Standing back in trepidation at the sight of the armed Luxen forces a tense silence fell on the city. "The fuck is going on here?" Thomas asked angrily. "You don't have to worry about us this is just for safety reasons" a diminutive elderly woman in military dress covered in pendants said stepping forward through the armed forces to face the crowd.
"Attention Jarans! The Lux government has officially passed an amnesty by combat. You will be freed from your captivity, clothed, fed and compensated! All we ask in return is you help rebuild our kingdom and fight in our battle with your former homeland!" the small woman shouted to a now angry murmuring crowd.
"Now now I understand your trepidation to join the side that captured you and put you down here but ask yourselves this. What have the Jarans done to deserve your loyalty? Are they down here freeing you, no they aren't. You've been considered dead and gone for over a decade. This is us extending the olive branch, you will be freed whether you choose to fight with us or not. All we're asking you to do is choose what side of history you choose to find yourself on. Now you could choose to stay here but I think it's safe to say that twelve years later this is your best bet at seeing the outside world. Retrieve your belongings and we will drive out of here in a few hour" she said with a smirk.
Looking back as he went to pack his belongings Jude saw Brodies mother be carefully loaded into a car as Brodie gleefully chatted to the general. Bemused by it he instinctually walked towards them.
"Judie what are you doing?" Elise asked looking at Jude. "Eh, El gimme a sec" he replied with a dismissing hand as he walked to Brodie.
"Hey Brodie what's going on big bro?!" he said before being interrupted by a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry but you can't proceed any further please do as instructed and retrieve your belongings we start leaving in a few hours" a soldier said looking at Jude.
"Oh but I'm just trying to help my friend make sure his moms okay" Jude said locking eyes with the soldier. "No it's alright the Duchess and her family will be taken care of" the soldier replied. "Duchess?" Jude asked looking at Brodie and his parents climb into the car with the general.
Thomas and Stacy were collecting their belongings into boxes. "Never thought I'd say this but Clinton actually did a good job" Thomas said chuckling. Stopping and resting a hand on her stomach Stacy looked at Thomas ideally packing. "Tom you know you were going to do it too eventually right" she said in a soft tone.
"Well clearly nor fast enough, your starting to show so we'd have to have gotten out of here and won a war against an entire country in six months. We then would have to have somehow gotten you to a safe functioning hospital that still has doctors. None of that would happen in time. I would have failed you and our family spectacularly. So I'll swallow my pride and accept that Thomas is the hero of this story" he said as he continued packing.
Walking over to him Stacy rested her head on his back and hugged him from behind. "Babe it's really alright I'm fine" Thomas said patting her hand. "Alright" she replied moving her hand to his pecs and squeezing them "Honk honk" she sounded with each squeeze.
Walking into his apartment Kosi was surprised to see Rue already there packing. "Rue? Oh shit! I fucking forgot to check up on you" he said running his hands through his hair. "Ha someone's just not having a good day huh" she said jokingly before looking at him looking visibly upset.
"Babe?" she said noticing the tears welling in his eyes. "Fuck" he replied in a wobbling voice as he broke down crying. "Shit shit shit" she said dropping a box to run over to him and pulling him into a tight embrace.
"I'm so sorry what's wrong babe?" she asked in a panicked tone. "I couldn't do it, I'm not some hero I'm just...not" he replied weakly. Holding his head in her hands Rue looked up at Kosis reddening eyes and wiped his tears. Looking down at her crestfallen face he mouthed the word "sorry". "Don't be" she mouthed back before kissing him.
An hour later while finishing packing all their essentials Kosi was looking at the lab papers and documents. Lamenting his failures he squatted to look at them one last time. "Sorry mom sorry dad I can't figure out what happened to you" he said flipping through the pages.
Smiling with a pained expression he looked out his window. "Wait a second...Rue!" he instinctively shouted. Rushing into the room Rue looked to see Kosi looking out the window with a shaken expression.
"Shit what is it K? Babe?" she asked. Walking over to the window she looked out of it with him. "What is it" she said monotonously as they looked at the crater created by the Luxen military and the cars starting to be filled up.
"That's where my parents disappeared. They went in through that wall and they didn't come back. You said an explosion took them out and these people probably used explosions to get here. These fucks killed my parents..." he said trailing off as he continued to stare into the dust filled smoky distance.