The LoST 4

The Lone Shadow Templar

4: Infiltration

“The clip we will show next is rather disturbing and may not be suitable for younger people. Viewer discretion is advised.”

The monitor flickered to a squad of soldiers prowling through a deep forest, their guns drawn at the ready. You could see the leader silently motioning them forward with his hand as he cautiously crept through the underbrush. Though it was three in the afternoon, the canopy created a dim scene urging for disaster.

Suddenly the leader halted, bringing up a fist. Within seconds, he disappeared into the shrubs, seemingly dragged along the ground by something unseen. Sporadic gunfire followed him, the bullets eating away at nothing but leaves and bark. The screen cut back to the news anchor.

“Authorities inform us that the perpetrator goes by the name of Night. We do not yet have information on who this person is, but will bring you up to date on the latest details once we have them. Citizens are urged to stay indoors at all times possible. Night time trips are highly not recommended….”

The TV trailed on and on.

A burning sensation. The loss of feeling slowly spreading from the my heart. My fingers going numb. My eyes rolling back. The functions in my brain slowly creeping to a halt. Death was near.

These superficial feelings flowed through me as I laid his body down, blood pouring out from his chest from a single stab wound. Wiping his blood away from my combat knife, I sheathed it and straightened myself up. The rain had gone from the night, though the heavy canopy above had trapped the water on the ground. The coldness stole his last breath away.

Taking out his GPS watch, I could see the faint homing beacon emitting from the Dominion’s headquarters resonate glumly to the west. I slung my S-36 over my back and started walking. The trees only got darker.

Felix

A stinging pain shot through his neck as the syringe was roughly stabbed into his flesh. The men wearing white silently worked as the men in black Dominion uniforms looked on with wry grins etched upon their faces. What he would do to them if his hands were not bound…

“So I understand you are good friends with Night,” the interrogator stated as the doctors moved out of the room.

Felix remained silent.

“Oh where are my manners? I’m sorry, my name is Nass. Nice to make your acquaintance.”

Still silent.

“Not much for formalities eh Mr. Shadeswalker? Let’s cut to the chase then. I want you to tell me where Night is. I know you sent her off somewhere right as we caught you…”

“That’s what she goes by now eh?” Felix interrupted. “Night…”

“Yes that is correct Mr. Shadeswalker, now if you can…”

“I ain’t telling you jack sh**.”

Nass sighed, “You disappoint me Mr. Shadeswalker. I tried to be civil with you but it seems like you leave me no choice.” He pulled out a small device. “Do you know what this is?”

Felix stared Nass coldly in the eyes, lips tightly sealed.

“This is a shock activator, a remote taser if you will. It works like this. I have the remote, and the person being tased has a tiny chip implanted into his brain. So once I press the button…”

And suddenly the world turned white as an excruciating pain tore through Felix’s skull. Everything shut down. He screamed silently as if his vocal cords had been cut. His lungs felt like exploding from the pressure. It felt like a lifetime of hell all in the mere few seconds Nass held down the button.

Felix gasped as the current finally ceased, leaving him with aftershocks roughly jolting through his body.

“Hope it did not have to come to that…” Nass stood up and sauntered to the metal door. He paused as his hand held the door open and without turning back, said, “I hope your friends are more cooperative.”

As the door slowly squeaked shut, Felix managed to retain his voice, “Where… are they…”

“Oh, down the hall of course, but don’t count on seeing them any time soon…”

“I’m… gonna… gonna…”

Nass turned back with a smile of amusement, “You’re going to what, Mr. Shadeswalker?”

“Rip… your… head… off…”

He chuckled and walked off, his footsteps echoing hollowly off the walls as the door slowly creaked shut. Felix’s eyes followed the ever disappearing light until the door sealed itself, leaving him in total darkness. No matter how much he lied to himself, he knew the inevitable fact. He was helpless while his friends were suffering. All he could do was sit alone, lost in the shadows. All he could do was wait.

Natalie

There it was, the light at the end of the tunnel. It seemed like I had walked for days and days, yet it had only been a few hours. I emerged from within the jungles of Sleepywood onto a ledge hundreds of feet up from the valley below. Walking up to the edge, I could see the distant smoke trails of the smokestacks of Kerning City polluting the orange sky. The radiant ball of fire was halfway down its descent; I could see the waxing crescent of the moon slowly appear from the horizon.

A quaint breeze ruffled some blonde strands across my face. The air had become quite cool, almost bringing a smile upon my lips. If only I could have this day some days earlier, everything would have been perfect. I could almost feel the touch of his hand on mine, the feel of his lips pressed against my own. The thought of us two watching the sunset together, our feet dangling carelessly off the ledge…

Before I knew it, the feeling was gone, and I was left alone, empty inside with tears streaming down my face.

Then I heard them. The voices shrill in my mind. Peering over the ledge, I could see two of them, their dark uniforms unmistakable in the setting sun. They were laughing, talking, unsuspecting. Now a smile spread across my lips.

I attached the end of my rope to a nearby tree and secured myself to the line. Then, without looking back, I leapt out into the air, a mere few hundred feet separating me from them. Plenty of space.

In my freefall, I took aim, pulled the trigger, and saw a spout of blood erupt from one’s neck. Before his body hit the floor, I had already shifted my sight. The laser dot fixated directly on the top of the other one’s head. I pulled the trigger once more.

I could almost feel his pain as the bullet penetrated through his skull and severed every single vertebrae on the way down, exiting from his rectum. A freaking ridiculous shot if you ask me.

The heals of my boots dug into the side of the cliff as I rappelled down to the bottom. Unhitching myself after touching down, I crouched down, sweeping the area with the S-36 before creeping forwards to the dead bodies.

There was almost too much blood splatter everywhere. It did not even seem possible for one man to spill this much crimson. Laying beside the man was a key attached to a necklace chain that had been shot cleanly in two. Snickering to myself, I grabbed the key and looked around; there had to be a door here. Moving on to the second body, I almost chuckled in my luck. They were making this way too easy.

Strapping the night vision goggles to my head, I automatically turned to the cliff face and brushed away a growth of vines. There it was; the door. The faint insignia of the Dominion was still surviving the weathering. With a click, the metal sheets unlocked and separated, revealing nothing but blackness.

Taking one last breath of the crisp evening air, I slid the goggles over my eyes, emerald matching emerald, and stepped into the abyss. A bird cawed distantly behind me as the blackness enveloped me.