MORTIS

The Plan

Eli, Trent, and I all walked for a while. We were taking alley ways to avoid attracting attention, and we kept going until we reached a manhole cover. Trent uncovered the hole, and we climbed down into a secret room. It was like a hidden base. A huge map of Detroit was on a bulletin board on a wall, with several pins all over the board. My dad was planning something.

"Where have you been?" I asked him.

He looked at me and said "Ever since that riot, I was separated from you. I had no choice but to regroup with your mother into the Core."

"You were gone for almost three years, and I had to rough it on my own with Eli. You couldn't have left as much as a single message?" I asked accusingly.

Dad seemed frustrated, then said "It's not that damn simple. We got pushed all the way into the Core, and the Reapers built a goddamn wall around the heart of the city. We've been in Hell for three years straight, if you think this is bad, you've got a rude awakening coming your way. But we don't have time for feelings."

Trent walked over to the giant map of Detroit, and point at the borders of the city.

"We're in the outskirts, relatively distant from the Core. Deathshead runs a gang called The Reapers. Here in the outskirts, they're just your average assholes that loot and pillage like vultures. The deeper into the city you go, the worse it gets. At the Core, the Reapers worship death. They have a deity they worship, and they make a lot of senseless sacrifices to said deity. Deathshead is seen as a direct link to the deity, and is worshipped as if he is an extension of this deity."

Eli cleared his throat, and said "So what are you trying to do here?"

"I can't save the city, but I can sure as hell try to end the suffering that the Reapers cause. I'm tired of watching shit fall apart and no one is doing anything about it. I'm sure you and Riot are sick of it too." replied Trent.

He did have a point. Getting shot at isn't fun. Nothing is more tragic than when I saw both a mother and her baby killed like stray animals in that driveby. They also fucked my place up, and that's just insult to injury.

I spoke up with "So how are we gonna do this?"

Trent smirked and replied with "Glad you asked. Your mother is currently entrenched in the Core, pulling recon. Right now she's staying below the radar, trying to stay alive. We need to cut through the city to get to the Core. However, there will be a lot of detours since the Reapers are really good at blocking off alley ways and streets. If we're gonna get into the Core, we'll have to make it to a subway station. I will warn both of you right now, we'll only have each other in the Core. All the civilians there are too afraid to fight back, and too scared to be out on the streets from fear of becoming a blood sacrifice. Once we get to the Core, we have to whittle down the defenses of the Reapers. Once we destabilize them enough, we might have a narrow window to get to Deathshead and put his ass six feet under. Any questions?"

Eli and I looked at each other, and then nodded our heads in agreement.

Little did I realize, we just signed ourselves up for a lot of pain and suffering.

This was only the beginning.