||F E A R||

||BATTLE CRY||

​     "Hey Fear, how much farther?" Charge asked from behind me for what seemed like the millionth time.
​     "I'm not the smart one so stop asking me." I had been carrying her on my back for a few miles now and Dread was carrying Blu bridal style from when she had fallen asleep at our last stop. The sun was just about to rise and we had gotten a about three towns over while managing to cover at least 70 miles since yesterday's... incident at Facility.
​     "We need food, water and rest" Dread grunted after a few moments of silence.
​     "There should be a store in the next town and if not there, the town after that. The farther we go north, the more people we'll find and more people means more supplies and less of the damned militia. We'll then go from there." How I managed to speak with this dry of throat I'm not sure. Dread nodded lightly and carefully adjusted his grip on Blu, causing her to stir and eventually awaken. After Dread set her down and she was awake enough to acknowledge what was going on around her, Charge groggily bounced off my back and staggered over to her and began a one sided dialogue while Dread sorely and stiffly made his way over to me. He stood adjacent to me and gripped my shoulder and taking a deep breath, he was signaling he needed another supplement of Soot.
​     I quietly flagged down the girls, careful not to be too loud in case if any of The Watchers were closing in, when I saw they had walked a few feet ahead of us. I helped pull the right side of Dread's worn and torn leather jacket off and then used one of the five carefully protected and hidden pre-prepped syringes we had made last night just in case. Again, when the drug entered his system, his pale spring green irises rolled into his head and then he took a sharp intake of breath, the hand still resting on my shoulder balled the fabric of my shirt into a fist. He leaned back slightly, his jaw clenching and unclenching as he rocked on his heels, head pointed towards the sky. I feared he would fall, maybe hit his head on a rock I didn't see, but thank Godlings he caught himself and leaned into me for a moment, later exhaling as his body visibly relaxed after a few seconds.
His eyelids closed for a moment as his body stayed relaxed for the first time in what seemed like forever. When he opened his eyes again, his eyes changed from the cool yet (understandably) exhausted green to a golden, like someone melted a bar of gold and stirred it's shimmery metal. The gold rings were surrounded by fading black veins branching out.
     I let out a small gasp and took a small step back, my hands instinctively going to him, resting on his arm and his rib cage. It's beating so hard. Just like the first time he... I fully began to process what's in front of me.
​     "Your eyes," I sputtered when he furrowed his brows in wonder, "they're golden, not black."
​     "Gold? Fucking shit... How can they be fucking gold? The drug, it turns everything, everything black, that's kinda why it's called Soot."
​     "They... I don't know how but I mean... yeah Dread. They're gold, not black." I stuttered out, tripping over my words, either too make sure that I said it correctly or to make sure that I believed it. I looked at the girls and then at my changed friend, his eyes were still golden. That's when we heard it, the truck's tires on the gravel. I quickly tugged on Dread's wrist and dragged him to the thick, dying brush behind me. The girls have done the same.
​     'Quiet now' I managed to say, barely above a whisper, when they made eye contact with me. 'They can't know we are here. We're fugitives now.' They nodded in understanding. I looked over at Dread to tell him the same thing only to find him gone. I carefully peeled back the brush and saw him going after the truck cunningly. My eyes widened, my body tensed and my breath is caught in my throat as I watched him.
​     'Dread, you're a damn madman, you'll get killed.' I thought. 'Please be careful my love.' The truck slowed to a halt as The Watchers on the back got off. Their guns at the ready, they began to scope the area. "Are you sure they came this way Sargent?" one asked. The other, Nowl as the tag on their shoulder read, nodded as he still scanned the area. Sargent Nowl walked towards me and I held my breath as I made eye contact into his helmet. He looked over his shoulder and then looked back at me. He signaled for me to be quiet, the simple finger to the lips motion and walked back to the truck. "Anything?" the private asks and the question only amounts to a shake of the head. I then see Dread walk up behind the private and put him into a chokehold and then rip away his gun and helmet. More of The Watchers flowed out of the back of the truck. More Watchers mean more anger from Dread and more anger results in him getting stronger, especially when he has Soot in his system.
​     Blu came and sat next to me as Charge speedily helped Dread in his cloud nine induced fist fight.
​     "What are you doing? Are you crazy?" Charge shouts over her shoulder as she wrestles a soldier.
​     "Why not and possibly." Dread answered as his and Charge's backs now touched. "Hey Red" he raised an eyebrow, "let's cause some sparks, shall we?" She ran at full speed to somewhere unknown and as if in slow motion, gripped Dread's forearms and as he powerfully spun them both, Charge picked up and manipulated any and all lightning she had gathered in her run and killed the soldiers that have gathered around the two.
Once Dread felt Charge tuck herself against his chest, her breath against his buzzing high skin, he paused for a moment, almost vibrating as he thought of this next move and by the bumper of the wrecker swung it around. All of The Watchers were either knocked out or dead now. Charge slid to the ground, landing with her hands on her knees and head bowed, regaining her breath shakily.
​     "Oh my god... I forgot how much I hated the spin" was all she said as she lifted her head to the brightening sky.
​     "As fast as you are yet you get a little nauseated when I do a little spin?" Dread lets out a small stiff rumble of a chuckle as he walks towards Blu and I, strutting more like. Charge gave him a look, as well as the finger, as Blu stood up and brushed herself off. I followed suit and met my friends in the middle. I offered her a hand when I approached Charge and she gladly took it. "So what now?" Dread asks bluntly.
​     "We make disguises out of what we have and keep moving. I have a feeling we're not far." I grabbed a jacket from a soldier who was similar in body type as me after checking his pulse. None. My friends did the same. Check the pulse; only take from the ones who are departed.
​     We carried our old clothes to the truck and not too long after, Dread and Blu shorted out the wiring and the machinery took ablaze.

​     It was about mid-afternoon when we finally found our way to the next town. Dread was on his last syringe of his much needed body altering drug. Blu pointed south-west from our paused position. My eyes followed her extended finger and a small convenience store walking distance from our point. I waved my hand as well as my head some, signaling to shift forward. Once there, we bowed our heads to avoid being detected.
​     "This New Law will now be expanding across our great nation of Ardor" the TV in the higher corner caught my attention as we entered the store Blu pointed out moments ago. "If you are between the ages of 17 and 45, you will have your blood drawn. If your blood is silver, The Watching asks you to come to the President's home for further testing. We just want to make sure that you are okay; that you aren't poisoned or anything of the sort. You mustn't eat the day before and the day of."
​     "Silver blooded people ae rumored to not bleed, John." A customer said, leaning on the counter as she and the supposed John discussed the news. I looked back at Blu and Dread and held my finger to my lips and knew they got the message and that they have to keep their heads down. I turned my attention to the two at the counter as I acted like I was searching the shelves for nothing in particular.
​     "Those silver bloods are disgusting. Unhuman, even; people bleed Anastasia. Normal human beings bleed as they walk on two legs, talk their native tongue and love the opposite sex. The only reason The Watching wants those natural disasters is because they want an army and to eradicate the rest of us normal real humans." He rolled his eyes at the end of his miniscule expound. The woman, Anastasia, hummed in agreement. I went to the back of the store, by the drinks, where the others have gathered.
​     "Have you heard the conversation upfront? Or what the broadcaster announced about the Rule?" I whispered as I faked looking at the nutrition facts labeled on some random drink Blu handed me. In my peripheral field, I saw Blu nod so slightly, it was almost unnoticed while Charge and Dread voiced their agreement in a hushed tone.
​     "What are we gonna do?" Charge asked, copying me in trying to look busy, looking at a random something's nutrition facts.
​     "Dunno, any ideas?" I shrugged. We took what we had to the counter where the other two beings were stood. I gave him the money I squirreled away for Dread's mind and body altering Soot, although we needed our sustenance for the northern road ahead.
​     "Can I see your identification please?" The clerk asked suddenly.
​     "I beg your pardon?"
​     "Your tattoos. I asked for your identification tattoos." He clarified. We all stuck our inner wrists out as he used the black light to decode our invisible identification tattoos. Before he read my tattoo, he recognized Dread's face.
​"Get out..." he said to us quietly.
​     "Huh?" Charge stated dubiously.
​     "Are you stupid? I said get out!" His voiced raised the more he spoke. "Now I'm going to make a call, guess to who Red." He spat.
     "Look pal," Dread spat back in Charge's defense, "unless you and this lady's significant other's don't want you and your whore here dead on their door steps, I suggest you don't call my friend RED. I am the only one that can call her that do you understand?" Dread grabbed the cashier's collar and pulled him over the counter and raised his fist in his outrage, ready to swing. I caught his hand and slightly shook my head when we made eye contact.
​     "We run now?" Charge and Dread asked in sync.
​     "We run now." I confirmed. And we did; we continued north and we heard The Watchers trucks about 2 minutes after we escaped the man's recognition.
     ​"Flank left," Charge interpreted Blu's hand motions as we ran, "Flank left when she says." The girls slowed a little as I stayed to make sure Dread didn't get left behind. We caught up with them and where we were told to flank left lead into (at the very least) 200 acers of woodland. The main trail would be an obvious search path. Dread suddenly collapsed.
​     "Blu, cmon, if we take this path, we'll be found way too easily. Which way do we go? We need to hurry." Charge spoke quietly. Blu instructed us to follow her; Charge helped me carry Dread's body weight. We walked about half a mile, maybe a full one at the very most, at an odd angle perpendicular to the main road in which we came. We heard a branch snap under a foot that didn't belong to us. All heads turned to where we believed the sound came from, for us to find an aged Watcher.
​     "Don't worry, I won't hurt any of you and that boy needs some help and I can offer you a place to sleep and some food to eat. All you have to do is follow me. Your only other option is to get caught by them. My name is Angeline. Angeline Willow but I go by Ambassador. I was The Watchers Eye; I was the head of them. I know how they think. I can protect you. I promise."
     ​"What do we have to lose? Dread needs help, we need food," I whispered to the others, "Okay, lead us Ambassador. We trust you." She noised her agreement, nodded and began walking the she came, using a broken off branch for balance.