Author's note: Thanks for those who reviewed! BTW, Hotaru, so what's your birdy's name? Thanks for the…inspiring review Elle, hehe. Here it is, Chapter 4!
Chapter 4: "Where is evil?"
Paul watched Lily hug herself as steam rose from underneath the cold streets. Rain drenched them both, but neither one cared. The boy wished that the water would wash away the pain, everything from the hit he took on the gut to the day he said that he hated his father and never saw him again. Further more, the boy wished that the girl in front of him cared. Both of them were too young for the world that they got themselves in, probably because they never knew what kind of a world it was. But then again, it was different for him because he knew that he could go back. That it was only his pride, his heart that set him away from something brighter, something other than this.
Lily had no choice. She was born in this world, never tasting what life with something in it other than survival was. But perhaps that is what the world is truly about. Lily stopped and titled her face up, letting the rain wash at her features and down her long blond hair. "Do you ever wonder what all of this is about?" she asked him without turning around. "What?"
"This. Life."
"…"
"I mean, everyone says that it's so big, that there's gigantic opportunities…that there's freedom. Do you actually believe in all that?"
"What I believe doesn't matter."
"Then that means no."
"Yeah." Nichole answered as she carefully placed a cardboard box full of her childhood toys on a table in the Ildefonso shelter. Ben wore an orange tunic that really made him stand out from everyone around him. Or maybe he just stood out because it was her eyes that were looking. A blonde girl in a tight pink shirt thanked her once again for the presents that she brought for their younger guests. The shelter was a bare rectangular building which had three floors. All consisted of rooms where street refugees could rest or enjoy themselves, at least just for the moment.
The sudden pounding on the front door prompted the blonde girl to excuse herself. There was urgency in her strides, but her grace never once did falter. Jessica Carmen opened the door, and stepped aside to let three beat up men enter through the wooden door. "God, what have you kids gotten yourself into?" she asked ash she closed the door with both hands and gestured for help. "Alphas…" whispered a young blond man who was immediately helped to a wooden chair. The two other men who were reasonably stronger carried a young groggy man by both arms. Everyone stopped whatever it was they were doing and turned to look, leaving TVs and radios blaring on.
"Not again…" Jessica moaned to herself as the others were helped to a dirty nearby couch that was torn at some edges. "Anyone here who has a clue on first aid, get on over her and help!" ordered the blond haired woman as she ran to a drawer a cabinet away from the main doors and grabbed some bandages and alcohol. "Johnny? Yo Johnny, what's up?" asked a battered Beta to his ally who was slumped to the side, his hand hanging lifelessly from the edge of the sofa.
"Hey! Johnny's not wakin!" he cried. "He was conscious when we got here!" yelped the boy on the chair. "Jesus…" whispered Jessica. She ran up to him and saw that his skin was getting paler. "Its blood loss." Interrupted a young man from the forming crowd. Ben quickly moved up to the unconscious boy and checked his pulse. "Its still pretty strong…"
"I don't have anything that can help him here." Commented Jessica. "The nearest hospital is about six blocks away. We have to get him there. Somebody call an ambulance."
"We can't, phone lines are down, and we weren't able to call an electrician…"
"Cab." Quickly chided a woman in the room. "Come on man, we're gonna get through this." Encouraged a beta who ignored his own aching body as he stood and sat beside the sofa and tightly held his hand. "I'll take him." Volunteered Nichole. "I'll go with you. Keep the rest warm and wrap them up." Ordered Jessica. "Be careful." Whispered Ben to Nichole. "Christopher! Jaime! The both of you take care of the shelter; help Ben out if he needs anything!"
There were some piercing glances that accompanied the Asian girl as she left with Jessica, having two men carry the wounded boy. The wind still had traces of rain as it hit the five teenagers' bodies the moment they got out to the empty street. Jessica raised her hand and signaled for a cab. It quickly moved to the side where they waited, with Nichole telling the cab driver to take them to the hospital, while the two men put the injured boy gently at the backseat, with Jessica sitting in after him.
Ben had the wounded men sleep on some beds on the second floor, since the first was purely for recreation. Three men volunteered to go to the local Mercury drug to get some bandages and staples just in case the betas start bleeding again. Ben himself plopped to the couch and undid the top two buttons of his polo to let some wind in his body. Two of them were already asleep, free of their shoes and tops. Only the blond boy who was in a stained white tank top and jeans was still sitting up. His left check had a band-aid on it.
"I told you not to get into those fights again Dell." Whispered a girl who had her hands wrapped around the blond boy's waist from behind. "You know I can't Mon." he replied in a raspy voice. The red haired girl leaned her face against the back of Dell's neck. "I can't live like this. Like you're some superhero trying to save the day. You're not Dell. You're not."
"…"
Ben closed his eyes and walked off, giving the couple at least some sense of privacy even though they were still surrounded by countless strangers. With both hands in his pockets, he peered out the window and took a deep breath, gazing at the glistening silver streets below. A few people walked by, oblivious to the wretched state of humanity that sleeps in the shelter, or any other building out there. He wondered what it was in their shoes, what life was there to be lived or what kind of bed would there be for them to sleep in. Were they any different from him? Was there a point to caring?
He turned and watched as the girl, tears in her eyes, stand up and leave the boy, who looked as if he just lost everything he owned. "He probably did." Ben thought. The boy just sat there, tears swelling in his eyes, but he didn't move. He didn't do anything but stare blankly some five hundred miles away, most probably thinking of what had just happened. To fight in the name of brotherhood, and to lose all you have in its name. It was something many people did.
"So then, Jessica told me to just get back here and tell the guys that he's okay." Nichole calmly told Ben as she took a small bite out of her burger. They sat beside the window of a small Burger joint just at the corner of the street. The tables were periwinkle in color, while the couch was violet and its frame was pink. Waitresses were of the same color combination. A bad sight for the eyes, but thankfully enough, the food kept people coming back.
"You've…never told me how you ended up working in the shelter. And how you knew about first-aid and stuff." She said in an inquisitive tone while looking out at the cars that passed by.
"Well…uhm, my mom was a paramedic. She kinda taught me a few stuff before she got killed."
"Oh…I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to…"
"No, its ok. My dad, when he found out that mom got stuck under the debris…rushed in. He tried to find her, screaming at everyone who told him that it was too dangerous for him to come in. I was there. I just…stood there, unable to move, talk, probably even breath."
"…"
"It was a bomb blast. Some sort of terrorist group wanted something, ended up bombing this building full of people to get their 'voice' heard. After a few minutes, the whole structure crashed down, and…and…twelve people were reported dead. My mom was one of them. My dad got pulled out, but he was hospitalized…and all the money we got went to his hospital bill and now…he works two jobs, day and night. He doesn't speak a word, he never did after losing her." Tears were swelling in his eyes and he looked out the window.
"I just guessed that…there was no point being with someone who gets up at five thirty and goes home at three in the morning. He…always leaves me money at the table every morning, before he leaves again. It's kinda like…not having anyone with you."
"I had no idea…"
"Yeah…but…he loves me. That means that I got it better than most other people out there, who never even knew what it felt. Even if he isn't there, I still know he loves me."
"I'm sure he does…"
"…Thanks. What about you? What's your life story?" he asked. Nichole smiled and took a sip from her soft drink. "My family migrated here from the Philippines in 1985. We were like…wowed with this being the land of opportunity and all. The air is clean, technology's advanced…towering buildings…and everything. Everything just took my breath away then. But then…"
"Then what?"
"Life started. My first day at school started out so bright, but then everyone started staring at the 'hairless' ape that they had as a classmate. I could still remember that December, everyone gathered around me in the yard and took my clothes off…looking…groping for a tail. Everyone kept on cheering…monkey…monkey…they said that I was an ugly freak…I was the only Asian in my class. The only Filipina."
"Oh."
"Most of them changed over the years. Some even got to be my close friends. But there are always the others, the others who insist that I…my race do not belong to their 'Free Country'. Where's the liberty and…and…freedom in that?"
"…I really don't know."
"Have you ever wished of returning to the time when everything was so simple? When the swing at the park meant the world to us and the first person to give you a card on Valentine's Day was the best person on Earth?
"…And the monkey bars were the world's greatest adventure…while red fire trucks for Christmas was the measure of how much someone loved you. Yeah. I think about that time. I think about it a lot."
"…" Nichole took another sip of her soft drink, while Ben finished his burger.
"I'm sorry things had to turn out this way." Ben said in a small whisper.
"Excuse me?"
"If I didn't bring the shelter up at lunch, then you wouldn't have had to be flung into this hell that we got ourselves into back there."
"…If you didn't bring the shelter up, you would've given Jessica a harder job and possibly have that kid a lesser chance of surviving the night."
"…"
"You weren't supposed to go to the shelter tonight Ben. If you didn't…"
"If I didn't then Jessica would've found someone else to help."
"…"
Back in the shelter, a man stood menacingly before the blonde boy who had just finished washing his face on the comfort room. He locked the door behind him, leaving the two inside the relatively large room. It had white tiles and about five cubicles lined against the lower right portion, opposite the door. The mirror and sink was on the opposite of the wall where the cubicles just ended. "Does it still hurt my boy?" asked the elderly man with ghostly white hair and frightening blue eyes.
"What?"
"All of this."
"Excuse me?"
"Oh, I am sorry, I didn't introduce myself. My name is Eldritch Kraken, the head patron of this shelter. I donated practically everything from top to bottom here."
"…Do you need anything from me?"
"I want you to know that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel."
"Oh, I'm sorry, but I gave up on God a long time ago."
"I am not here about God or such my dear boy."
"So what is it?"
"I want to know if you'd like to make a difference."
Dell noticed the familiar red and white logo pinned on the man's suit. It was the symbol of Umbrella, the very tower of supremacy. It shone blood red under the piercing white light, as if beckoning the boy to go ahead and grab it. "What do you mean make a difference?" he asked, not deterring his vision from the somewhat hypnotic emblem. "My boy, we are in need of manpower for our…special rescue task force. The Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure service."
Author's note: Okay, bad guy introduced! Uh, I kind just imagined Anthony Hopkins to be the dude, cuz Hopkins rocks and stuff. (blonde moment) Well, hope you liked this one, short as hell, but a relaxing moment after the bloodshed last chapter. Well, until next time.