The Twins

Chapter 6: country before all

Part 2: Blue

   That night was one of the longest either twin had ever experienced. The coolness of the night air seeped through the broken windows and the blankets covering them seemed to do nothing. Every sound brought the heart rate of both kids through the roof. "Have they found us?" Their minds screamed each time and were met with silence, or at least not any sounds they were expecting. Sometimes nothing can be more painful then the something you were afraid of. The nothing surrounded them. Of course there wasn't actually nothing. Animals of the night shuffled around freely in the bushes. The creators of Edis had decided to spare as many animals as they could and allowed them to live as they would have on the surface. These animals only hightened the anxiety of both children as each move they made seemed to echo in the runaway's hearts, rattling around and bumping up against heart strings and arteries.

    The morning brought some peace of mind but not much. In the day the children could busy themselves with things to distract them, but there was a much higher chance of being found. Eventually the two got hungry.

"You go get food." Marie coaxed her brother,"you've always been good at blending in."

"I'm pretty sure that was an insult but it doesn't matter because That's bullshit and you know it."

"Is not."

"What, are you 5?"

"No you."

    Matthew groaned. This juvenile way was arguing was never above Marie. He was pretty sure she hadn't bothered to come up with an original insult since she was 4. Nevertheless, he didn't feel like getting into a word duel right then and he surrendered, putting up his hood and crawling away from the building out of what would have been a back exit but was now only a hole with a door hanging by two nails. He began to walk more casually. It would have been a red flag for anyone looking at him if he looked nervous.

    Luckily, Matthew had brought his wallet with him when the twins left their house and it didn't take long for him to find a grocery store. This one, he knew, didn't have a security camera. He only knew this because he and Marie had a game where they pretended they were spies in enemy territory when they were kids. They learned how to spot security cameras and had memorized all the places without them. People can do amazing things when they have nothing better to distract themselves with.

    He paid for some good easy-to-eat things that didn't spoil quickly and left as fast as he could. He returned back to the hideout in a different way he had before and plunked the food in front of Marie. She smiled until she noticed one item he had gotten.

"You got pickled onions? Seriously?"

   Matthew sighed,"if you refuse to eat them then I will. I just need you to know that makes you a pussy and a coward."

   Marie glared at him. She hated onions but she hated being a coward even more. Marie was a proud girl with a chip on her shoulder. That got her into several fights at school, this fact an odd contrast to her good grades and "teacher's pet" tendencies. She ate a spoonfull of the onions immediately. 

   "Wanna go look around later?" Matthew asked. It was a good way to distract them and an even better way to know where everything was in case they had to bolt again. This was another thing they had learned during their spy game: know your ground. That way if something goes wrong you can always lose your opponent or hide if you know good places for doing either of those things. Marie nodded enthusiastically to her brother's  suggestion with her mouth still full of onion. She was gagging.

   The two set out onto the second floor soon after that. They didn't worry about wether or not it was safe up there, they both had too much pride. Marie ducked into what was once an office and started poking around the files,"what are you doing?" Matthew asked skeptically,"there are probably much better things to look at here than paperwork."

Marie didn't look up,"I want to find out what his building we used for. I don't remember anybody saying they were inside it when it was in use." She replied, her voice muffled by the cabinet file she had her head stuffed into,"oooOOooh!" She exclaimed pulling out an official looking file. She turned the face towards Matthew. It had big red letters spelling out "government file 332" the two kids placed the file on the desk to flip through it.

"June 3    73 A.E *after Edis*
Reports from security have showed that there is a plot to overthrow Hawkings, the teleport company. This institution is integral to the proper functioning of Edis and will be protected at all costs.
June 4
The rebellious situation in sector 12 is being monitored closely. No civilians have been approached so far.
June 5
5 suspects have been located and are being monitored. At 12:45 shots were exchanged and the ringleader was eliminated. An ultimatum has been offered to the others.
June 6
The suspects have been secured and sent to the surface. All reports suggest nobody knew of the suspects' plan and that the eliminations happened without rising suspicion."

The rest of the file contained photos and reports from the officers involved. Marie and Matthew only stared at them still unsure what to think.

"This kind of stuff happened all the time when humans lived on the surface. I'm sure It's fine." Marie suggested to Matthew. He shook his head.

"Back then they would usually tell the population when it was safe to. The only time they wouldn't is if it would cause too much of a panic, would alert the enemy to something, or would show that the government was doing something wrong." He paused,"this is too tame to cause a major panic and we have no enemies."

Marie looked at Matthew steadily,"That's not the right opinion to have you know. We'll make a lot of enemies if we have that opinion."

"Something happened to Amani. If that wasn't proof enough that the government is doing things we didn't think it would then this clinches it."

Marie sighed turning away from her brother,"Well. We've sure gone ahead and swam up shit creek without a paddle haven't we?"

"We really have."

The two went back to where they had slept before and froze. There was a neatly sealed letter on the couch, ink still wet. Marie went over to get it cautiously and ripped into the soft, white paper. She read the letter with her eyes going wide.

"They're giving us an ultimatum."