Dr. Cato stood up all bruised and beaten. He grabbed his head in frustration, thinking about how close he was to saving Angela only to be taken away once again. He spotted the bodies of all the men Eric had either injured or killed. It made him feel disgusted, so much so he vomited. The room rattled and the rest of the glass around him collapsed. He reached into his pocket and made a phone call, then informed the police of the situation. They told him they were already on their way to hell.

Dr. Cato hung up and stared at the ceiling. He could see it quake as chunks from the ceiling fell onto the ground. He wished his friend Mathew all the luck in the world to defeat Jack, but even then, even if they succeed in escaping once again, he already had another plan in mind to get her back. Dr. Cato leaned against the wall, grabbed his arm and slid down onto the ground, then he broke down laughing.

“Jack! I swear I’ll get you if Mathew doesn’t. Hahaha!”

Eric heard the doctor’s treacherous laughter echo throughout the facility. He felt sorry for the poor sap, but continued running so he could finally regroup with Jack.

The essence of God’s light flashed off of Mathew. Jack’s unholy darkness overtook his mind as they continued struggling. The forces of good and evil weren’t representing their ideal colors, it was a battle far beyond what any normal human being could withstand. The two screamed at each other’s face, desperately trying to overpower the other. Their borrowed strength was incomprehensible and unfathomable. Their anger towards each other pushed their uncomparable arms back and forth.

Mathew noticed his feet starting to drag. He couldn’t comprehend what was happening. Not only that, but the darkness around Jack was drifting up his arms. That scared Mathew. It was as if the darkness around him had a mind of its own, trying to swallow his existence. He wasn’t going to allow such trickery to drop his guard let alone break his confidence.

Mathew smiled and stopped his feet from dragging any further. “You’re fucked my boy. Fucked!”

The holy light grew brighter and Mathew’s strength grew tenfold. The drifting mist faded away and now Jack was being overpowered by the light of God.

Jack’s feet were dragging. He desperately tried staying put but Mathew was growing stronger by the second. Mathew laughed as he pushed Jack. However, Jack couldn’t withstand this, his strength was too much for him to bear. The severe burning sensation that Mathew’s hands were doing to Jack’s was absolutely unbearable for the boy.

Mathew laughed into Jack’s face and tightened his grasp. “It’s over, boy! Accept your fate!”

Jack could only growl in response. The girl in his mind screamed out in horror, sharing their pain.

Mathew stopped his bulldozing and leaned close to Jack’s corrupted face. “The power of Christ is with me, boy! You can’t beat me. Not you, not Angela. Heck, not even that demon inside of you.”

Jack let out a roar and tried pushing Mathew away, but he couldn’t.

“You’re nothing more than a failure. But it’s not only that Jack, it’s also your fault for allowing Angela to get abducted again. Hahahaha! Stupid fool. Stupid fool!” Mathew twisted Jack’s wrists.

Jack got infuriated, and was enraged even further than what he was showing. The black misty aura erupted violently and consumed half the room in total darkness. Jack retracted his right arm as far as possible. At first Mathew thought he’d given up, but once he saw his arm going back he knew what Jack was about to do, and he did the same.

They both scrunched their eyes, yelling with all their might, and fired their arms towards each other. Both men collided with massive punches. The moment their fists smashed against each other, Jack’s arm rattled like a loose hose. The blood vessels in his arm exploded blood out into the air, which made him scream.

The room broke apart and distorted the colors of reality. Intense shockwaves blew out winds like a typhoon, shaking the area and blowing a few buildings and houses away. Whatever was left standing in the room was destroyed by the blast. The room was nothing more than a crumpled block of concrete and glass, looking as though a bomb had struck it. As Jack waved his arm around like a piece of cloth, Mathew took the chance to use his right hand to grab Jack’s head.

He grabbed his head and shouted “Goodbye!” then slammed it with tremendous force.

The ground cracked across the entire second floor as Jack’s head bounced off the concrete. His body crashed through and fell to the bottom of the building at great speeds. Mathew flew down and was ready to give Jack a monstrous punch.

“This is it, Jack!” Mathew’s vision blurred for a second, but then he saw Jack stand back onto his feet, which made his eyes bulge out in shock.

Jack readied himself for his own punch as Mathew came down at him. Once he got close, Mathew threw a punch. Surprisingly, Jack dodged at the last second and yelled out in a horrifying, distorted voice of his and the girls in unison, “No! You’re history!”

Mathew’s missed punch created a gigantic crater behind Jack, and Jack shot a straight punch to Mathew’s massive gut. The air vaporized around them, creating a giant flash of light. The impact was so great that the ground above them cracked across a forty mile radius. Everyone around the city of Flint really thought that an earthquake was hitting their area.

Jack let out one last horrific wail. Air exploded between the two, and Mathew shot back up to the sky above the room, his mouth gagging. Jack flung up and the moment he wanted to try another attack, Mathew caught him off guard by spitting blood into his eyes.

“No, you’re history, boy!” Mathew flung himself at Jack and grabbed his head, slamming him back to the floor they were in.

Mathew was short on breath. He let go and felt relieved. “Damn!” He coughed. “How are we surviving this? An ordinary person would’ve died from this! Well, especially me after taking that tremendous punch!”

Mathew sat down for a second to catch his breath. “It’s insane how we’re defying the laws of physics! But whatever. Haha! You see Jack, God is real! Screw science!”

He started laughing, stood back up and grasped Jack’s head, twisting it on the crumbled leftovers on the ground. Mathew saw steam coming out from between his fingers. He knew that was burning them. His maniacal laughter continued as he placed more pressure on Jack’s face, forcing his head to go through solid ground.

Out of desperation Jack grabbed Mathew’s arms, but he was weakened from the impact. The poor boy struggled with little to no energy put into his efforts of trying to get Mathew’s giant hand off of his face. He groaned, moaned, and wiggled softly, but his body was giving out.

Mathew laughed at his worthless attempt. He lifted Jack off the ground and moved his hand around his neck, then started clenching the life out of him.

He jabbed at Jack’s chest and made him black out. He wanted to play with him a little longer before he could kill him so he kept jabbing.

Jack’s mouth shot out black from every blow and he could feel his lungs ready to burst. Jack wasn’t about to give up, even though he was mortally wounded, but he decided to use one final attempt to break free of Mathew’s grasp. He distracted him by swinging a suspecting punch. He bought it and caught his fist.

The mist around Jack dimmed down and slowly swirled off his other hand and glided onto the floor to retrieve his gun. The mist glided away like a serpent and reached his gun, then wrapped itself on the metal polymer. It repelled back into Jack’s hand then quickly went out to look for the magazine. Slithering all over the ground, it found the mag close to the door entrance and against whatever wall was left standing. Quickly it grasped the small piece of metal and instantly repelled back into Jack’s gun, loading it and faded away.

Jack regained consciousness again and the moment Mathew landed one last punch to his chest, he gagged blood onto his face, which made him let go. “Fuck! You’re back now?” Mathew wiped the blood off his face, leaving Jack to regain his breath.

Jack felt the gun in his grasp as pain coursed through his body. He even noticed how disfigured his arm was. “Ho-holy shit. Wha-what happened to my arm?”

Mathew rushed towards Jack before he could react and grabbed his neck with both hands, ready to snap it at any moment. “You sick bastard! Prepare yourself bitch!” His hand slipped down and grabbed onto the cross. Jack screamed in agony, feeling his breath shorten with every second.

“If I stab you with this, then there’s no denying you’ll definitely die!” Mathew exclaimed, extending the cross. “Say your last prayers. Prepare your soul to be cleansed with God’s might!”

Jack unexpectedly laughed, surprising Mathew. “Ac-Actually Mathew…” Jack coughed. “Funny you say th-that because it’s y-you who needs to be cleansed!”

“What the hell are you talking ab—?”

Jack forced himself to smile and raised the gun, pulling the hammer back. “Go fuck yourself, fat pig.”

Mathew heard the gun cock and when he was about to stab Jack, the sound of a single shot echoed off into the distance, leaving them to come to a complete standstill.

Mathew slowly lowered his head, stuttering his words, and saw the gunshot wound on his chest. He was petrified and shocked, in disbelief that Jack got the best of him. He let go of Jack, covered the wound with a hand and for some reason, he started laughing, almost as if he’d lost his mind.

“Idiot… idiot…” Mathew raised his head again, looking very erratic. “You really think a bullet can stop me? Moron! A damn bullet may hurt, but it won’t stop me!” His vision began to get hazy and he started coughing blood. “I-I’m not done… No, not yet!”

Mathew cracked his knuckles one last time and coughed more blood on himself. Jack couldn’t move because his internal organs were burning, damaged, fractured bones across his body, his arm a bloody disfigured mess, blood dripping from his head to mouth, and vision pulsed from the intense pain from the aftermath of the fight.

“Come on, boy! Don’t be scared now! We’re almost done!”

Jack grabbed his broken arm while trying to stand back on his feet.

Mathew moaned, looked down on the boy, and flailed his arms. “Just give up already.”

He stepped aside and dropped to a knee from weakness. Why can’t you just die already?

The girl in white was crying inside his head, due to all the pain she was experiencing. “I-I’ve used up too much of myself. S-She won’t be able to hold for much longer.”

Jack got worried, but it gave him the strength to try to stand up again. “Who? Angela?” he asked angrily.

“Yes, we need to get back to her. If we don’t, then who knows what’ll happen to her.”

Jack got angry and grit his teeth. “Like hell you won’t.”

He collapsed back on the ground, seeming to be on the verge of passing out. Mathew coughed more blood, he got off his knee and was ready to seal Jack’s fate.

“When we get out of this, you’re telling me the connection between you two of you, okay?” Mathew said, stepping over Jack again.

“Are you going to keep talking to yourself or to that bitch?” Mathew yelled, steaming red and also on the verge of passing out. “Or are you going to finish this like a man, you worthless maggot!”

Jack gulped. Hey girl, where did you go?! I could use your help again. She only replied with soft crying and painful moans. Fuck, I think she’s done, wh-which means, damn, this is it.

The boy tried moving, but to no unveil his nerves responded with more pain. Jack was severely hurt and knew help was no longer by his side if the girl wasn’t responding anymore.

Mathew breathed heavily, returning a grin and having flashbacks of the facility when Jack stabbed his arm, mortfiying him in front of those deliquents, but more of all, fond memories of torturing Angela just like he’s doing to Jack.

I don't care about the girl any more, I don’t care about those experiments, I want this kid dead as well as the girl. This fight has shown that keeping these two alive will bring utter chaos to the world. I'll end it now and be claimed as this world's new hero! Mathew thought.

Jack gripped his gun, trying to raise his hand to shoot Mathew again, but he couldn't. He lay there, coughing, and breathing like mad, thinking this was it.

Goodbye, Jack, then you’re next you annoying brat, Angela! Mathew laughed and the moment he took a step, a piece of the ceiling broke free and fell onto Mathew’s giant head. It exploded, blacking Mathew out and made him fall face down next to Jack.

Jack blinked a couple of times to comprehend what had just happened, then grinned. He laughed and having witnessed this miracle gave him relief to regain some strength to stand back on his feet. With his gun in his left hand, Jack chuckled then kicked Mathew’s body hard a couple of times to truly see if he was either out cold or better, dead. After a few hard kicks, he presumed he’d died from the impact. Jack let out a deep sigh of relief.

Jack couldn’t help but smile. He pointed at Mathew’s body with the gun. “That’s right, a-a-asshole. Don’t e-ever fuck with me. Well, none of that matters now because you’re dead.” Jack coughed again, letting out another huge sigh and spat at his body.

Slowly walking towards the last standing object being the gate, Jack found a button and pressed it to raise the behemoth. He looked over his shoulder before he could leave and expressed a vile grin.

“Well, see you never, Mathew. Oh, by the way, here’s a goodbye gift.” Jack reached into his pocket and pulled out a hundred dollar bill, balled it up and threw it at his body. “Keep the change.”

Jack limped away, feeling victorious about his first win, but he didn’t realize that Mathew was still alive.

Mathew breathed again then groaned from the huge pain throbbing in his head. He lay there, feeling unpleasantly pleased about the experience, even though he’d lost the battle by random coincidence. But he knew it wouldn’t be the last time they’d cross paths. He chuckled softly, feeling proud about his borrowed strength. If things were to go even further, he knew he would have won against something that technically didn’t exist.

***

Jack couldn’t bear the aftermath of his pain since he could barely walk through the long hallways. Groaning again, he spotted Eric with Angela in his arms. He smiled and waved at him. Eric quickly went to him and noticed how messed up Jack was.

“Yo! What the hell type of fight did ya get into? It was like the world was coming to an end or some shit. But holy shit you got fucked up, my guy!” Eric exclaimed, then chuckled.

Jack tried laughing too, but it was too much for him. “Well, you’re right about that.”

Jack softly punched Eric’s face. “Y-You should’ve fought him instead of me, fucking asshole. Hehe… ow.”

“Well, shit happens, right? It is what it is.”

Jack examined Eric’s wounds and noticed how he was barely scathed let alone scuffed. “We both had one sided fights, didn’t we?”

“You’re goddamn right about that!” Eric grinned, glimpsing the stab wound on his shoulder. “That sucka stabbed me in the shoulder too! Hmph! Lucky for me I’ve been stabbed worse in prison, son!”

Eric wanted to hand Angela over to Jack, but he refused and pointed at his mangled arm. Eric tilted his head, examined his arm and said, “I don’t know about that because it looks fine to me.”

“What are you talking ab—”

Jack looked at his arm and it had healed somewhat. It looked okay, but he still felt that some things were broken.

Was it that girl? He grinned softly. I guess I truly do owe her one…

“Man, who are you talking to? You damn lunatic motha fucka! Come on before we get more fucked, my guy,” Eric said as he started walking away.

Jack laughed. He stopped Eric and grabbed Angela, then shook her to wake her up. “Hey Angela! Are you alright?”

Her eyes twitched, then she slowly lifted her eyelids. Though her vision was a bit blurry, it was clearing quickly. She regained her sight, then looked above and spotted Jack’s bruised face.

“B-Brother?” she said, softly caressing his cheek. “I’m so glad you made it.” She smiled as a single tear trickled down her cheek.

Jack didn’t smile. He got serious and leaned into her ear and whispered, “Tell me Angela, what’s your connection with the girl in white?”

She didn’t respond at first and continued caressing his cheek.

“Why does she rely on you?” he asked.

She stopped caressing him and mumbled a bit before she could respond.

Wiping her single tear she whispered into his ear, “The girl in white. She—”

A small group of dastardly men in white sprung around the corner and spotted them. They took no time firing at them with their illegally obtained, fully automatic weapons.

They were overwhelmed by a barrage of bullets that forced them to take cover around the nearest corner.

Eric briefly looked at Jack. “Run! And escape with Angela, I’ll distract them!”

Jack grit his teeth, shaking his head. “No! I won’t leave you behind Eric. We’ve gotten this far and I’ll be damned if I’ll leave you behind!”

Eric groaned with a grin. “I’ll be alright my guy. You two are much more important than me at this moment. I’ll keep stalling until ya are out of this joint.”

Jack growled. “No! We got to—”

Eric pushed Jack without giving him a glimpse. “Jack get the fuck out of here already! Go!”

Jack hesitated because he was thinking about all the men they’d lost today. And with Randolph’s suicide too, Jack couldn’t bring himself to leave another friend behind.

Jack sucked it up and turned to Eric. “Don’t you die on me, man. Promise us you’ll come back to us.”

Eric chuckled. “Ha, sensitive pussy! I promise I’ll catch up as soon as I get rid of these fools. Now go!”

Jack made a run for it. He looked back and watched as Eric fought off the men in white with his last bit of ammo. As Jack kept running, he looked at Angela, who still seemed rather lost and half asleep. He continued running and didn’t look back for his sake. He heard screams of pain and agony, along with all the continuous gun fire between the two, but he couldn’t stop thinking about losing his last true friend.

He bit his bottom lip and closed his eyes. “Eric, please come back to us. I’ll be praying for you. Good luck, Uncle.”

Jack ran through the hallways to meet dead ends and empty rooms destroyed from the fight he’d had with Mathew. Confusing corridors were also apparent from the building’s structure and were damaged by the fight too. It seemed that every staircase he and Eric went up were gone. Jack couldn’t find them anymore.

“Damn, how do we get out of here?”

A robotic voice over the intercom turned on suddenly. “Attention, Attention! Entire facility will be placed under heavy lockdown. Repeat! Entire facility will be placed under heavy lockdown for the safety of society! Anyone left in the building won’t be able to leave until further authorization!”

Jack started sweating and his breathing intensified. He was worried and wondered how he’d get out before the damned place locked down. He shook his head and continued running. Angela mumbled odd words that Jack couldn’t understand. He felt a little creeped out and found it rather distracting. He held her tightly and tried to comfort her to stop such weirdness.

Jack spotted one last room to his right. He gambled his chances and decided to go inside, hoping there was a way to escape.

“It’s now or never!” Jack barged through the door and noticed it was Dr. Cato’s new office.

Jack walked around, observing his new office and to his surprise, he spotted a huge window behind Dr. Cato’s desk which overlooked a steep hill to the city beyond.

“Maybe if I break through it we can escape.”

Jack walked to it, then set Angela on Dr. Cato’s chair and looked out the window. Damn… that’s a pretty rough drop, but I think I can make it. Hopefully without breaking a leg.

As Jack turned back he saw the girl in white lying on Dr. Cato’s desk holding one of her arms. She looked hurt with cuts, bruises, scuffs, bleeding were all visible across her arms, legs, and her face. Jack stood next to her as she breathed heavily and moaned.

“Sucks, doesn’t it? Having to experience pain for someone like yourself?” he asked in a serious, yet vengeful tone.

She looked at him and once her gorgeous eyes set on him, he quickly erased that look and apologized. “Well, aren’t you such a smart alec? But we managed to get out of there, didn’t we?”

Jack pulled up a chair and sat down next to her. “Yeah, you’re right. But barely. And can you explain this?” Jack chuckled while showing her his injuries that had slightly healed. It brought an adorable smile to her face.

She grabbed his arm and gently massaged it with a cold hand. “I used up what little I had to heal most of it. Don’t make it seem as if I could heal you at any time, silly.”

“I presume so, but you’re such a mystery, along with the world I’m slowly getting to truly see…”

Her hand drifted up to his hand and clenched it. “Mhm, slowly I’m showing you what this world hides, but at least I can tell that you care for me. What changed your mind? Not too long ago you wanted me dead and hated my guts.”

Jack stared into her purple eyes. He tightened the grip on her hand, hating to see someone as beautiful as her.

“I’ve just learned to accept you now and I don’t have much left. I only have Eric, Candy, and Angela. But you… you haunted my dreams for years, yet you also saved me in times of need.”

Jack stood up and surprised her by sitting her up so he could hug her. She got flustered and gasped.

“I owe you and I mean it. I don’t know who you are or what you are, but…” He let go and wiped a scuff off on her cheek. “…but I still have to thank you for saving us. If you continue to mess with me, I will avoid you and find a way to get rid of you.”

She smiled and hung her arms around his neck, amazed that Jack had given her a hug. “We’ll see about that. Like you said, you might not know what I am, but one day I’ll tell you.”

She started breathing heavily in an arousing way and closed her eyes. She could feel their bond grow even stronger. Her wounds started to heal, shocking Jack while she looked into his lifeless cold eyes.

“You have no idea how long I’ve waited for you. I know that one day you’ll finally fall for me again,” she said quietly.

And hopefully I can become what you desired me to be, to finally become mine… She slowly inched her face towards his, then closed her eyes.

Jack poked her nose, stopping her. “We’ll see about that.” She pouted and made Jack chuckle from how cute she looked.

Angela woke up and spotted them. They noticed and turned to her. “Hey sleepy head. You holding up okay?” Jack asked.

Angela shook her head, then jumped off the chair and hugged Jack, bumping the girl in white out of her way, while ignoring her presence. “I’m fine. Just a little dizzy, that’s all.”

“Hey, that’s rather—”

Angela ignored the girl in white as she rubbed her face against her brother’s. “I missed you, bro!”

Jack smiled and patted her head. “I’ve missed you too, baby sis.”

The girl in white puffed her cheeks out and blew air out her nose. “Well, there goes our moment. I was so close again.”

As Jack looked back at the window. “Why is the sky reddish orange?”

The girl in white quickly grabbed onto Jack and trembled. “Sh-She… She’s here…!” she said in a frightened tone.

Jack looked at her. “Who?”

Angela looked as well but seemed calm. Jack walked to the window, approaching it cautiously. He looked out for a second then looked back at them with a smile. “There’s no one there.”

However, their eyes said something else because once he turned back, the woman in red suddenly appeared, floating outside.

“Holy…” Jack said, backing away from the window.

Her red pupils glowed and she expressed a big frown.

Jack gasped. “You mean her? Wait, I’ve seen her before… What is she?”

Jack noticed that the girl in white was gone and when he looked back, he quickly went to Angela, then grabbed her and looked back at the window.

“Who are you? Are you here to help like last time?”

The woman in red slowly lifted her hand and pointed at Jack. “You promised to free her.”

The red glow in her eyes brightened even more. Angela clung onto Jack. His eyes widened.

“But you’ve made that girl even more powerful. I’m sorry, but this is for your own good.”

The moment she lowered her hand Jack let go of Angela. He screamed, making Angela worry.

“This should loosen the connection between you two. I don’t want you dead. You see, I’m trying to help you.”

Jack dropped to his knees and wrapped his arms over his stomach as he screamed. The pain was unimaginable. It was like a blazing rod twisting inside his body, melting his organs away, but he decided to fight the pain. He stood back up and looked at the woman in red.

She got rid of her frown, having a still face now. Silently surprised that her trick hadn’t affected him, the woman in red twitched the fingers in her right hand. Though her eyes stayed wide and glaring as she watched the two kids stare at her in freight.

Jack heard the door behind them bang shut, taking a glimpse at it then he looked back at the woman in red with a glint in his eye.

Angela had enough. She rushed to the window, pointing her finger at the woman. “Stop! You’re hurting my brother, you demon!”

The woman in red started shedding bloody tears and panned her attention to the side. Jack screamed and rushed at the window, then grabbed Angela out of surprise and crashed through it. As soon as he crashed through the window, the woman in red disappeared with a depressed look on her face.

Jack fell onto the ground as he covered Angela. They rolled until Jack’s back hit a rock, which made him let go of Angela. He grabbed his back and groaned.

Jack, who was covered by dirt and dust, slowly got back up. “A-Angela! Where are you?”

Angela wasn’t too far off. She got up and brushed the dirt off her hoodie, then waved to Jack. “Over here!” She noticed how hunched and slow he was, so she ran to him and embraced him.

“Ow. Still recovering here, you know?”

“Why do you always have to hurt yourself? Look at how hurt you are!” she exclaimed, starting to drag him by his broken arm.

“Ouch!” Jack yelled, which made her regret pulling his arm.

She sighed and grabbed his hand. “We have to take you back home or I might have to carry you myself.” Her eyes began to water. She sniffled, then turned away. “Idiot.”

Jack laughed softly and hugged her, then patted her back. “It’s f-fine! I’m just so glad we’re finally going to be a family again.” He picked her off her feet and carried her in his arms. “I’m sorry it took me so long. I was just an emotional wreck.”

She wiped her eyes and gently punched his chin. “You big dummy. It’s okay, though. That girl watched over you, didn’t she?”

“Yeah, you’re right. Well, not really. It was someone else who’d actually got me to break free from my dark prison.”

“Who was it?” she asked suspiciously.

Jack smiled and walked forwards. “Her name was Lily.”

“Lily, huh?” She seemed a little agitated, but forced a smile to hide it. “That’s a cute name. Who is she exactly?”

Jack looked up, gazing at the stars gleaming in the night. “Well, she had hair as blonde as my friend Anna’s. She had gorgeous hazel eyes and her beauty alone was enough to rival that of an angel.”

Angela giggled, but it was a giggle that didn’t sound genuine. “Well, I hope I can properly thank her for making my big bro happy again!”

Jack chuckled too, being oblivious to Angela’s sarcasm. He got close to her face and they gently nuzzled each other’s noses. She blushed and smiled again.

“Someday… hopefully, I could as well,” Jack whispered.

She wiped some blood off her brother’s lip. “Where’s Uncle Eric?”

Jack glanced at the broken facility. “Hopefully he made it out. Oh! Angela, when we get back home I have a surprise for you!”

Angela expressed a huge smile. “Really? What’s the surprise?”

“You remember Candy, right?”

Angela got even more excited. “Candy! Don’t tell me you found him again?”

He laughed. “Sure did. He actually helped us to come rescue you!”

She leaned against Jack’s shoulder, then wrapped her arms around his neck and yawned. “Is that so? I can’t wait to talk to him.” Her eyes started lowering. “Well, I’m getting kinda tired. I can’t wait to sleep on my bed again.”

Jack nodded. “Yeah, I can’t wait to finally rest at ease, knowing that you’re finally safe again. After this Angela, I promise to get out of this gang stuff and raise you properly.” Jack brought his walking to a brief stop.

She smiled and kissed his cheek by surprise. “You’ve already done well raising me, but I’m glad you’re giving up selling illegal stuff and hopefully you’ll stop killing people too.”

Jack started walking again and climbed an angled slope to an oddly shaped hill.

Jack chuckled. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. I’ll try to get us a ride and see if Eric has made it out alive.”

When they were almost to the top of the slope Jack tried reaching into his pocket to get his phone but a light flashed on their faces. Angela covered her face from how bright it was. Once the light was off their faces, Jack noticed it was a cop. He quickly calmed his breathing and stood still.

The cop stopped walking, then dimmed the light at the edge of his rifle barrel and aimed his gun at Jack. “Please put your hands up where I can see them, sir!” he shouted calmly.

Jack glanced at Angela. She nodded to ease his mind. He looked back at the cop, then swallowed.

“Sir, we need help! There’s crazy people in there and dead people everywhere. We’re survivors!”

The cop keyed his radio. “Okay sir.” He placed his hand back on his rifle. “I need you to place the girl down and have you with your hands up, understood?”

Jack closed his eyes and shook his head, then opened his eyes again. “I can’t do that, sir. She’s a little hurt, so I need to carry her.”

His radio suddenly went off, so he pressed it and listened. Both Jack and Angela waited for what type of call he got, and from the sounds of it he was describing Jack’s appearance.

Angela felt afraid yet Jack felt worried, his eyes were rattling and he was softly moaning. Angela held on tighter to her brother as Jack rubbed her head to ease her nerves, he gulped and took a breath. They waited for the cops to answer but something seemed wrong.

The cop eyed Jack with sadness, then he hesitated and quickly shook his head. He keyed his advisor and sighed. “Sir, I understand, but there’s a girl in his—”

His radio went off again, cutting him off for a good minute. After hearing his advisor clearly in that full minute while the two kids stood there shaking, the cop gasped and seemed so sad. He frowned, glancing down for a moment until he rose his head to look at the kids again.

“Yes, sir. Understood, sir.” The cop took a deep breath and glared at Jack.

Jack knew that look, so he started panicking. “Sir please!” he desperately shouted, but quickly calmed himself down not to worry Angela.

Angela gripped her brother’s jacket tighter. “Brother…”

“Look, we’re hurt and you know what, just take me and leave her be. Please!”

The cop raised his gun again and aimed it at Jack. “You’re a wanted criminal, Jack Samr. They want you dead now. I have orders.”

Jack’s eyes widened and sweat dripped down his face. He clenched his teeth and pleaded with the officer, but he seemed to have already made up his mind.

“What are you gonna do to my brother?” Angela asked, terrified.

“I… I can’t answer that little girl, I’m sorry.”

“Wait, please don’t!”

The officer placed his finger on the trigger and rested it there.

“Please! I beg of you sir.” Jack’s eyes quivered. Angela clung onto him for dear life, opening her mouth in fear.

The cop hesitated. He couldn’t bring himself to shoot someone, let alone kill a person in front of a child. However, he couldn’t defy his orders, so he hid his emotions and set his sights on Jack.

“I’m sorry,” the cop said.

The moment Jack saw the policeman squeezing the trigger, he quickly turned around and tried running, holding her the tightest he’s ever held her, but it was too late. Multiple shots went off, most of them hitting Jack as he shielded Angela with his body. They fell down the slope, Jack tried his best keeping Angela in his arms as they tumbled down, but they split. Jack landed upside, covering his fresh new wounds with mud.

Jack groaned in pain. He noticed his abdomen was shot, along with his arm and shoulder. His poor body is still recovering from the fight even with the girl's help, but it wasn’t enough for the unbearable sensations to come back and taunt him.

The cop walked up to Jack and shone his flashlight and gun barrel into Jack’s face. Jack frowned and was absolutely livid. He coughed blood and tried crawling backwards, but the cop stopped him by ramming the tip of his rifle against his forehead.

Jack breathed heavily out of anger and grabbed a nearby pebble, then threw it at the cop’s face. Now the policeman’s mad.

Jack looked dead into his eyes. “Fuck you. Fuck all of you.”

When the cop was about to pull the trigger, a bullet went off and the cop went down.

“Holy shit,” Jack said, watching the blood leak out the side of the policeman’s head.

The person who shot and killed the cop was none other than Eric, who stood nearby to their left. His hand trembled as he lowered his gun. “Oh shit. D-Did I really just kill a cop?” Eric asked in shock, quickly rushing to Jack’s aid. “You alright man? Shit, you’re even more fucked up now.”

Jack painfully got up as he held his abdomen. “Yeah, I’m fine. Wh-Where’s Angela?”

Eric turned where Angela had landed and dropped his gun with a distraught look on his face. “Oh God, no…”

They heard Angela moan and whimper closeby, almost as if she were in severe pain. Jack ignored his wounds, his body bursting with adrenaline the moment he heard Angela’s hurtful moans, and then he rushed to her side. When he was closer, he saw blood pouring out the left side of her back.

Jack’s eyes shook. He dropped to his knees., “No, no, no. NO!”

Angela reached for Jack’s face. Her eyes quivered, squinting from the pain. Even when Jack placed her hand on his cheek, he noticed how cold she was getting.

Jack grabbed her hand to comfort her. “Don’t move Angela. I know it hurts…” He let go of her hand and placed pressure on her wound. “I know, I know it hurts, baby sis. Don’t worry Angela. Hang on, please!” He placed more pressure and she yelped.

Jack scrunched his eyes. “Angela, please stop moving so I could stop the bleeding!” Poor Angela couldn’t, the pain she was going through was unmerciful.

She couldn’t talk properly and was only moaning and groaning.

Jack quickly grabbed his sister’s wrists, “Everything’s going to be fine, hang on baby sis, hang on, please.”

Eric clenched his fists and closed his eyes, knowing it was too late to save her.

Jack let go again, placing pressure once more. “It’s going to be fine. I’m going to pick you up now.”

He lifted her off the ground. She yelped again and groaned loudly. He grabbed her wrists and rested her on his knees.

“Stay with me!” he said, noticing how her eyes flitted. “Angela. No, no. Come on, baby sis!”

Eric couldn’t bring himself to watch. He turned around and started crying softly.

Jack held Angela, trying to keep her awake. “Angela…?”

Angela’s pained crying came to a dead stop. She didn’t move, she didn’t whimper. Not even the slightest breath came out of her. Jack’s body quivered as he slowly lowered his head and looked at his sister. Her eyes that were once filled with a blue shine, happiness and love, were now clouded, all dead and colorless.

“Angela…” he said softly, then shook his sister and held her tightly. He kept shaking his head. “Oh God, please no. Don’t do this to me, Angela. Not you too…”

Jack rocked back and forth as he desperately tried to wake her. He held his sister while briefly looking to the sky with his eyes shut momentarily.

Eric softly broke down and covered his face in sorrow. “No… not my princess too, my-my little Angela. God why’d you have to take her too.”

“Angela, please no!” Jack closed his eyes again, being on the brink of breaking.

“Don’t do this to me. Come on, please! Wake up!”

He started shaking uncontrollably. We’ve been through so much together. Don’t leave me. I have nothing left. Nothing!

Jack leaned his face against her cold face. “Angela, wa-wake up…” He couldn’t bear it any longer. His emotions, his guilt, all the years of sadness built up, all the times he wanted to break. He couldn’t take it much longer.

The dormant emotions that so desperately needed venting out finally trickled out in a single tear through his eyelid and flowed down his bloodied cheek, landing onto Angela’s lifeless face. As Jack opened his eyes, they overflowed with guilt. After all these years, Jack quietly whimpered, finally succumbing to the emotions he wanted to vent. Even that brought himself to cry because he had absolutely nothing left to strive for.