Amanda let her head fall into her hands. "God, I hate that man," she murmured. Cormen sank down in a chair beside Amanda.
"When do you want to inform Michael's family?"
"I'll do it," Amanda replied quickly. "His wife - Hannah - She's a friend of mine. She'll want to hear it from me."
Cormen was silent for a moment.
**Not too sure what happens from here...
"The grasshopper!... Mind the grasshopper!... A grasshopper not only turns, it hops!... It hops!... And it hops jolly high!" ~Erik, The Phantom of the Opera
Tree raced past me as I ran, hoping like hell that the Population Control guy wasn't catching up. I glanced back and gasped, noticing the guy still following me. Crap, not good.
I sped up, winding in and out of the trees to try and loose him. After a few minutes, I looked back and noticed that I'd lost him. I grinned and turned back only to trip over something and go flying into something else.
Panicking, I yelped and pushed what I realised was a girl away and turned to run again.
"Hold on a second!" a boy yelled and suddenly my hands were pinned behind my back. "Who the hell are you?"
"With friends like you, who needs a medical license?" - Paimon, Aether's Heart
“It's easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission.” - Grace Hopper.
I didn't run away, not really. I just went out and never come back. I knew mums heart was going to be broken and dad was going to be angry but I left. For their sakes and for the sakes of my siblings. Simple as.
There had been a lot of commotion near my bunker. Not necessarily my bunker but I slept there, that had to count for something. It was cold, metal and deserted. It was probably where people hid during the earthquakes, showing how stupid some people were. It's an underground bunker for an earthquake. Did anyone see any mistakes in that theory at all?
I could hear voices from above. I stiffened. Had they found me already?
I don't want to die! At least...not yet.
"Hold on a second!" I heard. Crappity Crappity Crap.
"Who the hell are you?"
And then, the roof caved in.
Dont tell me the moon is shining, show me the glint of light on broken glass.
Shoving my hands into the trench coat's pockets, I wandered the woods. I suppose this wasn't my most brilliant idea, but I had to get away. Pulling out the map of the town I calculated the spot I was at and decided to just keep moving forward until I ran out of woods.
Putting the map back into my pocket I opened the butterfly case and took out the pocket knife. These are so old fashioned no one really has them anymore. I'd kept it anyway. As I walked I continuously opened and closed the knife. After god knows how long I came to a spot where I heard voices. Every muscle in my body instantly froze. When I turned to look I saw two girls and a guy. I was close to them to close.
Then, I noticed the guy had one of the girls arms behing her back. I slapped my hand over my mouth and felt a tear fall down my cheek. Out of nowhere the ground collapsed under them and they fell into a hole. I quickly got out the gun, that I knew had no bullets right now but they wouldn't, and I slowly walked over there. When I saw four people laying on the ground I felt tears build up but I pushed them away and wiped off the ones on my face right now.
"Who are you!" I called, the gun pointing at them in one hand and my pocket knife still in the other.
Zachary Stein It took a certain amount of courage, or insanity, for a Third to stand up to Population Control. Zach had always figured courage was best left to those who didn’t want to live long, since running away was a much better solution. Especially 'cause it took you away from them: always a good thing when it came to people who wanted to kill you.
Sadly, his days of getting the hell out of dodge seemed to be over. Being tackled to the ground by a trained, better-fed, three times heavier adult tended to knock the wind out of you, for one, and made it hard to get up and make a break for it again.
The handcuffs that came after that, while efficient, were verging on overkill, if you asked him. Not that the agents did, but that didn’t stop Zach from telling them. A tad more obscenely, and with lots of explaining where exactly they could take said cuffs and shove them.
At this point, it wasn’t like it could get any worse. He knew how it went: get caught, have no ID to show, get marched off to that creepy armoured van (what the hell did they need armour for? They were going against goddamn kids, for Christ’s sake), never come back again. As to what happened after... Three guesses, and the first two didn’t count.
Yeah, he was pretty much screwed. A goner, dead walking, on the green mile, about to kick it, et cetera et cetera.
Swearing and insulting the guys flanking him might not have been the brightest idea, but given the situation, eh, why not. If it got his mind off what was coming, he’d take it. And at least he could tell them what he thought of them before they shot him.
They got tired of it before he did, if the punch to the gut he got just as the van slowed to a stop was anything to go by. He was still gasping for breath when they unceremoniously pulled him out and dragged him towards a plain-looking building, forcing him to walk along or fall in an undignified heap.
Turned out that while Zach cared little for dignity, kicks when you were down hurt like a mother.
“Nice place you got there, you dumb sh—”
He’d seen the backhand coming, but that did nothing when you didn’t have the space to move out of the way. And that coppery taste on the tip of his tongue was a tad too familiar. He was considering spitting the blood back in the guy’s face, like they did in the movies, but held himself back when they entered a smaller room.
Okay, more like a cell. Scratch that, definitely a cell.
Was that the door closing behind him? Crap crap crap crap. He whirled as soon as he caught his footing after the shove in the back he'd received courtesy of Mr. Backhand.
“Hey, open that goddamn door!” He kicked at it. “Come back!”
They’d hadn’t even uncuffed him. Zach raged at the door for a few more minutes, then stepped back, suddenly deflating. He looked around at the bare cell, repressed a shiver at the faded stains on the ground, and sunk in a corner, head low, knees pulled up and breathing growing more ragged as the reality of the situation sank in.
He hated cages. Almost as much as he hated Population Control.
[[anyone from PC want to come and talkbeat the crap out of make a deal with Zach so he actually survives this accepts to serve as bait/traitor for the other Thirds, feel free to rough him up a bit - he still hasn't learned to think before he speaks xD
and yes, long post is long. Won't do it again xD]]
Lumi: they stand no chance against the JAG SAFETY BLANKET
My phone rang, a little too loud in the silent room. I frowned and grabbed it from its holder, flipping it open and holding it against my ear. "Cormen."
"We've got another Third. Little brat, this one," a muffled voice came from on the other end.
I sighed, maybe a tad too dramatically. I really didn't feel up to killing, not after what had happened with our Head of Tracking. "I'll be down right away," I muttered, slapping the phone shut.
"What was that all about?" Amanda asked quietly.
I looked up. "Another Third. Interogation time." Without another word, I rose from my chair and made as calm as an exit as I possibly could. I would loved to have run out of there, screaming at the top of my lungs that the government couldn't allow Kennedy to kill our men, but I didn't. Besides, what was done was done. I had to deal with a kid now. Second one in a day.
I walked briskly through the halls, waving off a few officers with questions about the whole Head of Tracking incident. I would take care of rumours and finding a new man later, at the moment I had to focus. I took the steps to the cells, once again two at a time, and nodded at a lone guard.
"Fifth cell on the left," he said, back straightening.
I rolled my eyes, grabbed a chair that was leaning on the hall and pulled it over to the Third's cell. "'Ello, 'ello," I called coldly, opening the door just enough to slip by with the chair and slamming it shut again. I set the chair on the ground with a thunk and plopped down on it. "Now, cooperation would be appreciated." I patted the gun at my side and glared at the boy.
Zachary Stein How very nice of them not to make him wait more than ten minutes. What, not enough kids to deal with already? Zach forced himself to sneer when the guy walked in, meeting his eyes full-on. That's right, you $%#@%, I'm not #%@#$ afraid of you and your nifty little chair.
Zach? Always been a good liar, even especially when it came to himself.
"How about you take your cooperation and shove it where the sun don't shine, you PC %&#$?"
Unimpressed look from the guy, which Zach did not give a whit about. That nonchalant movement towards his gun, though? Yeah, Zach definitely cared. Cared very much, even. He may not have been the smartest guy around, but you didn't have to know rocket to know that lead + brain never ended well.
So he actually swallowed the insults on the tip of his tongue and paid a bit attention. That translated as "quickly backpedal and hope he hadn't pissed the $^##%@% too much yet".
"What's in it for me anyway? You'll kill me faster?"
Okay, so tact? Not his best. Especially not under threat of death.
"Please don't say yes."
Lumi: they stand no chance against the JAG SAFETY BLANKET
One second, I'm mysteriously in a hole-a hole that I had never known even existed-and I had lived around that forest my whole life. I knew the forest around my house like I knew my bedroom, dirty socks in that corner, the berry patch underneath those trees...yeah, you get it. But this...
And then, two seconds later when we're all standing, there's a gun pointed at my face and some chick demanding to know who I am.
As if the day hasn't been hectic enough...
"Put that thing down!" I demanded, trying to keep my voice low.
Somebody groaned, and we all looked down. Oh gosh... That was how many of us now?
"D-do any of you have I.D.'s?" I asked quietly. "'Cause Lord knows I got nothing."
Okay, so maybe actually saying that out loud hadn't been one of my smartest moves, but you have to at least give me that the day had been absolutely nuts. How many of us were here now? Yeah, all in under about ten minutes. I have a personal right to be a little frazzled.
CORMEN DELLZ
I arched an eyebrow, chuckling. "Probably not...and as savoury an idea as that is, I don't think I could get away with it just about now." I smirked. There was a little bit of a plan formulating in my head, and if it was succesful, this kid could answer all of our problems.
Funny how the things you work against can come aid in your redemption. "Before you say anything else, listen carefully. I have a little deal I could make you, one that involves you living. Possibly on as high a level as we do." I brought my gun out, set it on my lap. "You see, we've got ourselves a bit of a situation. There's a rumour of a lot of Third activity near and around the city just a couple hours south of here."
My phone rang suddenly. I swore and picked it up, staring at the caller I.D. Unkown Name. I flipped it open. "What?! I'm sort of busy here!"
"Sorry, sorry! I was just wondering if the HoT rumours were true..."
"Who is this?"
"Just an officer...are they?"
I frowned. That was... odd. "Yes, they're true. Call me once more and you'll end up like him, got it?" I slapped the phone closed and turned back to the boy, opening my mouth before he had the chance. "Now, as I was saying... if you help us, you get both freedom and reward. Sound like a fair enough deal to you?"
As Repo climbed onto my shoulder, I folded my arms and tapped my toe impatiently. "I already told you, I don't have any. But I do have a charge gun." Repo mewled from her perch, and I shushed her with the promise of oil as soon as I could.
I wondered if I looked as weird as they did. The blonde who tackled me was still sopping wet and, er, shirtless. There were a few others who looked like they ran about five miles through the woods. I probably had leaves in my hair, and I knew for a fact that I was still smeared with grease, charcoal, and silver marker pen. Added to the robotic cat on my shoulder and the tool belt wrapped around my waist, and the canister strapped to my back, I must've looked weird.
I ignored that thought and cocked an eyebrow, scratching Repo behind the ears and fidgeting. I really should've just closed that window. Now I was being held prisoner by a less-than-terrifying blonde who couldn't be much older than me, with more people than I cared to be around.
I grabbed a silver marker pen and began sketching something out on my arm. This was not the place to bring out a print. So, all my notes and plans went... onto the skin. Eh, not the worst idea I've ever had.
X= 3 x 3 in. Weld to B. Inter with C.
Little scribblings surrounding the sketch, until the patch of skin inside my left forearm was practically solid silver. But it was the only thing that could keep my preoccupied.
And lord knows I needed to be preoccupied.
hey, Jude, don't make it bad take a sad song and make it better remember to let it into your heart then you can start to make it better.
Zachary Stein Zach really didn’t like that smirk, especially not directed at him the way it was right now, especially not when he was still stuck with his arms behind his back against a gun pointed somewhere towards his gut.
Still, given the situation... The first thing you learned, living on the streets, was that nothing came for free. The second thing you learned was to listen to the guy with the gun. Third, pride only gets you killed.
Stuck between a rock and a hard place, Zach folded.
He liked breathing, after all, and walking away with just that was already more than he'd ever dared hope for. The hint at more was tempting, but he was definitely leery of it. What the hell could he possibly do that they would give him that much? He was supposed to have been shot by now, not offered a deal.
The foundations of his world were getting a tad shaky. Good thing the call had come, it gave him some time to readjust and pick up his jaw from the floor.
“So lemme get this straight. You’re not going to shoot me. You’re going to let me go.” The guy seemed about to interject, and Zach nodded, just daring enough again to roll his eyes. “Yeah, I get it, I help you do whatever the #%@# it is you want me to do in exchange. That’s it?”
A nod.
Zach narrowed his eyes. It couldn’t possibly be that easy.
“Where’s the catch?”
Lumi: they stand no chance against the JAG SAFETY BLANKET
Kayla ran as fast as her legs could carry her, a mask over her face. The baby in her arms wailed loudly, its face red. "Shh, it's okay, just... just shh!" She hissed, the men screaming behind her. With the baby tucked close, Kayla threw her seventeen-pretending to be twenty-year old body into a hole in a tree. The bottom fell out, and she dropped underground, sliding down a metal tube. The hatch closed above her, and she stumbled to her feet, falling into a man with gray, frazzled hair and spiral glasses.
He put his hands out, and Kayla smiled a silent goodbye to the baby, handing her over. "Her name's Amelia Hartt. Beautiful, isn't she. Both parents have black hair and blue eyes." The frazzled man smiled, patting the baby's back.
"She is... I'll get her an I.D made, and her name put into the system as soon as I can. The Hartts have a twenty year old, no?" Kayla nodded, smiled and pulling her mask off, and hood over her head.
"Twenty year old, Grey, fourteen year old, Luka, and now Amelia. Their first and only girl. Anyway, I have to go find some more kids, I'll be back tomorrow, maybe tonight." The old man nodded, walking over to his computer after laying Amelia in a crib.
"Thank you Kayla..." he smiled, Kayla nodding.
"My pleasure, goodbye." Without awaiting a reply, Kayla ran down a tunnel, and out into the open forest air, smiling widely. What a beautiful day it was! She stuffed her mask into her pocket, and started the jog she'd told the company she was going on.
After an hour or two of jogging wherever she could, Kayla stopped at the sight of a girl standing over a large hole in the ground. What the...
"Who are you?" The girl screamed, Kayla realizing that she wasn't talking to her.
Then... who?
Kayla, making up her mind, ran at the girl and threw a cloth over her mouth. The girl slumped, and Kayla looked into the hole, eyes wide. "D-do you all have I.D's?" She asked softly, her blonde hair falling in her worried face.
*Doctor and Amelia are both NPCs lol*
Oh, the tiger will love you. There is no sincerer love than the love of food. George Bernard Shaw
"For the third time, I do not have ID!" I screamed, fists clenched. "If I had the time and money, I could. But NO." I attempted to storm out of the clearing, but a shiny sopping hand stopped me. I growled and pressed the business end of my charge gun into his gut. "I'll shoot. Get out of my way or I will shoot."
"Water doesn't mix with electricity."
My mouth twitched into a smirk as he realized my plan. "Right. Which means it'll just hurt. A lot."
"Who's a smart boy? You are, you are!" I crooned, ruffling his hair and making baby faces. I snorted and folded my arms, rolling my shoulders back and rolling my eyes. "Seriously. Someone give the boy a cookie."
I thought I heard I chuckle, but I can't be sure.
I felt Repo's metallic tongue on my ear and I swatted her. "Not now, Repo, mama's busy." I said under my breath. This time it was a snicker and I shot a charge at the general area it had come from. Not hearing the familiar buzz, I frowned. "Aw, I missed."
This time there was definitely a chuckle.
hey, Jude, don't make it bad take a sad song and make it better remember to let it into your heart then you can start to make it better.
I lowered my gun. None of them have ID. Thank god! I don't think I'd be able to shot them all and not get hurt. But the one girl may be a little bit crazy. She shot into the midle of nowhere. "I don't have any ID either." I said to them all "Need help getting out?" I put my gun back into the black box and replaced it back into my belt.
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