Payment

Waking up from his slumber, Ren had a crazy grin on his face. 'We're leaving today.' Struggling to contain his smile, he shot up, looking at his clock. They had a few hours before they were supposed to meet with their escort. Ren was almost shivering—not because he was cold, but because he couldn't help feeling proud of how far he had come.

Walking through the old hotel room, Ren unconsciously started to hum. From the day the Final Age started to now marked 14 years, surviving hell wasn't easy. In fact 95% of the population hadn't. Now only a billion live. Ren's hum grew louder, trying to distract himself from the sad thoughts with an old song, and accidentally waking up Kai in the process.

Kai rubbed his eyes, trying to push the sleep away. After that he broke into a yawn, looking a the singing boy almost amused. All this happened without the knowledge of Ren making him jump when he heard his friend's voice.

"You excited, Ren?"

Ren froze. His humming stopped shortly after. 'I should probably stop doing that. It's a bad habit.' He gave a crooked smile.

"More or less. I still can't believe that we're going to make it... After two years of fighting to the brink of death, I grew fine with the thought that we'd probably die. But now it's different. Our luck has changed for the better."

Kai got up slowly. Stretching his arms, he said,

"Well, don't jinx us. I'll go wake up Kael. Can you go get us some food? We'll be down in a bit."

Ren nodded and left the room.

It wasn't long before all three of them were sitting outside, enjoying fresh pancakes. This would be the last time they ate natural food. For the next two months, their diet would be strictly monster meat and synthetic slop. Ren was going to miss having easy access to tasty food. He shook his head, clearing his thoughts.

"What time is it? We should probably start heading to the meeting spot."

Kai looked at him, slowly swallowing the remains of his pancake, and checked his watch.

"It's 8:00. It'll probably take us a couple of hours to reach it, so we're going to have to hurry."

Kai grabbed Ren's plate and attempted to take Kael's, but his younger brother was unwilling, slapping his hand away every time he tried.

"Just give me a second, bro! I'm almost done!"

Saying that, he shoved an entire pancake into his mouth and then forced the plate over to his older brother. Kai just sighed and ruffled his hair with his free hand before heading to a trash can.

With a grin, Ren stood up and asked,

"Okay, Kael. Do you want to walk all the way there, or do you want me to give you a piggyback ride?"

Kael lit up at the words.

"Piggyback! Piggyback!"

Ren shook his head jokingly.

"Okay. But this time, you can't pull my hair."

Ren got on one knee, allowing Kael to climb onto his back. After a moment, Kael was secure. Standing up, Ren wobbled a bit, getting comfortable under the new weight.

For the next two hours, Ren and Kai walked side by side, Kael slept soundly on Ren's back. The road stretched seemingly forever, they were going to the outskirts of the city after all. All was quiet except for their footsteps and the distant echoes of the ruins behind them.

They were running a few minutes late by the time they spotted the meeting point in the distance—a clearing surrounded by nothing but baren wastelands.

They slowed to a stop. Ren gently shook Kael to wake him up.

Kai took a look around then nudged Ren trying to get his attention.

"Do you see them?"

Ren carefully knelt, letting Kael slide off his back as he scanned the figures ahead.

"There's quite a bit of them. I'm counting at least twenty."

The men they were looking at was a cohort of Revengers, the saviors of the world. They all seemed incredibly strong and experienced—veterans. 'Ahh... Here I was, worried that we wouldn't be safe.' He let out a sigh.

"Hey, boys! About time. We were starting to think you were a no-show."

Ren heard a familiar deep voice shouting at them before bursting into laughter. It was Gabe, the group's captain. He was a tall, muscular man with a bald head and a battle-worn face. Kai put on a smile, offering his hand.

"We're sorry for the wait. Time escaped from us."

Gabe slowly walked over and gave him a firm handshake, smiling widely as he replied,

"Oh, don't worry! It's no big deal..!"

Kai's smile grew, as if in a way to show his gratitude before grimacing as his hand got squeezed by the older gentleman. Stepping back, Kai clenched and unclenched his hand, making sure it still worked.

He took off his and opened it, searching for something. After a second, he pulled out a short-sword and offered it to the older man, turning the blade to face away from him.

"Here's your payment. As promised."

Gabe burst into another fit of laughter, grabbing the knife.

"Oh, this will do great! Thank you! Thank you!"

Gabe froze for a moment, looking into the eyes of Kai he then turned around, gesturing for the soldiers to come forward. Behind him, the soldiers moved, their laughter sparking up.

Ren's instincts were suddenly screaming at him to run.

Kai must have sensed it too. His body tensed slightly, his hand unconsciously moving toward his belt.

"Oh, but now that I think about it,"

Gabe continued, his voice without a hint of emotion,

"we're going to have to call this thing off."

The soldiers erupted into laughter, circling around them. Ren clenched his fists and took an involuntary step back. 'What is going on?" He could feel his throat closing. Kael stammered, stepping back with Ren.

"W—What do you mean?"

Gabe turned back around, his face unreadable.

"Oh. You didn't actually expect us to take you all the way to that city, did you?"

After that all hell broke loose.