~ Chapter 11: Reddent’s message ~
[Kardian’s point of view]
The last floor of this building was the one where all the VIP offices were located. The CEO, the Vice President of the company, the Head Department Managers, everyone with a high rank worked here, so naturally, all of their offices were lavishing, beautiful, expensive looking. Well, at least they were like that before this whole apocalypse thing happened, now they more or less looked like bigger rooms, since everything worth a dime was stolen from here.
The CEO’s office was in a sorry state where only the desk and the bookshelves were left standing. Everything else was taken, including the chairs... Or rather one of the chairs had been thrown out the window.
Walking up to the desk, I tapped on the monitor there, and it turned on.
On the screen, I saw the face of a man in his late forties, with a scar over his right eye and a tough-man attitude to back him up. He looked like the type who would rather punch me than try to talk with me, or more like a sergeant in the army camp who wouldn’t wait even a single second before ordering me to drop and do 50 pushups. This wasn’t a screensaver, it was a video, so I pushed the play button.
“Reddent Baltimore of the 6Ryzers organization speaking to all of you lowlifes who think you are better than us lost souls from Planet 6! I have behind me three of your precious soldiers from the United Planets of Sol! They dared to speak up against the 6Ryzers and declared that order will soon be restored! Foolishness! Look at this world! There’s no communication with other colonies or Earth itself! We are stuck here alone with no one to help us now or ever! This colony was made self-sufficient, so Earth abandoned us! This is the truth!” he declared with an adamant resolution.
I paused the video as I looked at the face of this man and then asked Xerya “What do you think about what he just said?” I asked her.
“I cannot confirm whether or not what he declared is the truth. It is a plausible situation, however, I lack any conclusive evidence that might deny other possibilities such as: the inability to communicate due to the war against the alien species; this planet is actually an advanced social and biological experiment; the army is on their way as we speak but since the communication station is down, we have no ways of confirming this.” she replied.
“And many others as well...” I added.
“Yes.”
“Then this man is probably just trying to scare those who would come to see this video... like me.” I then pressed the play button again.
“We know that you are all scared and fearful for what is to come, but I can assure you that as long as you follow the 6Ryzers, we will be able to unite and rise up against all odds as a brand-new humanity!” he declared as cheers erupted in the background.
At this point, one of the soldiers looked up at him and shouted “You are just trying to sow chaos! The people of this planet won’t bow down to your atrocities! It’s not the way of the people of this world!”
“Way of the people of this world?” commander Reddent stopped and looked back at him with a furrowed brow. He walked up to him and then told him “There is no way of the people on this world! Everyone just arrived, we barely stayed here for two years, some even less! What makes you think that was enough to create a culture and society? Everything we have is borrowed from Earth anyway! Mars being the second closest colony that actually gives a damn about having a different culture, a different ‘way’ as you say it.” he declared and then looked back at the camera “You too will soon realize this! 6Ryzers! Ready arms! Aim! Shoot!” three gunshots then echoed in the background and the three soldiers dropped lifeless on the ground. “This will be the end of all those who oppose the 6Ryzers while vast riches, honor, and gratitude will await those who join us!” and with this final declaration, the video was turned off.
“This was a bit unexpected...” I said as I took a step back from the desk.
“These humans choose to kill the other humans, thus diminishing their overall chances of survival against the upcoming mutations of the Zombolik virus. Why?” Xerya asked.
“Politics, maybe?” I wondered.
“I don’t understand.”
“Don’t sweat it...” I shook my head.
“This killing method is inconsistent with all the other murders.” she pointed out.
“You know? You are right about that... Those three were killed execution style, but everyone else was butchered? Besides, this message is weird... It sounds like a propaganda message, but why leave something like this behind if you are going to kill the very people who were supposed to spread your message?” I raised an eyebrow and then played the video again, this time, I looked at the background carefully.
After I played the video two more times, I closed the monitor and walked away from the desk.
“Did you discover anything new?” Xerya asked.
“Yes, not everyone whom we saw in the video is in this building. Leaving the 6Ryzers aside, the civilians who followed them are gone. I suspect that this place was raided again after those guys left. With a camp that has little to no security left, it was probably easy for a group of raiders to come in and kill everyone here... Although it’s barbaric, it would be consistent with a pair of madmen.” I replied.
“What is your basis for your hypothesis?”
“Movies, TV Series, games, books, comics, and various documentaries, in all of them, the humans could be roughly divided into two groups: raiders and survivors. The first would succumb so low as to kill anyone who stood in their way, while the latter would try to negotiate even if they were supposedly a ruthless group. Erasing a camp of survivors is not as profitable as having them join you.” I told her.
“...”
“Besides, there’s another reason why I think this is the work of another group... You see, back when I was still on Earth, in the slums, there were rumors of a mysterious group called the Night Whisper. No one knew who they were, where their base was, and what their motivations were, but everyone knew that they were the actual rulers of the slums. The big gangs moved only when the Night Whisper wanted them too, otherwise, they would end up wiped out the very next day. It was a situation in which their deeds were what spoke for them, and everyone feared them. There were many times when gangs fought against one another because they thought the other instigated the fight, however, when everything calmed down, rumors that the Night Whisper did it began to circulate among the locals.” I told her.
“Do you know who this group might be?” she asked me.
“No.” I shook my head. “But what I know is that this isn’t the 6Ryzers doing. There are too many symbols of the 6Ryzers painted in blood, and this video would normally cause everyone to think otherwise, but I’ve seen enough in my life to know when another group is being framed for a deed they didn’t commit. But, let me be clear about something, Xerya, I don’t agree with what the 6Ryzers did to those soldiers either, I just think that you just give Caesar what belongs to the Caesar.” I told her.
“Who is Caesar?” she asked.
“It doesn’t matter who he was, it’s a saying... In this case, it means not to put the blame for another person’s deeds on the main suspect just because they did something similar, thus, unnecessarily increasing his blame.” I replied.
“I think I understand.”
“Good.”
I headed downstairs a bit disappointed that I found no supplies and a bit saddened that I got to know the unfortunate fate of the survivors in the Symbol Camp. With the 6Ryzers mark painted all over this place, there would certainly be those who would come to believe that they were responsible for this and seek out revenge against them or worse ally with them because they believed them to be like-minded people.
Instead of walking out of the building, I stopped in front of the bodies of the survivors on the first floor.
“You know, all of them are strangers to me, but I feel bad about leaving them like this... Should I try to bury them?” I wondered.
“I apologize, but I do not see the efficiency in such a tactic. You can’t bury everyone you come across. If you did, I estimate that you would run out of places to bury them faster than you would of bodies.” she replied.
“Yeah, that’s true... When and if this whole apocalyptic event ends, there will be mass graves for all of them. Still, I should give a burial to those I have met and got to know personally... or rather, I should make sure I don’t end up burying them anytime too soon.” I shook my head and then let out a sigh.
“Agreed.” I nodded.
It still weighed heavily on my heart that I couldn’t do anything for them, but maybe that was just my human side still struggling to make sense in this world that had its common sense ripped to shreds. With an uneasy step, I made my way out of the building and walked through the courtyard. I glanced one last time at three soldiers who were executed by the 6Ryzers, but I didn’t stop. Once I left the courtyard, I let out a sigh of relief and tried to clear my mind.
“Is something wrong?” Xerya asked me.
“No, I just... I just don’t feel comfortable at all with what I saw back then, and I’m also getting this weird feeling that I’m being watched... Maybe it’s the souls of the innocent asking for vengeance?” I let out a forced laugh.
At this point, however, when the world was filled with undead, the idea of ghosts didn’t seem that farfetched anymore. Then again, all of the Nano-Z were the results of science and technology not of the supernatural.
“According to my data, it would be considered abnormal if it would have comfortable for you to be in the middle of all those bodies. Unfortunately, I have no information on the existence of such things as ghosts, but until contrary proof, I will not exclude the possibility.” the voice of reason named Xerya spoke.
“Yeah... if we know how it works and how to detect it then we know how to kill it too!” I said in a more positive note.
“Affirmative.”
I kept feeling a chill on my back but decided to ignore it for now. It wasn’t strange to believe that I was being watched by something or someone hidden in the shadows. What was strange, however, was to believe that ghosts were now following me around, pleading me to take revenge for them. Then again, maybe it was just an uncomfortable feeling I got from all of this death and chaos…