At this time of night, one would expect people living under a new world order to be resting or hiding from what lurks in the night, but that wasn't the case for the inhabitants of this city. Though large with enough capacity to house three hundred thousand people, the city Chris and Cherry had a population of roughly eighty thousand men and women in it.
At the moment, the two were walking through the busiest part of town where thousands gathered to buy and sell food, stock up on crystals, weapons, and even sell a couple of items they gathered themselves.
Ever since the military only allowed teens and adults up to the age of thirty to stay and train in the safety military bunkers, the rest of the surviving humans were forced to take camp in cities and turn them into the old homes they once were.
Another interesting feature that forced everyone to quickly adapt were the rise of beasts, their powerful crystals, and the constant appearance of red zombie-like men moving from town to town causing terror. The part of the crystals became so popular that different organizations started hiring 'hunters' to collect for them high-tiered crystals and pay them with security, equipment, or even housing if they ever needed to.
Crystals got so popular that regular citizens were now yielding weapons made from the crystals and various body parts. Weapons included bows, shields, swords, hammers, and various objects that could be used to inflict harm or pleasure to someone.
Lastly, apart from being used to create weapons, these crystals would act as energy sources for various objects and also grant their holders the powers the beasts they obtained them from obtained. With these possibilities considered, this increased the number in poaching, deaths, and robberies, but it also forced many to learn how to fend for themselves.
The average man, who wouldn't be able to outrun a charging dog, was now strong enough to take down a fully-grown rhino if they had a beast weapon.
"This place keeps getting more beautiful every time I visit it." Chris chimed with a skip in his walk. Though far beyond exhausted, the boy's body seemed to have forgotten about everything he had been through for he was at the place he called home. "The guy I'm talking about is just a few buildings down the block. He's very good at finding people and judging from what I heard that loud guy say, Ace might be here."
"And if he's not?" Cherry questioned. "What if he ended up somewhere far from here?"
"I know he's here because of that." Chris smiled while pointing at a group of people dressed in semi-white clothes carrying a familiar person on a stretcher. The carriers, who seemed to be medical personnel, carried Sky into a three storied building with a large red cross on it. The makeshift hospital, which was still in shape, was currently surrounded by a large number of people who kept moving in and out. "Looks like something went down. Follow me."
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"HEY!! Let go—of me."
"Ow! You're hurting my neck. Let go."
"Sir, this force in unnecessary."
Once taken inside the cockpit to Grim's main ship, General Luke and the Gifted teens were chained to ground with thick, black chains. The Granians then placed metallic collars on each of their necks. Each one of them struggled to free themselves, but their abilities didn't seem to work, no matter how hard they tried.
"Please, try as hard as you wish," Grim laughed while witnessing the pathetic attempts his human prisoners used to try and escape. "Those collars were specially designed to force your 'gifted' powers to temporarily shut down. As long as they're connected to your body, you're basically as weak as those without powers.
*General Luke. Come in, General Luke. This is ArkVille Military Dispatch. Do you copy, over!!*
"Oh!!," Grim chimed. "Seems we've got a general in our presence as well. Why don't you go ahead and pick that up?" Grim placed Luke's communicator next to his head and forced Luke to answer.
*General Luke. Come in, General Luke. This is ArkVille Military Dispatch. It seems your signal's moving, Sir. Do you copy, over!!*
"I read you," He responded with a heavy sigh.
*Sir. This is Colonel Gene Maguire. Are you alright, Sir.*
For a second, Luke and Grim glared into each other's eyes, with one smiling while the other scowled. "Come on. Don't leave your subordinates in the dark. Answer it." Grim pleaded once more while slowly digging his claw into Luke's shoulder.
*Sir, are you alright.*
"YEAH---Yes, I—am alright."
*Sir, we just landed at your last signal. From my judgement, the treaty's been broken and this could mean….* Before Luke heard Gene's sentence's end, Grim crushed the device in his palms and threw its remains at Luke.
He then stood in front of each one of them and said, "I know none of you expected to find us this soon, but that's okay. Everything happens for a reason."
"What do you want with us, alien?" Lilly arrogantly complained. "We're not the ones you're looking for."
"On the contrary, young one," Grim replied. "You and your comrades were getting closer to finding them, correct? And besides, each one of you is going to play an important role in my next plan, provided you survive."
"What do you want with us?" Michelle cried. "You're obviously not looking to take over our planet, so why are you still here? Is it resources you want? Is it our minerals that you don't have, or are you gonna use us as a food source or hatch your alien eggs in us?"
Grim's facial expression turned into a deep scowl as his black, raging eyes starred back at a crying Michelle. "You've obviously had a history of cliché moving pictures where you think invaders are attacking for simple things like food and resources, little one." Grim replied. "Look around you, human. Do we look like we need your planet's resources? This place doesn't have enough to sustain us for generations as you think and we're not the egg laying kind."
"We would have left a long time ago, but unfortunately, two of your kind have something we want. I assure you, once we find them, we'll be on our way and leave you in peace."