Welcome to Purgatory.

Running

The defeaning sound most likely came from the surface, so our base should be protected, but I have a feeling that if we don't act quickly, it might not be for very much longer. So I throw in my vest, and grab my shotgun, preparing for the worst. I call to josh through the earpiece.

Josh. Suit up. I want to keep jay here for at least a little while. Let's try and fight off these rioters. Josh is never one to back down from a fight so what he says next surprises me. You know, maybe we oughta hold off in shooting our way outta this. That explosion wasn't from the rioters.

What? Not from the rioters? Who has enough firepower to make an explosion like the one I heard? Nothing we have makes that sound. I don't know if any other gangs in purgatory with that kind of control. Perplexed, I sling my shotgun on to my back and I open the sealed control room, and reseal it behind me. Josh is looking at the monitors and the scanners. "It's crazy, what just happened." Josh says. "Did you get a read from Francine?" I reply, "Yeah, no apparent radiation, temperature is relatively unchanged, atmospheric composition is unchanged. Everything looks good besides one small abnormality." Josh says "There seems to be a drastic increase in the amount of natural smoke." "Okay but from an explosion that big? The blast epicenter had to be about 5 miles long. Who has that sort of power?" I ask. "Only one place comes to mind. The capitol. The have the power and resources to do just about anything they want." Josh says back through his gritted teeth. "Okay we'll see if you can find where the epicenter is, and far it travelled." I deservedly ask.

When I come back with two cups of coffee Josh tells that "By Francines calculations the center of the blast was Angels Square and it looks like it's going to cover about three to five thousand miles." "That's the entirety of district 3, starting with its center. But the bigger question is why would the Capitol want to make a smokescreen around district 3?" I start to question. Josh says back "Well my guess is that either their trying to scare us into calming down, or they have their own agenda that needs to be hidden from the world." The gears start to turn and things start to click, "And how could you keep everything in your plan out of sight from everyone else? With a smokescreen. And if the Capitol doesn't want anyone seeing what they're doing, then that means they're "K I L L I N G." Josh and I sat in unison. "Without another breath I direct "load up the heavy artillery, because the Capitol is done putting up with us, which means we are done putting up with them. Now we take our stand."

20 minutes later Josh and I are in our secret garage, finished stacking our final truck and ready for a war. "Open it." I mutter. Josh presses a button on his wristband and the garage door slowly opens as the smoke starts to seep in. I look at Josh, and he looks back and says "alright pal. This is what we've been waiting for." Yes it is buddy. Yes it is.