Chapter 296: One Above the Rest Part 1 (1/2)
The whimper and cries echoed through the playground, just out of reach of the teachers on watch. A boy lay on the ground bleeding from the nose, sobbing curled up while another stood over him with bloody knuckles and a crazed look. Taking serval deep breaths, he began breathing heavily, smiling. ”I am stronger. No one will be stronger than me; mark my words. Henry Truman will be the strongest person in the world!”
****
Seeing Rhinefield in ruins was enough to leave quite the impression on Zinnia. She hadn't seen the outcome firsthand, so bare witnessing the carnage left behind had pushed her further than she imagined. Thoughts ran through her mind; the one most adamant was guilt as she began to question herself. Could she have stopped this?
Emil shook her shoulder lightly, whispering. ”Are you alright?”
Still dazed, Zinnia licked her lips, turning to Emil heartbroken. ”I'm sorry.”
”Apologising when you haven't fixed the problem won't get us anyway. Apologise to everyone once we stop the Garden.”
Jinx climbed up the hill, moving her arm around feeling sluggish as she grumbled. ”What a shit hole. You better be right about this, Florence…. We spent almost two weeks traversing back and forth like headless chickens if we haven't.”
Florence stood over the hill, searching through the endless battlefield for her destination. Pointing to a point beyond the central city on the outskirts, she spoke up, clearing her throat. ”There. Henry will be there. I know it.”
”How can you be so sure?” Zinnia questioned, trying not to get her hopes up too much.
”I just know. It's a special place for us. It's where we grew up, the only place we ever called home. If my brother would go anywhere, it's there.”
Emil stepped forward, getting everyone's attention, still wary about all of this. ”Just to make a few things clear. I hold no intention of trusting Henry as I fully expect him to stab me in the back the first chance he gets. He's greedy, selfish and outright insane. In fact, I'm not sure he's much better than the stages of grief. He'd fit right alongside them.”
”He's still my brother, you know,” Florence stated with a frowned sigh. ”But I suppose I can't deny those facts. You don't have to trust the bastard, but he will help us.”
”How are you so sure on that?” He snapped back on edge about the whole ordeal.
Turning back to the city, she tightened her gloves, whispering. ”Given the chance, Henry will fight anyone stronger than him.”
****
After a short walk, the small group were a little at ease by no presence of the Garden. In fact, they came across serval survivors collecting any belongings left after the attack. Everyone was in the same boat here; everyone was a victim of some kind. Florence looked around, shaking her head. ”So those rumours were true. The Garden had retreated after the attack. But why and for how long is the question here.”
”Do you think Alton had any role to play in that?” Zinnia questioned.
”Maybe. We can't be sure for certain.” Riley thought, overseeing Zinnia's concern. ”Did you want to look for him?”
Shaking her head, Zinnia gave off a half-hearted smile. ”No. We don't have time to search; like you said, we don't know when the Garden will attack again. Finding Henry first is more important.”
”Are you sure?”
”I am.”
”Ok…. We're almost there.” Florence ended up with the small talk staring at a burned down husk of a house. Giggling faintly, she leaned back, taking in a deep breath. ”I'm home.”
Walking up to the heart of the house, Jinx tapped the side as part of the house collapsed. ”You lived here?”
”The house was a bit nicer a time ago. But a freak storm struck the house setting it on fire. I didn't know until it was too late. My brother cast an illusion on the house to trick me. By the time he lifted the illusion, the fire was already in my room. I escaped, but our mother wasn't so lucky.”
”What the hell is wrong with him?! Why would he do that?” Emil barked, furious to learn of these events.
Florence shrugged, unsure. ”I still to this day don't really know. I've only seen him once since then. But if I had to guess, it was probably because he hated the fact, he was related to someone so weak.”
”That bastard. And we're going to trust him to help us?”
Florence stepped up to the porch lifting her hand out. ”I don't trust him one bit.”
The moment Florence touched the door, the house came to life in a sudden flash as the broken-down ruins had changed to a view of the modern spectacle. The door opened as Henry stood taking a bite from an apple slurring with his mouth full. ”Now that's not a nice thing to say to your brother, dear sister.”
Florence smacked Henry only to vanish, appearing further into the house sitting on a sofa, legs up yelling. ”Please come in. After all, it's our house.” Florence stepped in, looking at the interior, the floating chandler hovering over the stairs fitted with a red carpet. Pictures of the family were planted on the wall, which had a flowery wallpaper. At the front porch was a coat hanger and a mat to wipe your feet. ”Please, please. Don't bring the dirt in.”