Post by Arbiter124 on Sept 10, 2013 16:27:25 GMT -6
Back to GONE
Chapter ONE
‘Poof’
Otis saw him, he knew that he was there. He had been there the entire class. There was no way he just, disappeared like that. That isn’t how it works. It made no sense. His teacher must have been some sort of magician, because he just disappeared like that.
“What just happened?” Larson, some kid who Otis didn’t really talk to spoke up from behind him. Otis turned, and shrugged. He looked to the kid next to him, Jace; A Hawaiian kid who liked to surf on the water surrounding the island. He kept a low profile most of the time. Otis had been buddies with buddies back when he was a little kid, but they had moved separate ways. They were still friendly with each other, but it isn’t like they hung out or anything anymore. Otis’s questioning eyes landed on Jace, and he shrugged, in a ‘wasn’t me!’ gesture. Otis groaned, and then heard a chuckle. He turned, to see a kid far back. A girl. Maria. She looked around the classroom, not scared, but more worried. She let out a couple chuckles of confusion, looking to her classmates for approval.
Several of them joined in, letting out small giggles of confusion, trying to play it off.
Otis lurched up, and walked to the desk, looking behind it. He wasn’t there. Where was he then?
The door creaked open, and every kid in the room flicked their eyes over. A little kid, with bright orange hair waddled in, no older than ten. He had to be in fourth or fifth grade. He stood halfway in the door, embarrassed from all the older kids looking at him.
Otis spoke first. “Sup’, kiddo?”
The kid looked around, obviously nervous to be talking to eighth graders. He looked down, and then spoke in a soft tone, that could barely even be heard.
“I don’t know where the teacher went...” He said, softly. Jace gave a role of his brown eyes, and a kid known as Ajax stood up.
“Yea, same issue here kid.” He mumbled, walking to the door. The little kid backed up, and Ajax rushed out of the class. Walking down the hall. Otis strode over to the door and poked his head out. He was about to call to Ajax, when he saw the halls.
Everyone was out there, walking and talking, trying to figure out what happened. Ajax disappeared into the crowd. Otis went wide eyed, and walked back into the class. He looked at everyone, and then made a motion with his hand. They all looked at each other and stood up, walking out into the hallways. Otis looked around, and his light brown eyes locked onto JD’s. JD was friends with Otis, a strange companionship, really. JD was a big, tough kid, standing at six feet tall. He wasn’t muscled out, but he was thick, and that made him strong and tough in one. Nobody messed with JD. Ever.
Otis was more of the kid who kept a low profile, only talked with some people. No one really cared about Otis, but JD’s name registered in everyone’s minds. Otis trotted over,
pushing passed the crowd and landing right in front of his juggernaut friend.
“Any idea what’s happening, man?” Otis questioned. JD shook his head, shrugging. He didn’t look scared like most people; He looked worried, though. That made Otis incredibly uncomfortable.
“Nope. People just... disappeared. Poof.” He made a gesture with his hands to fully explain what he was attempting to. Otis nodded, and looked to the door. Kids were leaving. He had no idea where they were going, but they were leaving. Otis tapped JD and pointed, to which the sluggish kid nodded. The two began to walk towards the door, and out into the burning sunlight of spring.
“...Where to now-” Otis began, but was cut off by the terrorizing sound of an explosion. Off to the right, a mushroom of orange and black erupted, towards the gas station. It seemed to act as a signal to break down, because a majority of the kids seemingly lost their minds after that. Screaming, yelling, asking questions to no one in particular. Otis wanted to as well, but he couldn’t. He was better than that, and he knew he had to be. He tapped JD, and the two began running over to the gas station, hopping fences, picking up speed through slopes.
Otis reached it quickly, JD was lost behind due to his size and weight. He’d catch up. Otis vaulted over a fence, running into the street directly next to the fire. A car had veered off of the road, and hit the gas station, apparently triggering something. The fire was pretty much engulfing the entire building, and it looked like it would spread quickly. He looked behind him, to see kids running up to the scene, taking places at Otis’s side. Murmurs and rumors were already spreading, but mostly kids talking about what to do. Everyone just stood in awe as the fire began to erupt in the building.
“What do we do?” Some kid yelled out. Otis looked around, to see that no one moved, just stood and watched like it was some movie. He was disgusted. He wanted to do something. He couldn’t though, he was just a kid. This wasn’t his job, wasn’t his job. This was for the adults.
Where were the adults?
A girl backed up. He looked at her, and everything that she looked like was present in everyone else. He hated to think like that, though. Regardless, it was true. Her fear, her loneliness, her confusion. It all registered with JD, Otis, and everyone else in the room. He had to get over it, because it was true. Otis fought back tears, and took one last glance at the fire, before turning away, and walking. This wasn’t his problem. This was the issue for a superhero.
He was no hero.
He was scared.
He was alone.
Everyone else slowly drifted, taking one last glance at the raging chaos of the fire, and then walking away. They couldn’t do anything to save it. This wasn’t their job.
Otis moved down the street towards his house. He wanted to find his parents. He wanted to know what was going on. The weird part is that he knew exactly what was going on. He just couldn’t say it. It couldn’t be true. This was a dream. A nightmare.
No. This was no nightmare.
This was hell.
Back to GONE
Chapter TWO
‘Vests Academy’
Chaz Walker sat low and comfortable in his chair, listening to the teacher talk about ‘Society’s boundaries’. He could care less. The teacher just talked about laws and rules. Chaz already knew about them. They existed, and they were needed. He got that. Some people didn’t, however. Chaz wasn’t in this boarding school because of that. He was here because he wanted to be the man setting the rules. He didn’t believe in democracy. He could care less what everyone else thought, only the smart people should get to make the rules.
Poof.
Gone.
Chaz wasn’t really having his eyes on the teacher, but even he looked straight up, bewildered at the strange blur, and the disappearance of their so called ‘superior’. He looked up and around the class, to see all of them confused as well. Silas, a big and strong dude, sat up in his seat, and locked eyes with a girl known as Ariel, who had a knife obsession. Chaz turned around in his seat, to see Rex Smith, easily the most dangerous and least stable person in the school, smiling with his terrifying grin, his long dark brown hair swept off to the right just above his eyes .
Rex scared Chaz, and that was hard to do. He was not only a tall and lean dude, at five-nine, but he also had major issues. He was sadistic, and the only person there at Vests to fail the mental test. He was in here for almost killing his father with a machete. He only landed one blow, and it was a miracle he didn’t go to prison, rather here.
Although Chaz wasn’t as tough or as dangerous as Rex, he was effective in his own way. Rex was a fighter, but Chaz was a manipulative kid. Cold and calculating. And he knew that if a situation ever happened like this, Rex was his man to use. A perfect pawn.
Plus, Chaz had something he could use against Smith. He just needed to learn how to control it.
“What just happened?” Ariel spoke, standing up from her seat.
“Who told you to stand, bitch?” Rex stood up, and everyone winced, except for Silas and Chaz. Ariel flinched, but seeing that Rex wasn’t striking yet, she let out a small laugh.
“Like you give a shit about rules, Rexie.”
Rex snarled, but registering what she said, gave a smile of acceptance, and shrugged. He pushed in his seat and started walking to the door. He unbuttoned his collared shirt, letting it hang loosely rather than all uptight.
“Where you going, Rex?” Silas asked the sadist. He turned around, the same cheerful grin from before on his face.
“Off to find the adults, I guess.” Rex retorted, an obvious lie, before turning back to the door. Chaz stood up, and spoke to the entire classroom, despite the fact that he only looked towards Rex.
“Stop.”
Rex Smith looked like he would turn, and he did. A lot more, actually. He was as fast and as vicious as a wolf, twisting and turning to Chaz and lunging, making contact instantly. He grabbed Chaz by his collared shirt and shoved him into the wall, pinning him. Chaz gasped from the hit, Rex inches from his face, snarling.
“What did you just say to me, Chazzie boy?” Rex snarled, a low whisper, but still loud enough for some of the group to hear. Chaz glared at Rex, and then spoke, loud enough for the entire class.
“Notice how not one adult has come in to see what’s going on? No intercom, no bell, and Mr. Lanthrope still hasn’t come back. Does that not interest anyone? We have to figure out what’s going on, Rex. To do that, though, we all have to stick together.” Chaz spoke, still looking at Rex. Silas and a kid known as Eric stood up.
“He’s right, Rex.” Eric mumbled.
“Put Chaz down.” Silas spoke. Not an order. Silas knew that he couldn’t take Rex despite their size difference.
The entire class could, though.
Rex knew when to stand up and when to back down. He looked around the room, and with a cold glare at Chaz, loosened his grip, backing off and sitting on the teacher’s desk.
“So. What’s your big plan, Chazzie?”
Chaz straightened himself, and then hopped on the desk, Rex at his side, unhappy about it.
“Collect the kids from the other classes, and meet me in the gymnasium. Ariel, Eric, Silas, and... Rex. You four come with me to the gym right now. The rest of you lead everyone to the gym. Make sure there are no stragglers.” Chaz said, and the Vests’ kids sprang into action. Eric, Silas, Ariel, and Rex all circled around Chaz, and he pushed past them, leading the group of five through the halls, passed the kids. Rex moved at his right, and he shouldered the gym door, it swinging open for the other four to walk in.
Just as he suspected.
No adults.
Gone.
Chaz waltzed to the center of the gym, and turned to the group. Rex stood straight up, arms crossed at his chest, his dark hair just above his ice blue, cold eyes.
Silas had his hands in his jean pockets, his collared shirt unbuttoned like Rex’s, with black pricks standing up on his head as he had a buzzcut. He stood half a head taller than the sadist.
Ariel had her hands and her hips, her jet black straight hair going down to just above her elbows.
Eric stood straight, his short, blonde hair being nicely groomed, unlike Rex’s.
“Look, I didn’t ask you here specifically for your charm or because we’re great friends.” He said sarcastically, which actually got a smirk from Rex much to Chaz’s surprise.
“You’re here with me now because you’re valuable, more than most. We need brains, we need brawn, and we need to install a wave of fear in people. It keeps them in line. Also, because we’ve already gone over the fact that three of us here have the power.” He spoke to all of them.
Rex stood, confused. Eric tried to act like he understood, but he was lost as well. Silas and Ariel both nodded. Chaz turned to Silas, and nodded.
“Show’em.”
Silas nodded, and with a flick of his wrist, it caught fire. Rex blinked in surprise, and took a step back. He snarled, but seeing that it wasn’t a threat, he loosed his tenseness, grinning at the hand that not only generated a constant flame, but kept it from spreading, and was not burnt at all.
“Eric, Rex. We’ve noted that some of us are capable of using things that many people cannot. We can tap into these powers, we don’t know why. We’ve worked with them with each other, developed them, become adept with them. Some are more challenging to control than others.” Chaz explained to the two other kids.
“What’s yours?” Eric demanded. Rex seemed intrigued as well.
“That’s not needed to know. We keep mine on the down low.” He explained.
“Ariel, her reaction time has increased ten fold. Her senses are accurate and deadly.” Nodding towards Ariel, who gave a smirk.
Rex snarled. “Can I have one?”
Chaz shook his head, crossing his arms.
“Luck of the draw.” Silas bragged.
“Look, we keep this on the down low. We cannot let the other kids know about this. I’ll collect the other power wielding kids as soon as I can, but for now...”
The doors opened again, and Vests kids poured into the gym, sitting on the bleachers.
“For now, we put on a show.” Chaz said, walking up to the crowd.
---
Otis and JD walked down the street, side by side. They had checked JD’s house. Nothing. Not a note that they were leaving, not a phone call, nothing. Now, nearing Otis’s driveway, he began to realize that he didn’t want to know if his parents were at the house. He wanted to turn around. He feared knowing.
After all, ignorance is bliss.
“Hey, someone, help!”
A voice, behind them. Otis and JD turned to see a short, stocky kid running towards them. He looked like he had dark skin, but he was not black. Didn’t look mexican, either. He might’ve been italian, maybe had some greek heritage. Behind him were three kids who followed, with what looked like savage intent.
Otis recognized the leader of the bandit trio even from that far away.
Ajax.
The kid reached them, and started blabbing.
“You guys need to help me, these kids are chasing me. My name’s Isaac Kostopulos. They want my money. No one’s helping. They’re going to hurt me. I don’t want to get hurt.” JD stepped between him and Otis.
“Sorry kid, this isn’t our problem. We’re not the police.”
Otis knew he was right.
Not their problem.
Save it for the adults.
He tried to fight the urge, to ignore the crisis. He couldn’t, though. He knew it, JD knew it, this kid knew it.
The parents were long gone.
Otis stepped up, walking towards the three kids who went from their sprint to an energetic trot. It turned into a walk once they were about ten yards away.
Ajax moved a couple steps closer, crossing his arms.
“Sup’ Otis.” He called out with an arrogant smirk pasted on his pale face. Otis clenched his fists, JD coming to his side. Isaac hid behind them.
“Move aside, bud.” Ajax giggled, his two companions sensing the coming brawl and readying themselves. No one was armed. Which in the end would only make this more brutal.
“No.”
Ajax actually looked surprised. Otis knew Ajax was a bully, and Ajax had really expected Otis to back down. He refused, though. Otis wouldn’t let anarchy just collapse the island so quickly. It had only been two hours since the incident.
“Well, let’s get this started, then.” Ajax shrugged, walking towards Otis and JD with savage intent. The pair of his toadies behind him saw Ajax make his move, and flanked him, moving towards Otis. JD let out some sort of roar of defiance, and charged them. The kid on the right did not see it coming, and didn’t escape the blow. JD hit him with linebacker strength, and the two toppled to the street, slamming into the pavement. Otis actually felt bad for the kid.
Ajax looked back at the hit, and then turned around to face Otis, only to see a fist coming at him. Ajax’s reflexes took over and he brought his torso and head back, avoiding the swing by inches. He staggered backward, but quickly regained balance and swung towards Otis, landing a blow against Otis’s temple. He stumbled backward, wincing from the blow and clutching his head. It rung, bad. He had never been punched so hard in his life.
“How’d that feel, Otis?” Ajax laughed, swinging again. Otis blocked this swing with his arm, deflecting the punch. He recovered as best he could and ducked Ajax’s next swing. He rose back up, swinging his fist in an uppercut that made a very lucky - and effective - hit, slamming into Ajax’s chin. He stumbled back, but recovered easily, grunting. Too late, though, Otis sent his fairly well built body into Ajax’s, tackling him to the ground. However, he was quickly torn off by one of the toadies, a kid known around as Curly. Otis toppled off and rolled to his feet, in a defensive position. Ajax rose to his feet, brushing himself off. JD took his place at Otis’s side, ready to continue if need be.
“Otis, I swear to god I will whoop your ass.” He snarled. Otis said nothing, and after a quick moment of silence, Ajax‘s glare faded, and he turned to his group. He made a motion with his head, and they began walking back down the street. Curly turned around and flipped them off, but turned his back to them once again afterward and kept walking along with Ajax.
Otis turned around, to see the Isaac kid standing there, a grin of disbelief on his face. He walked over to Otis and extended his hand. Otis took it, and Isaac shook it gratefully.
“Thank you so much, Otis? Yea, you’re a grade above me. I’m Isaac. Seventh grader. I can’t explain how grateful I am to you. Who knows what they’d have done to me if they got to me.
Otis nodded, smiling, fake. It’s not that he didn’t like this kid, he was just still worrying about this crisis.
“It’s cool, Isaac. We’re just doing the right thing.” He smiled, fist bumping JD.
“Hey, I heard about people meeting up in the plaza. It’s only a couple blocks away. You want to go?” Isaac offered the two. Otis looked toward JD, who had his arms crossed, shrugging at the offer. Otis turned back to Isaac, who was looking at him, obviously still grateful.
“Why not? Nothing else to do.” Otis gave in. Isaac laughed, and high fived Otis and JD, trotting down the street.
“Let’s go!” Isaac yelled out with some sort of strange excitement.
Back to GONE
Chapter THREE
‘Power Corrupts’
Paul stood in the mass of Vests students who all moved about in a rush. They went about their business, grabbing supplies, handing them off to other kids, and throwing them in cars to get ready to move.
And to make matters worse for everyone, who was overseeing the whole operation? Making sure everyone stayed in line?
Rex Smith.
The perfect man for the job. Paul was a short kid, not stocky. He wasn’t built to take on Rex, the sadistic bastard. He was over standing on one of the outdoor lunch tables, barking orders at the kids, who rushed along to please the beast.
Rex had a knife. A kitchen knife, taken from the cafeteria.
Paul was tossing pencils and notebooks to other kids, who in turn took them and threw them in backpacks, and handed them off to the kids who shoved them in the teacher’s cars. Chaz’s cars, now.
Paul looked toward another kid, who stood up on the table and began speaking with Rex. Marco Keith. Marco was one of Chaz’s personally picked guys. He wasn’t a fighter, but he was cunning, and manipulative. Paul didn’t like him, really. Although, he didn’t like many of the kids, especially those kids in charge.
As for Rex, he envied the power he had. No respect from other kids. Fear, and only fear.
Paul wish he had that.
He was too small
.
Too short.
Too weak.
Although, Paul had something that Rex lacked. He was special. He could do things that no one else could do. He wish he could control it. Then he’d be feared. Then people would bow down to him as if he was some sort of god.
However, he still needed to train his power.
Sharpen his blade, in a sense.
A much more literal metaphor than anyone could know.
After all, it was that damn thing he could do that had his parents send him here. They hadn’t known about his power, they just knew that he was going to be charged for ‘stabbing’.
“Paul, come.” The voice cut like a knife through the crowd, easily. It was harsh, it was violent. The voice was easily recognizable, and kids instantly stepped away from Paul, still continuing their work, in fear of that same voice cutting them down.
Rex, with Marco by his side
.
Paul gulped, and pushed passed the groups of kids, reaching the table through the crowd. He looked up at them, to see Rex’s hand stretched out. Paul hesitated, but realizing it wasn’t a request, grabbed hold and was hauled up to the tabletop, with Rex, along with Marco.
“Sup’, Paul.” Rex said, his sadistic grin scorching Paul’s gaze. He looked away, not in attempt to disrespect, he just couldn’t stand looking at that shark grin.
“Paul,” Marco spoke towards him. “Rex is getting a security force ready. He heard about your reasoning for being here. At Vests. The troubled school.”
Paul wanted to say that it was an accident, that he hadn’t intentionally wounded that little boy. His so called ‘specialty’ had activated. He wanted to hurt the kid, sure, but he would never have actually attempted to stab him.
However, Paul held back his need to tell the truth, seeing that if Rex wanted him, that was a chance for power. A chance he would not decline.
“I want you as my second-in command, Paul.” Rex said excitedly, sarcastically, like a little school girl mixed with, well, an asshole. Paul hesitated once again, but seeing that this was his big chance for power and gain, nodded.
“Alright, I’m in, Rex.” Paul said. Rex smiled, and patted Paul on the shoulder. His toothy grin dulled slightly, but remained.
“That’s a good boy.” Rex taunted, to see if Paul could take his humor. All Paul could think about was how that sounded like he was a dog. He was Rex’s little dog now. No matter, he was also second-in command of the entire security force, which was a very intimidating title, especially since his only superiors are people like Rex and Chaz.
“Now, I want you to round up three or four other kids, capable ones, and meet me back here.” Rex ordered. Paul nodded, and hopped off his table. He began to walk away and find some worthy recruits for Rex’s soldiers, but he turned around, suddenly intrigued by something.
“Hey Rex, why are we loading up cars?” Paul asked, which received a condescending laugh from Rex, like he was some know it all in charge. He was, but Paul didn’t like the arrogance.
“Chaz wants some of us to take a drive down to Greenwood. We’re going to see how our old rivals are doing.”
---
Otis moved down the street with JD, Isaac taking point, trotting down the street with excitement. He must have been very happy that Otis was around to save him, because he didn’t look like a kid who acted this way on a regular basis.
“Hey, Otis?” JD asked, nudging Otis to get his attention.
“Sup, J?” Otis responded to his friend.
“What are we doing?” JD questioned. “What happened? I, I don’t get it. Am I going to see my Mom again?”
“Yea, J, we’ll see them again.” Otis assured him. He wasn’t sure himself, though. This was new for everyone, and there was no telling where the parents really went.
The Harbor.
They must have left the island.
Otis had to get to a boat.
Otis stopped, and JD stopped as well. Isaac kept moving several feet, until he realized they had stopped, in which he walked back to them, a concerned look on his dark face.
“What’s up?” Isaac asked the two. JD and Otis both stood there, looking at each other with realization of the only logical explanation. They both craned their necks towards Isaac, and smiled.
“Isaac, we need to get to the harbor.” Otis smiled. Even if he was wrong, they could take a boat off the island, away from the madness that would follow without adults, without anyone.
Otis began walking down the street, towards the harbor of Greenwood. He would need to pass through the plaza, but it wasn’t a huge town, and thus it would be a quick trot there. Fifteen minutes or less. The issue was, would the kids just let them get right through without stalling them?
He desperately hoped no one had already thought about this idea. Which seemed unlikely, since fear is in everyone’s mind right now. Which means no one is thinking about getting off the island, so boats should still be around.
They reached the plaza. The sight Otis saw was scary, but also surprising.
Kids had gathered in the park. Most of them, if not all. At least two hundred. They stood in groups of close friends and or family. They all looked worried and scared. Some more than others. Some acted cool, some acted tough, but Otis saw the weakness in their eyes. He saw how scared they were. How worried they were. They didn’t know what was going on. Otis doubted that they even wanted to know. He was damn sure that he didn’t want to know.
“Otis!” A voice, easily drowned out by the crowd. He had definitely heard it though. Someone called his name.
“Otis!”
Again.
A tap on his shoulder did the trick. Otis jumped, paranoid, and landed in a defensive position, fists up. The kid from class. Larson. Larson stood there, scared that he may get punched, but not in a fighting position. Otis rested, standing up straight.
“T’Sup, Larson.” Otis murmured, slightly embarrassed from being so paranoid and quick to violence. He just acted out exactly what he didn’t want to happen on the island. He had to be better than that. He had to be the better person.
“Otis, I was looking for you!” He said, excited. He seemed kind of like Isaac, but he handled himself much better. Isaac was some random seventh grader. Larson on the other hand, was calm, calculating. A perfect businessman.
“I heard about your act of... heroism.” He cocked his head towards Isaac, who nodded in agreement with that statement.
“It was quite the story. Standing up for someone who you don’t even know like that. We need people like that, now. With all of our authority figures, gone like that. Look, someone is taking power. Sinjid. He knows what he’s doing, and he wants order. A system. A society. What does every society contain? A security force. We need brave people, who not only can tell right from wrong, but can actually put it in action. You’re that kid, Otis. You in?”
Otis looked at Larson, analyzing what he had said. Larson was a good kid, a smart one too. Otis knew that Larson would make a sensible decision, and with everything going on right now, laws needed to be made as soon as possible. Otis nodded, and Larson smiled.
“Good,” Larson responded. “Let’s get it started, then.”
Otis nodded in agreement, turning around to speak to JD and Isaac. However, there was one issue.
Isaac was not present.
“Isaac? Otis called out. Where did that kid go?
---
Isaac pushed through the crowd, shouldering his way passed kids. Otis’s plan was way too smart to give up just so Otis could play the big leader. Isaac wanted to get out. He wanted to escape. Ajax would find him. He didn’t want to be hurt by Ajax or Curly or anyone. The harbor was close. He needed to find a boat before Otis got to him. Stopped him. Forced him to stay.
Seven minutes later, Isaac had reached his destination. He ran down the dock, in which no kids were present. Leaping off of the dock and landing in a small boat, he began searching for keys. Anything. He didn’t know how to drive a boat, but he’d figure it out.
How hard could it be?
Three long and tedious minutes later, Isaac shoved the keys in the ignition of the boat, and he heard the motor start up. Untying the ropes keeping the boat attached to the dock, Isaac used the strength he had to push off. The boat was small and light in water, and it came off of the dock easily. Trotting back over to the controls, he looked them all over. He felt uneasy, with no idea as to how to operate the boat.
“Need some help?”
Isaac whipped around, fearing the inevitable truth that it must have been Ajax, come back to finish what he had attempted to do earlier. To his relief, it was not. He sighed, and looked the kid over. He was pale, average sized, with a backpack wrapped around his shoulders. Nothing special. Although, the kid seemed friendly enough, hopping into the boat with Isaac, who accepted the offer.
“Yea, can you teach me how to operate this thing?” Isaac said, eyes lighting up with what must have been a better idea. “Or, maybe you could drive this? I’m getting off the island!” He yelled out happily. The stranger nodded, and gave a smirk.
“Same idea here, kid. What’s your name?” He said, walking over to the controls, in which Isaac stepped backward from.
“Isaac Kostopulos, seventh grade.” Isaac reported, eager to get out of this hell hole. The kid glanced up at Isaac, nodding, but his gaze quickly drifted back towards the controls of the boat.
“Jaden Talley. Eight.” He responded, with a hum of the motors roaring to life, the boat drifting slowly away from the dock.
“You know how to drive boats, Jaden?” Isaac questioned, attempting to make small talk so he didn’t have to go through this ride in an awkward silence with some random kid.
“Yep. My Dad worked on the ferry that came to and from here. He taught me how to work almost every type of boats. Hell, I could probably man that cruise ship if I had the right people.” He explained, cocking his head to the right. Isaac looked towards the direction, to see the huge ship that Jaden was referring to. Isaac nodded, impressed with the abilities of this kid.
Five minutes later, and they were seven miles out. Isaac was excited. He was getting out of that wretched island. He did feel bad, though. Leaving Otis like that was kind of a jerk move. However, Otis had accepted the offer, so either way he would have stayed, and forced Isaac to stay there, trapped on the island with Ajax still loose. He wasn’t going to risk that, even if it meant leaving his protector behind.
CRASH!
Isaac’s thoughts were cut short by a sudden slamming of the boat against something else. The boat rocked as if it just slammed against the side of some object. Isaac lurched forward, being thrown against the side of the tiny boat. He slid to the ground on his side, moaning. Looking up, he saw Jaden on his knees. Jaden was also moaning, but that was cut short when he looked up, his jaw dropping and his eyes widening as if he was seeing some sort of ghost.
“What’d we hit...?” Isaac questioned his driver. After a minute of Jaden not responding, Isaac groaned and stood up, checking injuries. He was fine. Satisfied with that, he turned, to see right at the front of the boat, some sort of glowing substance. It looked like some majestic special effect from a movie. Isaac looked towards Jaden, and then looked back at the glow. He put his hand forward, as they were close enough to touch it. Pointing his index out towards the glow, he got close.
Too close.
The pain was burning, and it sent him staggering back, bellowing in pain and clutching his hand that had touched it. He snarled, and picked up Jaden’s backpack, hurling it at the glow. The backpack smacked against the apparently solid substance, sliding back down and onto the boat. Isaac went wide eyed. He took out his iPhone and snapped three pictures, turning back to Jaden.
“This thing still working?” Jaden nodded.
“Yea, why?”
Isaac lifted up his phone, half grinning half surprised, still in awe at the barrier.
“We need to upload these to FaceBook.”
Back to GONE
Chapter FOUR
‘The Council’
Otis did not expect to be spending his afternoon in a meeting talking about a new system for Greenwood. But that was where he was. He was at a table with some of the main people for the new ‘government’. Larson was sitting at his right, looking intently at Sinjid as he gave his lecture.
Sinjid was really short, pale, and looked like he was some little wannabe president. He spoke in an excited voice that made Otis clearly see that he didn’t care about the missing adults. In short, he was everything that could annoy Otis at a time like this.
“Now, Riley here has been keeping people calm and people like her.” Sinjid said. “I think she’ll be great as public relations.” Riley was looking bored in a swivel chair by the window. Otis had seen her around, but he barely knew her, except that she was on some track team. She was average height, thin, but athletic, and had a stare that would have intimidated most people, but Sinjid ignored.
Otis saw that Larson and Allen, some rich kid with a movie star mother, were the only two listening to Sinjid. Allen was correcting every word Sinjid said, and Larson just absorbed it all. Nothing was getting done.
“...And also, I think that...” Sinjid started saying something, but Otis snapped, “Sinjid, what’s wrong with you? Who made you king or something?” This attracted everyone’s attention. Otis calmed down a bit. “I mean, what is getting done here? Not much. When I heard you had a system, I thought it might be something that could fix things.”
Allen said, “He’s right. What we have to do first is get the people to calm down and help us from the system.”
Sinjid looked at both of them, and said, “You don’t know anything. Letting everyone know that we’re in trouble won’t help.” This got Riley to glare at him. “America doesn’t have censorship from our government. Our society can’t either. We need rules, and we need everyone to help make them.” She spat the words at Sinjid.
Larson spoke, “Stop. I think that we shouldn’t argue like this before we know what we’re doing. So, maybe we all should calm down, try to help the kids out there, and come up with a system when we’re more organized.” He said this as if he had come up with it already.
Sinjid looked like he wanted to stab him, but he muttered, “Fine. This meeting’s over.” He stormed out of the room. Slowly, everyone else left except for Larson and Otis. Otis told Larson, “Sinjid was annoying me. Glad you got the meeting done.” He started to leave, but then Larson said, “Wait.”
“What is it?”
“Well Otis, I saw something weird earlier.”
“What?”
“Some kid walking out of the school, he kind of, sort of, vanished. Then he was down the block. Then he was gone.”
“What? He teleported or something?”
“That’s what I saw.”
Otis looked at Larson like he was crazy. “That’s not possible.”
Larson spoke, “Probably just a trick of the light. But, Otis?”
“What?”
“Adults don't disappear, either.”
---
Paul moved down the hallways of Vests, trailed by three new kids to work for Rex in his so called ‘police force’. He had gathered the most violent and the most intimidating people that he had known around Vests.
Zane. Zane was what a lot of people liked to call the ‘Mini Rex’. Mini for short. The two didn’t hang out often, but Zane was violent and quick to vicious actions, like Rex. However, Zane lacked the sadistic lust for inflicting pain that made Rex so scary. Zane was more of an arrogant prick rather than an actual threat like Rex.
However, Paul had seen Zane fight.
By god, Zane could fight.
The other kid was a ‘jock’, kind of like Silas. This kid’s name was Thomas Lamasko, but everyone called him Hyde.
A weird nickname for a normal person, but Hyde wasn’t normal. He was in Vests because he was hit by a car. The thing is, he got up from the hit like it was nothing, and started threatening the driver. The threats almost scaled into a brawl, but Hyde was taken away, and his parents sent him to Vests. He earned the nickname after he started bragging about how he was invincible. Paul was actually weirded out by the idea of invincibility. It was like a superpower.
But Paul, Paul had a real superpower.
The last kid was a girl named Cassandra, but everyone just called her Sparky. She was energetic and happy most of the time, which earned her the nickname. She was also quite the hostile person when she wanted to be, which is why Paul chose her.
Well, that and the fact that he didn’t know anyone else to pick.
Paul reached the parking lot, where he saw Rex barking orders at kids, who were loading supplies into a pickup truck. Once Rex’s line of sight find Paul, he gave his arrogant smile, spreading his arms in what looked like a friendly gesture. He waltzed towards Paul and the three rookies, and Paul stood at attention. The three kids did the same. It wasn’t a military, but everyone paid their respects to Rex. Especially an armed Rex.
No one wanted to get stabbed.
“Paul, this is the new bloods?” Rex snarled with his sadistic smile still on his face, cocking his head towards the three. Paul nodded, and then shrugged. He just wasn’t sure how to handle himself, and he instantly regretted the shrug, because it looked like it confused Rex a bit.
“Uh, yea.” Paul spoke up, to confuse Rex less. “Zane, Hyde, and Sparky.” He said, pointing to each one like some Zoo Guide telling the kids about each type of animal in its display.
Rex nodded, and then glanced over towards the truck.
“We’re loaded up, Paul. Now we just need Chazzie’s order and we can get a move on.” He briefed the four.
“You have it.” A voice at the other end of the lot. Rex, Zane, Hyde, Sparky, and Paul all turned to see Chaz at the other end of the lot advancing towards them, Silas and Marco at his respective sides. Rex stood at attention. It was as if Rex feared Chaz. He at least respected him.
Paul didn’t know Chaz well, but anyone who can keep Rex Smith in line is not someone that he was going to pick a fight with.
“We’re going down to town, as soon as possible.” Chaz spat the words out like some alpha lion talking to his subordinate hunters. Paul and Rex both nodded, and Rex loaded his four soldiers into the back of the pickup truck. Paul saw Chaz hop into the side of a convertible, with Marco in the back and Silas driving, Rex also hopping into the convertible with the rest of the commanders. A couple more kids hopped into their respective cars.
Suddenly, Paul’s heart dropped.
This was happening.
Were they making peace?
Were they going to fight?
He hadn’t even been briefed!
Too late though, he heard the car start, and pull out of the lot, moving towards the exit to Vests, and down to Greenwood.
Paul hoped that violence wouldn’t erupt.
Something told him that Rex’s hopes differed from his own.
Back to GONE
Chapter FIVE
‘The Barrier’
Cade was at his home. After he heard that there were no teachers, he ran home in joy. After all, he was just about to present his essay, and he hated presenting.
Now, he saw that his parents were gone, too. And that happiness had turned into tears. No mom, dad, or older brother. All gone. He hoped that the eighth graders had answers, but like when he was in that classroom and he asked that nice looking eighth grader where the adults were, nobody had a clue. It scared him.
He nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard a knock at the door. He went downstairs, and saw that his friend, Rick, was waiting for him. Rick was short for his age of ten, with black hair and slightly tanned skin, and always seemed happy. He almost always carried around a notebook and had a hobby of writing everything he saw down.
When he saw Cade’s expression, he frowned. “What’s wrong?”
Cade choked up, but told him, “My parents, they’re... gone.”
Rick said, “Mine are too, and its really sad. But there is a good thing.”
Cade was confused now. “What is it?”
Rick grinned, “Nobody is stopping us from eating ice cream!” He pulled out two popsicles. Cade had to smile. They both had a popsicle, sitting on the steps of Cade’s house. They were sticky and sweet, which Cade liked.
Rick was halfway through his popsicle when he asked Cade, “Do you think that this happened for a reason? Like, something caused it?” Cade shrugged. Rick continued, “I mean, do you think this has anything to do with your cool trick?” Cade thought about it. He did have a really weird trick. He did it now, and in an instant, blended into the brick wall bend him. He was nearly invisible, and he liked using it for fun.
“Is there anything else that that does? Besides you disappearing?” Cade became visible, and shook his head. He thought it was strange, but all it did was make him vanish. He shrugged, and that was when he saw the person watching him from down the street. The person began running away, yelling, “Freak! Freak on the loose! Freak!”
Cade started crying again. He was just a kid, he didn’t act mean, he just had his own superpower, or something. Rick comforted him by saying, “Its okay. You’re not a freak, and we know that, so why does what that person say matter?”
Cade answered with, “I just... have a bad feeling about other people now. I mean, with no adults, who is gonna say stop?”
Rick thought about it, and said, “I don’t know, Cade. I don’t know.” They sat on the steps for a bit more, but then Rick got up with a new smile on his face. Cade followed him, and they started walking down the street.
Cade asked, “What are we doing now?” Rick turned to him. “We have nobody to say stop, right?” Cade nodded. Rick grinned hugely and said, “Nobody will stop us from getting those new remote control planes we wanted.”
Cade said, “I don’t think that this is the time for that...”
Rick turned to him again, “We don't have time for fun? Well, then things are worse than I thought at first.”
Cade agreed.
---
Isaac hung onto the rail of the now damaged boat as Jaden sped along the waves, back to shore. He wasn’t sure how to feel. Ajax might be looking for him, but he had to get these up! A partly invisible barrier, that meant that they were trapped.
Not only were there no adults, but there was also no way off of the island. It seemed to stretch around seven or eight miles before the impassible barrier had its place.
“What do you want to do with these pictures, Isaac? Just put them on FaceBook?” Jaden finally broke the silence. Well, what would be silence, but the motor’s booming roar was more than enough to break any chances of silence.
“Yea, because then we’ll be heros! People will like us! Also, that way, I personally don’t have to deal with that Ajax kid. People will protect me.” He smiled, having his plan all thought out. Ajax won’t be able to lay a hand on him with six other kids backing Isaac up.
They were nearing the dock, and silence had taken place once again. Isaac wasn’t a fan of silence. It made things awkward, and Isaac hated awkward things. He wasn’t going to try any more attempts at conversation though. Obviously, this Jaden kid was very disappointed by the barrier trapping them. Isaac would have probably been too, but he was too caught up in the idea of being a hero. If he didn’t tell the other kids about it, than someone would have definitely died. Some kid trying to ride a jetski. He was saving a life, really. Just one, but still, a life was important. You don’t get it back.
That thought comforted Isaac. He was actually doing good. He had felt slightly guilty about leaving Otis, but in the end it only benefits everyone!
They reached the dock.
Jaden turned off the boat, and Isaac leaped off. He grabbed a rope, and through one end to Jaden. Isaac started tying a knot on one of the columns of the dock, to make sure the boat didn’t go anywhere. Jaden attached his end of the rope to one of the rails of the boat. He seemed worried, possibly that the boat would still drift. Isaac could care less, though. It really wasn’t his issue.
“Alright, Jaden, meet me in the plaza!” Isaac shouted to Jaden as he rushed off the dock. He glanced back to quickly see Jaden’s thumb shoot up in agreement. Isaac smiled to himself, adrenaline rushing through his body.
The smile faded when he saw a kid on one of the streets, blocking him from a straight run to the plaza.
Ajax.
He hadn’t seen him yet, and Isaac wasn’t going to let him. He turned down a different street, and started sprinting. He’d find a different way back to the plaza. He’d find a way to upload this to FaceBook. Phones didn’t work, however.
However, Isaac did check the internet. It worked fine, but it could only reach certain things. Isaac could put two and two together. Obviously the barrier was blocking things from outside coming in, and things from inside going out. The internet and social media would work, but only inside the barrier.
Isaac was proud that he had gathered so much information in such little time. He was a key part of this whole thing.
If he took it to the right people, then they would take the information.
Offer him stuff.
Protection from Ajax.
Protection from everyone.
He’d be safe. No one could touch him!
Who would be a person who would search for power in this situation? He had to think about it, since there were plenty of power hungry kids in the world.
What did Larson say?
Sinjid was taking over?
Yes, Sinjid. If this Sinjid kid really was taking over, then he’d have security. He’d protect Isaac. He knew he would. He had to.
Well, he had to if he wanted to know about the barrier.
Isaac turned the corner, and smashed into some kid yelling. Isaac stumbled forward and skid to the ground. He cursed, and turned around in fear of Ajax standing over him, that twisted grin of his ready to pound him into oblivion.
It was some random kid who Isaac didn’t know.
“Don’t go that way!” The kid pleaded.
“What? Why?”
“There’s some freak on the loose!” He explained no further than that, turning and sprinting down the street again. Isaac looked at the kid, confused, as he sprinted down the street, away from Isaac. Weird.
Freak or Ajax?
Isaac went with the freak.
He staggered to his feet, and continued down the street, a slow jog this time around. He didn’t want to slam into another random kid. He kept his pace until he reached another corner, where he saw the plaza, not so far away.
Time to find Sinjid.
Back to GONE
Chapter SEVEN
‘Crowd Control’
Otis walked out of the McDonalds that their meeting was taking place in. He stood at the edge of the plaza, in which a crowd of at least two hundred kids stood, talking with each other. They all seemed absorbed in their own thoughts. Probably wondering what had happened, and why had it happened to them.
After all, that’s exactly what kept going through Otis’s mind. Looking through the crowd, he found JD. At six feet and a mountain of fat, JD was not a hard kid to pick out of the crowd. Otis began walking over, entering the ocean of worried kids. He pushed through groups, who didn’t really notice him, just slightly moving to get out of his way and going back to their own conversations. He finally reached his friend, and tapped his back. JD turned around and look down to see Otis, breathing heavily from the effort of rushing through such a large crowd.
“Otis! What happened in there?” JD asked, cocking his head towards the McDonalds. Otis shrugged.
“This Sinjid kid wants to set up a system. He’s not a bad kid, but he’s rushing it. First, people need to calm down. Everyone’s worrying right now, which means no one is really paying attention to Sinjid. People just don’t care right now.” Otis explained to JD, gesturing towards Allen and Riley with his hands.
“Those two were in it. Apparently Riley’s already been doing the hard job: Keeping the kids together. I’m assuming she got everyone to the plaza.”
A voice boomed through the crowd.
“Who do you think you are?”
“Look, I don’t want any trouble. I was just trying to get to my friends.” Another voice, much quieter, responded.
“Yea, well you just got trouble, kid.”
Otis pivoted to the left, to see the direction of the voices. That Jace kid with his hands up defensively, and another kid who was pushing him. Otis groaned. Now he had to settle another conflict before this Jace kid got beat down. Otis rushed through the crowd, coming to a stop between the two kids, hands up.
“Look, guys,” He began one hand one each of their chests. “Let’s not fight. Not now. I get it, you’re both confused. Probably scared. That’s not the issue right now. The issue is that people we know, people we love, are gone. I don’t know what happened, but I do know that we shouldn’t fight right now. Not now, hopefully not ever. Got it?” He tried to reason with the two kids. Jace looked to the other kid, with a look of sorrow. He brought up his hand, and the other kid hesitated. However, Otis must have been a damn good manipulator, because the kid took Jace’s hand, shaking it. Otis grinned, patting both of them on the shoulder.
“See guys? Not telling you guys to be friends or any of that crap. I’m just saying, let’s avoid conflict while we can. Sound good?” Both kids nodded, and Otis nodded as well, turning around.
The pain was sudden and strong.
Otis’s head snapped upward, and he staggered backward, onto his ass. His nose had a burning pain in it. He touched it, the pain amplifying. Otis took his hand off of his nose, and looked at the warm liquid. Blood ran from his fingertips, and onto his palm. Looking up, Otis saw the kid who had caused his nose to bleed.
Curly stood over him, blood on the knuckles of his right hand. He had a deathly glare at Otis, and bent down to grab him. However, Jace was fast. He lunged forward, grabbing onto Curly’s shirt and pushing him back. Otis felt hands grab his arms and haul him to his feet.
“Did you not just hear him, Curly?” Jace yelled out, pointing towards Otis. “He just explained that we shouldn’t fight! Did you not hear that? Are you deaf?” Jace sounded furious at Curly, his dark skin turning a faint shade of red. Otis let Jace yell out, half because he wasn’t starting a fight, and half because he liked the terrified face of Curly, with at least twenty kids surrounding him like this.
“Otis is right, and you need to get that through your twisted little mind, kid. Either you develop the slightest bit of common sense and not throw a punch at a good kid like him, or you force us all to teach you what it means to ‘gangbang’.” Jace had a ferocious tone in his voice that surprised Otis. Jace had been fairly normal. He never spoke up, he never picked fight. Otis actually liked to call him a ‘goody goody’. However, seeing the anger present in Jace’s voice gave Otis a different view of the kid. Apparently he could battle, at least with words.
He just knew what battles to pick, and when not to brawl.
Jace finished spitting the words out to Curly, and turned around. He patted Otis on the shoulder, and nodded. Over Jace’s shoulder, he saw JD fake a lunge at Curly, who flinched and backed off, fading back into the crowd.
“Yo, guys!” Another voice. Otis groaned.
“There’s some freak at one of the houses down the street! The kid could turn invisible!” He explained, fear filling his loud voice. Otis suppressed a laugh. However, everyone else felt differently, and voices started getting thrown around, and kids started to yell. I guess after this whole poofing thing, kids were going to believe anything.
This was going to get out of control fast.
Very fast.
---
Sinjid was annoyed at how the meeting went. He wanted to have it go well so that people would see that he would be a good leader. That was not the case at all. Otis threw him off, Allen made it clear that he disliked Sinjid greatly, Riley snapped at him, and to top it all off, Larson acted as if he had the control of the meeting, and just ended it when he wanted to. What, did they think that they were the owners of the town?
Whatever. He had rules and positions all set up, but they wanted to ignore it. Fine. He would show them later. But, for now, he would be satisfied with people needing him. He went over to the grocery store, where his group of friends were waiting. They were all carrying various hardware tools, like baseball bats. Good. At least they listened to him.
One of them, a jock named John who Sinjid had helped with math, came over and said, “What are we gonna do now that we’re here, Sinj’?” Sinjid knew exactly what to say.
“We’re going to guard the food here. Make sure nobody takes it without permission. Everyone can have some food, but not too much, or anything packaged. We need to make sure that this lasts us as long as possible.”
Sinjid’s friends moved out to different places around the store, inside and outside. Some organized the food or cleaned up the mess that the kids who had already been here had made. Sinjid had to smirk. Everyone thought of him as some worthless little nerd. Now, he basically was a president of a new nation.
He stopped smiling when he remembered something. Vests kids wouldn’t be easy to rule. Some were seriously messed up. Like that Rex kid.
Sinjid knew some of those Vests kids because he had an old gang with some of them. Not Rex, too unstable. But kids like Zane made the perfect ‘friends’, strong, willing to do bad stuff, and not caring about being in charge. At least, until they got sent to Vests. Some kids there were simply bad, some were worse, but some were evil.
Still, he had more pressing concerns than the kids from a troubled school. Someone had caused panic over a freak or something, and now down in the plaza there was a miniature riot. Sinjid decided that he should calm them down before things got ugly. So he went to the plaza, and stood on the steps to town hall. He cleared his throat, and began with a megaphone blaring out the word, “Stop!” The crowd fell silent.
Sinjid started talking, “Now, I know that there is a freak or something out there, but we shouldn’t panic.” The crowd was as silent as a grave. He continued, “Now, I know that you are all scared about the adults being gone. Well, we should all calm down and-” He was cut off by a tall kid walking through the crowd. The kid had red hair, and wore a fake smile like a commercial person.
“Thank you for your suggestion, Sinjid. But please, I know that we can do better than staying calm. Our parents would like to see that we have done a great job of keeping society together. And I know we can. We all can be brave for our parents, and work as one until they return.” He had walked onto the steps, blocking Sinjid from the crowd, and exclaimed, “And I, Dare Martel, would like to help you all with that! So let’s do this!”
The crowd cheered. Dare had given them hope, but Sinjid saw what he wanted. He left the crowd, went to a distance, and sighed. He had been shown up again, this time by an arrogant, power hungry jerk who had taken control in an instant.
Sinjid was about to think of something he could say that would get the crowd back to him, only he saw something in the distance. It appeared to be a car. Coming right from the direction of Vests. Sinjid cursed.
Things were not going his way today.
Back to GONE
Chapter Eight
‘Intermixing’
Paul’s heart was racing now. A community as unstable as Vests trying to take power over a town of kids who were probably freaking out from losing their parents? It would be bad, very, very bad. Rex would probably pull some stupid stunt that got a bunch of kids hurt or at least start a fight of some kind.
Paul jerked forward as the car pulled to a quick stop. He looked out the window, to see a large group of kids, all looking towards a red haired boy who appeared to be giving a speech, with a smaller, skinnier kid behind him, clearly annoyed. Paul felt a hand push against the back of his shoulder. He glanced back to see Zane, his mouth in a half smile form.
“Let’s go, boss.”
“The boss is Rex, actually.”
Zane rolled his eyes, still with the arrogant half smile.
“Fine. Let’s go, lapdog.”
Paul returned to comment with a glare that was ineffective given his very unintimidating demeanor. He turned back to the door, pushing it open and hopping to the ground. He stretched his arms as the rest of the security besides Rex exited the vehicle. Rex was with Chaz in the front car, they were in the middle. A group of the nerds were in the back car, discussing ideas for a new work system for the island.
Chaz started advancing to the steps of the town hall, where the two other kids were located. Rex trailed right behind him, Silas and Marco behind him. The four climbed the steps, and all eyes locked on them in confusion. Not many kids knew who Chaz was, as he was from off of the island, but everyone knew who Rex was, and faces turned into frowns of realization and fear.
Paul, finally realizing that he was the security, scrambled towards the steps. Zane, Hyde, and Sparky followed in his footsteps as well. Paul pushed passed Greenwood kids, careful to avoid one particularly large and intimidating kid. He made it to the stairs, and turned to his unit.
“Take positions on the bottom steps. We’re security, act like it.” Paul ordered. The three listened to him to his utmost surprise, and all took positions on the steps. Paul did as well, crossing his arms to attempt to look at least a little more tough.
“People of Greenwood,” Chaz’s voice came from behind him.
“We are here to discuss about the disappearance. Your leader, Dare, just explained that you have the same problem as us. The parents are gone, and the world is fairly chaotic. We are here to try and quell the chaos, and take both communities under one democracy. I personally believe that this disappearance is nothing but a test, a test to see what we are capable of. And you know what? I think that we’re more capable than the adults ever had been. If we work together, combine ideas, and become one body, we will thrive. Now, is there anyone who would like to vote against the combining of our groups?” No one spoke up, and Chaz nodded, a slight smirk forming on his face, but disappearing as fast as it had come. He came back to reality, and looked around at the crowd.
“Who would like to step up? If anyone has a particular talent or feel like they could help us in a specific field of work, please step forward now.”
No one stepped forward. Chaz gave it several seconds, before Rex let a condescending chuckle escape his lips, and whisper something to Silas, who smirked, nodding.
That looked bad. That just made Rex look like an asshole in front of the entire crowd. At least it was Rex to do that though, as his reputation has been known to be bad.
“Alright, well, I would like permission to use your town hall as the headquarters for all of our leaders.” Chaz turned, speaking directly to Dare, but still loud enough for everyone to hear. Paul looked at Dare nod, smiling, and stretch his hand. Chaz took the hand, shaking it. A loud wave of chatter came before Chaz tapped Dare in a ‘watch this’ manner, and made a gesture to Rex. The Sadist nodded, walking to the center of town hall. He looked at the crowd, evil excitement in his blue eyes.
“Shut UP!” He roared, and the scream echoed slightly. The entire crowd turned to him, the kids in front jumping slightly at the scream. Chaz patted Rex on the shoulder, slightly pushing him to the side, giving a nod and a smile.
“Now, while our leaders work out a system, you can walk around town, but do not take anything from anywhere, not yet anyway. Just socialize, go to your home, do what you wish as long as it is not stealing or violent. Please meet us back here at, I’d say, three o'clock tomorrow afternoon. Good day, and don’t worry. We’ll get through this. Together.”
