Renegades (The Slingers Trilogy, Book 3)

Chapter 18

Zero stared at the man in black, and felt that same sense of understanding that he had felt back on the platform all those months ago. He rubbed the barcode on the back of his neck, half-expecting the numbers to begin burning again like they always did, but now, they never did anymore. Instead of reminding him that he was just a puppet, a pawn in someone else's game, he was now a free spirit, able to do what he wished. Now, Zero had finally found the man in black, and now he could finally do what he always had wanted. He turned to the man in black, and spoke in a clear, deliberate voice. "I want you to help me kill the Director." The man in the large suit of armour and the girl with the knives looked at each other with surprise, then stared back at the man in black, who was looking at him with fascination. "Gottlieb. You want me to help you kill Gottlieb?" The man in black asked. Zero nodded, but before he could explain why, he heard a loud boom somewhere off to his right. He looked over and saw the mountain that was opposite to where he first landed, and managed to see a large fireball explode off of it. "Koil!" The girl with the knives shouted out, staring towards the mountain with fear. Zero frowned. Was she referring to one of the other people that the man in black travelled with? "We have to go. Now!" The man in armour yelled. The man in black looked back and forth between the mountain and Zero. "Dante!" The girl shouted at the man in black. So that was his name...Dante looked at Zero, then motioned to the man in armour. "Bunker, take him to the shuttle and get him medical supplies. Elicia, you're with me. We're gonna find Koil." Zero looked at Dante. "This isn't over. You will help me. One way...or another." Dante stared back at Zero uneasily, then ran off into the jungle, Elicia following close behind.

Nolun stretched his back, trying to ease his tense muscles, but found it pointless. He sat back again against the hard tree trunk, and looked at the Dorado Piece that was still shooting it's glow into the sky. The once blue, bright sky, was now a dark indigo, bordering on the inky blackness of night. Oddly enough, Nolun felt more comfortable staring up at this, because now it was more like space, something he was much more familiar with. Occasionally he heard  the screech or growl of a creature, but nothing appeared to come and harm him. The ships hadn't come in a long time...he wasn't sure what was going on. Then, something strange happened. The cube that was sitting next to him began to pulse. It's golden glow began to brighten and dark rhythmically, almost like a heartbeat. Nolun turned and stared at the glowing cube, then felt his eyes begin to grow heavy and suddenly close.

He found himself waking up in a jungle. Almost like the one he had been in before. Had he? Or had that all been a dream? But wasn't this a dream? He didn't know. Everything felt off to him. Like he was supposed to be witnessing this. Looking around, he noticed that the jungle he was in was slightly barren, not as lush as he remembered. Everything still looked...young. Like every tree was all brand new. Then, he heard a rustling, and looked to see a man that was slightly older than him walk through the bushes. He was wearing a hat with a curved edge, a torn, grey leather jacket, and carrying a small book. As he kept walking, he appeared to not even notice him, even though he was floating right next to him. As he kept walking, he moved alongside him in perfect stride. Then, they reached a place next to the waterfall that he remembered, here it was nothing more than a small trickle. He watched as the man walked up to it and placed his hand on the wall. Then, everything began to shine with a bright golden light that made him shield his eyes...

Nolun woke up, grabbing the tree trunk tightly to steady himself. He glanced over at the Dorado Piece, it's glow now steady and constant again. He rubbed his eyes and tried to remember what his dream had been about. He had seen a man in a jungle...and he had been near a waterfall...there was a bright light and...suddenly Nolun's eyes sprung wide open. He quickly grabbed the Piece and began to move down the tree. Wherever he was going, he knew that what awaited him was going to change everything.

Andress froze in the water as she looked at the crab-like things in front of her. She pulled out her rifle, waiting for them to attack her, hoping she would have enough ammo to last the battle. But, oddly enough, they didn't move. Their pincers just opened and closed robotically. Then, Andress looked around and saw that some of the crabs were half-buried in the ground, and didn't appear to be moving at all. Next to the large holes that they had put themselves in, there were large, neat piles of dirt. Those were the ones she had seen when they had first entered the cave. She kept darting her eyes around, waiting for something to happen, until she finally realized that they were all probably harmless. They all appeared to be hibernating or something like that. Andress felt the water move next to her and spun around fast, aiming her rifle. The barrel poked into the eyes of Trace, making her move back against the wall of the pool, raising her hands. "Whoa, hey, watch your-" Andress quickly moved up to her and put a hand over her mouth, silencing her. She then pointed into the cave, showing all of the different crustaceans that weren't moving, and had only shifted slightly in the past few minutes. Trace's eyes widened, then she looked at Andress and nodded slowly, signalling she understood. Andress put her hand down, then scanned the cave again, looking for a way out. Then she saw a small exit which was causing the natural light that they saw earlier in the ceiling. Andress pointed to the hole, and motioned for the both of them to be quiet. Trace nodded, and they both got out of the water, and began to navigate slowly around the crustaceans. Then, as they were moving, one of the crabs in the floor began to move, it's pincer brushing Trace's leg. Trace froze, and so did the crab. It's pincer suddenly grabbed onto her, and it let out a loud hiss, that seemed to wake up every other crab in the cave. Realizing that stealth didn't matter much anymore, Andress cocked her rifle and began to fire at the crabs, blowing the heads off of many. Trace shot the pincer that was holding her off with her pistol, then shot the crab with the other one. The girls managed to push to the back of the cave. They climbed the wall, and managed to get through the hole. Andress looked down and saw the crabs climbing up after them, and shot the hole entrance, causing the rocks to cave in, sealing it off. The two girls laid back, breathing heavily, happy to be alive and out of that nightmare.