Rise of The Runaways (Crown The Empire story)

Dear Citizens Of The New Fallout

JULY 2017.AEON CITY

A day such as any other.men and woman walked through the streets of the city,an average Monday morning,or so was thought by the citizens of Aeon City. A young couple walks down the street with their young child,a tall dark haired man named Clark Ringo and his fiancée Maria. Clark was an average man,tall,athletic,he worked as mechanic and part time construction worker,Maria was a nurse at the hospital until the birth of her son who she stayed home to raise."Maria,I was thinking,maybe we should move out of Aeon City,there been talk going around that the mayors gone mad. He's planning on increasing police activity in the city,he's going to turn the Aeon into a police state" Clark said to his wife in a hushed tone,afraid someone may be watching them "Clark stop being silly, true the mayor has made some arguable decisions since the riots last year but he's not going to turn I to some sort of dictator over the whole city" she said assuring her soon to be husband while taking young Johnny's hand to cross the street to the dinner they were going to have breakfast at like everyone Monday before Clark went to work. "What will y'all have today? Apple juice for the little man over here?" The server asked the young family "yes please and can he have a small stack on pancakes with that" "off course ma'am and for you?" The server asked writing down the order on her pad "umm I would like scrambled eggs with toast bacon and-" just then out on the streets 3 large armored transport vehicles stopped in the middle of the street and men with assault weapons and odd armor began to pile out of them,no one knew what was happening. Just then 3 of these odd soldiers charged into the dinner "hey who the hell are y--" shouted the cook before being shot down by one of the soldiers with their AK-47. Panic erupts in the diner,Maria pulls her young son close to her while Clark tells them to get under the table,just then one of the other soldiers fired their gun into the air silencing the panicking screams of the diners patrons "everyone shut up!" The solider shouted as the other two began to sweep through the diner "w-who are you?" a voice asked from underneath one of the tables, the solider crouched down to stare down the customer under the table, the long nose of his red mask inches from his face "we are the soldiers of the new fallout,we are the scarecrows" the solider said before suddenly pulling a hand gun from his side and shooting the man under the table. As the scarecrow rose to his feet a grainy picture appeared on the television set,a man with dark hair and odd googles began to speak. "Dear citizens of the New Fallout,I am your new leader,you may refer to me as the Raven and the men surrounding you are the new police of Aeon City,For too long, our society has succumbed to the tyranny of our own actions.Wars. Riots.We have tolerated the scum and have graciously cleaned up the mess.Well, no more.
You have all been a consequence of the disease known as freedom,and now it is time to take that freedom away.
As of today, you will be stripped of your identity, and anything you hold dear in life.For it is your individuality that has led to your destruction.Your children will be left to rot as punishment for your indiscretion,and the lives you have lived until now will be nothing but a memory.This is for the survival of the race.This is for the New Fallout.This is the end." As the man finished his speech the picture cut out and static filled the television screen. "Everyone up" the head scarecrow commanded,no one moved,prettified from fear and uncertainty of what would happen next, "he said get the fuck up!" The larger scarecrow commanded raising his gun prepared to murder anyone who didn't comply,one by one the terrified citizens of the captive city rose to their feet. "Clark I'm scared" whispered Maria under the table,holding her young crying child in her arms "Maria I want you to listen to me right now. When I give you the signal I want you to take Johnny and run out the back,I want you to run to Mark Escamillia's house and knock three times on his door and say these exact words to him 'we are the cogs and crowns',he'll take care of you from there. If I don't make it out of here tell Johnny that I loved him. Do you understand me?" Clark instructed "Clark what are you about to--" "do you understand me Maria!?" Clark Interpreted her "yes" she said with a sigh. "Alright,when I give you the signal you fucking run got that?" Clark said,peeking out from under the table watching for the scarecrows to turn around the corner of the diner at any moment "Clark what are you about to do?" Maria asked worried for his safety. "What needs to be done Maria" Clark said reaching for his jacket pocket to pull out a rather large hand gun. "Clark where do you ge--" "3" Clark interpreted again. "...2...1...NOW MARIA NOW!" Clark shout bursting from underneath the table,alarming the scarecrows of his presence before placing 2 bullets into ones chest "what the fuck?! Get him!" The head scarecrow shouted before he and the remains scarecrow opened fire. "Go Maria go!" Clark shouted taking cover before firing back at them. She did as she was instructed and ran out the door with young Johnny in her arms leaving Clark behind to face the scarecrows. Soon after making it out the door she notice the streets crawling with more scarecrows, she found a small gap between the building and a dumpster large enough to hide herself and Johnny behind to avoid behind detected and killed by the scarecrows. Before long the coast was clear and she and Johnny made a second run for it. Minutes passed before a voice behind them shouted out "hey you stop! I said stop!" Before bullets began to fly in their direction,they were spotted by the scarecrows. "Shit shit shit!" Maria muttered to herself running as fast as her body would allow "run to Mark Escamillia's house" Clarks words echoed in her mind "He'll take care of you from there" they continued to echo. "stop! stop!" The scarecrows screamed at her direction just then,gun fire erupted from in front of her. "Lady get down!" a large man In a mask said. She did as he said and her son hit the ground while the man opened fire,taking our at least 4 scarecrows and injuring 2 others "wh-who are you?" Maria said looking up at the masked man who saved her and her son from the scarecrows. "Who are you?" He asked in response "Maria this is my son Johnny,my fiancé Clark told me to run to Mark Escamillia's house after those..things took over" she explained to the masked man "Clark Ringo?" The man asked surprised. "Yes, you know him?" Maria questioned getting to her feet "what's the code?" He said not answering the question "the code?" She asked puzzled "if Clark really sent you he would have given you the code" he explained staring her down, he was the same height as Clark,he had mark lighter hair though,he was quite muscular like Clark,he had a few tattoos and a mask that covered the lower half of his face allowing you to see his dark brown eyes. "Wait, wait I remember now it's 'we are the cogs and crowns?'" She answered unsure if she had remembered the phrase correctly "he really did send you,my names Christian Tree. Call me Birch though that's my code name. I'll take you to Mark" Chris told her. The 3 bored Into one of the scarecrows armored transports that Christ has stolen and drove out to the Escamillia's house I the outskirts of the city,the scarecrows had yet to make it that far yet. "Wait here,I'll get mark." Chris said getting out of the truck. "It's going to be okay Johnny were safe now" Maria said assuring her young son who has been quietly sobbing since escaping the diner,to young to be able to speak. "Hey, come on" Chris said coming back to the truck,guiding Maria and son into the house. "Follow me" he said guiding them down into the basement of the home and moving over a large book shelf to reveal a small elevator shaft "get if" Chris said motioning for Maria and Johnny to get in as he followed sliding the booklet back into place "so where's Clark? Did the scarecrows get him? Or did that monster Raven take him out?" Chris asked, not making eye contact with her "we were at the diner when the scarecrows took over,he began to fight them off so we could escape,I don't know if he's even still alive..." Maria said, finally sinking in that the love of her life may be dead in that diner with the cook and the man under the table "how many where there?" Chris asked still keeping his eyes toward as the elevator continues to more downwards. "3,I saw Clark kill one" she answered cradling young Johnny in her arms "only 3?" Chris laughed "Clark could take out 30 of those fuckers no problem" Chris assured her as the elevator stopped "come on I'll introduce you to mark and the rest of the gang" Chris said walking Into a large underground room with several people inside "Maria,this is Mark and Sarah Escamillia,Jack and Elaine Hoover,Derrick and Marcy Taddie,Amy Leo,Eric and Claire Suede and this is my wife Martha. "Pleasure to met you all" Maria said taking a look around the room,weapons and ammo everywhere,targets,food crates and large plastic jugs of water. "You're Clark's fiancée right?" Mrs.Suede asked "yes,well I was...I'm not sure if he's still alive or not" "Clark could take out 100 scarecrows without taking a scratch I'm sure he's fine sweetie" mr.escamillia said. "I'll try calling him excuse me of a moment will ya" Chris said excusing himself to find the phone. "So what is this place?" Maria asked "the headquarters for the resistance" mr.escamilla said "we known Raven was going to lose it like this and order the scarecrows out into the streets. We've been preparing for months Clark and Mark were the first to warn us about them" Mrs.leo said "my husband infiltrated the mayors office to try and spy on him but he found out and the scarecrows..." he continued "I'm so sorry" Maria said, giving him her condolences on the execution of her husband. "I can't get a signal" Chris said coming back into the room just then a loud buzzing noise came in through a speaker in the corner of the room "that's the doorbell I'll get if" mr.escamillia said leaving to the elevator shaft and going back up into the house. "Here let's take your son to go play with little Davey while we talk" mrs escamilla said guiding Maria to the play room with dave. "Sarah! Get the first aid kit! Now!" Mr.escamillia shouted down to his wife "what happened?!" She shouted back "Clark was hit!" He answered back helping Marias wounded fiancé into the room and sitting him down in a chair,Maria was shocked to see him alive but horrified by sounds on his body, Clark had taken 4 bullets to the body,2 in the leg,1 to the shoulder and one close to this chest, inches from his heart. "Clark!" Maria shouted "sweetie you've got to stay back" mrs.suede said holding her back from running at him with tears in her eyes,it was hard to see him so broken and beaten. Mr.taddie and Hoover helped Clark into a smaller room full of medical supplies and a bed while mr.escamilla and suede went to gather their weapons "what are they doing?" Maria asked still in shock over Clark's condition "Clark limped most of the way here,the scarecrows could've easily picked him off easily but they left him alone,they must've followed him here" Chris explained going to grab his weapons as well "come here sweetie we'll go in the kids room while they fight off the scarecrows. It'll be safe in there with the kids" mrs.suede said motioning all the women into the kids room with Dave and Johnny besides mrs.escamillia who stated to work on Clark. The men gathered their weapons and gathered into the elevator shaft weapons and ammo in hand,hours went by before we heard anything from the men or mrs.escamillia,but then we heard gun fire coming from the house,all the women were scared for the lives of their husbands. Mrs also helped with the kids while mrs escamillia worked on Clark and Maria was too worried to take care of Johnny. hours of gunfire went by before it finally came to an end. We heard the elevator shaft coming down and we were worried that not everyone was coming back by thankfully they did,Chris has taken a bullet to his bicep and mr.escamilla had but his forearm on broken glad but they were safe none the less,everyone hugged and kissed before mrs.escamilla walked out of the room where she had been working on Clark "how is he?" Maria asked almost immediately. "Maria I'm sorry but the scarecrows did too much damage...he's gone" mrs.escamillia said,causing Maria to break down crying. "Sweetie I'm so sorry I know how you feel when I lost Denny" mrs.leo said comforting her. "How could they do this to us? How can the mayor turn on us all like this? Killing off innocent people like Clark,look what they've done to us,look what they've done to us!" Maria cried out "Maria" mr.escamillia said,causing her to look up at him through the tears in her eyes. "Welcome to the resistance"