The White Feather- A story of infinite worlds

At The Demon’s Doorstep

Thomas told three soldiers to take the lead, and stayed back to watch for any sudden attacks. As soon as they reached the steps connecting their floor to the upper one, Thomas signaled them to stop immediately. But he was too late; one of the soldiers put his foot on the first step, breaking a wire and setting off a bomb cemented in the wall.

The bang was filled the air with smoke and dust, and the three soldiers were nowhere to be seen.

“f**k! Get ready!” Thomas screamed and kneeled down.

Drops of blood came out of his ears as he started firing at the figures emerging from the smoke. His men were not used to this type of attack and were too disoriented to realize what was going on. Once again, Thomas was on his own and was trying his best to fight the concussion, while killing anyone who came down the stairs.

He threw a grenade as soon as his rifle’s magazine was empty. The explosion held off the enemies long enough for Thomas to lift up a soldiers loaded AK-47. The enemy had realized that there was no point in fighting, so they retreated to defend their floor.

“Get the f**k up! We’re rushing in, RIGHT-f*****g-NOW!” Thomas said, literally lifting up the soldiers from the ground.

Thomas was now pissed, and you don’t want to get in his way when he was pissed. The killing machine was activated now, and it was time was some risky play. He followed the hostiles running up the flight of stairs.

As soon as they were on the upper floor, Thomas pulled the trigger. But to his horror, the gun was empty! By this time, the enemy had realized that they were being followed. It was now time to kill or be killed.

Thomas pounced on the nearest guard and pushed his knife into his ear, taking it as deep as it could go. Next, he took cover behind the body and snatched the SMG from the dead-man’s hand.

Bullets pierced the dead body covering Thomas as he took an aim and fired. The guards were wearing armor, so it was pointless firing at the body. Thomas tried his best to hit headshots, but the recoil was too much to control with only one hand. Still, he managed to kill two enemies before dropping the SMG.

There were seven more people firing at Thomas, and he barely missed a bullet aimed at his head. He took out his pistol and aimed.

“Hola motherfuckers!” Thomas whispered and squeezed the trigger.

No one was better at a pistol than Thomas and he used this ability to good use whenever he got the chance. The bodies fell one by one, and the last one left fled the scene.

Thomas felt movement and immediately turned around.

“Yo, chill; I figured you might need help.” Veda said, panting. His rapid eye movement and inability to focus showed that he was still disoriented.

“I wonder if I would have killed all these people without you. Come on, get a hold over yourself. We’re almost on the devil’s doorstep.” Thomas said.

After two minutes, the whole team was back on their feet and was ready to move. Thomas couldn’t let already concussed soldiers lead the way, so he decided to do it himself.

He knew that they were ready for him, so he gave priority to aggression over stealth. About ten feet before the stairs to the third floor, Thomas heard a screech on the floor. Someone had moved his shoes from the wall adjacent to the stairs(unfortunate for him). Thomas immediately took notice and fired at the corner wall. The bullet went through the wall and a body fell down on the other end. At this time, a grenade came flying from the other corner. Thomas’ judgment was instantaneous. He leaped forward and caught the grenade in mid-air. Without losing a moment, he tossed it back where it came from. After a brief moment of confused screaming, a blast took place.

“Flashbangs.” Thomas said, looking at his team.

They nodded and took out their flashbangs. Thomas jiggled between corners, shooting anyone who survived the blast.

“So, here’s the plan. There WILL be a high density of firearms on the floor above us. They know we’re coming and we don’t have a moment to lose. We can’t turn around because then, it will be all for nothing. The only way to get past them is if they’re blind.

Now I’m guessing they’re trained to look away when they spot a flash coming. But they can’t take their eyes off the stairwell, so they might dodge one or two flashes, but they are pretty helpless in front of chain-flashes. Veda will throw a flash, and as soon as it pops, next one will throw a flash. We will go in after the seventh flash. Come on, let’s blind some fuckers.” Thomas explained.

After three minutes, a soldier went to the stairs to pop the first flash.

“Watch out for booby traps.” Veda whispered.

The soldier reached the stairs. As soon as he took the pin out of the flashbang, all hell broke loose. A thunder of bullets tore through his delicate skin and exited from the back of his body. Before his body could fall down, a river of armored guards ran down the stairs.

The resistance soldiers were NOT ready for this type of reaction. They were taken by surprise. The people were holding flashbangs in their hands, and hence were vulnerable. Bright muzzle flashes lit up the room and Thomas was almost deafened by the sound of heavy machine gun fire. He jumped in the ground to get out of harm’s way. Unfortunately, his comrades were not so smart. It was an absolute s*******r. Thomas fought the idea for a moment. But soon it became clear that there was no point in waiting. So he took off the pin from his flashbang and gently tossed it on his side. He looked the other way to avoid the pop flash.

As soon as the men in the room were blinded, the firing was randomized. The machine gunner in the front was so baffled that he turned the muzzle around, killing three of his own who were standing beside him.

Thomas took the full advantage of the situation and made sure he killed most of them before his magazine was empty. He threw away the gun and pounced upon the attackers with a knife in each hand. The blinded men screamed in agony as Thomas’ blades tore through their skin and shred their blood vessels. Soon enough, the room was silent and Thomas was covered in blood.

“Wh…What just happened?” Veda said after he regained his sight.

“They’re dead. How many of us are still alive?” Thomas asked, breathing rapidly.

“No one! It’s just you and me.” Veda said after looking for survivors.

“Motherfuckers. Come on, let’s end this shit.” Thomas said, lifting the machine gun from the ground and walking up the stairs.

“Hold up, I’ll flash for you.” Veda said shakily. He was trying hard to keep his s**t together and wasn’t doing a very good job at it.

“No need. Time for some real action, let’s go.” Thomas said and checked if someone was watching the stairs.

Veda couldn’t move. He was sure that Thomas was going to die here and he didn’t want any part of Thomas’ madness. Loud gunshots broke his trail of thoughts. His legs froze and no matter how much he wanted to help Thomas, instinct advised him on the contrary.

“f**k it! We fight together and we die together.” Veda said and lifted up a rifle.

But by the time he reached the third floor, the fighting had stopped. The silence was bone chilling. Veda moved rapidly but silently.

Bodies and bullet shells covered the hallway.Veda was greatly relieved when he saw Thomas, who was pressing a guard’s gunshot wound.

“For the last time, where is he?” Thomas said, taking out his knife. The man didn’t say a word, so Thomas inserted the knife into his eye. He made sure the pace was slow, so that the man could feel every part of it. The man screamed in immense pain.

Veda couldn’t take this brutality. He shot the guard in the head, ending his pain. Thomas threw the knife towards Veda reflexively, which barely missed him. Veda was about to clarify but Thomas pounced on him. There was madness in his eyes.

Veda flanged a punch at him in defense, but Thomas was ruthless. He dodged the hand, lifted Veda by his throat and stuck him against the wall. He watched Veda’s eyes go red as he flung his hands and legs around in vain.

“Never EVER get in my way. I won’t break a sweat if I have to add one more to the body count of this chaos. Understand?” Thomas screamed wildly. His eyes were bloodshot and his strength was astonishing.

Veda was choking and he used the last of his remaining strength to nod in affirmation. Thomas removed his hands and Veda fell on the ground, coughing.

“Missed the knife shot.” Veda said after taking control of his vocal chords again.

“I never miss.” Thomas growled, as he lifted up another survivor and pressed the knife against his throat.

“You’re gonna tell me what I need to hear?” Thomas asked him.

“Nev….” The man was saying but Thomas cut his throat before he could finish.

He turned towards the last survivor who was witnessing the whole scene. His face was pale from fear.

“They’re behind that wall, in a secret room. To open the passage, push that brick.” The man said before Thomas could even ask, pointing at the wall.

Thomas looked at the wall, turned around and shot the man in the head.

“f*****g traitors.” He whispered in disgust.

He didn’t look or wait for Veda. He pushed the brick and the wall separated, showing a well-lit pathway.

“Zeus, scan.” Thomas said to his watch in a cold voice.

“One male, age fort….” His watch replied but Thomas turned it off in between.

He walked in with his pistol in hand. After walking for ten seconds, he ended up in a living room. The room was well-lit, with an enormous dining table in between. There was fire burning in the fireplace. The room had only one large chair, which was facing Thomas’ opposite side.

“We meet again, Mr. White. I must say, I didn’t expect to see you this soon.” A voice came from the chair.

Thomas didn’t reply. After a moment, the chair turned around and there he was- the psychopathic genius who had been playing Thomas all along. He had an extraordinarily wide smile on his face.

“I am truly sorry that our journey has to end so quickly.” The freak said and lifted his right hand.

Thomas was ready and he jumped to his side, escaping the revolver shot. He got up before the boss could fire again and aimed at the man’s hand. The bullet tore through the villain’s wrist, dropping the revolver from his hand.

Thomas slowly went across the table and leaned down at the psycho’s face level, pressing his pistol against the beast’s forehead.

“You think you’ve won? Oh no Mr. White, a man of your experience should know better than that. The game has been started, and it won’t end with my death. It will end with yours. Ahahahahahahaha…….” The man said and started laughing hysterically.

Thomas’ face was still plain. He was clearly not interested in what the antagonist had to say. The freak knew it by now, and was wondering why Thomas wasn’t killing him.

“Uhh….you see…” the man started speaking again but was dumbfounded as soon as he looked into Thomas’ bloodshot eyes.

Thomas pulled the trigger, and the bullet opened the brain which was festering Thomas’ death. The head was pushed behind with an extreme force. The body dangled for some time and then fell down like a bag of sand, putting an end to the madness and chaos.

Thomas felt like his body was getting heavier and his head was about to burst. He dropped the pistol on the floor and stood up straight. He slowly turned around and saw Veda standing right behind him. Finally, it was all over. Or, was it?

For a moment, Thomas was relaxed. But then, he noticed something. The look on Veda’s face was not of happiness, it was the look of a lion that was on a hunt.

He reached for his gun but it was too late. Veda kicked him in the chest, sending him flying. Before he could even grasp the situation, Veda was riding his chest and Thomas was helpless.

“The game dosen't end with his death, it ends with yours, Mr. White.” Veda said with a venomous grin on his face.

Thomas was struck with astonished. His heart sunk and his pupils dilated as realization hit him. With a lightning fast blow, Veda knocked him out.