Year E3029

Ocea

"Bitch," Cal spat at my feet while he leaned against the mud wall.

Thomas shoved his shoulder, pushing his head into the floor. He placed his foot on Cal's cheek, bending over with his face slightly closer.

"You are not in the position to be cursing at us," Thomas said, raising his foot off Cal.

Cal rolled his eyes, lifting his torso with his abdominals to be sitting up again. His eyes met mine with anger, wanting to shout profanity again.

"Not so tough anymore?" I asked him, crossing my arms over my chest. "Not that you were with your diaper-looking undies."

"What now?" Thomas asked, unsure of my impulsive plan.

"Well." I walked over to our things, picking my pants off the ground. "The heat storm already feels like it's passing by, so let's see how the MOS reacts to getting the chip removed."

Thomas tilted his head, arching his brows together.

"We already know why they picked certain ones for the Men Of Suits program because of their—" I looked at Cal. "Lack of brain waves." I pulled the chip remover from my pocket, tossing my pants back to the ground.

I walked up to Cal, crouching in front of him. "How old were you when the Men Of Suits took over?"

"Fuck off!" Cal yelled back.

I laughed, standing straight to glance at Thomas. "Let's say Cal here is close to our age, so a teenager when they brainwashed him with the chip."

"Okay," Thomas replied.

"So, they had conditioned him since then with training," I stated, slightly smiling at Thomas.

"Will he still take orders from the Men Of Suits even after we remove the chip?" Thomas questioned, which had me snapping my fingers and pointing at him.

"I will!" Cal yelled. "I had been training since I was fifteen to take down the Saviors!"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Can you remove something they trained permanently into their mindsets?"

Thomas tilted his head while he scratched his chin, awkwardly thinking. His curly hair stuck to his forehead while his torso glistened with sweat.

I raised my eyebrows at Thomas. "Time to find out."

Cal wiggled away from me, jumping on his ass. He fell to his side, rolling across the room. Thomas chuckled, watching Cal slam into the dirt wall on the other side of the basement. Cal grunted out in pain, spitting mud from his lips.

"Where is your brain at?" Thomas asked.

The vein on Cal's forehead popped out, showing his anger. I walked over to him, putting my foot on his chest. He first jerked under me but soon relaxed with a huff.

"Giving up?" I asked, removing my foot and bending closer to him.

"Not giving up, but saving my strength so I can beat the shit out of you when this insect lets go!" he yelled. "I don't care if you are a girl!"

Thomas punched Cal in the cheek without thinking. Cal laughed at the ground as Thomas shook his knuckles in pain. Blood dripped from Cal's mouth as he smiled at Thomas.

"First time?" Cal asked, spitting blood on the ground.

Thomas glanced at his knuckles, feeling the pain. His eyes met mine quickly, but he glanced away in embarrassment. I laughed with Cal, feeling a chilly breeze from the basement door.

"Okay, it is now or nothing," I said. "I can feel the heat storm passing by, so be ready to run soon."

Thomas grabbed Cal by the shoulders, picking him up to lean against the wall. I crouched closer to Cal while Thomas tossed the medical kit to me.

"Is there a human laser in there?" I asked, pointing at the kit.

Thomas shifted through, pulling out a tan package and ripping it open. He handed me the tool, and then I glanced at Cal.

"This is going to hurt—" I smiled at him. "And I'm going to enjoy every painful scream."

Cal rolled his eyes, looking at my hands. "Get it over with. So, I can get it placed right back in." He glanced back at me. "By choice."

"Whatever, dude," I replied, cutting his human skin.

Blood dripped slowly down his arm while Thomas cleaned up the area. I placed the pointed tip into Cal's arm, feeling him stiffen. Grabbing his shoulder, I held him still while I watched the light switch to green.

Cal hitched a breath, inhaling deep. He glanced around the basement like he had just woken up from a coma. His eyes met mine as I pulled the tool from his arm.

"What had I done?" he asked me, tearing up. "I killed so many innocent humans and safforians!"

Thomas patted him on the back. "Don't let it weigh on your shoulders too much," he said, cleaning the blood from Cal's skin. "You didn't do this, they did."

"You ready?" I connected my eyes to Cal's. "This part hurts a lot more."

Cal exhaled, adjusting himself on his ass. He broadened his shoulders and nodded his head. "Go for it."

I took the flat surface of the tool, slipping it between his skin. He jerked a little as the device wiggled in his arm. Blood slowly dripped down his biceps, but soon poured out like I hit something wrong. Thomas cupped a cloth around Cal's skin as we waited for the light to flash green.

"Ahh!" Cal yelled, glancing at the ceiling in pain. "Pull that fucking thing out of my arm!"

The tool blinked to a green. "Got it," I said, dragging the chip from his skin.

Cal's shoulders relaxed as Thomas fished in the first aid kit. He paused on a package with a smile.

"Here," Thomas said, crouching next to Cal, sticking a slug to his arm. "This will work for now."

"Thank you," Cal said, leaning his head and resting against the wall.

I touched the slug on my palm, forgetting it was there, not feeling the burn anymore. The basement door slightly creaked open, causing Thomas to jump and kick it shut. A chirp echoed on the other side as I stepped up to the door, opening it slowly.

A green bug crawled out of the shadows, creeping down the stairs. Its enormous eyes glanced at me before flying in my direction.

"Pope," I said in excitement while it landed on my shoulder, nuzzling its head into my neck.

"The heat storm must have finished," Thomas said, walking toward our things. "Let's get out of here before the Men Of Suits arrive."

"Yes," I said, grabbing Pope and placing him on the ground.

I raced over, grabbing my pants from the mud. As I jumped into my jeans, I glanced to see Pope sniffing Cal. The insect crept closer while Cal leaned away in fear. He jumped on his rear, awkwardly maneuvering his tied arms to swat at Pope.

"Get this thing away from me," Cal said with a high-pitched voice.

Thomas pulled his shirt over his head, looking at me. He leaned in closer, grabbing my wrists. "What do we do with Cal?" he whispered.

I side-eyed Cal. "I'm not sure."

"We can't leave him here," Thomas replied, letting my hand go and crouching down to grab my shirt.

"True." I rubbed my forehead and then gripped my shirt.

"We can bring him to the camp." Thomas jogged near Cal, grabbing the medical kit and scanning the ground for crucial objects. I could see his eyes bob around. "You—"

"Got it," I said, holding up the chip remover to show him. "Safe and sound." I pocketed the tool, patting my jeans.

Thomas grabbed the wrappings of the opened medical packages from the dirt, tossing them after reading the backs. He grabbed the one near Cal's stuff.

"The fly will stay attached for a while," he threw the package to the ground. "How about we keep it on him until the others approve of him?"

"Talk like I can't hear you," Cal said with a snicker.

I glanced at him as he tried to use the wall to stand up. Cal's body was halfway up while his legs trembled, but slipped straight to his ass. The muscles in his legs bulged as he tried again.

"Let me help," I said, walking over and grabbing around his torso.

His face leaned closer to mine. "If I didn't see the chemistry between you and that guy, I'd say you are feeling me up."

I instantly removed my hands, letting him fall into the dirt again. "You sure like to bite the hand that feeds you, huh?"

Cal shook his head. "No, no. I'm sorry, I have a smart mouth."

Thomas strolled over, grabbing Cal by his tied wrists, pulling him from the ground. Cal's backpack hung from Thomas's back with a pair of MOS pants over his shoulder.

"Here are your pants," Thomas said, positioning them so Cal could step into them with his back leaned against the wall.

Thomas awkwardly pulled the tight jeans up Cal's legs, buttoning them. Pope flew from the ground onto my shoulders as I spun around to make sure we grabbed what we needed.

"Okay, let's get going," I said, opening the door and racing up the dark stairs.

The heat storm tinted maroon into the room at the top of the stairs. I glanced over my shoulder to see Thomas helping Cal walk up each step. Cal stumbled into the wall but found his footing. I crept into the hallway, listening to the silence. Pope snuggled his face into my hair as I neared the exit door.

The outside air steamed with heat as I saw the storm in the distance. A red cloud shook as the light flashed within it. The rumble echoed in the streets as water dripped from high places.

The rain escaped from the buildings and poured red water into the sewers. A broken gutter splattered off the glass window before us, splashing the storm's water. The humid mist masked our faces.

Cal leaned against a pillar awkwardly, watching me scoop up water with my palms and splashing it on my face. The freshwater, warm to the first touch, cooled my cheeks like magic. I opened my eyes to a maroon tint of Thomas shaking his head. Cal tilted his face, arching his brows with concern.

"You still do that?" Thomas asked.

"Yep, my mom—"

"Says it's good luck," Thomas said, finishing my sentence. "I remember." He pointed at me. "But I also remember that your dad thought it was insane."

"Yep, that's because it is," Cal said, pushing off the pillar and falling onto his face.

I rushed over to him with Thomas. "You okay?" I asked, rolling Cal over.

"Yep," he replied, spitting a leaf from his mouth.

I huffed out, glancing at Thomas. "How about we release the splint fly? So we can get to the forbidden forest quicker."

Thomas clenched his jaw, not liking the idea, but nodded. "Okay," Thomas said, placing his palms on Cal and rolling him over.

The splint fly wiggled its head as he touched the wings. The small body hung while its legs tucked into its anatomy.

"The package said to brush right here," Thomas said, touching the insect's head.

We watched the splint fly slowly detach from Cal's arms and stretch its wings. The little insect hopped off Cal, bringing its front legs to its face to clean itself.

"Kinda—" Thomas said, but Pope jumped from my shoulder, dive-bombing the fly.

Pope ripped the head off the fly, splattering orange liquid on us. Thomas jumped back, touching his face while a slime-like substance stuck to his cheeks and fingers.

"Gross," Thomas expressed while we watched Pope eat in the insides of the fly. The orange slime dripped from the fly while Pope used its front legs to scoop it up.

Without time to think, Cal jumped from the ground, tackling me. He wrapped his hands around my throat, digging his thumbs into my neck.

"Bitch!" Cal yelled. "You dumb bitch!"

Thomas grabbed Cal's shoulders, trying to get him off of me, but Cal backhanded him. I gripped my sore throat, trying to crawl away. Cal's huge hands pulled at my arm before his knuckles collided with my face.

Burning pain knocked into my skull, painting red dots into my vision. Another slam busted my eye, swelling my face. The air ceased as black dots filled my vision, peppering to a blurry nothing.

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