(Reverence 5, 59 / 12:02AM)

  He opened his eyes.

  As if electricity ran through his body like a metal coil, every muscle and bone in his body rattled like a rattlesnake. His heart skipped a beat, his lungs immediately pushing hard air, and his fingers clenching the muddy soil beneath the water, he opened his mouth.

  While looking up at not a sky, but an animal in front of his face.

  His breathing and heart rate going back to normal, Luke stared at the green donkey that was inches away from his face. Its nuzzle hovering over Luke’s nose, the donkey stuck out its tongue…

  And licked his face like ice cream.

  (Luke) H-Hey!

  Pushing away the green donkey, it obliged, taking a couple of hooves back as it raised its head away from Luke’s. Having his butt remaining on the warm water, his hands and elbows held his body up while looking at the night sky.

  A night sky that was still full of dark clouds, thunder booming through the air like a metal gong.

  Seeing the dazzling blue lightning light up the clouds, Luke let out a soft smile.

  (Luke’s thoughts) I think I know what I have to do.

  Getting up from the ankle-deep water, droplets of it leaped out from the backside of his body, dripping relentlessly onto the sluggish puddle. Slapping his knees with the butt of his palms, a couple of water droplets seethed out of his black pants, his socks and boots moistened with the warmness of the puddle.

  Still having his head facing the sky, another blue streak of lightning encapsulated both of his pupils, the figure of lightning resembling a similar figure to a certain someone he knew.

  But only flashed in a single millisecond.

  (Luke’s thoughts) I need to save them. I can’t rely on just my smarts and luck alone, but…

  Turning his head to the green donkey that licked his face, he noticed the similar fur characteristics almost two days prior. Pushing both of his lips up to form a warm smile, Luke placed his hand onto the donkey’s nuzzle, his palm trickling against the hard fure.

  (Luke’s thoughts) I’m going to need a whole lot of soldiers to bring them back.

  With a soft blow of donkey breath smoothing onto his palm, the donkey in front of him closed its eyes, allowing itself to feel the warmth of Luke’s palm. Pushing its ears back, a low shudder trembled its body, as not a single laugh or groan escaped from the donkey’s throat.

  Getting onto the back of the animal, Luke noticed that it still had the leather saddle that it was blessed with. Grabbing the reins with his hands, he also took note of the group that followed the donkey he saddled.

  (Luke’s thoughts) These are the same donkeys from the Zirardge Ranch. Maybe I can bring in these donkeys as a trade offer for the Pactheists in return for soldiers.

  With a slight hilt to his kick, Luke jabbed the bottom of his heel to motion the donkey to start sprinting, its hooves splattering mud onto its legs.

  Following Luke, the other donkeys clamped down their hooves to the muddied soil, as Luke turned to see four to five green donkeys on either side of him. Thunder roaring, lightning shining, Luke tilted his head up to see the dark clouds still blocking heaven above.

  Glaring, the reigns that he clenched onto tightened evermore, his palms blistering to the rope.

  (Luke’s thoughts) All I need is luck … and luck is all I need. But is it?

  Their hooves crashing through the crackling night, Luke set his eyes downward to the path that led him North, using his left hand to grab both of the reigns. Pulling out his right uzi from his right hip, he had his arm lowered while hunching his body forward.

  Like a half-ghost, half-human rider that rode in between the land and sky.

  ______________________________________________________________________________

  (Reverence 5, 59 / 1:02AM)

  A black van’s tires stopped on the cobblestone pavement.

  Letting out a low screech, the rubber within the wheels scraped off against the stone. Two doors swayed open, a tall man with silver hair and a woman with glasses got out from the van, closing the doors shut while wearing tuxedo suits and church shoes.

  Walking to the back doors of the van, the tall agent put in the code to the door, and a mechanism shingled that led the doors to sway open. The woman, who barged into the back, began pushing out sinner after sinner who sat or lay on the floor.

  Stan, Fred, Gary, Diego, Lorraine, Jenny, and Jumbo all rolled out of the van, landing on the cobblestone ground that squeezed the air out of their lungs. Most of their ribs were dented by the fall, Stan tilted his head up to see a large train tinted with turquoise gold.

  (Stan’s thoughts) There it is…

  (Agent Ada) Get up, all of you!

  With a kick to the chest, Stan slammed both of his teeth shut before standing himself up with the soles of his feet. Being in front of everyone that had their wrists handcuffed, Stan started walking to the large train that opened its metallic door for them.

  Agents lined up near the metallic doors, all wielding carbine rifles and handguns that glowed under the two waning crescent moons above. Their eyes analyzed every boot, finger, muscle, twitch, or trail of sweat that made up Stan and everybody else, Stan kept his face down while feeling the air harden. As if the air began freezing up every minuscule ounce of his skin, the hairs from his arms, legs, and back spiked up like a cat-human when it got jump-scared.

  His lungs froze from the imaginary cold, his face paled as soon as he reached the front of the prisoner compartment of the Zirardge train. Both of his feet trembling, the tranquil night couldn’t paint a dent to relieve his anxiety, leading Ada to kick the area between his right calf and right hamstring.

  (Agent Ada) I didn’t tell you to stop!

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  His right knee slamming onto the ground, he quickly pulled himself up, placing both of his palms onto the metallic container that led up. The others followed suit, the darkness of the pitch-black container began to shudder Stan’s nerves, trickling them and stinging them over and over again.

  As if he was being frozen against the darkened air, it didn’t, only because the others were too dead spiritually to feel the dampened walls cloud them.

  Slumping down onto a metal wall, his ears perked up to the hoarse groans of men and women waking up. One of those voices, a man with a warm voice that resembled that of an elder brother, spoke to him.

  (Miles) What’s going on?

  (Stan) Wait … Miles…?

  (Miles) Stan…? What the hell are you doing here?

  (Stan) I could say the same thing to you…

  Keeping his eyes down on the floor, Stan tucked both of his knees into his chest, wrapping his arms around his legs to hold them in. Hearing rustling noises to his left, sweaty palms that stuck and clamped onto the metal can be heard, but Stan didn’t budge.

  The crawling ceased, the person that did it sat down next to the elf, the man being two years older than him. His burly hands clutching themselves together, he put the bottom of his wrists onto the top of his knees, watching the early night-morning moonlight glow.

  (Miles) I see Jenny and Loraine with you guys, also Jumbo too. Was … was the adobe attacked?

  (Stan) They didn’t destroy it nor damage it … They only came to capture us, and they picked the worst time when most of the soldiers were out in town, drinking.

  (Miles) Damnit…

  Resting the back of his head onto the wall, Miles gazed up at the roof of the dark ceiling that he began to feel accustomed to. Welcoming the darkness like an old friend, the strands of his hair began to cover the top eyelids of his eyes, but he didn’t sway them away.

  Instead, he turned his eyes to the elf that curled up like a ball.

  His face pushed down, and a soft exhale of air blew out of his nostrils, drying his upper lip with his CO2.

  (Miles) How did things turn this way … what did we do that caused us to end up in the back of a train … miles from home?

  Glancing to his left, Miles noticed many eyes staring at him from afar, all of them being the Dark Angels that woke up with soulless stares. One woman, a tanned beauty with botches of pink ruining her leather jacket, had her eyes down while curling herself up like Stan.

  Her fight with Kenichi, her encounters with Kenichi, her very spirit and soul were driven back to how she acted as a pushover in her teenage years.

  (Luna) We didn’t do anything, we were just accused as sinners and we’re now unfreed.

  (Miles) I thought you would be asleep.

  (Luna) I’m too tired to argue … I’m gone… far gone … I’m a shell…

  Her fingers jabbed themselves into her shins, and her strength dwindled and weakened the more she pushed her nails inward. Letting the corners of her eyes slant into the top of her nose, her glare only bestowed onto the metal that caged her in like a wild animal; an animal that lost its feral nature.

  On the verge of tears, a soft hand was placed on her knee.

  Her entire body loosened from her touch, she looked toward a woman with blonde hair and blue eyes. Loosening her fingers, her palms remained on her legs while she looked at the woman tearfully.

  (Hope) We all are shells…

  Luna moved her knee away from her hand, causing Hope’s hand to softly drop onto the metal floor that shriveled her skin. Her voice calm and silent as a mouse, she rubbed her fingers against one another while looking up at the ceiling.

  The same as Miles, she tried to push up a smile, but her cheeks loosened shortly.

  (Hope) I don’t know what happened to Luke… or Christian and his siblings. I just … I just hope that Chris isn’t—

  (Jack) You can’t make it far with a javelin wound to your stomach.

  Sitting in a dark corner away from everyone, Jack spread both of his legs and feet wide, along with his hands resting themselves on the floor. His eyes got the attention of Hope, the Dark Angels, and Stan and the sinners that followed, his voice was the only thing that people could tell he was there.

  Not a speck of light was shone on his face, making him seem invisible in the shadows. Clutching his hands tightly, his bones began colliding against one another, leading him to tap his right foot.

  (Jack) I’ve seen wounds like those. I don’t want to believe it, but there’s no way that Chris is surviving that…

  (Hope) But we could—

  (Benn) Jack’s right.

  In front of Hope, the withdrawn shark-human finally spoke out in a meek voice, his throat quivering and shaking his vocals.

  His knees tucked in, he placed his elbows onto the sharp edges of his kneecaps, his fingers drooping down low while his body shook repeatedly. Purple bruises plastered onto his face, it looked as if he was struck by a wooden baseball bat, repeatedly and cruelly.

  His cheeks swollen and goopy, everyone turned their eyes away from the pungent display that awaited Benn, a display of true punishment amongst true discrimination.

  (Benn) Chris is already dead.

  A pair of boots pushed out from the metallic floor.

  Tilting his head up to the elf with ginger hair, the elf’s boots stomped the floor, shaking the dusted metal off its fresh hinges. Hovering over the shark-human, Benn had his eyes pushed down amidst the red-strained eyes that chained Sean.

  Despite his face red, his hands were relaxed, the tips of his fingers tapping his thigh softly like following the melody of a song.

  (Sean) How do you know he died huh…?

  (Benn) The tip of it came through the other end of his body.

  (Sean) You didn’t see it—

  (Hope) It's ok Sean…

  Like a deflated balloon, Sean scrunched up his eyes, raising his hands to place the bottom of his palms directly onto his lower eyelids. Keeping them in place, Sean loosened his shoulders, allowing a good chunk of air to plow through both his dried mouth and nostrils.

  Unwilling to look at Hope, she clenched up her hand that tried to nurture Luna.

  (Hope) But please don’t fight, not another brawl…

  His throat quivering, his lower body trembling, Sean turned his body towards where he sat, letting his butt crash onto the metallic floor.

  Tears barely held onto the edges of his eyelids, both of his palms rested against the cold metal floor, while his way hair swayed down to his right temple. Unable to look at anybody, especially at Hope, he looked to the open metallic container that bestowed them the soft moonlight.

  Until the metal door slowly began to close.

  Their heads stared at the door that began closing at a snail’s place, all of them didn’t have the strength to run or stand. Every second that the door closed off the outside, the more their spirit scraped off against their soul.

  Hope, Jack, Luna, Benn, Sean, Miles, Stan, Gary, Fred, Diego, Loraine, Jenny, and even the starry-eyed Jumbo; all watched as a man stood in front of the closing door—no…

  Two men.

  A chubby man wearing a thin jacket, and a below-average-height man wearing a tuxedo, both stared at every one of them. The chubby man saw them off with a grin, the other had cold eyes that put most of them deep into the dark shadow that avoided his stare.

  (Hope’s thoughts) Save us … Luke …

  Finally, the door to the outside closed in front of them, leaving them in the darkest pitch of black that even nothing couldn’t compare.