Chapter 5
The Quarrel
The village in the Island of Riddles looked very rural and small. It was made by Ricky by connecting the trains on the massive metal structures he built. It was in order to move the location whenever there is a heavy pressure from the outside forces. The village was made out of total eight trains. When moving the trains sometimes went underground and once in a while they travelled on the ground. It was very hard to know the whereabouts of the trains.
Highly sensitive political criminals and other refugees who were running away from their own government escaped to the shelter. Majority, but not all, was fighting for the liberty of the state. Ricky used to keep them in the ‘secret rooms’ inside the underground tunnel. However as Veron was a subcontractor when they started the project, few of Veron’s officers were living inside the room along with them. Ricky was reluctant on having Veron’s officers inside the secret rooms because they might become a snare later on. But nevertheless Ricky brought them in, to smoothen out the process of completion of the shelter. Instead, Ricky built the alternate underground bunker underneath the island in case something happens in the secret rooms.
When there was an outbreak from Cassandra, Ricky’s worst fear has been realized. The remaining Veron’s officers, who were living inside the secret rooms in the underground, have revolted against him. Veron’s officers feared that Nina Polchinski or other foreign government will look for them for the crime of the genocide and the walls would not be enough to protect them.
They have demanded Ricky to let them enter the bunker but Ricky refused. Now they have killed Ricky’s guards, blocked the entrance of their lodging area, and released the creatures inside the village, which ran and attacked the villagers. This movement was led by the person named Tim, whom Sharine and Kevin met during their run. Tim was one of Veron’s officers sent to oversee the construction of the shelter. Although kept the most of the details, Tim wasn’t lying when he told Sharine and Kevin that he was a special investigator from the foreign land. He was making sure the operation runs smoothly.
Ricky pushed the emergency button to flee from the location. The eight trains all ran to different locations on the island. Sharine Pestice, the castaway in the island and Kevin who were one of the hunters in the village were out in the wilderness for a picnic when this happened.
Sharine and Kevin opened the hatch, and saw the structure have been changed. There was no more spiral staircase but the huge sunken ground, where the light shone from above. They stared at the blue sky and the greenish trees on the surrounding.
“Huh… Hey, you sure this is the right place?” said Sharine.
“Yeah…” Kevin frowned and stared at the device. Sharine frowned at the blinding sight of the light.
“Is this usual?” asked Sharine, her voice little trembling.
“No…” said Kevin.
“Did you tell the tower that we are leaving?” said Sharine, impatiently.
“No… I said I went out for a date,” muttered Kevin. Sharine was boiling with anger.
“You idiot!” shouted Sharine.
Suddenly, they heard the howling. Kevin looked up, there were low growling from above; many disgusting warmish heads with fiendish teeth looked down at two little preys. Sharine aimed one of them and shot the thing. The creature squealed and fell to the metal structure. The other growled and snarled and started jumping toward them without much of a thought, squashing their body due to the height. Sharine and Kevin ran back to the hatch and closed the door. They ran down the stairs, on the second basement they stopped.
“Wait! Wait!” said Sharine, pulling Kevin’s back collar, Kevin slipped his left foot but managed not to fall on the floor.
“What should we do now?” hissed Sharine.
“Umm…” murmured Kevin and Sharine grunted.
“Great,” said Sharine. At that time, there was a squealing sound echoed inside the tunnel.
“Did that just came from above or down?” said Sharine, frozen.
“…Down,” Kevin gulped, clutching the machine gun.
“Move, move move!” hissed Sharine, hurriedly went down into the tunnel. Few creatures were seen; Kevin aimed at one of the creatures gushing toward them. Sharine shot at them.
“I can’t see anything…” said Sharine under the dim light, trying to aim at the running creatures inside the tunnel. As the mine cart were parked right next to the stairs, it wasn’t too hard to find. Sharine stretched her arm forward and hopped inside.
Sharine’s arm wasn’t fully healed, although able to move, the strength wasn’t in it. They heard many shrieking sound surrounding them. They quickly pulled the lever and the cart started galloping forward.
One of the trains stopped in a region, hidden inside the woods. Glock stepped outside of the train along with other hunters. They took out axes and mauls and started setting up the barricades. As ammos were cutting short, they used melee weapons to kill the creatures. They needed artilleries in case other militants attacked them.
“Thank you,” said Glock, drinking the water which one of the hunters gave. He put aside the blood soaked hammer on the side, next to the crushed skull of the creature. Glock later went to the train where the Molly is. Molly, with her kitchen wares and ingredients she brought, continued the café business inside one of the rooms in the train. Molly greeted him with a smile and gave him a gourmet sandwich. They opened up all the windows to freshen the air. They could hear the birds chirping. Molly’s scent traveled with the wind. She cheerfully carried the fruits basket which lay on the floor.
“I’m going to make a jam today!” exclaimed Molly.
“Great! I’ll make you a fire,” said Glock. “There are some logs that I chopped off this afternoon.”
“Sweet!” said Molly, and the little girl came out from the kitchen. It was Laura, youngest of Ricky’s daughter. She smiled; her mouth is covered with brownish apple sauce.
“Hello there little lady, how are you?” said Glock.
“Good!” said Laura brightly, showing her teeth.
“Did you say your prayers for the daily food?” said Glock.
“Yes,” said Laura, smiling. “I do it on every meal!”
“Good girl! How about a horse ride for you eh?” said Glock. Laura ran toward him and hung on his huge arm. Glock lifted her up and put her on his shoulder.
“I’ll be back,” said Glock to Molly. Molly laughed softly. Glock ran toward Ricky’s house. But when Glock got to Ricky’s house, he wasn’t there. Two other girls, Laura’s sisters, opened the door for Glock.
“Hello Glock!” said Elizabeth. Maggie was running around in the living room.
“Hello there, Maggie,” said Glock.
“I’m not Maggie!” bellowed Elizabeth.
“Sorry, uhh, Elizabeth, have you seen Ricky?” muttered Glock.
“Oh he went down to the tunnel. He said he will contact the other parts of the village, for the check up!” said Elizabeth.
“He was quite angry when he left!” shouted Maggie from the living room.
“Well, everything is under control now kids, it was brave of you to endure such monstrous creatures,” said Glock.
“Wait, are you going to leave us?” said Maggie, who came near to Glock.
“Uhh…” murmured Glock. “Well, you see, everything is under control, there are no more monsters around.”
“Yes Glock, so please don’t go,” said Elizabeth, charmingly.
“Yeah, I’m bored!” said Laura. “Show us some tricks!”
Glock wanted to go back to Molly’s place. But three girls were looking at him now, their eyes glittering.
“All right, Alright,” sighed Glock. “I’ll stay I guess,”
“Yeae! I’ll bring some tea, Glock! Play with my doll, they want to have tea too!” said Laura.
“Of course, of course,” murmured Glock, and entered the house. Elizabeth told Glock that Ricky went down to the transmission center underground. It was to m
ake sure everyone was alright. Glock was worried about Sharine. He surely hoped that she was with Rove, his friend who runs the motel in the village.
Ricky checked all the families. There seemed to be no casualty during the mess. They all have reported except Seth, the head of the hunters club, who was always lousy about keeping track of number of people in the group. Seth said he was mending the list, which made Ricky furious. He threatened to fire him.
Few of the villages were relocating the area. As they have seen some of the hostile population. Later Ricky went back home, seeing Glock and his daughters inside the house. He smiled, gave thanks to Glock for babysitting. Glock said good bye to them and went outside. It was chilly night, Glock was still curious about what happened to the Sharine.
Glock went down to the underground. There were several guards standing to take care of the creatures from approaching. They nodded to Glock as they passed by. He passed by many rooms until he approached the one with the open door. It was the room full of machines and wires. There were few people there, communicating with other divisions.
Glock asked them to contact Rove in a third division. One of them nodded, sipping a cheap black coffee. A moment later, Rove was on the line.
“Hey Rovvy,” said Glock.
“Hi Glock,” said Rove. “One of them almost snatched me while I was running toward the train. Luckily it missed.”
“Quick enough for your age eh?” said Glock. Rove chuckled.
“I saw you crushing them like a bulldozer,” said Rove. “I’m so relieved that all the villagers are safe.”
“Good, good,” said Glock; he sighed with relief, wiping his sweat from his forehead. “So how is she doing?”
“Who’s she?” said Rove.
“You know, that woman with a wounded arm,” said Glock. There was a silence, Rove seemed like he lost the word.
“She said she is going to meet you, I thought…” muttered Rove.
Glock panicked. His body shook and sweat gushed from his body. Her face came to his memory: the mysterious night when they fought, her poor body passed out in his raft and her eyes flickering with hope when she saw the village. How she have finally found the resting ground, and he let it slip! Now she is in the wilderness!
Glock went out of the communication center to find Ricky. He first went to Ricky’s house but the children said he went out again. Grunting with frustration, he asked the villagers where Ricky went. The villagers told him that he is having a meeting with the hunters regarding the defense. Glock walked up to the room inside the train where many foot prints were around the doorstep. Glock pulled the doorknob and swung the door open.
“Sharine is gone!” bellowed Glock. Inside the room, there were bunch of hunters gathered around for a meeting; they all stared at him. Glock ignored the fixed gaze upon him and walked up to Ricky.
“We’ll have to send the rescue squad!” added Glock.
“What happened, Glock?” said Ricky, raising his eyebrows.
“She left! Sharine Pestice, your friend’s daughter! I cannot find her anywhere!” shouted Glock, outraged.
“… Have you checked all the divisions?” asked Ricky.
“Yes! She never came back to her room!” bellowed Glock.
“Now, now, calm down,” said Ricky.
“Ricky!” yelled Glock, like thunder it vibrated the room, the hunters were startled.
“Gentlemen, we will continue this later, I have to talk to him in private,” said Ricky, dismissing the crowd. The hunters squeamishly went out the room, glimpsing at Glock as they did. When they were alone, Ricky gestured Glock to seat.
“When did this happen?” asked Ricky.
“This morning, Ricky,” said Glock, putting his hand on his forehead, and collapsing down on the chair, it made a huge creaking sound.
“Was she alone?” frowned Ricky.
“I… I don’t know,” said Glock. “There is no reason for her to leave like that, I mean… She needed the shelter, she couldn’t have just left.”
Ricky looked really old, his wrinkled became deepened than usual and he walked around feebly toward the fireplace, looking at the flame.
“It’s unfortunate that Ms. Pestice left the town, in a time of such emergency,” muttered Ricky.
“Unfortunate? It is your friend’s daughter you are talking about!” Glock stood up, protesting.
“Calm down Glock, there is nothing we can do at this point,” said Ricky.
“How can you be that insensible? I mean we have to send a squad, I’ll lead them,” Glock grunted, standing straight, making a fist.
“I will not allow that,” said Ricky.
“For your dead friend, don’t you have any sense of duty? She came to the village so she has a right to seek our protection. That is our law! Come on, there has to be some conscience left in you!” shouted Glock.
“Think again Glock,” snapped Ricky, coldly however weakly. Glock mouth dried, blood spiked up to his head.
“Why?” growled Glock, boiling with anger.
“Why do you pity her Glock? You don’t even know her,” snarled Ricky. Glock didn’t resist the anger and bellowed. The chair fell down and the vase on the table stumbled and crashed on the floor. He ran toward him and punched his face. Ricky knocked on the ground, hunters came in, yelling.
They were grabbing Glock on the corner. But it was hard as Glock was huge and strong. Glock pushed the people and broke free so they aimed the gun at him. He breathed heavily, looking at Ricky on the floor. The blood was coming out from Ricky’s mouth. Few hunters gathered around and helped him up.
“Stop stop!” shouted one of the hunters.
“What is wrong with you Glock!” said the other.
“I had enough of this,” growled Glock and went out without looking back. The door remained opened; it swung as the wind blew.
“Are you alright sir?” muttered one of the hunters. He startled as the door got closed due to wind.
“Yes, yes,” said Ricky, adjusting his jaw, it made a cracking sound. “Is there someone else who is gone?”
“Uhh yes sir, we just found out from the second division, his mother started crying out. It’s Kevin Morrison sir,” said the man.
Ricky didn’t say anything; he didn’t recognize the name. He coughed a little, but managed to stand up.
“The island is a mess right now. Soon all of them will start look for us,” said Ricky.
“But we have enough artillery for our defense we can deal with few pirates…” said the man.
“Not just the pirates, but the world. We should prepare everyone to enter into the bunker,” said he. Ricky was pale. The hunters looked at each other, scared.
Underground bunker was the bunker used in the emergency situation. It had the six month supply of food and drink. The location of the bunker was hidden from the outside world.
“They think I created those monsters which destroyed the handsome profit they are getting from Cassandra and screwed up their street. Pissed them off pretty bad… I should’ve been more careful,” said Ricky sighed with disturbance. He first had to deal with Veron’s officers as they have released a good portion of creatures inside the tunnel. As they were in a direct control of the facility, the damage it caused was great. Ricky also had an override protocol to release all the creatures at once inside the tunnel. But he is saving that for the right timing.
The villagers came around and talked about what happened, murmured among themselves. They have heard about Glock’s quarrel with Ricky and the troublemaker Kevin. Most of them thought Glock acted too violent as Ricky was quite old. They didn’t even greet them and hunters avoided them too. Glock had enough of those accusatory looks among the villagers, Glock grunted and went to the Molly’s place and stayed there.
“Come on Glock, they will be alright…” said Molly. She gave him a hot tea, but he did not drink. Molly sighed, sipping her own, looking at Glock.
“I bet that Kevin, that scoundrel, got out with her to sho
w off his hunting skill!” growled Glock, punching the table. The salt and pepper jar clattered inside the metal holder. The tea danced, spilling over the side. Molly flinched a little. “I heard he boasted to his buddies that he had a date!”
“Are they going to get them?” asked Molly, grabbing the towel to wipe the spilled tea on the table.
“No, they say it is too dangerous,” said Glock, grimly.
“She is still in recovery, I hope the wound cures it well,” said Molly, stirring the honey into her tea. “It was a nasty wound, quite a wild girl she is.”
“Yes, I brought her some herbs, I think it would help her heal the…” said Glock.
“Well, she is quite beautiful I guess,” said Molly. Glock coughed a little, sensing his ears got reddened. He glimpsed at Molly shyly and sipped the beverage.
“I didn’t… You know, helped her… just because... I mean I think you are pretty…” muttered Glock. And Molly laughed.
“Thank you,” giggled Molly.
They chatted for a while, about what was going to happen, who is attacking them and so on. Glock drank almost the whole pot of tea.
“They’ve found some man in the forest today,” muttered Glock. “One of the hunters found it while hunting for a deer. I came to look at the man and saw his body swelled up badly.”
“Was it a creature?” asked Molly. Lighting up the oil lantern as it was getting dark. Glock shook his head.
“I don’t know, we think it is some sort of a plague… he was bleeding from his body as if the skin melted,” said Glock. Molly gave a horrified glance.
“Are we inside the red zone?” whispered Molly, setting down her mug on the table.
“I’m not sure… He would have told us if…”
“I better go talk to Ricky,” snapped Molly, walked toward the door, grabbing her leather jacket and went out.