The Arks: Over Heaven (by Ben)

Chapter 59: Funeral

Part 1/3

Loki slowly knelt down, a blood-stained pike rested in the palm of both of his hands. An unmarked gravestone rested in the snow, and the wind blew ferociously upon him as he gently laid the pike onto the ground.

“I won’t let you down, Mr. Ma,” Loki muttered to himself. His hands began to shake as he moved them away, and he moved them up to rub his eyes. He got up from his knees, the crunch of snow approaching from behind.

“Who’s there?” Loki asked quietly. The crunch stopped.

“Dr. Aston,” a shaky voice replied, “It’s Maddox. He’s awake.”

Loki turned around, his eyes sparkling.

“Where?”

The crunch of snow filled the air again, and a muscular man quickly ran to the two of them. He looked back in order and he had a bright smile across his face.

“Maddox!”

“Loki!”

The two rushed at each other and embraced in a hug.

“You’re okay,” Loki said with a smile.

“Yeah of course I am,” Maddox replied, “You saved me.”

Maddox looked past Loki and at the grave. His smile instantly transformed into a frown.

“Loki… I’m sorry.”

Loki looked back at the grave. The snow continued to hail down on the gravesite, covering the pike up.

“It’s okay, I think,” Loki replied. He felt tears burst from his eyes, “I just didn’t want it to go that way-”

Loki began to sob again, and Maddox hugged him again.

“Come on, Loki, there’s no time for that. We need to be strong for a moment. Then, we can cry, okay? There are people here that need to be put in tip-top shape, and ready to serve this settlement for its greater good,” Maddox told Loki.

“Maddox is right,” Dr. Aston replied, looking uncomfortably at Mr. Ma’s grave, “We have work to do.”

Loki quickly wiped the tears away from his eyes and nodded in affirmation.

“You’re right. This place will collapse without Mr. Ma, we need to take charge. And there are people we need to take care of. Fast.”

Maddox raised his eye.

“What do you mean by that Loki?”

Loki’s eyes wandered off into the beyond. Somewhere out there, there was a cabin that held two dangerous Knowers who could threaten the settlement as they knew it with their knowledge and power.

“Down south there are two guys who were taming a Rex. They already knew how to, and they’re too close. They need to be killed.”

Maddox looked horrified.

“Killed? But what if they’re not a threat?”

Loki shut his eyes tight and shook his head fast.

“No chance. They’ll grow too strong and we can’t take that risk. They need to be handled.”

“And how are we going to deal with this… threat?” Dr. Aston asked as he picked at his fingernail.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The ground began to shake, and Dr. Aston’s safety goggles fell off. A primal roar echoed from Crusher the Rex, and all three turned around to see a large beast twice as large as their Tyrannosaurus running toward the settlement. It had spines running down its back and large powerful bipedal legs that were as tall as the complex. Its teeth were as razor sharp as the sharks that swam in the oceans. Screams began to ring throughout the camp, and Loki squinted his eyes to see a rider atop.

“Ah shi-” Maddox almost said. Dr. Aston slapped his hand across his mouth.

“Language,” Dr. Aston warned him, “Just because you are no longer my student does not warrant you to run that foul speech around me.”

Maddox rolled his eyes, and the beast made its way to the perimeter of the settlement before quickly screeching to a halt. Maddox gasped as he spotted the rider atop the beast.

“Jerry,” Maddox muttered with gritted teeth.

“Jerry? Who’s that?” Loki asked.

“Oh just a bit of trouble on the football team. Used to be the team captain, but he always tried picking fights with anyone of any shape and size. Including me,” Maddox explained, “He tried to land a punch on me once, but-”