KOLUPIA finale

All eyes were on Zikha's mangled body.

"...impressive," Sokha said.

"You should've killed me when you had the chance Sokha," Overlord said in a small voice.

"Sokha regrets mistake."






"Guess it makes sense," Micheal tore his eyes away from Zikha's corpse. "But what I'm curious to know is how  you're still alive."


Overlord smiled into the ceiling. " I am the chosen one."


"No, you are mistake,"Sokha was visibly shaking. "That's why General....threw him out.


He was liability. Like defective Teddy bear from cartoon--."


Overlord chuckled,"...and that bear became SuperTed."


"I didn't know demented, evil motherfuckers watched cartoons," Micheal said. "Must be the end times."


 Sokha forced a smile. "Even weak pathetic freaks have holidays."


"If I'm the monster, how come YOU'RE the one who's dying?" Overlord nodded towards one of the guards. The man acknowledged and opened a small pouch with three green syringes inside.


Sokha's sweaty face flinched.


"How long has it been since your last shots?" Overlord said pacing towards Sokha. "Six....Five hours?....how much longer before your body breaks down completely?... can you even fight anymore?"


"..give Sokha shot of serum and we will find out."


Overlord's laughter was loud inside the large gym hall.


Lucious' eyes were still on the gun.


"Clearly,"Micheal sighed. "none of this concerns Lucious."


"Oh, there you're wrong, " Overlord said.


"Thanks to you, Lucious  is the first enhanced to survive without the serum."


"Leave my son alone."


"Boy is part of this, Old Wolf," came Sokha's voice. "Some things you can not seperate, like stink and shit."


"LET MY SON GO!!!"


The guards raised their weapons.


Overlord was a blur. In half a breath, Micheal felt something snatch him by the neck and lift him off the ground.


"I OWN HIM!!!"


He felt Overlord's fingers around his windpipe.


"Thanks to you,I can control him now," Overlord's fingers squeezed a little tighter. "I'll tie, gag and throw you in with him next time."


Second time in a roll. Micheal thought. This is fucked up. The pressure on his throat was mounting. Why did enhanced folk love death by strangulation so much? Through the pain, he could still make out the snarl in Overlord's voice.


"After I watch the boy kill you, "I'll blow his brains out  and synthesize his blood with the serum to make the perfect killer. Can you imagine what I would become?"


"....you can.....do ...whate-ver you want....to...me, just....let Lucious go!"


"Lucious' blood is the key to my victory. I WILL BE UNSTOPPABLE!"


Helpless.


That's how Micheal felt. Even if he could somehow take out all the guards, he was powerless against Overlord. The die was cast, and he had lost. He forced his face to tilt towards Lucious. Micheal saw the same helplessness in his son's eyes,like he saw on Nse's face seconds before Sokha pulled the trigger.


The steel fingers suddenly let him go. His legs dissolved under the weight of his body. He felt small hands on his shoulders. He looked up to stare into his son's eyes again.


He knew what he had to do. And he prayed for his dead wife's forgiveness.


"Now Sokha," Overlord's sounded cheerful again. "What should I do with you?"


"Sokha ....supposes a ...kiss is out....of the question?"


"A joker to till the end," Overlord  Laughed.


"That's what I'll miss about you. Never a dull moment.....your   your death will be quick."


"Sokha...is honored...for the priveledge."


"The honor's....mine," Micheal  struggled to his feet. He had one shot at this, he had to make it count. "...finally, I....... get to watch my wife's killer die."


Lucious snapped out of what seemed like a trance. "....what...?"


"It's true...." Micheal , staggered close to the guard with the syringes. "He killed ....mum. Shot her in the head just after they..... knocked you unconscious."


Long silence.


Sokha shrugged. "good cook...can not make omellet without.... breaking eggs."


Lucious was trembling. At first he felt shocked at the news of his mother's death. A dull ache started in the centre of his chest and spread across the rest of his body.


He couldn't breath, he could barely stand. Then he felt something else. Something so intense he could almost taste it----rage.


All the fatigue and weariness dissolved   into a toxic pool of hate he felt for the Sokha.


The darkness was coming again. He fell to his knees. He could hear his father's voice.
"That's right son. He killed ......your mother.
 Blew her brains right on our lawn."


"What are you doing, Micheal? You don't honestly think your son can take all my men."


Lucious was slipping away. He was losing control of his body.


"Do it, son....let it take you!"


"Hiding behind your son, Micheal? I'm dissapointed."


"do it, son."


"...Stop this, Micheal."


"...you can do this Lucious."


Then nothing.


Lucious felt the weariness return a thousand fold. His body collapsed.


The darkness was gone.


Long silence.


He looked around him with a mixture of shock and fear. His father rushed to his side to steady him. There was a searing  pain in his arm. But he felt nothing else.


Micheal was confused, "What....what's wrong with him?"


Overlord's laughter echoed again. A few of the guards joined in.


Sokha gazed nervously at his surroundings. His body was experiencing violent tremors. He needed his shots--badly.


"Do you take me for a fool?" Overlord chuckled. "Lucious is too weak to use his abilities, you idiot."


Sokha shook his head, "Not very....... smart, Old wolf."


Micheal began to laugh.


All eyes stared at him in confusion.


"You know one of the first things I learned at the training camps?" Micheal He let the two empty syringes of the serum drop from his hand."Picking pockets."


The guard holding the syringes checked his bag. Two of the green vials were missing.
"Fuck!"


Sokha looked impressed, "Sneaky.......  old wolf."


Lucious let out a loud roar and raised his head. His eyes were pitch black.


There was fear in Overlord's face. "No,....Shoot him....kill them all!"


Gunfire erupted.


Lucious became a  blurry hurricane that tore through the room. Bodies were torn, crushed and flung like rag dolls.


Men screamed.


Weakened, Sokha charged through the men knocking them down like the pins of a bowling alley.


There was no time.


He had to get to the guard with the remaining syringe before the force of nature named Lucious found him.


Micheal deflected a gun and thrust his palm into a guard's chest. He felt the hot blast of a bullet graze his side. Ignoring the pain, he spun around and kicked the man as hard as he could. Another rifle swung towards him. He tried to catch it.


Too late!


A round tore into his shoulder then his leg ripping him  from the floor. 


Time froze.


He floated through the air with images of his wife and son smiling at him from the family portrait over the fireplace of their home. They seemed so happy-- so safe. He knew he could never go back to that again.


Then the floor came rushing to meet him.


More gunfire.


More screams.


The smoke was in his lungs. His chest was on fire. He forced the dizziness away and turned just in time to see Overlord's handgun pointed at him. Before the trigger was pulled, Micheal silently asked for his wife and Son's forgiveness.


He closed his eyes,then the gun went off.


Long pause.


Overlord was stunned. Lucious was standing between him and Micheal. It was as if the younster just materialized. Nothing on earth could move that fast, he thought.


Lucious stood there with eyes like charcoal and a smoking bullet hole in his chest.


The remaining guards turned their weapons on the youngster, and opened fire.


Hot metal ripped into Lucious, his body jiggled and bounced around, blood exploding from his chest in a fog of gun smoke.


Micheal watched the bullets shred his son.


 Lucious had become a bloody chunk of meat with tattered clothes surrounded by smoke.
Micheal screamed.


But the sound was drowned by the horrific explosions in the air.


They stopped firing once Lucious hit the ground.


Micheal had lost control of his vocal chords. He kept screaming.


Long pause.


Micheal was trembling with sobs."....I'll kill you....." Micheal sobbed. "I'll.....fucking kill you!!!"


He remained on his knees staring at a sight that defied reason.


He'd lost everything.


He'd murdered his wife and son. There was nothing more for him.


Overlord smiled. He couldn't have written a better script if he'd tried.


Though, he would've preferred using the boy's blood, but  Watching Micheal stare at the bloody corpse  was priceless.


Then it occured to him.


"Where's Sokha?"


Sound of gunshots.






Sokha felt the heat of bullets flying past him mili-seconds before he slashed the guard's throat. Death is pure, he smiled.  Thankfully, he'd managed to "acquire" the last syringe from the guard. After that, he made his escape.


There was no point risking a faceoff with the young wolf.


He had to run.


He'd weaved his way through the sea of men.


 He saw his chance when all the guards turned on Lucious. He'd slipped out of the gym unnoticed. Fortunately, the previous guards he'd killed had given him enough to escape Overlord's Lair.


It still was no picnic; the corridors were filled with armed guards, but with the serum surging through his veins, he had the advantage.


He swiftly dispatched two more guards and made for the nearest exit.


He wasn't out of the woods yet.






"Find Sokha." Micheal heard Overlord's say.


In some distant part of his mind, he heard the sound of running feet.


He hadn't taken his eyes of Lucious.


Tremors ran through Micheal. He barely notice the blood seeping from his body amidst smoke and spent shell casings. He knew the image before him would be imprinted on his mind forever.


"How does it feel, Micheal?" Overlord's steps echoed behind him. It seemed they were the only ones left in the hall. "How does it feel knowing you've lost everything?"


Micheal was in a trance.


"...you know," Overlord crouched next to him, "when I found mangled corpses of my family, I'm sure I had the exact same expression."


Micheal said nothing.


"...their bodies were so broken...and crushed. I couldn't believe what I was seeing."
Overlord slowly positioned himself in front of Micheal, eclipsing Lucious' corpse.


"...I had to accept a simple truth," he caressing Micheal's cheek,  "....I did this.....I...killed them.


Just as you killed your wife...and son."


Micheal felt nothing. Not the bullets in his body, the blood dripping from his wounds nor the psychopath's hand on his face. He was  lost in a place without doors or windows--just images of the family he'd lost.


Overlord sighed "In the end, we're all responsible. You killed your wife when you crossed the General, I killed mine with my bare hands when I lost my sanity."


Micheal looked into his eyes for the first time.


"...Yes. It wasn't Sokha who killed my family. He was there yes, but so was I.....and the madness they'd injected into me. When I regained control of my mind, I was covered in my wife's blood.....I had murdered her and couldn't remember how.....or why."


Micheal saw something that caused his heart to race. It was a sight too unbelievable to be real. He stilled himself. Just over Overlord's shoulder, he caught a glimpse of Lucious' body.


It was moving.


"So.....YOU killed your family?"


Overlord leaned in closer "Is it really any different from what you've done?"


Micheal held Overlord's gaze. From the periphery of his vision, he could see his son's form rising catlike from the ground.


How was that even possible?


Lucious had at least a thousand rounds of ammo inside him. And then there was the blood--so much of it. How could anyone have survi---?


Then it hit him.


The serum!


"....I was the General's first guinea-pig," Overlord was saying. "...as punishment for letting you escape. Although I'm grateful for becoming the chosen one, I am mindful of the fact that it all started with you."


Weird Sounds.


Like tiny chunks of metal raining on the floor.


Overlord froze and slowly turned around. Both men had the same expression on their faces as they beheld the impossible.


Lucious stood before them, his body slowly expelling shell rounds then healing at remarkable speed. The eyes  that stared back at them was black and lifeless.


More bullets dropped to the floor.


Overlord stretched  out his arms like a parent welcoming a child home. "Magnificient.....your are pure perfecti---."


In mere Nano-seconds, Lucious closed the gap between them and with a single blow crushed Overlord's Windpipe.


To Overlord, it seemed like the youngster teleported to his side. Overlord grabbed his throat, blood bursting from his mouth. He tried to speak, but only unleashed more thick crimson. He still had a shocked expression when he dropped to his knees and fell to the floor.


Long silence.


Micheal couldn't move. He studied the still form in front of him. The eyes that stared back at him showed no signs of recognition or warmth. It was like staring into to tiny dark wells.


"....Lucious....?"


The figure didn't respond.


OverLord's gun was lying a few feet away.
Could/should he reach for it?


"....dad?"


The sound sent a tingle through his heart.


"....Lucious....?"


"I'm here, Dad."


Micheal tried to get up but his injuries had finally caught up with him. His side burned but he wanted nothing more than to take the boy in his arms.


He stared at where Lucious' bullet holes used to be. "How....how come....are you....in control?"
"I'm not sure," Lucious said, looking around as if seeing the place for the first time."I think so."
"....We...have to get moving---."


"Stay down,dad." Lucious came to him. The boy's movements were catlike. "You're hurt."


"I'm...fine....it's just a flesh wound....we have to leave---."


"You're hurt and slow.There are soldiers everywhere."


There was suddenly a lump in Micheal's throat.


Had the serum some how altered the boy's brain chemistry? Everything about him seemed.....CONTROLLED. There was no hesitation, no fear in his voice. This wasn't Lucious.


"....are you in there...son?"


But Lucious was looking around again. He sniffed the air like a canine. he'd caught the scent of something.


"Sokha needs to pay for what he did, dad."


Micheal felt a chill when his son stared at him. "They all do."


"He's long gone..... by now," Micheal knew what he was going to do, and felt powerless to stop. "you can't take out all the guards---."


"Stay here dad. I'll come back for you when it's over."


"YOU CAN'T.....PLEASE, WAIT----!!!"


A gust wind blew past him, and  Lucious was gone.


The realization of his actions came crashing down. Even before he heard the screams and gunshots, he knew calling out to his son was pointless. But he did it anyway.


"LUUUCIOUSSSSS!!!!"








Most of the men only saw a small shadow splitseconds before their bodies were torn, broken and crushed to pieces.


Blood splatters across the walls.


Sporadic gunfire.


Bodies flung at impossible distances.


More screams.


All he felt was rage. He moved through them easily like a phantom in the night splintering and shattering bones with a single blow. He barely felt the bullets graze him. He had no idea where he was going. Sounds and smells drew him.


The sounds infuriated him. He could hear heart beats halfway across the facility.


He wanted Sokha, but first he had to make certain there were no more heartbeats left in this place. He grabbed and shoved a guard's head so hard, it broke through a side wall, giving him a glimpse of the outside fence.


Gunshots.


Screams.






Sounds of shattering concrete.


Micheal kept on screaming. "Oh God.....what have I done....?"


The sounds of death continued for another minute or so.


Then there was silence.








Sokha ran through the forests. The gunfire had ceased.


What exactly was going on back there? The last thing he saw in the hall was Lucious getting drilled with bullets. "Death...is pure,"
He covered another three miles in two minutes. Then stopped by the mine field.


His heart was pounding.


Even for an Enhanced, this was torture. Thick Sweatbeads rolled down his skin.


From above came a sound that relaxed him. It was the mating call of the Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo. It was a sound that brought happy memories of his childhood(before he  hacked his parents to pieces with a machete ofcourse).
There were three of the birds just above him. Their songs were magic to his ears. He closed his eyes and took it all in: the sounds, the smells.....and something else---something threatening.


Blood.


Sokha felt the hairs on his neck rise. The temperature dropped as he opened his eyes.
He didn't need to turn around.


"Young wolf is fast runner." He turned around just in time to see Lucious come out from behind a tree. The boy was covered in blood.


His hands had minute pieces of flesh on them.


"So it is true," Sokha retreated a step. "serum and formula create....unkillable soldier."


Lucious' black eyes were unreadable. He started coming towards him.


"Wait...!" Sokha opened his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Sokha can help... young wolf escape Kollupia."


Was Lucious considering it? It was hard to tell with all that blood on his face.


"General's camp is twelve miles...that way," Sokha pointed to the east. "General owns six Lockheed AH-56 Cheyenne....long range helicopter...good to fly from here....Sokha is very good pilot...."


"How far did you say the General's camp was again?" The boy's voice was different, like winter's chill.


Sokha gulped. "Straight ahead.....east."


There was nothing in the boy's eyes. Only death.


Sokha let out a heavy sigh, and stared at the floor. "Sokha isn't going to pilot helicopter for young wolf, is he?"


"No, he's not."


Long pause.


"Young wolf knows that Sokha wont make it easy for him."


For the first time, Lucious smiled. The sight was frightening to behold. "Honestly, that's what I'm praying for."


Lucious charged.


The Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos exploded from the trees as Sokha screamed.








ABOUT AN HOUR LATER.


Micheal ignored the pain in his leg and  limped through silent corridor. The alarm was blaring again. But this time there were no sounds of soldiers running about.


Spent shell casings.


Bullet holes.


There were corpses everywhere; broken, mangled, torn up. Where there were no bodies, there were pools of blood. Dark crimson and crushed body parts smeared the walls.  The smell was over-powering.


Micheal had seen death before, but not like this.


Lucious did this?


He limped into the dim glow of the sun.
It was the same story; vehicles on fire, spent shell cases, and more bodies.


Far into the east rose a thick cloud of smoke.


This wasn't real.


It couldn't be.


The solid steel twelve inch thick gate looked like it had been torn off it's hinges.


"Jesus..!" It was scarcely above a whisper.


Through the flames, he caught movement.


Someone was coming.


Frantic, he searched for a weapon. Wincing, he picked up a rifle, cocked and aimed.


The figure drew closer.


Lucious.


The boy was covered in blood.


Micheal wasn't conscious of the rifle falling to the ground.


The sight before him defied reason.


Lucious was holding something in his hand.


Micheal he prayed he was wrong. He really wanted the nightmare to end. But  he knew even before Lucious flung the torn off heads of Sokha and the General on the ground, that his son was gone.


"It's over," Lucious said.


Micheal couldn't take his eyes off the bloody heads.


"Time to go home, dad."


Micheal couldn't find his voice.






"Do you know how to fly a Lockheed AH-56 Cheyenne?"





                      THE END




I'M A WRITER.
MY MIND IS MY WORKSTATION.
#opustjk
ENOUGH SAID