“Then Hector will be the one invading!”
“It will be different. Less… bloody.” I don’t believe my own words, but I feel compelled to say them.
“You don’t have to help him!”
But I do. There is a certainty inside me that is undeniable. It’s flowing in my blood, entangled in my DNA. When I try to question it, something shifts in my brain and makes the doubts fade away.
“River, I don’t want to kill you.” I mean it. I know I have to stop him, but killing must be the last resort. I take off my rifle and throw it aside, knowing him well enough to expect he’ll do the same.
He takes off his own rifle, though he’s hesitant as he places it down. I walked hundreds of miles to bring him back to life, and now I might be forced to do the opposite if he doesn’t back down.
“Nobody needs to die,” I say, my palms open in front of me. “Just walk away and tell the others to stay back.”
“I’m not going to do that! Mother needs this place destroyed.”
“Mother should mind her own damn business!”
“Did you also want that when she helped destroy Vegas?”
I didn’t, but that was in another lifetime.
A sharp pain hits the center of my head and washes away my doubts, leaving me with a clear vision of what I must do. I can’t reason with this stubborn Semi, and I can’t let him cause any more damage to this facility.
I charge as fast as I can and reach him in seconds. He dodges my fist, but I send another one and hit the side of his face. Anybody else would have been knocked down by the impact, but he remains standing, though he seems dazed. Before I can strike again, he growls and lunges at me, unbelievably fast. His fist collides with my stomach hard enough to make my spine crack.
I push through the pain and punch him in the chest, sending him flying backward. He coughs and struggles to stand. I hurry to reach him and grab him from behind, which turns out to be a mistake once he sends his fist up into my chin. I stagger back, blinking lights filling my eyes.
He rolls away and jumps to his feet. When he tries to run away, I manage to grab his shirt and pull him back, wrapping my arms around him tightly enough to hear his bones crack. He hisses in pain and sends his head back, hitting my mouth and cutting my lips. I spit blood on the ground and tighten my grip, forcing him down to his knees. I’m going to break him—his bones, his ribs, his lungs… I can feel his skeleton giving in.
“You should’ve fucking left,” I hiss, unable to stop even though I hate what is happening.
A sharp pain suddenly erupts. I let go of River and fall back, watching my blood gush from a gunshot wound in my shoulder. Next to me, River growls in pain, squirming on the ground. I command my body to start healing the bleeding wound, then I look around to track my shooter. I spot him standing on the roof of one of the tallest structures, aiming his sniper rifle at me.
Despite the distance, I see the tears sliding down Josh’s face.
“Stop!”he screams, but he’s already reloading for another shot.
I rise to my feet, ignoring the pain in my shoulder. River remains on the ground, seemingly unconscious. I can step on his head and smash his skull if I’m fast enough, but the thought of doing that in front of Josh makes my stomach swirl. A faint sense of clarity washes over me, like peeking through a thick layer of smoke. I glance down at my red and yellow blood that is already drying on the ground.
I’m bleeding Hector out of me.
With less of him in my bloodstream, his control wavers. But I already feel the smoke in my mind thickening again, giving me just a few more moments of clarity. I dash past River and grab his rifle from the ground. Josh fires a warning shot at my feet, but I didn’t grab the rifle to fight anyone.
I press the muzzle against my thigh and squeeze the trigger. The bullet pierces through my flesh and hits the ground, shattering my bone. I scream as blood gushes out from the wound, bringing with it another dose of clarity. How much do I need to bleed to get rid of Hector? With how quickly my body is fighting to heal itself, it’s starting to feel like a lost cause.
You fool,Hector says in my head. His voice is clearer than it has been since he gave me his final gift. It dawns on me that by bleeding him out, I’m also losing my defenses and allowing him to slip back into my mind.
I look up at Josh. He’s watching me with eyes filled with fear.
Get rid of him!Hector screams inside my brain.
I shake my head and slap my face to shut him up. If these moments of clarity are the last ones I have, I can’t let them go to waste. I press the muzzle of the rifle underneath my chin, my finger on the trigger. Before I can fire the bullet that will endthis madness, Josh shoots the rifle out of my hands, sending it flying in pieces. I grunt in anger. He has no grasp of what might happen if I don’t stop Hector’s control over me.
I can try grabbing River’s rifle, but Josh will likely shoot that one as well. I have one other alternative, though it will be much more painful. I run as fast as I can on my wounded leg toward the burning structure that River destroyed earlier. Josh shoots the ground to stop me, but if I don’t do this, his death will likely follow.
I’m going to make everything right again by burning down Hector’s champion. He can lead his damn army by himself.
The air turns blisteringly hot as I near the flames, and a horrifying thought crosses my mind. My body will try to heal itself as I burn. It will eventually fail, but the pain will drive me mad. And yet, I see no other choice. This has to stop.
