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Chapter 3 On the rooftop the meeting had begun. Gathered together by the cluster of vents and fuse-boxes, the three boys talked and planned. Great ideas struck them, knocking them off their feet, making their brain's itch and contort. The plan was to recapture the earth, to bring the humans back to power. Three young men who had bitter memories of living in a dark basement, too afraid to move during the first month; getting scared and burned by the sun during the next years. Puberty stretched their limbs and deepened their voices, but the earth, their home, scorched their skin, blinded their eyes and made their stomachs yowl with hunger. These memories, this past, was all that they had. Anger was their shroud, hope their weapon. To face the other-worlders was going to be as good as committing suicide. But the alternative, to sit and wait in that basement until old age made their bones brittle and their muscles soft, was far worse. "When will we leave?" It was always Ki who asked the question. Far the strongest and bravest out of three boys, he was eager to get started. Waiting, he claimed, was only delaying the inevitable. But, as it had become Jez's job to tell him, Amma would not permit all three of them to leave the complex at the same time. The old man was suspicious of their bond, almost jealous of it. Separating them was his only joy in life. Sneaking past him was going to be one of the harder tasks but not the most difficult ahead of them. They still had to acquire the weapons, which meant stealing them from the supplies. Armour too would be needed for without it their skin would crack and peel and they would be dead within a month from burns alone. "We need a map," Ion said. "Other wise how do we know where to go?" Standing up, Ki took his hand and pointed into the distance. There, beneath a thick layer of smog and dirt was a tall building. It belched out smoke and pollution, further greying an already dusty sky. "That is where we need to go," he said confidently. |
"And what do you think it is?" Ion asked, unconvinced. "I don't think Ion, I know." He paused and lifted his eyebrows high. "I saw Amma's old diary. The one he kept years ago, in the beginning, when he planned a similar attack as we now do." "What did it say?" Jez asked in a whispered voice. Once again Ki raised his eyebrows. "That building," he said, pointing towards it again, "is how the other-worlders run the machines they need to live. It pumps out the chemicals they need, feeds them - everything. If we knock that out then we have control." "Of the world?" Ion asked. "No." He paused. "Only of this vicinity. But it's a start." Although disappointment did flutter over Ion's face, he nodded his head. "It is a start. Good work, Ki," he added, slapping the younger man affectionately on the shoulder. There his hand remained, squeezed down again and then turned to face Jez. "Jeez," he breathed, "if this guy grows any more muscles he's not gonna fit through the doors." "Shut up," Ki laughed, smacking away his hand. "These muscles are going to save your life." "Yeah, we'll see." "Yeah, we will." They laughed but Jez did not join them. Something else had alerted his senses. Always on guard, never caught unawares, he was always the first to sense danger. This time it was a noise. Shuffled footsteps, the familiar tiny creak of weapons. Swallowing thickly, he placed his hands onto the arms of each of his friends, quietening their laughter with only a glance. "What is it, Jez?" Ki asked, worry now instead of laughter thickening his voice. |