Chapter 18

Allie’s eyes flew wide, her body twisting around to respond to my warning, but it had come too late.

Susan was a shadow come to life, springing to action in the blink of an eye. The knife she held in her hand flashed as she swung it down toward Allie’s unprotected side.

I panicked. I didn’t know what to do. Whatever her other faults may be, Susan was a seasoned pro at the killing business. She had placed Allie right in between us, so I didn’t have a clear shot - not that I trusted myself to shoot her down without hurting Allie.

While my brain still struggled to process something resembling coherent thought, my body was already moving. Its response came in the way of a sudden rush of hot adrenaline pumping through my veins. My feet kicked hard against the ground as I was propelled forward in a blinding surge of speed. I had activated Dash without even thinking about it. One hand stretched out to roughly pull Allie aside as my other hand lifted my shotgun and squeezed the trigger while aiming the muzzle toward Susan.

If she was surprised by my sudden surge of speed, she didn’t show it. The only shift in her expression was the slightest narrowing of her eyes as her hand struck the barrel of my shotgun, throwing my aim off. The shot went wide but that was alright, I had been expecting as much.

Instead, I barrelled into her with all the momentum I had managed to gather with my dash. Inhumanly fast as my rush had been, the assassin still chambered her leg mid-air and leveled a vicious kick that met flesh with a sickening thud and sent Allie flying halfway across the room like a broken doll. Still not done, Susan’s knife was swinging back around toward my unprotected neck when my shoulder crashed into her chest with enough force to produce a bone-crunching sound and knock the breath from my lungs.

My rush took both of us straight into a nearby freezer. With a resounding crash, we smashed into it with enough force to leave a human-shaped indentation in its burnished steel surface. I heard a wheeze and hoped it was Susan struggling to breathe because I was still reeling from the impact and lay on the ground in a tangle of limbs, helpless as a lamb.

A flash of steel brought me out of my daze. Long hours spent drilling my body to avoid pointy objects triggered a near-instinctive response. My hands moved before I could even think about my actions. Shrill alarms blared in my head when my eyes gradually focused and I found myself gazing up at the point of Susan’s knife quivering not three inches above my chest. Pain flared down my arms and that’s when I realized one of my hands had managed to interpose itself between my chest and the knife, getting run clean through its palm for its trouble. My other hand had managed to find better purchase, clutching tightly at Susan’s wrist. She held her knife just with one hand, the other brushing away a thin stream of blood from her lips.

“Right, I’d forgotten you had that orb skill,” Susan said, glancing down at the blood on her fingers with a wry smirk. “To think I finally managed to take down Thomas without so much as a scratch, but a rookie nails me against a goddamn freezer. I think you might have punctured a lung. Nothing that the reset after the end of this trial won't fix, but it's still annoying. It's a matter of professional pride, you see?”

Her words made no sense, busy as I was trying to keep the looming knife away from my heart. My arms burned as I struggled to push the menacing steel away, but it was to no avail. Somehow, Susan had enough presence of mind after our crash to maneuver while I still lay dazed on the floor, rolling her weight on top of me and straddling my chest with her legs. I heaved with all the desperate strength in my body but I might as well have been trying to lift a mountain for all the good it did me.

“Stop resisting, it’s over,” Susan said, gazing down at me as though at a helpless insect. “I’ll make it quick since you helped me get rid of Thomas.”

“Why?” I found myself saying, unknowingly echoing Thomas’ last words.

Susan paused for a moment, tilting her head sideways while looking down at me with a tinge of amusement in her victorious smile. Not letting up on the pressure she was applying with her knife, Susan flicked the blood off her other hand as she spared a glance to the side. Upon following her gaze, I saw Allie crumpled on the floor, motionless.

“Allie!” I cried out hoarsely.

“Hopelessly frail, as expected of a rookie. It’s your first time in the trials, isn’t it?” Susan said, turning back to me. Then she continued without waiting for an answer. “I’m not surprised she couldn’t even take one blow from me. Vanilla humans are so feeble.”

The professional killer shook her head with a rueful expression. “Then again, I suppose that’s what the trials are all about - transcending humanity and reaching the next step in the evolutionary process. That’s the answer to your question, by the way. I’m merely doing what it takes to survive, thrive, and evolve - in spite of Charon’s best attempts otherwise.”

Sudden realization struck me, my eyes flying wide open. Susan didn’t miss the shift in my expression because she grinned appreciatively down at me.

“A hidden challenge?”

“That’s right. The orb keeper seems to derive particular pleasure from torturing every human to fall into his vicious clutches. Our challenge was to indirectly cause the deaths of 10 trial participants. We must have killed too many rookies before the first stage even started, or maybe he just smelled the blood on us. Perhaps he knew we had been planning to hunt down all the other users right after completing the hidden challenge. It’s not our first time harvesting a full trial, you know? That’s why we picked such a big group in the first place.”

“You bastards!”

“Tut tut. That’s what I should be saying. We’d fully expected to get you two killed when we sent that pair of thugs your way when the shooting first started. Let me tell you, trying to get you two killed was such a bother. You’re surprisingly resilient for rookies.”

“That’s why you let us gun down Thomas, who charged at us relying on you to cut off our attacks with your ambush?”

Susan’s nod was one of utter satisfaction at a job well done and completely devoid of guilt at betraying her partner.

“I already had 9 kills, you see? I only needed one more but with only 9 users left, the odds of completing the challenge were looking rather dicey. So, I figured out a better way,” she said, shrugging carelessly. “Take out my most challenging opponent while clearing the hidden challenge, all in one shot? Why not?”

“He was your partner,” I hissed, still struggling to push the knife away. It was utterly useless.

“Husband, as a matter of fact. Or ex-husband, I suppose, now that I’m freshly widowed.”

“You monster.”

She met my gaze with an unsettling sneer stretching her lips. “Oh, you have no idea. Even more so now that I’ve finally completed the challenge.”

Her gaze momentarily went vacant, then her grin slowly widened until her canines flashed brightly at me. “A damn pain in the ass challenge, but at least the rewards were well worth the effort in the end. Now, let’s finish this business of ours so I can spend my just rewards. It was an unexpected pleasure to meet you in the flesh, Kaizer Lee. But I’ve got to get going now. Girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do, right?”

Without further ado, she simply pushed the knife down with irresistible strength. I felt like a child struggling against an adult. Her hands didn’t so much as quiver as the knife steadily sank down.

“Wait, stop,” I cried out hoarsely, bucking my hips desperately, trying everything I could think of to halt the knife’s descent. I might as well have been trying to halt the tide. “No, stop. Don’t!”

I couldn’t pry my eyes away from the steel tip as it parted the slash-resistant fabric of my tactical vest like tissue paper, then pushed against the yielding flesh beneath.

“By the way, I wasn’t lying. I’m a huge fan,” Susan noted with pursed lips, her knife pausing as a pinprick of blood began to well up from the tiniest incision on my skin. “Too bad I don’t get to fuck you, but what with my ex-husband lying dead in a pool of his own blood not ten feet away and this being Charon’s trial, time is of the essence. You understand, right?”

“Wait, please! We can nego-”

The words were cut off in a wet gurgle as Susan clamped her hand on top of my lips while she pushed down with the knife. Both my arms convulsed as cold steel bit into the soft flesh of my chest, producing a gush of blood and a flash of agony.

“Shh, don’t beg. Have some dignity. I’m a fan, remember?”

I could only choke out a protest as the knife penetrated deeper until its edge scraped up against a rib and sent an uncontrollable shudder down my spine. I looked up to see a rapacious sneer twisting Susan’s pretty blonde face as she slowly licked her lips.

BANG!

Suddenly, a gunshot rang out and Susan’s body convulsed as blood sprayed from her chest, covering my face. Through a thin haze of red, I watched confusion and pain bloom in Susan’s eyes. The shock only grew when a second shot followed, tearing into her torso from behind and leaving a fist-sized hole in her abdomen. I couldn’t help but stare at the ropy tendrils of her bloody intestines danging from the terrible wound.

“Get off my boyfriend, you bitch!”

A third shot ripped into her neck, leaving a gaping hole through which blood spurted copiously. Susan made as if to lift her hand toward her neck and I couldn’t believe she was still alive, let alone able to move. Then another shot blew a sizeable hole right through the middle of her forehead, sending blood and brain matter spraying in a fine mist that blanketed what little remained of my vision. I could still feel Susan’s hands dropping limply at her sides, her body swaying back and forth for a moment before slowly collapsing sideways to the floor.

“Kai!”

A shadow fell over me as I lay dazed on the floor, covered in blood and gore. Susan’s corpse was shoved away and I felt as though I could finally breathe again. However, when I tried to draw in a breath, agony lanced through my chest. My hands convulsed toward the source of the pain, but I felt a trembling grip clutching at me, holding me back. I tried to speak but without breath, my lips just moved in a parody of speech.

“Don’t talk,” Allie said, her voice choked up with sobs. “Stay still, baby. Let me take a look.”

I moaned in the back of my throat, feeling blood welling up. I choked it back down as the thick layer of blood blocking my vision was gently brushed away with trembling hands.

Allie was hovering over me, her gaze wet with unshed tears as she bit her lips. She was examining the wound at my chest and from her expression, it wasn’t looking good.

“I don’t know what to do, Kai. The knife, it’s in too deep. I’m afraid you’ll just bleed out as soon as I take it out. We need a potion, but I don’t know if you can wait that long. And what if a zombie finds you while you lie here, defenseless? Damn bitch, I should have shot her to hell the first time I saw the slut.”

Belatedly, I found myself agreeing with my girlfriend. I was only glad that she didn’t point out that it had been my own fault, as I had kept her from shooting them in the first place. A fat lot of good all my good intentions had done me in the end.

“I’m sorry Kai. I should have shot her sooner. My whole arm was numb and I couldn’t even feel the rifle in my arms, let alone aim and get a shot off. By the time I could finally shake some feeling into my hands, the bitch was already..”

Allie’s words trailed off as her eyes moved to my chest. Following her gaze, I found the unsettling sight of the blood-stained hilt of the knife sticking out of my chest, rising and falling with each of my breaths.

“Not that deep...” I managed to squeeze out in a painful wheeze. “I’m alright...”

Of course, I was far from alright, and my pathetic attempt to assuage my girlfriend’s worries fell flat. Allie’s only reply was a ghost-pale smile that was meant to reassure me. It was a depressing showing that really put a damper on things, and that was coming from a guy who was probably bleeding to death right now.

“Susan,” I managed between clenched teeth, laboring with each breath.

“What about that bitch?” Allie said, her voice growing heated. It seemed that blasting the assassin full of holes and spilling her guts all over me hadn’t quite mollified her wrath.

I couldn’t help but to shake my head. I knew Allie was shaken up by my recent brush with death, but it was still surprising to find her overlooking something so obvious. I nodded toward the corpse at our feet.

“Loot,” I said simply.

Allie’s expression instantly brightened as she hurriedly limped a couple steps to check Susan’s body for loot. That’s when I realized that Allie had been injured by the short battle as well, though she tried not to show it. After patting the killer’s body down and searching its pockets, Allie let out a frustrated growl. Then a brief, multi-colored glow surrounded her as she stretched her hand over Susan’s corpse. Allie’s entire figure shook for a moment while a low moan escaped past her lips. The strange moment only lasted for a second but when she turned around to glance at me with a conflicted gaze, somehow she seemed to be standing taller, her silhouette more imposing, and the injuries seemed to weigh her down less.

“What?”

“Good news and bad news, I’m afraid,” Allie replied over her shoulder as she dashed away. That scowl on her face didn’t look like the expression of someone with good news, but I was far too gracious to point that out. “She had a dose of the cure as well as other useful orbs, and they automatically transferred to me when I looted her.”

I nodded at her words, thrilled by the unexpected harvest yet not really surprised. It made sense that due to the dog-eat-dog nature of the trials, precious commodities like the cure could be looted from other users’ bodies. Having the whole competition devolve into a battle royale with no holds barred and the last handful of survivors slaughtering one another for the cure was just like the kind of thing a sadist like Charon would happily encourage.

Following Allie’s movements, I saw her bend down to drag a mangled corpse across the floor in my direction. It was the late Thomas Price, contractor, and it dawned upon me that he would almost certainly carry a dose of the cure as well. Just like that, both Allie and I were saved. We’d make it to the next stage of the trials - if only we could find a way to plug up the hole in my chest, which stubbornly kept gushing out blood with alarming enthusiasm in spite of my best efforts otherwise.

Allie grunted with the effort, but continued speaking as she dragged the corpse closer, heedless of the crimson trail left in her wake. “She didn’t have any potions though.”

Damn, I’d expected as much from Allie’s scowl but it was still disappointing.

“Here,” Allie said, dumping the corpse at my feet.

I didn’t need her to urge me further. I stretched my hand out over Thomas’ empty, staring eyes.

Human - Warrior level 3

Loot found:

Mana orb essence x 12

Skill orb - Aegis [Warrior] [Uncommon] x1

Skill orb - Unarmed Strike [Common] x1

Skill orb - Grapple [Common] x1

Enhancement orb - Minor Strength [Common] x1

Enhancement orb - Minor Agility [Common] x1

Enhancement orb - Minor Resilience [Common] x1

Hunter orb - Tier D [Uncommon] x1

Antivirus vial x1

Do you wish to pick up the loot?