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In the dawn of the morning with a vast quietness throughout the district left untouched by the ravaging gang wars. The people of West District were paralyzed with fear and expressed how petrified they were to stumble outside to attend to their usual routine on a daily basis.
Between the ongoing wars and the slow progression of the Mania outbreak continued to rise over the decade since the authorities had abandoned Syndicate to their fates. Spark of hope died on the day of the Carnival’s grand opening the moment a Black Ring erupted and chaos descended throughout Syndicate. The contamination from the Black Ring and the lawless order still haunt many innocent Syndicans to this present day. It’s a life or death situation for every Syndicans being forced into pledging their allegiance to any of the gangs but few choose to remain unaffiliated and escape from the horrific nightmare to seek refuge elsewhere.
But the two youths, Amelia and Zoya, made their own choices to remain in a place they call home after everything had transpired. Fleeing to the Eastside to start anew was a cowardly option. They moved from one apartment complex to another whilst hiding from the authorities, more specifically the Public Security Bureau, never stopped their operation to hunt and capture the two youths. Suffice to say, they were unsuccessful with their attempts.
Their fathers defied the authorities and they were murdered for a reason.
The thick air quality was coarse from the smoke, it did not bother Amelia in the slightest as her nose was snuffed to breathe in what little left of the fresh breeze. She swatted a few hair strands away from her face before she huddled her arms around her torso to keep herself warm, her body shivered from the sway of the wind breeze and cooler temperature. She sat on the empty bench alone within the empty park during the early hour. The park used to be bursting with life and joyous endeavour as she once remembered from her earliest childhood with her father.
But now… it has become nothing more but an eerie emptiness surrounded by overgrown nature in great neglect.
Her hearing aids picked up the sounds of gravel crunched beneath the heavy boots approaching the occupied bench, which alerted Amelia to glance at the hooded woman with white hair in a zipped up coat and pants suitable for the cold days.
“Hey. I got us some breakfast.”
Fuchsia-coloured eyes met with the violet ones with exchanged gaze with a greeted smile, then her attention diverted onto the gloved hands carrying a paper bag and two cups. The rumbled growl from her stomach made its presence known after she sniffed in the unmistakable scent of strong coffee and toasted bagels.
“Someone’s a little hungry, it seems.” Zoya made an amused soft laugh after hearing the threatening grumble coming from Amelia’s stomach.
“I thought we’re supposed to save discoins?” Amelia questioned her with a frown.
Financial savings… Great.
Zoya dismissed the question with an exasperated grunt and shrugged, she placed the bag onto the bench then turned to hand one of the steaming cups in offering to her, “Can’t survive on an empty stomach, you know. I thought we’d indulge on a whim.”
“But...” Amelia tried to protest, "We don't have much left."
“No buts, Mia. I promised your old man I'll look out for you.” Zoya was mentally exhausted to consider arguing with Amelia over the spending costs, “Take it.”
Amelia relented with a defeatist sigh. She reluctantly accepted the cup with her timid fingers and took a slow sip of the coffee, the aroma of bitterness kicked in to keep her awake from the strong caffeine. Zoya sat down on the bench, reached inside the bag to grab one bagel wrapped in aluminum foil for Amelia, then took another one for herself and discarded the bag carelessly.
Littering was the least of the worries. In the last dozen years, Syndicate was already in a state of disarray.
The two of them sat in silence while they munched on their breakfast bagel to quell the hunger at bay. Minutes had passed, Zoya struck up a conversation to savour the peace, she lifted the cup to her lips for a quick sip of the coffee, though her face scrunched in disgust at the lukewarm bitter taste.
“Ugh, this is fucking shit. I should’ve gone for that bottle of vodka instead.”
She opted not to let the beverage go to waste and set the cup aside for Amelia incase. Her hand went into her coat’s pocket to settle on a quick smoke, making up for the letdown of the coffee but at the corner of her violet eyes, she had taken notice on the way Amelia was staring ahead with a faraway look. The urge to smoke was forgotten, she laid her hand onto Amelia’s arm with a gentle squeeze, cautiously not startling her into oblivion, “Mia?”
The touch alone brought the young woman out of her zone. Fuchsia eyes drawn to the hand resting on the sleeve of her arm then to the concerned expression washed over Zoya’s face, after a brief to collect herself, Amelia entwined her fingers with her partner’s.
“Sorry, I was miles away. I didn’t mean to ignore you.” she said apologetically for her deep thoughts that she neglected to lipread what Zoya had spoken to her.
“Want to talk about it?”
There’s no point in bottling up her emotions–the Sinner had a knack to sense something was distracting Amelia.
“I couldn’t stop thinking about that day we left Drifter Camp. Those monstrous whispers... the way its reached out to grasp its claws on me.” Amelia said, feeling an ominous shiver crept upon her body reflecting on the memory of that alleyway, “I knew from my gut feeling something’s wrong and it haunts me that we left these people behind to their fates.”
“Truth be told, we don’t have much of a choice. We barely escaped one mania outbreak after another. We’re ill-equipped to handle whatever it was that lurked within the walls of Drifter Camp.” Zoya admitted with a sombre tone,
Amelia hated how Zoya spoke the truth in her wisdom. There was nothing that neither of them could do to prevent the disastrous catastrophe–the news surrounding the Drifter Camp was dire in the last couple of months. She remembered the people who had shown nothing but kindness during the darkest times–though, the images of a tall man and a young girl appeared from the back of her mind, recalling the first meeting when Zoya introduced her to them.
“I hope Earl and Horo are safe wherever they are… We haven’t heard from them since.”
“Actually, Mia… I’ve been meaning to tell you something.”
Amelia turned to face her partner attentively to read her lips, “What is it?”
“I saw Earl last night.” Zoya told her after a short pause, “He and Horo are with the Nirvana Fleet.”
Amelia gasped in surprise as she expressed relief to receive the news. The Nirvana Fleet was the closest connection she had left of her late father who was once a former Miner.
“Are they doing alright?” Amelia asked until she noticed the grim expression washed over Zoya’s face, “Why do I get the impression the news isn’t good?”
“That depends on how you see things.”
“What do you mean?” Amelia was filled with dread.
“After they’ve been dismissed from service, the convoy was attacked by several gangs in the last couple of months. They were robbed of everything they had to survive... discoins, supplies, foods, you name it. Without the firepower, they couldn’t fight back to protect themselves.” Zoya grimaced with a frustrated sigh at the ruthlessness of these lowlife gangs, “You see, the situation in Syndicate worsens than it was before. Earl and I had a discussion about this, so we came to agree on a deal.”
Amelia tilted her head curiously, “A deal?”
“The deal was to defend the convoy from these gangs, in return he will provide the information I will need to secure Syndicate’s future. In short, Earl recruited me and I accepted the offer. But,” the Sinner reached and held Amelia’s hand in hers as she rubbed her thumb over her skin in a gentle stroke, ”I told Earl I’m not leaving you behind. I want you to come with me and help defend them.”
“I… don’t know. I’m not much of a fighter.” Amelia was stunned by the unexpected opportunity but her mind was filled with overwhelming doubts to second guess her best of her abilities. Fighting was not an agenda to her but she could not bear the thought of being inseparable from Zoya at this point.
“You are a fighter.” Zoya reassured her. Fingers left her hand to rest on Amelia’s right arm, the tingling sensation emitting a minor burn from the direct physical contact but the ember soothed through the sensual touching, “All you need to do is stay close to me. Assist with the investigation into the conspiracy rumours. And,”--she then tapped her fingers on the arm–”We still need to figure this ‘shackle’ out.”
The Shackles.
Nothing was concrete about this newfound ability that long left undiscovered, neither Amelia or Zoya could understand how the ability works in general. All they knew so far about the Shackle had linked the two of them under circumstances and survived through contamination unscathed, thus it awakened an unknown source of power within them. There’s a lot Amelia needed to understand the Shackle’s potential. After giving herself a much needed thought over the direction, they grieved for their own father and sought comfort in each other’s company through difficult times. Perhaps, Zoya was right–she needed to fight for the future and uncover the truth.
Amelia rubbed her right arm and nodded slowly, “I’ll come with you.”
“Atta girl.” Zoya leaned forward to plant a soft kiss onto Amelia’s forehead, then pulled her phone out from the inside of her coat’s pocket, “I’ll give them a call–”
The contact list appeared on the phone’s screen with Earl’s name shown until a hand grabbed her wrist to prevent her from pressing the call button.
“Mia?”
“Can we wait a little longer, please? I like to enjoy this moment of peace before we go… if that’s ok?”
It was a simple request. No matter how hectic and busier in the coming times, Amelia wasn’t sure if they would get a chance to be alone together. Zoya doesn’t question her outright but quickly understands her wishes to set her phone aside and opens her arms out in offering to invite Amelia into an embrace.
It didn’t take long for the young woman to get the message and climbed on her lap, burying her face under the crook of her neck inhaling the scent of ashen smoke and cinnamon spices. Zoya shifted her weight to adjust her position on the bench, ensuring Amelia was comfortable within her secured arms. They remained like this for a couple of minutes, feeling safe, with lingering touches along their arms. Gloved fingers stroking Amelia’s upper arm while the timid fingers trailed over the detailed inked tattoo on shoulder.
Zoya let out a pleased hum savouring the moment until a sound of Amelia’s soft giggle disrupted her daze. she raised a brow out of curiosity to what was occupying Amelia's mind, "I can tell there's something that excited you."
"Ah! Um, no." Amelia sounded a little embarrassed and attempted to brush this off with a wave of her hand, "It's nothing important."
A hand slapped Amelia’s backside earning a quiet shriek from her, she tightened her arms to cease any movement of her squirming within her lap. Zoya placed a finger underneath her chin and lifted her face up to hers, “Let me rephrase that again, care to share that thought with me, hm?” she spoke with a clear tone for Amelia to understand.
This time, there’s no escaping from this. Zoya wasn’t going to let this slide easily.
“I had a dream about us.” She locked her gaze with Zoya who listened to her with an attentive focus, “It’s going to sound silly to you, but I thought about us living a domestic lifestyle. We had a place to call home where the gang wars never happened. Everything was thriving in peace. We made accomplishments and started our family with a few pets and kids of our own down the line.”
“Oh, a family of our own? Heh, I haven’t popped the question yet.” Zoya teases her playfully.
Amelia looked away shyly, unsure whether Zoya shared the same sentiment, “I guess the dream is impossible. I know we will never achieve it with everything that's happened.”
“It’s not every once in a while we can’t stop dreaming of what could have been, but if it's any consolation, you’re not the only one who has thoughts about the future.” Zoya guided Amelia’s chin with her hand and pulled her close to kiss her on the lips, “We'll get through this, I promise.”
“I wish we could stay like this.”
“The feeling’s mutual.”
The two of them rested their forehead together sharing a contented sigh and remained in an embrace for a little moment longer.
“Zoya?” Amelia said after a long pause, “Make the call.”
Zoya didn't hesitate to pick up her phone and began to dial.
—
That following evening the convoy made a decision to move and search for a new destination.
On the drive through the rural road they came to a halt as several ambush party blocked the access to the main road, the sinister but menacing laughter had the entire convoy tensed up from being surrounded without an intent to surrender. The children within the trucks were frightened as parents tried their best to hush them.
The ambush party were waiting for the convoy’s leader to step out of the vehicle but nobody was bulging despite anticipating the ambush coming beforehand. A lone woman was the first to exit the vehicle and cautiously stand in between the vehicle and the ambush party.
The leader chose to approach her, “Hey, pretty thing. Where’s Earl? Too humiliated to show his face to us?” he added with a laugh.
“... No. You have me to deal with.” the woman spoke while eying each single gangster around her.
“Ah, so he sent you out here to beg for mercy. Shame.”
“We have no quarrel with you. Let the people go--you don't need to constantly harass them. They have nothing to satisfy your needs.”
The leader bellowed out loud hearing this, “You must be joking. We ain’t going anywhere ‘till we get what we came for. If I were you, I'd drop the bravado and back off like a good little girl. Wouldn’t want to scar a pretty face like yours if things escalated, heh.”
The woman sighed, “My face is the least of your concerns.” she began to take a few steps back with raised hands, “But guess you leave us with no choice.”
“The fuck you’re on about?” The leader wasn’t in the mood for such crypticness.
The woman’s right arm began to glow in a crimson colour, “If I were you, I advise you should… look up.”
It was too late for the ambush party to react to her advice, blinded by their own distraction to notice a tall woman with white hair stood on top the vehicle’s roof, she leaped down to strike a full on ruthless assault with her sharp tipped claws to send every single lowlife gangsters to their demise. Leaving terror in her own wake. They stood no chance as they were killed by her brutal attack.
"Bro, who is that woman? She looks powerful." one of the convoy members asked, the scene of the battle had left them astonished by the ambitious strength alone.
Earl was watching from the passenger seat with an unfazed look, "Zoya. She is the future leader of our Legion."
"And what of the other one?" the other asked.
"Amelia. The Shackle Bearer."