The city's power was running out, and quickly. The buildings which were once bright thanks to its artificial lighting, and the streetlights which once shone the streets in the dark were flickering and others were fully off. The lights were not all on in the buildings, making it hard to tell if the power was out or was still running. The homes, the streetlights, and some buildings like stores helped the group identify the power.
4178 looked at a candy store, empty from all the sweets except the black licorice, had its light flicker a few times and then go out. No darkness fell on it thanks to the bright sun of near spring. "Powers going out..."
The message traveled from 4178 all the way to 206 who stood twenty something people away from him. His head turned as he inspected the buildings, "With no power the Devins will be forced to go back to work. The riot may end because of this."
"And if it doesn't?" Asked one of the five assigned leaders of the raid.
"My plan will still work. I will take control, but the situation of the riot will be taken care of by the nature of Devins to survive and thrive." His ingenious plan causing a cold smile to appear.
3007 watched their surroundings, 4178, and the kid. Multitasking to keep everyone safe, they were able to spot movement from an alleyway. They stared at the darkness caused by the shadows of the buildings all around and inspected it with strain in their eyes. No movement but a shape resembling a Devin was outlined. "There's someone there!" 3007 whispered to 4178 and made sure not to point at the area but instead eyed it intensely.
4178 froze and corrected himself quickly, forcing himself to walk at his normal pace. His head turning ever so slightly to the left and his eyes side-eyeing the alley, he spotted the figure. 'Who is that?' Wondering if this was a dangerous person, he warned 206 by spreading the message until it arrived to him. The message spread quick and the message from 206 arrived even quicker. He wanted them to stand guard but not to cause any attention or confront the person. It could be someone looking for supplies, and if they were dangerous, there were twenty-two people to protect each other's lives.
3007 let go of 1663's hand and wrapped their arm around his shoulder, bringing him close to their side. No one would harm this boy, 3007 assured themselves, feeling as if they were the only one threatened by this figure.
They all walked passed the alley and out of view, feeling relief once more that no one attacked, 206 reminded them that they could come back and that others could be lurking. And sure enough, he was correct. Because a few minutes passed of peaceful walking when a group of ten Devins appeared from the shadows and obvious spots where the sun shone on them, exposing them to the world. They were all tall, skinny, yet muscular. With weapons creatively designed just like 206's gang, they felt more threatening than the group of twenty-two. They had created bows and arrows from wood, obsidian, and jasper.
3007 noticed this and was both terrified and confused. Terrified because of how sharp obsidian and jasper were if sharpened and used correctly. Confused because they had no idea where they found those minerals. Mined out to extinction and all destroyed, making it illegal to own any, 3007 was baffled how they still had them. Where had they been hiding them if not destroyed. And why had the council not found out about this crime; information withheld from authorities would be celebrated and rumored.
No one else seemed to notice what the weapons were made of; maybe no one knew what those weapons were made of. Nevertheless, weapons could kill them, and they all became tense as they drew their weapons closer to them. 206 looked around and tried to find the leader of the group, wanting to talk it out with them.
1663 hugged 3007 tightly causing 4178 to push them both inside the group to be protected. Making sure not to leave himself unprotected, he squeezed himself inside and prepared his weapon.
There was going to be no talking; someone who surrounded them threw the spear as hard as throwing a baseball and it hit someone in the upper chest, close to the heart. No one was prepared so no one reacted quick enough to avoid the flying spear. 206 yelled for a separation and to fight with groups of two or more. With the Devins yelling and running towards the others, it left the three uncovered.
"Shit..." 4178 whispered in exasperation. He looked around for any flying spears, but all of the people were busy fighting in close combat to be able to throw anything. "How do we fight while protecting 1663?"
3007 got on the ground and instructed 1663 to get on their back and hold on tight as would a baby monkey with its mother. They stood up, being able to lift this eighty-pound boy as their max for lifting was reaching two hundred. "Hold on tight and don't let go!" They barked as they watched 4178 cover their and 1663's back at the same time. "Don't fight unless we need to?"
4178 nodded and remembered 3007 couldn't see it, "Mhm!"
They all watched the fight as one Devin got injured from their team, on the other team however they were losing. Those weapons were nothing if they couldn't use them. 3007 chuckled, 'Inexperienced but still can't slash the spears around?!'
Two Devins from their team fell dead or dying, a team, and the winner from the opposite team spotted the two defenseless Devins holding up a small boy. An easy win, he thought as he approached them. Spear in hand ready to throw it.
3007 saw this and clutched their spear which would be less affective as minerals used for this weapon. They ran towards the Devin and before she was able to throw it, 3007 held the spear from the wooden part and kicked as hard as they could towards the Devins arms. Grunting and kicking, the spear was let go and 3007 dropped their old one and held the new one.
4178 was not far behind, as 3007 was able to loosen the spear from the Devin's grasp, he bashed the nun chucks into the Devins head. Over and over, a wound opened, and blood spilled. 3007 drove the spear into the center-left part of the chest, piercing the heart and killing the Devin a few seconds after. 1663 had his face covered by 3007's thick long hair that he saw nothing and only heard.
3007 sighed in relief and picked up their spear. They could not use the other Devin's spear because of the chipped jasper that occurred when they managed to break her ribs and pierce her heart.
The other people finished fighting, six dead from the other team, four retreated, and three Devins from their team dead. 206 saw this bloody mess and the bodies, "Great fighting. Let's keep moving. No time to pay respects."
3007 dropped 1663 and they three walked together again, this time in the middle of the group. Making sure to be completely protected for if this were to happen again.
The sewers warehouse was almost completely dark, only two lights were working, the others dead from the lack of power. The two lights were dimmed and flickered rapidly. Everyone knew that in just a few minutes, power to the whole planet would be dead and darkness in buildings and homes would ensue.
206 guided them all inside, being careful to scan the warehouse for anyone that could potentially be dangerous.
"The people who attacked us a while back..." 3007 began to tell 4178 as they scanned the room for anyone just like 206 was doing. "The spears they had were made of this extinct mineral that only exists in textbooks and pictures."
206 opened the fifth manhole from the entrance and looked inside the dark tunnel. The lights flickered rapidly and burned out. Now with no light, they relied solely on the sun. Everyone looked around the room as if this was an unexpected surprise that hit them. "Please remember about our flashlights our leaders and myself have. We will not be disrupted by darkness." He turned on the flashlight and pointed it inside the manhole, spotting a ladder on the wall. Smiling, he descended to the feces and urine filled water that laid still by the lack of power. A few waves which slowly drifted away by the lack of power meant the water would no longer move and be cleaned.
4178 turned to look at 3007, "What do you mean?"
"The minerals were all dug out of Devin and burned. So, if they used it for their spears, where did they get those minerals?"
The group was descending into the sewers and soon it would be their turn. 4178 fell silent and just thought about it for a few seconds. "Could someone have hidden it?" He grabbed 1663's hand and helped him get down with the help of 3007 who was already down.
Looking at the slush, they tried to ignore the fact that it was Devin waste. They felt their stomach gurgle and a gag wanting to escape. "Hurry up! I can't be here for long."
Someone heard this from 3007 and responded, "The sewers are a mile long before reaching the Dana. Get used to it and quick; we'll be here for a good while."
3007 inhaled sharply and whined.
1663 was being held on by the torso by 3007 and after they released him, he stopped moving. "I don't want to walk in the poop." He held onto the ladder tightly and looked at the water; barely visible thanks to the darkness; in disgust, he refused to move.
3007 sighed, "Oh my Devincy. Alright, alright, I'll carry you on my back." They grabbed 1663 as he cheered and helped him get on their back just like an hour ago when they were fighting the other Devins.
4178 made his way down and with a splash that grossed out 3007, landed in the water. "So queasy and for what? This is normal."
They took out a cigarette and lit it up, taking a deep inhaling before responding, "I'll throw the child at you."
1663 laughed and tightened his grip on 3007. "What are you doing?"
They began walking to catch up to the group just a few steps ahead of them. "Taking my medicine."
"Why?"
"Because I need it to calm my emotions down."
He was silent for a few seconds, "My parents say it's good too cry and be angry and shout."
"It is good. But... too much crying or being too angry... it can hurt you and others. I need my medicine to be nice to others." 3007 bit their lip to stop themselves from crying.
3007 was assigned to do group work with three other people for a group of four. They weren't smart to understand this group assignment; math was especially not their strongest subject. But they still wanted to do the work and contribute to their team. Reading the directions and looking at the many right triangles, 3007 understood that it was about trigonometry functions. "Okay... so... I'll make the artistic paper where the triangles are going to go. Does someone want to do the math problems?" Taking leadership came easy to 3007 and being artistic was their strongest point. They may not understand how to solve SOH-CAH-TOA, nor understand what it meant, but they did know they'd make an amazing paper for the problems to go in.
Everyone stared at anything but them and ignored them.
3007 felt awkward but would not yet give up on trying to get someone to talk to them. "Can anyone solve these correctly? Does anyone understand this?"
Someone in their group stared at them for a second but didn't say anything. Everyone else did the same, ignored the questions.
They became angered by this disrespectful ignorance the group was doing to them. They sighed angrily and loud enough for them all to hear and worked on the project themselves. After a few minutes of sketching some ideas on how they would design the work they handed the triangles and paper with instructions to some random person in the group. They hoped this would lead them to read it and start on something.
The person never touched the paper and realizing this, 3007 became infuriated. "Can you guys do the fucking work? I'm the only doing this and I don't know shit!" They grabbed the shared pencil box in the middle and threw it straight and the Devin's head who had the paper handed to them.
The Devin yelped in pain and stared at 3007.
The whole class became dead silent and stared at the group. The teacher stood up and walked over to 3007.
Their anger was still taking over all their emotions and thoughts that they didn't process when the teacher began screaming at them to explain what was going on and directing them to the principal's office. Without thinking, they stood up and stormed out of the class, shouting, "Fine. They're all a bunch of dumbasses anyways."
The pencil box was made of a material only found in Devin planet, sturdy and not able to break easy. The box managed to burst veins in the Devin's temple that he began to internally bleed slightly. Pain ran through their body and all they could do was put pressure on their head as they headed to the nurse's office.
The teacher, Mrs. 479, called the principal and the parents of 3007 and their victim. 3007 was suspended for a week and grounded for the whole school year, while the Devin was comforted and told it would never happen again.
3007 hadn't yet realized how bad these emotions were affecting themselves and others. It would take their parents constant bullying of how dumb they were and dropping out of high school for them to realize this was not normal and a problem.
4178 assured 1663 that emotions were normal and there was no shame in experiencing them.
3007 with the help of their cigarette, forgot about the fact they were walking in feces. They began to think about all the times different emotions affected them over their childhood. As the Blue Flower took affect, the emotions they felt with those memories stopped being so loud and they were able to focus on the sloshing of the water. "This is disgusting," they gagged and looked at the wall.
"It's alright, just keep talking to me and you'll forget all about it."
Half an hour passed of the group walking and trying to desperately forget about the sewage water and what it contained.
206 stared at the drain that led straight to the bathroom, silently, trying to hear any outside commotion. After a few seconds of nothing except the anxious breathing of his team, he asked someone to hoist him up so he could work on opening the drain. Two of the group leaders after him, got on their knees and helped him climbed up to their shoulders. He balanced himself on them and with his spear and all the strength he had, he broke and lifted the drain open and climbed out. Turning on the sink and shower in the president's bathroom, he cleaned the sewage water and Devin waste from his shoes and pants.
Everyone went up as well, helping one another to climb out. 3007 lifted 1663 high up in the air and 4178 who had already gone out, hoisted him up and onto the floor. Relieved that this walk was now over, they jumped, grabbed onto 4178 and another Devin, and was pulled up. They gagged seeing their pants and shoes in the bright light fixture, then, got in the shower to rinse.
4178 looked at the shining bright light that caused tears to crawl out. "Backup generator is on... Didn't know one existed."
206 scoffed in disgust, "It better be the whole world and not just these selfish assholes."
Ignoring his comment, 4178 grabbed 1663's hand, "I want him and 3007 on my team."
"One more person, we go in teams of four."
He shook his head, watching 3007 turn off the faucet and come out with a bright smile. "There's nineteen of us alive. We can have a group of three."
"No leader?!" He pondered, "Fine. You both do have blood on your hands. Guess you can handle yourselves." Turning to everyone else he explained that each leader would join a group of three. The group would choose their three teammates but not their leader. "Remember the plan. Kill anyone you see and sedate the council. Find the artillery room and once you do, find the others. We grab the guns, bullets, and anything else they have in there and we go back."
Everyone nodded in unison. Some, and all the leaders, smiled excited, others looked around nervously and desperate for a way of escape. 3007 and 4178 nodded with a smile to not rise any suspicions of having an escape plan.
206 smiled and with a nod, left the room, spear in hand and ready to strike, along with his chosen three people. Everyone else built their groups and the three left the room before they could be seen by anyone else on what direction they took.
They were in the president's room which connected to a hallway filled with other doors which, 4178 figured, led to the other council's bedrooms. The doors had a finger scanner on the side, where only that council member assigned to that room could enter.
3007 walked ahead, spear in their right hand at rest but still, they had a tight grip if they needed to use it. "When we find someone, we explain to them that we are being held hostage and forced to raid Dana. Quickly, we explain we need to speak to the council because of how dangerous the raid could be."
"Think anyone is in the rooms?" 4178 nodded and pointed at one of the five doors.
3007 shook their head, "It's the afternoon, they lost control of the world, and the president is dead. I don't think anyone is getting a few hours of rest."
And they seemed to right, because of all the commotion the raiders were causing, no one exited from their rooms to see what it was. Though the raiders were loud enough for the rooms to hear, everywhere else it was dead silent. So, no one knew the raiders had entered, not until they accidentally bump into one another.
They walked down the hall, and cautiously looked around the living room. All rooms were now connected, no hallway separated them, only a wall and opened doorway. The living room was all red, except the beige couches, black coffee table, multiple paintings of the past presidents and the most current, and drawers with fake flowers and statues.
1663 looked around with excitement, "So cool! Can I watch television here?" He searched for what he thought would a large screen like in the theatres but found that there was nothing for entertainment except a checkers table.
"The president loved checkers," 4178 pointed at the checkers which were laid out as if there were a game playing. He went over to inspect it further and out of the corner of his eye, in the red wood, which was shaped like tile with intricate designs, he saw dried blood. With a dropped jaw, he looked at 3007 and back at the blood. "Why is there blood here?" The blood was stuffed in the cracks of the flower and vine designs.
3007 pushed 1663 to the side and went up to the blood, "They must have not cleaned it well enough. Do you think the president died here?" They stood up and refused to touch it, "Should we keep going? Nothing is going to be solved by staring at the leftover blood of the former president."
4178 stood up and cleaned his hands on his pants. They moved on, walking to the next room, a movie theatre. Now, 1663 was excited. He gasped and began running around the room, chanting that he wanted to watch a movie.
3007 felt their heart drop, "Calm down. You're being loud and it might get us in trouble."
4178 looked around, his eyes scanning every inch of the rooms, "Would it not be so bad if we were caught? We can find the council easier that way."
1663 sat on the comfy couch and clicked buttons on a controller. He found the menu of snack items found in a regular movie theatre. Without 3007 or 4178 realizing, he ordered popcorn, a soda, and candy. Then, began searching for a movie he could watch.
4178 sat down on the couch and awed in comfort, "Sit down, it's so expensively comforting."
"Rich? Yeah, they are the council." 3007 shook their head, "I'm good." Their heart began racing and they paced the room to see any movement. "Let's get out of here!"
Someone walked down the next room, the arcade room. Their pacing was loud, fast, and multiplied every second. 3007 heard this coming and froze, so did 4178 and he grabbed 1663 by the arm. They neared the door and saw the raiders running over to them. Narrowly avoiding 3007, the wind startled them, and they ran towards 4178. "What's happening?" They asked and got their answer a split second later.
Three guards walked inside, guns pointed at them and threatening for everyone to put their weapons down, otherwise they'd shoot.
4178 and 3007 tossed their weapons on the floor and 4178 grabbed 1663's, sliding it towards the guards. They all three put their hands up.
The other raiders didn't and one of them used a slingshot to shoot a pebble straight to the guards. It hit one in the chest and caused internal bleeding, enough to cause a bruise but nothing else. With the first shot taken, it let the guards know they were dangerous and could use all the force necessary. They took out tasers and bats, not wanting to use their guns just yet. One of them, shot the slingshot wielder with the taser gun. She screamed and fell to the ground, losing all control of her muscles.
The others also took the guards as dangerous and swung their weapons at them. One had a metal dipping pen, another a bat, and the leader of the group held a sharpened picket fence stick. They ran towards the guards and the pen holder tried stabbing the one on the right but was brought down by a hit to the head by his bat. The one holding the bat was tased with the gun and fell on his face, breaking his nose, and blood rushed down his nose onto the clean light gray carpet. Finally, the leader, he was able to stab one of them in the side of his torso. Yelping in pain, he tried taking out his gun to shoot him but was unable to by the deepened wound that the leader inflicted on him.
The other guard saw this, and they brought their pistol out and quickly shot the leader in the head. The bullet went through his skull, brain, and out into the wall where it landed. Brain matter and blood spilled out, causing blood spatter on the nearest wall, floor, and some on the ceiling. He fell down, dead.
1663 had their eyes covered by 4178 who held him tightly on his chest and covered his ears the best he could. "Don't look, alright? Don't look." He repeated until the body dropped. He still blocked his vision, making sure that the child would not be scarred for life.
Now, them three were the only ones left. Staring at the injured guard who stumbled his way outside to find backup, and the other guard left, pointing their gun at 3007, 3007 put their hands up. Closing their eyes, they pleaded, "Please don't shoot. We come here in peace. We put our weapons down and we don't want to fight. We're hostages, please help us."
1663 cried and hugged 4178 tightly. 4178 looked at the guard, glossy eyes that pleaded the same thing.
The guard stared at them and after a while, they put their gun down. "Kick your weapons towards me. And tell me why you are hostages and not like them." They stared at the leader who had a bullet hole in his head. In disgust, they looked back at the three and watched them kick their weapons towards them; cautious in every movement they took, the guard saw no threat in them. It looked to them that the three were really hostages who meant no harm but were here instead to find an escape.