(Quintiles 29, 59 / 10:59PM)

  Outside of a building that they were all too familiar with…

  (Jack) Huh, home sweet home…

  (Gwen) And we’re sharing it all with other people too, almost like a big sleepover.

  Their heads peering to the bck building, they saw the Dark Angels building, the two-story building that had dorms, rooms, a garden, a rge kitchen and gym, and a garage in the back.

  In the front of the building, they witnessed the abundance of military trucks that had supplies and ammo in them. The engines turned off for rest, it didn’t emit its fatal and lethal smoke, followed by the quietness of the night as the cicadas pierced their singing songs.

  But inside though…

  (Jack) I think they’re treating our home like some sort of hotel.

  (Gwen) Well, we did hold back the city after all…

  Getting out of the van, both Jack and Gwen got out from the driver and passenger doors, the doors opening wide to let them out. Arching his back, Jack put both of his hands on his lower back, pushing them inward as he heard a bone crack or two.

  (Gwen) Got to get to the others in the back.

  Walking toward the back of the van, Gwen soon encountered the lock pin that was in the back of the van’s doors. Putting her hand underneath her chin, she looked downward as she stared dumbly into the number markings on the lock.

  Tapping her finger repeatedly, a bead of sweat rolled down from her right temple, the droplet of sweat resting on her right cheek.

  (Gwen’s thoughts) Which combination was it? I think it was 2-2-6-3 right?

  A loud thump was heard from the back of the van’s doors, a dent forming on the right side. Widening her eyes, she let out a sigh as she pushed the buttons quickly.

  Two loud thumps were heard on the same side of the van, creating a major dent in it.

  (Gwen’s thoughts) Why can’t Luna just be patient…

  The doors of the back of the van made a loud clunk, causing Gwen to put both her hands on the metal handles, gripping them casually as she widened her arms.

  (Gwen) Open sesame—

  (Luna) Why so fucking slow!

  As the back of the van door widened out, a tanned woman folded her arms as she frowned upon the freckled woman. Rubbing the back of her neck with her left hand, her mouth curved erratically as she tried to let out a wry smile toward Luna.

  (Gwen) Hey come on now, there’s no need to rush so—

  (Luna) I feel like shit! I’m tired, sleepy, hungry, and I—

  (Gwen) Smell?

  (Luna) You bitch!

  Clenching her fists hard, Luna thumped her right foot harshly on the floor of the van as she gred straight at the freckled woman’s words. Her feet were on the verge of pushing herself off the van, two strong men held her back by her shoulders, one had ginger-brownish hair and the other had a dark-complected skin tone.

  While a skinny brown young man put himself right in front of her.

  (Miles) You think you’re the only one that feels like shit?

  (Stan) Sorry, but you’re not special Luna. Everyone here feels like shit.

  Both men gripped both of her shoulders with all of their strength, but even then…

  Luna managed to make another step forward, despite the two men being completely strong in their regard.

  Luckily for them, Luke pced both of his hands on the front of her arms, his smooth yet rough hands feeling the fabric of her bck leather jacket. Her arms expanded as her muscles were shown through the yers of the fabric, Luke focused his eyes on the angry Luna, causing her to look upward at the young man.

  (Luke) Hey, be nice now. You’ll do those things as soon as you calm down. Also, Gwen did save your life.

  (Luna) But she—

  (Luke) Hey… she saved your life. If you want, I could help set your meal ready when you shower.

  Luna looked down onto the van floor, her fists still enclosed as her knuckles sprouted out from her hands. Her eyes do not even bother to look toward Luke, her cheeks puffed up as her face slightly reddened, causing Luke to let out a huge gulp from within his throat.

  (Luna) … Give me anything that’s already made.

  (Luke) Ok, anything else?

  (Luna) … And for dessert … give me a choccy donut.

  Nodding his head hurriedly, Luke let go of his hands that held Luna, pcing them inside his jacket pockets as he looked to his right side, not wanting to look at Luna’s flustered face.

  Her reddened face still huffed out a pout, her fists continued to remain enclosed as her eyes started to well up with water. Seeing this, both men let go of their hands off of her back, their body odor present as they crunched up their faces.

  (Luna) … And I want you to sit next to me … when I eat…

  (Luke) S-Sure … like always …

  Gwen put her hands to her hips, tilting her head to the right as she let out a simple smirk, the corners of her lips reaching the height of her ears. Her eyes snted as she parted her feet an inch apart from one another, she slightly moved her body in the same direction that she moved with her head.

  (Gwen) Are you guys going to shower together too?~

  (Luke) W-What!?

  (Luna) Shut up! Just shut the hell up!

  ______________________________________________________________________________

  (Quintiles 29, 59 / 11:13PM)

  Inside the building, there y a rge and somewhat spacious backyard.

  The backyard had a couple of fire pits, followed by small trails of cement that led to different sections of the building.

  Being in the center, it was outside, with the still smokey air present as well as the orange-lit sky lingering on. As the clouds still lingered, ash particles continued to rain down amongst the cement and grass, the people that id bare in the backyard…

  Were more or less tired and worn soldiers, not even having the energy to party or have fun.

  (Gwen) Aah, there’s no pce like home.

  Five adults slid into the backyard they opened up a sliding door, closing it behind them as their eye bags darkened under their eyelids. Seeing two other groups talking with each other, the group of five gazed in their direction at them, noticing that the two groups didn’t notice their presence.

  The woman in the middle of the four men pointed her finger right at them, her nostrils breathing in the smoke-filled air that got trapped in her lungs.

  (Gwen) I think that’s the others.

  (Jack) And it looks like they already have some food on their ptes. So just food and drinks for these frat boys?

  (Miles) I have never seen a more depressing party.

  (Stan) I guess everyone is just happy that they at least survived. Probably survivor guilt is hitting them harder than it should. Either that or don’t have the energy to party.

  Walking over, they saw the many soldiers who had white paper ptes and bck pstic utensils, all of them casually eating their steak, rice, and beans. The noise amongst the many soldiers was at an all-time low, with the only thing that glistened in the night was the sound of munching and small talk that they made.

  Luke, looking over to many of the soldiers enjoying their meals in bliss of peace, looked to the ground as he put his hand to his right eye, covering it.

  (Luke’s thought) This is what it's like being a soldier ... celebrating the little things while overcoming the biggest obstacles.

  Raising her hand high, Gwen swayed it back and forth as she cusped her left hand into the letter O, her left hand right over her mouth as she cleared her throat.

  (Gwen) Hey, ya’ll! Long time no see!

  All the soldiers looked over toward the tall freckled woman wearing a bck leather jacket, their eyes gring at the woman as the dark eye bags underneath their eyelids were shown.

  The two other groups meanwhile, crunched up their faces as many of them let out beads of sweat from their foreheads and cheeks, their feet taking them a step back from Gwen. Seeing this, Gwen continued to wave her hand frantically, clearly not reading the room as she yelled out again.

  (Gwen) Come on! You can’t forget about me!

  (Luke) Uhm Gwen … I don’t think it’s a good time…

  (Gwen) Oh, come on Luke! Why aren’t these soldiers celebrating?! It’s like a big sleepover right!?

  Reaching toward the two other groups, a man wearing a fedora with a bowl-cut haircut pced himself in the middle of the two groups. His legs wobbled as his feet were barely able to steady themselves onto the grassy area; both his hands remained still as they were pced straight.

  Meaning that everyone is here in this very spot, except for Luna and Jenny.

  (Boris) I’m surprised you made it.

  (Gwen) The same goes for you, you old fart.

  (Boris) Sighs … it’s been a long and tiring fight, but I think we cleared out all the evil from out of the city. Good thing that some ptoons stayed put, most of them were ordered to leave for the border.

  Many of the soldiers who continued to eat their meals looked over at the man cd in a fancy tuxedo despite his overall body shape. Their ears perked up, they squinted their eyes at the man, their bodies motionless to the ground as their legs couldn’t even bother to stand up.

  Fixing his bowtie, he cleared his throat as many of the Dark Angels around him gasped, their foreheads letting out hot sweat.

  (Boris) I checked the data, and it looks like the highest-ranking ptoons that were in the military complex were moved elsewhere, and the ones that were recruits and such were ordered to guard it.

  (Gwen) But why?

  (Boris) No clue…

  Turning his head toward a trio of agents followed by one spartan, Boris focused his eyes on them, seeing their bck suits crusted and wrinkled. One of the agents, a slightly short man with blonde hair, noticed the stare from Boris, already making a slight gre.

  Putting his head back toward his followers, Boris csped his hands as he put both of his feet straight, pushing his vocals to shake out the leftover saliva in his esophagus.

  (Boris) But at least some agents remained here. I wonder why there aren't that many of them here. The best theory I have is that they were summoned to a city of some sort, possibly in El Niabea—

  (Agent Briggs) What did you say?

  (Boris) It’s just a personal theory—

  (Agent Briggs) How did you know about El Niabea?

  Briggs had his hands in his pockets as he faced his entire body toward Boris, his gre continuing to remain. Boris flinched at the cold voice of Briggs, it led him to tremble his hands a second as he looked at the pale and frozen face.

  Two other agents dressed in bck suits walked right near where Briggs was, standing right next to both of his shoulders. The tall silver-haired agent was to the right of him, while the short woman with oval gsses was to the left of him. And behind him, was a woman with above average height with sungsses.

  All of their hands id either motionless to their thighs or in their suits, the four of them had their attention toward the entirety of the elite squad, with Briggs the only one folding his arms.

  (Agent Briggs) Where did you get that cssified information from?

  (Boris) Hold on, son. Aren’t my men and women the ones who managed to push back those zompires?

  (Agent Briggs) It takes two to tango. Half of the work was done by normal soldiers and your soldiers. So don’t avoid the question…

  Briggs and the three other agents towered over Boris, all of their hands inside their suit pockets.

  Having his right hand inside of his suit, he slowly pulled his hand halfway, but barely enough so that Boris could see the grip of a bck metal object that he wielded. Letting out a rge gulp from his throat, Boris looked down to the ground as he fiddled with his fingers.

  (Agent Briggs) Where did you get that information from?

  (David) That’s enough.

  Putting themselves in front of Boris were David and Gwen. Having his hand inside of his jacket, David squinted his darkened face as he calmly let out an exhale of fresh air, his nostrils releasing the air onto Briggs's face.

  (David) We retook this city, regardless of how cssified the info was. Technically speaking, you were the ones that initiated it first.

  (Agent Briggs) Excuse me?

  (David) It was common knowledge that ptoons were to be commanded elsewhere, as it was considered in military terms, “The public domain”. You on the other hand told us about the agents where they are going.

  (Agent Briggs) … And?

  David pced his right hand underneath his chin, using his pointer finger as he wrapped his right jawline with his thumb. Lifting his head, he let out a small smirk, the corners of his lips reaching a height where his nose level was.

  Briggs on the other hand furrowed his brow, his right hand continuing to grip the metal object that was within the inside of his suit. The other agents had their objects on standby, the only thing that was stopping them was Briggs, who had his left palm showing downward.

  (David) He said it was a theory, not facts. If you said it was cssified that you went to El Niabea, then doesn’t that mean you were the one who said it first? Would that mean you spilled the info to these soldiers casually hearing this conversation as we speak?

  (Agent Briggs) …

  Looking down toward the ground, Briggs let in an abundance of air inside of him, the air circling his lungs as he turned his head toward the grassy field.

  The other agents gncing at Briggs, they all saw his demeanor change, the way his expression quickly darkened as his eyes were staring into the abyss below. Their sweaty hands already staining the bck objects that they held, they awaited anything for what their leader might say.

  (Agent Briggs) You have a point. So what now, you're going to arrest me?

  (David) I’m more of an executioner than a leader. I’ll give the judgment to Boris here.

  Boris straightened his back, followed by both of his hands csping onto themselves in front of his chubby stomach. His sweat coating his face, followed by the lingering smell of his body odor, Boris focused his eyes on the blonde-haired man with cold eyes.

  (Boris) How about we do this? We’ll keep all of this a little secret. It’s our job as soldiers to protect and defend the weak, not turn on each other by higher powers.

  (Agent Briggs) The silver-haired weirdo here would agree with you. He was the one who ordered me around the battle in the military complex, despite me being the leader. Two silver-haired weirdos, one of them is with you.

  Turning his attention toward Fred in the back of everyone, his face stiffened as he put his right hand onto the back of his head. Rubbing it gently, he let out a quivered smile, his lips moving erratically as they twitched.

  (Fred) Hehe … Aren’t we all tired? I mean, all this combat has stirred us around.

  (Boris) Yeah, considering that we fought with all our might.

  Turning his head back toward Briggs, he extended his right hand. His hand is noticeably sweaty and cmmy, Briggs let go of the bck metal object that he held inside of his jacket, pcing it back into its pocket compartment.

  Seeing the hand, his right hand let out a small twitch, his fingertips wanting to curl itself up into a fist.

  (Boris) I think it’s time we all rest up.

  (Agent Briggs) Sighs … for a chubby man, you sure are right.

  (Boris’s thoughts) Chubby man? I’m big-boned…

  Extending his hand toward Boris’s, both shook their hands in a hard shake, their eyes remaining focused on each other as Boris held a firmer grip than usual.

  ______________________________________________________________________________

  (Libertatem 1, 59 / 3:22AM)

  (Luke’s thoughts) Why can’t I sleep…

  Laying awake inside of his room, he spread his arms and legs apart, looking up towards the white ceiling as the ceiling fan cooled down his body.

  His sheets were on the floor sleeping on the wooden ground, followed by the closed windows that didn’t let the smoked air from coming in. With nothing but a bck shirt and bck sweatpants, he slowly put his right hand on his forehead.

  (Luke’s thoughts) I’m clean, I’m well fed, and I’m exhausted from all of that shooting and fighting, so what gives?

  Turning his head toward the door, he noticed that it was slightly open, even though the light from outside wasn’t even on. Slowly pulling his sore body up, he sat on the bed and id his hands on his thighs, his eyes squinting through the open gap that the door created.

  (Luke’s thoughts) I don’t know anymore. I mean, I did the bare minimum of becoming a soldier, but how can I become Gwen’s soldier?

  The door to his room creaked open.

  Flinching upward, Luke got out of the bed and he pced both of his bare feet onto the wooden tiles beneath him. With his hands pced in front of him, he slowly tiptoed toward the creaking door, his toes and heels feeling the cold minated wood.

  Reaching the door, he leaned his entire body weight onto the wooden door, feeling its exterior coating as the dark wood melted against his skin.

  His ear pressing the edge of the door, he had his hands stationary on the wood, his breathing quiet as he slowly inhaled and exhaled.

  And then…

  (Luke) Ow!

  The wooden door swung open, hitting his face as his nose took most of the brunt, causing him to walk backward until his back hit the wall. Pcing both of his hands onto his nose, blood soon started to spurt out, drips of it hitting the wooden tiles.

  Clenching his eyes, the blood smearing his hand and fingers, his teeth ground onto each other against the searing pain.

  Opening his eyes, he took a step forward as he let go of his hands, and upon seeing who was behind the door…

  (Luke) W-What? What are you doing?

  A young woman with blue eyes and blonde hair put her hands onto her mouth, with her mouth widening open as her eyes were pushed up.

  Jumping up and down with her toes several times, she swayed her head sideways repeatedly as her throat quivered.

  (Hope) I-I’m sorry! I’m sorry!

  (Luke) Don’t yell. People are sleeping…

  Using his left hand to cover his bleeding nose, he extended his right hand to let Hope in as his palm was facing forward, his face flustered with his cheeks reddened.

  Seeing that he was still bleeding, she instantly used her left hand to close the door behind her quietly. Looking at Luke with water in her eyes, she put her right hand onto his left hand.

  (Hope) Here, let me help you.

  A yellowish light emitted from her right palm, the light tched onto Luke’s broken nose, as well as lighting up the entire room around them. With each second that passed, the less the blood dripped from his nose, causing him to slowly let go of his hand.

  The yellowish light fading away, Luke’s nose was fully healed, allowing him to sniff normally as he fred his nostrils up and down.

  While Hope’s body started to slug forward, her legs wobbled as her head started to heat up, and she let out a raspy cough.

  (Luke) Thanks, Hope, but why are you awake? Aren’t you supposed to be asleep? You did heal Jenny for a couple of hours straight.

  (Hope) Sorry, but I couldn’t sleep for some reason…

  (Luke) But why here? Is there anything that you need from me?

  Hope looked down onto the wooden tiles that had blood stains on them, seeing the drying blood becoming a part of Luke’s room. Her face flushing a pink-red, she turned her head toward where Luke’s messy bed was, as her head was still down.

  (Hope) Can I talk to you about something, on the bed…?

  (Luke) … S-Sure…

  Walking rapidly toward his messy and disorganized bed, he quickly sat his butt down on the old mattress, pcing both of his hands onto his knees as hot sweat dripped from his forehead. Having his head down, he didn’t dare to look at Hope, his fists enclosed tightly with one another.

  Hope followed suit and sat herself on the bed, csping her hands as the darkened sky blocked most of their visibility.

  (Luke) So…

  (Hope) I need to know, and I want an honest answer, please.

  (Luke) Ok…

  (Hope) Do you like Luna?

  Luke turned his head slowly as his hands trembled on his knees, letting out a huge gulp from within his throat. Opening his mouth slightly, his throat started to jump within his throat, his vocals allowing low hums.

  (Luke) I uh … well …

  Her hands trembled as her csped hands tightened between one another, her body shivering as her eyes withheld hot tears. Pcing both her feet and legs slowly onto the bed, she managed to lean her body more toward him.

  (Luke) I guess … I’m just fine with any girl that likes me back.

  (Hope) What?

  Uncsping her hands, she put her palms onto the bed as her entire body was on all fours on the bed, staring at him.

  Seeing that she wasn’t pleased by this answer, Luke let go of his hands that held his knees, putting both of his hands onto the bed as his body was now facing toward her.

  (Luke) Are you ok? What's going on—

  (Hope) So if Luna asks you out, would you go out with her?

  (Luke) I mean…

  (Hope) Then what about me?

  Moving her body toward Luke, he had no choice but to pce his back against the front frame of the bed, having his entire body on the bed. His legs and feet lying motionless, and his hands and arms were pced forward onto the angry Hope, he squinted his eyes as a bead of sweat rolled down his right temple.

  Meanwhile, Hope gritted her teeth against one another, letting out a loud and angry hum from her throat.

  (Hope) Are you this insecure? Do you think that no girl likes you?

  (Luke) What is this about?

  (Hope) Do you like me?

  (Luke) Y-you … you look cute …

  (Hope) Then?

  (Luke) I don’t know how to approach—

  Hope then pced both of her hands on the helm of his cheeks, creating a loud smack as a hint of redness formed on his face. Letting out a low hmph, she had his arms and hands spread out, his lips and mouth enclosed shut as he saw the angry-looking Hope grip his fingernails onto his face.

  (Hope) Are you a dummy?

  (Luke) A what…?

  (Hope) .... Fine then. I’ll just show you myself!

  Having his body still, she slowly leaned her face close to his, her lips licking each other as she wanted them to be moistened. Closing her eyes, she moved her hands so that Luke’s face could be closer to his.

  Having no choice but to submit to her wishes, Luke started to pant heavily as his entire body remained still as if he was frozen.

  Their lips inches away from each other, Hope was about to connect her and his together—

  An orange light emitted from the darkened room.

  Both of them stopped, they turned their heads slowly toward the burning light from afar, their eyes peeled out the window from the east. With Hope’s body leaning next to his, both let their bodies motionless to the bed as…

  A fireball of herculean proportion was pstered into their very eyes.

  Widening their eyes.

  (Luke’s thoughts) Is that—

  Then came the shockwave.