The alarm rang. I groan and throw the clock to the room's corner while creeping out of bed in distress and fatigue. Why do I have to get up early on the weekend? Won't they give me a break just for an hour? I crawled into the bathroom and washed my face, then made my hair and changed my clothes. It's the weekend, so I wear jeans and black t-shirts, no need to be dynamic on Saturday. Because if I need to, I can put on a working uniform that doesn't take hours of work, to figure out how the bulletproof armour works:
-"Good morning, Oskar."
-"Morning Aleksander…" I answer, exhausted.
Aleksander:" Whoa, what's wrong?"
-"Extra shift… People from Smachersk need reinforcement because there was an illegal party somewhere in the middle of nowhere."
Aleksander:" Oh… How did it turn out?"
-"Bunch of teenagers. Wanna prove their shit, so they just… Mess everything off."
Aleksander:" Oh… That is no good to hear…."
-"Fucking arruasir…"
Aleksander:" Come. Louis is preparing breakfast."
I look at Aleksander with a miserable view, looking like I wanted to beg him. "Can I please at least sleep for like 5 minutes? I came back around 4 am or something."
Aleksander: "Nope!"
-"Why??"
Aleksander: "Because no one overslept on the weekend."
-"What?!? That is not true! You are the only one that don't sleep!"
Aleksander: "That is why you should go to bed on time."
-"Say the one that watches movies until morning…."
We went into the kitchen. The first thing that hit me was the smell of bread, fried eggs, and bacon. I must admit, I don't like to get up early on the weekend, but if I do, the reward I get is well-deserved after a long ass shift:
Aleksander: "See? No one overslept on the weekend."
-"Shut up."
I look at Aleksander and chuckles before taking a seat and reading the newspaper while he sits next to me:
-"Good morning, Oskar."
-"Morning, Louis."
Louis: "How was the shift yesternight?" He asks me while putting the milk and sugar on the table and pouring me a cup of coffee.
-"Quiet intense. Insurrectionary force was used at certain points."
Aleksander: "How long did it take you to get there?"
-"Smachersk was pretty close, and we were lucky there was little traffic on the road. We arrived after 8 minutes of departure. The Rapid Response Force was there before we arrived."
Louis: "How many was there?"
-"45 to 65 officers. The RRF had over 50 men. While the anti-riot force had about...60 men, more than that, I can't imagine."
Louis: "Fewer than that do, I hope." He said while putting the slices of bread, pan of bacon, and eggs on the table. "Was the party that crowded?"
-"No, but." I stop and take the bread, smear butter, and put eggs on it before taking a bite. "They are pretty aggressive, and I think one of the few are traders. Some people are getting a positive test of Molly."
Aleksander: "Molly?? Really??" He asked me while his eyes widened.
-"Expect little from teenagers at 16 to 20 years old."
Aleksander: "How many of them did you get arrested??"
-"Eight? So far I can count. There are few points where they report they may have arrested more. The reason for that is the teenagers try to fight against us in the beginning, but then immediately running away when they see the RRF. Few of them hide in the city, so we have to release the dogs. But I think the party could count up to nearly 200 men." I lean back and take another bite of the bread.
Aleksander: "Two-hundred?!?!?!???"
Louis: "I wouldn't be surprised. Most of them are from other region or maybe another country. Cryssian are party beast."
-"I hate the fact that that is the truth." I chuckle, pick another bread, smear butter, and put the bacon on.
Aleksander: "Party is cool, right?"
-"Not when you see a woman walking around with a naked vagina and people vomiting because of Molly. Such things don't count as a party." I take a big bite and lean back. "Mmm, this tastes good. Louis, where did you get the bacon from?
Louis: "By OrganiX."
I frowned my eyes and took another sip of coffee. "OrganiX? You think we are millionaire, don't you?"
Aleksander: "I mean… They sell good foods?"
-"It's costly. Tomatoes would cost 8.16 Rand, while by GogoGreen it cost only half.
Louis: "It's true. But OrganiX is safer when talking about safety. They made their own product, sometimes import from the East which required strict rule for the quality of the foods they sell." Louis leans forwards and takes a sip of his tea. "GogoGreen is also good. I agree with you, Oskar. But I don't really trust the way they control the quality of their products."
-"It's true… But I don't want to spend too much on food… We still have our own budget list…."
Aleksander: "But OrganiX is closer to Gogo, right?"
Louis: "Distance doesn't matter. We always get back to our apartment in the same way."
Aleksander: "Oh… Okay."
I pour another cup of coffee for myself before getting up and ask both if they have enough:
Louis: "I'm good, thank you."
Aleksander: "Me too. I can help you with the wash."
I nod, pick all the plates and cups up, put them into the sink, and turn the heated water on. Louis gets into the living and turns the television on while Aleksander and I do the dishes.
Since the disbandment of Force 181 for an unknown reason, we moved to an apartment in Syansk, north of the country. I was assigned to the police forces in the region, Aleksander to the communications and Louis to a hospital with a doctor's role. While our lives are comfortable and no lack of resources, I still hope that someday, the team will meet again, and maybe we could find an answer to why VSIU dissolves our team. But since everyone was busy. Plus, no one called us, so we didn't dare to make an appointment:
Aleksander: "Hey Oskar… About the party…." I look at him while I keep doing the dishes. "How long does it take to suppress the party?"
-"Hmm… I left around 10 pm… Come back around 4… 6 hours, maybe."
Aleksander: "Do you think we can do it better? If we were there with the entire team?"
I don't know what to say, telling him we can do better than that, I'm afraid to say. A small mobile force, only 11 people that had to stop a party approaching 200 were deemed nearly impossible. Combined with other therapeutic forces, this might be workable. Perhaps the total duration of the task is less than 6 hours… If we learned how to control a riot, although vandalism and illegal parties are unacceptable, they are still human. Even though the total mission time is shorter, casualties will be higher if we get involved because we just go all out and have no mercy, even if they are teenagers:
-"Let's just say… Louis would be very busy."
Aleksander: "I… I don't get it…." He replied quietly.
-"Exactly. Dry this up." I give him a wet plate.
Aleksander: "O-oh… Okay…" He doesn't get mad at me. He's just slightly confused.
Aleksander wanted to learn many things from fellow men of his age, 181, which could be said to be the door of hope for him. But upon hearing the news that 181 was forced to be disbanded, that door shut down, and there was no way to open it up unless a miracle existed, but that's impossible. Louis... I'm not sure. He didn't express his emotions in such an open way as the other members did. When we moved away, Louis was the last person to move out. Two days later, I saw him move here and live with us. No one knows what he did during those two days, but he certainly had a lot of memories with the headquarters of the 181st force, which underscores Louis isn't a distant person. They both have their own memories and impressions of 181, and if it were ever united, I hope it wouldn't change.
After finishing the dishes, I drained them all, washed my hands, put away my towel, and walked into the living room. Louis is watching TV while I check the schedule for the next week. On Tuesday and Sunday, I'm off, Louis on Monday, Saturday and Aleksander is on Thursday and Friday. I slightly nod and cross off unnecessary things to avoid being misled and put the schedule back. It's a regular day, so I have little to do. Maybe I should go shopping for lunch and dinner. Aleksander went upstairs to change, getting ready for work. He gave me a stack of paper before grabbing his bag:
Aleksander: "This is the report of the past 5 weeks. Could you please check it?"
-"They pushed it to me?"
Aleksander: "You just have to check the past 2 weeks. There's nothing much happen so you can just take a quick look."
I took the papers, read the first three letters and slightly frowned. "Why is Louis' name on it as author?"
Louis: "Because I made the report, for the first time." He walks out of the kitchen.
-"Late shift or what?"
Louis: "Nadik asked me if I could make the report since she's busy with the marriage." He takes the reports from my hands. "Since I made the report, I will update it under your name."
-"I don't really want other people to get their hand on my privacy…."
Louis: "Don't worry. I won't open your… 'Homework' folder. Which contains 2 terabytes of… Educational purposes."
-"W-what?!?!?" I-I don't have such things!" I shouted.
Aleksander: "Whoa… 2 terabytes… Must contain really important files."
Louis: "Really important. Yes." Louis looks at me and grins slightly. "Don't worry, Oskar, I won't tell anyone." Louis' words made me speechless, as I didn't know what to say. I can't tell whether he's joking or serious because Louis always keeps a calm and poker face which led you unable to read his mind when he talks about one thing but in reality, he's pulling you in other directions. "Don't worry, Kaczmarek. Promise I won't tell anyone about this. And for you as well, Kaysen." He then gives Aleksander a death look.
Aleksander: "O-oh, okay. I-I won't tell anyone. By the way, I have to go! See you two later!" He looked at the clock and shouted before dashing out of the house.
Louis: "See you."
-"See ya!"
The door closed as I and Louis walking upstairs. I get into my room while Louis goes to his to send the report. I change my clothes into a police uniform and get out of the room and take a peek at Louis' room:
-"You make the dinner tonight?"
Louis: "Will do."
-"Any plan to go outside or do something today?"
Louis: "I don't know yet, maybe cleaning up the house. I don't think the hospital or the emergency forces would need me right now."
-"Unless there's something they don't dare to do."
Louis: "There are enough people in the force who have heavier balls than me."
-"Technically, you're not wrong. I have to go now. I will take the bike."
Louis: "Don't hang too late around."
-"Will do. See you later, Louis."
Louis: "See you later."
I nod and gently close the door before walking downstairs, grab the bike key, get to the front yard, grab the bike, and cycle straight to the police station.