Chapter 4 - Weapons

Weapons. Knife, machete, sword, arrow, dagger, lance, cudgel. All kinds of weapons were laid around Asia as she cleaned and polished each of them.

“Where are you going?” Asia overheard as Angus asked the departing Keira.

It had been a week since the event with Rowan and they were already running low on food and supplies. Asia was as usual sitting in the makeshift chair at the entrance of their base, trying to sharpen their weapons and at the same time, acting as guard of the base camp.

“I am going to take some medicinal herbs as well as some edible plants,” Keira answered.

“I’m going with you,” Angus said as he reached for his bow and arrow. He even examined random parts of his body for weapons he had hidden.

“Are you perhaps worried for me?” Keira teased Angus.

“Stop kidding about it. We both know we don't have that kind of feelings anymore.”

“Sorry, a bad joke,” Keira apologized and pointed at Asia. “I'd rather take her with me though. She is more knowledgeable and more observant than you are.”

“Then we will both go with you,” he insisted and went ahead to go down the cliff. He failed to acknowledge her again.

Asia put down the spear and followed the two of them down the cliff. However, they have not yet touched the ground, when they were immediately greeted by the rotting smell produced by the corpses they threw a week before.

“This is bad. Why aren't they cleaning this up?” Keira commented as she looked impassively on the corpses.

“Let it be. We will leave soon and besides we never get sick.” Angus argued as he skipped over one of the corpses.

They continued to walk for hours until they reached a river. Asia was silent the whole time while occasionally pointing to Keira the herbs she was looking for.

“See? She was really useful,” Keira commended as she organized the herbs in her bag.

“If only she can be helpful during battles too,” Angus muttered.

Asia ignored him. Instead, her eyes skimmed through the riverbank and stopped at a figure only a few meters away from them.

“Isn't that Rowan?” Asia asked as she squinted her eyes toward the figure.

“He is still alive?” Angus asked and readied his weapon. Keira did the same while Asia hid behind the two.

Tensely, they watched Rowan as he removed the fish caught by the fishing hook and slowly stared at the three of them. Asia's knees almost failed her. The other half of his face was intact, while the other half was missing, only flesh and muscle was there.

“Hey! Hey! Just as we thought you are here!”

Asia jumped at the sound of the voice. It was Peter who even playfully slapped Angus on the shoulder. He was with five other Ekrons.

“Shut—” Angus started but it was too late.

Rowan was already on them and Asia could clearly see as the lure stuck on Peter's throat, disabling him. Then, Rowan made unintelligible sounds as he stared at the other Ekron.

Asia almost ran but then she heard Rowan whimper as the last Ekron with Peter fell into the ground. She stared at Rowan and when he was about to attack her, she impulsively covered her ears and shouted for him to stop.

“If you continue any further, I would get really angry!” she screamed in a voice that was trembling from fear.

Asia heard as something dropped into the ground, it was the lure.

“If you are going to cower in fear then there is no need for you to get his attention,” Angus said as he stood in front of her, shielding her.

She looked up and saw Rowan stopping midway. His expression caught in something hideous and confusing. He was trembling as he stared at her with arms still raised. Angus marched forward and gave Rowan the death blow.

“Now, he won't disturb us,” Angus said as he nonchalantly wiped away the blood in his knife.

Asia stared at Rowan's lifeless body in front of her. Any normal girl would squeal at the mutilated body, but it only gave her a dull throbbing in her head. She couldn't deduce whether it was her real emotions or was she just remembering the memory of it. Maybe she had been too used with death as it surrounds them everyday as an Ekron.

“Okay! That was surprising,” Asia jumped again at Peter's voice as he casually brushed his shirt and neck.

“You are alive,” she breathed.

“You sound unhappy that I am still alive? I have the sturdiest body you know,” Peter shifted his eyes to Angus. “So what to do now, Angus?”

“There's only one thing to do.”

Asia, Angus, Peter and Keira continued to walk until they found the entrance to the jungle. It was littered with camping tents as well as supplies that should have been delivered to them three days ago. The car engines were still running but you could not see any living human in the area.

“What happened here?” Keira asked as she stooped down and opened a knapsack full of canned goods.

Asia took a step back from the scene. She had a guess what happened. Everyone in Ashkelon who was checking their progress had been annihilated by a predator. An animal that was probably at the top of the food chain.

“What's wrong with you?” Peter asked Asia as he lightly smacked her forehead.

“Have you seen any animal around the area?” Asia asked, her voice started to falter, her cowardice was starting to overpower her ability to think.

“Now that you asked. I haven't seen any,” Keira answered, standing up with the loot in her hands.

“We should go,” Asia prepared to run even without them agreeing.

“I think we should,” Angus said seriously. He just came back from one of the tents. “See here.”

Everyone followed him into the tent. Asia hesitantly followed and forced her feet to move. Inside were chairs as well as strewn papers all over the floor. There were splotches of blood at the table. Angus pressed a button and a scene flickered at the monitors.

In the monitor, they saw an unidentified creature that came rushing into the camp. The Ashkelon men tried to kill it with normal guns but it was as sturdy as the Ekrons. The most fascinating thing about it was that it was so fast that when it moved even the cameras had a hard time of catching it.

“This is the reason why the provision didn’t come. It might even take awhile before Ashkelon can come and get us,” Angus explained, even if there was no need for one.

“We better stock up here and bring them all back,” Keira said and added, “Fast. Before that creature came for us.”

As fast as Keira's words left her, she disappeared right in front of them, leaving a gaping hole in the tent. For a second, no one moved and no one uttered a single word. They just stared at the place where Keira should be but instead of her, a knapsack of supplies was left in her place.

Out of fear, Asia ran without looking back. She knew she must go back. She reached the cliff and climbed as fast as she could manage without caring whether the creature was following her or not. The other Ekron might not realize it but she knew, the creature's real prey were the Ekrons.

“You really run fast, don't you?” Angus mocked her as he ran right behind.

Asia thought he would stay back as courageous as he is. Like the other Ekron, he knows no fear. Fear was supposed to be stranger to them and it surprised her to see Angus running with her.

Angus overtook her to reach the top of the cliff. Asia was about to reach the top when she felt that something caught her feet. It was tugging her down. She never even bothered to look at it. Instead, she looked at Angus as she stretched her hands, asking for his help. Angus looked down at her and her fear resurfaced, more than ever.

Obviously, helping and saving each other was not one of Ekron's strong suits. They won't hurt each other without a reason but they don't care if one of their kind dies. Asia almost gave up on Angus helping her when he tugged her up and chopped off the claws that were holding her down. With one hand, he threw her at the floor far from the cliff.

“Useless Ekron,” Angus complained as he glowered at her.

“Don't say that, Angus,” said by one of the boys named Suha as he put his arms around Angus. He had a strong build and stands at six feet. He had a skin, the color of ginger, and short, cropped hair.

“You were the one who said that in order to survive we have to follow her lead, have you forgotten?” Suha added and approached the cliff. “That means she is useful to us, as our survival guide.”

“I never said that,” Angus said and left the two of them.

“He said that?” Asia asked unsure of what feelings to call upon.

“He was not being honest with himself. He said that out of all of us, you are the only one who really knew how to survive. He said that your instinct to survive is greater than any of us.”

That only means Angus did not only see her as a useless Ekron but also a cowardly, abnormal one. Ekrons were not supposed to fear pain and death, thus, they were not supposed to have any survival instincts at all. That was how myrtus works, the part of the brain that processes emotions was used to enhance a human's ability to fight. It robbed them off of their emotions. That is why, knowing fear means she was a failed experiment.

“What are we to do now?” she heard as Anita came out of the base. “Angus looks pretty much devastated because he could not do anything about that creature.”

“We can't stay here any longer. We can't even hunt because probably that creature had killed everything,” Suha guessed after returning from observing the ground below.

“Evidently, since it was already hunting for us,” a voice said. It was Peter, pulling himself up the cliff.

“You are alive...” Asia breathed, surprised as she approached Peter to check for any wounds. "again?"

“I told you I have a sturdy build. I won't die that easy.”

As immediate as the words left his mouth, a white, huge claw pierced his upper body. He coughed his own blood and keeled over. He was almost taken down by the monster if not for Anita who reached him just in time and threw him towards Suha. Arrows were fired and struck at the monster who was trying to climb the cliff causing it to lose its bearings and fell down.

Asia covered her ears, to silence everything around her. It's becoming clear that they have no other choice but to defeat the monster. The instant they leave the base, it would come and devour them. Even with all the training they had, she knew they would never be able to defeat it. Even Angus, the top of their class, could not do anything but run from it and leave Keira and Peter behind. What more could she do against it? Their only salvation was for Ashkelon to come and save them. But were they worth saving? Were they really worth sacrificing more Ekron lives?

Like a premonition, the sound of approaching helicopters was heard. Asia could not mistake it. It was the sound of the tail rotors as it approached the cliff they were currently in. Ashkelon really had come to fetch them. She looked up and saw as five helicopters came into sight.

“I think it's time for the rest of you to return,” an unfamiliar man said as he dangled in the air.

He easily jumped from the helicopter to the cliff like he did not just jump at least a fifteen-meter height.

“I would be your new trainer. I will formally introduce myself when we all get back safely. For now, work must be done.”

He walked past them and said, “See you soon,” then winked at them and jumped from the cliff.

Other newly arrived Ekrons with huge swords at their backs followed him, as well as three of the helicopters. The remaining Ekrons ordered them to board the remaining helicopter. As they were leaving, they heard the cries of the creature and the sound of falling trees. Asia could only imagine what would happen to the forest after the fight. Blackened trees perhaps, craters on the ground and hills flattened to the ground. She shook her head free of the illusions, afraid that it would go somewhere that’s scary.

“Aren't you happy we got away, failure?” Angus asked as he approached her from behind.

Asia could not understand why Angus kept on talking to her even if she kept on ignoring him. She sighed after thinking about it. They’re both Ekrons. Emotions run in the realm of humans, not on Ekrons, so there must be a logical reason why she was being treated as such.

“Have you been swept off your feet by our newest trainer?” Angus added and smirked. “Being an Ekron.. impossible.. but wait, you are a failure. So it might actually be possible,” he said as he pretended to think about what he said.

Asia tried to glare at him and left. Having emotions was a taboo for Ekrons. She could still remember how Angus first learned that she still knows what fear is.

It was just after their training when he saw her cowering at the corner. He laughed it off with his lackeys. But she could not completely hate him for that. Because even if he called her names, even if he often reminded her of how useless and a failure she was, he never said anything about it to their instructors. He even made sure his lackeys won't tell anyone. That was probably one of the reasons why Asia was never culled from the trainees. At least, she would be able to hold on to her life as pathetic as she had become.

To be continued….