Read Off The Grid: A War With No End Book 1 Page 21

  Chapter 19

  We appeared in the void with a pop, and Caesar looked around with interest. “Where is this? And is that large box made of metal?”

  “We’re in the Void. I won’t bother explaining it yet, so just suffice to know that time does-well, shouldn’t pass here. And I’m not sure what that thing is made from to be honest.”

  George looked like he was handling the situation surprisingly well. “Is everything you told me true?”

  Without answering him, I just pointed to the arena, where the two giant gladiators were just about to begin fighting. “Think those things are flesh and blood?”

  Both George and Caesar rushed over to the arena, and I ran after them. They stood at the edge, both yelling and betting on a gladiator. I chuckled.

  “So what exactly do you two even have to bet?”

  They both turned around, and realization struck them at the same time. They both sighed, and began to walk away from the arena.

  Using the Void, I formed a gold coin and hurled it at Caesar. He ducked, and it flew over his head. George managed to grab the thing, and turned to me in wonder.

  “How did you get this?”

  In response, I formed another ten of the coins. “You ran off before I could explain anything else. This is the Void, and nothing exists here. Because of that, we can make something into more nothing, just a different shape. I won’t give you the reasoning because it’s a pain, but just make something happen.”

  Caesar sat down on a wooden chair, and jumped back up in surprise. “Did I do this?”

  George looked at the wooden chair, and he was suddenly standing in front of a large box. It looked like it had a little armor on it, and a tube extended from the front. I laughed.

  “That’s all you’re going to settle for?”

  I made the tank disappear, and replaced it with what could only be known as a hover tank. It had no treads, and was floating about two feet in the air. There was a door on the side, and a massive turret on the top. According to what I had thought up, that tank shot lasers that were like the gun I used to have before it got blown into pieces by the Unknown Man’s cube.

  George took one glance at the tank, and climbed into it without another word. I was about to follow him in so he wouldn’t shoot any of my men. I wasn’t sure if you could actually die in the Void, but I didn’t want to find out.

  Then I heard an angry female voice scream my name, and I sighed. “What the heck do you think you are doing? Drake, how many Leaps did you waste?” Lilly yelled.

  And the mouse has been caught. “Ah, only one or two.” I mumbled.

  Lilly looked livid, but Jenna stepped in. “Lilly, calm down! You shouldn’t resort to violence that easily. And save your anger for your enemies, not your friends!”

  Lilly glared at Jenna and smacked her arm out of the way. She looked back to me. “Please tell me you managed to do something useful with the Leaps that you wasted.”

  I was tempted to tell Lilly that her sentence was a contradiction on itself, but I decided to try to hang on to life for a little longer and let it drop. “I’d like you to meet George Patton and Julius Caesar.”

  I turned around to see how George and Caesar had reacted to the two newcomers. Where they had once stood was now filled with an empty, unwanted, substance that most humans know as air. A loud crash caused me to turn my head in horror, and behold as General Patton drove his tank straight through the walls of my command center.

  I groaned. Lilly pulled out her pistols and began running towards the rogue tank. I ran after her as quickly as I could, hoping to reach her before she murdered my poor general. By the time we both got there, my soldiers had already repaired the building and removed the tank.

  They had surrounded George, and were all pointing weapons and sharp, pointy objects at him. I walked over into the crowd and motioned for them to drop their weapons. I glanced at George.

  “Maybe you should learn how to drive that, eh?”

  He glared at me. “Oh, be quiet. How was I supposed to know how to drive that thing? It’s practically impossible!”

  I frowned. “It can’t be that hard!”

  I created another tank, and hopped into it before anyone could say otherwise. The moment my right hand touched the controls, a spark shot out of the machine and it burst into flame. I sighed, and the tank disappeared. George smirked at me. “At least I could move the thing.”

  I decided not to argue with him. “Whatever. You can just drive a small car or something. I’m not going to let you accidentally run over any of my men.”

  He shrugged. “I don’t care, as long as I’m commanding the heavy artillery.”

  One of my soldiers stepped up. “Commander Jinx, who is this guy?”

  “Oh, he’s George Patton. Meet one of your new generals. Mr. Patton is going to be in charge of all the artillery and large metal vehicles that make things blow up.”

  Lilly stared at him in disgust. “He can’t even drive a tank! Why are you putting HIM in charge of one of the most important parts of our force?”

  “Because he has a good track record. Or rather, he will have a good track record. I didn’t want to get an old man as a general. It wouldn’t go too well if he died of old age before the battle started. And speaking of generals, has anyone seen my other one?”