Chapter 112: The Final Battle
The Downs emergency team placed Vulay in the back of their emergency vehicle. Vulay was still conscious but felt completely drained of energy.
‘It’s going to be okay now, friend,’ said the medical technician. ‘We are taking you to our medical centre.’
‘Thank you,’ replied Vulay softly.
Vulay passed out before she arrived at the medical centre. She was transferred to their emergency ward. The medical staff attended to her injuries. She had suffered serious trauma to her head, several broken bones, and a dislocated knee.
Four days later, Vulay woke up. She was feeling much better. However, she was confused. She only had a brief recollection of the events that took place prior to arriving in Downs.
Sat by her bed was a member of the Downs medical team. ‘Welcome back, friend,’ said the medical officer.
‘Where am I?’ asked Vulay in a slightly panicked voice.
‘You’re safe in Downs Region,’ said the medical officer.
‘How did I get here?’ asked Vulay.
‘By flying thingamajig, but the thingamajig malfunctioned and nearly killed you,’ said the medical officer.
Vulay sat up suddenly. She remembered about the Sentray.
‘How long have I been here?’ asked Vulay in a more frantic tone.
‘You’ve been here about four days,’ said Orcille as he walked into Vulay’s room.
The medical officer got up and left Orcille to talk to Vulay in private.
‘They’ll be here. They’ll be here soon,’ said Vulay.
‘If you mean the Sentray, they are less than a day away,’ said Orcille. ‘A large group is coming from the east and a handful from the west. Surprisingly, there is no indication of any coming from the south.’
‘This must be the last region left,’ said Vulay.
‘I don’t know,’ said Orcille. ‘The neighbouring regions appear to have fallen.’
‘What defences does this place have?’ asked Vulay.
‘Nothing that would make any difference against them,’ replied Orcille.
‘So, this is it,’ said Vulay.
‘Not quite,’ said Orcille. ‘There are several basements in the region. The residents that have avoided the water supply will hide in them until the attack has passed.’
Orcille walked over to Vulay. He held her hand. Vulay looked up at Orcille.
‘This place seems calm,’ said Vulay.
‘It is,’ said Orcille. ‘The Head Enforcer and the leaders of the House of Divine Knowledge have maintained calmness and order.’
‘That’s impressive,’ said Vulay.
‘Most of them have been busy gathering all the fruit in the region,’ said Orcille. ‘They have placed the fruit in large wagons as an offering to the Sentray. They have been told this will save them.’
Vulay smiled.
‘It’s a useful lie,’ said Orcille. ‘If there is panic, we won’t be able to save anyone.’
‘I don’t want to die with this piece of metal in my head,’ said Vulay.
‘I’ll put you under. I’ll have it removed in a few hours,’ said Orcille. ‘I can keep you under for long enough so that you won’t have to go through all of this.’
‘No,’ said Vulay, ‘I want to be awake at the end.’
‘Sure,’ said Orcille as he rushed off to get a surgical team ready. Within a few hours, the Jennifer implant was removed from Vulay’s head. Vulay was sent to the recovery ward.
Orcille exited the medical centre. He looked around. Everything was still calm. The residents had now filled at least two dozen large wagons with fruit. They were beginning to transport them outside of the region where the large group from the east was expected to arrive.
Orcille walked towards the Downs Agriculture Zone. He had a feeling Denise would be there with Hamlet. Hamlet had grown so big that she would be hard to miss. Orcille climbed over the fence. It only took him a few minutes to find Denise and Hamlet. They were not alone. They were with another resident and his pet, Sape.
‘Hey Orcille,’ called out Denise. ‘Meet Scott and Lily Sape.’
‘Nice to meet you,’ said Orcille. ‘Your Sape is so small and fluffy.’
‘Nice to meet you too, friend,’ said Scott. ‘She is a goat, Sape. That’s why I named her Lily after our courageous leader.’
‘That’s very sweet,’ said Orcille.
Lily suddenly sprinted off, and Hamlet immediately pursued her. ‘I better make sure they don’t cause trouble,’ said Scott as he chased after them.
Orcille turned to Denise. ‘You should be underground by now.’
‘I’m not going underground,’ said Denise. ‘I’ll stand with you to the end.’
‘When this is over, the other survivors will need you,’ explained Orcille. ‘You are the hope for our entire civilisation.’
‘Nonsense, you would be more valuable than me,’ replied Denise.
‘I depend on medication,’ said Orcille. ‘After this, there will be none. I will die soon enough, no matter what.’
‘I’ll die with you,’ said Denise as she put her arms around Orcille.
Orcille gently pressed his head on top of Denise’s. He pulled a syringe out of his coat pocket and jabbed Denise in the side of her neck.
Denise felt the jab in her neck. She jerked her head back and looked Orcille in the eyes. Tears were rolling down her cheeks.
‘I’m so sorry. Please, don’t be mad,’ said Orcille softly.
‘I love you,’ said Denise as she passed out.
Orcille carried Denise to one of the underground shelters. To his annoyance, it was only half full.
‘Where are the others?’ Orcille asked the enforcer at the entrance.
‘They’re helping with the fruit,’ said the enforcer. ‘Everything will be fine. You should have more faith in our leaders, friend.’
‘They need to be rounded up now,’ said Orcille angrily. ‘This is a necessary precaution.’
The enforcer pulled out his radio and said, ‘Hello, friend, we need to get the ‘L’ card holders underground as soon as possible.’ The enforcer turned to Orcille. ‘They’ll be here in a jiffy.’
Within half an hour, the underground shelters were full.
Orcille went to the Industrial Zone train station to meet Eugene, the Head Enforcer of Downs. He was in the control room, peering through his binoculars.
‘How far away are they?’ asked Orcille.
‘According to this radar device, the ones from the east should be coming into view any minute now,’ said Eugene.
Eugene picked up his radio. ‘Time to roll out the welcome sign.’
Several enforcers who were on top of the exterior wall rolled down a large sign reading, ‘Welcome Friends. Help yourselves to this delicious offering.’
‘What’s going on?’ asked Orcille.
Eugene held up his phone, showing a photograph of the sign taken from one of his enforcers who was still outside the region.
Orcille stared at the photograph blankly.
‘Trust me, this is going to work,’ said Eugene.
Orcille grabbed the binoculars. ‘I see them. You should call everyone back into the region,’ he said with some urgency in his voice.
Eugene grabbed a megaphone. ‘Hey friends, time to get inside. Our guests are arriving.’
The remaining residents entered back into the region as the Sentray rapidly approached from the east. They could now be seen without binoculars.
Vulay burst into the control room.
‘You should be in recovery,’ said Orcille. ‘The top of your head might fall off.’
‘I’m exactly where I need to be,’ replied Vulay with a half-smile on her face.
Eugene showed Vulay the photograph of the sign they put up.
‘This was my idea,’ he said while giving a ‘thumbs up’ sign to Vulay.
‘This place sets new standards for being ridiculous,’ said Vulay as she glanced across at Orcille.
Orcille held out his hands to Vulay and Eugene. The three of them joined hands. Both Orcille and Vulay bowed their heads. Eugene grinned inanely as he watched the Sentray close in on the region.
The Sentray had now arranged themselves in formation to attack. The front two rows had only a few Sentray. They moved ahead of the others. They were preparing to stack on top of each other to enable the other Sentray to use them as ramps to jump over the wall.
The Sentray reached the fruit wagons. They moved in between them to access the wall. The second row climbed on top of the first row. The third row lined themselves up with the first two rows. They were getting ready to charge.
A large Sentray, who had moved himself to the side of the formation, roared loudly. The Sentray in the third row began to charge. Just as they were about to reach the second row, the large Sentray roared again; this sounded different. The mother Sentray had made the same roar in the Capital Region just before killing Pardi. The Sentray stopped charging.
Orcille and Vulay opened their eyes. They heard the sound of the charging Sentray, followed by the Sentray’s roar, and then the sound of them coming to an abrupt stop. Then there was silence.
The first two rows of Sentray pulled back from the wall and rejoined the main group. Orcille looked at the radar. The Sentray from the west had arrived, but they were not advancing.
Orcille switched to the camera view from the west train station. He zoomed in. He could see the leader of the small group from the west. She appeared to be opening her mouth, but Orcille was unable to hear what sound she was making.
The Sentray from the west turned and headed south of the region. The Sentray to the east also began heading south. Orcille, Vulay, and Eugene watched as all the Sentray moved to the south.
‘They are changing tactics for some reason,’ said Vulay.
‘I don’t think so,’ said Orcille.
‘Maybe they don’t like the fruit,’ said Eugene.
Orcille picked up the binoculars. He watched the two groups of Sentray meet up south of the region. The group from the east continued south, and the small group from the west headed east. Orcille watched them until they were out of sight. He put down the binoculars.
‘Have they really gone?’ asked Vulay.
‘Yeah, they have,’ replied Orcille softly.
Vulay bent her knees slightly, threw her arms up in the air, and screamed. Orcille smiled.
‘I guess the plan worked,’ said Eugene confidently.
‘Yes, it worked,’ shouted Vulay. ‘You did it. You’re too amazing.’ Vulay grabbed Eugene and kissed him on the lips.
‘Please be careful. Remember, you just had brain surgery,’ said Orcille.
Vulay put her arms around Orcille and gave him a big hug.
Eugene radioed his team to inform them the danger was over.
Orcille escorted Vulay back to the recovery ward.
‘I don’t want to miss the party,’ said Vulay.
‘I’ll bring the party to you,’ said Orcille with a smile.
‘I could down a gallon of pineapple juice,’ said Vulay.
‘I’ll bring over a barrel,’ said Orcille.
‘Bring that handsome Head Enforcer with you?’ asked Vulay.
‘I think your brain is playing tricks with you on that one,’ said Orcille. ‘Maybe I could bring someone else over if she is awake.’
Vulay smiled as Orcille helped her into a recovery ward bed.
Orcille went back outside. The residents had already started the party. The wagons of fruit had been brought back into the region. They were putting up little flags and decorations. Loud music began to play.
Orcille was going to head to the underground shelter to check on Denise. He did not need to. Denise was at the party. He looked over to her. She smiled back at him.
‘You’re awake,’ said Orcille to Denise.
‘I’m awake,’ replied Denise as she walked up to him.
Orcille was about to speak. Denise put her finger to his mouth. ‘I meant what I said.’
‘You’ve said lots of things,’ said Orcille as he tilted his head slightly to one side.
Denise held his hand.
‘Are you ready to see Vulay?’ asked Orcille.
Denise nodded. Orcille grabbed a barrel of pineapple juice, and Denise grabbed a large platter of fruit.
Vulay was sitting up in bed when Orcille and Denise entered her room.
‘Oh Denise, I’m so sorry,’ said Vulay.
‘It’s okay. You couldn’t help what they did to you,’ said Denise as she reached out to hold Vulay’s hand.
Orcille poured each of them a glass of pineapple juice. Orcille and Denise sat around Vulay’s bed. They talked for hours. They reminisced about their time in jail together. Orcille opened up about several things he had always been too embarrassed to discuss. Both Vulay and Denise were very receptive and supportive. They ended the night by singing some of their favourite songs together.
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