Detached [h.s au]

Chapter 58: Detachment

Harry's POV

"Alright," I say as my eyes observe everyone in the room. "You know why have we gathered here."

Zayn and I are standing in front of crowded people, all eyes on us. They're waiting for us to present the plan.

"Each of you is here because you want to be here, because you want to fight," Zayn says. "And that is your choice."

"And that's exactly what they have taken from us," I continue. "They've taken our right to make our own choices," I start walking, making sure to keep eye contact with the audience. "They've been controlling us our whole lives. They've been controlling how we act, how we feel, they've chosen the person we should spend the rest of our lives with. That bullshit ends today."

I earn a few cheers and claps, letting my eyes survey the front row. I gaze at Beth who's already looking at me. She smiles at me and I return the gesture. I'm relieved she's here, I'm relieved she chose to stay with me.

"Most of you here are resistant and they're trying to kill you for it," Zayn says. "Most of you were locked up for years and experimented on as if you're animals. Who gave them the right to do that to you? Now it's your turn to fight back, to tell them to go fuck themselves with their vaccines and experiments." People again cheer and clap, and I join them. "How many of you are willing to fight? How many of you are ready to fight for your freedom? It's your choice!"

Everyone cheers and claps louder, shouting things like "let's do this!" and "hell yeah!" I smirk proudly, raising my hands to silence them.

"Now, onto the most important part," I say. "The plan," I stand a bit closer to them, my expression stolid. "How many of you have heard of Detachment?"

Everyone exchanges confused looks and whispers fill the room. It appears no one has, and it doesn't surprise me. It's something they have kept hidden from us, but all secrets get revealed at some point. I learned it the hard way.

"I'm sure you all know I'm the one that started all this," Zayn says. "I wanted a change, I wanted justice. I never received the shot, I never had to go through the series of testings to determine where I belong, I never had The Bonding."

The chatter once again spreads throughout the room. I notice Beth's confused expression as she glances around then at me. I know she'll have tons of questions even after Zayn and I explain what this is all about. But this time, I won't mind it, I'll be happy to give her all the answers she needs.

Damn, she's really got under my skin.

"Detachment is a project," I proceed. "You see, there are exactly ten cities in this region," I signal to Liam and he starts typing on the laptop before pictures of each city are shown on the screen behind me. "Look at the names of the cities, and please, pay attention to the first letter of each name." I move aside so everyone can read from the screen. There are a few moments of silence before gasps fill the room, chatter once again echoing around us.

Once the chatter dies down, I continue, "The cities are lined perfectly, connected with roads and surrounded by walls," I say. "As you can all see, the first letter of each city forms a word... Detachment."

"Like Harry said, it's a project," Zayn takes over. "When the old world was destroyed, our government came up with an idea to help the survivors. They wanted new rules, new world, they didn't want to have anything to do with the old ways that had ruined the old one. They wanted to detach themselves, thus creating Detachment."

"The idea was to divide people into each city equally, with rules clearly set for everyone to follow," I once again cut in. "But, it's in human nature to be defiant, to long for freedom. Not every rule was fair, either. So, naturally, they had to find something to get everyone in order if they wanted to maintain peace. They managed to create a vaccine which allowed them to do just that. It gave them control over everyone."