Episode 4: The Guardian

Episode 4

"The Guardian"

(Mark)

Ned and I ran for the forest, and we made it there, where we saw the whole bandit camp, being torn apart by flames. It was all destroyed, and the fire was spreading all over the forest.

"There's no way we can put this out, what are we gonna do?" I asked.

"Nothing, maybe it will die out eventually."

"Alright, but this better not bring any stranglers."

"It probably will, that's why we should be quick. Check the place over and see if there are any people here." Ned said, he started walking around the camp looking for things as well.

"Why do we even care who started this? It's not our problem." I said while opening some scorched tents.

"It kind of is our problem, this fire is gonna attract a lot of stranglers, and if it really was Ryder who did this, that means he is angry, and still out there. Maybe we should have just killed him back during the war. We had the chance. We don't want to make the same mistake he did."

"Ryder isn't dangerous, he's all alone. I bet he's already dead, you can't survive all by yourself nowadays. It's impossible, we barely survived the winter as a group. We would have been dead without the mansion." I explained.

After searching around the camp for a while, we found nothing. It was getting really hot, and I was sweating from all of the fire around me.

"Alright, let's head back." I said.

Just then, it started raining. Ned and I looked up and smiled in relief. The rain should put out the fire, it didn't spread too far, the rain can stop it before it does any real damage.

"Well, we might as well," Ned agreed, "let's get back to the mansion before we get soaked."

I turned around to head back to the mansion when I came face to face with a man wearing a gas mask. I didn't even have time to react, he had a bat in his hand, and he swung it at me. I fell to the ground and my vision got blurry, I looked around, confused and terrified at the same time. I saw the man walked up to Ned. Ned pulled out his gun and tried shooting the man with the gas mask, the man reacted too quickly though. He pulled out mace and sprayed Ned, he fell to the ground holding his eyes and screaming. My vision started fading, and everything went black. The last thing I saw was the mysterious man walking over to me after beating Ned with his bat.

I woke up out of sweating and panicking. I was in a dark room, I couldn't see a thing. I knew I was tied to a chair though. I couldn't move, no matter how much I struggled. I screamed out for help, but there was no response, until something lit up on the wall in front of me. There was a video playing, a projector behind me was buzzing. The videos were in black and white, and they were very disturbing. The first part of the video was of an old man. He was sweating, and bleeding, tied to the chair. He was crying out for help, but nobody was going to help him. He was in a dark room as well, but it was lit up enough for me to see him. Then there was a creepy voice behind the camera.

"Shh, nobody is coming. Just listen to me. I am going to inject the strangler blood into you, the sacrifice the stranglers need. They'll appreciate it, I promise."

There was a sadistic chuckle in the background, before the man revealed himself. He had a gas mask on, a long black trench coat and jeans. He had a syringe in his hand, he held the man still as he stuck the syringe into the man. The old man screamed as the masked man laughed. The old man passed out from what looked to be sheer terror. That's when the video cut to a different person.

This time, it was a woman. She looked to be around my age. She was crying and pleading the man to stop what he was doing. He wouldn't listen. The next part went the same as the last part, he infected her with a syringe of blood and laughed at them as they screamed in terror. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I must be his next victim. I started tearing up and closed my eyes. I felt a hand grab my head and fingers force my eyes open. I heard the same man behind me.

"Don't worry my friend. It's okay. I am the guardian."

"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked in a shaky voice.

He took his hands off my head and he walked around to face me. He knelt down and looked at me, he still had his gas mask on. I had no idea what this creep looked like.

"These stranglers are here for a reason. No? Well, people call them stranglers. I don't. They are the next species to take over this planet! They are now the top of the food chain! They are a gift sent from God! Instead of fighting back, we must accept them. Become them, we are fortunate to have them here with us."

"You're crazy." I said.

"A lesser minded individual would think that, yes. I am here to make sure these new species accomplish their goals here on Earth. I am The Guardian. I protect these guys. And I sacrifice people like you to them. When my job is finished, I will sacrifice myself."

"Where's Ned?" I demanded.

"Oh your friend is in the waiting room. I will deal with him after you. Are you ready to become the next offering Mark?"

How did this guy know my name? It creeped me out. I stared the man in the eyes, even though I couldn't see them. I spit on him. He got up and wiped the spit from his mask, he then backhanded me across the face.

"You know what, just for that, I'm gonna go get your friend, and I will sacrifice him in front of you. Maybe it will open your eyes to the new possibilities of life Mark. Maybe you won't be so ignorant."

He showed me the syringe, and placed it on a table to my right. He waved and left the room. I looked at the syringe which was fully loaded with infected blood. I then got an idea, I wasn't sure if it was gonna work, but I had to do it.

I reached for the syringe as best as I could, it was difficult, because I was tied up and everything. I fumbled around with it on the table.

"C'mon you son of a bitch." I said.

I kept looking at the door, praying the masked man wouldn't come in here. I finally got a hold of the syringe after a bunch of wasted time fumbling around with the damn thing.

I pushed on the bottom and emptied the blood from it. I watched it squirt out in a single stream onto the ground. It mixed in with all the other dried blood he had on the ground. I then gave the syringe a wipe down with my shirt, trying to get rid of as much infected blood as possible. I knew this was extremely dangerous, because I could still very well get infected from this, but I prayed I would make it out of this okay. I took a deep breath and stuck the syringe into my shoulder and started sucking the blood from my shoulder. I sweat more as I kept looking at the door. I finally got the syringe full as the door knob started turning. I tossed the syringe at the table, I missed and it fell onto the ground. I was so lucky it didn't shatter. Or all of that would have been for nothing. The Guardian walked in holding Ned in a headlock. Ned looked severely beat up and was struggling to get out of the headlock, but it looked like The Guardian had an iron grip.

He threw Ned onto the floor next to me, he looked up at me in terror.

"It will be alright." I said to him.

The Guardian saw the syringe on the ground, and then looked at me.

"Were you trying to break it? You do know I have tons more blood where that came from." he bent down and picked it up, he examined it and flicked it a few times.

"Perfect, so Ned. You want to be a part of the new species?"

Ned tried crawling away, but he was too weak and too slow. The Guardian picked him up and put him in another headlock. He placed the syringe next to Ned's neck, I know I couldn't see his face but I had a feeling The Guardian had a big smile on his face. He then injected the blood in Ned's neck. I cringed, praying that it still wouldn't infect Ned. He then threw Ned onto the ground, Ned held his neck and started crying. The Guardian walked over to Ned and kicked him in the head, knocking him out. He then turned to me and placed the syringe to my neck, some blood still left in the syringe.

"I'm not afraid of you." I challenged.

"I'm sure you aren't. You don't have to be, embrace the new world." The Guardian chuckled.

He then injected the syringe into my neck and I cringed again, because it felt very weird.

"How do you feel Mark?" The Guardian asked, "you ready for the new way of life? You're so lucky, I bet you're so excited. I can't wait to join you once I'm finished with my work."

I saw Ned slowly get up behind The Guardian, and I decided to keep the masked maniac talking, so I could distract him.

"It feels good, thank you for opening up my eyes." I said.

The Guardian looked surprised.

"I've never gotten a reaction quite like yours Mark, but I appreciate it. I'm happy someone finally understands my work. I am the new God of this world! Don't you agree?"

"Yes, you are." I said.

Ned then tackled The Guardian, he fell onto the table as Ned punched him across the face. The Guardian fell onto the ground, dropping his syringe and shattering it, glass spreading all over the place. Ned got on top of him and started punching and punching. I wiggled around, trying to get free. I tipped the chair over and fell onto the ground, I struggled the reach for a piece of shattered glass, I grabbed a piece and started sawing at the rope. I hope Ned could fend this guy off long enough for me to get this rope off.

Ned kept wrestling with this guy, and he was winning. The Guardian got in a few pretty good hits, but Ned kept him on the ground, so he couldn't get up and stop me from escaping. I finally got one of the ropes around my wrist to give out. I stuck the glass in my pocket, I got out of the chair and crawled around on the ground, trying to get my mobility back. I was pretty shaken up from what just happened. I got up and felt a dizzy spell, but I overcame it. I turned to go help Ned, but that's when I saw The Guardian with Ned in a headlock. He had a gun pointed to his head.

"Stand down Mark, or I shoot Ned."

"Run." Ned said.

I didn't even take a minute to hesitate. I needed to get out of here, there was nothing I could do to convince this crazy person of letting us go, and there was no way in hell I was going to stand down. I ran for the door and kicked it open. I started running down the hallway, I heard a gunshot go off in the room and I turned my head to see The Guardian running after me.