The Fallout

Oli's P.O.V

Something wasn't right. Something had been bothering me for the last week, and yet I found myself unable to place exactly what it was. I had all but given up on my quest for answers as I pushed myself off of the leather sofa in the RV and made my way to the front cabin so I could sit with Austin. I pushed the curtain out of the way which earned his attention, he turned his head and smiled before forcing his eyes back on the road,

“Have a seat cutie,” he motioned for the lone seat beside him before grabbing the wheel and turning off the highway and onto an exit.

“Why thank you,” I chimed as I descended the few steps before taking a seat and buckling myself in, I heard him giggle.

“Scared were going to crash? I promise you the RV would demolish anything we would hit!” he laughed again as we turned down a narrow road, I smiled to myself.

“Guess I'm just paranoid,” I offered as I watched the scenery change from dark and dismal to bloodied and catastrophic. Decomposing bodies piled the sides of roads while buildings laid in ruin, others abandoned by their owners; I frowned.

“I'm really tired,” I muttered as I stared at a pile of what was once human beings,

“Go to sleep?” Austin replied as he sped up, trying to get us away from there; I snorted.

“No, I meant I'm tired of seeing this.” I pointed out the window at the torn apart town, tears rose to my eyes. “I'm just so tired,” I mumbled as I laid my head on the cold window.

“Please don’t give up on this world, Oli. I know it’s dark and I know it’s scary…but the world needs people like you in it. We can fix this, I know we can.” He reassured me, but I shook my head.

“No we can't.” I mouthed into the glass, the rest of the ride was silent. We didn’t stop in any of the towns, and we didn’t say a word as everything went from awful looking to horribly demolished; instead we remained silent. Each of us lost in our own thoughts, Austin's surely of ways he could fix this mess while mine were more centered on the secret that was slowly eating me alive.

-&-

“Oli, look over there.” Austin slammed on the breaks causing me to slam my head into the window, I groaned as I turned my attention to what he was focused on. The road was barricaded with armed guards, while a rather large group of people huddled together in front of a podium, I bit my tongue.

“What are they doing?” Matt questioned as he plopped down on the steps, Tom sitting down beside him.

“I don’t know, but I can only presume someone is coming to speak to them…” Austin grumbled as he turned the RV into a parking lot,

“Well, what should we do?” Tom questioned as the vehicle came to a stop, Austin shut it off.

“Well, I think it’s time to take a stand for something. I'm going over there, and if they want to cause a scene then so be it, I'm not afraid of those people; and I'm certainly not afraid to die. I'm tired of running from them; it’s time to let the world know what they’re up against.” He stood from his spot and carefully stepped over Matt and Tom who shot him a dumbfounded look, I heard the door swing open.

“Austin wait!” I cried out as I hopped up from my seat and followed him, Matt and Tom followed me closely.

“Austin we can’t just go over there! They will try to kill us!” I explained as he rushed down the parking lot and towards the street, somehow I caught up to him. I grabbed his arm and halted him for a second; I pulled him so he was facing me.

“Reconsider, please.” I begged, but it was already in his eyes, and I knew then his resolve was clear.

“I'm going over there Oli, I can't die. You can't, Tom, Matt they can't either! We are something Oli but we are certainly not what the government makes us out to be! We are catalysts in changing this world, for the better! If someone gets in our way then we shoot them down, your either with me or your against me, and so help me god if you get in my way.” His voice was much darker and gruffer than I had ever heard it, frankly, it tore at me. I didn’t even attempt to fight the tears that pooled in my eyes.

“I don’t want you to die…” I mumbled before throwing myself into his arms, I buried my head into his chest and clung to him like my life depended on it.

“Oli…” Austin whispered as his arms circled me tightly,

“Please understand that this is going to happen eventually anyway, I promise I can hold my own…I just need to let the world know that this…this government plan is bullshit; and that it isn’t the only option for salvation. You know I never want to do anything to hurt you...I'm sorry I said that.” He explained as he rubbed up and down my back soothingly, I heard Matt grunt.

“Can we at least devise a plan before we go in hot and heavy? I’d rather not take my chances…” Austin tensed,

“Yeah, and I think I have a good plan.”


-&-


I cast a sideways glance to Tom and Matt before shooting a similar look to Austin, we covered ourselves in jackets and pants. Gloves decorated our hands and gas masks covered our faces, you couldn’t see an inch of our skin and that gave us a bit of an upper hand. To the blind eye we looked like your average group of scared citizens, which was exactly what we wanted the military and guards to think. Surely, they were already briefed on Austin's appearance so this was the only way the element of surprise was on our side. Even if we were almost 3,000 miles away from where we started out we couldn’t take any chances with them.

“Ready?” Austin questioned as he took the first step forward from the RV,

“Ready.” We answered in unison, my stomach was churning as we paraded down the street and towards the barricade, I watched the soldiers uneasily.

“Are you all here for the town hall meeting?” one of them questioned as he stepped forward,

“Yes, we are.” I answered carefully, the man nodded his head.

“What’s with the get up?” he questioned as his eyes trailed us over,

“We don’t trust the environment is all.” I explained as he unlocked the gate,

“Understandable.” He answered, “Go on in,” he motioned us forward, I thanked him before walking into the first gate, everyone else followed suit.

“Arms up, were checking for weapons.” Another man explained before he began to pat us down, I heard Austin chuckle a bit; if only these men knew we didn’t need guns to make a point.

“Clear.” He muttered to the other man, who unlocked the last gate, we quietly filed inside and into the mass of people.

“Easy enough,” Austin mumbled as we sunk into the back of the crowd, I felt him grab my hand in his.

“You okay so far?” he questioned, squeezing my hand tighter, I nodded.

“I’m fine, what about you guys?” I glanced over my shoulder at Matt who had his arm slung around my brothers shoulders.

“Were fine too, just stick to the plan guys.” Tom said quietly, I nodded my head. Without warning the crowd went silent, I turned back to face the stage. A tall dark headed man stood at the podium, he was dressed in uniform with his hair slicked back, a smug grin was plastered on his face.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, I am Commander Phillip Louis, and have recently been elected by the military and former United States Government to take roll as your new president.” The man clasped his hands together as the crowd awkwardly clapped, I clutched tighter onto Austin’s hand.

“As some of you may know, we plan on changing a lot of things, as of now; there will be a 9 pm curfew, anyone seen outside after that hour will be taken into custody immediately. Classes will be held at designated churches and tents for young children and anyone under the age of 20 will have to attend courses at 3 pm to 5 pm. Your money is now obsolete, so discard of it immediately, if you are caught with it you will be arrested. If you need something we usher you to barter or to apply for government aide, if you steal, you will be executed on the spot. We will not tolerate disobedience, if you do not listen to these rules then you will be-“

“Free.” Austin called out over him, the man shot the crowd a confused glance as the group went silent, soon all eyes were on us.

“Pardon me?” the ‘president’ questioned as several armed guards came to stand beside him on the stage. Austin laughed,

“If you don’t listen to these rules, and if you choose to ignore this man and his so called plan for salvation,” Austin reached up for his mask, so I did the same, Matt and Tom did as well. “Then you will be free.” He explained as we all ripped the masks away from our faces, several gasps came to the crowd.

“That’s them, that’s the men their after!” one woman shouted, as another one commented that we should be detained.

“Stand down,” Phillip instructed when the armed guards raised their weapons, the crowd slowly backed away from us,

“Austin Carlile and company, identify yourselves!” he seethed as he came out from behind the podium,

“No need for introductions,” I commented as I took a step forward, “You won’t live long enough to need to remember us.”

“Fools! You cannot expect to win against our military prowess!” he growled lowly, I couldn’t help but laugh.

“But we don’t expect to win anything,” Matt shouted back to him, “We just want people to see that we are on their side, and that you are not. We want to restore the world to its former glory and you just want to tear it apart, its time someone makes a stand.” He cracked his knuckles as he came to stand beside me,

“It’s time people realize what you have done and what you plan to do, you will not help them; you just want total control. You’re a dictator and a coward, not a president.” Tom took a spot beside Matt, I turned my head to face Austin who stood a few feet behind us.

“We’re here to take a stand against evil people like you, call us what you want but in the end its only going to go one way…and it’s not going to be yours.” Austin took a large step forward so that he directly to my right,

“Shoot them. Now! I refuse to be opposed!” the dark haired man shouted as the guards raised their weapons. People creamed as loud gunshots came in our direction; I braced myself for anything but was relieved when the bullets seemingly bounced off of us like some kind of bouncy ball.

“You sure about this?” I whispered to Matt who nodded his head.

“I got this, you all focus on getting the people out of here and somewhere safe; I will stall them. Tom, if anyone is hurt take care of them.” Tom pouted at his choices but nodded his head anyway, Austin grabbed my arm and my brothers;

“Let’s go.” He mouthed,

“If you want to stay here and worship this false prophet than do so at your own discretion, but if you want to live to see a better tomorrow, I suggest you come with us!” Austin hollered to the crowd who all exchanged worried glances, shockingly enough, most of them followed his lead out of the doors.

“Stop them!” one of the guards cried, but I shook my head.

“Not today,” I seethed, raising my hand in his direction, before slinging it to the right, his body flew helpless into the steel gate and he crumpled up as soon as he hit it.

“Hurry!” I cried out as I ushered the people out of the gates, while Austin and Tom led them far away from the street and into our designated location, a seemingly untouched church. As the last person filed out of the gate I shut it in place, watching as Matt was circled by a group of men, Phillip being one of them. I heard Matt chuckle before he called out the foreign commands that caused their shadows to stretch and morph into a glowing black blob, the look on their faces was horrified as they watched helplessly as their shadows changed into the ultimately familiar silhouettes of wolves. Another word was spewed out as the shadow wolves launched themselves at the military men and the people who had chosen to stick behind. I grimaced as I watched blood splatter the ground and listened to the pained screams as their bodies were ripped apart by their own shadows.

“Matt! Enough, let’s go!” I screamed at him as I unlocked the gate, he shot me a glance, his eyes fading from an iridescent sheen to a dull yellow glow.

“Is everyone inside?” he questioned as the wolves halted their assault and circled their new found owner, I turned to look back down the street and saw Tom standing there with a thumbs up,

“Yes!” I called back, he nodded his head and muttered one more word, but instead of falling to his knees, he stood still as the wolves dissolved and became part of his own dark figure that laid at his feet.

“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s see how much sense we can make with them.” He mumbled as he turned on his heel and approached me, I slid the gate open to let him by. As we walked away from the now disastrous scene I picked up a black book that laid in a dead Captains hands, I shot Matt a glance to make sure he wasn’t looking and when the coast was clear I flipped it to the section that was under the letter “S”. I flipped through a few pages before finding what I was looking for, but even after seeing it I still felt guilty for keeping quiet about my past. I read the words quietly before ripping out the page and stuffing it in my pocket.

Oliver Scott Sykes, Aged 23 years, from Sheffield, South Yorkshire, United Kingdom
REWARD: $150,000
WANTED FOR TREASON

Notes

Titled Cred: I Killed the Prom Queen <3

Dropped a bomb on ya, didn't I?
What are your thoughts on the following:

What they just did
How they will persuade the citizens to side with them
How they will use the everyday people to impact the world
If they will succeed
Oli's past

Thanks for reading!
LEAVE ME STUFF c: