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chapter 42 - The Society At The End Of Society
Part 1- The remnants of society
“hmmm well, we should probably take them to see Emily.”
“Sound’s good to me, have fun explaining this to her,” Ryan said as he pointed his gun over the entire group. “Everyone walk in front of me, don’t do anything stupid or I won't hesitate to put you down."
The group looked around to each other before forming a line in front of Ryan. The automatic doors leading deeper into the store began to slowly pull open as the group was marched towards their unknown fate. Light flooded into the dimly lit room from further into the store. The group's jaws simultaneously dropped as the ywalked through the doors into the main section of the store. All of the shelves that once marked out the various isles had been pushed up against the walls leaving a wide-open space in the middle. Spread out across the store floor where several tents, camp chairs, and sleeping bags. The place was packed his hundreds of people, chattering among themselves, playing games and doing various tasks and jobs. Liz turned around to look at Ryan as he led them through the sprawling maze of tents.
“How are there so many people here? I thought that everyone in the city was meant to be dead or one of those things?” asked Liz.
Ryan scowled at Liz, his stare commanding her to silence. The other, nerdier man hoped along the line to Liz and began walking beside her.
“When everything started going down the last remaining law enforcement started rounding up survivers and bringing them here so that they could keep us all protected. They’re all pretty much gone now but they taught us everything we needed to know to survive,”
“But how do you keep everyone fed, there are so many people here?”
“The gardening sections pretty useful but the rest is…” the stranger's words were cut off by the sound of Ryan clearing his throat loudly.
The stranger turned around to see Ryan glaring daggers into him.
“Don’t talk to the prisoners, they could be trying to get information out of us so they can learn our weaknesses and use them against us,” Ryan said sternly.
The stranger turned back to look at Liz and the rest of the group before looking back to Ryan.
“But they don’t seem dangerous or anything.”
Ryan raised his hand and rested his head in it as he let out a long irritated groan.
“You’re hopeless, just stop talking to them okay.”
The stranger pouted as he turned forward and continued to march next to Liz
“I’m Brett by the way,” Brett whispered as he leaned into Liz.
“Liz… nice to meet you,” Liz replied, smiling in return.
“I heard that,” Ryan groaned.
Part 2- The Meeting.
The group headed by Tom was marched up a steep narrow staircase. He reached the top of the stairs emerging into a wide-open lounge-like room with a door guarded by two men in tattered police uniforms. Ryan marched the rest of the group up the stairs and into the lounge. He lowered his gun and walked across to the door. He reached out towards the handle before being blocked by the two guards moving to cover the door.
“State your business,” one of the guards ordered.
“Are you kidding? Just let me through already,” Ryan replied as he once again tried to grab at the door with no success.
“You know the rules Ryan, no one gets in without a scheduled meeting,” the other guard said.
Without warning the door came swinging inward raveling a woman in an immaculately kept police uniform behind.
“Just let them in already, who cares about a scheduled meeting,” the lady scolded.
The first guard turned to look at the lady, a scowl stretching across his face.
“Yes… mam,” the man growled between his teeth.
The two men stepped aside letting Ryan pass in between them followed by Brett and the rest of the group. The group emerged into an office with a large window overlooking the store floor below. Along the wall opposite the window was a large desk with the women who had granted them access sitting behind it pouring herself a glass of water.
“Thanks for the help back there Emily,” said Ryan.
“Don’t mention it, those two are still sticklers for the old rules,” Emily replied as she placed the water container down on the table.
She looked up to see the unexpectedly large group of unfamiliar faces staring back at her.
“And… who might your friends be?”
“I think that Brett might be able to explain that one to you,” Ryan replied.
Emily's gaze turned to Brett.
“well.. umm I sort of maybe kind of let them in… haha,” Brett stuttered.
Emily placed her head in her hand as she let out a long irritated groan.
“So when I gave you explicit instructions to not do anything stupid what did you think I said,”
“Well… they didn’t look like a threat to me.”
“How could you possibly of known that,” Emily said as she looked back up to Brett. “For all you know they could be working with that sniper.”
The group looked at each other. Alex took a long step towards Emily.
“What do you mean sniper?” Asked Alex.
“Don’t act like you don’t know,” Ryan spat acquisitional
Emily turned to look at Alex. She walked in front of the desk and lent against it.
“A few weeks ago on a supply run, we came in contact with a strange man. Immediately he started attacking us, we didn’t even notice him until he started shooting. We lost a lot of good people including our old leader, leaving me in charge. Ever since we’ve been having trouble gathering supply’s hence why adding five more mouths to feed isn't the best idea right now,” she said shifting her eyes to glare at Brett.
“I'm sorry alright I wasn’t just gonna let them die,” Brett replied, throwing his hand up in the air defensively.
Tom stepped forward to stand by Alex.
“Look we’re not here to hurt you. The same guy who attacked you shot down our helicopter, we’re with the military,” Tom explained.
“The same military that locked down the city and left us all here to die?… yeah, id keep that little tidbit to yourself if I was you,” Emily said before letting out a long sigh. “I’m sorry but they have to go.”
“What the hell, you cant do that… they’ll die out there,” Brett said.
“I’m sorry but it’s the only way.”
Ryan loudly cleared his throat drawing the group's attention over to him.
“Sorry, Emily… I hate to take his side in all of this but with the horde this lot riled up outside it’s probably not a great idea to open any of the doors just yet.”
Emily once again rested her head in the palm of her hand as she let out a long irritated groan.
“Fine… they can stay the night. Brett go get them set up… and for the love of God don’t do anything stupid ok.”
“You got it,” Brett replied, a wide, victorious smile stretching across his face. “Come on… follow me guys.”
Brett merely walked out the door followed behind by the rest of the group. Emily turned to face Ryan as the group left.
“Make sure to keep him in check ok,” Emily said, her eyes almost pleading with him.
Brett nodded in understanding before turning and following the rest of the group out of the room.
Part 3- Getting To Know Each other
Alex walked through the dimly lit store floor, dodging between the other survivors scattered around the place. He awkwardly balanced six small bowls of soup in his arms. Out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed the survivers glaring up at him, always quickly glancing away when he went to look at them. He reached the rest of his group sitting around a small shabby wooden table. Alex sat down at the table, careful not to spill any of his meals.
“Everybody’s looking at us funny, they really don’t like us huh,” Alex said.
“Can you blame them, to them we’re just a bunch of strangers coming to steal their food and take up their space,” Liz replied.
Alex placed the bowls down in front of him. He began to rub his hands together greedily as he prepared to dig in.
“Oh, how kind… you got food for the rest of us,” Calem said as he reached out and grabbed one of Alex's plate.
“Hey what the hell…” Alex snapped before feeling Liz's hand on his shoulder.
“Alex… share,” Liz instructed authoritatively.
The rest of the group grabbed away one of Alex bowls and began eating. Alex looked on in dismay.
“Huh… hey no fair,” Alex mumbled under his breath.
Liz lifted a spoon full from the bowl to her mouth. As she ate she looked up to see Tom talking with Ryan and Brett. Clutched in Ryan’s hands was a long sheet of paper that the rest of the group scanned intently.
“What do you think they’re talking about over there,” Liz said.
Alex looked over at the other group.
“Don’t know, maybe he’s trying to convince them to give us more food,” Alex replied.
“Is that seriously all you think about.”
Tom nodded at Ryan and Brett before turning and making his way back towards the rest of the group. Liz and Alex quickly turned away and went back to their food to not be caught staring. Tom reached the rest of the group and took a seat next to Alex. He looked down at the two plates left in front of Alex.
“Thanks, man,” Tom said as he took one of the plates away from Alex.
“What… hey… great now I'm gonna starve,” Alex muttered under his breath.
“So what were you talking about with the locals,” Calem chimed in.
“Oh… nothing, just getting to know each other, trying to clear the air between us a little you know,” Tom said, avoiding eye contact.
Liz looked at Tom as he ate his food continuing to avoid any eye contact with the rest of the group.
“You know, I just realized but I don’t really know that much about any of you,” Liz stated.
The rest of the group turned to face Liz, surprised by her unprompted statement.
“Besides Alex and Bip, the rest of you might as well be perfect strangers. If we’re gonna be work together then we should probably get to know each other a little you know.”
An awkward silence came over the group as they all thought about Liz’s words.
“Ha, what’s the point of that. even if there was much to tell how would know each other better help us?” Edgar chuckled callously.
“Oh don’t be so rude. Sorry about my friend, he may come off as rough but once you get to know him you’ll realize he has a gentle soul deep down,” Calem chimed in.
“That’s not true,” Edgar stuttered, his cheeks turning a dim red as he shied his gaze away.
“Oh really huh, well then how about I tell the fable of Calem then hey.”
Edgar's eyes widened and filled with joy as he quickly turned to face his friend.
“The fable of Calem… what’s that?” asked Bip.
“It’s the story of my life. Gather round and listen to the legend of a young man who went on to form one of the greatest guilds of all time,” Calem said with no small degree of showmanship.
Calem stood up out of his chair and averted his eyes from the group.
“It is a well-known fact that the world as we know it is in a constant state of conflict with itself. It is often believed that the most important battle is that between good and evil, but there is one even more important, one whos implication is far more grandiose…”Calem said. He swiftly moved his right hand to point up into the air and held his left out behind him, taking up an epic pose. “The Battle between clean and dirty!” he continued, his voice brimming with epicness and power.
The rest of the group looked on in utter dumbstruck confusion baring Edgar whose eyes widened as he looked on in wonder.
“From a young age, I had an innate sense of clean and the knowledge and ability to use it wisely. I would spend lunch breaks at school cleaning and tidying the classroom, and when I got home I wouldn’t rest until the day's filth had been entirely purged. As I developed my magic powers my cleaning ability’s only continued to grow greater. At first, my parents and teacher loved my passion, after all, when I was around they would never have to lift a finger to tidy up, but one day,” Calem said as he drifted off into flashback.
Calem’s teacher walked up to the young boy from outside. She looked around the immaculately kept classroom before returning her gaze back to Calem with a smile.
“Amazing work as always Calem,” the teacher said.
Calem looked up to the teacher, scanning her all over. He let out a brief hum.
“Umm miss… did you shower last nighter,” calem said matter of factly.
A horrified expression etched itself across the teacher's face.
Calem averted his gaze away from the rest of the group as a tear began to form in his eye.
“After that day due to what they called my obsession and a basic lack of understanding for proper social interaction, everyone tried to convince me that not everything had to be perfectly clean. My parents and teachers limited how much I could tidy and tried to corrupt me to the side of filth…”
“So tragic,” Edgar muttered under his breath as his eye began to water and he intently watched Calems performance.
Liz turned to look at Edgar somewhat taken aback by his shift in mannerisms. He quickly wiped the tears from his eyes and returned to his typical stoic expression as he felt Liz's eyes on him.
“Despite their attempts, I never faltered in my beliefs and passion. When I turned fifteen my mum enrolled me in our local Tarkan Axe Arts school so that I would have less time to clean. As soon as I started learning the way of the Axe I fell in love. Every second I wasn’t cleaning I was practicing with my Axe, and even as I cleaned I would use my knowledge of the arts to enhance my ability. if things had continued going the way they were I might of went on to become a master axeman… however…” a horrified expression etched itself onto his face. “The Tarken dojo was absolutely filthy! I spent half my time cleaning up after the other students, by the time I had finished the lesson was already over. I eventually quit my training, much to the dismay of my mother. Not long after that, I left home. For the next years, I struggled against all the odds. I formed my own guild, to fight against the torrent of filth in this world and slowly built it up to one of the most powerful guilds in the world.”
Tears began to stream down Edgar's cheeks uncontrollably. He wiped away the tears as fast as he could only for them to be replaced by new ones.
“What a tragic and beautiful tail, truly an epic for the ages, encore, encore,” Edgar said no longer holding back his emotions at all.
The rest of the group looked on, still unsure exactly what to make of Calem’s tale. Liz turned to face Tom.
“So how about you then… what’s your story?” asked Liz
“huh? Not much to tell really. I've been in the Army since I was eighteen. Actually lived in the city for most of my life, a fact just a few weeks ago I was here on leave. If all of this had gone down a little earlier I might have been in that horde out there,” Tom joked before his smile quickly faded. “I was on my way to take part in some top-secret mission when I heard about everything going on here. I knew I had to come help so I managed to convince my commanding officer to transfer me here so I could do everything I could for my city.”
Tom looked down to the ground, his mood seeming to lower and he stared off in thought. He looked back up noticing the rest of the group staring at him.
“Oh… sorry for bringing the tone down… so what about you two then? Whats you’re story?” asked Tom.
Liz and Alex turned to look awkwardly at each other. Suddenly the radio clipped to Toms belt began to crackle to life.a voice could vagly be made out cutting through that static. Tom unclipped the radio from his belt and held it out in front of him.
“Capt…. Oung… trouble w… get back here… mediately,” the voice of general came crackling thought the static.
“General Barker… do you copy,” Tom said holding down the button on the radio.
“… three ele…. Repeat cod… three eleven,” the General continued before the radio cut out complexly.
“Guess there’s still some kind of interference,” said Tom.
“What’s code three eleven?” asked Liz.
“uhh nothing… it’s incomplete code.”
The loudspeakers above the group began to crackle to life.
“It’s nine o’clock everyone so lights out gotta conserve power,” Emily’s voice came over the speakers.
The little light in the facility began to go out starting from one side of the building to the other.
“Looks like its time to get some shut-eye,” Alex said.
“Probably a good idea, we’ve got a big day ahead of us tomorrow,” Tom replied.
The group stood up out of their chairs and laid down on the uncomfortable cold floor. They shut their eyes and began to drift off to sleep, preparing themselves for the battles to come tomorrow.
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TO BE CONTINUED
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Thanks you for reading Chapter 42 of Mage. If you like what you see please consider dropping a Kudos and maybe checking out the rest of my work. Also for any updates or if you just wanna see my cosplay adventure please consider follwing my tumblr here https://www.tumblr.com/blog/50funny and until next time have a good one.