"Hello, little fishy," Karly smirked, hovering over the fish tank in the lab that used to be for scientific experiments. Now that famine had set in, and every food imaginable was gone or in reserve, this fish tank was lunch. "You all look so good; I wonder which I'll eat first."
"Ooh, let me have one of those," Ziggy grinned, running to the tank and rolling up his sleeve. Normally, he wasn't one for fishing goldfish, but there were no laws on how much of those you could eat a day.
Karly turned to the awkward green Ranger and hissed. As he reached into the tank, she jumped on him, grabbing his face and clawing at it.
"MINE!" she yelled, never letting go until Ziggy backed away from the tank. "My food, ya here? I eat these beautiful fish, you can go die in a corner!"
When Karly was satisfied with the distance between Ziggy and the fish tank, she hopped down and moseyed back over to the tank, jumping on the rim to watch her prey. Ziggy rubbed his face, where the claw marks were visible, and frowned.
"That's mean," he frowned, sitting in a chair to sulk.
Karly ignored the green Ranger. The famine had been called a week ago, and she was starving. Any food she could find, she was going to keep.
One fish swam close enough to the surface, and Karly tried to grab it, but slipped and fell into the tank. As any other cat, she didn't like the water and swam as quickly as she could to get out.
Ziggy watched her, chuckling. Karly glared at the boy, but parted her lips so he could see the tail of the fish she had in her mouth. She hopped out of the tank and dropped it on the ground.
"My fishy," she smiled, playing with the goldfish by throwing it between her paws, watching it struggle for oxygen in the form of water.
The other Rangers, minus Summer who had left three days before, walked into the lab to take their mind off their hunger. They all saw Karly enjoying the little bit of food she was going to eat, and were jealous.
"The advantages of being a cat," she grinned, finally killing the little fish and eating it, "We're natural born hunters, ready to kill the small and the weak for our own survival."
Karly didn't see the expression on the boy's and Daniela's face change as she said this. Dillon went as far as licking his lips as he watched the cat.
She was, after all, meat. And meat had protein. If shared equally, this cat could be enough to calm his stomach for the time being.
Karly finally finished the fish and looked up at the humans. They were all eyeing her hungrily.
Flynn knew it was wrong to kill a house pet for food, but drastic times called for drastic measures. He was sure he could get enough meat out of Karly to fix in a hot dog bun.
Now that the image was there, Flynn couldn't pass up the opportunity. He was a big boy; he needed more food than what he was getting.
"Um... humans... if you could refrain from staring at me, it would be very much appreciated," Karly begged, backing away from the hungry Rangers.
"Hey, in some old countries, cats were food," Greg shrugged.
Hayden walked into the room just at that moment, gnawing on one of the hungry hippo balls. Karly ran for her master, jumping into her arms and hiding away in fear.
"They want to eat me!" she screamed. The little white ball flew out of the brunette's mouth as she looked down at her cat.
"They want to what?" she asked.
"Eat me!" Karly yelled again, "They think I'm good! Have they not met me? I'm a cold, bitter and sour cat! Very distasteful!"
Hayden turned to her friends, holding her cat in her arms, "No eating my kitty!"
"Hayden, babe, it's survival of the fittest," Flynn tried to explain, keeping an eye on Karly so she didn't run off. "We do what we can to live."
Hayden nodded, putting Karly on the ground, but stepping over her so none of the others would jump at her.
"There's a little bit of steak left. If you guys are craving meat, go finish it off," she said, "but no one touches my cat."
"She's right guys," Scott nodded, finally coming to his senses. "Karly's family. No matter how bad this gets, we don't eat family."
The boys and Dani turned away, but Flynn stayed with his girlfriend. He looked over at her and frowned.
"You okay, Hayden?" he asked. Hayden nodded, watching Karly stalk back over to the fish tank.
"I'm fine, Flynn, just a little hungry."
"I haven't seen you eat much since this famine started," Flynn continued, "You're getting all the meals you need, right?"
"Uh... yeah," Hayden answered, forcing a smile for her boyfriend, "I just don't eat with you guys. Don't worry though, I'm only eating my share of the food, and I'm preserving it well."
"Okay," Flynn said a little unconvinced. He could see Hayden was getting much slimmer, and though it was expected with the famine, when he compared her to Dani, she seemed to be losing weight fast. Though both the girls weren't exactly of the same built, they were pretty close. However, he trusted that whatever Hayden was doing with her food, she was being careful and still eating.
Hayden could hear the tone in Flynn's voice and frowned, "I'm fine, seriously!"
"Okay, okay," Flynn nodded. "I'm just making sure. I don't want something to happen to you."
Hayden smiled, kissing the blue Ranger, "I'm invincible, remember? Nothing will happen to me."
Hayden turned toe and walked off to the main room. Flynn rubbed the back of his neck and turned to the team. They were all sharing a small box of raisins to tie them over until Kaylee came home to cook a small dinner.
He decided he would eat as well. His stomach had been hurting for the past couple of hours, and he didn't think he could endure it anymore. He walked into the other room, made his way to the fridge and opened it.
It seemed that the fridge was slightly more stalked than it had been earlier that day. But no one had been allowed to refill it until every item of food was gone. He frowned, closing the door and turning to the storage room.
With the famine going on, he wasn't allowed to go in there. Only Kaylee and Dustin had permission to enter the storage room to gather food for the fridge. But Flynn wasn't going to take food; he was simply going to confirm his suspicions. He made sure no one saw him as he pulled the door open and stepped inside.
All the Rangers and the mentors had their own little section of food that would be placed in the fridge when it needed refilling. That way, if someone did eat too much, too fast, they wouldn't deprive everyone else of food. Depending on their need for food, the Rangers got a food supply that would last them the month.
Flynn walked past all the different shelves. Everything seemed to be equal still. Everyone had their proper amount of food for the month.
Except Hayden. Her food supply was much smaller than it should have been. And seeing as Hayden was also getting smaller and weaker, Flynn could safely assume she wasn't overeating.
"Hayden..." he breathed.
-----RPM-----
"Mrs. Brooks, please, I need the food," a woman on the street was begging Kaylee as the stressed out mentor returned from checking up on the twins. They had been told to use the military lab for their research and development of a machine that would provide the city with food so that they wouldn't be distracted. Everyday Kaylee would check up on them and give them their daily supply of food.
Every day, on her way home, someone would beg her for the food she had stored for the city. At first, it was easy to say no. The one week mark hadn't been reached, and therefore Kaylee could deny with little guilt.
But now, it had been more than a week. Kaylee didn't want all the food to disappear fast, but she didn't want the people to starve.
"Miss, I can only give you three day's worth of food for the rest of the month," Kaylee told the woman, picking her up from the ground gently and wiping off the dust from her jacket, "If you really need it, I'll be happy to help, but if not, then please, don't take from others."
"I need it," the woman nodded desperately; "I've got three kids at home. They were too old to go to NewTech, but too young to starve. I need to feed them..."
The woman was cut off by the sound of a gun from a few streets down. Kaylee's eyes widened as she put herself in front of the woman protectively until she could figure out what to do.
"There must be another brawl," the woman whispered into Kaylee's ears. "Mrs. Brooks, the city's going crazy."
"A brawl, you mean more people are fighting?"
The woman nodded. Kaylee groaned. She pulled out a business card from her pocket.
"If you really need the food, write your address on the back and I'll check you supplies. If I think you qualify, I'll give you what you need to survive three more days."
The woman agreed, taking a pen from Kaylee and quickly printing her name on the card. Kaylee stuffed the card in her pocket and smiled softly at the woman before running down the street. She had to stop the fight before someone else died.
"Whoa, whoa!" she yelled, getting between the two men, "Stop!"
The men didn't listen to her. Instead, they shoved her away and continued to wrestle for the can of peas they found slightly buried in the ground. Kaylee growled, crossing her arms.
"Okay, you want to fight dirty," she muttered, "Power of water!"
A thin, yet powerful, stream of water came from the palm of Kaylee's hand, hitting both men and knocking them off their feet. As they tried to get up, Kaylee stood between them. Both men spotted their leader and stopped the fight.
"What the hell is going on?" Kaylee yelled, looking at the two men. "Why are you fighting like this?"
"I found this can, I should be entitled to taking it home!" the first man answered, "But this guy jumped me and tried taking off with it, so I fought back."
Kaylee took a deep breath, picking up the can of peas from the ground.
"Look, guys, I know this is hard, but we have to work together if we're going to survive," she told them both. "We can't let this turn us into animals! We're better than that!"
"Easy for you to say," the second man barked, wiping the blood from the side of his mouth, "You've got enough food and then some. How do we know you haven't taken from what you claim to be the city's?"
"You don't know," Kaylee frowned, "But you have to trust me! I don't want this city to fall! Now..."
Kaylee pulled out her claws from her knuckled and swiped at the can of peas, breaking it open. Some of the contents fell to the ground, but most ended up in both halves of the can. She retracted her claws and gave each man one half.
"You two are going to share this. Take it home to your families. It's good for one supper."
The men nodded, taking the cans and grabbing whatever they could salvage from the ground. Without so much as a thank you, they walked away from Kaylee.
She took a deep breath of relief, until her handheld computer went off. Dreading the news, she pulled it out.
Deaths: 54.
"But..." Kaylee whimpered. Just a few moments ago it had been at 51. During that little fight between the two men, there were more going around in the city that Kaylee could have stopped. Now, three people were dead because she had been in the wrong place, at the wrong time.
Kaylee kicked the wall and sunk down to the ground. This was becoming too much to handle. People were depending on her to survive, but she still had no idea how to help them.
And she only had three weeks left.
-----RPM-----
"We can't keep doing this," Scott uttered, dropping to the ground as soon as his feet hit the floor of the garage. The other Rangers weren't far behind.
"I'm sorry, Rangers," Dr. K sighed, "I've been working day and night to find energy to assist you, but I'm not getting any results."
"It's okay, Rebecca," Ziggy smiled, trying to take some of the guilt away from the poor doctor. "It was an easy attack bot. Venjix must think we're weaker than we normally are."
The battle with a simple Attack Bot had been difficult, but the Rangers manage to pull through in the end. The Colonel, however, had been watching the battle on the monitors and was forced to fully power the shields for the rest of the month. This meant no Venjix attack-bot could get in, but it also meant no one could get out.
Even the gates to NewTech were closed. There was no longer any way to escape this famine.
"In any case, I'll still be looking for a way to provide you Rangers with energy. Death tolls are rising quickly, and Kaylee made need some assistance from you guys," Dr. K said. She turned to leave, and Greg followed.
"I'll help, Becky," he said, making her smile at the nickname. "It'll take my mind off my stomach."
The other Rangers were left alone in the garage, leaning on whatever they could.
"Well, I think after a long battle, it would be healthy to eat something," Mike suggested, "We could all use the energy."
"Good thinking," Dillon agreed. Though large snacks weren't permitted, the Rangers were an exception to this after fighting. They needed the energy after the intense "workout" to continue with their day.
Hayden followed the boys, but suddenly started to sway. She was about to fall when Flynn steadied her.
"You okay?" he asked her. Hayden held her head with one hand, while Flynn held her other arm for support. The Pink Ranger nodded.
"I'm okay," she assured him. Flynn was anything but convinced this time. He could feel her shaking and he could hear her stomach rumbling loudly.
"Why don't you eat with us today?" he asked. Hayden shook her head.
"No, it's okay. I think I'll just go lie down for now," she answered. She broke free from Flynn's grasp and slowly made her way to the stairs, trying not to show the others she was stumbling with every step. Once she got to the stairs, she grabbed onto the railing, holding it as tight as she possibly could.
Samantha was already in the kitchen, making a snack for the Rangers, but she was also watching her sister carefully.
"I'm worried about her," Flynn whispered, pulling her from her thoughts. He kept his voice low so he didn't alert the other Rangers. "I never really see her eat. I think, I've seen her with one carrot stick and a third of a banana, but that's it."
"I know," Samantha nodded.
"Normally, I would trust her... but... nothing seems to be adding up," Flynn frowned. "I checked the food supplies in the storage room. Everyone's is right except hers. She seems to be running low, so you would think she's eating..."
"But she's too frail," Samantha continued. "If she is eating more than the rest of us, she would be stronger and she would have more energy."
"I'm going to go talk to her," Flynn said, but Samantha grabbed his arm.
"I'll talk to her," she said. "I don't think her boyfriend should discuss her weight and eating habits with her. And she is my sister; I should be taking care of her."
Flynn reluctant agreed, taking over the snack preparations so Samantha could leave to talk with her sister. While the others weren't looking, he set aside a large portion of the snack for Hayden.
If he was right, which he wished he wasn't, then she was going to need this snack more than the others.
-----RPM-----
Kaylee finally made it back to her house, finding Dustin passed out on the couch with the remote hanging loosely in his hands. Now that Christian was gone, he had nothing to do during the day.
She walked over to him, placing her hand gently on his chest to wake him. Dustin stirred and rubbed his eyes, before seeing Kaylee's face. Her makeup was running down her face, showing him she had been crying.
"What's wrong?" he asked her, making room for her on the couch. Kaylee's didn't take it. She just buried her head in his lap.
"I don't know what to do," she whispered to him. "I save one person, three people die instead. If I saved those three, that one person dies. No matter what I do, someone's going to get hurt, and I can't stop it."
Dustin moved off the couch, sitting with his legs tucked under him so he could hold Kaylee.
"This is hard for everyone," he told her, "You can't do everything by yourself."
"There's too much," Kaylee sobbed. Dustin rubbed her back gently.
"You focus on fixing this problem," he said, "There's no point in saving the city from itself, if you can't save it from the famine."
"But..."
"Don't worry about the people," Dustin interrupted, "You're not the only one who can do something. Ronny, Tori, Blake, Kelly and RJ live in this city as well. They'll be happy to help you. And Jason and Tommy are only a phone call away. You don't need to do this alone."
Kaylee's little computer beeped again. She picked it up and looked at the readings.
Famine: Day Seven.
Deaths: 89.
Chances of Survival: None.
The Ranger Legend screamed, throwing her computer against the wall. A jump from 54 to 89 was high in a few short minutes. The city was turning into chaos, and here she was wallowing in self pity.
She got to her feet, but Dustin pulled her down roughly.
"Kaylee, stop," he demanded. Kaylee tried to pull away, but Dustin held tight.
"Let me go!" Kaylee yelled, "I have to go out there. I have to stop everyone!"
Kaylee freed herself and tried to run, but Dustin pinned her down, forcing her to the ground. He put himself on top of her, holding her hands down by her head. He was close to sitting on her stomach, with both legs on either side to keep her from getting free.
"Kaylee, you can't help everyone," he told her. She struggled to break free, screaming for Dustin to let her go. It broke his heart that he was doing this, but it was all to help her. "Kaylee, listen to me."
"Get off!" she screamed.
"Kaylee, breath!" Dustin yelled over her screams, "You can't help the city in this state. You need a break!"
"People are dying! The people I'm supposed to protect!"
"You can't do anything to stop it," Dustin said. "Kaylee, there are other people willing to help. Please, babe, just relax."
"I can't! It's my job! I have to do it," Kaylee screamed. The computer, which still wasn't broken, beeped again, meaning the death toll had risen. There could have been one death, or the entire city could be gone.
"Dustin, I have to go!" Kaylee yelled, finally getting little wiggle room to push herself off the ground.
"Kaylee, you can't do this anymore!" Dustin frowned, trying to hold her down without hurting her, but she was strong. "You're human, and to take care of others, you have to take care of yourself."
"They're depending on me!" Kaylee screamed. She wormed her way out from under Dustin and almost made a break for it, but Dustin still held the advantage. Before she got far, he slammed her down, forcing her to land on her back and taking the wind out of her for a moment. Kaylee laid there in shock, but Dustin stayed strong.
"Babe, take a deep breath, he whispered gently into her ear. "You're not going to save anyone like this. Take the night off, calm down then tomorrow I'll assemble the team to help you. Everything's going to be okay."
Kaylee finally relaxed, looking up at Dustin with her tear-filled eyes. He picked her up, putting her on his lap and holding her in his arms.
"You can't save the world by yourself," he whispered.
