69 Chapter 64

Okay. I might have misinterpreted how the water might come out. The explosion engendered mini-earthquakes that could be felt from where I was, now, sitting. Some of the small rocks and dirt on the edge of the cliff rolled down due to this. Originally the water was supposed to seep into the hole, but I guess wrong on the amount of water there was underneath. When I destroyed water was underneath me, I must have created a makeshift dam that stopped the water from going wherever it usually goes. Because of this, the water was gaining pressure trying to find its way out of something. The hole must have been the only 'weaker' spot in the flat rocks, so it burst out of there. Whatever the hell happened, I was more than satisfied with the result.

I stood up and did some stretches. My body was still full of energy because of the evolution pill, though I felt that I only had a short while left before it ran out. I get into my position behind a big boulder and placed my hands in a pushing position. I focus my ears on the ground below the cliff, trying to catch the footsteps of the group. "Guys, move up the cliff! The water's rising again!"

"Move, move!"

"What about Stan?" a female voice cried.

A husky male yelled back, "He won't die! But, we can't go back for him. It's too dangerous!"

The almost muted steps resounded in my ears. There were only seven left; I think Stan and some other person were lost during the flash flood. I counted down the distance between them and the cliff. Sixty feet. I would push the boulder in front of me if they choose to disregard the fake soldiers/players that I organized on top of the mountain. Fifty feet. "Hey, guys? Aren't those other players up there?" one of the team members informed.

The husky voice spoke again, "It doesn't matter; we have to keep going, otherwise the water will be worse than a couple of players!" Thirty feet away. I used all my power to nudge the boulder just a little. I wouldn't push it just yet. If they decided to climb the cliff, then I could finish the job right here and not bother about the groups. These people have plenty of gear for the three of us. Twenty feet away. "Hey, Boss?"

"What?" replied the husky voice.

"I think those guys are fake!" The team bolstered its confidence and started to run closer to the cliff. "I was right! They are fake! Someone must have been playing tricks on us!" I peered over the boulder and caught a glimpse of the water from the rock flooding the flat land below me. This was perfect, not they had to choose between the cliff or the other thing. Two people made contact with the cliff's bottom. They trusted their dull but powerful daggers, axes, and other tools in the soft cliff and began to climb up. I waited. Three, two, one. I pushed the boulder in front of me with tremendous force! The boulder rolled over the flat, dusty surface and collided with another boulder that set of my magnificent chain reaction. The second boulder hit a third boulder which hit two other boulders; then the two boulders hit four. Before I knew it, over twenty boulders were diving off the cliff onto the unsuspecting victim. I pushed the boulder in front of me again, and this time fewer boulders fell off, but the cascading effect was still there. I kept this up unit there were no more left.

After my inventory was deposited, I see that the two men that started climbing were being dragged off by the medical robots. One woman had her leg injured, and another had a torn finger. It wasn't as much as I expected it to be but it was better than nothing. The five players were stuck in a panic as they ran towards the only other exit. The one who mangled her leg was limping behind the others, trying so hard, so desperately to catch up. I snickered; maybe I should put her out of misery? I wave of power surged through my body on a whim. My fingers reached for a ragged rock. The sharp vertices pricked my skin. I casually threw the rock at the girl. The wind whistled as the rock ripped through the air. I watched it get closer and closer and closer and closer and closer to the girl. Her terrified expression grew worse as she noticed me on top of the cliff staring down at her. I gave her an amiable smile and a quick little wave before the rock tore through her body. She looked up at me and then back down at the six-inch hole in her chest that allowed me to see through to another side. I could part of her heart beating erratically before it calmed down. She went down with it.

A medical bot descended down from the sky and put her on a stretcher before elevating her back to the heavens. She'll survive. But, seeing her hope dissipate in front of my eyes was...satisfying. I licked my chapped lips and ran down the cliff to meet the next group before the pill's effects ran out.

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Flin POV:

I laid comfortably on the floor of the hotel room. The temperature was warm enough to keep a baby asleep but gentle enough to not induce unconsciousness on me. I felt like I was regressing. Was this what old age was? Was this what people call 'catching up with age'? Or was it the other way around? I gently lay my eyes to rest.

"FLIN!"

I jumped out of the sheet covers and grabbed my gun before I dashed towards Lily's bedroom. I kicked open the door and saw Lily on the floor looking at the dresses in her closet. Well, I guess she found it. I tucked my gun away and strolled in. "What's the matter?"

She pointed at the dresses in the closet and asked, "What are these?"

"Dresses made of carved out, sun-dried, human skin," I said plainly. I added, "They're all organic too! The material was raised on a diet of grass-fed beef."

"Flin!" she yelled at me. "That's not what I meant! How did you afford all of these?!"

I shrugged my shoulders and replied, "Unemployment benefits?"

She looked at me blankly and helped herself up onto the bed. She asked in a small voice, "Why?"

"Speak up, hon'. My ears are dying on me."

In a slightly louder voice, she said, "Why?"

"Could you repeat that, again? A little louder?" She lifted her head to face me while her body was still lying flat on the mattress. She was clearly exasperated. "I'm just fucking with you! It was a joke, 'cause I'm old and that's what the stereotype is. Did you get it?"

"Language! And, yeah. I got it, but it was annoying."

"What are you? My mom?" I retorted.

"No, but would your mom allow you to say those profane things?!" she asked.

I looked at her and said, "My mother died during childbirth."

Lily's face dropped as she apologized, "I-I'm sorry. I didn't know."

I clapped my hands and exclaimed, "Just kidding! She died a decade ago; she was in her nineties!"

"Fuck you, Flin!" she roared.

"Mind your language, young lady." The tables have turned. *Ding* I looked at my phone and saw that it was a text from Micheal. He wanted me to come to his room. I turned to Lily and said, "I need to go and take care of something at work. You stay here, okay?"

Lily nodded her head but then asked, "I thought you were unemployed?"

"No," I shook m head, "I get unemployment benefits."

"Which means you should be unemployed, right?"

"Well," I thought about how to euphemize this to her, "I don't have a legally recorded job. I'm like clean up crew. It's like volunteer work, but I get paid for doing it."

"Isn't that just a job?"

"No, haven't you been listening?" I leaned against the door frame, "It's volunteer work that I get paid for doing."

"But, volunteers don't get paid. That's why they're called 'volunteers'," she pointed out. Fuck, I should have just said that I was a volunteer from the beginning.

"Lily, why don't you just...do some homework or something?"

"It's summer break, I don't have homework."

I slapped my head. "Do you want to get yourself a car? So, you can learn to drive?"

"Does this money come from the benefits or the paid volunteering?"

"Look, do you want the car or not?"

She paused for a second and said, "If I do buy myself a car, then can you teach me how to drive?"

"Sure." She finally rested her questions, and I tossed her a prepaid card. "Take that, and if you need more, tell them to put it on my account."

"Ok."

I walked out the door and towards Micheal's room. Having a granddaughter is tiring. Especially when you're an ex-hitman who still does the job.