Instability

※ 17 ※

A giant boom fills my ear, forcing me to bolt upright. I barely notice the sun's twelve-noon position, but the pain in my shoulder makes me wince and squeeze my eyes shut for a few seconds. Not only that, but my back is stiff. "What the heck was that?"

Danny's already looking around for any danger, his gun raised. "Sounded like a gun. They must have been ordered to shoot."

"What? The guards?"

Danny's voice seeps with sarcasm. "No, darling, the citizens. The guards handed their guns to the citizens, and the citizens are shooting them."

I shoot him a mock-cold glare and command him to shut up. He takes the hint and snaps back into fighter-mode. He hands me an aspirin and some water, and I down it quickly. Like the few other times I've taken medicine before, the pill works immediately.

"We've got to go back to town." Three large booms sound again, and my head throbs at each menacing burst of noise. Danny stands, sweeps his gun around the surrounding land, and looks down at me. "Let's move."

I toss on my sheath and backpack and sling my bow across my chest Ignoring the ache in my shoulder the best I can, the throb is still a bit painful. I really hope that it doesn't affect my shooting, both with a bow and a gun. This time, however, I'm going to use my gun. Twisting my gun out of its holster, I nod at Danny to tell him I'm ready to go.

As soon as my gear is secured, Danny and I jog in the direction of town. Every 20 seconds or so, another bullet fires. The sound grows louder and louder as we approach Fort Collins, and each shot sends a sense of duty through my sweat-soaked skin. A weird sense of deja vu reaches my heart, but this time, Danny and I are the offense.

Once we reach the end of the forest, I watch the ElectroBoards flash the Renegade flyer. Every paper flyer in the town isn't gone either, and there are no people in sight. Another shot is fired, and Danny and I turn towards each other.

"They must be in the center of town," Danny says. I nod in agreement.

Following Danny, we cross behind some houses in the direction of town square. After a tiring jog, we stop behind a particularly dingy house to rest. Our goal destination is in view, but another bang cracks through the air, echoing through the empty streets. I walk along the side of the house, squinting at what's down the main road.

"Ashley," Danny hisses. "Get over here."

I wave a hand at him to shut him up, and that's when I notice all the townspeople lined in the street, or three spaced-out rows of people. One row is considerably shorter than the other two.

"Children," I whisper. The other rows must be males and females respectively. The guards stand parallel to the males, pointing their guns at them. The message on the ElectroBoards keeps blaring.

"Any resisters will be punished," the speakers across town chant continuously.

I mentally swear. The ISA is using our declaration of war against us. The resisters the Renegades wanted to punish were the Panel and the guards. But that's not the case now. Now, the ISA was to punish their own resisters: the citizens.

"Ashley," Danny hisses again, this time right in my ear. I jump as he yanks me by my left arm across a paved road. We cower behind some bushes, utilizing the scarce camouflage. Danny unzips his backpack, revealing a hidden compartment in the bag. My eyes flit across five additional guns and a few bullet cartridges.

"Geez, Danny," I say as he hands me an extra bullet cartridge. I slide it into my holster.

"Listen," he commands, "those guards are shooting innocent people, and we need to stop them. My dad issued an order to take out the guards, meaning this is happening across the country. So we need to paralyze all the guards. No guards means no problems."