He awoke to an unfamiliar sight.

  Looking around him was nothing but the world of white, everything and nothing being in perfect harmony.

  In some twisted fate, he can move his head, arms, and body, as he puts his hand on his chest to look up at the white nothingness.

  (???’s thoughts) Is this a dream?

  Getting up rapidly, his feet settled on the solid white floor that was nothing, feeling the presence of white marble but it wasn’t there. With his eyes seeing nothing but white, it made his breath hotter and raspy, and his body started to quake under the sudden sight.

  With nothing, why is he here?

  (???) Hello! Anyone! Is anyone here?!

  Cupping his hands between his mouth, the young man shouted throughout the world of white, his voice reaching the endless horizon. With nothing beyond the human’s horizon, the young man continued to quake his body more as the mounting pressure of despair mounted on him.

  (???’s thoughts) This is just a dream, right? Usually, if I get too scared, I’ll just wake up and forget about it right after breakfast.

  His way of getting out of this dream-like world was to move forward. Lunging his right foot forward, the young man forced his body to move out of his terrified state, not looking back as he kept his face forward.

  (???) Live…

  Stopping in his tracks, he slowly turned his head towards the ungodly individual who was a couple of feet away from him. Angling his hands, his body quaked even more as whatever was in the back of him—

  (???) Mom?

  Seeing the dark brown-haired woman behind him, the young man took a couple of steps back, tears building up in his eyes as he remembered that silicon face. Putting his arms down, he slowly moved his body toward the woman he called Mom—

  A finger gently tapped against the man’s right shoulder.

  (???) What the?

  Quickly turning his head, he saw a figure tched in white fur and bunny ears. The young man widened his eyes as his jaw slightly opened.

  (???) Ryan?

  Nearing the bunny-human was another beast human. With this beast human having a long neck and horse ears, the young man put his hand to his chin, trying to remember the name that was given to him…

  (???) Wait … who are you…?

  Taking another couple of steps back, his eyes slowly started to shut himself up. As his face started to turn pale, the young boy then bumped into another figure.

  (???) Eep!

  Jumping up out of shock, his back let out a small cold shiver.

  He turned his body again to see a girl with green eyes, a girl taller than most girls. Not taking his eyes off of her, the young man’s eyes started to tear as the faces of the past continued to stare at him, their eyes glued to the young man’s face.

  He quickly fell to the ground, his bottom hitting the white of nothingness as he put his hands to his ears.

  (???’s thoughts) Please wake me up! Please wake me up! Please wake me up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Don’t make me remember! Don’t make me remember! Don’t make me remember! Don’t—

  (???) Get up, Luke.

  Hearing a familiar voice, the young man named Luke lifted his head, his hands still wedged in his ears. As his eyes slowly gazed at two other individuals, Luke’s eyes began to water as he could recognize those two figures from anywhere.

  A woman and a man looked down at him, their faces all too familiar to him as a single tear rolled down his right cheek. Forcing his body to stand up, the woman in front of him walked a couple of steps towards him, putting her hands on Luke’s shoulders.

  (???) No matter what, never give up.

  The world then started to shimmer into nothing, the white of nothingness turning into the nothing of nothingness.

  (???) Because in the end, you’ll be a burning—

  Luke fell into nothing.

  ______________________________________________________________________________

  (Quintiles 29, 59 / 8:02AM)

  (Gwen) Wake up, sleepyhead!

  His body resigned to the comfort of the bed. Gwen, a dark-haired girl with freckles, continued to tug him, her smooth yet stitched hands touching the shoulders of the sleeping man.

  (Gwen) Hey, come on. Breakfast is ready. Just wake up, please?

  As Luke continued to soce in the comfort of his bed, Gwen stood up and immediately headed towards the front of his bed, her boots creaking the wooden floorboards of the old building. Rubbing her hands rapidly, a form of electricity and sparks came out of it, the sparks somewhat brightening the darkness of the dimly lit room.

  Holding a rge amount of friction in her hands, she moved her way towards Luke’s shirt, slowly pulling it up as his chest was bare right in front of her.

  (Gwen’s thoughts) Man, talk about a change from six years ago.

  Despite being skinny, his chest was somewhat well formed, his pectoral muscles not that muscur but it was clear that it had some meat. Moving her eyes towards his abs, Luke’s abs were much well defined, a small six-pack that was ever-present.

  (Gwen’s thoughts) I thought he was just a twig, but I guess this twig has some meat on him.

  Rubbing her pointer fingers and thumbs rapidly, it created another barrage of sparks that lit up the room. Bending down to give Luke the best purple nurple, Gwen gave off a cheeky and devilish grin once her fingers were wrapping around Luke’s nipples.

  Holding them firmly, Gwen then made sure her feet were on the ground steadily.

  (Gwen) Clear!

  Just as she was about to turn her fingers, the door to Luke’s room busted wide open.

  (Luna) Hey Luke! Get your ass up!

  Another woman figure, a tanned beauty with short dark hair and a curvy body, saw the sight unfold, her eyes widening as her fists started to tighten.

  Instantly, Gwen stood up, flinching backward as she rapidly got away from Luke. Unfortunately, her fingers were tightened around Luke’s nipples…

  (Luke) AH!

  Springing his whole body up from the pain, Luke rapidly moved his head forward to collide with Gwen’s stomach. Gwen then clenched her eyes, as if a brick was thrown at her, causing her to let go of Luke’s nipples.

  Luke felt a surge of electricity throughout his whole body, the pain ticking every nerve and cranny. His body shook with vigor, followed by his legs quivering and his arms shaking as he put his hands on his chest.

  Controlling himself, he wrapped a bnket onto his body, his eyes clenched shut as his front and bottom teeth ground with one another.

  (Gwen) Oh, shoot, hehe … sorry.

  (Luke) Why did you do that?!

  (Gwen) Bme Luna! I was just going to give you a slight purple nurple, but Luna scared the bejeebers out of me!

  (Luna) What the hell is going on!? And why are you here with Luke alone?!

  Luke pouted hard as his face turned bright red, the pain still ever present as his legs shook gently. Continuing to stare at Gwen with his sharpened eyes, Gwen rubbed the back of her head with her right hand.

  (Gwen) Sorry, I was just trying to get you up Luke, so no hard feelings. For you Luna, I wanted to wake him up the hard way that’s all.

  (Luna) I already told you I was going to wake him up!

  Luna unfolded her arms as she took a couple of steps into the room, her eyes glued to Luke’s sultry pout. Clenching her fists, her body started to gently shake, her arm muscles slightly sharpening as she then moved her gnce toward Gwen’s freckled face.

  Gwen, who still had her right hand rubbing her head, put it back down as she pced her hands into her pockets, tilting her head to the right.

  (Gwen) But you have the worst wake-up calls out of all of us? Especially towards me and Hope out of all people.

  (Luke) I kind of prefer Luna in terms of waking up. At least she doesn’t molest me.

  (Gwen) That’s because Luna gives you special treatment. With the rest of us, she drags us by the hair or ears! You get to be carried by her bridal style!

  Luna’s face turned a bright red, her mouth gaping open as her body tightened with anger.

  (Luna) Shut up! Out of everyone, he gives me donuts! Of course, I give him special treatment!

  (Gwen) Hmm … is there something else besides donuts—

  (Luna) Get out!

  Positioning herself in a fighting stance, Luna put her fists up, her eyes gring at Gwen, who then stood up and put her hands in the air.

  (Gwen) Ok, ok. You don’t have to fight me… but as Jack says, you should be more honest you know?

  (Luna) Shut up!

  (David) Hey you three, Boris wants all of us back in the breakfast room now. He wants to hold a meeting after breakfast regarding the blood eagles.

  A man cd in all bck with a brown cowboy hat stood in the doorframe of Luke’s room. Seeing that Luna was in defensive mode, David inhaled and exhaled slowly as he put his hands in his pockets.

  (David) Luna, calm down. Let’s just get breakfast.

  (Luna) Shut up, old man! You can’t tell me what to do!

  (David) What did you just call me?

  David walked slowly into Luke’s room, his eyes neutral and calm as he slouched. Seeing that David was slowly approaching her, Luna then put her fists down, her hands shaking as her fists were open and not loose.

  Taking a couple of steps back, Luna had a bead of sweat drip down from her forehead. As David towered over, his face was soullessly gring at her, yet his body was rexed and calm.

  (David) Did you just call me old man?

  Luna then let off a little sly smirk, despite her forehead having more droplets of cold sweat. Putting her hands on her hips, she positioned her body so that she looked like she was making a taunting stance.

  (Luna) Y-yeah. What are you going to do about it? Y-you know that you have a soft spot for me, so you’re not going to do anything bad to me—

  In a fsh, David grabbed Luna’s right ear, his fingers having a tight grip on it. Pulling her body towards him, her head bent downward to look at the floor.

  Luna, her ear aching in pain, used her right hand to get a grip on David’s hand that gripped her ear. Using her fingertips, she tried using her immense strength to loosen the grip on David, but David didn’t budge. David started to tighten the grip on her ear.

  (Luna) Ow, ow, ow! Dammit, you geyser—ow, ow!

  With Luna now being subjected by David, he turned towards Gwen and Luke, his eyes now nonchant. Luna started to throw hard fists at his stomach, the fists seeming as if they could knock out a mammoth. David however, did not pay heed.

  (David) Gwen, stop picking on Luna, you know how she is even though her temper has gotten better throughout the years.

  (Gwen) Aww, you know I tease everyone equally~

  (David) And Luke, make sure you get dressed because it’s going to be a long day.

  ______________________________________________________________________________

  (Quintiles 29, 59 / 8:25AM)

  (Jack) Oh, look who decided to sleep in te?

  (Luke) I’m not like you Jack.

  Long ago, the breakfast and lunch room looked more like a typical boot camp or school cafeteria, with most of the tables being wooden with the floor being stone.

  Now, it took on the appearance of a big house kitchen, with three tables, two stoves, two refrigerators, and many barstools. In terms of appearance, it was more colorful since the walls were painted.

  Despite behind the scenes dark angels and the frontline ones being completely different, there were no rules that determined they should sit at different tables.

  Many of the members decided to merge two tables, leading to one super mega table next to a small one.

  (Stan) Yo, drink orange juice man. You’ll lose your teeth by the time you’re 30.

  (Miles) Then what about the amount of fat and grease your omelet has? That thing will give a mammoth a heart attack.

  (Gary) You guys have really bad eating habits…

  (Diego) Says the person who only eats junk food.

  (Gary) Hey, I love my junk food.

  (Luna) That’s why you’re a fatass.

  (Gary) I’m not fat! I’m big-boned!

  (Luke) Jack, why are you putting so much syrup on your pancakes?

  (Jack) Because I like syrup bro. Hold on a minute, why do you have mustard on your bacon?

  (Luke) Because mustard is good for you.

  (Jack) pfft … that’s a really funny joke. You know, you should be a comedian.

  (Luna) You should shut up.

  (Jack) sigh … always to the rescue huh?

  On the other table, it was just four adults, casually eating their food despite the nosiness of the other table. David, Jerry, and to an extent, Jenny were fine with the overall vibe that everyone had at the mega table, but with Boris clenching his fork tightly, and his chubby right hand started to shake violently as he eyed the rest of them. David, who noticed that Boris was on the verge of exploding, csped his hands as he looked at him.

  (David) Don’t worry Boris, let them be. For punishment, you could just have them clean the entire building like always.

  (Boris) Do you understand David? They’re adults! Soldiers! Why do they act like little kids?!

  (Jerry) Are you honestly asking that question?

  For a moment, Boris felt a pang of guilt.

  (Boris) Jerry, I’m aware they’ve gone through some tough times, but they do this every day!

  The noise of the candidates grew louder, leading to Boris holding his fork even more tightly as he began to sharpen his gre towards the rest of his soldiers.

  (Boris’s thoughts) They’re just young adults. They’re just young adults.

  Something smacked Jenny in the face.

  (Loraine) hehe.

  Everyone stopped to see that Loraine threw an omelet at Jenny’s face, everyone looking towards Loraine’s goofy face as she stood up in her seat. With everyone seeing the weird face Loraine made, all the candidates on the table started to shake a bit.

  Not by anger or frustration, but…

  By ughter.

  Laughter filled the colorful room, with members like Benn and Luna ughing at the seriousness of the event taking pce.

  Hope and Luke, who despite wanting to help out Jenny, didn’t want to be seen as the party poopers of the group. Because of this, they kept themselves silent.

  Even David was holding back, shaking extremely hard as his mouth puffed up like a chipmunk. Boris and Jerry, the only two who didn’t find it funny, stood up and turned towards Jenny who let the omelet on her face stay there.

  (Boris’s thoughts) That damn brat!

  (Jerry) Hold up Jenny, let me get that omelet out for you.

  Peeling the greasy omelet out with ease, Jerry then gently put it down onto her pte, as Jenny’s eyes were bloodshot red.

  (Jerry) Hold up Jenny, I’ll handle her—

  Jenny instantly stood up, her greasy face turning towards Loraine. Her hands were shaking violently, followed by her bulging veins all around her forehead, combined with the fact that she started to deathly gre at Loraine.

  Loraine jumped back down from her seat. Using her legs, she pushed herself off the rich wooden floorboards, making a mad dash out of the breakfast room. Turning her head back as she looked upon everyone, she gave out a peace sign as she pointed out her pointer and index fingers together.

  (Loraine) Toodles!

  Jenny instantly stood up from her seat, her knuckles on the verge of crushing themselves under the weight of her strength. She sprinted her way towards the door, her legs thrusting themselves to the limits as she pushed off the floor wood boards with each step.

  (Jenny) LORAINE!!

  Everyone remained silent as Jenny lost control of herself, looking down at their ptes. Jerry, despite eating his breakfast, stood up and pushed his seat in.

  (Jerry) Shit, I’ll go get them.

  (Boris) No, let Jenny handle it. She could capture Loraine with no problem.

  Boris looked towards the rger table. Even though his fists shook, he csped them together tightly, putting his right thumb over his left.

  (Boris) Once Jenny comes back, I want everyone to apologize to her. To rub salt in the wound, you guys also are going to clean up all the dishes and garbage throughout the day, do I make myself clear?

  (Gwen) Come on Boris, it was just a harmless prank.

  (Boris) And about that meeting. That shall be deyed until everyone is finished with their chores.

  (Dark Angels and Stan’s group) Awww man…

  ______________________________________________________________________________

  (Quintiles 22, 59 / 4:09PM)

  (Luke) Oh man, I’m tired… but it’s for the best.

  (Jack) It was just an omelet… couldn’t they just bme Loraine? I mean, it was her idea, not ours.

  Both Luke and Jack had their arms motionless as they sludged and walked through the hallway. With their legs shaking, they continued with heavy breaths as their hands were coated with blisters and cuts.

  Behind Luke and Jack were Miles and Stan, who had steadier breaths yet sweat drenched their chests and backs, causing their t-shirts to create sweat stains.

  (Miles) Boris has a weird sense of punishment. When someone does something wrong, he punishes everyone except the one who did it.

  (Stan) But you know Loraine. She doesn’t give a damn if she’s hated, so it doesn’t make sense.

  The dark angels, combined with Stan’s group, noticed the room that they were directed to.

  (Luke) I guess this is the adult lounge.

  Opening the handle door, the dark angels and the others walked into the adult lounge where all the adults were. Seeing the lounge room, everyone was astonished by the couches and rugs that were in the middle of the room.

  With four couches in the middle of a coffee table, there were two small couches on the north side of the table and two rge couches on the east and west sides of the table. On the north side, there were David, Boris, and Jerry, all sitting as they waited for everyone to sit on their couch of choice.

  (Stan) So I guess we sit wherever we like?

  (Boris) Yes, please. There’s enough room for you guys to sit on.

  Stan, Gary, Diego, and Fred sat on the east couch, having enough room for them to sit.

  Jack, Miles, Gwen, and Benn sat on the west couch, with barely enough room for them to comfortably sit.

  Then there’s the south couch, where Luke was in the middle of Hope and Luna.

  (Jack’s thoughts) Lucky bastard…

  Luna’s fists already clenched as she stared at Hope. Meanwhile, Hope huffed as she folded her arms together, ignoring Luna by focusing her attention on Luke.

  (Boris) Alright, let’s commence the meeting, shall we?

  Everyone's ears perked up as their bodies leaned towards Boris’s direction. Noticing that everyone was awaiting his words, Boris stood up slowly, his limped leg noticeable as he picked up a stack of papers from the coffee table.

  (Boris) Alright, these papers contained some highly cssified info among many things that I want to show you all. Gary, Diego, do you recall those questions you asked me two years ago?

  (Gary) Sort of. Does it lead to anything that the government is doing or hiding?

  (Boris) Let’s take a look, shall we?

  Pcing the set of papers back on the table, he had one single white paper in his right hand. Boris then handed it to Gary and Diego, extending his right hand as much as possible.

  (Boris) Here.

  Both men stood up, with Gary gently taking the paper out of Boris’s hands. With both men looking through the paper, it only took several seconds for both men to put the paper back on the table. With their mouths being covered by their hands, both of them turned towards Gwen, their eyes widening as the ends of their feet were touching the couch.

  Boris also turned his attention to Gwen, his eyes droopy as he leaned back on the couch. Putting his fedora onto his p, he cusped both his hands on top of his hat.

  (Boris) Gwen, would you mind expining?

  (Gwen) sighs … Why me?

  (Boris) When you raided the Blood Eagles, I ordered you to use a bit more roughness, yet you didn’t. If you don’t want to get an extra punishment under your belt, I suggest you expin it to everyone.

  Gwen, crouching down with her elbows on her knees, looked down toward the fancy rug. Seeing the circles upon circles on the furry rug, she remembered an old time that she wasn’t too pleasant with.

  (Gwen’s thoughts) I guess everyone has memories they want to keep in the dark.

  Slowly, Gwen stood up, her hands and arms straight as she straightened her back. With everyone’s eyes seeing Gwen, she inhaled deeply in before she slowly exhaled out.

  (Gwen) Alright, I have a confession to make. You guys know Maverick right? Well, do you guys know any simirities between me and him?

  All the members of the dark angels and even Stan and Fred put their hands on their chins. Luna looked up towards Gwen, clearing up her throat as she slouched back onto the couch, with her left arm around Luke.

  (Luna) Well, you guys both have freckles, and both of you are infuriating.

  (Luke) Wait, Gwen? Don’t tell me-

  (Gwen) sighs Yeah… he’s my younger brother.

  The room was then filled with gasps, murmurs, and gossip spreading across each member as they all looked at Gwen with wide eyes. Luke slumped back to the couch.

  Stan stood up instantly, his fists shaking as his hands remained down.

  (Stan) Is that why you’ve gone easy on him? Does this mean that we could’ve—wait, you could've had the choice to turn him in, yet you didn’t?

  (Gwen) It’s…complicated.

  (Stan) No, it’s not! Because of you, his group’s out there murdering innocents!

  Fred then stood up, facing Stan as he held up his hands.

  (Fred) Hey! Let’s just calm down. Out of all of us, I think she’s the one that’s the most troubled here. She kept this secret from us for so long, so …

  Gwen looked down, putting her right hand on her left forearm, her hands shaking even more. Seeing that everyone was staring at her, Gwen gulped as she looked towards the door to the hallway.

  (Luna) So it all makes sense huh.

  Luna stood up, her hands forming into fists as she sharpened her gaze towards Gwen. Walking her way towards Gwen, Luna remained in front of her, her eyes twitching as her eyes began to redden.

  (Luna) Is your family full of weirdos?! Why do both you and your brother always touch people without their consent?!

  Luna put her hands onto Gwen’s colr, her hands shaking as her face was inches away from hers. Seeing Gwen reasonably angry, Gwen only looked down as her hands didn’t have any motion in them.

  (Gwen) It’s a long story…

  (Luna) Just because he’s your brother, I’m not going to let you off scott free! You had one job and you blew it!

  (Miles) Sorry to say this Gwen, but Luna’s right. You’re a commander, and you should start acting like one. What Stan said earlier, Maverick isn’t innocent, nor is he a good person to be around.

  (Jack) I think you guys are being too harsh on Gwen.

  Jack then received angry stares from Miles and Luna, their gres causing Jack to put his hand on his colr. Shaking the colr so that he feels more loose from his neck, he turned his attention towards Gwen.

  (Jack) She can’t control Maverick, and also I heard his wanted status is dead or alive. If she did turn him in, he’s not going to have a light sentence.

  (Luna) Does it look like I care?

  (Gwen) Luna…

  Gwen’s hands started to shake as her head remained glued to the floor. Luna, already angry to begin with, noticed the slight tension of

  (Luna) Are you mad?! You better not be mad you bitch! Because of you, I have to deal with your perverted psycho brother and his shit! So you better not—

  (Hope) Don’t fight Luna. Just sit down.

  Hope got to the right of both Gwen and Luna, her eyes slightly tearing up as Luna still had a grip on Gwen’s colr. Luna, noticing Hope staring at her, sharpened her eyes.

  (Luna) Sit down. Now.

  (David) No Luna, sit down and calm down.

  (Luna) What did you say old man?!

  (David) Sit down. Now…

  (Luna) puff … puff … Fine!

  Sitting back, Luna continued to heave her chest irregurly, drool started to come down her mouth as she desperately clenched her hands together to release her anger internally.

  (Gwen) mumbling You’re right. You’re all right to bme me. I…I should have stopped him.

  Luke looked at Gwen as she covered her face with her hands. He remembered how he met Gwen for the first time, how little she valued herself. He then stood up from his seat, his eyes gentle as he calmly looked at Gwen.

  (Luke) You shouldn’t feel guilty.

  Gwen looked up at Luke, eyes widening.

  (Luke) No matter what he did, you still loved him as an older sister would. You knew you didn’t want to turn him in.

  Gwen turned his attention back again towards Luke, her eyes starting to trap the water that she held back. Seeing her eyes begin to water, Luke walked slowly towards Gwen, his hands down as he looked towards Gwen’s freckled face.

  (Luke) You know he did unpleasant things, yet you continued to love him still. Don’t bme yourself for protecting your family…

  She immediately hugged Luke, her arms tightly wrapped around Luke’s waist as she nestled her head onto his shoulder. Silent tears that rolled down her cheeks.

  Luna gred at the two of them, but did not move while Hope folded her arms and looked away, making a slight pout.

  Gwen continued to nuzzle her face onto Luke’s shoulder, continuing to sniff and rub her face onto Luke’s jacket.

  (Luke) Are you feeling better?

  Gwen nodded unhurriedly, her tears already drying up as they left red little marks beneath her eyes.

  For a few seconds, Gwen then unwrapped her arms around Luke, sniffling softly as her nose was bright red. Wiping her nose with her jacket, she inhaled in and exhaled, her breathing back to normal as she straightened her back again.

  (Gwen) Sorry if I let my emotions loose. I guess I should’ve been more revealing about what you guys were getting into.

  Her eyes were still red from her silent crying, followed by tear marks etched onto her cheeks, Gwen still had her eyes remaining on her soldiers.

  (Benn) I always knew that Maverick was your brother.

  Benn, who was next to Miles, crouched down so that his forearms were on his thighs. Looking up at Gwen, she tilted her head to the left, putting her hands on her hips.

  (Gwen) Wait, what? How?

  (Benn) It was when we first met…

  (Gwen) Oh …

  (Boris) Hate to break it to you guys, but there’s another major info that I shared with Diego and Gary. Either two, say out loud what happened to Maverick.

  Boris, now the main lead again, continued to slouch on his couch as he extended his hand towards the two men. Gary looked down, his eyes not wanting to make contact with Boris, staring at the coffee table.

  Diego started as his hands. A droplet of sweat dripped from his forehead. With both men not wanting to speak, Boris sighed as he shook his head.

  He then slowly stood up with the help of both Jerry and David, his legs barely keeping him straight.

  (Boris) Maverick Keegan, the leader of the Blood Eagles, has gone missing. The st sight of him missing was on the outskirts east of the city.

  Everyone either slouched into their seats or crouched down on their knees.

  Luke and a few other smart members put their hands on their chins.

  (Luke’s thoughts) That’s weird… doesn’t Maverick typically get heat or attraction after a couple of days after our raids?

  (Fred’s thoughts) There’s more than what’s here … Maverick always wants to be in some sort of spotlight, so why would he go silent?

  (Jack’s thoughts) If Maverick somehow ended up dying, then they would’ve found him already. So what if there’s a possibility that he might have turned zompire?

  (Stan) But it doesn’t make sense though.

  Stan, the only one that spoke his questioning thoughts out loud, managed to get all the looks from everybody. Having the floor, Stan kept his back straight as he had his hands wide open.

  (Stan) Is there a possibility that Maverick has a blessing? If so, then it might expin how we managed to lose sight of him most of the time in our raids. But in a way, holding up and building a little army secretly isn’t Maverick’s style.

  Stan then turned his attention towards Gwen, his eyes squinting at the freckled woman as her head was looking down at him.

  Gwen's hands were heavily shaking, her body unrestful as her right foot tapped rapidly on the ground. Nervous, Stan then slightly arched his back forward so that he csped his hands together with ease.

  (Stan) But, for all we know, Maverick is most likely alive. Maybe it was because of what you said to him during the raid. Or maybe he had a thought come to him. Either way, he’s most definitely alive, but probably taking things a much more different approach than usual.

  Hearing Stan’s conclusion, Gwen then started to rex her body more upon hearing Stan’s conclusion, her body calm and content as her breathing returned to a more normal state.

  (Gwen) Thanks, Stan … I needed that.

  The sounds of a phone can be heard…

  (Boris) Why out of all times?

  Boris then walked towards his special hotline, dragging gently his right leg causing him to limp. David and Jerry, who watched Boris limp to the phone, stood up rapidly, having their entire focus on Boris, in case Boris colpsed.

  Reaching the phone, Boris pced it firmly against his ears, buckling them as he heard a familiar voice.

  (???) Are you still in Lagefor?

  (Boris) Yes. Why are you asking me now?

  (???) Has President Reed said anything to you yet?

  (Boris) No. The st time I spoke with him was before The Array. What does he want from you now?

  (???) Are you alone?

  Boris raised the phone down. Gncing towards his soldiers, his eyes scanned every face as he pushed his cheeks in. For a second, he shook the phone with his right hand but stopped as he raised it to his ear again.

  (Boris) Yes. Speak away.

  (???) President Reed wants all politicians, political figures, and billionaires to move to El Niabea for the next couple of days. He says that he has an important meeting being held there and has also invited me.

  (Boris) Why are you telling me this? Is this cssified information?

  (???) Highly.

  Boris then gnced at the windows, looking around the world for any opened closets or other suspicious things in the room. Looking towards David, he signaled him to look around the room for anything off.

  Boris even checked the closed up drawer in the back of the room.

  Boris then started to sweat gently, his fat palms being drenched as the grip on the phone started to get loose.

  (Boris) You shouldn’t be telling me this. Do you know what happens to politicians who reveal highly cssified material?

  (???) I’m aware of the risks, yet I haven’t been caught. Inform your dark angels to be prepared. I don’t think President Reed is just leaving for a meeting.

  Boris then crouched down to better prepare to hear the words coming from the telephone. As his legs started to shake from the amount of force and pressure that he had on his legs, Boris slightly clenched his teeth, a vein sprouting on his neck.

  (Boris) What do you think he’s doing then?

  (???) To be honest, I’m not sure. But you must make sure your men and women are prepared.

  (Boris) Men and women prepared? I have never told you about the little mercenary group that I oversee.

  (???) Someone else told me that, someone recently… just tell them just in case.

  (Boris) I’ll let them know…

  With the phone call ending, Boris looked towards the three couches, the young adults to the old all having their eyes on Boris. Most of everyone had their hands csped together, their feet slightly tapping down.

  Except Jack.

  (Boris’s thoughts) I know you, Jack. Please try to keep the information within ourselves.

  Boris looked towards Jack, his eyes starting to have a gray lining beneath them. As his body seemed to start slowing down, Boris then slowly walked towards the couch with David and Jerry, having his eyes on Jack most of the time.

  Jack in exchange gave a slight nod, his body slumped to the couch as he extended his arm. With his thumb, he pointed it upwards to showcase a thumbs up.

  (Jack’s thoughts) Hey man no problem.

  Boris gave off a small smile before putting his hat ft across his face.

  Both Jerry and David stood up to give Boris a small chance for rest, both their hands in their pockets as they saw Boris slowly drifting to sleep. Turning their heads, they nudged their heads to the right, in the direction of where the door was.

  Gwen gave a slight nod before she motioned the others with her right hand to follow her. As the group of young men and women left the room, Gwen then had a sinister smirk on her face.

  (Gwen’s thoughts) Come to think of it, this whole Blood Eagle and Maverick thing was starting to stress me out a lot…

  (Gwen) Hey, do you guys wanna hit a bar? It's a bar Boris told me about a while back. I mean, a small drink wouldn’t hurt.