Rise of The Fallen

Kora-

As the gunshot went off, my ears were ringing as I stared blankly ahead of me. My hand was shaking and I couldn’t register the words coming from the man’s mouth.

It took me a few moments to snap out of my shocked state and for the ringing to die down, only to be replaced by screaming as the man collapsed onto the ground, yelling profanities.

The pistol in my hand felt heavy, and I quickly got to my feet. I lowered the smoking gun, staring down at my assailant. He was clutching his bleeding stomach, face ashen and twisted with pain.

“Y-you little bitch!”

He still had his gun in his hand, though it had some of his blood on it now. He tried to raise his arm to point it at me again, but I didn’t give him the chance.

Tossing my own gun aside, I leapt at him, yanking his arm down and away from me. We both struggled for his gun. His wound was forgotten as he grabbed at my arms desperately, covering me with his own blood in an attempt to knock me back.

I managed to wiggle free from his grasp, gun in my possession, and pushed away. I stood up, training the loaded weapon at him. His eyes widened in surprise, face going lax with fear. He realized he wasn’t going to get the chance to fight back, covering his wound with one hand before raising the other, bloody palm up.

“W-wait, please! I’m sorry! D-don’t shoot me!”

I glared down at him, fingers tightening on the weapon. Would he have stopped if I’d begged for my life like he was doing now? No, he wouldn’t have. “Enough games. Tell me why the hell you tried to kill me!” I snapped. “What are you really out here for?”

He groaned in pain, but I didn’t care that I’d injured him.

He’d almost killed me! My hands were shaking with adrenaline, my heart was racing, and I was terrified, though I schooled my features to pretend otherwise.

“Answer me!” I shouted, taking an aggressive step forward.

“Okay, okay! Please! I–we were out here looking for you! We were given orders to eliminate you by our leader!” He held his bloodied hand up in surrender while pitifully scooting away with his other arm.

Their leader? Why would they want me dead?! “Why!? I’ve done nothing to your group!”

“L-look it’s nothing personal, lass. We are just doing what we were ordered to–”

“If you lie to me again, I’ll blow your brains out,” I warned through clenched teeth.

“I ain’t lying!” he exclaimed, wincing again. “Look, when I told ya we were doing jobs for the big men upstairs, I meant it! That wasn’t no lie! Sometimes sending exiles down here ain’t enough of a punishment, so us lucky ones get offered goods in return for hunting down the poor suckers who pissed someone with power off!”

Immediately, my mind went to the man who’d initially sentenced me to exile. What he’d done was against the law as I hadn’t been given a fair trial. Did he put these goons up to the task of getting rid of me? To silence me?

But why?

There was no chance of me ever getting off of Xanadis. The orbital security grid assured that no ships could come or go. Sending me here was enough to tie up loose ends with me.

Wait…

“How are you receiving orders from people on Krosa? No one should even have any form of communication on this planet.”

“Our leader has a transmitter,” he wheezed. “He’s been here the longest–a few years at least! I don’t know the full story, but he said he found it on some abandoned ship.”

A ship? There’s a ship on Xanadis?

“And the weapons? How did you get these guns?”

“They are supplies given to us from our patrons. They send pods full of various goods and supplies when we do as they ask. Weapons are a high priority.”

This was unbelievable. I doubted I could trust half of the words spewing out of this man’s mouth, but if what he said was true, then not only was I in more danger than I thought, but there was more going on here.

If there really were people after me, then I had to prepare myself. I had to evade them at all costs. I wouldn’t be able to trust anyone on this forsaken planet.

“Look, girly. I’m just doing what I’m told. You think I wanted to be out here looking for ya?” he chuckled, but eventually groaned in pain when he sat up. “I’m just trying to survive down here, like you.”

I glared at him. “We are nothing alike. I don’t use or kill others for my own personal gain! I’ve done nothing to deserve this.”

“Oh, don’t give me that crap. You’re about as innocent as the rest of us, lass. I don’t know what you did, and frankly I don’t care. There’s only two ways this is gonna end. One; you get eaten by some freaky alien animal or two; you get a bullet through the head by our men. With how dangerous this forest is, you might as well let us do you the favor of making your death quick. A little thing like you won’t last much longer out here.”

My grip on the pistol grew tighter, but I lowered it until it was no longer pointed at him. “I’m not giving up that easily,” I answered with a roll of my eyes. “I don’t want anything to do with you or your people. Go back to your leader, and tell him to leave me alone. Or else!”

He started laughing as he sat upright. “I don’t think you are understanding anything I’m saying, girl. You are as good as dead in this forest. You are barely surviving out here on your own.”

He stood up, holding his bleeding side. “You are alone, and you said it yourself; you have no supplies, no food. This shelter is barely secure. That gun in your hand? You have ten bullets. How long will that last you? How do you plan to defend yourself from the wildlife without any weapons? You can’t rely on anyone else on this fucked up planet, even us humans. We will be more inclined to hunt you down than help you. Don’t even get me started on the natives.”

He began stepping closer, and I moved back.

Unperturbed, he continued, his voice dropping into a low growl. “Have you seen what they do to our kind? They’ll tie you to a tree. Cut you open, but keep you alive just long enough that the wild animals and flesh eating insects swarm on your body and eat you alive.”

I aimed the gun at his chest when he got too close, and he paused, though he didn’t stop talking. “That is if they don’t drag you through the forest, hang you from a tree and skin you alive. You should know by now, those savages are faster. Stronger. You have no chance of out-running them, much less fighting them off. Imagine if they find your little hideout. What will you do?”

He chuckled. “You have nowhere to run or hide. The forest claims all lives in time. You might last a few days, maybe a few weeks if you’re lucky, but you have no chance of surviving out here. You. Are. Alone. And no one lasts out here by themselves.”

Gritting my teeth, I glared back at the man. “You’re wrong. I can and will survive no matter what! Nothing is going to stop me from trying, and I will fight till my dying breath!”

He smiled, and realization hit me as I looked down at his other hand he had been keeping hidden.He held it above his head, the poisoned arrow clutched tightly around his fist.

“Then get ready to meet your god!”

He lunged at me with the arrow, and I pulled the trigger twice.

The deafening echo from the gunshot filled the cave, hurting my ears as I fell onto my back, the man’s body overtop of me. I quickly shoved him to the side, quickly checking for any signs of life, but he was completely limp.

My heart was racing as I stared down at him, haphazardly checking myself for any cuts. If that arrow nicked me...

To my relief, I found nothing. I sat back against the cave wall, letting everything sink in as the shock slowly faded away.

Silence filled the cave as I came to terms with what I had learned and what I had done. Shakily, I lifted the gun and removed the magazine to count how many bullets were left.

Eight total.

At least he was honest about that. Replacing the clip, I sat there, watching the entrance with an iron grip on the pistol. What were the chances something had heard those gunshots? What if there were other men lurking in the forest, close to my cave?

As much as I wanted to get away from the dead body, or just sleep, it was too dangerous to leave at night. I couldn’t risk something coming in while I slept.

Not tonight, especially not now.

Taking a shaky breath, I closed my eyes, trying my best to calm myself down.

I’m alive. That’s all that matters…I just hope I can keep it that way until morning…