The Twins

Chapter 8: Not the Same Old Shit

Part four: Pink

   "SooOOooooO? How was the romantic stroll in the evening air?"

    "Shut up."

     "Can't do that broooO. So tell me, was it totally tubular? Was it Lit? I bet it was heavy man!"

     Matthew glanced at his sister in contempt,"what the fuck do those words even mean?" Marie gasped,"you mean I know words that you don't? Even with all your reading? You know I'm gonna lord this over you forever now right?" 
 
    Her brother sighed in defeat. He'd heard of the words before but none of them had ever made it into popular literature. At least, not in that context. Marie must have found some really old T.V shows that used that kind of language.

    "Marie I'm trying not to fall and break my neck so unless you're trying to kill me, shut up." Matthew retorted as he flipped his leg over a bar and tried to pull himself over it. Marie grinned from the ground below,"Aw come one I'm just trying to support you in your romantic endeavours! It's not my fault you don't want my help."

   Matthew steadied his breath and began balancing on the beam, walking over it smoothly,"actually that's 100% your fault." He responded, hopping down to a net. He was halfway done his obstacle course and was feeling quite pleased with himself.

  Marie feigned being hurt,"oh my! Using percentages against me? Well I have a percentage for you...did you know that 80% percent of percentages are made up?" In that moment Matthew could not have hated his sister more. Luckily for her Carson jogged up right at that moment,"hey you two, we just found some raiders in the distance. Get ready to fight."

   In a few hurried moments both siblings were gathered with the rest of the camp as Amani briefed them on the plan. Matthew realized that he and his sister were not the only new people. There were about half a dozen people who obviously had not been in this situation before. He wondered if his face looked as nervous and confused as theirs.

    "We'll be handing out weapons shortly.  Long range people will be positioned all around the camp.  Half of the short range or hand-to-hand combat people will be in front of the entrance where the raiders will meet us. The other half will be in the closest tents ready to set an ambush. Garrick and some of their fighters will go ahead to meet them and find out what they want. If they are peaceful and willing to trade they'll fly a white flag. If not, red. When you see the red flag get ready to attack on my signal." Amani declared calmly. He had obviously said this speech before,"older rebellion memebers have individual orders that they'll carry out by themselves so these orders are only for the rest of you."

   He looked out on the horizon to see the approachers,"If we fight today, use every skill you have to take them down. We will do whatever it takes to ensure our survival."

  In a flurry of acitivity everyone rushed off to prepare. Matthew coukd hear the sounds of weapons being passed out and armed. He was about to head off himself when Amani suddenly started walking towards him. Marie elbowed her brother playfully in the ribs and he shoved her back in annoyance. Amani grinned at them. Was there anything that could dampen his smile?

   "Matthew I was wondering if you'd be willing to go with Garrick to meet those raiders." Amani asked smoothly. Matthew frowned,"Me? But I'm one of the newest people here. What would I do if something went wrong?" Amani replied back quickly,"That's what you'd help out with. Your Token lets you see things that most people can't right? If they're planning to hurt us, you can warn Garrick and they'll have more time to fight back."

   Matthew blinked a few times as the pieces fell into place,"That's actually a really good idea. Yeah I guess I can come with." He tilted his head to the side,"You're quite the strategist aren't you?" Amani laughed and shook his head,"That was actually Garrick's idea.  They come up with a lot of the battle plans. Though...I like to think that I'm not too bad either." Matthew smiled back softly. He was about to say something else when he noticed that Marie was about to explode. With a small sigh he decided to stick to business.

   "Where's Garrick now?" He asked glancing over the bare earth for the shapeshifting rebel. Amani nodded and walked off gesturing for Matthew to follow. Marie said goodbye and went to get her weapons and orders.

   Amani walked very quickly. Or was he simply walking with more purpose? Made sense though; there were enemies at their door. Matthew shook his head. He'd almost forgot that they might be about to fight. "fuck! how did I get distracted so quickly?" Matthew cursed at himself. Amani glanced over his shoulder at Matthew,"are you alright?" He asked with concern in his eyes. Matthew waved it off,"yeah, yeah all good."

  Matthew and Amani had been talking more frequently since Matthew had explained how it felt when Amani left. He didn't really feel hurt anymore about the whole situation but he couldn't shake off his hesitancy with getting close to Amani again. They'd never talked about it but it felt like Amani understood this and was trying hard to respect it. Matthew was very grateful for that. Instead they'd talked a lot about the camp and how it came to be. Apparently they were getting new members all the time, though each one was carefully monitored in case they were a spy. Edis had let them live in relative peace for a while but everyone knew that wouldn't last. Not to mention all the criminals who had been sent to the surface as a punishment. Instances like the current one were very common.

    "Alright we're here." Amani called into a tent as they approached. Garrick stepped out with Rio and Kyra right beside them. The hard-working shapeshifer nodded and walked towards the entrance without a word. Matthew looked at Amani for clarification. He nodded,"Yeah go ahead, we have to be fast." Without needing to hear anything else Matthew set off to follow Garrick. He noticed that the three others had a ton of weapons between them and a second later realized that they were all concealed. "My Saru Tokai's getting stronger!" He thought happily.

    Soon the small team made it to a safe distance from the raiders. They hadn't moved very far from when they were first spotted. From closer it was clear a few of them were injured badly. Garrick motioned for the team to stop and then called out,"Are you here for help?" The raiders seemed relieved,"yes! We were attacked by another criminal group!" Garrick didn't move. Kyra shifted uncomfortably and even Rio glanced at the injured in pity. They looked to be in a lot of pain. After a pause the raiders called out again,"We're here in peace if that isn't clear enough!" The shortest one snapped. Again Garrick didn't respond. They looked straight at Matthew,"Well? Are they telling the truth?"

   Matthew looked out at the approaching group nervously. He really couldn't pick up anything from them. He closed his eyes to concentrate but no matter how hard he tried he didn't notice anything. Slowly he nodded,"I think they're telling the truth." Garrick gave a quick signal and both Rio and Kyra relaxed. Kyra jogged over to help with the wounded, everyone else close behind her. When they reached the group suddenly Matthew was overwhelmed with emotion, "this is wrong!" Everything inside him screamed. "Look out!" He yelled but it was too late. In a flash one of the "injured" people stabbed Kyra with a short knife. A second later and Garrick had been hit on the head and trapped under a net.  Then everything got cloudy as smoke bombs were suddenly deployed. 

    Coughing could be heard all around as well as hurried feet rushing away. Matthew peered through the haze trying to use his Token to find out where everyone was, but just like before he couldn't feel anything. When the smoke dissapeared Garrick and the raiders were gone. Kyra was leaning against a rock clutching her wound and Rio was kneeling beside her.

   "I've failed them." Matthew whispered as the reality of what happened struck him.