Sapien Loop 3 - Chapter 73: Another Night of Terror

Chapter 73: Another Night of Terror

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Head Enforcer had informed the senior enforcers of his plans to kill the technicians. They spread the word to the enforcers staying in the technician apartments.

Once the technicians had turned the lights off in their apartments and had gone to bed, the plan was put into action. The enforcers were armed with sharp blades rather than their guns. They hoped they could imitate the type of wounds that Julio would inflict if he slashed them with his claws.

The enforcers entered the technicians’ bedrooms. They slashed the throats of sleeping technicians. Then they then slashed across their bodies to create what they thought resembled claw-slash marks. They dragged the bodies from the apartments into the corridor. They dumped some of them over the railings. They wanted to create the impression that they were trying to escape Julio.

The killings initially went unhindered. This did not last, as the noise disturbed and woke some of the technicians yet to be attacked. Some of these technicians walked out into the corridor to see what was happening. One of the technicians saw a body being dragged out of an apartment. He panicked and ran down the corridor towards the exit. An enforcer emerged from an apartment ahead of the technician.

The technician screamed and turned around. Another enforcer cut him off. The technician tried to enter another apartment, but he was stabbed in the back as he opened the door. The noise that this technician made had alerted most of the remaining technicians in the building. Some of the technicians ran out into the corridor to escape, and the others tried to barricade themselves in rooms in their apartments.

Technicians in the neighbouring apartment buildings heard the noise and commotion. Many of them watched from their corridors and balconies. Head Enforcer, who was back on the roof, radioed the senior enforcers to instruct them to attack the technicians in these neighbouring buildings.

The enforcers used sharp blades to attack the technicians to maintain the impression that Julio had attacked them. These attacks were far messier and louder than the initial attacks on the first building. The technicians were desperately trying to fight back. However, they lacked the weapons and skill to do so effectively.

One of the technicians was desperately sprinting down a flight of stairs. An enforcer cut her off at the bottom of the staircase. ‘You’re not going anywhere,’ chuckled the enforcer as he brandished his machete.

The technician fell backwards, landing on her back. As the enforcer raised the machete to slash her, a huge claw ripped through his back. He was flung hard into the ceiling above, cracking his head open, and then he flopped down on the ground in front of the terrified technician.

The enforcers continued to chase down and attack the fleeing technicians. They were frantically slashing at them. Head Enforcer continued to watch the carnage unfolding from the rooftop he was on. One floor in one of the buildings caught his attention. An invisible attacker was savagely attacking the enforcers in the corridor. Unsure if this was a good or bad thing, he radioed Tiberius.

‘He’s here, and he’s attacking our enforcers again,’ said Head Enforcer into the radio.

‘That’s beautiful,’ replied Tiberius. ‘He’s put himself at the scene of the crime.’

‘I understand that, but if he keeps killing the enforcers, how are we going to fight the invaders when they arrive?’ asked Head Enforcer.

‘Leave that to me,’ replied Tiberius. ‘Commit yourself to the task at hand.’

Julio was moving from floor to floor, attacking anyone who was carrying a bladed weapon.

‘Keep going!’ shouted Head Enforcer into his radio to the senior enforcers.

Julio’s attacks on the enforcers were providing opportunities for more technicians to escape. Julio leapt from one apartment building to another, where he continued to attack enforcers. Some enforcers tried to attack him, but their strikes missed. Julio fatally slashed them and hurled others from the buildings.

Head Enforcer continued to shout into his radio. Julio saw him and climbed onto the roof of the building he was on. On hearing Julio land on the roof, Head Enforcer dropped the radio he was holding and became invisible. Julio roared ferociously in the direction he had last seen Head Enforcer. Head Enforcer ran towards the roof access stairwell. Julio anticipated this and leapt in front of Head Enforcer. Head Enforcer rushed to the edge of the building to find a way down. Julio could hear his footsteps and followed him.

Head Enforcer could not see a way down. He turned around and became visible. Julio also became visible.

‘You’re beyond despicable,’ growled Julio. ‘You horrendously butcher your own in an attempt to frame me.’

‘I follow orders from the Emperor,’ replied Head Enforcer. ‘His word is absolute. I do not judge his will.’

‘I suppose that makes you a good soldier,’ said Julio as he slowly approached Head Enforcer.

‘That is not for me to say,’ said Head Enforcer.

Julio spun around and cracked his tail like a whip in front of Head Enforcer’s face. Head Enforcer did not even flinch.

‘I see why your fake Emperor likes you,’ remarked Julio.

‘He’s your Emperor too!’ shouted Head Enforcer. ‘You must bow before…’

Julio grabbed Head Enforcer and then bit his head off. He spat his head off the edge of the building. Then he leapt off the roof and into a corridor where enforcers were still attacking technicians.

August had heard the screams and had made his way to the technicians’ apartment buildings. He could see both technicians and enforcers being hurled from the buildings. He ran over to the body of a technician. He looked carefully at the slash marks on the body. Then he ran over to an enforcer’s body. The wounds were quite different. It was clear to him that the technicians had been killed with blades and not claws.

Several technicians ran past him screaming. They were being pursued by a handful of enforcers. August leapt in front of the enforcers. He slashed and badly injured two of them. The others dropped their knives and became invisible. August directed other escaping technicians towards the House of Divine Knowledge temple.

Lily was waiting in the dungeon cell with Duffo, who was still tied to the torture rack. She was hiding in the corner waiting for Tiberius to return.

‘How long do you want to wait?’ asked Duffo. ‘Maybe he’s already dead.’

‘Shut up,’ whispered Lily as just her head became visible.

‘Let’s say an hour,’ said Duffo. ‘I’m so thirsty.’

‘If you don’t shut up, I’ll let you drink the blood from your own nose,’ whispered Lily in an agitated tone.

They both heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Lily became completely invisible, and Duffo’s eyes began to bulge.

A few seconds later, Tiberius entered the cell. He walked over to Duffo. Lily was about to attack Tiberius with a knife that she had hidden in the corner of the room. Duffo glanced over to Lily and shook his head. Lily paused for a second. Tiberius stopped and stared at Duffo. Duffo was staring at the cell door. Lily silently and quickly repositioned herself on the other side of the cell for a better view of the door.

Suddenly, the cell door slammed shut. Lily realised that Tiberius had not entered the room. It was an enforcer who had shapeshifted into him. Tiberius was staring through the small window in the cell door.

‘Well done, Duffo,’ chuckled Tiberius. ‘Your face just gave the game away. Let me guess. Is that you, Lily, hiding in the corner?’

‘It’s her,’ said the enforcer who had now shapeshifted into himself.

Lily became visible and walked towards the door.

‘Yes!’ chuckled Tiberius. ‘You captured yourself. That was easier than ordering a pizza.’

‘I’m in the mood for pizza,’ said Duffo, nodding. ‘I haven’t eaten since breakfast.’

‘Surely, even someone as dense as you must realise the game is over,’ said Lily aggressively.

‘There’s always more fun to have,’ said Tiberius as he smiled sadistically.

‘Do you think you could let me out now?’ asked the enforcer.

Tiberius walked away from the cell door.

‘It’s dangerous out there,’ continued the enforcer. ‘You need me to…’

Lily abruptly punched the enforcer in the face, knocking him to the ground. ‘Shut up, you useless bastard!’ she shouted as she started kicking him.

‘Please, stop hurting me,’ whimpered the enforcer.

‘Since your trap completely failed, would you mind cutting me loose?’ asked Duffo.

Lily responded by aggressively kicking Duffo between the legs.

‘Argh, not again!’ shouted Duffo.

August had managed to direct over a hundred fleeing technicians into the temple.

‘I’m going to have to barricade us in,’ said August as he locked the main entrance. ‘Push those large statues in front of this door.’

‘My friends aren’t here yet,’ called out a technician.

‘I’m sorry, we don’t have time to search for them,’ replied August as he rushed off to secure the back and side doors.

As the technicians had made so much noise and had not become invisible, the enforcers were able to follow them to the House of Divine Knowledge. A large group of them had now formed in the town square.

‘Trapped like bastards,’ chuckled a senior enforcer. ‘Burn down the temple and turn them to ashes.’

There was a ferocious roar from the other side of the town square. The enforcers ignored the senior enforcer and sprinted away in fear.

‘Stop! Stop! That’s an order!’ shouted the senior enforcer.

Seconds later, Julio grabbed the senior enforcer and bit his head off. Then Julio pursued the enforcers who had now made their way into the Commercial Zone.

Felix, who was among the survivors, walked over to August. ‘Is this my fault?’ he asked. ‘I tried my best with the performance.’

‘No, this has nothing to do with you,’ said August. ‘This was the last gasp attempt of a desperate tyrant who still thinks he can seize power.’

‘I don’t understand any of that, but thank you,’ said Felix as his eyes bulged slightly.

Julio’s roars sounded distant, and the screaming had finally stopped. August and Felix handed out some juice packets from the temple storeroom. The technicians soon became relaxed and could rest. August made his way to the roof of the temple to watch for any further potential attacks.

Sapien Loop: Worlds Collide

Sapien Loop: Worlds Collide is the final book in the Sapien Loop trilogy. It continues directly after the events of the second book. The world above and the world below merge into one world. The conflicts in the underground world are brought to the surface. The new ruling elite attempt to crush any resistance from above and below in an attempt to create a new global empire.

Currently, three books from the series have been published on Amazon; see the links below:

• Sapien Loop: End of an Era
• Sapien Loop: Frozen in Time
• Sapien Short Stories: Missing Links

All individual chapters can be found on my @captainhive account.

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