Back
My eyes snapped open at the sound of my name. Whose voice was that?!
�Petri!�
Blake.
I
sat up and bolted from my room. His voice was panicked and high. Higher then usual, you know how your voice seems to squeak when you get scared? Blake sounded like he was beyond scared.
�Petri!�
I looked up to the top floor and saw him jump against the rails. His face was be-yond pale and his eyes beyond wide. From what though? �Blake what is it?� I knew I had to stay calm this time around. It was my turn.
�We�and Joby�then�oh god!� he fell to his knees and began to cry. I ran over to the ladder and up to him.
�Blake! Blake, talk to me! Blake what happened?�
He looked up. I could tell, now that I got closer to him, just by the look in his eyes. Death.
�It was Bronze wasn�t it?� I asked quietly.
His eyes widened more, if possible, and he nodded, breaking into the story. �You went down stairs and we all left. At first it was quiet and it didn�t take us long to get there�� he paused and wiped his eyes. I now noticed the blood smeared across his cheek. �Joby was�� he stopped again.
�I know.� I nodded.
He continued. �So we did. We buried him and began to walk back. He came from no where!� he grabbed my shirt, knocking me back to my butt. �He stood there and held that gun in his hand, lowered to his side. With out a word he�Mom and John�� he broke into tears again. His only family. �He didn�t even flinch. I don�t think he blinked. Dennis�your Dad�� he stopped. �Don�t you care?!�
�Yes, I do. I�m listening to you Blake. Why are you still alive? Why didn�t he kill you too?�
�He told me��
I knew what he�d said. Blake didn�t need to finish the sentence for me to know.
�Tell Burns I�ll see him later.�
�He walked away.� Blake shook now also. �He just walked away from me! He turned and walked away calmly as if nothing had happened!�
I nodded and took a deep breath. �Is that all? Did he say anything else? About anything?� So, this was the game he was going to play.
Blake shook his head once more beginning to calm down. �Not that I know of. I was last in the line, behind your Dad.�
So it was his blood on Blake�s cheek. I smeared it more with my thumb as he sat; eyes squeezed shut, crying and shaking. �Stay here Blake. Okay? Stay here and calm down. I�m gonna go find Seid�.� I stood up.
He looked up at me. Eyes wide and full of fear with mouth agape. �But Petri�you, you can�t. He just killed five people. You aren�t going to stop him!�
�I�m not trying to stop him.� I took a step back and looked across this place I had called home for the past three years. I knew, sooner or later, all of us were gonna die at his hands; if that�s what he wanted, but I was gonna die fighting him. I wasn�t going to sit here and be pray to him when I knew I had even a slight fighting chance. This would be the day.
�What are you saying?!� Blake stood up and grabbed me by the shoulders.
�You know what I�m saying.� I calmly looked back to Blake. I don�t think I feared death any longer. With a smile, I placed my hand on Blake�s shoulder. �Bye Blake.� I pulled his knife and took a step back, up the ladder. I was surprised that he didn�t follow me. I heard him fall to his knees again and start to cry.
As I walked away, I looked to the knife in my hand. It was a survivor�s knife. A twelve inch silver blade, sharp to the touch, with a black handle. This would be a close range weapon, if it came down to that.
I hated to leave Blake alone, with him in the state that he was, but I think its better this way. If I was going to face Bronze Seid�, I would rather be outside. Outside, in the open, where there were more things to distract us. I think it felt more like a like a game to me, then an actual battle of some sort.
It was still a quiet, calm day. And even though this day had been stained with so much blood the sun was finally out, it was warm and I could hear the few birds singing. The grass had begun to grow back in patches and the color had finally begun to come back to the land.
�He wants you to your greatest point.�
My Dad�s words came back to me as I stopped in the middle of the field. I felt a tear roll down my cheek and I closed my eyes. I knew now what he meant. Bronze Seid� wanted to fight me when my mind was focused only on him�as I was now.
�It�s a quiet day, Petri, why waste it by running around. Just sit here with me and listen.�
Jene�s words also. I knew that Seid� would want this. He chose me for what ever reason and I was willing to comply. I was now, as I was before, ready to fight him and I knew this was what he wanted. He wanted to fight me for whatever reason, maybe I would find out, and maybe I wouldn�t.
Opening my eyes, I walked down the path we had towards the school. I turned a slight bend and stopped. Dead in my tracks and I fell to my knees.
I must have been standing right where Seid� was. Before me were the bodies of the people I had learned to call family. John and Suzie, Dennis and my father Richard �Radar� Burns. It wasn�t the best sight in the world and my breath caught in my chest when the actual realization that me and Blake were alone kicked in. I crawled one step closer to the bodies, but stopped. An uncontrollable urge to throw-up over came me and when there was nothing left, I kept going. As a burning pain entered my chest, a thought occurred to me.
Blake. Could I honestly leave him there by himself?! �Shit!� I turned and bolted towards the military bunker we had now called home. I only ran about twenty feet when I heard the shot.
I froze.
I was too late.
I knew that shot could only mean one thing�it was just me and Bronze Seid�. Slowly, I took one step forward, then a second and a third, till I broke into a run once more, blinded only by the fact that my single mission now lay in my near future�to carry out the task of killing Bronze Seid�, or die trying�