Lockdown City (ChainStory) [1st person to comment continues the story]

This is my part of the chain story. Remember the 1st person to comment will continue the next part but if you just want to comment and not write say so in your commentary. The story I am writing is a science fiction story set in an alternate reality. Please continue. Maybe I'll jump in again sometime later and continue the story too. You don't have to write a direct sequel by the way. You could write it as if it's happening around the same time this story is happening only in a different place but in the same setting. If you missed your chance because someone else had commented before you then just save your draft somewhere and after reading that person's story see if you can still put your story on or do some slight changes to make it suitable. Then just post it on after being the first to comment on that other person's story. Good luck with your writing and enjoy.

P.S: My story is just to give a background to the story. You can develop it in any way you want.

The following is a small introduction to the setting.

Six years ago a company called GeneTech bought a small island at the east of the Pacific Ocean. The company was so successful that it had bases all over the world. The head of the company had planned to send all of their workers to the small island (which was a whole city) as a gift to their hard work. In less than four months the whole island was populated. For the first two years everything was alright. The company had given the occupants of the city all of the benefits they needed. Soon enormous skyscrapers grew all over the island. Everything was perfect.

Then things started to go wrong. A nearby island contained a prison which held the deadliest criminal hidden from the world. One day most of them lead by the most notorious criminal of all, ScarJaw, broke out in some of the police boats and escaped the island. In fear for their lives some of the occupants left the island while some of those who believed that they could handle it stayed. Then as if trying to make the situation worse strange gas masked soldiers started to walk up and down the road. A few months later people were attacked mysteriously. Some who survived the attacks said about strange creatures and monsters. At first nobody took these seriously but soon these creatures started to make more open appearances. Nobody knew or understood what was happening but they knew that it was not safe to stay on the island anymore.

People started to leave and soon the information about the strange creatures reached the army. Evacuation procedures were made and people thought they were saved then all of a sudden the whole world turned it back on them. Nobody knew why and soon the island and 200km area around the island was turned into a Off-Zone. The City was put under a permanent Lockdown. It seemed as if all hope of escape was gone. Then someone told of a hidden way of escape. When this happened the people of the city stop listening to order and started causing chaos. Nobody wanted to be under Lockdown. Yet as soon as this information was revealed to the public the Gas Masks turned against the occupants.

Now years later small groups of survivors are trying to find that fabled escape route while also trying to survive attacks from escaped convicts, Gas Masks, monsters and other bands of survivors.

The following is the story.

Damian watched the skirmish from his hiding place in the trash bin. In the street ahead of him were seven Gas Soldiers and five DeathHounds. Fights like this were usual in these parts but they were always exciting. Especially if the ones who were fighting were both enemies of the spectators. Both the soldiers and the monsters were the enemies of the survivors. Damian watched as the soldiers started shooting at the enormous beasts. One of the Death Hounds fell as another took down a soldier. Three Death Hounds who were still not fighting hesitated for a few moments before attacking the last six soldiers taking two each. Damian wasn't sure who was going to win but had predicted it would be the soldiers since they were larger in number but the battle ended with two Death Hounds as the victors. After waiting for the beasts to leave Damian walked out of his hiding place and towards the large Shopping Complex where his group was sheltering.

Damian Parker was thirteen. He had come to the City when he was just seven. His mother was killed three years ago by a pack of Death Hounds along with another five other survivors. Damian and his father had been surviving with the rest of the survivors and had been travelling with them to the south of the City where the fabled escape route was supposed to be. Damian had been sent to scout the area by the group leader Thomas Axon. Damian's father Nigel Parker had argued with the man but he had simply stated that only the strongest can survive in the City and Damian had to learn to take care of himself. Nobody liked to disagree with Thomas since he was a strong leader and had been leading the group for the last three years after the incident and so far had been the most effective leader. Damian was the 3rd in command of the minors division of the group after Arnold Carpenter and Roger Colins. Arnold was Damian's best friend. He didn't like the idea of sending him scouting and had tried to argue with Thomas but he had simply repeated his statement about the survival of the strongest. Roger was the a greatest fighter in all of the children. He was appointed second in command because of his skills. Damian was the intelligent one and Arnold's advicer. He could fight well but not as good as the other two but he was brilliant at inventing weapons and devices. He shared a close bond with Roger as the two of them respected each other's skills.

Damian knew something was up the moment he walked into the building. The first clue he got was the number of people. It seemed like there were more people there than usual, and there were. The second clue was how all the children - or the minors as the adults called them here - were playing outside. Damian knew that Axon would never let children, even over the age of sixteen, play out in the open even if he did send them off for scouting at times. What the heck was going on?

***

"Look Arnie, look what I can do," called the annoying little voice. Arnie. What an annoying nickname. Arnold Carpenter gave an irritated sigh turned and looked at the small boy who was standing on his head. "Pretty neat huh?" asked the boy. It had been a long time since children had been allowed outside to play. Everyone was acting like they had been on a caffeine diet. "Yes, Jamie for the seventeenth time, that is a neat trick, and now can you please stop annoying me?" he asked in a long irritated moan. "All you are doing is just walking around looking at people," replied Jamie. Arnold looked at Jamie with frustration. "I am on patrol..." he started. "...And patrolling keeps us safe," finished Jamie, "Heard it all before."

Arnold gave an unimpressed snort. Having a kid brother was the most tiresome work their was. Jamie Carpenter was just eight years old five years younger than Arnold. He had always been the hyperactive cute one while Arnold was the steady and serious. Arnold thought before he acted while Jamie did it the other way around. Jamie was the total opposite of his older brother. Yet no matter what happened Arnold loved his brother and he would never let anything happen to his him.
Not faraway Arnold could see Roger talking to a girl behind their home-made slide. He grinned softly. It was funny how the great and powerful Roger, the deadliest fighter in all of the children, could easily be tamed by a girl. The girl Roger was talking to was Diana Right. Although the two of them pretended and protested it was obvious the two kids were more than friends. Arnold was just planning to sneak up on them when he heard a polite but mocking "cough". Arnold turned around to see his oldest friend Damian standing behind him. "Nosing into other people's private life is a very naughty thing Arnold," he said wagging his finger in front of Arnold. Arnold grinned blushed. Then he retorted by saying, "As if I am the only person who did this. I saw you spying on them yesterday. You even told me."
"Hey...well...they were out in the open and I just stumbled upon them," Damian stammered as spots of red formed in his cheek.
"Since when hiding in fallen barrel and listening to two people talking called 'stumbling upon'," asked Arnold. "I was just a bit curious," replied Damian quickly and then added," Besides they were just calling each other names we do that all the time."

"We don't call each other stuff like Lovecakes or Snugglebunny," Arnold replied then the two boys started laughing. "What are you guys laughing about?" asked a voice and the two boys turned around to see Roger walking towards them. "Nothing you don't know about Mr. Lovecakes," said Arnold trying to control his fits of laughter. Roger almost chocked when he heard that. "Y-you know about that?" he stuttered turning red. Damian nodded. "Why do you think the kids were laughing at you yesterday?" he asked wiping tears of laughter off his eyes. "Dude we all know something is going on between you and Diana just admit it," said Arnold.

"It's so good of the adults to let us go out for something other than scouting for once isn't it?" asked Roger quickly changing the subject. "Oh yeah I was just about to ask you about that," said Damian, "What's going on? How come there are more people here and they don't usually let kids play in the streets?"

"We just met up with another group of survivors," replied Arnold, " Thomas is having a meeting with their leader."

"Then what's with the kids playing on the street?" asked Damian.

"The other leader believes that kids have more observant and could be useful as lookouts," said Roger, "kind of stupid if you ask me. None of these kids have been outside in a long time so they'll be more focused in playing games than being lookouts."

"I can agree with you on that," said Arnold looking back at his little brother. "What is the name of this other leader?" asked Damian interested. "I think it's Peter Slaw," said Roger after thinking about this for a few minutes.

As the boys talked about this matter. Diana walked to them with her friend Brianna. Diana and Brianna what a strange pair. Both had the same sounding name. Both had the same kind of clothes. Both enjoyed playing with little kids. "What are you guys doing?" asked Diana as she reached the boys. "Nothing much," said Roger trying not to look at the other two boys who were grinning madly.

"I love being in the open instead of being cramped up in this Crap Complex," said Brianna and took a deep breath of fresh air.
"I don't like this though," said Diana, "we are too vulnerable if we are in the open."
"I agree," said Roger understandingly, "I was just saying how stupid this idea is. Anyway, aren't you supposed to be looking after Ozzy today?"
Oswald Whit or Ozzy as they called him was one of the smaller kids but one of the stronger ones. He was 9 years old. A few days ago he had been injured in a fight with some DeathHounds. The wounds weren't serious but he was supposed to be in bed for a while.Diana looked at her watch and then nodded. "See ya."

Roger watched her go and when he turned around he saw his two friends in a giggling fit. What?!!" he asked frustrated. "Nothing Mr. Lovecakes," said Arnold and the two boys ran with their enraged friend in hot pursuit.

***

Samson Heffet was bored. He was one of the two kids sent out to scout the area the only interesting he had seen all day was a pack of DeathHounds trailing a group of Gas Soldiers. He followed them hoping for anything interesting to happen all the Hounds did was trailing so Samson left. He was a boy of sixteen. He had long black hair and bright emerald eyes. A long scar ran from the top right part of his face to the lower left. He looked like a dangerous killer but in truth he was a softy. He was a great fighter but hated fighting. He was in charge of the smaller kids in the shelter. He was Damian's second in command and the second best adviser to Arnold. He didn't mind having a younger boy leading him and wouldn't have anyone else leading him otherwise.

Samson was about to leave for the shelter when he heard the scream. It was coming from one of the alleyways. Samson quickly ran towards the alleys. There were three of them. One of these alleys had the source of that sound. The scream came again and Samson knew where he needed to go. He ran to the first alley and looked in.

There standing in the middle was a enormous man wearing a black suit with his back turned to Samson. He could see the man's pale white bald scalp. At the farther corner of the alley were two kids. One was a really small boy who was crying and screaming while the other boy was holding the smaller one back with one hand while holding his side with the other. He was obviously wounded. Samson knew if he didn't help them they will obviously be killed. "Hey baldy! How about picking on someone your own size?" Samson called out. The man swiftly turned around revealing a horrifying gas mask. A knife appeared at the soldier's hand just about the same time a meat cleaver appeared at Samson's. The two eyed each other from opposite sides or at least that is what Samson thought since he couldn't see the eyes of the gas soldier. Then the soldier lunged at him.

 Samson moved out of the way quickly and the blade moved close to his face. He jumped forward sending the meat cleaver onto the soldier's back. The soldier spun around just as Samson pulled his weapon out. The soldier didn't seem to know about the wound in his back. Once again he jumped forward at the boy in front of him. Sam jumped back and the blade made  a small red line on his chest sending a small sting of pain. "Uh," Sam groaned angrily at himself for losing his guard. Then he moved away as the soldier stabbed at him. Samson saw an opening here. He attacked the soldier's outstretched arm with his cleaver chopping it off at the elbow. The soldier grabbed the small bloody stump which was left of his hand. He let out the loud high pitched shriek which all gas mask let out in trouble. Sam grinned and brutally attacked the soldier. the soldier was weak now. He was vulnerable. Samson kept attacking the soldier till he fell head first on the ground. An enormous dark red spot formed around the soldiers dead body. Sam sat next to the body. He could see the skin on his face wear the mask had been sewn into. He and looked at the boys who were hiding in the alley. "It's alright. He's gone."
The two came out of the alley into the open and now Samson could see them more properly. The smaller boy had shortly cropped blond hair. He looked about five or six. The older boy looked around ten to twelve. He had long wiry black hair. He had a small gash on his side. "Thanks for the help for mate," said the bigger boy wheezing after winching after every word without trying to hide the pain he was in. "You are seriously injured man," said Samson as he helped the boy out of the alley. "It looks a lot worse than it actually is," said the injured boy. "The Gas Mask attacked us when we were looking for supplies in the Hotel," said the smaller boy. "He attacked me with that dagger he tried to hurt you with but only gave me a glancing blow," said the bigger boy. Samson looked at the injury nodding in agreement. "Yeah, it doesn't seem as bad when I look closer," he said and then looked at the boy. A flash of recognition went across Samson's face. "You are Archie Hunter right? One of Just's crew?" he asked the injured boy. "Yeah," the boy nodded then looked at Samson. "I've seen you before," he said after a while. "We were in the same school before the Lockdown," replied Samson. "Oh yeah, you are Samson," said Archie finally remembering who the older boy was.

"So how's Just?" asked Samson as they walked down the grey street. Just was the leader of another group of survivors who called themselves the Brotherhood. His real name was Justin John. Prior to the Lockdown he was a student at the GeneTech Northern Middle School. At that time he became the school's vigilante "Bully Fighter" calling himself Justice John. He got

Samson snorted. "A lot worse," he replied."I lived there for three years before the Lockdown started. I know a thing or two about what you may have to face."

"So what is there so scary?" asked Archie.

"We are living in the Northern Sector right? Well our sector and all of the other sectors have a walls separating them from the sea except for the Southern Sector. This means the escaped convicts could have easily entered the city through there which means some of them could still be there. And then there are the three Beasts."

"What are the Three Beasts?" asked the smaller boy.

"Three Beasts are three monsters who the survivors should beware."
"What makes them different from the other monsters?" asked the little boy.

"Let him talk Tommy," snapped Archie.

"Well the first of the three beasts is the one they call the Dark Angel," Samson started, "Nobody know whether it really is a monster or just a person wearing extensible wings. Either way the Angel is still considered dangerous. Strangely enough the Angel seems to be on our side. It had continuously helped may survivors from other monsters and soldiers. Nobody have seen it properly. It always appears on rooftops as a silhouette."

"Then there is the one they call the Bane," Samson continued,"Nobody have ever seen it properly so nobody can be sure how it looks. Some say it's made up of body parts sewn together. Some say it looks like a messed up ape. It is the most powerful and the most vicious monster there is.It attacks everyone and everything. Some people have found dead or decapitated bodies of people or creatures at times. The only information about the Bane that everyone is sure about is the sound it makes when it hunts. It goes 'Kiki Kik Kee!' just before it attacks."

"Finally there is the Cheshire Cat. This Beast had made the most number of open appearances in all of the Three Beasts and yet is the most mysterious. It is an enormous black feline. Whoever named it must be an Alice in Wonderland fan. They named it appropriately though. It appears and disappears just like the actual Cheshire Cat but the only difference is it doesn't smile. And it's as big as a panther. The cat doesn't seem to be on any side. It usually stands on a corner when others are fighting but there have been incidents where the cat had fought off other monsters and sometimes soldiers to help kids but nobody knows why it does this. Apparently it has no sides. Yet there are two things about this cat that is really interesting."
"What is that?" asked Tommy.

"Tommy!" Archie snapped getting tired of the little boy's questions.

"The first thing is that it wears an eye patch over it's left eye."

"Then what's the other thing?"

"The cat," said Samson after making sure there were no soldiers around to hurt them, "can talk."

***

"Samson's been gone for too long," said Roger looking at the buildings in front of him. Damian was reading an old book he had found in one his scouting trips. Whenever he found a book he would quickly take it. His books were what kept him sane. "He could take care of himself," he said absently as he was more interested in the book. "We should go look for him," said Roger still looking at the buildings. Damian looked up at his friend. Then he sighed. "Fine," he grumbled and went off to find Arnold to get him start off a search party. Roger slowly turned around to look at his friend walk away. Then he quickly walked behind the enormous home made slide. "Is he gone?" asked a voice. "Yes," replied Roger and Diana walked out of her hiding spot. "I don't get why we are hiding our little secret from them when we know that they already know about it," said Roger.

"I know but I like it being our little secret," replied Diana.

"So how's Oswald?"

"He's okay. Not as bad as he was before."

"Say hi to him for me."

"Sure. Now let's get back to what we were talking about."

"We really need privacy when we have our little meetings."

"If you want privacy then the two of you must really stop meeting in the open like this."

The voice was so sudden that the two of them jumped. The two kids turned around see who spoke. Three boys were standing behind them. "Dude stop doing your luvvy duvvy stuff in public," said Damian. Arnold nodded and grinned. The third boy Philip just stood there with no emotion in his face. "C,mon, lets go find Samson," he said followed Arnold out of the gates. Roger followed the rest of them out. Philip didn't talk for a while but in the end he broke the silence by asking "What's between you and Diana?"

"Nothing!" Roger screamed. Philip just nodded sarcastically and walked on.

Philip was  Roger's second in command. He was second best fighter in all of the minors. He was one of the few kids whose last names were never known. Philip was always quiet and rarely spoke. He never hung out with the other kids unless it was a group scouting mission. He was about fourteen. Other than being the second best fighter he was also one of their doctors. He revealed that his parents had both been doctors and he had learnt a thing or two from them. The truth was he knew a lot more than that. He was in fact one of the child prodigies in his school but that was a long time ago. He revealed much about him so it was a bit hard for the other kids to trust him. Yet Arnold, Roger, Damian and Samson trusted him.

"Maybe Samson had gone to another survivor's group," suggested Damian.

Arnold looked around for a while and then walked on. "Then the best place to look for is the Starbucks cafe. I heard Justice has set up his group there."

***

Samson looked up at the enormous GeneTech Logo. It was branded on every single building in the island. Sometimes it was accompanied by the image of the company's Chairman Jonas Blunt. Samson hated it. This company was the reason he came to this cursed city. this company was the reason he left his friends behind. This company was the reason he lost his family. Samson felt something trickle down his cheek. Dammit. he was crying again. Whenever he remembered his family he'd start crying. He quickly wiped away the tear in his eyes then glared menacingly at the logo. This is all your fault. I hate you.

"Dude?" the voice brought Samson back to reality. He gave Archie an embarrassed look. "Sorry. Old memories. Forgot you were there."

"S'alright," Archie replied. "I asked if there was any other safer way to get to Southern Sector."

"You could try the sewers but I wouldn't recommend it. There are things down there a lot worse than Gas Soldiers or monsters."

"Like what?"

Samson stopped for a few seconds to check for any danger but the only thing he saw was a stray dog. After scanning the road for sometime he finally replied Archie's question. "The Sewer Master."

"The Sewer Master?" Tommy asked.

"Yeah."

"Who the heck is that?"

"Nobody's sure. Some say he's a monster. Some say he's a normal dude. Some say he's a mutant. From what I heard he rules every tunnels which run below the city including the subway tunnels. I once heard from someone that people had seen him beat up a whole army of Gas Soldiers single handed. They say he wears a large cowboy hat and a tattered lab coat. Apparently his face is so disfigured that he has to cover it with a lots of bandages that it makes him look like a Egyptian Mummy."

"Have you ever seen this dude?"

"Not personally but I've heard a lot of stories about him."

"So if we were supposed to go through the sewers we will have to watch out for him. Is that what you are saying?"

"I don't think you'll face him directly but it's his assistants who you'll have to lookout for."

"His assistants?"

"Two of them. First there is the Rat Man. He's big fat guy who looks like a rat wearing night goggles and a tweed hat. He's not exactly trouble unless you annoy him. It's the other assistant who's the real danger."

Samson pulled out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it. He had been smoking since he was twelve. He knew it was a bad habit but he had never been able to stop it. "They call him Simon the Psycho. They say he went mad long before even the Lockdown. Murdered his whole family he did. Except for his little brother. He took the boy and disappeared. The police tracked him for days but he didn't make an appearance until months later. He had attacked one of GeneTech's head bases in the Northern part of the City and murdered about seven of the Company's had Co-operatives. The police surrounded him and tried to stop him but the guy took out half of the force without even touching them. Witnesses say that all he did was move his arms and the police went flying. The rest of the force tried to shoot him down since they didn't see any other way of handling the situation but the bullets didn't even scratch the guy. So once again Simon escaped and after the Lockdown he had made more appearances and revealed he works for the SewerMaster."

"Wait," Archie stopped Samson here."Are you telling me that all this was done by a kid? Are you sure?"

"Yep."

Archie was sceptical. "How do you even know if he's real or not?"

Samson puffed out some more smoke from his cigarette and said, "Because, I've seen him."

Then all of a sudden Samson stopped. He eyes had narrowed and his ears were pricked. Somewhere near by he had heard a footstep. He looked at Archie and Tommy. The expression on their faces told them they had heard it too. Sam grabbed his cleaver and Archie pulled out a small dagger from his belt. Tommy picked up a long stick from the ground. Samson heard whoever or whatever there coming closer and closer. Samson felt the excitement tingle around his spine. If this footsteps belong to some other Gas Soldier he was going to have some real fun.Then heard the voices. "Samson! Samson! Are you here?"

Samson put down his weapons. He knew those voices. He told Archie and Tommy to put down his weapons. "I'm over here," he called out and Arnold and his team walked out into the open to meet him. "Where have you been? We thought you'd be back by noon," Arnold enquired. Samson told Arnold and the others about what happened on his way home and where he was planning to go. "What a coincidence," said Damian, "we were planning to look for you at Justin's too."

"We'll come along with you then," said Arnold.

"Yeah, we'll be safe then," agreed Samson.

***

The boys were welcomed into Justice's shelter with the most polite manner. Archie told Justice what happened and he was obviously impressed. He called Warren and told him to tend to Archie and Tommy's wounds as he was their resident doctor while being their Secondary Commander. When they left Just turned back to the others."My friends I am indebted to you for what you did," he said with a polite smile.

"Aw Shucks, It was nothing," Samson said with modesty.

"No please. Let me make it up to you."
With that Just went out of the room and called to another boy. "Oi! Kumar! Get over here!"

A tall muscular Indian boy came in. On his back he was carrying an enormous rifle. A range of weopans hung from his belt. He was not wearing a shirt a the sweat all over him pointed out that he had been working hard until Justice had called for him. There were lots of scars on his chest. he looked like some sort of giant. yet despite his intimidating looks he had pleasant smile like everyone else on Just's crew. "What's up boss?" he asked in a deeply accented English.

"Kumar here is one of my captains," Justice said to Arnold and his boys when he saw how intimidated they were. He then looked at the bigger boy. "Kumar take our guests to the cellar. Them each a sack of bread and vegetables. It will help their survivors."

Kumar nodded and lead the boys out of the room. Arnold looked around as they went to the cellar. He had never noticed how many kids there were in Justice's group before. He remembered this group before the adults disappeared but even then it wasn't big as this. Oh was he just mistaken?

"Hey Kumar,has Just always had this many kids in his group?" he asked their guide.

"No. most of these kids were squatters before we found them."
"Wait there are other survival groups with only kids in them?"

"Yes."
"You found all of them in the Eastern Sector?"

"Pretty much."

Just then the boys came upon a door. Kumar pulled out a key and unlocked it. "This way," he called out as he went in. The boys followed the bigger boy into the cellar. They walked down the stairs into the dark room. A single light bulb was turned on. There were lots of sacks there. As the boys each picked up a sack Kumar looked at his watch and waited. "It will be dark a few hours. Better if you hurry up. Don't want you guys being attacked by Killer Bats."
Damian frustrated grunt as checked his watch. " Dammit! Axon's going to kill us. We didn't even inform him we were leaving."
"Don't worry mate," replied Roger. "Axon's been inside that assembly hall with the leader of that new group since this morning. I don't think he'll notice we're gone."
Kumar looked up absently then went on fiddling with his watch. "There is a new group?"

"Yeah. they joined us this morning. Their captain is some guy called Peter Slaw."
At this Kumar looked up. His eyes were wide with shock. "Say that again."
"The name? It's Peter Slaw. The guy was weird. He didn't look like he liked having kids around and..."
Roger never got to finish his sentence as Kumar was already running up the stairs. "Leave the sacks! Come with me!"
The boys had no idea what was going on but they knew from his tone that whatever it was it wasn't good. They put down the food sacks and ran after the Indian boy. "Justin! JUSTIN!" Kumar was screaming his head off as he ran. The other kids stopped and looked at him as if he had gone mad. Nobody ever calls Justin by his real name unless something serious had happened.

Justice was supervising a group of kids who were setting up security fences. He turned around when he heard Kumar calling his name. "What's all the ruckus? You know I hate it when people call me Justin."

"Screw that. We've got bigger problems."
"What do you mean?"
Kumar turned to Roger. "Tell him what you told me."
Roger told Justice everything and the friendly smile on his face was wiped away. "Are you sure that this man's name is Slaw?"

"Yes."
Justice swore. He started pacing up and down the room muttering to himself. Arnold was confused. "What's going on Justice?"

Justice looked at the boy. Then he sighed and sat down. "Slaw is not who he says he is. He is one of Scarjaw's right hand men."
Arnold looked dumbfounded. "What?! Then what the hell is he doing talking to our leader?"

"Same thing he did with our leader. Turning the adults against us."
"What are you talking about? Why would the adults turn against us?"
"A few months ago our group, adults included, left for the Eastern Sector. there we met Peter Slaw and his group of survivors. He sweet talked his way into our group and made us all believe he was our friend. It took only one day. Just one day and soon most of the adults started to look at us like trash. Next thing you know we were abandoned in a building as bait for Gas Masks. The guy even set fire to the building so that we will perish with the soldiers. As if all this wasn't enough he set bombs as the base of the building so that it will collapse into the sewers and tunnels underground. It was luck that we found a way to escape. It was too bad that some good kids and some good adults lost lives that day. We found bands of kids who had been surviving on their own. Most of these groups had lost their adults thanks to Slaw. Warren here is one of the only adults who supported us. All the others who did this were killed. Looks like Slaw is planning to do the same to your group. Wait have the adults in your group been doing anything weird lately?"
"Nothing except measuring the cellar and letting kids play out in the open."
"Is that all?"
"Wait no. There is one more thing."

"What's that?"

"This morning a few minutes after Slaw arrived Thomas had told some of his guards to spray some strange green stuff everywhere. They said it will repel Gas Masks."

"Were they in red cylinders?"

"Yes."

Justice groaned and threw a fist at the wall. "Slaw is doing the same thing he did to us. He's measuring the basement to set bombs to the building's base. That stuff they are spraying is only going to attract the Gas Masks not repel them."

Arnold and the others were far too shocked to say anything. Almost all of them.

"We should go save the other kids."
For the first time since they came to Justice's shelter Philip had spoken. Everybody knew that unless he was joking Philip would only speak when it was necessary. Right then it was necessary.

Arnold nodded overcoming the panic which had risen in his chest. "We better get there fast."

Just then they heard someone yelling the the street. The boys ran outside to see a group of kids huddling around something on the ground. Then a girl who Damian knew from his previous visits here came up to him. "Um...you should come see this."

The others stayed behind while Damian went over to check it out. "What do you think it is?" asked Roger.

"Who cares. We need to get back to our shelter. Kids are in trouble."
After a while Damian came back to them. It was obvious that he had been cried. Behind him the the other kids were carrying away whatever was on the ground.

"What was that?" asked Roger.

Damian was sobbing. "My dad. He had stood up against Peter and Thomas. He didn't want them killing the kids. They tried to kill him. He knew I was leaving to look for Sam and had escaped from the Complex to find us. He's been wandering every streets and had got attacked by some MegaRats and DeathHounds. He had collapsed outside when he found out that we were here. He wasn't going to live for long so he wanted us to know what Thomas was going to do to the kids. He wanted us to escape."
Damian was crying now. Large tear streaks ran down his face. Arnold started to feel the panic rising in his chest again. His younger brother was still at the shelter. He could just hope that he was still alright.

"It would seem like Thomas has fallen under Slaw's spell just like Harry did."

It was Warren who had spoken. Arnold looked around. "Where's Just?"
WROOM!!!

An enormous truck drove out into the open. Just was sitting behind the steering wheel. Kumar was sitting next to him. Slowly the back door opened revealing about twenty kids armed to the teeth. "What are you waiting for? Get in. We have to go save your friends."
It took Arnold a while to realise Justice had spoken to his team. The boys got in.

"Warren. You're in charge."
"Sure Justice."
The truck drove off in the direction of the Shopping Complex. Warren just hoped that the kids will reach the Complex in time. He turned to the other kids who had come out to see what was going on. He told them to go back inside the shelter and did the same.

***

Ozzy could smell smoke. He got up and saw a yellow glow coming through the crack between the door and the wall. He went up to door and tried to open it. The knob felt unnaturally warm and the door wouldn't budge. He moved around feeling every spot of the door. It felt warm too. Ozzy knew what this meant. He had gone through a similar situation in another event. An even that had cost his whole family.

A fire.

Ozzy tried not to panic. Yet this was a bit hard since the last time this happened there was a window in his room. He knew sooner or later smoke will start to enter the room through the crack between the wall and the door. He'd better stay on the floor. Hopefully someone would come and he would be saved.

***

Roger swore when he saw the building. The place was on fire. Arnold felt the panic in him rise a bit but urged it to go down. Damian and Samson got there weapons ready but Arnold could see Damian didn't look anything like the boy he was before. Philip pulled out his sabre. He had found it in The International War Museum of GeneTech North.

Arnold looked at his team. "We better split up. Kids would be all over the place."
The other four boys nodded. Justice looked at his team. "I'm gonna send some of you with these guys. Jacki, your team goes with Roger."

A tall girl with brown hair and bright blue eyes walked up to Roger along with four other kids.

"Trey, you go with Samson and Philip."

A short boy with a scar running down his face and four others joined the two boys.

"Tish and Howard with Damian."

A girl and a boy who looked like siblings walked up to Damian.

"Gi. Go with Arnold."

A North Asian boy armed with all sorts of weapons nodded at Arnold.

Justin looked at Arnold. "The green stuff will attract Gas Masks. I won't be surprised if it already has. The rest of us will stay out here and cover you."

Arnold nodded and turned to his group. "Damian go to the western side. Philip and Samson go to the eastern wing of the building. Roger..."
"I'm going to find Diana if it's the last thing I'll ever do," said Roger and Arnold could feel the edge in his voice.

"Fine. Then at least tell me which wing you'll be looking."
"The northern wing."

"Alright. I'll go to the southern wing. Good Luck men."

***

Diana was cornered. The two kids who were with her had started to cry. She looked them. They reminded her of her brother and herself on the day the two of them got split up. They were cornered like this too. There was a big DeathHound in front of them getting ready to attack. She had thought that she was going to die right then. However her brother had overcome his fear and attacked the beast with his kitchen knife. While he was wrestling the enormous beast he had screamed at her to run and never turn back. She never wanted to abandon her older brother but she was forced. She was crying all the way ran.

Diana heard the door behind break. The enormous gas Mask was standing there with a knife in his hand. The fire raged around them. A sound above them made Diana look up. Pieces of the roof was starting to fall. This place isn't going to hold it for long. She looked at the Gas Mask who was slowly walking towards them. He was shaking and vibrating as if his body was being electrocuted.

The soldier can't cope with the heat.

Diana looked at the two kids. Something clicked at the back of her head. She looked at the soldier. She took a deep breath and ran forward. The soldier was certainly not expecting this. Diana jumped on top of the man. Before he had time to react she held him under a headlock. "GO! Go Now!" she screamed at the two kids. The kids nodded and ran out of the room just when the soldier threw her of his back. She was slammed against wall. She heard a crunch and felt something break inside her. The soldier grabbed her by her neck and picked her up. She saw one of the two kids still watching what was happening. She didn't want the soldier to see him and gestured him to run. Just then she felt a sharp pain in her chest. She looked down to see that a knife had been plunged into her body. The soldier dropped her and turned towards the doorway. The child had already disappeared. Just then an enormous chunk of the roof fell in front of the doorway barricading the soldier from making his escape from this burning crumbling room. Despite the situation she was Diana wanted to laugh. The soldier was going to perish like her after all. Then slowly she started to cry.

She slowly felt around her neck for the pendant that contained her family photo. She had always believed that her brother survived the fateful night and was still alive somewhere. She had always believed that one day they will be reunited. Sadly it was going to happen now. As she cried she started to realise that her vision was starting to go blurry. She slowly got up and looked at the soldier who was desperately punching at the chunk of the roof which was blocking his path. He's going nowhere.

Diana's head dropped sideways. Her strength and her blood was being drained out of her really fast. The last thing she ever saw before her eyes blackened out for good was the roof finally giving away and falling towards her and the unfortunate soldier.

***

Philip and Samson were running up the stairs as fast as their feet could carry them with Trey's team close behind them. The fire was spreading around the building fast. "WHERE DO YOU THINK THE KIDS ARE?" Samson screamed over the crackle of the flames. Philip pointed at the  Toy store. The boys ran inside calling out kids to come out. A small boy came out of his hiding spot in the corner. "Hey kid! Over here!" Samson called out to the boy. The boy gestured Samson to wait and turned around to call someone who was not visible to Sam. Soon about twenty kids came out of the hiding place. Sam, Philip, Trey and his boys gathered them up and started to leave when one of the children screamed. Four Gas Masks had appeared at the exit. If the kids were to leave then they will have to face them. Sam groaned and then looked at the rest of the kids. I'll distract them. You guys run."

Philip tried to protest but Samson was already gone. Philip sighed turned around to face the others. "Get ready to run on my signal."

Samson slowly sneaked behind the Gas Masks. He took a deep breath and yelled. "YO! Baldies! Who are you looking for?"

The reaction was almost instant. the four masked figures turned around too look at the boy who was standing there waving his arms up and down as if he was mad. The chase was on. Sam ran all around the store with the Gas Masks close behind. He could make out the others escaping through the front door. He wasn''t going to let the Soldiers see that or else everything will go wrong. He will give them all time to escape and then he will escape too.

Samson was so excited by the chase he did not notice the tennis ball on floor in front of him. The next thing he knew he was lying face first on the floor. He tried to get up but realised that his ankle was twisted. Seeing their target on the floor gave the Gas Masks a new boost. They were soon upon him and started circling him around like hawks circling their prey. Huh. So I'm not going to escape after all.

Strangely realising that his plan to escape didn't work well amused Samson. He started to laugh. He was laughing as one of the Gas Mask pulled out a long sword from his belt. He was still laughing when the Gas mask sent the blade right through Samson's body. He laughed as if there was no care in the world because now he will not have to worry about anything anymore. After all everything was over for him now.

***

Damian dodged through the pieces of wood and flames. He had found a small group of kids in a small clothing store. Now him along with Tish and Howard were escorting them through the burning building. "The smoke is getting thicker," wailed Howard. Damian coughed, "Don't worry. The door is just ahead."

That's when it happened. An enormous tremor shook the whole Complex. Damian and the others found themselves thrown to the ground. "What the hell was that?" screamed Tish. Damian remembered what Justice told him about the bombs in the base of the building. "The bomb must have gone off!" he screamed. Another tremor. "I mean bombs."

Everyone slowly got to their feet. "Guys the base is really weak," said Damian. "We better run to the exit before the ground falls off below us."

That was all they needed. Everyone were running towards the door at the end of the corridor. Damian waited to check if everyone had left and then ran behind them. The door was only a few meters away now. A few more steps and he will be out this place. Suddenly the last bomb went off somewhere below his feet and the ground crumbled away. Damian screamed and grabbed onto the ledge. Below him he saw a large black chasm of emptiness. He felt the building tilt and realised it's going to collapse onto itself. The building jerked again Damian let go. His screams were absorbed along with him by the blackness as he fell.

***

Roger looked at the corpse in front of him. A small pool of blood had formed around the soldier's head. Roger grinned and looked at Jacki. "And that's how you kill a Gas Mask."

Jacki smiled. She liked this guy. He was just the kind of guy for him but she wasn't going to tell him that. She had heard from Justice that he's already in a relationship.

"Help!"

Roger turned look in the direction where the scream had come from. "Someone is stuck in the Video games store."

One of Jacki's kids kicked the door open to find seven kids and Brianna sitting huddled in a corner. "Roger! Oh thank god! We couldn't open the door and thought we were going to perish."

Roger looked around. "Do you guys know where Diana is?" he asked not hiding the anxiety in his voice. A small boy walked up to Roger. "Diana was with us..." he said pointing to a small girl who came up and stood with him. "We were stuck in a room. A Gas mask was behind us. We didn't know where to run."

"What happened?" Roger.

The girl spoke. She had started to cry. "S-she fought t-to protect us. T-told us to run. The Gas Mask was too strong for her but she didn't stop."

Roger didn't want to hear the rest. He knew what came next.

Just then Brianna screamed. An enormous figure was slowly walking towards them from the flaming hall way. It's body was shaking and stammering as if it was a rag doll in the hands of a baby. A gas Mask. Five others were following him.

Just then the ground shook throwing two of them into the fire and most of the kids to the floor. The six Gas Masks who were still standing dropped to the ground but slowly got up again. Another tremor went off. The kids were screaming. "Roger! We are cornered and the place is coming apart!" Jacki screamed. "We have to escape from this place and the only way to do that is to kick these Gas Mask's butts!" screamed one of Jacki's kids.

Roger wasn't listening. Something had broken inside him. All this time he had been thinking that he will Diana and save her from this place. All this time he had been dead set on rescuing her. It had all been for nothing. Jacki saw that Roger was not responding. Her boys and herself will not be enough to fight these Gas Masks. They really needed Roger's help.She had seen what he could do just a few moments ago. He was a far better fighter than anyone else. She'll had to make him fight alongside them somehow or these kids would be perished. "What would Diana say?"

Roger looked up. "What?"
Jacki was standing at the doorway with her team. They will stop those Gas Masks even if it meant they were going to die trying. "I said what would Diana say. Do you think she's going to like it if you'd just stand here and watch as these kids get killed."
That's right. What would she say? She loved helping kids all the time.
There was a door behind the Gas Masks which could lead the kids outside. The kids could reach it in seconds. All they had to do was take out these soldiers. But should he care? The only person he ever cared about was gone now. Are these kids any necessary? Roger looked up at the figures who were almost upon the others . He took a deep breath and made up his mind.

***

The fire had become stronger and the smoke had become thick. Jamie was finding it hard to breath. The boy got on all fours and started to crawl across the floor. He heard some footsteps somewhere in front of him. "Is somebody there?" he called out. He saw someone else crawling towards him. "Finally another person. I didn't think anyone made it and...." Jamie stopped short. The person who had been crawling in front of him had stopped inches away from him. the figure slowly raised its head and looked Jamie directly in the face. A metal mask horrifying mask was where it's face should have been. Jamie held back a scream. "I'm dead," he thought. "I'm so dead."
Then he was thrown against the ground. An earthquake? Jamie slowly looked up. The soldier had been thrown against a wall and was badly bruised. There was another tremor and Jamie was thrown close to the soldier. A knife had fallen out of the man's pouch. The soldier started to move. Jamie quickly grabbed the knife and brought it down on the soldier's neck. "Take that you faceless freak!"
Jamie grinned as the soldier tried to breathe. Dark crimson blood was being sprayed out of the mask. Suddenly there was another jerk. Jamie felt the Complex tilting to a side. He realised he was starting to slide across the floor towards the big which had formed at the centre of the room. he frantically grabbed at the door in front of him but it was only going further and further away from him. Jamie saw a loose floor board and quickly grabbed it preventing himself from sliding anymore. He saw a metal bar sliding across the floor towards him. He grabbed it and pounded at the floor loosening more boards. He used them like ledges to climb up towards the door. He saw the soldier roll across the floor and fall into the hole. Jamie continued climbing. The door was almost at his reach. At the last minute his foot slipped off a floor board. Jamie screamed as he started to fall but two strong pairs of arms grabbed his from the other side of the door. Jamie looked up and saw a familiar face staring back at him. "Arnie!" he squealed as the older boy and an Asian boy pulled him into the room. "This whole place is coming down," Arnold shouted over the sound of crumbling walls and crackling fire, "We have to move."
The three boys raced across the hallway. They saw the door meters ahead of them. It was starting to rise as the building tilted. If they didn't reach it in time they will be doomed.

It was only a few meters ahead of them.

Now it was only a few centimetres.

Milli meters.

the boys jumped out through the doorway just as the building fell into the enormous pit which had formed around it. Arnold turned to look at the others. Everyone was there. Everyone except...

"Where's Samson? or Damian?"

Philip walked up to him. There was solemn look on his face. "He didn't make it. He sacrificed himself to save us," Philip pointed at the kids who had come with him. Arnold closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He had lost a lot of friends in the past three years. Samson had been a great friend for him and his death was going to haunt him for days. He looked at Howard and Tish. "Where's Damian?"

"He's gone. A large hole opened up and he fell in."
Arnold sat down on the concrete side walk. He let the tears run but didn't let himself cry. Damian. He's closest friend in the world. The one who had been like a brother to him. Gone. Arnold turned around and looked at his own brother who was sitting with some other kids. Well. At least I didn't loose everything.

Arnold spied Roger sitting in the corner on his own. A girl was talking to him but it didn't seem like he was paying a lot of attention. Arnold remembered her. She was the girl Justice had arranged to go with Roger. "Thanks for saving our butts out there," she was saying gently to him. "You really pulled through at the last minute."
"Sure. Whatever. No problem," Roger replied absently. "If you ever want someone to talk to," Jacki continued, "You know, about your girlfriend, I'm here to help you."
"Thanks Jacki."
The girl walked off and Arnold joined his friend. "You alright?" he asked as he sat down next to Roger. "She didn't make it," said Roger. "Diana didn't make it."
"I'm sorry."
"It's alright. I knew this would happen sooner or later. Just wish I had been more prepared for it. At least I got to save Brianna and the others. She would've wanted that. She wouldn't have liked it if I had just sulked and let myself get killed."
Arnold looked into the horizon. "Sam and Damian didn't make it either."
Roger swore. "They were great guys. Great mates."
Arnold got up and walked over to Justice. There was bodies in front of him. Most of them were soldiers' but there were some kids in there too. Arnold saw the battered bloody body of Kumar. Justice turned around too look at him. "Lots of blood has been shed today."
Arnold nodded. "Why did he do it?"
"Huh?"

"Slaw. why does he kill kids like us?"
"He probably thinks we're a burden. Too much to care for. If it was just cold hearted adults Scarjaw would have a better army. Kids would just slow him down."
Arnold realised there were at least ten trucks parked in front of him. That was also when he realised all of the other Justice's team was there. "When did they get here?"
"Some kid from the Eastern Sector had come to our shelter while we were here. Apparently a whole army of Gas Masks are coming this way. Warren wants me to start for the South right now. That's why he brought the whole shelter. I'd ask your crew to come along but that's entirely up to you."
Arnold nodded. "You can bet on it. We're coming."
"Are you sure your crew will agree?"
"My crew know when I tell them something to do it's for their own good. Don't worry they'll agree."
"Good to hear it mate. Good to hear it."

***

Ozzy got out from under his bed. He had hid there the moment he felt the first tremor. He had felt the building fall underground and had been thinking he was doomed. However luck had been on his side. His room had just slided underground than crumbling down to pieces. Ozzy looked up. He could see the sunlight faraway. He looked around. the only things left undamaged in his room was his pillow and and his Teddy bear. His secret stash of food supply was also safe. he looked at his bed. Parts of it had been broken when the building collapsed but it will stand. A sharp piece of wood was protruding into the room through the wall. Ozzy pulled it out and tucked it in his pants. It could be useful later on. He packed his Teddy and all of his other belongings in his pillow cover. Then hanging his makeshift bag over his shoulder he started to climb towards the hole which was miles above him. He was going to survive some how or the other and no body's going to stop him.

***

Damian realised two things when he woke up. 1. He was aching terribly. 2. Someone was carrying him. He had the vague memory of falling underground and crashing into the sewer water. He remembered feeling a sharp pain when he had cut himself in a sharp piece of metal. He remembered someone pulling him out of the water and tending his wounds. Everything after that was a blank.

He slowly shifted to look at his rescuer. The boy looked about sixteen or seventeen. His head was under a hood so it was hard to see his eyes. Long greasy hair was hanging in front of his face. Damian tried to move to get a better look when the boy spoke. His voice sounded cold like the hiss of a snake yet gentle and kind. "Don't move. You'll hurt yourself."
Damian looked around but couldn't see anything as it was dangerously dark. Yet the boy seemed to be able to see where he was going. "Where are we?" Damian asked a sting of pain at every syllable.

"In the tunnels," replied the boy. "You were beat up pretty bad. Normally people won't survive that fall. It was luck that I found you when I did."
"Will I be alright?"
"Thank your lucky stars kid. Your injuries can not serious. My master can heal you. Just try not to move cause that will just increase the pain."
The boy brought him into a room. Damian could see better now. This room wasn't as dark as the tunnels they were in before. There were a few light bulbs here lighting the place up. Just then Damian noticed movement from the corner from his eyes. A man had walked into the room from another tunnel.

Damian had never met this man but he recognised him instantly. He had heard a lot of stories about him but had never dreamt that he will ever meet him in person. The surprise was so big that Damian literally jumped. That did it. His body was far too battered to take a sudden movement like that. Damian felt pain go through every parts of his body and fell unconscious. Yet just before his eyes blacked out and his consciousness left him Damian uttered two words. "Sewer Master."

To be continued...