The Fifteen: THE FIFTEEN, #1

By Mat Wreford

Not all prisons need walls.
The Fifteen Minute City, was once considered the way of the future, a place to feel at home, connected, everything you needed within easy reach.

Civil wars bring each country to the brink of collapse, until the corporations step in. The conflicts eventually end, and the world settles into peace once more. But the corporations aren't interested in peace, only profit, at any cost.

Alrina and Kirion have lived their entire life in the Arcadia North Fifteen, everything they need is provided by Big Corp.
Why does the need to escape stir restlessly within them? Why were their fathers taken years before? Why do the women in the Fifteen live in fear of something unseen, something that comes for them in the night, something they can only remember in their nightmares?

A chance meeting with a stranger convinces them that they must escape the Fifteen if they're ever to learn the answers.
The Fifteen… escaping is just the start!

 

The latest novel from Mat Wreford.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mat Wreford
• Release date: May 16, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224891221

Book preview

WHY

It is good to love, it’s the force that brings us home after the battle… But hate is the force that seeks the battle, that thirsts for the death of the true monsters!

THE FIFTEEN

The translucent image floated eerily just in front of him as he strolled through the town centre. Her arms outstretched towards him, she kept pace with him as he walked, drifting just ahead of him. He smiled at the apparition, she appeared to be pleading with him, her face earnestly trying to keep him interested.

He guessed that, in a way, it was a form of pleading, even begging. Its silky, smooth voice poured forth its programmed pitch, trying to convince him that he desperately needed whatever it was trying to sell him. He looked straight through the ghostly image at the path ahead. Alrina should be here already, she would’ve gotten out a few minutes ahead of him.

The concrete path wound through the centre of the city, his Fifteen. Perfectly trimmed, lush, green, grass stretched out from either side until it met the paths along the shopfronts. Dozens of shops, selling almost everything a consumer might need or want, bordered the large central park.

Flashing, brightly lit signs flickered and glowed in an attempt to grab his attention as he approached each store. The more lucrative would have a holograph appear in front of him with a new sales pitch. ‘You look like you need new Denari Sport Hi-tops,’ … "Try our new formula, it’ll blow your mind,’ … ‘Nothing fits like the new Getzer fashions,’… the holograms would drone on for each new victim as they tried to sell the latest products to the residents of the city.

Large screens, four or five stories high, on the front of the towers, played political messages, mostly extolling the virtues of Big Corp’s benevolence towards the residents. Often though, they would have warnings of Freeby attacks on Fifteens across the state, and lists of victims from the Freeby aggression.

He made his way to the community gardens in the centre of his Fifteen, brightly coloured flowers emitted their pre-programmed perfumes as he walked by. His pulse quickened as he saw her, sitting alone on a park bench. He took a moment to gaze at her before continuing.

Alrina waved to him as he turned a corner in the path. She had been waiting for nearly twenty minutes for this boy… a boy she might possibly love.

KIRION! she shouted, waving her arm vigorously to capture his attention. She could’ve saved the effort.

Kirion stood at the edge of the gardens. He smiled at the pretty girl, who was throwing her arms around frantically, as if he wouldn’t see her. He quickened his pace until he was close enough to see the delicate freckles scattered across her nose and cheeks, her dark brown eyes bright with excitement.

Good morning, Kirion, do you have days when you just can’t seem to concentrate, days when you can’t stop watching the time drag by? You need the new energy supplement… BLASTER!

The holograph appeared between Alrina and him.

FUCK OFF! Kirion yelled at the image floating just off the ground and stepped through it as he reached out to grasp Alrina’s hand.

The image ignored him and continued with its spiel.

C’mon, babe, let’s get out of here, Kirion said as he lifted Alrina to her feet.

They walked hand in hand through the gardens until they came to the path that led to their tower. The city was bustling with shoppers wandering the central park. T he holographs were working over time, appearing in front of one consumer only to be bypassed before they’d completed their programmed monologue, then popping into existence elsewhere as a new target presented itself.

I can’t believe it’s over. What workstation do you think you’ll get? she asked.

He stopped and turned to face her. They had been spending more time together lately, enough that their mothers were mentioning the ‘coupling’ of the pair. She was tall and slender, with a mane of jet-black hair. He thought she was pretty now, she would, as she shed the awkwardness of puberty, grow to be a beautiful woman. It was unlikely he would be around to see that happen though, the Fifteen was almost devoid of adult men.

Their Fifteen had everything they needed to live a peaceful existence. Growing up, they were given school access with twelve years of Big Corp sponsored education. They learned the basics…. Maths, science, and language, enough for Big Corp to know where to allocate them for work duties. But a lot of it was to teach them to be happy in their Fifteen, it was ingrained in them that there was nothing worth pursuing outside their home city.

And now, as they both were on the edge of turning eighteen, they would soon pass from ‘Dependant’ status to ‘Consumer’.

No idea, he replied, I guess it’ll be something manual, I didn’t do very well at the community care subjects.

Today was their last day of Big Corp education, they would have a few weeks of ‘self-time’, and then an allocation directive would be sent informing them of their workstation.

All I know for sure is, WE ARE FREE OF THOSE BORING FUCKING CLASSES! he shouted, his face turned towards the sky.

Alrina glanced around furtively. She really liked Kirion, but sometimes he frightened her when he said things that Big Corp might see as rebellious.

Kirion was tall, and broad-shouldered, with sandy-coloured hair to his collar. His mother said he looked like his father. Her eyes always seemed a mix of sadness and fear when she would whisper anything about his father, always whispered, never spoken out loud, he noticed.

He could vaguely remember his father, but it was so long ago that the man had left them, and had never returned. Kirion could envision his face…. Or so he thought, maybe he was just seeing his own face in the hope that he did indeed look like his father.

It won’t be dark for a few hours… want to sneak out to the lake? Kirion asked.

Alrina looked up into his blue eyes, she wanted to say ‘NO’, it was forbidden, but it was a normal part of growing up in the Fifteen, sneaking out to the lake. Not everyone did it, but the more adventurous would find a way to break the shackles of their peaceful, controlled lives for the wildness of the surrounding world outside of their Fifteen.

‘Mmm… okay, but we need to be back before dark, I don’t want to get any demerits just as we’re being allocated," she replied, smiling at the thought of the coming adventure.

They walked toward the tower, standing so close to the base of the building that it was almost painful to crane your neck back to see the top floor. Almost a kilometre high, the grey concrete building housed over twenty thousand people. The Fifteen was bordered by dozens of identical towers, forming an almost impenetrable barrier, a wall, to the outside world. Each tower was two metres from the next, just enough for the Big Corp transporters to fit through on the rare occasions they visited the town.

The buildings, completely void of any external features, stretched into the sky and were visible for kilometres around. Every apartment had huge window-sized television screens fixed to the wall of each room, they were meant to give the illusion of being a window to the outside. But the images of the Fifteen that were projected onto the screens were nothing like the reality they all knew existed on the other side of their walls.

Instead, Kirion and his mother, like most residents, had the screens set to the forest views. There was the option of a vast body of blue water, with white-tipped waves crashing onto a sand-covered bank, but Kirion doubted anything like that really existed and preferred the forest images.

Kirion handed Alrina a see-through nylon tube, one leg of his mother’s stockings he had cut off for just these occasions. He kept the other stocking leg for himself. They dragged the tubes over their faces, distorting their features.

Kirion looked at her and giggled, Not so pretty now, babe.

Ditto, you look like a Freeby, all squashed and deformed.

It was a well-rehearsed dialogue, he would always be careful not to go too far, but she always managed to cross the line.

Freeby was the street name they had for those who rebelled against Big Corp. Most of them were horribly disfigured, they were taught, in the long-ago war. Most people believed the terrible wounds had been passed down to the Freeby’s children, forever marking them as usurpers. Although neither of them had ever actually seen a Freeby, they were terrified of the rebels, as were most who lived in the Fifteen.

He grasped her hand and they ran towards the alleyway between the towers. Cameras began to swing towards them as the tracking software attempted to identify the fast moving pair. Running as fast as they could, the young couple raced towards the green grass they could see in the gap between the towers.

The alleyway was nearly five hundred metres long before they burst into the sunlight on the outside. Gasping to catch their breath, they continued to run across the cleared fields till the overgrown forest bordering their town swallowed them up.

No matter how many times we do that, I always fear some Peace-Makers will step out at the last minute and capture us, Alrina shouted to him, laughing till she had to stop to breathe, bent over she gulped down lungfuls of air, desperately trying to catch her breath.

They jogged through the forest, weaving along a well-worn path, dodging hanging vines and jumping over fallen trees. The forest around them was wild and alive, there was no structure or form in the forbidden zone around their town, only…. wildness.

Kirion threw himself in the long grass at the clearing. Laying on his back, he gazed up at the forest canopy above, the sounds of the birds seemed to come from everywhere at once. Twittering and chirping as they darted from tree to tree. The forest was filled with them, although he rarely saw any for more than a fleeting moment, Kirion loved the feeling that they were putting on a display just for Alrina and him.

It always makes me feel so small when I’m outside the town, I’ve heard the forest just goes for thousands of kilometres, nothing but trees and birds… and the things that leave the footprints, he said as he lay there panting after their great escape.

Who told you that? There are other towns, other Fifteens, all over… not just forest.

Can’t recall, he lied. Darimnu, his friend, had told him that another boy from his Fifteen had gone into the forest and got lost, he had wandered for days before a Peace-Maker team found him and brought him back. The rumour was that he had walked for days, seeing nothing but trees, trees, and more trees. Kirion didn’t know for sure if it had really happened. He did know there was a time not too long ago, maybe when his parents were young, when the city was a fortress. No one was able to escape the Fifteen for the forest, or anywhere else for that matter.

Want to go to the ruins or the lake? Kirion asked as he rolled over to face his companion, Or we could just lay here, he grinned.

Alrina smiled at him, her face lighting up with a devious smile, Lake! the ruins are too far for an afternoon walk.

Kirion slowly stood, reaching down he lifted her to her feet, and gently kissed her.

The lake it is then, he said, being sure she could see the feigned sadness on his face.

They walked the well-known path to the lake. Sunlight filtered down through the trees, piercing the leafy canopy in rays that lit the thick undergrowth around them. Neither of them knew how the lake came to be, but it had always been there. Almost perfectly round and deeper than anyone of their friends could dive. Sitting at the bottom of a hill, the lake was fed by a waterfall cascading down a rock face, constantly filling it with fresh, cold water. It then emptied into a bubbling creek that disappeared into the forest.

Thick vines and creeping plants hung over the rim of the lake’s banks, reaching for the life-giving water. They stood on the rocky bank, the water was almost crystal clear, Kirion could see the stones and coarse sand on the bottom of the lake for a little way but as it got further out, the blackness of the deeper water hid the lake bed from him.

He stripped down to his underpants and stepped to the edge of the water. It was the middle of summer, but the water would be so cold that he knew he would struggle to catch his breath when he jumped in.

Turning to see where his companion was, he caught his breath. They had been friends for as long as he could remember. But it was only recently that he found himself looking at her differently, lying awake in bed at night, his thoughts seemed to flow to her more and more often.

Having a good look, buddy, she scolded. Kirion blushed and quickly threw himself into the freezing water. He found that his body seemed to do something else involuntarily when he was around her as well.

Alrina smiled, she liked when he looked at her with hunger in his eyes, but she also enjoyed the game they played. The warm feeling in the pit of her stomach, whenever they were alone together was fast becoming like a particularly addictive drug.

THE CRATER

BEFORE.

Sam threw himself against the hillside, he could hear the rumble and squeal of the tank somewhere to the north of his position. They had been fighting in retreat for days, and now, the Big Corp armoured division had found them. Sam’s platoon had held the area as long as they could, but Big Corp had been killing them quite effectively since the assault on the Central Business District had failed, and now all they could do was fall back.

Sam pressed his body into the torn earth, the smell of the damp, musty soil filled his nostrils. He knew there were other rebels around him from the constant chatter of gunfire. An explosion a few hundred metres from him suggested his mates might be taking cover at the edge of the forest.

I wouldn’t call it a forest anymore, hardly a tree left standing, he muttered to himself.

With another explosion, followed by machine gunfire, he caught a glimpse of a tank smashing its way through the destroyed forest.

A howling scream passed over his head as a projectile from an unseen artillery unit tore through the air, followed by an enormous explosion, tonnes of dirt were launched into the air around the impact site. Sam watched as several mud-caked figures scrambled from an old bomb crater, skirted around the newly formed crater, and sprinted across the clearing towards him.

WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE! a barely recognisable soldier screamed at him. Sam looked up at the man who was covered from head to toe in wet mud.

Ray….? How many have made it this far? Sam asked.

Just who you see here, Linda got hit, so it’s just us against that fucking tank! Ray replied.

The small group huddled on the side of the hill, listening for the tank to reveal itself. A shallow creek, likely quite beautiful before the war arrived, bubbled alongside their hiding place. Sam reached into the freezing water and scooped a handful into his mouth. The fresh, sweet water mixed with the mud and grit in his mouth, he grimaced as he swallowed.

The tank came rumbling out of what was left of the forest, the main cannon slowly turning, hunting… for Sam and his group. The machine was once painted a drab green, but now, after years of war, it was a filthy, bullet-scarred mix of mud and rust. Sam could still see the logo on the side of the turret though, it was a sporting goods company, Hive? Drive?… he decided it didn’t matter, at this point. He couldn’t remember either the sponsor or even why they wanted him dead anymore.

The tank’s turret squealed as it traversed towards his group.

MOVE PEOPLE! Ray screamed as the machine gun sticking from the front of the tank came to life, spitting flames and chattering, as hundreds of bullets suddenly ripped the trees above the terrified rebels to shreds.

Sam pushed himself away from the hillside and began to run. He had no destination, other than anywhere those who wanted him dead were not. The ground around them erupted in sprays of mud and stones as the machine gunner spied the fleeing rebels and attempted to tear them to pieces.

Sam ran as fast as he could, his lungs bursting, he looked to the treeline, almost five hundred metres away, he was going to make it. An ear-piercing whine shot over his head, and the earth in front of him erupted in a wall of dirt, shattered trees and rocks. Sam abruptly changed direction before another projectile from the tank could be more successful in ending his existence. He threw himself at the thick bush as another shot from the tank exploded to his left. Debris showered down over him, something wet slammed into his face, rocking him backwards. He felt his cheek, and his hand came away bloody… He stared at the blood dripping from his palm in shock… He had been hit…. Then he saw the arm on the ground beside him, the bloody limb still had bright, clean blood dribbling from the severed veins and arteries. Sam pushed himself away from the destroyed body part, rolled onto his belly, and began scrambling deeper into the forest, hopefully to some cover that would hide him from the slaughter that relentlessly followed.

The rebels had been at war with the Corporations for over three years now and it seemed their resistance would be defeated any day now.

Years of government corruption and excess had given rise to protests and dissent.

Hundreds of thousands filled the streets in an attempt to bring the corrupt rulers to account. Media outlets, long in the employ of the governments, reported on the protests daily, painting the dissenters as anti-government conspiracy nutters or criminals. Those at the protests, average people who had simply had enough, were vilified through the media and government propaganda until it was legislated that the protests were to be stopped by any means necessary.

The police force morphed into government enforcers, and the death toll mounted.

The protests seemed to stop, no one wanted to face down hundreds of cops with automatic weapons.

Driven underground, the rebellion grew. Every day, men and women met secretly in homes around the country, plotting the overthrow of their corrupt rulers. Though initially severely outnumbered, the civilians found allies in the very forces that were supposed to be their enemies. Over the following years, thousands of soldiers and police abandoned their services, disillusioned by the corruption in their organisations, to join the growing revolution.

The war, a long time coming, began quietly. Acts of sedition, designed to harass and weaken the authorities, spread across the world as the rebellion grew bolder. Open warfare eventually began to fill the streets of the cities, thousands died at the hands of the government forces and many more disappeared as the government’s propaganda campaign turned neighbour against neighbour. Lightning-quick raids on homes housing rebels were the new normal, no one arrested ever returned and no one was really sure where they were taken.

The harder the governments of the world pushed back at the people, the more the rebels’ numbers swelled, the scales began to tip in favour of the people.

Eventually, the government couldn’t compete! The reduction in numbers of so many personnel, along with the loss of skills honed over decades of service, sent the government into a fear-driven recruiting campaign, only to find they couldn’t fund the military it would take to halt the rebellion. Public sentiment seemed to be turning firmly against them, for every family that disappeared, the rebels’ numbers seemed to grow. The insurgency spread across the planet, and people everywhere, enraged by decades of corruption and greed, and now genocide, rose up against their oppressors.

In a last-ditch effort, governments across the world turned to the corporations for help, and help they did, but at a cost. As time passed, the government officials were to discover, to their horror… Big Corp was interested in more than mere money.

Sam dragged himself through the forest, trying desperately to stay as close to the ground as possible. Branches and leaves rained down on him as the Big Corp’s tank raked the forest he and his companions were hiding in.

The ‘BOOM’ of the cannon rang out again, Sam pressed himself into the forest floor as much as he could, commanding every fibre in his being to not scream out in fear. He knew if he gave in, the screams would be the last thing he heard.

SAM!’ he heard Ray calling for him, SAM!"

I’m over here! he yelled back, who got hit?

James! He just seemed to disappear! Ray replied.

‘Damn, not all of him disappeared’, Sam thought, remembering the lone arm.

The rebels continued to crawl further into the forest, it was their only hope of escape.

They had managed to put almost a kilometre of thick bush between the tank and themselves. Sam risked a look behind him, in time to see a missile streak down from the sky and slam into the forest behind them. It appeared to detonate near the creek he had rested at only a few moments prior. He had seen the aftermath of a similar impact before today, a vast crater almost perfectly round and over forty metres deep.

Time seemed to stand still as the force of the explosion filled the forest. He could see the shock wave spreading out from the impact site, the air rippled as the energy from the explosion expanded across the torn landscape. Sam could see giant trees ripped from the ground and flung through the air like twigs before a leaf blower.

He watched as the tank in the distance began to shake, and then suddenly the gun turret was ripped from the tanks body and began to cartwheel through the forest towards him. Bodies ripped from the tank’s cabin accompanying the gun turret’s flight through the air. He tried to stand, with the vain hope of outrunning the coming destruction, but the blast of warm air reached him, lifting him off the ground to join the debris being flung away from the point of impact.

He felt he would never land, he wished he could just stay in the warm air, travelling further from the horrors behind him. But just as he was suddenly lifted into the air, he came crashing down, splintered trees and debris falling to the forest floor with him. He tried, once again, to gain his feet and run when a large branch crashed into his back, pinning him to the ground.

He lay there, barely able to breathe, with the heavy branch slowly crushing the life from him…Sam closed his eyes and let the darkness claim him as its own.

A HOME OF SECRETS

They lay in the clearing, the long grass hiding them from anyone at ground level who might be looking for them. Still dressed in only his underpants, Kirion lay as still as he could, hoping to see one of the birds he could hear in the treetops surrounding them. The sun was still high enough in the sky to warm his bare skin and dry his clothes.

Alrina lay by his side, she too enjoyed the warm caress of the sun on her skin. Wearing only a little more than Kirion, she had her clothes in a bundle beside her as her underwear dried in the summer heat.

Even lying on the ground, they could see the tops of the towers over the tree tops, like enormous pale grey tombstones reaching into the sky. The Fifteen seemed to always be watching them, holding them in its grip!

Do you ever wonder where the relics came from? Kirion asked, desperately trying to think of anything other than the beautiful girl lying beside him, or the buildings looming in the distance.

Sometimes, I’ve asked my mother, but she tries to avoid answering those questions, she looks scared when I talk about the past.

Yeah, same here, I can never understand how old, broken things can be frightening.

Have you seen the rusty metal bowl with the tube on the side? Alrina asked.

Yeah, I was told it’s a gun, like the Peace-Makers use, only bigger. I don’t know how you’d use it, though, a few of us boys tried to move it once, six of us couldn’t even make it rock back and forth, he replied.

There are relics everywhere out here, the forest has covered so much, but if you look carefully, you can find all sorts of stuff.

Do you want to go to the old buildings tomorrow and have a look around? said Kirion.

That’s a long way, it’ll take all day to get there and back. I don’t know, it seems dangerous.

Of course it’s dangerous, that’s why it’ll be fun, and besides, it’s not like none of us have been there before, he replied.

Okay, but if we get into trouble, my mum will be so pissed off at you.

Yeah, mine will be too… want to head back?

They dressed quickly and began the short walk back to the Fifteen. Using a path a few hundred metres from the one they followed to the lake, they made their way to the edge of the forest. Across the open meadow, the towers stood out above everything as far as they could see. Stretching for fifteen kilometres down each side, they formed a perfect square. Kirion looked at the tower’s smooth grey surface, ‘From this side they look more like the walls of a prison than our homes,’ he thought.

Kirion stared at the top of the line of buildings in front of them. He could see the back of the solar reflector array, the one on this edge was facing towards the sun. He knew that at this time of day, they would direct the sunlight across to the other side, where more reflectors would shine down into the centre of the town. They didn’t like shadows in his Fifteen. Kirion, though, did like shadows, especially the shadows the forest cast down on him. He felt alive in the forest, a part of the world instead of a captive of it.

Have you seen the patrol come by? Alrina asked.

Kirion, startled from his daydreaming, looked at her, Huh… patrol? Ahh no, no I haven’t.

Well, unless you want to get caught, you better get it together, buddy, she chided, punching him in the arm.

They huddled just inside the edge of the forest until the whining hum of the patrol vehicle reached their ears. Slowly, it came into view around the corner and began its trek down the line of towers opposite the hiding couple. The matt black buggy almost silently followed the well-worn track around the town. Four heavily armed Peace-Makers sat in seats facing outward, two towards the forest the other two facing the towers, and a fifth sat in the centre of the vehicle, steering it. The Peace-Maker's matt black uniforms, exoskeletons and armour removed all vestiges of humanity from them. Merciless in their service to Big Corp they embodied the unspoken fear bubbling below the surface of the idealistic existence in the Fifteen.

Kirion had been caught sneaking out of the Fifteen almost three years ago. He had sprinted down the gap between the towers only to realise too late that he had been caught. A brief glimpse of a shape stepping into his path, and in a blink of an eye, he was laying face down in the dirt gasping for breath, his ribs on fire with pain. A moment later, he was hauled to his feet, brutal hands dragged him face to face with a Peace-Makers helmet, behind the blackness of the face shield two burning red eyes glared at him.

It is an offence to leave the Arcania-North Fifteen without a pass… do you have a pass… boy? the monster asked, its electronic voice harsh and emotionless.

Kirion had burst into tears, fear like nothing he had ever known gripped his mind. He tried to think of the words that might bring his release, but his mind was frozen in terror. His feet swung just off the ground, as the Peace-Maker’s exoskeleton amplified the man’s strength. He could feel the hate emanating from the Peace-Maker.

He was certain the spectre that had caught him gained pleasure from Kirion’s fear…. He could see the terror on his face reflected in the monster’s face shield. Behind the shield, Kirion knew it was grinning, its eyes glowing with delight at the feast of fear it had just happened upon by chance…. And then it was just a man, the face shield sliding upwards to reveal a hard, ugly face and cold blue eyes, but human.

‘Fuck off back inside, boy, and don’t let me catch you again, the Peace-Maker said as he released Kirion’s jacket and let him fall backwards in a heap on the ground, I might not be so nice next time."

Kirion was certain the face changed just as the dark shield slammed shut. He was sure he saw a grin… and evil madness, dancing gleefully just behind its blazing red eyes.

We wait till they get a few towers past us, and then we go… Okay? Kirion said.

They were just about to make their move when the Peace-Maker's vehicle suddenly accelerated towards the forest, a few hundred metres from Kirion and Alrina. They watched as a couple of young men broke from the forest like startled animals and sprinted for the towers. There was no contest, though, the whining vehicle sped across the open ground to intercept the men. Barely slowing to allow the four Peace-Makers to exit their seats, the buggy veered across their path to block any chance of escape.

‘Come on, let’s move," Kirion said as the pair broke from the forest and began to sprint towards the towers.

Kirion glanced at where the others had been caught. The Peace-Makers had the two men on their knees in the dirt, surrounded, and unable to run. The young men knelt at their feet awaiting the expected firm warning. Just as Kirion and Alrina reached the gap between the towers one of the captives looked up at him, his friend Darimnu!

Wait, I want to see what happens, he cried out to Alrina.

They both crept back to the edge of the tower and peered around to watch the outcome. Four of the Peace-Makers stood around with their weapons drawn, one stood off a short distance beside the buggy. Abruptly, he turned and marched over to the two kneeling captives. Turning his weapon around he drove the butt into Darimnu’s face. Kirion could hear the sharp crack as his friend slumped to the ground. A second later, the other boy suffered the same fate.

Shit, did you see that? Alrina cried out.

Yeah, that’s pretty fucked, let’s go before they see us, I’ll talk to Darimnu later and see if he’s okay.

They ran through the