The Righters

Chapter 3

Area 5916 was home to some of the most dangerous individuals in Region 59. Luke Johnson was aware of this truth, but that was what he admired about the Area.

Righters tended to avoid this section of the Region, and any Righters that somehow ended up in Area 5916 either died or simply wanted in on the drugs, money, or cheap women.

The hottest drug on the street was blackout. Contrary to its name, blackout kept the user fully aware of their surroundings. However, the high was more of an out-of-body experience riddled with hallucinations and delusions. Some users of blackout actually reported seeing themselves carry out actions as if they were watching themselves on camera. Others reported seeing, touching, and interacting with people that they knew to be dead. A woman in Area 5932 claimed to have died and gone to hell when the reality was she turned the temperature regulator in her home up to ninety degrees.

Though the trip experienced from blackout was comparable to no other known drug, taking blackout was a risky endeavor. One of every five users died from the use of blackout. Apparently, the hallucinations caused by the drug were so potent that they forced the brain to work extremely hard in order to partition reality and the fictitious world created by blackout. An extended period of time in the fictitious state caused the brain to eventually shut down. Consequently, a stoppage of the brain meant a stoppage of the body, irrevocably resulting in death.

Blookies, those unaccustomed to drug use, tended to make up a majority of the blackout deaths. Luke, on the other hand, was no blookie. He began using blackout as soon as it hit the market.

Blackout could be taken in various forms. The most popular form was the pill; they were easier to store, easier to take, and harder to spot by Righters. Other methods of use included shooting, snorting, smoking, and rubbing the lotion form onto your skin. The lotion form of blackout was easier to attain, but it left a distinct smell that Righter K-9s and bots, asshole robotic Righter assistants, were accustomed to picking up.

Luke and two of his friends managed to rob a man named Duce, a well-known drug dealer, scoring fifty pounds of blackout pills. On the street, one pill went for five hundred dollars. Needless to say, Luke and his friends were rich despite the potential grave danger they faced.

They needed to come up with a plan, and quick. Luke figured that the dealer would be looking for his stash of little green pills shortly. He wasn't concerned, however, with the potential involvement of Righters.

"Hey, Luke, we need to get the hell out of here now," called one of Luke's friends from the bathroom.

"Why don't you grab the fucking pills, Matt?" Luke replied.

Matt rushed out of the bathroom and scurried toward the living room. Just as he bent over to grab the box of pills, there was a violent knock at the door.

"Open up," said a female voice from the other side of the door. "It's the Righters."

Luke's eyes widened. "Shit."

"You have five seconds to comply or brute force will be utilized," the voice called.

"Get the fucking guns," Luke whispered to Matt. "And tell Paul to get the fuck out of the bedroom and hide the pills."

Matt quickly ran out of the room.

"Five," the female voice called mechanically.

Luke followed Matt and grabbed an AK-47.

Matt walked out of the bedroom in which Paul lay in a state of comatose. "Paul is on a blackout trip," Matt whispered.

"You have to be fucking kidding me," Luke replied. "Wake him up!"

"Four."

Matt hurried into the kitchen, filled a cup with cold water, and ran back to Paul's bedroom. After having cold water poured directly onto his face, Paul's eyes slowly opened.

"Three."

Matt bent over and looked into Paul's eyes. "He's still tripping, Luke," he said.

"Damn it! Get him out of the bed. Take him out through the back window and—"

Before he could finish his sentence, a loud explosion emitted from the front door. Debris and shrapnel flew into the hallway. Matt and Luke crouched in shock.

Luke held his rifle at the low ready and placed his back against the wall.

He could hear the crunch of shattered wood and glass below the feet of the Righter as she walked into the living room.

"Come out with your hands up," the Righter said.

"You said we had five seconds!" Luke hollered from behind the wall.

"Now!" the Righter returned.

Luke looked at Matt, desperation masking his face. "Okay, I'm coming," Luke yelled. He placed his rifle on the carpet, stood up, and walked into the living room with his hands in the air, ensuring that his body blocked the view of the hallway entrance. The Righter was cute and petite, her facial features partially blocked by her helmet.

"Turn around, get on your knees and keep your hands where I can see them," said the Righter.

Luke slowly complied.

The Righter searched Luke thoroughly. "Who else is here with you?" she asked.

After a short pause, Luke said, "No one. It's just me."

The Righter placed Luke's hands in a set of handtraps—magnetically secured handcuffs—and looked toward the wall that Matt and Paul hid behind. Luke wondered if she'd heard one of them behind the wall. Next, the Righter made an adjustment to her helmet that allowed her to view heat signatures.

Suddenly, she stood up and pointed her weapon at the wall.

"Come around the wall with your hands up!" she yelled.

Seconds later, Paul stumbled through the doorway. Luke guessed that Matt was still hiding.

"Both of you!" the Righter yelled, knowing that there were two heat sources behind the wall.

Without warning, Matt burst through the doorway with the AK-47 in his hands, shooting wildly at the Righter.

Luke squinted and yelled, unsure of his personal safety.

The Righter quickly returned fire, shooting Matt in the chest with a laser pistol. A hole the size of a softball quickly opened after the shot, burning furiously around the edges. Matt's motionless body fell to the floor noisily. The Righter pointed her weapon at Paul and told him to get on the ground, palms facing upward.

"You lied to me, civilian," the Righter said. "You know you can get locked up for that?"

"Fuck you, Righter slut," Luke said.

The Righter looked back at Paul. "Get on the ground!"

Before Paul had the chance to get on his knees, three large holes appeared on his chest.

"Why'd you shoot him?" Luke yelled.

The Righter stood in bewilderment, looking at Paul as he fell lifelessly onto the bloody carpet. "I didn't," she said.

The Righter turned around and saw five grave men standing in what was left of the doorway.

"I did," one of them said. "And now, I'm going to kill the two of you."