The Brother

Chapter Seventeen

Jace woke up the next morning feeling a little headache. He didn’t have any nightmares like he had expected. There were no dreams in his sleep. The events of last night slowly entered his mind in flashes as he made his way o the shower.

He came out feeling a little better and saw the time travelling device which he had placed on the bedside table a couple of days ago. He sat down on the bed and reflected on the influence this little device, which was barely longer than his index finger, had on his life.

Jace tried to imagine what his brother said. He had a clear image of what had happened. The only thing that wasn’t clear was Stryke’s face. The rest of the details were etched in his mind.

He felt that he ought to fight this battle, to avenge his father. He felt the desire grow more as he thought about it. He decided that the time had come to take the fight to Stryke.

He tried to calm himself and decided that he should focus on his training for the next couple of hours and headed to the training room with renewed zest.

“We’re not training here.” said Sameer. His deep voice didn’t show any traces of emotion.

“What do you mean we’re not training here?” demanded Jace.

“We’ll be training in the sim room.” said Sameer. “You can relax. There’s nothing to worry about. You’ve proved your capabilities in the range. It’s time we give you something harder.”

 Jace remembered the last time he was in the sim room. He remembered the undead eating a man’s heart. The warm drop of his blood falling on his hand. The image of the soldier’s chest being ripped apart made Jace feel sick.

“Sure.” said Jace and smiled. He was doing his best to hold his emotions within himself.”Where’s the sim room?”

“Follow me.” said Sameer. Jace had spent some time with Sameer for the past couple of days. But the broad shoulders of the man, seriously bothered Jace. When will I get those muscles? - Jace thought as he followed Jace down the corridor and stood in front of the room opposite to his.

“I thought there was a swimming pool in there.” said Jace.

“Yes,there is. But we’re going to that room.” said Sameer and pointed to the door right next to the one in front of them.”

“Then what are we doing here? Standing in front of the room.?” said Jace.

“Waiting for the Chief.”

“Why? Is he gonna be joining us?” asked Jace.

“No. We need his permission.”

“You couldn’t say that earlier?” said Jace. “What do you need? The golden ball?”

“No, just his permission.” said Sameer.

“In a minute.” said Jace and knocked on the door.

“Come in.” said a voice from the inside and he pushed the door open. Inside was a pond. It was irregular in shape and surrounded by grass. He saw his brother who was wearing only a pair of brown shorts.

“How the…”

“Looks good, doesn’t it?” said Jonathan who was sitting at the edge. He thrust his hand into the water and lifted it. There was a fish on his palm. He held the palm open and watched it jump back in. “What happened? Why are you here?”

Jace quickly recollected his thoughts and said, “Sameer wants your permission to enter the sim room.”

“You can use the sim room Sameer!” Jonathan shouted. “You don’t have to ask me again!”

“You think he heard that?” asked Jace.

“Okay sir!” came the deep voice of Sameer from outside.

Jace looked at his brother and smiled. “Gotta go.”

Jace entered the sim room and noticed that everything in the room was white. The walls, the floor and the ceiling too were white. The room was bare except for Sameer who was busy adjusting the settings as he pressed a few blue dots glowing on the wall in the far end.

“You ready?” asked Sameer.

Jace wore his glasses hastily. He took out his bow and placed an arrow. “Ready”.

“Alright, I’ll be right outside.” said Sameer and started towards the door.

“You won’t be staying?” asked Jace.

“The last thing I want is to be wounded by a stray arrow.” he said as the door clicked behind him.

Jace could see the faint glow of the writings on his bow. The gold color didn’t do much to improve his vision in the dark. He waited for the simulation to begin and immediately felt a bright light pierce his eye.

He shut his eyes reflexively and immediately opened it to see that he was standing in Barlum. He looked up and saw the crescent shaped moon. The sky was full of stars. He clearly remembered the abandoned buildings and the creepers making its way to their top. He decided that he should wait at a high point rather than be a sitting duck out here in the open.

He looked around and found all the buildings to be of almost identical height. He randomly selected one and began to move in its direction. He heard a man’s voice,”Going somewhere?”

He turned around to look at a man who was smeared with blood. There was blood dripping from his mouth. His beard was matted with dirt and blood.

“Siwang” said Jace and shot the arrow. It landed on his chest an Jace saw the undead succumb to death. He heard footsteps and quickly hid himself behind a building. He saw two figures emerge.

Jace took out two arrows and placing it on the bow, said , “Siwang. Ni”

The two figures were now standing in front of the body and were speaking something. Jace couldn’t hear them. He aimed at them and fired. The two of them dropped dead.

He could her the rustle of the leaves as he waited for the next undead to arrive. He heard a low growl. He quickly spun around and saw a dog, with its teeth glaring staring at him. It was drooling and all of a sudden, it pounced on him.

The force of the dog’s jump, made Jace drop his bow as he fell awkwardly on his back. The quiver gave him a hard time, and he felt the sharp pain, pass through his entire body. Jace felt the dog’s saliva on his neck as it growled.

The dog opened its mouth to bite him in the neck. Jace quickly reached for his quiver which was stuck at his back. With a single gracious motion, he picked a couple of arrows and swung them at the dog’s face.

The dog loosened its grip on Jace as it whimpered in pain. Jace found this to be the perfect opportunity and pushed the dog away from his body and stabbed it with the two arrows, he held in his hand.

Blood oozed out of the wound where Jace had thrust his arrow when he felt like he heard a whistle right next to his ear. Unsure of what he’ll find, he yanked the arrows from the dog’s body and spun around. He immediately blacked out.

Jace opened his eyes and found Sameer’s face very close to his. There was a curious look on Sameer’s face as Jace sat up. “What happened?” he asked.

“You were smashed in the face with a shovel by one of the undead.” said Sameer as he stood up.” You were excellent back there. I’m not gonna lie, I thought the dog got the better of you.”

“And, where do I have to improve?” asked Jace.

“Everything that doesn’t involve a bow and arrow.” said Sameer. “You need to be fully aware of your surroundings. There’s a good chance that at least one of the enemy is following you. When you are hiding, make sure that you are completely hidden. I could go on like this.”

“Yeah. No kidding.” said Jace.

“With you fighting like that, I don’t have to.” said Sameer and smiled.

“That bad, huh?”

“I’d prefer to say mediocre. Me and the Chief were horrible during our first sim room session.”

“Really?” said Jace, he was all ears to know more about his brother.

“Yes. It was five years ago. I remember it, vividly. The scenario was almost the same. There were a few more buildings. The Chief died because a dog attacked him. I ran to save him and ended up getting shot in the head.” said Sameer.” Back then, the sim rooms were more realistic. You could feel the pain of every wound.”

“Every wound?” said Jace. “The simulation wasn’t halted when you got a scratch?”

“No. The settings were literally do or die.” said Sameer. “If you managed to survive, you would end up getting recruited.”

“You and Jon were close”?

“Yes. The Chief and I are close. We are friends. I know everything that happened to your family. He was really crushed by the guilt. Started drinking vodka because of it.” said Sameer. “After your appearance, that habit has reduced. So I’m not too worried about him or his liver.”

“Speaking of friends…” began Jace. “I don’t have any. At least not in Prayot.”

“You can count me in if you want to.” said Sameer. “Also, try to walk out of the building every once in a while. You can’t just stay in your brother’s place all day and say that you don’t have any friends.”

“You’ve got a point.” said Jace. “ I’ll be getting back to my room, for a shower.”