(Reverence 3, 59 / 10:14PM)

  A long while after sunset.

  The abandoned beer building still stood on top of the hill overlooking the dazzling city lights. Only the sound of blowing dust howling in the night air, darkness from the north encapsuting the region as far as the eye could see.

  Since the night was nigh, inside the warm and muggy building were none other than a group of young men and women lying down. With only scraps of cardboard and pieces of pstic wrapping accompanying their heads and necks, the back of their heads still ache from the rusted metal that cmped their scalp. And because of it, they were all wide-eyed, with most of their uniforms still on.

  But not everyone was lying down.

  On the southern side of the building, a young man with light brown hair and red eyes took in the sight of the dazzling city. His butt was on the edge of the window frame, and most of the gss was long gone, as not a speck of gss shard stabbed his pants.

  His right ear jolting upward, he turned his head to the right of him.

  (Luke) Oh, hey Chris.

  The sight of the city trapped his eyes, Chris had his knees hovering over the old metal walls of the building. Pcing his hands onto the right side of the no-gss window, he leaned his head so that his face was outside the building’s perimeter, letting the dry sand blow onto his face.

  (Chris) Can’t believe I’m out in the real world.

  (Luke) Yeah me too. I wished things could’ve been better though.

  (Chris) I think it’s ok.

  Chris leaned his head back into the main building, as he continued to have his hands put pressure on the window frame. Unluckily for him, tiny bits of gss pinched his palms, leading to specks of blood to escape. Rubbing his hands together, he ignored the stinging pain, pcing them inside of his brown outdoor jacket.

  (Chris) Even if the world makes me an enemy, I’m still going to enjoy every st bit of it. To me, being alive is better than surviving.

  (Luke) But how can you be so sure of it?

  (Chris) Because I believe.

  Luke turned to Chris, pushing himself up from the window frame to set his feet on the metallic flooring.

  Chris’s eyes began to sparkle under the light that shined on his youthful face, like a small fire burning right in front of him. Pushing his cheekbones up, he stretched both of his arms outward, followed by the sound of his joints busting open.

  Now looking toward Luke, he raised his right hand into a bro-fist.

  (Chris) I believe that memories help make a person. A person who has all sorts of happy memories would be a person who would die happy, while a person who stays in his room all day would—

  (Luke) I get it… I get it…

  Tilting his head downward, he soon walked back toward the rest of the group. Putting both of his hands inside his jacket’s pockets, his right side bang covering his right eye that glowed in the dark.

  As for Chris, he pushed both of his eyebrows upward, along with the back of his head being scratched with his right hand. His boots squeaking the ground, followed by his face darkening, he raised his left hand to cover his left eye, darkening his face to cast a shadow.

  (Luke’s thoughts) Memories… is that what I wanted all along… or was it truth … to be a leader?

  Standing in front of his group, they all slowly turned to look at Luke's darkened face. Hope, whose head was right near Luke’s boots, moved from a lying to a sitting-up position. Putting much-needed pressure onto her tailbone, her entire body shivered, her hands trembling as she moved her eyes away from his face.

  (Luke’s thoughts) Or was it a simple life? A life without meaning? But that was what I did for so long, just wasting life like a fly.

  But a jolt shook him out of it.

  A hand gripping the inside of his colrbone, Luke turned to see a tanned beauty barely awake, her eyes already filled with eye-boogers. Pushing up a smile, his gloomy facade turned 180, by rubbing the back of his head with pushed-up cheeks.

  (Luke) H-Hey Luna. Shouldn’t you be in bed?

  (Luna) Can’t sleep.

  (Luke) I know. But look, we’re going to need your strength, and I want you to be in your best condition for tomorrow. So please try to sleep.

  (Luna) Then do something about it.

  Luke blinked twice. Scratching the back of his head, he continued to stare into Luna with nonchant eyes, his legs and knees quivering.

  Luna in return scrunched up both of her hands, as an angry scowl soon pstered onto her face. A scoff being released, she turned Luke’s body so that he stood right in front of her, inches away from her.

  (Luke) Uh, Luna?

  (Luna) Well?

  Another hand jabbed into his shoulder. His eyes peeled back, a woman much shorter than him had with her a mean gre, her eyes and eyebrows snted inward to the top of her nose.

  Tugging Luke to herself, the woman with blonde hair and blue eyes had her arms wrapped around his waist, eyeing the tanned woman whose eyes began to redden. Cracking both of her knuckles, Luna soon exhaled a multitude of steam from her nostrils.

  (Luna) You better back off you too goody bitch.

  (Hope) bleh.

  Hope stuck her tongue out.

  Using her right pointer finger, she used it to pull down her eyelid to expose the red underside to Luna, causing Luke to gulp. Nervously looking over to Luna, she hunched her back, along with her breathing rampant and rabid like a dog with rabies.

  (Luna) Don’t think that I would knock you out just because we have guests with us…

  (Hope) …

  (Luna) Got anything to say—

  (Hope) Bitch.

  (Luna) That does it!

  Both of Luna’s hands instantly snatched hold of Hope’s colr, her body too fast for Luke to even register. Blinking a couple of times, Luke shook his head, pcing himself in the middle between the two women.

  Gritting both ends of his teeth, unlike the other times, bits of sparks spread out from his enamels.

  (Luke) Can’t you guys just sleep on your own—

  The locked metal door from the main entrance was soon opened.

  No, it imploded open.

  All of its recently assembled nails burst free, and the metal door flew halfway across the main building, gliding through the friction rust that dented the metal. The metal door was beyond repair, it ceased right at the footsteps of the entire group.

  Hovering their hands over their holsters, they all looked toward the front entrance, as the darkness of the night clouded whoever stood at the door. Their breaths silent, their bodies frozen, not a drop of sweat trailed down their temples.

  A bck silky boot was soon seen.

  (???) You decided to take shelter here?

  A tall man with a bun tied on the back of his head soon appeared.

  Having both of his hands inside his tuxedo suit, he wore bck sck pants followed by a cross neckce on his neck. A bck well-shaven goatee covered his chin and mouth, and several wrinkles stretched across his forehead and cheeks. Lastly, the man had bck hair and brown golden eyes.

  (???) You’re Luke I take it?

  Christian, Pacifica, and Chris tumbled downward onto the rusted floor, as not even their palms helped them set themselves up. Christian, the only one who didn’t have his breath stuck in his throat, jittered his mouth twice before gulping down whatever dry saliva was situated in his mouth.

  (Christian) Another original Pacithiest…

  (Miles) That’s not an agent, looks like a special agent, or what the government calls them; spartans.

  ______________________________________________________________________________

  (Reverence 3, 59 / 10:18PM)

  The man stood silently.

  His pupils slowly trailing the line of young men and women, the st person that he locked his eyes on was none other than Luke. Keeping his nonchant and warm eyes on the young man, the tall slim man with a man-bun let his head nod back and forth.

  Christian took a step forward, pcing himself in front of the others. His face pale as if he’d seen a bloodied murder, both of his knees already locked in pce, followed by his feet shaking unsteadily.

  (Christian) You’re one of David’s best friends from long ago, G-Gabriel…

  (Spartan Gabriel) You belong to an old group that I was once with huh? Good thing that old bastard teaches you your history.

  Like the sound of a mouse, Gabriel’s footsteps trailed toward the group that had their feet frozen to the ground. The wind from outside was louder than his walking, in unison, everyone began to slowly walk back, like a magnet that repels the same electric charge. But Gabriel was closer.

  Several feet in front of them, he had a normal resting face, with the corner of his lips barely arching upward. His cheeks pushed up, he began to pull out both of his hands from his tuxedo pockets.

  Which caused everyone to pull out their weapons.

  (Spartan Gabriel) Rex. I ain’t going to harm ya’ll.

  His hands said otherwise, as both of his palms soon gripped onto both of his standardized glocks. Suppressors pced on the front of each barrel, he had them aim down at the ground, with both of his fingers on the side of his guns.

  Occupying each hand, everyone who had a weapon pointed their barrels at him, watching either his fingers, feet, or arms. Letting out a soft chuckle, Gabriel swayed his head.

  (Spartan Gabriel) Didn’t I tell you guys that I’m not going to harm you?

  (Christian) E-Expin why you took out both of your weapons.

  (Spartan Gabriel) I’m testing you all.

  Sean was the only one who had his finger on the trigger; while pinning his attention onto the back wall in the shadows. Sweat finally excrementing out of his neck, both of his ears reddened like fresh-beat tomatoes.

  Ignoring the elf, Gabriel swiftly put both of his guns back into his pockets, as fast as anyone could blink.

  (Spartan Gabriel) And you guys are mentally alright for a bunch of criminals. You all don’t seem to be that trigger-happy.

  (Christian) Who sent you here?

  (Spartan Gabriel) Wait. Don’t tell me that you didn’t already know that talkie-cells can track you down.

  (Luke’s thoughts) Oh no…

  Everyone slowly trailed their attention onto Luke, causing him to put his left uzi into his holster. Using his left hand, he pushed it inside of his leather jacket’s pockets, caressing every fiber and leather slowly like his knuckles were slow-kissing it. Pulling out the talkie-cell, Luke’s eyes widened, as he ignored everyone’s wide eyes and stuttering mouths.

  Keeping his eyes on the bck device, his breathing fastened and his vision blurred.

  (Luke’s thoughts) This is all my … this is all my—

  (Spartan Gabriel) Fault? Partially. The real culprit is that elf there. He forced you to raid the ranch, yeah?

  Gabriel pulled out both of his hands from his tuxedo pockets yet again, only this time with no metal being drawn.

  His callused hands noticeable in the dark-tinted building, Gabriel had them motionless to his sides, as his knuckles were facing in front of Luke. Towering over him, both crevices of Gabriel’s lips churned to form a frown, followed by his cheeks pushing downward.

  As Luke only inhaled in minuscule amounts.

  (Spartan Gabriel) Mr. Zirardge has always kept tabs on the ginger-haired elf in case he was going to do anything fishy. He knows that you wouldn’t be willing to raid one of the richest families in the world.

  Blinking his eyes once, Luke took a whiff of Gabriel's glock already loaded; his aim being on Sean.

  Behind Gabriel, a figure resembling a lot like Sean took form just a couple of inches from his back. Despite his finger on the side of his glock, it was enough for Sean to drop his Thompson gun down to his feet.

  The butt of his gun denting the metallic floor, Sean’s fingers couldn’t bother to grasp it. Loud breathing exhaled out of him, and the clone from behind Gabriel soon vanished like wax melting; but only imaginary.

  All the while Gabriel kept eye contact with Luke.

  (Spartan Gabriel) You have some good in you, I can see it. Every one of you is accused of something you didn’t do, really a shame.

  (Luke) W-Why are you telling us this?

  (Spartan Gabriel) Cause I have a proposition.

  Putting his glock back inside his pocket, he still had his left hand tucked away. Keeping his breathing normal, Luke’s eyes sparkled at the st word that drew breath from Gabriel’s mouth.

  Everyone followed suit, their weapons aiming right at the border between the tips of their boots. As Sean balled both of his hands into fists, Gabriel cleared his throat, straightening his back to intimidate Luke as he already did.

  (Spartan Gabriel) If you and your group pn on surrendering and giving up running, then all you have to do is wait here for two days until a battalion of agents comes to pick you up.

  (Luke) Would I be sent to The Dome?

  (Spartan Gabriel) No not at all. At the most, you all would be spending a month or two in jail, and then working community service until all of your debts would be paid off.

  Luke put his other uzi back into his holster. Along with Miles and Hope following Luke’s example, everyone else except for Sean drew their weapons back to their original pces.

  His head bobbing up and down unnoticeably, Gabriel rubbed his chin with just his pointer finger, swishing away dandrum and old hair that got lodged in his goatee. Letting out a hum, he took a step back from Luke.

  (Spartan Gabriel) You all could be freed men and women. A chance to return everything to the way things were; but…

  Turning his head toward Sean, Gabriel’s frown deepened more, as both ends of his lips reached the bottom of his jawline.

  (Spartan Gabriel) If you ever raid that train, then consider it a break of contract. Believe me when I say that you’ll never go back to the way things were.

  Both of Sean’s jaws cmped tightly together, as he had his teeth closed off from the world. His cheeks enrging from the strain, he tilted his head downward, staring into the rusted metal.

  Luke rubbed both of his hands together, with sweat sticking to his palms like a batch of syrup. Nodding his head back and forth, he looked toward everyone else but Sean, who in unison began to nod their heads except for Chris.

  (Luke) I understand…

  (Spartan Gabriel) Don’t understand, follow it. Believe me when I say that raiding that train would only lead you to your death.

  Finally, Gabriel looked over toward the front entrance of the building, as the warm blistering sand called the metal flooring home. Turning his body away from them, he began to walk slowly toward his exit, while keeping his back and body straight.

  Ignoring the gawking mouths in the back of him, Gabriel continued to walk until the tip of his boots reached the front entrance. Having his hand on the doorframe, he turned his body around to look at everyone.

  (Spartan Gabriel) The amount of guards doubled on the train as a result of your actions on the ranch. Bare that thought in mind if you will.

  Just as Gabriel was on the verge of exiting out of the building, a tanned man with a cowlick extended his hand. Taking a step forward, a dull thud cmmed out of his boot, as the rusted metal only trapped the reverberation of the metal.

  (Christian) W-Wait!

  Looking from behind, Gabriel stood just between the main building and the howling desert from outside. His body leaning toward the outside, he had his back hunched forward, while his left ear perked up.

  (Christian) During the beast-human skirmishes… What happened to all three of you? You, David, and Kenichi.

  David’s hand that gripped the doorframe soon tightened, causing the metal around his fingers to dent the old material. Digging into the metal, slight creaks and screams came to py, as his long fingernails managed to cut deep into the very rusted metal that could sore a person’s skin by just rubbing on it.

  Darkening his face, he hunched his back further, his voice trailing out.

  (Spartan Gabriel) I found out the truth…

  Without saying farewell, or even waving the group off, Gabriel soon disappeared into the howling night, letting the warm sand bnket him in the pitch of night.

  ______________________________________________________________________________

  Taking the tension along with him, everyone soon colpsed onto the floor.

  Spreading their arms out wide, Luke in particur looked up toward the metallic ceiling, as he skimmed through the many spiderwebs up top. Ignoring the spiders, Luke arched his head forward, looking toward his group.

  (Miles) I call this a miracle if I see one. He could’ve captured us if he wanted to.

  (Luke) But he didn’t.

  (Miles) Then more than enough reason to ditch the train heist.

  Luke covered his left hand over his left eye, as his right hair blocked his right. Stabbing his forehead with his long nails, he put most of his body weight onto the end of his tailbone, while tucking his knees in.

  Behind him, Hope put both of her hands onto his shoulders, holding herself up by pinning pressure onto her kneecaps. As Luna stood behind him, both of her hands balled into tightened fists.

  But her breathing was slowed.

  (Luna) Wherever you go, I go.

  (Luke) Luna…

  (Luna) Just make your decision already. Besides, I need someone to forge two new swords.

  (Luna’s thoughts) And entirely new clothes.

  Still covering his left eye, Luke began to pull out his hand, pcing it down on the floor. Tilting his head upward, everyone else stood in front of him, rubbing their arms with their hands or fiddling with their fingers. His fingers twitching, he swiftly got up, using his palms to scrape against the old metal to stand himself.

  (Luke) We’re surrendering.

  A piece of metal soon broke.

  Everyone turned their eyes on the back of the group, an elf with ginger hair wielded the talkie-cell, having it wrapped around his fingers. Some of its buttons missing from the device, those same buttons trickled the floor beneath Sean’s boots.

  The talkie-cell being beyond broken, the elf that crushed it with his grip only gred at Luke, red already straining his eyes.

  (Sean) What the hell are you suggesting…

  (Luke) There’s no point in this. The agents and government know where we are at.

  (Sean) So you’re submitting to them!?

  Taking a step back, Sean used his other finger to point it straight at Luke, his eyes already burning in a crimson red.

  Luke soon began to clench both of his hands, along with his lower body boiling up like a fme heating up oil. Despite his anger swelling inside of him, he pushed his feet to help him stand up, followed by his hands sticking out as if he were about to receive a gift.

  A hand gesture that he used in most of those little speeches.

  (Luke) Look, Sean, we don’t want any of this. No one does. Besides, that train heist pn wasn’t even going to work in the first pce.

  (Sean) So you were selling me false hopes!? I knew that you were cowardly enough to never go along!

  Luke remained silent, his long fingernails beginning to dig into both of his palms. Taking in a big deep breath, a slow and long exhale took form, his chest ballooning up from the excess air.

  But Sean glued the soles of his feet on the metallic floor, his death grip on the talkie-cell sparkling some of its circuits that were long dead. Pieces of scrap and metal dangling off of the destroyed device, Sean lowered his hand down to his side.

  (Sean) Yeah, that’s what I thought. That’s the one thing that I hate about you; always following or pleasing the crowd. The moment someone criticizes you, you just seem to do whatever it takes to perfect that image huh?

  (Luke) It’s called learning from my mistakes…

  (Sean) It’s called being a pushover, ass-kisser.

  Blood soon began to drip down from both of Luke’s hands, letting it roll deep into his leather jacket’s sleeves. Tilting his head downward, his knuckles soon sprouted out like sore sickly thumbs.

  Hope hovered behind Luke’s back, having both of her hands inches away from his central back. Seeing this, Sean’s frown deepened even more, looking away as he snickered.

  (Sean) Bastard can’t even pick.

  Luke slowly tilted his head upward, his face darkened along with his right side bang still covering his right eye. His left eye in full dispy, red strain soon began to form just on the edge of his pupils, his body soon shivering like he was cold.

  A low groan escaped out of his throat, and more blood swept out of his scraped and jabbed palms.

  As a low deep voice took hold of Luke.

  (Luke) Shut up.

  Everyone took a step back.

  Instead of ceasing his anger, Sean also clenched both of his hands together as well, his eyes fully encapsuted with crimson red. Walking toward Luke, Luke already had his left eye staring deep into both of his green eyes, as both were at the breaking point of seeing red.

  While Sean let the talkie-cell drop to the floor.

  Using his free hand, Sean thrust it up to grab Luke’s colr. Towering over him with his shadow, both of their faces were inches away from theirs.

  (Sean) Then make me. Gwen was ten times a leader than you ever were.

  (Luke) Leave … Gwen out of this …

  (Sean) If only someone were to pn their counterattack better.

  (Luke) I said shut up…

  Luke lowered both of his hands down to his thighs, letting them motionless to gravity. Biting down the insides of his cheeks, blood circuted all around his dried-up mouth, with most of his iron cing down into his throat.

  At long st, Sean pushed down his eyes, his death grip on Luke’s colr soon ceased. Like a defted balloon, Sean looked down to the ground, as bits of tears soon began to form right underneath his eyelids.

  (Sean) Gwen would have still been alive—

  Luke punched Sean.

  Delivering an uppercut to Sean’s chin, some of his knuckles chipped from inside his hand. Using all that he had, his right arm bulged its lean muscles, causing everyone to let their breaths situate inside of their lungs.

  In slow motion, Sean fell onto the rusted metal floor, hitting the back of his head along the metal. More blood letting loose, his eyes widened, along with the corners of his lips moistened by his blood that mixed with his drool. His entire body numb, the only thing that he could move was just his eyeballs, seeing the huffing and puffing Luke with drool streaming on the end of his right lip.

  Wiping it away with his right sleeve, his right hand soon bruised from the punch.

  (Luke) I told you to shut up…