Aasim climbed in through a passenger door of a minivan and took cover behind a concrete cylinder. He waited for some of the guards to walk away before motioning the other two to make their way in. Louis led Willy through the minivan and took cover behind the cylinder.
They nodded briefly and Aasim peered over their cover. Noone spotted for the boy before he ran towards a pillar next to some buildings. He was about to signal the others when a couple walked out of the building next to him. The doors blocking their view to him as he stood still and watched the two.
"Dude I'm telling you, there's no other place better than here." One of the men told their partner.
"I know man. It's just, I feel confined in this one space. And especially with quadsection D being locked down for the things stuck inside. I'm not sure this place will stay safe long enough." His partner replied back, a sigh coming from him as he flickered a piece of metal. Opening the top with his hands and sliding his hands down the cranks to start the fire and bring it up to the rolled paper in his mouth.
"Yeah well, sector D is for emergencies only. It's in our favor. Nothing will get out, that's why we have people guarding the place front to back." His buddy tried convincing the man again.
"Nah man." He takes a drag out of his cigarette and puffs a large cloud of smoke as he looks back to his friend. "I just don't like it here anymore. You should come with me, it'd be fun."
"There's a good thing going here. I'm not leaving that behind." The other guy says before turning back to the door and opening it. Not noticing the pair of eyes watching them behind the pillar.
"Hey man?" He says, looking back to the other as he sighs in defeat.
"What's up?" The other guy says after taking another drag of the smoke.
"Take care."
"You too." And the man closed the door behind him, leaving just the man with the smoke. He stayed there for a couple minutes until he dropped and stubbed out his cigarette. Then began walking towards the cars piled up in a wall. Causing the other two to sneak along the stone cylinder as the guy crawled through one of the crawl spaces and exited the compound.
"Guys! Come on!" Aasim whisper yelled. The other two rushing towards him and breathing with relief.
"Thay was a close one." Willy said.
"Looks like you still got your superpower of not being noticed." Louis jokes to Aasim. His eyes rolling and a grunt follows his face as he turns around.
"Follow me." He says as he begins walking towards a big building with some color stained glass and pictures of a man.
"Yo. That's a church." Louis said, as he pointed to the building Aasim was admiring. "This is what I was telling you about. The school for god."
"Louis, focus. We need to find where they keep their prisoners remember." Aasim reminds.
"Guys." Willy said but only to be ignored.
"I know, but we can make a pit stop. After all we only have this moment. Nothing in the future is guaranteed." Louis reminded Aasim for the hundredth time.
"I hate when you say shit like that." Aasim told him.
"Guys..." willy said again, not gaining his attention as he kept speaking.
"We have to stay focused. And your philosophy is going to get us killed." Aasim said. "So let's just go to their dungeon or whatever, get Clem and Vi, and leave so we can live another day."
"You'll be going into our 'dungeon' for sure." A cold stern woman's voice being heard. Aasim stopping cold in his tracks as he looked at Louis before peeking at the threatening woman. Willy looking frustrated towards the two other boys.
"Drop any weapons you have, cooperate or you might get hurt." She said and put her vision in line. She was a brunette with long hair and greenish eyes. Freckles dotted her face and a cold stare lingered onto the boys longer until Louis dropped his chair leg AKA Chairles.
"There doesn't have to be any trouble." Aasim said peacefully.
"Really? Because it looks like you three kids tried to break into our home and cause a lot of trouble." The woman said, pointing her AK47 at him fearfully.
"You took our people!" Willy said, stepping up and getting aimed at by the woman.
"I don't know what you're talking about. Kidnap? We don't do that." She said loosening her grip. "I don't prohibit that."
"Stop playing that game. You took our friends and we intend on rescuing them." Louis said.
"Or you can join them." She said before she positioned herself behind the trespassers and pushed Louis with her gun.
"Ow! Not so hard!" Louis whined.
"Shut it! Keep moving." The woman ordered and Louis listened.
"I don't even know your name. Mind if you tell us?" Louis asks, getting a surprisingly weak groan from the lady behind him. Loosening her grip and sighing softly.
"Just keep walking." She said before the older one stopped in his tracks.
"I'm Aasim." He introduced himself, "that's Louis and Willy." He pointed his friends out.
"And those kids that you guys found outside those gates. They had names too: Clementine, Violet, Gabe. So if you could just tell us where the girls are at..." Aasim continued, but stopped when he noticed the torn look on the woman's eyes. Her lips curving in a downward slope as she closed her eyes.
"Are you okay?" He asked her when she held her gun to her side. "Did I say something bad, I didn't mean to."
"No. You're okay, I just need a moment." She said and took a few deep breaths. "I need to take you three to quarantine, if you want to stay we have procedures."
"Stay? No, we just want our friends and get out of here. We want nothing to do with you psychos." Louis said to the woman as she looked back up at the three determined teens.
"Kate." She simply said.
"What?" Willy asked, as she obtained another glance from each of the teens.
"My name. Its Kate. My son, Gabe was with you guys for his final moments. How was he?" Kate said, shocked looks from the boys as they exchanged glances and Louis crossed his arms skeptically.
"Why should we believe anything you say. Your people killed your own son! The only reason I haven't killed you is because your the one with the gun." Louis told her, her stance changing.
"I didn't order that! I- did you see who killed him?" She asked.
"It was hard to tell. Some dude with no arm." Aasim said with a soft spoken voice.
"Fuck! Conrade told me he was out of line, I didn't know that he's the one that pulled the trigger." Kate said before a more dark, sinister look took hold of her.
The teens all took a moment of silence. Short lived through the older woman pushed through them and speed walked down the alley. The boys looked at each other, a look of relief coming of Louis before Aasim chased after her. Louis almost panicking before catching up to him.
"Aasim what're you doing." Louis asked terrified of the expectations of the woman turning around and killing them all in a heartbeat.
"She could be our ticket to Violet and Clem. I'll tell you what, you take Willy and search for them on your own and I'll follow her." Aasim told him.
"No way. I don't trust her." Louis said.
"Dude, she just lost her son. Besides, shes not mad at us, she's mad at whoever killed Gabe." Aasim told him.
"Still, I'm not gonna leave you." Louis said, winning the short argument as them and Willy followed the angry woman to wherever she was going.
They walked among graveyards and playgrounds and sand lots. There were apartments, houses and clinics. The building of Christ was still able to be seen as the cross shined through the little town. The townspeople kept staring at them as they walked along a dirt path. There was a town's square with a stage and water fountain.
They found themselves walking to the side of a big building marked with a big symbol that looked kind of like the number 76.
Kate opened up a bunker door beside the building. Like the one they had at the school. She walked in and the other three joined her as they walked down some stairs. Looping around a corner until they reached a door. Kate also opened this one and walked into a room with shower heads and lockers.
There was someone in there. He looked up and saw the woman that stared back at him with the weapon clenched in her hands. His stare was weak and terrified as he met her eyes. He also had a missing arm and his eye was swollen.
"Please! I'm sorry. You have a code. I-I didn't know who it was." The man said and before the gun was raised to his head.
"You killed my son! You deserve to die for your actions." She said before Aasim grabbed the gun and looked at her. Her angered tone submerging into emptiness as she realized what she was doing.
"I knew you couldn't do it. Just like Conrade couldn't kill me." He said and Aasim brought her to the side.
"Let him be. He just wants you to end his suffering." Aasim told her while she was at a troubled state.
"What do you thing I should do to him?" Kate asked, feeling powerless.
Aasim thought for a little bit before snapping his fingers. "Forced labor." He said and the idea lingered for a while as Kate soaked in the decision the younger boy made.
"Well, that does sound good and beneficial." Kate said and looked back at the man sitting on the floor with a scared glare.
"Don't forget I killed your son!" He said panic in his voice. "Punishment must be equal to crime, you said it yourself."
"No." Kate said, shutting the guy up as he sat there in solemn. "I'm going to make your life a living hell you're going to wish you were dead. But you won't be, you'll be working for me."
And with the sentence set in motion, Kate left and led the boys out of the door. Closing it as Louis walked through and locking it tight. The man inside screaming madness and slurs it was hard to understand if he was trying to say actual words.
As they made their way up the stairs to the floor door. They exited and basked in the fresh air. Aasim looked at Louis as they got their things back from the woman.
"Thanks, for helping me keep my cool in there." Kate said, Aasim nodding in response. "If you hadn't, I would've killed him and I would've been lost."
"Who is he anyway?" Louis asked, leaning on the brick wall of the building they stood near.
"His name was Nadir. He was a watchman. He was supposed to keep us safe from anything coming in or out of Richmond. He used to be a friend of Javi's and Conrades." She explained and got nods of understanding from the three kids and her face changed.
"Here." She said reaching into her pockets, pulling out green circle stickers. "Stamp those on your shirts. It'll let people know that your friendly. So that no one can get the wrong idea." She said before handing one to each of them and walking off.
"That was some crazy shit." Louis said followed by a nod from Aasim.
"Let's just focus on finding Clem and Vi. If that place the guy's at is a prison then they might be wandering the gates freely." Aasim said.
"Why wouldn't Violet have left to come back home then?" Willy asked, Aasim shrugging as he put the sticky side of the paper and placed it on his long sleeved shirt. Louis and Willy doing the same thing.
"Let's just go where there's a lot of people and start from there." Aasim said and Louis stepped forward.
"I think I saw a pretty packed cafeteria while we were walking over this way." He said, "follow me."
"I guess we are citizens of this community now. Might as well use that to our advantage." Willy said and followed Louis. Aasim wondering how their mission worked out so much better than it did in his head. But shrugged it off as he followed his friend to where there was supposedly a cafeteria.