"I can't believe a Bracketer hit you, and you took it! If it were me, I would've—"

"Believe me, if he had ill intentions he would've done a lot worse. I only let him get away with it because Rory was with him. The man wouldn't have lasted if I struck him, and I didn't want to put her in a worse position."

"Bad intentions or not, he shouldn't have hit you." Amir clenched his fist. "You're a General, a High-rank Officer of Astell. There's not one person out there who hasn't heard about you."

"My identity hasn't been revealed to him. If he knew, he wouldn't have dared to touch me." Decha pulled his sleeves high and placed the cap over his head. The two were headed for the borders as the sun began to set.

In front of the large walls were long lines of people that extended to the train station. They were all waiting to have their bodies scanned and their bags to be searched.

It was a system that Decha requested the council to implement the night before. Strout went over it with the other counselors and they all agreed. This way, the generals could keep out any Smugglers for the time being.

Decha walked up to one particular checkpoint and studied the general stationed there from head to toe. "Unequip your gun, Mink. Keep it close to your holster. And widen your stance. If I nudged you, you would fall easily. We have to be firm in case anyone tries to get through without proper identification."

Decha commanded, using a term that was meant for lower-ranked Generals. He noticed that a lot of these Minks were from the agency or Patrol Centers across both sectors.

"Yes, N96!" The general saluted and spread his legs.

Decha nodded and continued to monitor the checkpoints carefully. He was determined to make sure that no one would get by him.

"Did you file the report to Director Chen about your dismissal?"

"Focus, Amir," Decha spoke wearily. "We can discuss more later. Do you see the Bracketer family of 4 over there? Stop them and check to make sure they don't have any Metal or Iron on them. The little ones too. Sometimes parents will hide things in their kid's bags."

"You had me at stop the Bracketers." Amir smiled and saluted before walking to the next checkpoint a couple of meters away. Decha paced down the long lines, observing every person. Both Astellians and Bracketers would be held accountable.

However, Decha noticed one odd person standing in line. The person was covered in a long coat with a hoodie. It wasn't so strange, cold weather was approaching fast. But Decha examined as they looked left to right. They were far from the checkpoint, but they bolted out of line and headed straight for the city.

Decha strode after them. The person was also carrying a heavy black backpack, so Decha assumed the worst. The bag was shaped, not round as usual.

That made it more suspicious. "Amir, we have a runner headed West. Stay in Position, and alert the generals nearby to equip their weapons." Decha commanded on an earpiece.

"What does the runner look like?"

"Long coat, the color black. They're carrying a bag, one that's heavy. Approximately the size of an explosive."

"Heard. Generals by the West have received my signal. Proceed with Caution, Decha."

Decha followed the person toward the plaza that connected to midtown. Although midtown was a whole bus ride away, Decha decided to keep close. If he lost sight of them, it would be difficult for him to catch them.

Suddenly the person stopped at one building, and made a right, facing the direction of Grandell University. "Not today you won't," Decha whipped out his blaster and aimed it at the being.

The being jogged into an alleyway, but Decha followed swiftly before calling out to the runner. "Halt! Halt or I'll shoot!"

The runner turned around and tripped over a box left in the middle of the walkway. A squeak escaped the person's lips, and Decha snorted. The runner was a woman.

"If you move, I'll blast your head off," Decha commanded as he approached slowly. "Take off your coat."

"N-no!"

"Take off your coat, Bracketer!" Decha lunged forward when he was close enough, but the runner dodged and started to run. Decha grabbed the hoodie, and yanked her back, before slamming her into a wall.

"Don't shoot! Don't shoot!" She screamed. Her hoodie fell, and Decha froze when he recognized the runner as none other than Rory. Before releasing her, he snatched her bag out of her hands and opened it as quickly as possible.

He needed to make sure she wasn't planting a bomb inside.

"Wait! Don't touch that—"

"Back away!" Decha raised his gun at her. Although something told him this whole situation was a misunderstanding, he needed to take his job seriously. Lives were at stake. He couldn't risk personal emotions getting in the way.

"Asher—"

"Stand against the wall! There are other Generals ready to fire at my command. Do what I say." He warned her.

Rory stepped away and pressed her back against the building while Decha began to search her bag. When he unzipped it, he sloshed the textbooks aside and found nothing but a few tools, her computer, and a pouch full of about 3,000 Tekels.

There was no bomb. She was in the clear. Decha pressed his fingers to his ear. "Stand down, the runner is all clear."

The sound of guns being disarmed from various locations almost scared Rory out of her mind. He wasn't lying. There were many generals hidden out of sight ready to kill her if need be.

"The curfew is set earlier. It's enforced right after 4 PM. You should head back across the border." Decha sighed, and relaxed his stance.

"I can't leave right now, I need to get to Grandell and—"

"Aren't you supposed to be at home, resting?" Decha inquired, annoyed with her presence. "Do you want to be attacked again? Are you looking for trouble?"

"I have to stop Dean Risor from accepting my father's request to have me removed from Grandell." Rory sighed. "I don't have enough, but I can try my best to pay the fees."

"Right." Decha rolled his eyes. "You still owe me 200 Tekels."

"I can give you 50 right now, and when I go back to school, I'll give you the rest."

"No, I like my money upfront. Be glad I don't charge interest." Decha pointed at the pouch full of money. "I'm not going back there."

"What?" Rory frowned. "You're leaving Grandell?"

"Left. I left. Past tense."

"Why did you leave? Who's going to protect me from the people who want me gone?"

"For the right price, I'll be glad to," Decha smirked.

"Jerk!" Rory shouted at him. "Fine, Take your stupid money." Rory grabbed about 500 Tekels from the pouch and handed it to him. "This is all I can afford. Are you going to go back to Grandell?"

"It's almost 4. You should head back home, Rory." He brushed her backpack off and extended it for her to take.

"Could you please help me deliver a message to the Dean? I don't want to be removed. I need to set up a time to talk with him privately."

"I can, but it's gonna cost you."

"Can't you do me this one favor?" Rory whined.

"I don't do favors," Decha shook his head. "I do what my job entails. And right now, my job is to make sure that you get back to Sector B safely."

"Ugh!" Rory stormed off, back in the direction of the lines and checkpoints. Just when she snuck out and arrived, she was forced to go back.

"Rory,"

"What!?"

"Your bag. Take it." Decha ordered.

She knew was doing what he was supposed to, but she liked him better when she didn't find out he was a general. He was mean, but he wasn't so serious. Rory snatched her bag out of his hands and stomped back toward the lines.

"I've already checked, you can walk right through. And when you do, head for the train station and get a ticket." Decha instructed monotonously. But a small rumbling in the ground caught his attention.

He stopped, and so did Rory. "Where am I supposed to go—"

"Wait." Decha raised his palm high to cease her talking. The movement was small, but surely he felt it. Decha looked around, studying every face around them. He couldn't tell what it was, but something was wrong. Someone slipped out of his sight.

Everyone around was chattering it up as if nothing was going on, but Decha knew to trust the training he received on the Outside.

The ground began to vibrate again, but the feeling was more evident.

The shaking was noticed by everyone around them. The pebbles by Decha's shoes began to bounce much faster.

A loud bang echoed across the entire plaza and station, and Decha looked over his shoulder, at the walls that divided the two sectors. Smoke clouds were growing thicker as the seconds passed.

"Look!" A few of the residents in line began to point at the walls. Rory noticed the change of mood and looked up at the walls. Her mouth dropped as she saw black smoke, and then fire.

A bomb just went off. The ground began to shake much faster and harsher, and the people in the lines began to panic. The generals stopped what they were doing and brought their attention to the fire.

"What's going on over there?" Decha called on his earpiece. "I need answers!"

"A BOMB!" A general shouted in response. Decha swore under his breath. The crowd began to run as another loud bang erupted. There was another bomb.

Cracks in the ground where they were standing began to form faster than Decha could react. "Move Back!" He shouted at Rory.

Rory jolted away from the cracks as they began to rip the street into pieces under her feet.

"Amir! Make sure LINE 3-12 of Generals remain calm and escort all residents away from the area." Decha commanded.

The ground trembled so hard that Decha lost his footing. He fell and smacked against the concrete, spraining his wrist in the process. "Shite!" He snarled.

He heard Rory scream as she continued backing away from the cracks. Her foot fell through as her steps were delayed. Before she fell in completely, Decha pushed himself off the ground and grabbed her. Then he yanked her up and placed her aside, before turning his attention back to the crowd.

"What's happening?!" Rory whimpered. "Asher! What's going on?"

"Amir, do you copy? Get everyone out of—"

Another bang, much louder than the first two cut him off. Rory covered her ears quickly, the loud noise startling her. Then the Walls that separated the Sectors began to fall. It crumbled and large chunks of metal fell out of the sky.

"No, no, no!" Rory went stiff. "My father is working at the butcher's near the walls!"

"We have to get out of here." Decha looked left and right for shelter. With the debris coming down, they needed to be in a closed-off area. Decha grabbed Rory's arm and dragged her forward, despite her protesting.

"No! Let me go! My father is on the other side!"

"You'll die if you go back for him!"

"I don't care!" Rory yanked her hands away. "I'm not going to live that much longer anyways." She hissed under her breath, but Decha heard her. Oddly, those words sent the wrong feeling down his spine. Rory turned on her heel and ran to the border, leaving Decha to choose to save her or let her go.

"She's annoying," Decha argued with himself. "Screw it." He chased after Rory and threw her over his shoulder.

"Hey! Let go of me! Let me down!"

Decha ignored her and searched for a place to take shelter. A bus was too dangerous, and so were the other smaller buildings. He turned around the corner of one building and placed Rory down.

"Let me go!" She tried to push him away, but Decha wouldn't let her. She froze when she saw the entire wall cave in from afar. "Noooo!"

Decha shielded her body with his, letting tons of tar, dirt, dust, and metal pieces fly at him. He felt his back being scraped and slashed but remained in that position until they were surrounded by nothing but dark cloudy fog.

The air went thin, and Decha began to cough.

"My... father." Rory crumbled against the wall. "My father!" Tears ran down her face like a river.

"Amir, do you copy?" Decha coughed and held his arm over his mouth. The other line was static. "Amir! Are you okay?" Again, no response from his friend. Decha grumbled and took a step back to observe the damage.

There were piles of broken bricks everywhere.

Rory cried out and hunched over into a ball. She had snuck out without even saying goodbye. He was right. She was ungrateful. She felt more guilt than ever before.

"Stay here," Decha commanded, but Rory ignored him. She stood up slowly and gazed at the rubble in horror. The wall had collapsed. The border wasn't there anymore. Through the clouds, she could see the shadows of collapsed buildings on Sector B's side.

"The Walls..." Rory teared up again. "Oh my god, the walls!"

"Stay here, I have to check to make sure there are survivors," Decha repeated himself, softer than the first tone. Even he was at a loss for words.

"Amir, can you hear me?" Decha tried again at the earpiece, before concluding it wasn't working anymore. He took it out of his ear and tossed it aside.

Decha walked out into the opening and placed his feet on one brick carefully. He started to scale up one of the major piles and when he got to the top, he waved the clouds away from his face and searched.

There were a few people across from them that got away from the rubble in time, but there were also a few dead bodies of children and parents lying around or crushed. Decha's heart sank. He hoped Amir made it out okay.

The sound of bricks moving nearby startled him. He turned to his right and saw Rory trying to pry her way through another pile that was facing Sector B. He cursed and slid down the pile he was on to go after her. "Rory!"

"I have to get back!"

"Rory, step away from there!" Decha grabbed her arm and forced her down.

"Please! Please let me go help my father! Please!" Rory begged him.

"You can't go back there. The ground is still unstable. If you make one wrong move, you'll be crushed by the remainder of the debris." Decha argued with her.

"Does it matter?!"

"Yes! It matters! You're a survivor, so you should wait until help comes—" Rory refused to listen to him anymore. All that mattered to her was trying to find her father's body. It may have been a couple of miles away, and she would most likely get crushed, but she didn't care.

Her father worked so hard to cover the costs of her condition. Without him, she'd be homeless, or as good as dead, because she couldn't legally work while being sick. Her hospital records deemed her unfit to find any job that required her to work as a manual laborer, as most Bracketers did once they reached 19 years of age.

"Rory! Listen to me!" Decha grabbed her by the arms and snarled at her, almost losing every bit of sanity and calm he had left. "You're not going back there. My team will search for other survivors—"

"My father will be gone by the time your stupid team finished their search!" Rory whined. "You people put Astellian's first! But Bracketers deserve to be treated fairly!"

"Are you guys okay?!" An older couple approached the two, they were Bracketers who were probably living by Astell's border. The one who asked was a woman with long gray hair and a red cardigan that was covered in gray dust. "Oh, George! This young man is a General! He can help us!"

"I'm coming, Marla!" An older man pulled himself over the pile, and the two carefully brought themselves closer to Rory and Decha. "Sir! General! It's an honor!"

Decha respected the salute and released Rory. "All of you stay here."

"I'm not going to listen to you—" Rory began, but Decha stopped her.

"Rory, please," Decha grumbled. "Can you both watch her? She's ill. I don't want her going off and hurting herself."

Those words made Rory want to hurl. He knew of her sickness, this whole time. That's probably why he brought her out of harm's way. That's why he was so persistent.

The couple opened their mouths to say something else, but the ground began to shake again, and fear spread through all of them. Decha pointed them in the direction of the building behind them.

He ushered them back into the alley, but this time, the shaking was a lot worse. Rory couldn't handle the movement and slammed into the concrete. She was caught in the black dust and lost sight of Decha and the others.

Her hands started to shiver while she tried to gain control of her surroundings, but there was nowhere to go. The air thinned more, and her breathing began to grow shakier.

The more she panicked, the faster her heart rate went. It wasn't good at all. Her illness began to kick in with a horrid reaction, and she felt lightheaded. Her bag was back in the alley, but she didn't know where it was. In the bag with her medications.

"A...sher." Rory mumbled slowly, as she fell to the ground. "Help!" She wheezed, not wanting to succumb so easily. Although she knew death was near, there were still a few more things she wanted to do that were left.

"He...lp!" She coughed.

She felt strong arms wrap around her and drag her back into the alley. Rory knew it was the General she was calling for. When safely hidden from the clouds, Decha propped her up next to the building. "Stay with me," He tapped her shoulder rapidly.

He already lost contact with Amir. He didn't want Rory to die in front of him. "Keep her awake while I signal for help," Decha commanded the couple before pulling out his blaster. He aimed it in the sky and pulled the trigger.

The laser beam whizzed into the air, making a spewing sound as it left. It took about 15 minutes of shooting into the air that he heard helicopters in the distance. A smile appeared on Decha's lips. The helicopter belonged to the Agency.

~~~

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