Chapter 18
He marched with all three hundred men behind him. When they were ten feet away from Marcus’s spaded tail, they stopped. Marcus was collected enough to make good conversation, so he lifted his head to speak. Most of the men were afraid of him, but some of them looked at him as if he were a god come to aid them. The General walked forward. He stood six feet tall and his uniform was spotless. If there was any fear in his darkened face, he did not show it.
He said, “I’ll take it you’re the one responsible for stealing our kills and burning down the armory that would have been ours. Not to mention killing over a thousand men that we could have used as hostages. You also allowed the enemy to capture both a war veteran and an important politician. Do you think you could justify any of that?”
“What do you mean? I’m just the messenger boy.”
Some of the men started to laugh, but they all went silent when their commanding officer looked over his shoulder. He asked, “I sure hope you aren’t one of the glory-hounds. We try to kill them every chance we get.”
“I swear to you, all of the respect these people give me is earned. And do you think I could repay the lost weapons with a flame thrower?”
“As long as it’s used.”
“With that blessing, I give you permission to enter the city.”
“Permission? You think three hundred men need permission?”
“When you are talking to someone who kills twenty thousand undead on a slow Tuesday, yes you do.”
Marcus stood and moved out of the men’s way. They walked by, and some of them risked the wrath of their commander by looking over at the giant beast before them. Marcus waited for the last of them to pass through the tunnel and he blocked the path yet again. Marcus let his mind wander to his future with Liz; what would he do if his parents found out? He could not imagine the kind of pain he would undergo at losing his entire family.
His mind was loose until he smelled another presence near him. A young boy stood below him. Marcus looked down at him and the boy said, “Th-they want you in-inside at the f-field.”
He turned to run away, but Marcus said, “Wait, child.”
The boy was very bold to stop running. He turned around as Marcus rose to his full height. He stepped closer to the boy and the ground fractured where he placed his claws. Marcus said to him, “Would you like a ride back?”
The boy did not know if he should answer the question. He looked at Marcus’s leg and Marcus said, “Let me help you.”
Marcus leaned his head forward and pressed it to the ground so his spikes were next to the boy. He climbed onto Marcus’s head and slid down his neck to his back. Marcus took flight and landed next to a baseball field near the back end of the island. The boy jumped off and ran to some unknown station to report in. Marcus looked across the field and saw a large crowd of people in the bleachers arguing about how to best assault the enemy’s base. Thirty men, including his father, were running around with equipment that laid out a simple map of Angle Island and the surrounding area from Alcatraz to Yerba Buena Island.
Marcus listened as the men and women argued and argued about how to take the newly built fortress island. Each of them took turns walking up to the map and yelling out their strategy. Every time someone came up with a plan, five or more people would yell out their disfavor and more time would be wasted. Marcus listened to their constant arguing and reminded himself that it was impolite to sleep in a meeting like this one. He kept his head up and waited until sunset before someone came up with a feasible idea.
A man Marcus recognized as the leader of his original caravan yelled out when everyone was silent, “None of us can come to an agreement. Why don’t we elect a leader to come up with a strategy?”
Finally, everyone agreed with each other. Seven people walked to the field: Mitch, Colson, Stephan, Liz, Zack, and two of the soldiers from General Colson’s group. Everyone started yelling again, and Marcus roared to silence them. Everyone was quiet. Marcus said, “You have argued for so long, the enemy could have taken this island and killed you all by now; Congratulations. Vote for a leader like the civilized creatures you claim to be and end this senseless bickering.”
Liz asked, “Do you want to be a leader or not, Marcus?”
“I will give whomever you elect as much counsel as I can, but the organization of your kind is not my responsibility.”
“And who do you vote for?”
“Did you not pay attention to me? I will not give my vote and my judgment will be saved for the leader. Who votes for Mitch?”
In the end, Colson was elected as the leader of the army. Marcus said to the crowd, “We will speak again later in the evening. As for now, we need privacy.”
The group started to disperse and Colson and Marcus walked off to one of the unpopulated areas. As soon as they stopped walking, Colson slacked off and started to look much older than he really was. He said, “I have to keep up the angry face so these assholes don’t step out of line like the rest of them,” he quickly changed expressions and topics, “So what do you think about our plans?”
“Almost every one of their plans is near suicide. They did not take into account two major details; firstly, they do not know you exist. Secondly, they neglect to add me to their tactics. I can take ANY weapon blast, ANY amount of force, and ANY moral threat.”
“You would make quite the distraction. And in your little rant, you forgot to mention their super weapon.”
“I spent my first few hours here burning down buildings, rescuing little girls, or sleeping. If you wish to feed the hungry dragon, let it be with information.”
“Alright. I guess they built some kind of ultra-powerful weapon in their base. They used some kind of chain mesh to capture human victims for their experiments.”
“From what I heard, they were not human at all. They were Titanicus like me.”
“There are more of you?”
“Yes, and I would do anything to free my family. They are bound somewhere near Alcatraz Island, but it could not be on the surface, as they are too large. I will go to study the area more once you win Angel Island. Knowing this, tell me your plan once more.”
“Their northwest border was well defended from the start. Now that they have you to deal with, they probably have guards on their south and east sides. So you will take out any big guns they have on the east side while we sneak in on boats to the west side. We will hide in the terrain and make our way to the peak. Once we have a foothold, we’ll give you a signal when we don’t need you anymore. At some point, you won’t be able to let off a flame without killing one of us and we couldn’t fire a shot without putting blood splats on that shiny armor you’re made of. Once we win the island, go and do whatever you dragons like to do in your spare time. Jack off for all I care.”
“I am a guardian of humanity; I do not have the luxury of spare time. Is there anything else you want to add to your plan?”
Marcus and Colson discussed how to invade the island in as efficient a manner as possible. Marcus made small changes to each piece of the overall work and they continuously debated the workings of the plan. They needed methods of transportation, extra weaponry, and better plans on how the enemy commander changed the workings on the island. An hour later – nearly eleven o’clock – Colson and Marcus walked back to the giant map on the field. Twenty of the thirty workers were sitting in the grass drinking alcohol and enjoying their free time. One of them was still sober; Marcus’s father never enjoyed drinking.
He asked, “So, what’s the plan?”
“You’re a little old for something like this. Get back over there and get drunk like the rest of your friends.”
“Do you enjoy speaking to my father like that,” Marcus asked.
Colson looked dumbstruck. He asked the father, “What the hell did you do to his mother?”
“Don’t say it, father; I do not want to live with the mental images.”
“I won’t. Have you seen Liz lately, she seems to be in a bad mood, and she wont talk to me about what the hell it is.”
Marcus took the blow like a wrecking ball. He tried to push the memory out of his mind, but it refused to leave him. He simply responded, “I’ll speak with her after the battle is over.”
“Did you know she plans on joining the army?”
“I had the idea.”
“And you think we should just let her go?”
“For now, yes I do. Let her join the fight. Besides, I carried her for too long and she needs the exercise.”
“Then I guess I can’t say no.”
“Don’t base your opinion on me; you can still tell her not to go. I doubt she will listen, but I have acted as her parent for long enough to know how far the attempt could bring you.”
Colson said, “Go back and tell the rest of the workers to go off and find every one of my soldiers and every man that can shoot a gun. We need all the help we can get.”
He said, “I’ll take it you’re the one responsible for stealing our kills and burning down the armory that would have been ours. Not to mention killing over a thousand men that we could have used as hostages. You also allowed the enemy to capture both a war veteran and an important politician. Do you think you could justify any of that?”
“What do you mean? I’m just the messenger boy.”
Some of the men started to laugh, but they all went silent when their commanding officer looked over his shoulder. He asked, “I sure hope you aren’t one of the glory-hounds. We try to kill them every chance we get.”
“I swear to you, all of the respect these people give me is earned. And do you think I could repay the lost weapons with a flame thrower?”
“As long as it’s used.”
“With that blessing, I give you permission to enter the city.”
“Permission? You think three hundred men need permission?”
“When you are talking to someone who kills twenty thousand undead on a slow Tuesday, yes you do.”
Marcus stood and moved out of the men’s way. They walked by, and some of them risked the wrath of their commander by looking over at the giant beast before them. Marcus waited for the last of them to pass through the tunnel and he blocked the path yet again. Marcus let his mind wander to his future with Liz; what would he do if his parents found out? He could not imagine the kind of pain he would undergo at losing his entire family.
His mind was loose until he smelled another presence near him. A young boy stood below him. Marcus looked down at him and the boy said, “Th-they want you in-inside at the f-field.”
He turned to run away, but Marcus said, “Wait, child.”
The boy was very bold to stop running. He turned around as Marcus rose to his full height. He stepped closer to the boy and the ground fractured where he placed his claws. Marcus said to him, “Would you like a ride back?”
The boy did not know if he should answer the question. He looked at Marcus’s leg and Marcus said, “Let me help you.”
Marcus leaned his head forward and pressed it to the ground so his spikes were next to the boy. He climbed onto Marcus’s head and slid down his neck to his back. Marcus took flight and landed next to a baseball field near the back end of the island. The boy jumped off and ran to some unknown station to report in. Marcus looked across the field and saw a large crowd of people in the bleachers arguing about how to best assault the enemy’s base. Thirty men, including his father, were running around with equipment that laid out a simple map of Angle Island and the surrounding area from Alcatraz to Yerba Buena Island.
Marcus listened as the men and women argued and argued about how to take the newly built fortress island. Each of them took turns walking up to the map and yelling out their strategy. Every time someone came up with a plan, five or more people would yell out their disfavor and more time would be wasted. Marcus listened to their constant arguing and reminded himself that it was impolite to sleep in a meeting like this one. He kept his head up and waited until sunset before someone came up with a feasible idea.
A man Marcus recognized as the leader of his original caravan yelled out when everyone was silent, “None of us can come to an agreement. Why don’t we elect a leader to come up with a strategy?”
Finally, everyone agreed with each other. Seven people walked to the field: Mitch, Colson, Stephan, Liz, Zack, and two of the soldiers from General Colson’s group. Everyone started yelling again, and Marcus roared to silence them. Everyone was quiet. Marcus said, “You have argued for so long, the enemy could have taken this island and killed you all by now; Congratulations. Vote for a leader like the civilized creatures you claim to be and end this senseless bickering.”
Liz asked, “Do you want to be a leader or not, Marcus?”
“I will give whomever you elect as much counsel as I can, but the organization of your kind is not my responsibility.”
“And who do you vote for?”
“Did you not pay attention to me? I will not give my vote and my judgment will be saved for the leader. Who votes for Mitch?”
In the end, Colson was elected as the leader of the army. Marcus said to the crowd, “We will speak again later in the evening. As for now, we need privacy.”
The group started to disperse and Colson and Marcus walked off to one of the unpopulated areas. As soon as they stopped walking, Colson slacked off and started to look much older than he really was. He said, “I have to keep up the angry face so these assholes don’t step out of line like the rest of them,” he quickly changed expressions and topics, “So what do you think about our plans?”
“Almost every one of their plans is near suicide. They did not take into account two major details; firstly, they do not know you exist. Secondly, they neglect to add me to their tactics. I can take ANY weapon blast, ANY amount of force, and ANY moral threat.”
“You would make quite the distraction. And in your little rant, you forgot to mention their super weapon.”
“I spent my first few hours here burning down buildings, rescuing little girls, or sleeping. If you wish to feed the hungry dragon, let it be with information.”
“Alright. I guess they built some kind of ultra-powerful weapon in their base. They used some kind of chain mesh to capture human victims for their experiments.”
“From what I heard, they were not human at all. They were Titanicus like me.”
“There are more of you?”
“Yes, and I would do anything to free my family. They are bound somewhere near Alcatraz Island, but it could not be on the surface, as they are too large. I will go to study the area more once you win Angel Island. Knowing this, tell me your plan once more.”
“Their northwest border was well defended from the start. Now that they have you to deal with, they probably have guards on their south and east sides. So you will take out any big guns they have on the east side while we sneak in on boats to the west side. We will hide in the terrain and make our way to the peak. Once we have a foothold, we’ll give you a signal when we don’t need you anymore. At some point, you won’t be able to let off a flame without killing one of us and we couldn’t fire a shot without putting blood splats on that shiny armor you’re made of. Once we win the island, go and do whatever you dragons like to do in your spare time. Jack off for all I care.”
“I am a guardian of humanity; I do not have the luxury of spare time. Is there anything else you want to add to your plan?”
Marcus and Colson discussed how to invade the island in as efficient a manner as possible. Marcus made small changes to each piece of the overall work and they continuously debated the workings of the plan. They needed methods of transportation, extra weaponry, and better plans on how the enemy commander changed the workings on the island. An hour later – nearly eleven o’clock – Colson and Marcus walked back to the giant map on the field. Twenty of the thirty workers were sitting in the grass drinking alcohol and enjoying their free time. One of them was still sober; Marcus’s father never enjoyed drinking.
He asked, “So, what’s the plan?”
“You’re a little old for something like this. Get back over there and get drunk like the rest of your friends.”
“Do you enjoy speaking to my father like that,” Marcus asked.
Colson looked dumbstruck. He asked the father, “What the hell did you do to his mother?”
“Don’t say it, father; I do not want to live with the mental images.”
“I won’t. Have you seen Liz lately, she seems to be in a bad mood, and she wont talk to me about what the hell it is.”
Marcus took the blow like a wrecking ball. He tried to push the memory out of his mind, but it refused to leave him. He simply responded, “I’ll speak with her after the battle is over.”
“Did you know she plans on joining the army?”
“I had the idea.”
“And you think we should just let her go?”
“For now, yes I do. Let her join the fight. Besides, I carried her for too long and she needs the exercise.”
“Then I guess I can’t say no.”
“Don’t base your opinion on me; you can still tell her not to go. I doubt she will listen, but I have acted as her parent for long enough to know how far the attempt could bring you.”
Colson said, “Go back and tell the rest of the workers to go off and find every one of my soldiers and every man that can shoot a gun. We need all the help we can get.”