Chapter 53: Paying the price of power

The shock of what happened gradually wears off, but no one is in a hurry to fight now. Instead, the people from the barricade step back. They choose not to rush into another battle.

Ember, her body still half out of the vehicle, wasn’t looking at any of the people around her. She was looking at the knife that had fallen. It was so close to Alex that it almost pierced him.

She looked at her hand holding the gun. Her hand shook slightly. She had killed someone. The realization made her body tremble. This was different than killing a mutated animal. She killed a flesh-and-blood person.

She felt the urge to vomit, but she stamped it down. Now wasn’t the time to be scared.

She glanced at the people at the roadblock. If necessary, she would shoot again. It’s said that the first time is always the hardest. With the world as it is now, she would have had to do it at some point. She just didn’t expect it would be so soon.

The head of the roadblock people was the first to break the silence.

“Go,” he stammered. Just…go.”

There was no argument from his followers. They had all seen what happened and feared the same happening to them. They scrambled to move the junk blocking the way, allowing the SUV to pass.

When they were done, they moved back to their hiding places. Whether they would come out to do the same again, Ember and the others would never know.

Marcus, Ivan, Alex, and Aiden walked back to the SUV, got in, and closed the door. Everyone in the vehicle was silent. Ember waited until they got in to start driving. She didn’t speak. She kept her eyes on the road.

Her hands didn’t tremble anymore. Not because she didn’t feel the weight of her decision, but because she wanted to escape it.

As they passed the place, the woman fell Alex’s eyes fell on the knife that lay beside her. He knew that the knife was almost plunged into his body. He was grateful but also overwhelmed.

It was an hour later before anyone spoke.

“That was messy. It shouldn’t have happened.” Aiden broke the silence. “We always talked about the monsters we would face during doomsday, but we forgot about one thing. People.”

“We were winning,” Luka said. “They took drastic measures.”

“That wasn’t drastic measures,” Aiden said, his voice tight. His hand clenched on his lap. “Alex wasn’t a part of the fight. That was human nature. When there are no rules to govern them, humans are some of the most selfish things alive.”

“Without an idea or belief, they will make their own. If that belief is that killing someone can get them food. They will do everything in their power to do it.” Aiden’s eyes swept to Alex. “You were distracted. Don’t let it happen again.”

“I’m sorry,” Alex said, the shame in his voice was evident. “I was watching the fight and lost my focus.”

“We can’t blame everything on you, Alex,” Ember said from the front seat. “We all made the wrong choice.”

She paused before continuing. “We are strong and faster than most people now, so we feel invincible. The fact of the matter is that we aren’t.”

She looked at Aiden from the rearview mirror. “We have great strength, but we’re like children playing with toys. We don’t have the training. If we get stronger and don’t even have the awareness to block a knife, then what’s the point?”

Aiden nodded grimly. “She’s right. We have the power but no clue how to use it.”

“I don’t think we should keep driving for today. Let’s find a place to stop and sort ourselves out,” Ember suggested.

She saw a library close by and decided it might be quiet in there. They could stay there for a while and then see what happens.

Ember pulls into the library parking lot. She turns off the engine, but doesn’t step out of the vehicle.

“Give me a minute,” Ember says.

Aiden knows she needs to talk to the CE, so he doesn’t stop. He instead has everyone get out of the vehicle to do a perimeter check. He knows talking to the system won’t take long.

CE, I need your help. We don’t have any combat awareness or training. We can’t continue like this. What if what happened earlier happens again? Is there any training regimen or something I could get from the mall that might help?

[Understood. There is a solution. A training protocol designed to heighten sensory perception, threat analysis, and predictive instinct.]

What is it? How do I use it?

[The Ghost Protocol. It is a shared mindscape training simulation. You will fight, you will fail, and you will learn. You are taught to anticipate and read subtle tells of an enemy. You are taught to feel the direction of a threat before you see it.]

What do I need to do?

Hope welled up in Ember’s heart at the thought of such a thing. They needed to train. Whether they knew about the CE now is irrelevant. They need a way to get better faster, and this is it.

[The Ghost Protocol requires 10,000 AB. This will unlock the first tier for all sworn members.]

First tier?

Ember’s eyes opened. She was so startled by the news that she couldn’t keep her eyes closed. Granted, she didn’t need to close her eyes to see.

The amount kept flashing in her mind. 10,000 AB for training, and that’s only the first tier. What would the second and third tiers cost? How many tiers are there?

She didn’t talk to the CE anymore. She decided to wait and talk to Aiden about it. She would also ask him, by the way, if it made sense to tell them about the CE, and if not, how they would explain them going into a simulation.

Things were getting more complicated by the second. Ember really wondered if it made sense for her to be putting herself through all this trouble.

But she needed to survive. If this was how she survived, she needed to do it.

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