Instability

※ 18 ※

"We've been undercover for years in Fort Collins," Ronan tells me as I step out from the bushes. "You'd be surprised. It's pretty high-pressure."

I nod, and the other member of the group introduce themselves as Sarah, Tim, and Nathaniel.

"Alright, troops, let's get a move on. We need to search and clear all the government buildings for more guards. Danny, you take the buildings on this side of town and we'll take the rest."

Danny agrees, and Ronan lets out a joyous howl. "We're finally free, baby!" Then be and his Renegades hurry down the alley they came through.

Ronan's mood is infectious, and Danny declares, "Now let's go shoot some government jack--"

"Agreed." I cut him off, raising my eyebrows. He rolls his eyes at me. I smirk.

Danny clicks his gun as we cross the alley Ronan came from. "What about the Panel members?" I ask, "Did the Renegades get them yet?"

"All except Sheops. He's the one we really wanted, but he had a good escape plan. Geez," Danny comments, stuffing a new bullet cartridge in his gun with another click, "How did all these arrogant people end up running a country?"

I open my mouth, but Danny interrupts. "That was rhetorical."

" I know," I say, eyes trained on a target, "I just wanted to warn you about--" I point my gun and shoot a frantic guard from about 20 yards away. He falls to the ground with a satisfying clunk.

"I knew he was there," Danny bluffs defensively, giving the guard a glance.

I smile in victory. "Now that makes me your knight in shining armor."

With a grumbled remark from Danny, we head down the street. Unanimously, we decide to clear out a few minor buildings first before stopping in the security office.

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We don't encounter any guards when we search through the banks and offices. I do manage to run into a table, however, and hurt my hip.

I also find some new medical supplies, and I scoop them all into my backpack. Maybe some other families could use them. Either way, I can't believe so much medicine is hidden away when so many people must need it.

Danny and I take one last sweeping look at the bank before exiting into the street. I'm relieved there aren't any juvenile agency buildings because I'd probably vomit if I had to go in one. That part of my life is over, and I don't want to look back. Being a Renegade is priceless to me, like payback towards an enemy.

Danny and I hurry across a few streets before reaching the clean doors of the security office. We enter the small lobby with our guns raised and fingers on the triggers. After checking all the offices on the ground floor, we mount the stairs.

Leading the way, Danny makes me check the bathroom. I glare at him before raising my gun and kicking the door open. I was expecting an empty room, but that's not what I get.

I squeal and cringe as my brain resisters the guard in the bathroom. Panicked, I shoot the sitting Guard, and he falls off the toilet, revealing things I'd rather not see.

"Ugh!" I fumble for the knob and slam the door shut. Danny breaks into hysterical laughter, panting like a maniac and leaning against the wall for support.

"Shut up," I say as my entire body heats up rapidly in embarrassment. Being slapped a hundred times would be less painful than Danny's laugh.

"A-ash-Ashley, t-that was..." Danny manages to say through his laughs. My eyes begin to water, but I force myself not to cry. Annoyed, I raise my gun towards the rooms we didn't check yet.

I reassure myself as I scan the rooms. Just relax, Ash, your in power. You've got a gun. It's not a big deal.

As Danny continues to die of hysterics, I clear every room. By the time I'm finished, Danny stops laughing, and I'm debating between shooting or punching Daniel.

Unfortunately, Daniel picks up on my pain. "Aw, darling, did I hurt your feelings? I'm sorry, that guy probably scarred you more than I did." He laughs once. "Hell, I've got a lot to teach you, babe."

I push pass Daniel as fast as I can, making sure to elbow him hard in the stomach. I hurry the stairs and approach the surveillance room on the main floor. I stop in front the door on and scan my fingerprint. Surprisingly, the door pops open.

Wow, no one took my fingerprint out of the agency system. I guess they assumed I would never use government doors again. But they were wrong.

Inside the surveillance room are two guards genuinely shocked to see me. They fumble for their weapons, and I shoot each of them once. Then I lug the one guard off his chair and into the corner of the room. Taking a seat in his chair, I survey the monitors. Footage of the empty Fort Collins display, along with feeds inside people's homes. I've been in a surveillance room before, so seeing shots inside private homes doesn't surprise me.

I grab the wireless keyboard and type in:

B A L T I M O R E

Instantly, the giant screen replaces suburban footage with urban ones. The Renegades must have taken over the entire city because the guards are stripped of their guns. The broadcast systems display Renegade messages, and none of the guards are fighting back.

I flip through city after city and find the same results. Only suburban towns have guards lying limp on the ground. Shuffling through more footage, I notice all the unconscious guards are in their twenties.

By brain clicks, reaching a logical conclusion. The young guards didn't know the Renegades are actually a rebel group. Only the older guards knew the Renegades were good. Since the Silence Act bounded them from telling the young, they knew to surrender while the others fought blindly.

Someone knocks on the door behind me. I rip my eyes from the screen, already knowing who's on the other side. I open the door for Daniel with a scowl on my face.

"They still kept my prints in the system," I explain. Daniel registers the sour my tone of voice.

"Ashley, c'mon that was pretty funny," Daniel says with a smile. He dumps the Guard off the remaining chair and takes a seat. I sit down, too, my body loosing its tenseness as Daniel's presence fills the room. I watch him smile to himself in the corner of my vision.

"Ashely, seriously. You shot a guy off a toilet."

I let out a small laugh, glancing at Danny. He smirks into my eyes. "Ash, he was on a toilet."

My sudden laughter echoes through the room, and Danny follows suit. Within seconds, we're laughing so loud you would have thought we were thousands of miles away a country illegally breaking the Silence Act.

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once again, i added the unnecessary scene of a man on a toilet...

*slaps hand to forehead*

Question: do you think the Dashley ship is progressing, and if so, do you enjoy it?