Hostile Takeover ❖ Jake Riley | ✓ [book 1]

8~ Of Martyrs and Men

Let me embrace thee, sour adversity, for wise men say it is the wisest course.

~ William Shakespeare

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Jenna remembered a time when she would be staying up late and cramming for her exams, while the city below her seemed all but interested in keeping down the noise. Now, the city was dead quiet, so much so you could hear a pin drop.

"You know earlier, when I compared this to COD," she said, "I was wrong, this is more like 28 Days Later,"

"We're almost there, just a couple more blocks," he said.

They passed an open road, with only one or two dusty cars left in the middle of the road. Jenna looked down the horizon, spotting the scattered lip balm cases and sunglasses discarded along the concrete. There was a bakery store front staring back at her, empty and abandoned. Something flickered in the glass reflection, and she suddenly stopped. She hadn't imagined it, right?

"Jenna! Let's go!" Jake called after her. Jenna put a skip in her step and jogged to catch up with Jake.

"Hey, not everybody would go to the shelter, right?" she asked.

"That's what the district wide sweep was for," he replied.

"Is it possible that some people may have eluded your sweep?"

"... Maybe. Why?"

Jenna looked back at the abandoned road, "... I'm paranoid," she simply replied.

They continued walking, but then they heard a distinct and familiar zipping noise. It wasn't a motorcycle, but it wasn't a bike either. Jake had heard that sound, but he couldn't place where.

"Jake?" Jenna whimpered meekly. On instinct, he took her hand and started down a different street.

"We're going the long way," he said. 

"And what's the long way?"

"There's a dog park a few blocks away, cuts right across Haisham's Lane,"

"Yes, because clearly, an open field is the best place to be right now," she scowled. He rolled his eyes.

"Could you just pretend to listen to what I say and actually do it too?" he asked her.

"I don't know, you want to let go of my hand?" she quipped back. Jake looked down in surprise, seeing his gloved hand covering hers. He pulled away quickly.

"Just an instinct," he replied. They suddenly heard a thick crackle, and Jenna jumped to Jake's side.

"Yeah? Well, this is my instinct,"

They quickened their pace, but the zipping noises only got louder and louder the more they progressed. Jake kept looking behind him while pushing Jenna forward, and his other hand was placed firmly over the holster of his gun. The park came into view, and they just barely made it twenty feet in before they heard... music? Rock music.

"Is that... Green Day?" Jenna asked. Jake took a few steps towards the noise, and soon enough, he saw three dark figures rocketing towards them; literally speeding down the road on skate boards and roller blades, treating it like a skate arena. This was a sickening deja vu.

He pulled out his gun and aimed it at the street, "Jenna! Run!" he said. Jenna just stood in place, trying to get a look at just what was going on, "Now!" Jake snapped at her.

Jenna turned to run, but she barely made it when another skateboarder zipped passed her, trying to make a grab for her bag. The other two ran circles around them, cussing and whooping as they kept trying to grab for Jenna's bag.