Gates To Another World by D.I. Jolly (The Camp Part 3/3)

Michal’s shoulders dropped and he turned his attention back to the woman hanging over him. For a few seconds, he desperately tried to work out if she was still alive. He searched her face hoping to find some twitch, some movement, anything. Then all at once the top of her head exploded out showering him in brain and blood. He levelled his gaze and stared at the guards, one of whom was holding a gun.

“Oh I’m sorry, did I break your toy?”

The guards erupted in maniacal laughter and a cold shiver ran down Michal’s body. His mind cleared,  and all the distracting thought that had been building over the week vanished. The muscles in his shoulders tighten; he took a deep breath.

“I am the Demon, hunter of men.”

And he swung his sword down hard at his own neck. The blade sliced through the lock of his shock collar, but only lightly grazed his actual neck. The laughter stopped as the guards watched the collar fall to the ground and before they could look up Michal and was on them. Only one managed to get a single shot off before they all died, and it hit the wall. Michal didn’t stop to see if the Psycho had waited for the results of the fight, and ran through the open gate into the labyrinth of tunnels that was The Camp. He moved with speed and purpose towards where he believed he could find the throne room, stopping only for a moment at a small control panel to unlock all the doors across the camp.

The tunnels began to fill with the sound of running and shouting boys, and then fighting and gunshots as the guards tried in vain to stop them. Michal, however, hadn’t waited around and was back on the hunt. After a few left and right turns he found himself standing in front of a doorway and it stopped him dead. There on the other side shining back at him was sunlight, the first he’d seen in over two years. There was grass and trees and as he took a few nervous steps closer he could even see the sky.

The doorway seemed to shine and an idea long locked away came back to him and he whispered,

“Freedom.”

He’d spent so much time focusing on killing the Psycho that he’d forgotten about the idea of escaping. And now here it was in front of him. Like a gateway into another world, a world of light where he wouldn’t have to fight or kill anyone anymore. He could even try finding his family. Tears welled up in his eyes as he remembered vaguely that he wanting to be an artist when he grew up, and draw comic books. Slowly he stepped forward through the doorway and had to cover his eyes to shield them from the light, so didn’t see who struck him hard on the side of the face. He fell to the ground and frantically started blinking to get his vision back as a barrage of brutal kicks came from seemingly everywhere. Through the blur, he managed to grab hold of the leg and rolled pulling his attacker to the ground.

“You’ve ruined everything! Years of work! Do you know how long I’ve spent building this empire!”

The voice was familiar and as his vision cleared the Psycho came into view. Michal quickly rolled away and got to his feet to face him properly.

“I’m going to enjoy killing you boy!”

Spat the Psycho furiously as he charged at Michal who dodged out the way catching the Psycho by the arm and breaking it effortlessly. The thought of finally exacting his desired revenge flashed in his mind but he let go and let the man drop to the floor. They stared at each other for a few seconds in silence and the man slowly got to his feet.

“What are you waiting for then, go on! kill me, Demon.”

Michal let his mind fall back to the wonder he’d felt when he saw the light and the sky.

“I don’t want to kill you, I don’t want to kill anyone.”

He reached down and picked up his sword which he’d dropped and slipped it into his belt.

“But if I ever see you again, but then, I don’t think I have to worry about that.”

Michal pointed back at the doorway where all the other children had started to gather. Then he turned and ran off into the light to go and find his new life in this strange new, old world.