013.7 Hours Since Quartz's Disappearance

Nothing is the same anymore. I sit at a desk, head in my hands. The door's been locked all morning to keep people put. How could this have happened? We were winning. The rebel forces have been gaining support for years. How could a leader such as him simply disappear overnight?

The entire world seems to have been taking a nosedive as of late. Hundreds of monsters siege the city's walls as the residents remain trapped inside. It's been generations since we could wander freely. Stories speak of a time when distant travelers came and went from our 'great' walls. Even during the day, workers have to arm themselves with makeshift weapons, just to be able to defend themselves. Of course, any finely made sword or professional weapon is highly illegal to own. You'd have a better chance growing wings then hanging on to a gun for any length of time. Most people can't disable the trackers.

The city has no name that I know. It's just The City. Our current government likes it that way. From what I've heard, the old system actually helped people. Nobody quite knows how the current one successfully took over. Before anyone even realized what was happening, everyone keeping the structure together was dead. New laws took away all firearms except for the ones they themselves used. Their 'police' force hardly exists beyond the city's East side.

The West is drastically poorer. Gangs rule the streets. Crime is at an all time high. Only the richest areas of the city have any sort of police force or protection. The rest of us just struggle to get by. Some enforce their own rules. The West half of the city was left to rot in poverty. If all of that wasn't bad enough, healthcare is about as good as the law enforcement in the West. There's always some new medicine that the government needs 'volunteers' for. People are always disappearing for that.

He was going to change all that. He started this rebellion to help the people. I don't know even know his real name, hardly anyone does, but we call him Quartz. I can't blame him for that since most of us use fake names, including me. He's always been something unbreakable and strong for people to have hope in. I was ready to follow him to hell and back. He gave me hope, hope for the future and for a better tomorrow, as cliche as that sounds.

I don't know what Quartz ever saw in me, but he made me his second. I work harder each day to try and be worthy of it. Not even I know quite how Quartz had managed to support such a resistance. Nothing comes cheap. Against all odds, we were winning. Our rebellion's symbol appears on posters, spray painted on walls, and even boldly displayed in some shop windows.

Now, Quartz is missing. I dare not think the word dead. The government still had no idea who exactly the rebellion's leader was. He's always been extremely careful with who saw his face. If they knew who he was, surely it would mean a public execution? They'd want to make an example out of him. There would have been an announcement if that were the case.

I have to keep the rebellion together in his absence. I will keep it together until Quartz can come back and lead. Trying to pull myself out of my head, I finally leave his office and fake an air of calm. The hallway outside is kept workably clean, but not polished to perfection like those in the East side of the city. This building has an entire floor rented out to Quartz. The rest are apartments that go up twenty-something more floors. None of the regular residents even know what's going on. The entire 11th floor is the rebellion's main headquarters.

I walk briskly down the hall, noting its emptiness. It's the middle of the day, so it makes sense that everyone is attending their day jobs or at home. Most of the rebellion is made of everyday people living double lives. There's still a few who can almost always be found at any time of the day. I know exactly where to find the girl I'm looking for.

The hall abruptly ends with one last right turn. The space opens up into a large room, the ceiling slightly higher than normal. A rack of swords, bows, daggers, and even a few spears line half of the far wall. Training dummies are set up opposite. My attention is dragged away from the wall and towards a drawn out scraping sound from the corner. I knew that she'd still be here. The corner is occupied by a woman with bright red hair and a dull blade resting in her lap. She looks busy, and although many would make the mistake of thinking she had yet to notice me, I know otherwise. I have no doubt she saw me the moment I entered. Chichi's been with the rebels since the beginning. Of course, Chichi's not actually her real name, but it's the only one I know.

"So, you finally crawled out of his office, huh?", Chichi glances up at me for a moment before going back to sharpening the sword. There's not much that would stop her upkeep of the blades.

"All I did was wait for everybody to leave", I cringe. Chichi is one of the few people that I feel I can be honest with. The rest are depending upon me to hold it all together.

"I was hoping for some intel. Finding Quartz is our top priority at the moment", I cut to the chase. Now is not the time for pleasantries. Chichi could've easily been a politician if she hadn't had such an aptitude for weaponry. She sees things a little differently than most. Her ideas and strategies are a big part of what holds the rebels together. Rumor has it that she and Quartz were childhood friends.

"Nobody reported seeing anyone exit the city, though I doubt Quartz would do that. Still, if he had to run, he probably could've gotten through", Chichi tilts her head slightly in thought, "There might be records if Quartz was picked up by the city's guards and put into a normal prison. Emphasis on might. You know how slack they can get with their paperwork. The chances of them discovering him as the rebel leader are slim to none, so that isn't something we should immediately jump to. He could be sitting in a common prison cell for littering on the East side for all we know. Or the government could of picked him for one of their vaccines-".

"No", I interrupt Chichi's next guess, "Quartz wouldn't let that happen". There's no way it's possible. He's too smart to let it happen. "We can go find those jail records first".