Shun

No longer feeling safe by hiding in the City's prison, we snuck out from the back and went through the alleyways. Brunswick and Marquis stayed ahead of us in order to keep an eye out for any wandering Officials. Making our way back to the headquarters to find Xavier wouldn't be easy.

Most likely he had gone into hiding after our initial attack on the headquarters. Or maybe he was still there and wasn't thinking anything of us. I doubted he saw us as any kind of threat to him. We were nothing more than pests that would be killed by the hands of his Officials.

We rounded another corner, rifles at the ready for anybody that tried to attack us. Things looked clear, so we kept on our way. Dan whispered to us, "Alright, the headquarters should be just up ahead." Who better to know where the headquarters were than Dan, a person who once looked up to the Officials more than anyone else? We had to relocate the building after we veered off course, and Dan was the only one of our group that knew the City.

Brunswick looked out into a street and gave us the signal to let us know it was safe. We gave him a nod and shot across to the other side. Now we had made a loop around and had returned to the headquarters. It was much more guarded this time, and I feared to know what kind of resistance we would meet inside.

Dan was still on the other side of the street, for he had yet to cross over and join us. I saw one of the Officials spot him; Dan didn't even know he was in their sight. The Official raised his rifle and had it pointed at Dan from the distance.

I reacted by lifting my own stolen rifle and shot the Official before he had the chance. Dan realized what was going on, and ran across the street as quickly as he could before the rest of the Officials had time to react. He was panting, and leaned against the wall of a house to recompose himself.

Feliciana asked him, "Are you okay, Dan?" He nodded then looked at me. "Thanks," he said. I didn't think he knew I was the one who shot the Official, but it didn't matter. Instead of saying anything, I nodded my head. Our group was on the move again, and we were slowly getting closer and closer to the headquarters once more.

I saw the window that we escaped out of before the Officials had time to shoot us dead. "How about we go back through the window? It'll probably be safer than the front door," I said. We only had seven to eight people left, and if there were as many guards inside as there were in the front of the building, then we stood no chance of getting very far.

Brunswick said, "He has a point. We'll run over there and check it out. If it's clear, then we'll go through the window to get inside." Nobody protested, and we ran back across the street. The window was just high enough for all of us to peer into. Marquis was the first one to look inside, and before the rest of us could even look inside, he pushed us down.

"Shh! Somebody's in there!" he said quietly. Although he demanded we stay down, I snuck a peek inside anyway. It was Xavier and Nero. They were the only two inside, and were talking to one another. Thanks to the broken glass, I could everything they were saying.

Xavier said coldly, "I still can't believe you made your men fall back when you had them cornered at the mountain." I smiled at the memory of how Brunswick was shooting Officials down left and right, freaking out Nero and the rest of his men.

Nero shook his head and said, "I told you, Xavier. My men were dropping to the ground with no cause. I had to get out of there or let all of them be killed with no warning." I ducked down when Xavier turned in the direction of the window, but continued to peer inside when I saw he kept turning.

Now, he was facing Nero again. "Your orders were not to leave till they were all dead. Regardless of whether or not your Officials were being killed. They're nothing more than people from outside of the City. They had no weapons and you had them outnumbered. Do you know how bad your failure makes me look?" said Xavier.

Nero had his head tilted downwards, not looking at his superior. Xavier didn't take his eyes from Nero when he said, "You can redeem yourself by killing the little peanut gallery that's running around in my City and causing trouble. If you fail at that task, then I'm not sure what I'll do."

Nero's hands clenched into fists by his sides. He obviously didn't like to be made a fool of. The instant that Xavier turned around and was starting to dismiss the Official, Nero pulled out a pistol and shot the leader in the back. Xavier cried out and grabbed on his desk in order to hold himself up.

Nero ran over to the door and locked in to keep other Officials out as he finished his job. Below me, I heard Val ask, "What the hell is going on in there?" I wanted to tell him what I was seeing, but I felt like I might be heard or spotted if I did. Xavier was still trying to get up on his feet.

Blood was pouring from his back and staining the floor and his clothes. "Or I could just take care of you so there would be no disappointment if I failed," hissed Nero. The leader of the Officials growled then moaned in pain. His legs were no longer able to support him, and Xavier let go of the table and sat on the floor.

Nero stood over him, pistol twirling on his index finger. He said coldly, "Besides, I'm sure I could do much better at leading the Officials than you have done. You did a good job at the start of the cleansing, but I'm sure if I had been in charge those brats wouldn't have escaped and it would have been over much quicker."

Xavier was starting to cough blood as the wounds in his back got worse. He asked weakly, "Do you really think the rest of the Officials will follow you, Nero? When they see that you've killed me, they'll turn against you. Just as you've done me."

Nero laughed and said, "That's where you're wrong. The rest of the Officials never trusted you, Xavier. To hear that you're dead, will be music to their ears. Especially after what you did to Clay. That was what tipped over the iceberg." Xavier grimaced in pain from the bullet in his back.

He coughed again and was able to say, "And after they see how mad you are, they'll turn against you. You have no idea how to control power, Nero. And because of that, it will cause you a greater deal of suffering than it has caused me. So I ask you, go ahead and kill me. Take on this burden that had plagued me from the start of when I came into power. Put me out of my misery and let me place it upon your shoulders so I can watch it rot your mind and sanity away. Do it-"

Xavier couldn't even finish before Nero pulled the pistol's trigger and shot a bullet between the leader's eyes. Xavier didn't move at all after that. Slowly, Nero's arm fell back to his side, and he dropped the pistol on the floor. I watched as Xavier's blood spread out, creeping along till it reached the weapon that took his life.

Nero started to do a low chuckle that turned into a laugh. The door that he locked burst open and a flood of Officials came rushing in. They froze when they saw the blood covered body of Xavier, and Nero standing there in front of it.

They didn't react at first, then smiles started to cross their faces. Their abuser was dead, but they had no idea what had come to take his place. Clay's words rang through my mind. "They've all gone mad."

Alice

Night was starting to fall, and we were still sitting on the log. Waiting. Listening. Watching. All for any signs of our friends returning. The ecstatic moment of Runo's return had passed, and now she too joined us in the wait. She kept telling us how surprised she was when Dan and the others were there and helped her.

She was actually accepting the fact that she was going to die in that prison and have pretty much given up all of her hope that she had. But that had been restored now that she was back with her friends and safe. Murucho was telling her what happened to him, Dan, and Shun after we were all separated in the desert.

I tuned them out. I wasn't up for listening to stories of what I've already gone through and experienced. The man that brought Runo back to us had left hours ago, and I wondered if he had made it back into the City safely. And also if something had happened to Shun or Dan during that amount of time.

Earlier, before sunset, I heard two gunshots. But that was it. There was none after that. But those two shots could have meant the death of any of our friends that had gone down there. A flock of birds or bats were flying around above us.

Due to the darkness of the night, I couldn't make a difference between the two. But I figured they were bats that had come out and were feeding on insects. That was okay with me; it meant fewer mosquitoes to bite us. Julie was laying down on the ground and asked, "You think the others have made it to the top of the mountain yet?"

I turned around and looked up at the summit. Murucho adjusted his glasses and said, "They most likely have, or are at least getting near the top." Runo was tapping her foot on the ground. She suddenly began talking about being back in the prison again.

"Maybe it was a good thing they showed up when they did cause an Official arrived not long after them, and he could have been there to kill me and the others locked up in the cells." Julie sat up and asked with curiosity, "What did the Official do when he saw Dan and the others were there?"

Runo swatted at a bug that was flying around her head and told us, "He tried to kill them like any Official would have done. But thanks to Brunswick, he didn't get a chance to do that." I thought about the fight that must have taken place in the prison. The Official would have had the upper hand for a while before Brunswick shot him down.

That was how I pictured it going, and it probably was how it did. I covered my mouth as I yawned. It was getting late and I needed to sleep. I slid from the log to the ground below it, and leaned my back against it. It wasn't very comfy, but I was sure it was much better than laying directly on the cold ground.

I shut my eyes and began to relax. Maybe tomorrow would end up bringing some more better news to us. Maybe Shun, Dan, and the others would even come back and we could hurry up the mountain to catch up with the others. As I started to fall asleep, I felt a dream encasing my mind.

I was still in the woods that we were in now, but I was on the other side of the fence; the part that was exposed to the Officials. Then was an explosion of bullets, and it drug me out of my dream before anything else could even start. When I sat up, fully awake, I realized the bullets hadn't been part of my dream. They were firing down in the City again.

i just realized that i only have eight more days of school, then im free! a summer full of story uploads and sleeping in. X3 sounds good to me. read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~