366: A Plague of Phantoms: The King of Lies and The King of Revolution XXVI

"I want the parameter secured within the hour!" Cross exclaimed, sending the platoon out into the village.

While everyone paired off into groups to make sweeps of the condemned houses, I snuck away. Retreating into a half collapsed house. I waited in a small closet for a few minutes while I thought of my next move.

'I know my mission is to just report what I'm seeing but I'm starting to get paranoid about that explosion earlier. Iris wasn't being truthful either…something major is going on right now.' I thought to myself.

"Has anyone cleared this house yet…?" A voice called out. Not wanting to get caught hiding in the closet I quickly jumped out and called out to the person standing outside.

"Its clear!"

The soldier poked his head into the small half collapsed house and looked surprised to see me but shrugged.

"Nevermind." He said. Then turned to walk further into the village. I stepped out of the house and found Cross eyeing me suspiciously from the mouth of the village. I narrowed my eyes at him then turned away and walked further into the village.

Over the next hour we systematically went through an cleared house after house to make sure nobody was laying in wait. While everyone else worked in pairs or groups of threes, I kept to myself. A vast majority of this time was spent trying to clear all the rooms in a large three story temple at the edge of the village.

I was clearing the last room at the back of the temple's first floor when I heard something that made my veins chill with dread. A small strangled whimper. I wanted to pretend that I hadn't heard the sound, but on hearing it I froze for a second. My eyes immediately darted in the direction the sound came from.

The room I was in had been some sort of office for the temple or prayer space. The sound had came from a small desk with a draping over it, tucked at the back of the room. Against my better judgment I crept towards the desk and lifted the draping. Underneath was a small child, a boy judging by his clothing. He was staring up at me with wide eyes, wet with tears and a hand over his mouth trying to quiet his breathing.

'A child? Local kid? This village is deserted though. How did he get here.' I thought as I looked over the boy. My eyes widened in terror as they locked onto a circle shaped crystal on the boy's shoulder. 'Fuck! A splicer!'

Knowing Cross's hatred of splicers and our isolation from the local government by being on a mountain I had no doubt that he would take his rage out on the boy for just being born a splicer. He could not be found here.

I held a finger to my lips to silence the boy then lowered the draping to cover him and quickly rushed to the door and poked my head out, checking to make sure there was nobody nearby. The floor was empty and mostly open, save the staircase to the upper floors as well as this and another office. There was only two ways in and out of the temple, the main double doors at the front of the temple and a side door at the back underneath the staircase.

Seeing the coast was clear I rushed back over to the desk and lifted the cloth covering it. The boy let out a small squeak but I quickly shushed him.

"Stay silent and follow me." I ordered him in universal standard, hoping the boy understood it since I didn't know Japanese. Thankfully the boy nodded, he was hesitant but his acknowledgement took calmed some of my panic.

I hurried back over to the door and peeked out again, the temple was still clear, I looked over my shoulder to see the boy had crawled out from under the desk. The boy was taller than Bo by about half a head, had features that looked a mix of Japanese and European; possibly English; and medium length brown hair that covered his eyes. He looked about eleven or twelve by my guess but I wasn't so sure of my ability to guess ages.

I motioned for the boy to follow then snuck out into the temple. He followed and we quickly made our way to the second exit under the stairs. I pushed the door open slightly to poke my head out to check that the coast was clear. The door lead out into the courtyard of the temple, which was mostly an overgrown jungle thanks to years of neglect but thankfully it was also clear.

I opened the door all the way and waved for the boy, he rushed out and I quickly stepped out and closed the door behind us then hopped over a small railing into the unkempt jungle. My heart was beating in my ears at this point as I navigated through overgrown plants and muddy channels to the wall that surrounded then entire temple. Luckily where we exited the courtyard garden was close to the service entrance to the eastern side of the temple.

I rushed to the door and pushed it open. Not a soldier in sight, though that made sense with most of them either clearing the other two floors of the temple or the rear of the village. The boy and I rushed out and ran across the street to the closest house and ran inside.

We cut through the house exiting through a window and into the window of another house. As we crept through this second deserted house I looked over my shoulder to make sure the boy was still following and was glad he was. Though he looked as terrified as I felt.

"Stay calm. We're almost out of the village." I whispered to the boy, hoping to portray a mask of calm. The boy nodded hesitantly but didn't respond otherwise.

As we exited the house and stepped into the street I felt the chilling hand of fear grip my heart. Standing at the center a few yards away was Cross with two other soldiers at his flank. His eyes focused on me and burned with anger.

"Hold it right there!" Cross barked, making myself and the boy freeze. I stared back at the lieutenant like a deer in lamplights, my mind reeling to try and find a way out of the situation.

"A local?" One of the soldiers mumbled, looking towards the boy. Breaking out of my stupor, I stepped in front of the boy and shielded him from view.

"What the hell is going on Private Wills?" Cross demanded.

"N-nothing Sir. I found a local boy and was hurrying to get him off the mountain." I replied hurriedly. Cross scoffed and shook his head.

"Don't bother with that, you should have just off the brat." Cross said, causally running his thumb across his neck like he was slitting his throat. The boy gasped at this and held onto the back of my shirt.

'Wait…wasn't Cross speaking English just now?' I thought as I glanced down at the boy.

A deep and bone chilling growl reverberated through the air making all the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I looked towards the origin and Cross practically foaming at the mouth and glaring daggers at me or rather at the boy behind me.

"A FUCKING SPLICER!" Cross roared.

'Shit! He saw the crystal!' I thought then took pushed the boy further behind me.

"Lieutenant, He's just a boy!" I said firmly.

"NO! HE'S A FREAK OF NATURE! A MURDERING BASTARD!" Cross roared and drew his pistol. "I WANT THAT FUCKING THING DEAD! NOW!"

"Sir think…" I started only to get cut off by a bullet striking the ground near my left foot. Both the boy and I jumped.

"Are you disobeying a direct order soldier? Either you kill that fucking monster or I kill you for insubordination and treason!" Cross barked. Hearing this the other two soldiers drew their guns and pointed at me and the boy.

"Wait…hold on!" I cried, holding my hands up.

"No! Follow my orders soldier or get executed!" Cross barked.

'Fuck! What do I do? Nobody can get here in time? Fuck!' I thought frantically for a few seconds as I let my mind go over all the other options. There however was only one option I could take. I sighed and let my shoulders sag slightly and looked down at the boy and grabbed his shoulder.

"Sorry kid. Don't have a choice." I said as I drew my own gun. I saw fear flash in the boy's eyes and he tried to pull away from me but my grip was too tight.

In one quick movement I spun on my heel and threw the boy towards the open door of the house we'd rushed out of and fired my gun at Cross and the soldiers. Cross was quick enough to jump behind a nearby building for cover, I managed to wing one of the soldiers flanking him in the shoulder and hit the other one in the gut and chest.

I ran into the abandoned house and hid behind the doorframe just as Cross returned fire. I gritted my teeth as I looked around the small room and found breathed a sigh of relief when I saw the boy cowering in the corner.

"Get behind that table!" I yelled at the boy, pointing to a overturned table in the center of the house.

A barrage of bullets hit the doorframe I was using for cover, nearly making me shit myself. I poked my eye outside and saw Cross firing at the house while the winged soldier dragged his wounded comrade to safety.

"PRIVATE WILLS! I'M GOING TO FUCKING BREAK YOUR LEGS AND MAKE YOU WATCH WHILE I KILL THAT SPLICER IN FRONT OF YOU!" Cross roared while he fired.

"Like you watched Kingston kill Sergeant Reagan and Anders!" I barked back.

"YOU'RE FUCKING DEAD!"

I had to duck down when two shots came centimeters from hitting my head when they went through the wood of the door frame. I pointed my gun out the wind and fired blindly. Forcing Cross to get in to cover long enough for me to rush over to the table the boy was hiding behind.

"We need to move…" I told the boy and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.

"Bell out!" A soldier yelled from outside. The sound of something hitting the floor near me distracted me and drew my attention. I glanced in that direction and my eyes grew wide. A small bell shaped explosive called a Bell pepper pratter, landed a few feet away.

"Shit!" I screamed as I jumped away, holding the boy close to my chest.

The Bell pepper exploded and I felt a rush of heat and force as I was sent flying into a wall. My back hit the wall as the floor started to collapse into a sinkhole that devoured the entire room. I held onto the boy tighter with one arm and frantically reached for something to hold onto as we started to fall. My hand managed to grab onto the edge of the sinkhole only for my grip to slip and the boy and I were sent tumbling into the dark.

***

"….ke up! Wake up! Wake up Sir!" I heard a voice cry out while thousands of needles raked over my body. I opened my eyes and coughed then groaned and grabbed my side.

"Fuck! Yep! That's a broken rib." I groaned then struggled to breathe through the pain. I looked up at the boy, he was barely visible in the dull light of whatever hole we'd managed to get blown into. The light intensified as a green orb hovered above the boy's face.

"Wait…who are you?" The boy asked softly. I frowned then looked at my hand, now visible thanks to the light.

"Wait…this is my hand?" I muttered.

I sat up despite the pain, startling the boy and making him stumble back. I ignored that reaction and looked at my hands, they were indeed my hands and not the soldier's who's appearance I stole.

"Wait…where's the communication ring? Or the bangle? FUCK!" I growled and looked at the ground nearby.

Without that bangle my disguise was forfeit and without the communication ring I couldn't contact anyone to let them know what was going on. I was fucked, royally and totally.

"Are you…okay?"

I looked over to the boy cowering behind a nearby rock. The orb of light floated a few inches above his head.

"No." I admitted then looked up. There was a faint light shining down about seven meters up, with my ribs in the state they were there was no way I was climbing back up there, and even if I did Cross and the other soldiers would be waiting for me.

"We got to move." I groaned and stood up despite the pain. "Look kid, I know I look different now but I'm still the one that saved you. I promise I'm not going to hurt you."

"Okay…" The boy muttered but didn't move from hos,hiding spots behind the rock.

I took a moment too look at the hole we'd landed in and was surprised to see that it was actually a tunnel. Arching a brow I frowned deeper and looked down both ends of the tunnel.

"A tunnel?" I said.

"We're in the old mine." The boy said suddenly. I looked to him and boy flinched and ducked behind the rock.

"Old mine?"

"Yes…the village above was once a mining village forever ago. These tunnels extend all through the mountain. It even connects to my village down at the base of the mountain." The boy explained. My eyes widened with hope.

"Wait, do you know your way around the mines?" I asked. The boy didn't reply but I heard a few worried whines coming from behind the rock. Limped over to the rock and saw the boy running his hands through his hair in a frantic manner while groaning. "You okay kid?"

"Ah!" The boy screamed and jumped back and slamming into the wall.

"Calm down before you hurt yourself." I said sternly then pointed to my ribs. "I'm already busted up and bruised. I'm in no condition to be carrying you around. Take deep breaths."

The boy took several deep breaths, his breathing slowed and his eyes became less frantic. After a minute the boy was calm enough to speak.

"I know my way around some of the mines shafts…all kids in my village do. I don't know this tunnel but if we travel far enough I should spot one I do. They're marked you see." The boy said, he passed for a moment and fumbled with his hands. "I'm Kennedy Taguchi of Kugare village."

I arched a brow at the boy, not expecting him to give me his whole name considering we just met and currently lost in a mine. I shrugged and patted the boy's head.

"I'm Blake Reagan, call me Reagan. I'm with Sho'lajah Artifact Company." I replied. The boy's eyes widened to the size of saucers the moment he heard Sho'lajah Artifact Company.

"You work for Master Kingston!" Kennedy all but yelled, jumping in place like a coked up rabbit.

"Y-yeah…" I gasped. His enthusiasm was surprising. His eyes twinkled on my confirmation.

"Master Kingston is the Greatest! He's my Hero!"