The Life of Ricky pt.1

A hoary and old figure leans on a door, sipping through a yellowed mug of freshly brewed coffee. He looks at the red sunrise on the lake in front of his house. The calm and sparkling waters of the lake slowly drift him away, into a distant memory.

“Hurry! Get in! Once you get in, don’t look back! Just keep running and don’t stop!” His amber eyes gazed at him. “How about you, Dad? And Mom? Sis? Why is Sis missing?” The boy cried out loud, with tears falling down his face.

A great stir came from the front door.

“Now you have to take care of yourself!” His father turned around and shouted. “Mary, hold the door!” “You know I can’t hold them forever!” A woman’s voice came from the front door. The father’s gaze went back to the boy, putting his hands on his son. “I have faith in you, Ricky. One day, you will become a man, taking your own responsibility.” The father held his son’s face in his hands. “Remember. We all love you.” He pushed him into the tunnel and pulled a lever. As the secret door slowly closed, the boy silently watched his father’s figure fading away. Moments later, he turned around and started running to the end of the tunnel with tears dripping down his cheeks.

It was like there was never going to end…….

The glistening waters of the lake blurs in his sight. Ricky raises his hand. Wrinkled fingers touch the corner of his eyes. There’s no way to tell whether the dryness he felt comes from his hand or his eyes. He puts the mug on the counter and twists the rusty faucet. The faucet issues a weak cry and comes out a very thin stream, almost a drip. Ricky rubs the water on his face, and then he looks up, seeing his face in the mirror.

Ricky stared at the gun in his trembling hand. The silver of the weapon shined his terrified young face. Having trained in rebel alliance for several years, he was now in a van with a group of militias, about to fight on the battlefield for the first time.

“Hey, take it easy. If every rebel looks as nervous as you, how will they win a war, huh?” A red-headed youth similar to his age pounded Ricky’s back so heavily that he barely kept his breakfast down. “Yeah, Dharma, you are the bravest among this squad. When you encounter one of them, ask them if it is easy being green all its life, will you?” Ricky said it with a bit of sarcasm while giving the excited youth a push. “You know what, Ricky? That’s actually the funniest joke I’ve heard from you all these years.” Dharma laughed out loud, revealing his yellowed teeth. The gunfire from battlefield became louder and louder. “Anyway, today’s mission is that we hold the front line! If those filthy creatures ever crossed our defense, human’s future is done for! You all get me?” “Yes, sir!” The whole squad shouted out consistently. “Great, let’s kill some orcs then!” Ricky watched as Dharma raised his gun up high. His heart pounded faster and faster with the restless squad.

“Incoming! Brace yourself!” The van driver’s voice was the last thing he heard before everything went dark.

Ricky’s consciousness gradually recovered but his sense was still indistinct. He opened his eyes and saw blurring sights of a burning van. He smelled the charred human bodies. Dharma’s face appeared in his mind. He couldn’t imagine who died in that car crash. “Ricky! It’s right in front of you!” Ricky raised his head up. A gigantic figure stood in front of him. Its breath blew each of his hair and the implanted machines on his body were making uneasy noise. Ricky couldn’t dare to move a bit. He noticed that his gun had gone missing during the car crash. Unarmed and weak, Ricky stood no chance of fighting this monster.

A burst of shots came from his back, toward the orc soldier. However, the bullets bounced off the orc’s body armor, leaving long white scratches. “Hey! You ugly creature! Look at here! I’m the one you’re going to fight!” Ricky turned around and saw the red-headed youth aiming at the orc. The orc, raged as a demon, charged to Dharma as the young man kept effortlessly firing his gun. Seconds later, He was thrown into the air like a puppet doll and fell to the ground. “Dhaaarma!” Ricky screamed out his friend’s name, but Dharma just laid there effortlessly. The sight of his friend’s misfortune crashed him. He fell to his knees and went blank. A pair of red glowing eyes appeared right in front of him.

They were as red as blood.

Ricky looks at his bloodshot eyes in the mirror. It seems that coffee isn’t helping at all. He blinks, yawns, and rubs his eyes. “Ricky! I need some help over here!” A rusty voice comes from the kitchen. Ricky goes toward the sound, seeing an old man sitting in a wheelchair. The man’s once red hair has faded into a bright orange color. Ricky reaches and grabs the peanut butter in the cupboard above and place it on the kitchen table. “I’ve been calling you so many times. Haven’t you heard me?” “Sorry, Dharma, there’s a lot going on in my head today.” “Haah. You know what, Ricky? That’s another funniest joke I’ve heard from you all these years. You always have a lot of stuff in your mind.” Ricky smiles and opens the lid. “Yeah, you always say that.”

It’s the year 2073, Earth has been filled with the army of orcs and the Dark Lord took control of the world, building his own empire. Mankind had given up hope in rebelling against the army of orcs, being treated like salads in concentration camps. Other species like Dwarfs and Elves have neither gone to instinct nor been purged. Ricky and Dharma are the lucky ones.

A series of beep sound comes from above. They both raise their heads and look at that red dot on the monitor. It’s the sign of an intruder entering this area. “Naah, it might just be a deer or something. Your sensors are kind of stupid. Those traps work pretty well, though.” “Well, it’s still worth a check.” Ricky goes into his room and grabs a gun and an orb from his stash. “Well, I’ll just be sitting here and enjoy my sandwich.” As Ricky steps out of the house, he notices the wind has become stronger. The ripples on the lake begin to appear and grow into waves.

“That house.” She thinks in pain, “There’s someone living inside.” She can’t look directly at the sparkling lake. It’s high noon. Her eyes are still adjusting from being in dark places for a long time. A stream of blood oozes from her abdomen, dying the white shirt on her body. “Hands up and turn around slowly. Don’t think about anything stupid.” A raspy voice in her back strikes her. She stands there, trying to open her mouth to say something but nothing can slip out. The drop of blood is dripping down her shirt. She feels like spinning around. Everything in her world starts getting blurred. She can’t control her body.

Ricky rushes forward and holds the girl before she falls to the ground. He noticed that she has a pair of pointed ears. Her delicate facial features make her stand out from human girls of the same age. Ricky has a bad feeling about this. “What have I got myself into?”

Dharma is still chewing that sandwich when Ricky returns. “Holy Moly!” He screams out loud. “Is that what I think it is?” “Yes, and ‘SHE’ is still alive.” Ricky puts the girl down on the sofa and starts to tend to her wound with Dharma beside him. “An elf? How can it be? Her species has not been seen by anyone in decades.” “That,” Ricky finishes wrapping of the bandage with a knot. “Will have to wait after she wakes up.”

Her eyes are closed when she wakes up. However, she can still feel the red light of setting sun crawling between her eyelids. She slightly opens her eyes. “Ricky! I think she’s up!” She slowly sits up and sees two old men — one redhead in a wheelchair and the other with a scar on his face standing in front of her. “Thank you for helping me, but we have to move, now. There are people…orcs, after me.” The redhead frowns and looks at his partner. “Ricky……” “How many?” Ricky leans in and stares directly at her. The scar on his face stretches all the way from his cheek to his jaw. “I’m not sure. Four? Perhaps Six? It’s not like I can count when I’m being hunted, can I?” She twitches her ears. “Ha!” The man in the wheelchair throws back his head and roars with laughter. “HAHAHAHAHA!” “Dharma…….” Ricky gives up to scold his helpless friend, setting his eyes back on the elf. “If what you said is true, they might be here at anytime.” Ricky pauses a bit. “Let me tell you something. There’s no way we can outrun those orcs.” “And allow me to do the math. There’re a me, a cripple who can do EVERYTHING, a wounded elf and an old and ugly man who can’t carry them both, yep, it’s confirmed, not possible, and I love this lake. It reminds me of my girlfriend. Those ass-holes can’t make me move!” She giggles at Dharma’s serious face. “Okay, back to business. Ricky, I think it’s time to take out everything in your stash. Whatever you’ve been making all these years will help.” “On it.” Ricky turns and walks away. “Hey, elf girl. What is your name?” She can hear the waves on the lake pounding on the shore. Her abdomen still hurts like hell.

“Faith” She rubs her eyes, looking at the redhead. “My name is Faith.”

Ricky’s mind has never been so clear. He feels like he’s been preparing for this all this time. The stash in his room contains some souvenirs he plundered and a few experimentations he’s been working on. He picks up what he thinks will be useful and goes to Faith. “Here, take this to protect yourself. And don’t touch anything from my stash. I’ll go set up a few traps.” It’s a shotgun with silver bullets in it. The only kind of material that can hurt this kind of humanoid evil creature. Faith stares at the shining metal on the weapon. “Thanks. Need any help?” “Nah, you stay here and watch out Dharma for me.”

The sun sets for the forthcoming night. Ricky hears a squeaky noise in his back when he’s finishing setting up the last trap. He slowly moves his hand to his gun. The ambusher is faster. In a flash, Ricky gets pinned to the ground. “Captian! Look what I found, a cunning human trying to blow us to the sky!” The ground trembles as his companions approach close. A feminine voice comes from the group “You did well, sergeant.” Ricky can feel the orc presses his body harder down. “He’ll be no use in the concentration camp. Get rid of him and go find that elf.” “Aye, Captain.” The orc pulls out his knife, aiming at Ricky’s throat.

“Don’t bother! I’m right here!” Ricky raises his head. He sees Faith running toward them.

Faith throws a mysterious orb at those orcs. “Grenade! Run!” Released from the orc, Ricky immediately covers his eyes and ears. The orb explodes, releasing dazzling lights accompanied by a piercing cry. This makes the orcs temporally paralyzed. Faith seizes the opportunity and takes out a few of them. Ricky pulls out his gun, a rusty revolver with six bullets in it, and starts aiming. Bang, bang, he shoots one down. Bang, bang, another hit the ground. Bang, bang, it’s the captain. It screams painfully and charges at Ricky with a knife in her hand.

The loud sound of sniper rifle marks the ending of the fight. The captain’s face blows up into a flower. “Ha! You should be glad that I still have my aim, Ricky!” Dharma rolls his wheelchair in, helping the panting old man to get up. “It’s all her idea, you know, to use the stuff from your stash. I’m just following the team leader’s order.” Ricky looks at Faith, who’s waving at him. “You’re welcome, old man!” Ricky smiles and waves back. “Looks like we have to clear another room for our new kiddo, huh?”