“Everyone! Everyone remain calm!”

  A man in an orange work vest held his hands to the terrified crowd of people in Zone 3. “The Groundhogs will keep us safe but for now we can’t panic—”

  “Safe?” the old woman in the red scarf said, “We should be out there helping them!”

  “Yeah!” Another man agreed, “Can’t keep us cooped up here like this!”

  “Hey!” An old man crawling from a tent with a scraggly beard said. He jabbed a finger at the two, “Speak for yourselves, I ain’t trying to get killed! There are Red Collars out there!!”

  “Then maybe you don’t deserve to be here if you ain’t gonna fight!” the woman snapped.

  “I came here to get away from the fighting!” the man shot back, “And the government!”

  “Please, please, everyone!” the vested man said once again, “Fighting amongst ourselves serves no purpose beyond—”

  ‘BOOM!’

  The Zone quieted down, the anger and confusion quickly shifting to worry and anxiousness. In the quiet, the sound of squeaking became apparent. It grew and grew, until it sounded like a hissing faucet surrounded the Zone. The vested man and a couple others in vests went over to the door. The room then erupted again.

  “Oh shit, it’s Skinner!” someone yelled.

  “Him? Damnit who gave him the Lash?!” another voice demanded.

  The woman known as Dallah shook her head and kicked over a crate, stepping on top of it and facing the crowd. “You people can’t be serious! If The Groundhogs let Skinner loose, then the enemy doesn’t stand a chance!”

  “But Red Wednesday!” Someone said, “Even then so many were lost—and that was with one! Now there are—”

  “What, three?” the woman said, “Four, five, six, bring ‘em all! Haven’s stood tall among all obstacles despite everyone saying we were weak, arrogant, cocky! Well guess what? We proved them all wrong! We took out the Head Precinct, stopped the strongest Bodily division in the east coast, and stopped a freaking Red Collar for crying out loud! The Groundhogs never steered us wrong before and they sure as hell ain’t gonna do it again!”

  The room looked at the woman. Then, another man pumped his fist up.

  “Exactly!” he exclaimed, “What are we scared of? That Red’s dealin’ with the Groundhogs. They should be scared!”

  “Yeah!” someone else said.

  “Agreed!” Sally said, hugging her doll, “The Groundhog’s are gonna eat them for breakfast!”

  “I’m still a little scared—” someone said, before a bucket hit their head.

  The woman in the scarf began to clap, leading the others into a roaring applause of the room.

  “That’s what I like to hear!” the man in the leather jacket cheered. “Oh, by the way who’s Skinner again?”

  Stepping down off her crate, Dallah caught sight of the young man in a hat she spoke to earlier reading near the wall where a few sleeping bags were. Making her way over to him, she smiled, “How’re you holding up?”

  “I’m doing rather swell,” Shakar replied, closing his book, “Especially after that show stopping speech of yours.”

  “Oh that!” she laughed, “I just got passionate again is all. You know I can ramble sometimes when I’m feeling a certain way.”

  Shakar nodded. He checked the doorway where the vested people were, spying them talking amongst each other, exchanging concerned glances. “Dallah,” he said, “Based on your speech, I’m rather interested in knowing how Haven has lasted for so long, especially considering the circumstances.”

  She folded her arms and looked up, sighing. “Let me think…” she put her finger to her chin, pondering she shook her head, “It really comes down to luck.”

  Shakar blinked, “Eh—what?”

  “You heard me. We don’t need permission from no one to do what we gotta do! Abbas comes up with a crazy plan, and it works. Boom!”

  “No permission? Not even from your expanded network?”

  “Those spoil sports!” she said, “We’ve done fine without them and we’ll do even better after WE take out the Heptagon! Don’t you get it? This is our beginning!”

  “…At what cost?”

  She glanced to him, “Huh?”

  He glanced to the groups of people, huddled and either eating, talking, or trying to sleep through the occasional shake of the Zone. “That bread, the Groundwater, this shelter,” he spoke, “how much do you think it cost to keep this all going?”

  She gave a brief chuckle, “It ain’t cost nothing, hon, rather this place’s built off the many sacrifices of the Groundhogs.” She nudged him, “Goes to show how much their willing to do for us.”

  “I see,” he began, “though, if the Groundhogs are willing to do anything for the sake of this ‘peace’, then how can they have your best interests in mind?”

  If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

  “What?” She turned her full attention to him, her brow furrowed. “Where’d this all come from?”

  “A place of sincerity, I hope.”

  She looked surprised, her expression softening. “I mean…I guess—”

  “Everyone, everyone attention to the front!” the orange vested man said returning to the crowd with the others at his side. “I’ve confirmed that the earlier sound you heard earlier was near us and whatever it was—caved us in.”

  The crowd erupted in protest.

  “But, but!” he continued, holding his hands up to ease the audience, “Whatever is out there can’t get in here and vice versa. We’re just gonna have to sit and wait until the Groundhogs can deal with whoever’s out there.”

  Again, the crowd broke into talking again. The man got off the crate and waved over to Dallah, “Dallah, I need you and Mr. Citrus in the back to whip up some snacks for these folks. It’s gonna be a bit.”

  “I hear you.” The woman replied, following. She gave one last glance to Shakar, “I’ll get back to you on that ok? Take care of yourself now!”

  The young man watched her leave. He gave a slight nod in return.

  Xole lay on the ground near an injured Snap, ringing and rumbling of Anastasia and Skinner’s fight surrounded him, but was unable to even move. Then, a bright light pieced his eyes and he shot up—back in his backyard again.

  “No, no not now!” he said, looking around. He found Yesfir behind him trying to down an empty bottle of booze. He shot his finger at her, “Put me back right now!”

  “I cannot,” she said, sadly tossing the body over her shoulder and shrugging at him. “Remember what I told you about hyperarousal earlier?”

  “No—to be honest I forgot—but still!” he took a few quick breaths, shaking his head and slowing down. “Look, what am I supposed to do?”

  Yesfir looked at him, then, made her way over. Facing him, she slightly bent her knees and placed her hands up, one before the other, “It’s time you remember.”

  Looking at her, Xole let out a breath and nodded. He stood a few feet from her and mimicked her stance, “Alright, show me my Talent...”

  ‘He’s over compensating. Using too much of his arsenal for one target.’

  Anastasia thought as hundreds upon hundreds of rats filled the air, pelting in her direction as if she were in a hailstorm. She ran, jumped, and slid around the outskirts of the Zone, zig zagging towards the subway station. However, the steps came to life as a flood rats poured from the steps to cut her off. This time, her body abruptly stuttered, vanishing and appearing behind Skinner, gun aimed at the back of his head.

  ‘His rats are too far, now’s my chance.’

  The man spun his head back just as the woman fired into his head.

  ‘BLAM!’

  The redhead’s head recoiled back, blood spraying from his face. And then, something weird happened. His head came back up, a rat hanging from his mouth and within that rat’s mouth, another rat, filling his throat. The woman’s teeth gritted.

  ‘He used his rats to self-cannibalize within his own body?!’

  “Hats hot hery hice!” he said, brow creased, sounding upset with her.

  The woman jabbed her knife arm for his throat, watching his rodents shoot from the ground to returning to his side—but she was faster—her blade inches from his neck.

  But he was even faster, regurgitating what seemed like a barrage of dead rodents back in her face, catching her by surprise. She rammed her foot into his stomach and leaped back, hearing tons of rats smack into the ground where she’s been standing. Quickly tearing the bodies off her face, she saw the redheaded man himself burst through the geyser of rodents punching her defending knifed arm. Instantly, the rodents swarmed her arms, her sleeves already being chewed to pieces. She whipped her arm back and thrust her left forward—only to see she was holding the handle of her gun and nothing else but an armful of rats.

  “My friends,” the man announced proudly, “tonight we dine on the finest of Collard workers!” his excited grin reached her eyes, “Your body will be nothing in moments! That is if you aren’t already dead from the dozens of disease my friends and I all carry!” he tensed his arms, shooting them forward at her, “In fact how are you feeling?!!”

  “Tch!” she dodged pair off fast jabs from the man and curled her thumb over her fingers again.

  ‘FWOOOOM!’

  The rats blew off her arms and she jumped over the man, grabbing him by the shoulders and throwing him into one of the nearby traps, watching an explosion of rats before her. She checked the device on her wrist.

  ‘Safe. Good,’ keeping her eye on him, she reached for her back pouch, ‘we’re both immune to our ailments but his arsenal far exceeds mine,’ she eyed the wall behind her, ‘for now…’

  From the back, Trix’s mouth gaped, “Another mudra? That’s impossible!”

  Patchwork grunted, looking back to work on Snap’s body, “You’re right. The amount of enhanced diseases they carry alone should be enough to kill anything.” His hands stopped, his gaze becoming shaky, “And she’s not even Bodily talented...”

  “I doesn’t matter what sort of ‘immunity’ she possess,” Abbas said, back facing the two, “Skinner will be fine.”

  “Abbas,” Trix said “are you really…never mind. Rivers, we need to trust him.”

  The doctor shook his head, muttering to himself, “Look all the good that’s done.”

  ‘CRASH!’

  Anastasia bolted into one of the entry holes in the wall, hearing the screaming of the rodents hot on her tail. Skinner laughed, watching her disappear, “It won’t do you any good! My friends and I’ve studied this place for over thousand years!”

  “You’re twenty-seven!” Trix called out.

  Skinner eyed the dozens exit points around in Zone two, most of which were covered by the rubble of the fallen walkways, leaving only a few open, ‘Oh,’ he thought, ‘she must be dumb if she’s trying to out-maze a rat—especially mine.’

  The woman bust out the hole at his left side, that point—as well as the others—were quickly filled with a white clay material. The few rats surrounding Skinner shot him over to her. He readied his rat filled arm, and she brought right her hand to her opposing shoulder just as the covered holes burst—raining the countless ravenous rodents upon the two.

  ‘Now!’ they both thought simultaneously.

  ‘SPLURT!’

  An explosion of blood filled the air before the Groundhogs, their jaws open.

  Skinner’s arm and stomach were torn open in a mess of blood, and at the same time, his attacking rat’s exploded with the same clay-like substance bursting from their bodies. The woman on the other hand stood over him, flicking the blood from her fingers as he fell to his knees, coughing.

  “SKINNER!!!” Trix cried out.

  “Rivers!” Abbas said quickly, “Give him more Strip-Lash before—!”

  “Before what?” she asked, twisting her heel into Skinner’s stomach. She tossed a sneer to the three, “You’re all dead regardless.”

  Trix leaped at the woman but Abbas grabbed her back. The masked woman’s arms and legs thrashed in his hold. “Let me go!” she yelled.

  “She’s not mocking us, she’s warning us,” Abbas said, his gaze going to the Collard woman’s, “A rather foolish move for one who’s not yet won.”

  Ignoring him, she eyed the few remaining rats, who ran around him, squeaking mindlessly. She reached for her gun, “It appears you and you’re rats share the same useless mind, unfortunately.” she aimed it at his head. “You’re of no use to us.”

  “That’s…not even fair!” he said, voice becoming dazed and now weak, “My rats can eat like…anything!”

  “False,” she replied, “What they attempted to eat was Talent suppression clay. It expands when in contact with Inner-Gi and when your Gi-filled rats devoured it, the clay filled their bodies faster than they could digest.”

  “…Oh,” he said.

  ‘What a waste of Talent,’ she thought, pulling the trigger.

  “No!” Trix cried.

  ‘BLAM!’

  The bullet missed.

  The Groundhog’s looked on, awestricken at the sight of Xole’s back standing in between the two, his arms outstretched.

  Anastasia’s irritable gaze met his face. “You…”