All Chapters of THE CULLING TRIAL: Chapter 111
- Chapter 120
144 chapters
CHAPTER 111 — THE COST OF SACRIFICE
I stood with my back pressed against the cold stone, eyes squeezed shut, waiting for it's attack. I hope it doesn't have a sneak attack. As it got closer, roaring it way towards me, I heard a wet, meaty sound that made it roar. It grunt before hitting the floor and slide towards me until it touched the tip of my shoe. I felt it's cold, wet and heavy head that was nearly severed from its body. I looked up slowly to see Casimir gasping at a distance with his blade dripping. Behind him, Katseye and several of his men filled the corridor. "Are you alright?" he asked, extending his hand toward me. I pushed myself away from the wall without taking it. "I'm fine." His hand lowered. "I'm glad we arrived in time," he said carefully. "It would have been a disaster if Katseye didn't find us on time." Katseye pushed past her father, her eyes scanning me for wounds. "Are you okay? Did it hurt you?" "A little. It's bearable." The words came out more curtly than I'd intended. One of
CHAPTER 112 — THE HUNTED
Someone was calling my name. The voice sounded distant and muffled, like hearing someone speak underwater. "Kae... Kae, wake up..." This shifted me to one of those mornings back at the sphere. Cent shaking my shoulder to wake me even though I was fully awake. Messing with him was fun because I enjoyed seeing him acting like a child at least once in a while. "What?" I grumbled on my bed. "I need your help with something." He said matter of urgency. I turned to see him and noticed a pile of small items inside a box. "What I'm a helping you with?" "With this." He pushed it forward for me to take a closer look at it. Vivi, who had been sitting beside me for quite a while poked my nose. "Get up lazy bone, mama isn't around so can you sneak in a few treats you brought for us last night?" she pulled out her school. "This place is a good hiding place for it." "Hey, I asked for his help first!" Cent started. "Mine isn't as complex as yours." Vivi retorted. "I don't care,
CHAPTER 113 — REUNION
Riko moved like a predator, his blade weaving patterns in the air between us. Every step he took forward, I took one back. My body screamed with each movement as the wound threatened to tear open wider. "What's wrong, Kae?" Riko's grin widened. "You were so confident before that I thought you were a god after stabbing me." "That's not what happened—" He glanced at my wrapped torso and his predatory grin widened. "Oh, I see. Well, let's see how long you can last this time." He lunged and his blade slashed through the space where my throat had been a heartbeat earlier. I twisted away, my body protesting violently. "Stand still," Riko snarled. "Make this easier for the both of us." I know I won't be able to fight him properly in this condition. All I have to do was avoid getting close to give him a chance to land a solid hit. Behind him, his two companions moved to flank me, herding me like prey. I activated my radar sweep desperately which showed me a doorway to my left,
CHAPTER 114 — THE SECOND WAVE
She stopped struggling and stared up at me with those familiar eyes. "Kae?" Her voice cracked slightly. "Is that really you?" Behind me, I heard Katseye and Jace moving closer with their weapons being drawn. "It's okay," I said quickly, not taking my eyes off Vira's face. "I know her. She's from my team." "Took you long enough." Jace commented which forced me to shift my gaze away from Vira and to him. "You... You..." the words couldn't form as I stammered the same thing over and over again. "Yes, we did." Jace answered. "And it was thanks to her I was able to get to you both on time." "You're welcome." Vira said. "Ummm, Kae?" I turned back to look at her and noticed that she's gesturing me to stand up. "Oh, my bad." I rolled off her, offering my hand to her. She took it and I pulled her up despite the throbbing pain from my wound this particular movement is causing which made me groan. The groan made Vira's brows furrowed and her eyes traveled down to my blood soak
CHAPTER 115 — THE UNFORSEEN REINFORCEMENT
I have only spent a few days with them, but yet why do I feel so sad at their demise? "I don't know but when I tried keeping in touch with them, I heard horrifying sounds of mutants and the constant screaming before our communication was severed." she looked up at me. "So that was the last time I ever got in touch with them." "When was that?" I asked, still shaken by what I was hearing. "A few days ago." she answered. "The mission isn't going as planned. We shouldn't have agreed to join." "Then our loved ones would have suffered." "At least we would have spent our last moment with them." I saw that she was shaken up a bit and wished I could pull her into a warm embrace to ease her up. Instead, I placed my hand on her shoulder and drew her gently to my side. "I'm sure they are still fine." "Promise me, Kae." she looked up at me. "Promise me that if we are able to get out of here, we will go straight home." I can tell that she's scared but going home will put thousands of liv
CHAPTER 116 — THE EVACUATION
As we tried to make a run for what looked like our impeding doom, a mutant landed directly in front of us with a ground-shaking thud, with dust and debris exploded outward from the impact. By the time the dust had settled, we saw that it was blocking our only pathway out of here. This one was massive, easily twice the size of the creatures from the others. Its carapace had evolved into overlapping plates that looked thick enough to deflect blades. Katseye remained frozen as she stared at the mutant slowly drawing it's face closer to her. She was whimpering with her body shaking in fear. Jace slowly and carefully brushed past me and Vira as he moved closer to Katseye. He held her hand, which made her shutter as he stepped forward. He gradually positioned himself before her and gently tucked her behind him as his gaze never left the creature. His weapon came up, steady despite the tremor I could see in his hand. "Walk back carefully." he said quietly, and that's what we d
CHAPTER 117 — MAKING IT OUT
"Is that a yes?" Katseye asked to confirmed if he was in on not. "That's a yes." She patted his chest. "Thank you." Then turned to the rest of us. "Everyone spread out, assist any civilians that is vulnerable and hand out weapon to the rest to help defend themselves. Our top priority is to get them to the nearest evacuation point." "I'll take the children," Katseye continued, gently taking them from Jace. "Make sure the civilians get out safely." "You'll be alone," Jace pointed out. She nodded. "I can handle it." she showed him the knives in her hands. "Remember what we usually do outside the gate." This made Jace chuckle. "You do know how to jog someone's memory." and gently swept a locks behind her ear. "Be careful." "Famous last words," she muttered, but he shook his head. "I reserved that for a special day." Katseye wanted to asked but he was already moving to join the search as we spread through the ruined sector like a net, checking every building, every alc
CHAPTER 118 — THE INFILTRATION
The sector entrance was chaos incarnate. The refugees pressed against the barricades, their voices rising in a desperate cacophony. Guards stood shoulder-to-shoulder, pushing back the crowd with shields and shouted orders. The air smelled of sweat, fear, and too many unwashed bodies packed into too small a space. "Please! My family is still in Sector Seven!" "Let us through! You can't keep us here forever!" "I have children! Please, just let the children through!" The guards remained unmoved, their faces hard as a rock. They'd clearly been doing this for hours since we got here. Or maybe for days as there were some here before the others arrived. They had long since stopped seeing individuals. Just a mass of desperate humanity threatening to overwhelm their position. Then the guards spotted us. Specifically, they spotted Katseye. "High-Lord Casimir's daughter!" one called out. "Make way!" The barricade parted enough for our group to slip through. Behind us, the cr
CHAPTER 119 — INFILTRATION
"Wh.....what? During curfew?" I asked to make sure I heard clearly. "Yes." Jace answered, irritation coloring his tone. "What's the plan?" "We're going to use the same method we used to rescue Katseye. Infiltrate, locate and rescue. But Vex knows our tactics now, so he'll definitely be expecting it." Jace's jaw tightened. "Which is why we're taking a different approach." "Different how?" "Everyone knows about the Central Prison. That's where they take high-profile prisoners for public trials." He leaned closer. "But I believe Casimir was taken deeper, probably to a restricted area where only prison employees can access." "How do we get in there?" "My father is sending some of his men as undercover to pose as new hires or transfers, whatever the excuse is to get them inside." Jace met my eyes. "We're going with them." I started to turn toward where Vira and Jabari were settling in. "Let me go get the others—" Jace's hand on my arm stopped me. "No other person is comin
CHAPTER 120 — INSIDE THE RESTRICTED AREA
As the guard was about to reach for the alarm panel on the wall. I moved without thinking. My hand found a loose piece of stone on the ground and threw it down the corridor, away from our position. The clatter echoed off the walls which made both men spun toward the sound with their weapons drawn. "There!" the guard shouted. They ran toward the noise, leaving the corridor momentarily clear. Jace pulled me in the opposite direction. "Quick thinking." Jace complimented me. "Come on, let's leave this place ." We sprinted through the same passages we passed few minutes ago. Behind us, the alarm finally sounded. They must have finally figured out that they have been played. The alarm was harsh and the wailing klaxon made my teeth ache. "They'll seal all the exits," Jace said between breaths. "We have maybe two minutes before this entire level is under lock down." I used my radar sweep which pulsed, hoping it will help us out in showing a shorter way out of here. Afte