Chapter 7: Endless darkness

Chapter 7: Endless darkness

The road was smooth as it was made solid for better transportation between strongholds. They had been moving for more than three hours now and the captain was glad it was a peaceful ride cause they were already two men down, he couldn't afford anymore. He turned to the driver and said "Any news from them".

The driver shook his head, and the captain sighed, they were supposed to be a support team for the Black Hawks, but it has been two days and no news had been heard, he was beginning to think they were dead.

He furrowed his brows, he didn't understand why the higher-ups didn't send the anti-nightmare squad, that squad was filled with top soldiers, the ones who had succeeded in the experiment like 2 and they also have a good number of teleporters, even the captain was jealous of such a squad but he knew if he could get Derek to join him his squad would rival the anti nightmare squad or even be better but, he exhaled loudly, that was just a dream.

"We will soon reach the stronghold sir", the driver said. The commander nodded and pressed his com and said "We're close" All the soldiers received the information from their helms, they responded and got ready.

A few minutes later, a huge wall twenty-five meters tall appeared before them, it gleamed with cold metallic light, huge lights were embedded vertically so the vicinity was brightly lit, and huge guns which were bigger than machine guns were mounted on top of the walls, they turned to the convoy and a transparent wave scanned the convoy than a blue light shone and the guns receded BOOM!,

The huge gates opened slowly and the convoy moved towards the gates, when they finally reached the gates, it had opened wide enough for them to pass through.

"Welcome back sir" a soldier in an exo-suit saluted when he saw the captain staring out the window, the captain nodded.

The convoy did not stop, they only slowed down when they reached another wall.

But this one didn't seem like a wall for it had a dome-shaped ceiling which was also made with advanced technology, it was so tall that it seemed to reach the dark clouds, this time there were soldiers in exo-suits everywhere, some were chatting while others were competing in weapon assembling speed when they saw the convoy they all stood straight and saluted.

The captain smiled and nodded, he waved his hand, indicating that they could go back to their activities. When the convoy approached the gate it was scanned again but this time there was no super gun, while they were waiting for the gates to open, a man approached the captain "Got any survivor?" He asked nonchalantly, he knew it was almost impossible for defenseless people to survive the horde of nightmares.

"None, it's a dead stronghold, not even the machine was left in one piece", the captain said while he spat out his exhausted cigarette, he took the case and brought out another.

The man saw the brand and smiled "Umm.. I don't have any...", He couldn't finish his words as the captain scoffed "I thought you had a holder".

The man scratched his head in embarrassment, "I do, but Amanda... You know what I'm trying to say, just give me one".

The captain chuckled, "Your wife sure is something..". He threw a stick and a lighter to him, the man put the cigarette in his mouth and lit it, he dragged it deeply and puffed out slowly with the smoke coming out from his nostril," that's the stuff", he praised with a blissful smile.

"Your wife sure did a number on you," the captain said while he shook his head, the gates opened and the man threw the lighter back to the captain, he caught it and smirked "See you later Dave"

Dave nodded and walked back, he was also a captain so they were close, but the captain is the leader of a special team and he was in charge of the gates so their levels were very obvious but it still didn't cause any problems in their friendship.

It was like a different world when they entered the stronghold, the sky was littered with stars and finally a bright moon, this was just technology which was the reason for the dome, it has been ten years since the war with the nightmares began and they had constantly lost, while some victories had been made the losses were too much.

As they moved, sightings of tall buildings and hover vehicles moving on the road slowly appeared, with a sparsely crowded roadside. It made the atmosphere so warm that it felt like they were back to when the sun was still there and there was no such thing as nightmares.

But soldiers like them knew this was just an illusion, they had seen the real world and it was horrible, some kids who were born during this period never knew what the outside world looked like and it was better that way.

After a few minutes they arrived at the gates of a mansion, the captain came down and walked towards the third vehicle, the doors opened and 2 came out with a groggy Derek "Aren't you coming?" She asked the captain. n0VElusB.c0m

It was her father's mansion and she thought the captain would follow her, he shook his head "Next time and Derek we need to talk" he turned to Derek, who ignored him and walked towards the gates of the mansion, 2 shook her head and looked at the captain, she was relieved when she saw that he wasn't annoyed, he smiled and patted her shoulders "take care of him, I'll see you later".

She nodded and walked towards the gates. When she reached the gate it immediately opened, Derek rubbed his head and said "I was standing here before you arrived but it didn't open", 2 laughed "Only my dad, mom and brother have this access so it won't open for you... Wait, Derek, you forgot your Daggers.

Derek nodded, "I know, they'll be back when I want them", he muttered and walked towards the building, 2 followed him, they passed a beautiful flower garden, Derek squinted his eyes and turned to 2 "You have such a luxury home and you're a soldier, why are you putting yourself in danger?".

"I hate to sit down and relax, besides I'm stronger than a normal human. What better way is there to repay the government and help people" 2 replied.

"They're the ones who turned your hair white," Derek said with squinted eyes.

2 nodded "It was a side effect, besides everyone loves it" 2 chortled with a smile.

Derek smirked and scowled "I don't like it!".

Those words pierced deep into her heart, she didn't know why but she felt so hurt that tears almost formed on her beautiful eyes.

She rapidly blinked her eyes and stared at Derek but he was already ahead of her, he didn't even care to know her feelings, he turned his head "What are you doing I need you to open your doors".

Derek right now wasn't anything like she remembered but she blamed it on his current situation and hoped Derek would recover.

She wiped her eyes and followed Derek. When they reached the door it also opened immediately like the gates. Derek saw a luxuriously decorated room, it was huge with bright lights and golden designs in many places, he saw a holovision of the latest version which he always admired while watching the advertisement.

It was rumored not more than ten people had it back at stronghold eleven, there were maids and round floating bots moving around the place, and the maids bowed when they saw Angel.

2 smiled, she looked at Derek's face and her smile disappeared, she hoped this would make him surprised and excited but he just stared at everything with indifference, she didn't know what she did wrong.

Derek was close to her at stronghold eleven, but after he woke up he distanced himself, he turned to her "Where's the guest room?". He asked without any emotion in his voice.

"I'll show you," 2 said.

Derek shook his head "Don't bother, the maids could do it", he muttered.

"Oh!..", her expression was sad, her look was enough to make any other guy do whatever she wants, her beauty was indeed on top, almond shaped eyes with Ruby pupils, plump attractive lips, soft wavy long white hair, and her looks were way higher than that of models

A dream girl that the former Derek would worship but too bad that Derek died when he saw his family's parts, Derek could be said to be soulless right now even his heart for vengeance was buried within the sea of self-blame.

Derek walked away with a maid, the others were confused and stunned. Did a man just reject their young lady and so coldly at that, the image of Derek went down a lot in their minds?