Outside Carter’s office on the fifth floor, AJ stood. With a gun in hand, he wasn’t sure what to expect when he walked in. Victor could be there waiting to kill him like last time. If that was the case, he had an extra wave bomb he scavenged off Mike. He wasn’t worried about the spectres Carter talked about. He could easily take them down.

He took a deep breath and opened the door. He walked into the room where Carter was. The man sat behind his wooden desk with Sev tied up on the floor in the middle of the room. Along the walls stood ten spectres. They stood at attention with their arms behind their backs and chins held up.

Unlike the typical soldiers AJ has seen before, these soldiers were well equipped. Black clothing with high quality combat gear. Helmet and black ski masks with red visor to cover their eyes. Like him, they carried pistols in their belt holster.

“I’m glad you can join us AJ,” Carter said. “Why don’t you close the door behind you.”

Without looking away from Carter, AJ stepped back and closed the door behind him. He then stood back in the middle of the room, scanning the other spectres. He noticed he had a silver spade insignia on the side of their helmets.

Lightning streaked across the sky behind Carter, lighting up the dark room, and was followed up with the boom of thunder that echoed in through the closed glass windows. AJ clenched his fist, his fingers began to twitch like before.

“This world is dying, did you know that?” Carter asked.

“Yeah, it’s the whole reason why all the countries are still fighting,” AJ said. “To gather up as much resources as they can.”

“True, and this fighting does what?” Carter asked. “We focus on fighting nothing. We're but corpses who fight just to fight. We think if we destroy the other countries somehow everything will be better.”

“That’s why you have to find something to fight for.”

Carter smiled. “That’s true, if you don’t have anything to fight for or live for then you might as well be a corpse.” He pulled out a pistol and rubbed the side of his head with the cold metal barrel. “So tell me, what do you fight for?”

“I fight to save people,” AJ answered. “That’s why I’m a spectre.”

“Wrong, you fight to save your people,” Carter shouted. “You’ll easily allow chinks, ruskies or candies die. But once an american is in trouble, you gotta save them.”

He stood up and walked around his desk. He leaned against the front of it and pointed the gun down at Sev who was struggling around and muffling.

“If Sev wasn’t your friend and wasn’t american, you’d let him die.”

AJ’s eyes grew sharp and his fist clenched. “What are you getting at?”

“You talk about saving people when really you’re just talking about saving a select few.” Carter switched off the gun’s safety with his thumb. “For me and the Gaia, we’re talking about saving everyone.”

“Bt your plan involves killing millions of innocent people,” AJ said.

“I’ll admit, we’ll get our hands bloodied, but that’s just the way it was.” He glanced at his spectres. “Spectres, do me a favor and kill AJ.”

In synchronization, the spectres all flashed stepped at once. Vanishing with a boom. AJ also flashed stepped. The plague rain outside slowed to a halt and the streak of lightning slowed down as it seared across the dark skies behind Carter.

All at once, the spectres came at him. He held up his dukes and readied his fingers. With a smirk on his face, he knew these guys would be easy to take down.

The first spectre ran towards him. They jabbed but he swayed left out of the direction of the fist. He grabbed them back the back of the neck and swung his elbow while bringing their face forward. Their red visor shattered as their head jerked back and they fell backward onto the floor.

Out the corner of his eye he saw a spectre coming at him from the left. They held a baton and swung down on top of him. He raised his forearm and blocked it. With their body completely exposed, he launched a rib crushing jab. The force sent them flying back through the window and out into the rain that stood still in the air.

“Is this all you guys got?” AJ asked. He wiped his thumb across his bottom lip and smiled. “I’ve fought spectres way tougher than you guys.”

The next spectre came from behind and wrapped their arms around him. He struggled around but couldn’t free himself. A second spectre came from in front and with a baton. AJ leaned back and kicked up. The tip of his boot shattering the spectre with the baton’s lower jaw and knocking them back.

In one swift motion he hunched over and flipped the spectre holding him, over his shoulder. They felt onto the floor. Before they could pick themselves up, he stomped his foot on their back, pinning them down. He swung his arm down, snapping his fingers, and sent a spear of fire piercing through their torso and leaving a clean hole.

He looked up at the other spectre’s who staggered back, having just witness his true power. “What’s the matter?” he asked. “You guys afraid?”

The next two spectres came at him. The lept forward, punching their fist. With each punch came a devastating blast of fire. AJ felt the heat as he stepped back out of the way. He weaved back and under their barrage of attacks. Each punch, each kick sent blast of flames coming his way.

His back press up against the solid wall and there was no place left to run. He slid his feet apart and got ready to move out the way. With perfect synchronization, the two spectres both punched forward, jabbing and sending a wave of firing coming his way. He dove to the left out of the way and towards the window. He snapped with his left hand and then snapped with his right.

A serpent of fire curved out from behind him and curled itself around the two spectres, igniting them both in flames. They fell to the floor and rolled about frantically as they burned to death.

AJ felt his breath growing short. Never have he needed to fight for this long. He wasn’t use to it and most fights ended in less than a few minutes. He soldiered through it and glared back at the other six spectres remaining.

The biggest spectre rose up from the other six. They unsheathed a large broadsword they wore on their back and charged towards him. The blade was made of a thin metal with a jagged tooth edge and sharp tip. They swung it with ease. He stepped back and circled around behind the desk. They didn’t follow him behind the desk. They cocked their sword back and thrusted it forward. The blade was long enough to reach over the desk and stab through the glass window behind him.

After dodging a few stabs, AJ jumped onto of the desk and lept of it. The spectre swung their sword down but smashed it into the wooden desk and got it stuck. He stepped down behind the spectre and charged for the others standing behind them.

AJ stepped between two spectres and snapped his fingers. His flames were weak and didn’t even burn, just sparked. He grabbed their knives they kept on their belts and in one swift motion, slashed the cold blade across their necks. They held their throats and choked on the blood that filled their lungs.

AJ turned around right as the biggest spectre free their broadsword from the table. They turned around but didn’t swing. They had to avoid hitting Carter who stood frozen. They stomped over Sev and attacked AJ. They swung up, the blade tore through the floor. He shielded his face from the debris and leaned back out of the way of the attack.

At a safe distance, he tried snapping his fingers but his flames were still not working. The spectres around him were moving faster than before...no he was getting slower. Though he was a powerful spectre he still lacked stamina to keep up flash step. He needed to end it quickly. He forced his body with sure will power to keep up his current speed and not to let it drop.

The spectre swung their sword down and AJ weaved under and stepped left out of the way. Their blade just grazed the side of his arm. He then stepped into their space and plunged one of the knives he held into their leg. They staggered before falling back on their knees. He grabbed them by their collar and with his other knifed stabbed down into the side of their neck. Blood spurted out and seeped between their flesh and the cold metal blade at the fell over dead.

He turned his attention towards the other three spectres. The next spectre charged at him, their fists emitted an electric charge. They launched a series of jabs, each grazing some part of his body. His movements were sluggish and a single lag could cost him. After a few more punches, they land a serious blow across AJ’s face. The force jerked his head back and caused him to stagger backwards. Without giving him time to recover, they jabbed at him. The blow impacted his chest, sending a jolt of electricity through his lungs. He fell down to his knees, coughing up blood on the floor.

Pick your ass up AJ, he thought to himself. He glared up at the spectre who stood over him. With all his strength, through the pain he felt, he lifted up with an uppercut. The punch shattered their jaw and broke their teeth. They fell back, hitting their head against the wall.

He turned his attention on the last two spectres left. Out of breath and slowly leaving flash step, he had to hurry and take these bastards out or they’d kill him. He charged at them, and jabbed at the the one on the left. His attack missed as the spectre stepped back out of the way of his attack. He tried again, swinging with his left fist that went too slow and missed. The weight of his attack caused him to stumble into the spectre who looked down at him and laughed.

“Not so tough now are you?” they asked.

AJ smirked. “Nah, I’m still...pretty tough.” He grabbed the spectre on their shoulder and engulfed them fire. He stepped back away from them and turned his killing glare on the last and final spectre. He took a deep breath and shrugged his shoulders.

“I think you should just give up man,” he said.

The spectre pulled out their knife and charged at AJ. They swung their knife in a wide motion. He leaned back out of the way of the attack. The blade sliced open his cheek as it paced by him. He staggered back, holding his cheek and glared at them. The tip of their blade dripped with his blood. They stepped forward and thrusted their knife, aiming for his face.

He blocked their attack and redirected it with the back of his hand. With a one swift jab and smashed his knuckles into their face. Their nose cracked and visor broke as they staggered back from the crushing blow.

The world around him sped back up as he left flash stepped. Out of breath, his legs felt weak as he collapsed onto the floor. This had been the longest moment he had to use flash step and fight at the same time. He used the bit of his energy to stare up at Carter’s smiling face as he looked down at him.

Carter cocked his head around, looking at the damaged around him. “Wow you really did a number on those fellas.”

He turned around and saw the person size hole in the window. “Wow you even knocked one into the plague rains. I’m very impressed.”

He went around his desk and reached into the top drawer. Inside he pulled out a USB drive he held between his thumb and index finger. A USB hasn’t been used as a storage device in a long time. After the war they became hard to come by.

“You see this little thing right here?” he asked. “This here is a U...S...B, people before the war used it to store all sorta information on it. Victor is going to use this to reprogram the automatic aircraft sequence. It’ll allow us to control the aircrafts and bomb and country we want. Sure a few million people will die but if you want to save everyone ya gotta kill a few people.”

AJ struggled to pick himself off the ground. “I’m...not gonna let...you do that.”

Carter grew serious and the smile on his face turned into a serious frown. “Boy, the reason I had those spectres fight ya is because I know how your flash step work. It wears ya down both physically and mentally. You can’t stop me and you won’t be able to beat me either.”

AJ glanced over at Sev who was wrapped in a silver wire. “H-Hey man get...up.”

“That boy aint getting up,” Carter said. “Like I said, we have anti spectre equipment. There is no way you can beat me...unless you fight me.”

“Then that’s what I’m going to do,” AJ said. Through the pain and struggle, he picked himself up, his legs shook and he wobbled on a bit like a drunken man.

“So we’re fight now huh?” Carter placed the USB into his pocket and raised his duke. “Boy you can’t flash step, how do you think you’ll beat me?”

AJ raised his fists. “I don’t need it to kill you.”

Carter smiled as he jabbed. The blow struck AJ in the face staggering him back. Carter followed up with an uppercut that caught AJ’s under jaw. He stumbled back into the wall. Back against the wall, his world seemed to spin and his vision seemed blurred. A blurry punch got him across the face and sent shockwaves through his face.

He rolled onto the floor and lied their, breathing heavily.

“Without ya fancy powers ya spectres are nothin but mere human.” Carter said, reaching down and picking up AJ by the collar. He pushed AJ back, keeping him on his feet as he let out a string of jabs. Two from his left fist and one right his right.

The taste of iron mixed with spit took over AJ’s sense of taste. He saw the next crushing attack from Carter and tried to sway back out of the way. The punch was quick and Carter’s knuckles felt like concrete as it struck against the side of his face and knocking the blood he held in his mouth.

He moved back and bumped against the wooden desk. He used it to keep himself up while he watched Carter walked towards him; cracking his knuckles. Just feet away from AJ and he stopped.

“AJ, the world is a wasteland, plague ravages the world and countries invest in military to fight and kill over saving their own people,” he said. “Why do you fight on that side?”

AJ thought about it. He felt he was being hypocritical. He’s protect only american citizens and leave citizens from other countries alone. He’d kill people in small numbers that’d add up to a million but won’t kill them all together. What was his reason for living at that point, why did he fight?

“C-Cause all...all my shits here,” he said. “I-I’m not gonna let you blow up my shit.”

“Such a petty reason,” Carter said.

“No, your reason is petty,” AJ said. “You think killing millions of people will stop all this? Cause it won’t. The overlords will use that as a reason to keep fighting one another. Rally those that are still alive and fight each other in a full out war under false pretenses. They’re cruel like that.”

Carter picked up the gun off the ground and pointed it at AJ. Safety was off and he had his firm finger wrapped around the trigger.

“Well see about that,” he said.

“Hey, you know...your nose is bleeding,” AJ smiled.

Carter glanced down at his shirt which was covered in his own blood, and muttered a curse under his breath. Blood started to seep from under his eyes and his botter shook while his head jittered. The plague had been inside his body for along time now and it was beginning to take its effect.

He staggered backwards and forwards, unable to keep his balanced. His skin bubbled as puss filled under his skin.

AJ took the moment of opportunity to swipe the USB from his hand and then grab him by the collar. He pulled him over to the window and in one swift motion, ran him through it. Carter’s shielded his face as he smashed through the glass window, shattering it into pieces. Before he knew it, he was flapping his arms as he fell out the window into the plague rain. The kind of rain that burns the flesh off organic creatures.

AJ didn’t look out the window, he didn’t have to see Carter’s corpse to know he was dead. He staggered back into the chair behind him and sat down in it. Strung out in the chair, he gazed out at the wall of rain outside. It was a wall that poured down hard and obscured by the dark of night.

“Hey, AJ are you there?” It was Harlot calling from his radio.

AJ reached into his pocket and grabbed it. “Yeah...I’m here.”

“Did you get Sev?” she asked.

“Yeah but he’s kind of tied up now,” AJ said. “Need you to come and get us.”

“Was Carter and Victor there?”

“...No just Carter.”

“And he’s?”

There was a long pause as AJ thought about what he was going to say.

“...The bitch is dead.”