Amy Cross - Persona

“There!” he sneers, leaning close to my face. “Now, let’s hope I’ve managed to attract Asher’s attention!”

By the time I reach the fence at the edge of Steadfall, I realize I’m too late. The whole town is burning.

Flames are racing through the huts, some of which have already begun to collapse. I climb over the fence and make my way toward the large fire in the main clearing, but I stop when I see that there are several dead bodies burning in the nearest hut. With a sickening sensation in my gut, I head over to take a closer look, but all I can do once I reach the doorway is stare inside and watch as the flesh on one of the corpses continues to burn away, exposing the increasingly-charred skull beneath.

They’re dead.

All of them.

Spotting another dead body on the ground nearby, I make my way over and see to my surprise that it’s Leanne. Her eyes are wide open and there’s discoloration around her neck, as if she was strangled.

At least someone managed to fight back.

Maybe there are more.

Maybe someone managed to escape.

Just as I’m about to turn and look at the other huts, I realize I can hear a scream in the distance. With Ben’s gun still in my hand, I make my way around the edge of the clearing and over to the fence on the far side, and now I can hear the scream more clearly, along with a couple more. Clambering over the fence, I start to make my way past the tree-line. The first rays of morning sun are starting to appear now, spreading a low, misty light through the forest, so I make my way cautiously, in case someone spots me. Keeping low, I head toward the source of the screams, and finally I drop down behind a tree when I realize I can see figures on the ground up ahead, along with another figure who seems to be kneeling next to them.

Peering around the edge of the tree, I have to squint to see properly. A flash of pure anger ripples through my chest when I see that the kneeling figure is Harold. The four on the floor are all women from the town, and I quickly recognize Miranda and Natalie. The figure next to Harold, meanwhile, has a bloodied belly, but I finally realize that it’s Elizabeth. Squinting a little more, I try to make out the fourth figure.

Suddenly I see her features.

It’s Iris.

I don’t know how, but Iris is back.

I look down at the gun in my hand and see that the charge is low. These things can pick up power from the sun, but part of the charge unit is cracked and, besides, the long night means it’ll take a while before the gun can fire much more than a few more shots. As I examine the casing around the trigger, I start to feel as if I’ve handled this type of weapon many times before, back in the—

Suddenly an agonized cry fills the air, and I look around the side of the tree just in time to see that Harold seems to be cutting Elizabeth’s belly open. Realizing that I can’t waste another moment, I get to my feet and hurry toward them, while aiming the gun directly at Harold’s face.

Just as I fire, he glances in this direction and sees me. He ducks out of the way and grabs a gun, quickly firing back at me.

I step behind a tree as the blast misses by a couple of inches. Several more blasts flash through the air, hitting the ground a little further away. I wait, taking slow, deep breaths in an attempt to stay calm, and then I duck down before peering around the edge. At first I don’t see Harold at all, only the four women staked to the ground, but a moment later I spot movement behind one of the trees. Several more energy blasts slam into the ground next to me and I take cover again.

Checking the charge unit on my gun, I realize I only have two or three shots left for now.

I need to make them count.

Stepping out from behind the tree, I fire at Harold just as he tries to grab something from the ground. I almost hit him, but he ducks out of the way just in time.

Great.

Two shots left at most.

Trying to stay calm, I realize that I need to find some way to draw him out.

“You should be careful firing that thing, Asher!” he shouts suddenly. “You might miss and accidentally hit one of these lovely ladies! Why don’t you put the gun down instead and we can talk? You and I have so much to discuss!”

Suddenly there’s the sound of a shot, and I hear a cry of pain. Looking around the side of the tree, I see that he’s blasted Elizabeth, leaving a smoldering wound in her chest. He takes aim at Iris, but I quickly raise my gun and fire, hitting him in the shoulder and sending him crashing back to the ground with an agonized grunt. Before I can fire again, however, he shoots back at me and I’m forced to take cover.

Checking the gun, I see that there’s just enough charge left for one shot.

I wait, my mind racing as I try to work out what to do next. I’m sure I was in worse spots during the war and somehow I managed to get through them, but maybe that was down to pure luck. Even if it wasn’t, I don’t remember enough of my training to make a move.

“He’s gone!” a voice calls out suddenly.

I freeze.

This could be a trap.

“Asher, he’s gone!” the voice shouts, and I realize it’s Natalie.

“He ran!” Miranda adds. “Asher, help!”

Peering around the side of the tree again, I spot Harold in the distance, stumbling away while clutching his injured shoulder. I raise my gun to fire, but I know I won’t be able to hit him from this range so, instead, I hurry over to where the others are pinned to the ground. When I reach them, I see that metal spikes have been driven through their hands.

“Everyone’s dead!” Natalie stammers, with tears flowing from her eyes. “I think a few people got away, but he burned the rest!”

“I know,” I mutter, shuffling over to check on Elizabeth but quickly seeing that she’s dead. Turning to Iris, I feel a rush of relief when I realize that although she’s badly hurt, she’s conscious. “This is going to hurt,” I tell her, crawling over and immediately pulling the spikes from her palms. She gasps, but then she sits up and helps me as I do the same for Natalie and Miranda.

Finally, once they’re all free, I turn and look toward the spot where I last saw Harold. He’s clearly wounded and he chose to run rather than fight, but I have no idea where he might have gone.

“They were screaming,” Miranda sobs, as if her mind is shattered. “He burned them to death!”

“Get the survivors back to Steadfall,” I tell Iris, turning to her. “Fix up your wounds and wait for me there. We’ll work out what to do when I get back.”

She tries to tell me something, but her lips are moving too fast for me to understand.

“Iris,” I continue, “I don’t have time. We’ll do this later!”

I turn to go after Harold, but she grabs my arm.

“Iris!” I hiss, looking back at her.

“I don’t think he’s running,” she mouths. “I think it’s a trap. He’s trying to lure you away.”

“He’s hurt,” I reply. “He’s getting desperate. Please, Iris, I can handle myself. Right now, I need you to get back to town. Put out the fires, see if there are any more survivors. Ben’s dead and I saw Leanne’s body, so we only have to worry about Harold now.” I wait for her to reply, but I can see the fear in her eyes. “I’m going to go and make sure Harold can’t cause any more trouble.”

She taps herself on the chest.

“You can’t come,” I tell her. “Please, Iris, I’ll be fine, but you have to take Natalie and Miranda back to town. Do you understand?”

She pauses, before nodding.

“I’ll be back soon,” I add, turning to follow Harold. “I can deal with this asshole.” Stopping suddenly, I turn back to her. “I didn’t think you were coming back. Deckard said you’d make it, but I…” My voice trails off for a moment as I realize that I should never have doubted her. “Did you find that other town?”