Chapter 15 – A Night's Walk.

[36 hours]

Pushing off his blankets he sits up right upon his bed.

[03:28]

Dim, dull light shines through the curtain-less window, imitating that of a moons natural beauty, but not enough to be able to see everything in the room.

[Night Vision Activated]

With the room turning green for his right eye and staying greyish black for his left he stands up right stretching his back, arms and legs; hearing cracking sounds as he does.

Grabbing his uniform he puts it on and runs his hands across its seams, making sure that no creases appeared where there should not be, only when satisfied does he move and grab his cleaning kit. Taking apart his pistol he cleans it, oils it and re assembles it. Holstering it at the end when finished, he stands and moves to the door.

[Equipment]

[Pistol Ammunition - 08 shots]

[Pistol]

[Knife]

Pressing the button that opens the door he finds that it does not open

[Locked]

Sighing he goes back to the table and kneels upon it. Looking out from the window he peers down to the ground, he is a good 15 stories high. The machine was not operating.

[50 metres]

Putting his legs over the window sill he looks back into his room one time before turning back outside. A light breeze flows through him into the room and he takes a deep breath, once, twice and on the third, with his heart pumping fast and eyes now red he slides off. Free falling all the way down to land on his feet, crouched low. He takes another long and deep breath, standing up to rid himself of his eye colour and slow his heart to its normal pace.

“De-activate Night Vision”

[Night Vision De-Activated]

Street lights illuminate the pavement and roadway, light enough to not trip, but not to see anything in detail; mimicking what you would see in a real night. He walks slowly and casually going nowhere in particular.

The air is cold but he feels warm, even though he wears nothing but one layer, he does not shiver at the cool 5 degrees. Casually and slowly moving down the street he finds that no one is around.

“It is quiet” he speaks out in a whisper to no one but himself as fog slowly drifts upon him.

In time he takes a few turns, getting lost in the living quarters as every building looks the same. Though he wasn’t really lost, if he wanted to he could have just brought up a map of where he was, but he did not want that. He needed a stroll, time to take in the limited sights, time be alone, away from eyes that kept close to him. Ultimately he ends up in somewhere very much like a park. Artificial grass lay far and wide, it is tempting to walk upon them, but he doesn’t; he stays on the pathway he set out upon.

Trying to let his thoughts wonder, he fails in doing so, he was bothered about what was to come. He knows that he is free from everything, he has no obligations to fulfil, the war is over and he is very much alone, but not alone. He would like to see the world, see how things changed, whether they really were at peace or not. It would be nice to be in peace. He has never been at peace before, the idea did pop up in his mind once but it was something like a fantasy; He never thought he would get to experience it.

He had taken a gamble when assaulting the General. He did not truly know if he still had the same privileges as when he was stated in. At the time he felt personally insulted at what he saw, he was not happy. He knew perfectly well that he shouldn’t have been doing what he was doing, but in some sense he did not care, he wanted the wrong that was done to be righted. In hindsight he thinks that he was lucky, but this luck brought up another question. Who was enforcing his privileges? It was clearly not the President and Council.

The President clearly wanted to gain control of him. The meeting between them didn’t exactly go the way he himself had wanted it to go either.

“If only you were here” he says again in a whisper, now exiting the park and following the road again.

During conversation with the President he had pushed himself into a corner. It was true that he got what he wanted in the small exchange. The President had thought that threatening him was the right way to go about it. Something he found quite funny in a way.

In his time, death was something many contemplated every day. It was something he had done every single day. A soldier had to be ready to die, he had to be willing to accept it arms open when it came. A soldier does not decide that time nor place, so a soldier must be ready at all times and smile in its face. It seemed like that no longer happens.

A threat like that would not have occurred during the war. Then again he concluded that his time was rather black and white compared to now.

Ignoring all that, his very first problem was the meeting that he had missed on purpose. Had he wanted to he would have woken up in time for it, but the meeting was more than just a meeting.

Having already put himself into a corner he needed to delay it. He had agreed to be hired at a price, but he knows that they didn’t just want him as a bodyguard. He could tell that his skills were something they all coveted and feared.

The records he read pretty much stated that the destruction of Noiizia, the place he is at, was caused by Zulu 4. That she had done it for no particular reason, that she went mad. Something he did not believe, he has never seen her angry in his memory, never mad. That is what the people here feared though. Something he was going to take advantage of.

However destroying the city was something he wasn’t going to do. He had no intention of destroying this peaceful city for not having his own freedom, he would rather let himself die. No one knows that though.

The threats he had made at the President during their interaction were also empty threats. It was not that he could not complete them, but because his purpose had already been accomplished. He would have been at peace had it ended. He didn’t have to have his questions answered. They were his own selfish questions, yet he was a bit glad the threats worked, he truthfully did not want to die.

Entering the more city like area, where shops and food stores were located he finds some signs of life. Though such heavy fog had now settled in that it was hard to see past your hands outstretched.

[06:34]

“Delia must be awake by now” he smiles to himself “you really shouldn’t have locked me in”

“Good Morning!” a woman in her late thirties greets him as she opens her café.

“Good Morning” he answers back, surprised at the greeting. No one has greeted him in such a friendly manner in a long time. “Would you like some help?” he questions a bit awkwardly.

The woman stops for a second and looks at him that she cannot see, due to the fog. “If you would like to” she shrugs “You could open the umbrellas on the tables.”

“Expecting rain I see?” he asks moving to do as directed.

“Rain?” she replies with a bit of a laugh “Did you just get back?” she asks grabbing a towel to start wiping the exposed tables.

“In a sense.” He answers moving from table to table and opening the umbrellas with such proficiency that the woman was surprised someone possessed “I’ve been away for a long time.”

“Happy to be home then?” the woman enquiries still wiping the tables “I heard that the monsters have been more brutal than normal the past few weeks. Is it true?”

“Monsters?” he repeats back, remembering about what he has read “No more than usual I would guess?” for he hadn’t read anything about increase in the deceased.

“Really?” the woman says moving to another table. “A few came back yesterday, they kept saying that the numbers had increased.”

“Muuuum!” a young child like whine rings out from the Café’s entrance “Rachel won’t wake up” it says sounding sad.

“tsk” the woman turns to the man that she cannot actually see and throws him the towel as he was done unfolding the umbrellas. “Children” she sighs with a hint of laughter “could you wipe down the rest for me?”

Catching the towel “Sure” he answers without hesitation as she moves back into her Café.

Wiping down each table, again with proficiency not commonly seen “This place really is at peace” he murmurs to himself.

“Hiiiiii!” the small child that was previously whining about Rachel calls out standing right next to him.

Facing the kid “Hi…” he answers back.

“Are you the Zulu?” the child asks with innocent eyes full of curiosity

Putting the towel down on the last table he lifts the child up.

Name: Olivia

Date of Birth: 08/03/XXXX

Mermanus

“Why do you ask?” he asks her with a childish voice.

“Because of this” she answers touching the Headgear attached to his face with her little hands. “Dad said only Zulus have them.”

“And is your dad always right?”

Shaking her head vigorously “No” she answers openly “Dad once said I ate his cake when I didn’t!” she shouts with exaggerated hand movements, even though she was still being held by her waist in his arms. “It was Rachel that did!” she blames her sister.

“Well your dad is right this time” he laughs

“Dad said Zulu are dangerous people” now looking directly as Zulu’s eyes.

“Do you believe him?”

“No” she answers, again shaking her head vigorously

“Where is your dad now?”

Punching the air with her fists “Fighting monsters” she says energetically.

“Put the child down!” a shout that Zulu knows comes from Delia is heard.

[07:02]

With the fog now almost clear he turns around and looks at her “There is no need for a gun” he says bluntly

“Put the child down!” she repeats again.

Putting the child down “Give your dad a hug when he gets back okay?” he rubs her hair

“Okay” the small girl answers standing still and looking up at him.

“Go back inside” Delia shouts at the girl

Facing Delia the girl gives a look of confusion “Why?”

“There really is no need for this.” Zulu says hands out walking towards Delia, as the girl sticks closely with him.

A sudden push of wind blows at Zulu, lifting the child up and sends her flying slowly backwards.

Turning around he finds that the girl is now in her mother’s arms.

Name: Rebecca

Date of Birth: 19/08/XXXX

Mermanus

“There really is no need for this” he repeats again now next to Delia he finds her a mess.

With her gun holstered “No need?” she asks rhetorically “You just tried to escape!”

“If I really wanted to escape” he says now heading to the tower with his map display “You would not have found me.”

“You tried to escape” she repeats again.

“You have no right to lock me in my room.” He answers

“It was for your own safety.”

Contemplating it for a bit “You need not worry about my safety” he states finding some truth in her reply.

Brushing her uniform “The President is not happy.”

“And I bet he never is” he says, catching her off guard “I’ll go see them today.”

“You can’t, there is no scheduled meeting.”

“I can and I will.”

“You can’t!” she says back a bit more annoyed “there are procedures and papers to file!”

“It will be taken care off.” He replies off-handily “They want to see me.”

“You can’t just do whatever you want!” she snaps.

Stopping he turns and faces her “I don’t know why you are like this Delia. I have been nothing but friendly to you. I agree that I shouldn’t have left the room, but you shouldn’t have locked me in without telling Me.” turning around again and continuing forward. “I will be seeing the President and Council today.”

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A/N

I'll be away for a while. Got exams coming up. Sorry for leaving it like this, But i figured i should post up one last chapter before i left.

Thank you for reading! Hope you all enjoyed it