plans could crumble so, all because of her decision. “I wanted to protect you. It shouldn’t be this way-” he stopped, realizing he sounded needy and defeated. He nodded. “I’ll go with you. You have no say in that.”
Alexia was quiet, knowing that that part she had no control over. She slowly turned to face Leopold.
“First things first,” Leopold told her. “We have to have you protected, a lightweight vest. Ryker, will you be needing weapons?”
“A knife,” Ryker said. “Or any blade. I don’t want to shift just yet. It’ll destroy what little plans we have.”
Leopold nodded. “Alright. Alexia, kindly proceed to room 22; it’s down the hall. Your vest will be there. Ryker, I’d like to have one last word with you.”
Alexia left, her heart hammering over what she had done. A vest would not protect her against a grenade or a weresoldier’s bite to the neck. She looked at Ryker, who was now engrossed in a conversation with the tribe’s leader.
“She is not going there alone,” Ryker told Leopold once more. “You can’t expect me to just sit here-”
“You are the last heir to the Auberon family. You are a political savior, and they can turn you into a political prisoner.”
“I’m not leaving her out there,” Ryker said. “Someone else can be leader. My time isn’t now. It won’t be until the next- what? Thirty years? Leopold, how can you allow her to go out there-”
“It is her choice, and not mine. Not even yours.”
“I’m not leaving her,” he repeated again.
Leopold nodded. “Then so shall it be. You are far more stubborn than your father was as a child. I have a few arrangements I have to make. I will see you at level 5 in ten minutes.”
Ryker watched as Leopold walked out of the room. He didn’t waste time in going after Alexia. She had just put on a bulletproof vest over her head when he came in. There was little he could do to sway her choice. Determination was in her eyes.
“I won’t back down,” she told him, unable to look at him. “I’ve been helpless for too long. This is the least I can do-”
“If you die, it will be the last you can do,” Ryker told her, narrowing his eyes at a soldier, who quickly excused himself.
Alexia glared at him. “You’ve been ordering me around since we met. This is my choice. That man out there, the man who’s about to kill us all, that man is my father. The least you can do is to help me. You think I’m not scared? Well, I am. I’m scared as hell, but it’s better than just being hidden away, all because you said so. Ryker, this war started because my ancestors killed your family. I can see that Leopold wants you safe, and I want that to happen for you, too-”
“No,” Ryker insisted. “I’m an Auberon, but it doesn’t change the fact that I swore to be there for you, to protect you. Allow me to protect you.”
“You can’t protect me from my own father.”
“And you what? Plan to kill him?” Ryker asked her, as if challenging her. “It’s my job, but I won’t do it if you won’t allow me to.”
She closed her eyes, feeling the sting of tears. “I don’t know, Ryker. But I have to face him, do what I can.”
“Then I’ll be there,” he insisted. “We’ll face him together. He stole our childhood, after all.”
*
Caledon was staring at the expanse of snow, snow so white it blinded everyone for a moment. The sun was at its highest, with what sun Alaska could afford. There was little wind chill, but everyone, except his weresoldiers, wore thick jackets and covered their faces.
The president stood in front of his fleet, flanked by three of his five favored generals, Stephen, and a few Alpha weresoldiers, including Caliban. There was no sign of a community. There had to be an entrance underground. A hundred years ago, this place had been a glacier, and it was now covered up by heavy snow, the result of that brutal nuclear war his grandfather had inflicted. It had assured that the werebeing community was no more.
If it were not for his eldest son’s betrayal, Magnus would have never found out they were still thriving while hiding. How difficult could finding them be? Their sensors couldn’t pick up any signs of life on the surface. The cold was too much for their heat technology, and a general had already suggested bombing the whole state to bits. They could certainly afford to, albeit at a great cost. Caledon wouldn’t have it.
He had taken the precaution to have it streamed live, so everyone could see the treacherous community that had threatened to destabilize the country and his rule. In this country, there could only be one leader, with a family name and legacy to uplift.
A few men had checked the stability of the sudden fall beneath them, attesting that it was solid ground. Caledon nodded. This had been a glacier, a glacier had to have a lake somewhere, and if it was underneath all of this snow, then the community wouldn’t be too far off. He had to marvel at the ingenuity of the werebeings. They were so desperate to stay alive and to keep safe from him that they had never ventured above ground—until Ryker had come into place.
“Sir?” Stephen began, awaiting further instructions.
“Wait,” Caledon murmured, seeing figures move from across the expanse. He saw two people, straining against the sudden gust of wind that blew across the snow. He waited for them to come closer, and then he smiled, seeing a young woman’s figure.
Alexandra was coming back to him, whether she wanted to or not.
*
She couldn’t find the strength to hold Ryker’s hand; it was too cold, and she was too nervous. The snow reached her thighs as they trudged through. She had seen an old map of the lake, before it had been destroyed during the war. They were all standing underneath a lake that had been frozen for over a hundred years. She saw a man that stood apart from the rest, and it was clear it was her father. President Magnus Caledon stared at her, and she felt her heartbeat thump erratically.
“Keep it down,” Ryker told her. “The werebeings can pick that up,” he added with a whisper. They were at the edge of the lake, the estimated edge of it.
“Come now,” Stephen called out to them, talking a bold step closer. The youngsters were a mile across from them, never daring to move. They were clearly hiding something. Were the rest of the werebeings buried under the snow? Were they so well-camouflaged that even his weresoldiers couldn’t pick them up? He wasn’t taking any chances. He watched as his father stepped forward.
“I’ll go with you,” he quickly told his father.
Caledon nodded. He looked at his generals and at Caliban. “Be ready,” he said.
Both parties walked toward the center of the expanse; the youngsters’ steps were tiny. Alexia couldn’t stop shaking, whether from the cold or from the anxiety of coming face to face with her father and the brother she had never met, not until he’d tried to kill her months back.
Without warning, Ryker quickly held her gloved hand, feeling what little warmth she had ebb away as she took another step. “You can do this,” he muttered under his breath. “Stop here.”
She quickly nodded, her eyes never leaving the people in front of them. They were walking closer to her and him, and with every second, her father’s and brother’s face came into full view.
“Alexandra, is that you?” Magnus began with a quiet voice. His voice was filled with surprising warmth, and Alexia almost took a step forward, would have were it not for Ryker’s hand.
She took a breath and remained in place. She was staring at him, trying to dredge up some loving memory from her childhood, but she couldn’t remember his face. His voice, on the other hand… had he always sounded so kind in person? Was that why so many were swayed by his words?
“See how beautiful you’ve become. Our time apart has made you so much stronger,” Magnus continued. Stephen looked at his father questioningly, unable to believe he was hearing it from the President. “But that time apart has to come to an end. It is time to come home, Alexandra, and be treated like the hero that you truly are, be treated like the daughter of-”
“You left me alone to rot; you left me, no, you left us to die,” Alexia said, interrupting him.
Magnus shook his head. “It was necessary, but it is time to end it. You have proven to be more useful than anyone in my government.”
Alexia shook her head. “If I go with you, will you leave Ryker alone?” she asked.
“A whole community of werebeings in the supposedly abandoned state of Alaska? Why, Ryker Auberon, you’ve outdone yourself.”
“There’s no one left here,” Ryker spoke up. “Just us.”
Magnus smiled, and Stephen laughed a short laugh. Father and son eyed Ryker, knowing he was the one person they wanted dead. It was idiotic of Ryker to even assume they were dense enough to accept that as fact.
“They can come out, Ryker,” Magnus said. “I can grant them clemency. I can grant you clemency.”
“I am not a criminal. Nor is every other werebeing, except the ones you’ve brainwashed.” Ryker saw Caliban’s eyes narrow, as well as the eyes of every other weresoldier behind their president. Ryker had no idea what the Caledons and his forces were going to do next, despite Leopold advising them of the possibilities of what Magnus might do.
Alexia scanned the crowd behind her father and brother, looking for JJ. She couldn’t find him, and her heart hammered, suddenly realizing that it had been the first and last time she would ever get to see her eldest brother. “JJ-” she began.
“He’s dead, Alexandra,” Magnus intoned. “They killed your brother. People like Ryker did.” Magnus looked at Ryker. “I’m assuming you don’t want my daughter hurt, unless this is part of your plan? To use her against me?”
Ryker gripped Alexia’s hand tighter, almost cutting off her blood circulation, but she didn’t care. Her brother was dead. Killed by werebeings? It couldn’t be… and no matter what, he had told her that Ryker would keep her safe, and Ryker had, ever since they had escaped. She looked at Ryker’s eyes and knew her father was sugarcoating his need for her.
“Come, Alexandra. We have much to catch up to. All those missed years for the sake of the democratic sovereignty has reaped its rewards. No harm shall ever befall you again, no matter how small.”
Alexia blinked. Ryker had promised that, and no matter the feeling of finally seeing her father, she knew she could never trust her own flesh and blood. She had chosen a life with Ryker way back, even when she didn’t know what was going to happen to them as refugees. It was Ryker whom she trusted, heart and soul.
She shook her head, and she saw Magnus’ eyes narrow.
Magnus then nodded. “There’s a difference between being stubborn and being completely daft, Alexandra. Your mother wouldn’t have wanted this.”
Her mother. Juliet. That photo. Yes, she had seen where she had gotten her eyes, her nose, her lips, heck, her whole face was a copy of her mother’s. “You allowed us to be taken away. You demanded it. You said we were abominations,” she suddenly said, a rush of memories escaping her mouth. “You killed her, didn’t you? You killed her!”
Magnus’ mouth was drawn into a straight line. “The werebeings killed her. An unnecessary rebellion caused her death, and the misfortune was that your brother, Jared, could never be cured of it.”
Tears were streaming down her face, and she shook her head, fully recalling what their own father had done to them that fateful night when they had been taken away, never to be seen again. “You murderer.”
Magnus shook his head and sighed. “What I do is for the country, Alexandra. With your help, you saved this country’s strength and economy. Your blood-”
“Is mine alone to give,” she finished. “I’d be a fool to go with you, but if that’s what it takes to get you to leave Ryker alone-”
“What makes you think you have a choice in this, Alexandra?” Magnus asked her. “Whether you come with me or not, Ryker will still need disciplining for doing this to the country.”
“I had nothing to do with what you did,” Ryker told him. “You are nothing like my father, or my grandfather, or the president your grandfather had killed.”
Magnus turned to his remaining son, knowing an assault was well under way. He had given explicit instructions for the shelter to be bombed. It had to be behind Ryker and Alexandra… and he would bomb the hell out of Alaska, not caring whether they would lose the whole state, and just let it sink into the sea.
Stephen took a step forward, pointing his gun at Ryker’s chest. He no longer needed to steady his bionic arm. Without Alexia, he would reject the arm, unless her blood was readily available. He needed her in his life, for all the practical reasons and none of the sentimental ones. He fought off the flash of memories that had coursed through him as their father had spoken, and he knew that A129 had been telling the godawful truth. Their father had lied about many things, including how their mother had died, but his loyalty still lay with Magnus. He had seen how his father had worked tirelessly, and he knew that he was next in line…
A shot rang out, and then someone slumped to the ground, but that someone wasn’t Ryker. It was Alexia. Ryker immediately caught her, right before she fell to the ground, and he could smell blood seeping through her thick layer of clothing.
Stephen put his hand down, knowing A129 would do that. Another shot, and they’d both be down, but he didn’t count on someone else interfering. Caliban came charging at him, knocking him and the gun out of the way. Stephen’s vision blurred for a moment, realizing that his own subordinate had done so.
Magnus was calm. “Caliban, have your loyalties shifted somewhere else?”
Caliban made no response to the president, but he looked at Alexia in horror, as she struggled to keep her eyes open. He was supposed to be with her this time; she was supposed to be safe. What had his senior done? He had wanted to kill Ryker, but the moment he saw how Ryker never wanted to let go of her, he knew it was over and done with for him. The best he could do was save her, but he couldn’t…
Stephen stood up, wiping blood off of his mouth. “You’re going to regret that,” Stephen hissed, his eyes darkening over. Stephen didn’t need to look at his father for approval. His bionic arm had been equipped to control his team, and that team started with Caliban. Stephen pretended to stretch his bionic fingers, and then his real arm pressed something on it.
All of a sudden, Caliban let out a painful scream, and he fell to the ground writhing in pain. Everyone could smell smoke rising from within Caliban as he screamed for mercy. Stephen ignored it, as did Magnus. The rest of the werebeings and Ryker watched in horror as Caliban burned from the inside.
“That’ll teach anyone who defies us,” Stephen muttered, picking up his gun as Caliban lay a few feet away from them, forming a pool of water underneath his burnt body. Caliban had half-shifted, singeing his fur in the process, and his figure looked like a failed lab experiment, a cross between a deformed human and a large cat.
Ryker shook his head, unable to believe what he had just seen. He could faintly hear the heartbeats of everyone else—the humans’ hearts were louder, but the fear in the werebeings’ eyes was unmistakable. There was little chance the weresoldiers would defy the Caledons this time. That was what life was like in their hands. A blink, a breath, a button…
He could hear Alexia’s heart still beating, and he knew that if he didn’t get her to a doctor, she could lose more blood and die from it. He was holding onto her as he knelt on the ground, watching as Magnus took a step closer to him, as did Stephen. The army behind them moved forward, faster than Ryker had thought they would. Had he given the rest of the community enough time to escape?
The weresoldiers stopped moving, hearing the faintest of cracks underneath them. One informed his superior but was told to shut up. The tanks and jeeps rolled down the hill, heading for Ryker and Alexia. The majority of the weresoldiers stopped walking forward, knowing they would die either way.
“Move!” one general hissed, and the weresoldiers were adamant to stop heeding their orders. “Move!”
Stephen couldn’t burn them all at once, so he just kept pressing onto a button on his arm, hearing one weresoldier scream after the next. Who cares if they died? Dr. Wallace was making more in his lab, anyway.
As soon as Ryker saw the last of the army roll down the hill and onto the flat, snow-covered ground, he closed his eyes, knowing it was now or never. His grip on Alexia tightened, and for the first time in his life, he prayed. He prayed to anyone who was willing to hear him. He needed a miracle. “Leopold, now,” he whispered.
A loud crack snaked its way down the shoes of every man who had his feet on the supposedly solid ground. Magnus stopped, his eyes narrowing, realizing they had planned this far better than he and his army had. He looked across, seeing Ryker and his daughter’s face disappear from view, and for a moment, he could see the overcast clouds as the ice under him broke, unleashing frigid water on him and everyone else.
Ryker had only begun to move when he felt the ice beneath him give way, and he fell in the water with Alexia still in his arms. The shock of the water hit him, and he knew he couldn’t shift yet, even if he wanted to. Get Alexia to safety, his body screamed, fighting the cold that was weighing him down—as millions of needles pierced his human form.
He struggled to keep her head afloat as blocks of ice, tons of ice as thick as 2 meters across began bobbing on the water. He fought against the waves forming from all the machinery and people falling into the water. He heard werebeings shift, and he heard others drowning. Ryker looked up to see jets flying overhead, and he knew that Caledon had given orders to bomb the whole place. Ryker sputtered as he used one hand to claw his way onto a block of ice, and his veins strained at the weight and effort, all the while keeping Alexia from drowning.
The cacophony of noise echoed loudly in Ryker’s ears, but he paid no attention to it, instead using what strength he had left to lift Alexia out of the water and heave her onto the ice. Alexia was turning blue, but she forced herself to move.
“Ryker,” she whispered. “Ryker-“
“Stay there!” Ryker gasped, seeing Alexia trying to sit up. Blood was gushing out of her chest by now as she crawled for him. “Don’t move!”
Alexia shook her head, the ice numbing her pain momentarily. Her hand extended out to grab him, and she held onto his freezing hand that was about to slip from the edge. “Don’t let go,” she told him with gritted teeth, feeling the bullet wound tear open.
All of a sudden, Ryker plopped onto the ice, and he saw Leopold standing above him. “Get her out,” he said quickly.
Leopold nodded, lifting Alexia. Despite his seemingly thin frame, he did so with ease.
“Ryker, no!” Alexia screamed as Leopold took her away. Ryker stood at the edge of the now uncovered lake, staring at the mass of ice and people. He could no longer see the machines. The jets had swooped in closer, readying their missiles. Ryker looked back to see the long dormant artillery come alive, rising from the snow.
His breathing was shallow and his body shook, but he forced himself to look for Magnus and his son, his eyes scanning the surface of the water. All of a sudden, he heard a shot come from somewhere, and when Ryker looked down, he saw Stephen holding a gun. Ryker backed away, stumbling as Stephen heaved himself onto the ice. His bionic arm was still working fine, as they had said it would. He heard his father grunt, and he frowned and bent down to grab his father from the water. He turned to face Ryker once more.
Magnus shivered as he landed on solid ground once more. Magnus looked above to see his jets maneuver away from the missiles on the ground, missiles that belonged to the one community he had wanted decimated. So, Ryker was in love with his daughter, he thought as his eyes narrowed, seeing Ryker’s pride getting in the way of his shifting. What chance would a bionic arm have against a fully grown werebear?
Ryker saw Stephen ready to attack as Stephen flung away his gun.
“You took away my arm,” Stephen hissed, running for X014. The winner of the WereGames had to die today.
Stephen struck, hitting Ryker’s face, but Ryker was quick enough to shield himself with his arms. He felt the titanium crash against his bones, he felt the sudden sharp pain, and he knew the arm would be difficult to break.
Ryker reached for Stephen’s neck, his hands trying to push Stephen, who had begun to pummel him with his bionic arm, away. Ryker then flung Stephen a few feet away from him with a kick. Stephen landed on his bionic arm, cracking open solid ground with the force of the blow.
Stephen spat out blood as he stood up with a smile. “I’m up for some fun. I’ve got an arm to pick with you,” he told the younger man.
Storm clouds began to gather above them, sending a gust of cold wind their way. The moment Ryker blinked, he felt a thud against his stomach, sending him reeling to the ground with Stephen’s kick. Still, he stood up, feeling the bullet inside him snake its way deeper.
Ryker barreled for Stephen, bringing down a fist to his face. Stephen staggered, unable to foresee the ferocity of Ryker’s blow. Stephen then fell to the ground, holding his arms up to cover his face. Ryker gripped Stephen’s arms apart before Stephen could launch an attack on him.
Stephen brought his knee up, knocking Ryker away by hitting his stomach. Ryker parried a blow from Stephen, but Stephen was relentless in throwing blows. Ryker saw an opening and hit Stephen’s jaw, sending him reeling.
Stephen’s mouth was bleeding this time, but his eyes were filled with more rage, if that was even possible. He felt ice underneath his palms, and he took a fistful, throwing this at Ryker’s face. Blinded for a moment, Ryker could not see Stephen swinging his leg and whacking him down. Stephen quickly held up a large block of ice with one hand, determined to smash it into X014’s face, wanting to see it turn into a pulp-
Ryker narrowly missed having the block of ice land on his face; it crashed on the ground instead, and he pushed the lieutenant away with both feet, knocking him down once more. Ryker quickly got up, his boot above Stephen’s bionic hand.
Stephen closed his eyes as X014 held the block of ice above his head. This was his end, and he knew it was—he heard the sound of metal crunching, and he looked sideways, horrified to see his arm crushed underneath the rock, the bionic arm still moving but sending excruciating pain all throughout his body and mind. He screamed as Ryker left him. He screamed and screamed until he lost consciousness from the agony.