"Hey, hey, Kenny, wake up." Kenny heard a voice in his slumber before he slowly opened his eyes. He could see a blurred face until his vision got clear.
"Oh, finally you are awake," the man said, seeing that his eyes were open now.
Kenny could see that the man was young in age, with orange hair tied in a short braid. His hood was off so that he could see his entire face. Big eyes, small face, wide mouth and pale skin were his features.
"What happened to the man?" he inquired upon collecting himself, looking around to find himself in a forest where no sign of humanity could he find.
"I have disposed of him," said the man with a cheerful smile. "He would no longer follow you."
Kenny gawked at his face. "Did you kill him?" he asked.
"I did."
Kenny sighed, his eyes turning gloomy. "So, I have taken another life."
"I wonder how many you have taken, but it would still be less than me," the man said, his smile still pasted on his face. It was as if it was his natural expression.
"Would you care to give me some answers?" Kenny pointed out with a hostile look after he sat up and leaned against a tree.
"I would love to. Shoot away."
"Who are you? Why did that man want to kill me? Why did you save me?" he asked three questions at once.
The man scratched his head. "Well, I am Orange Blaze. My parents named me after the colour of my hair." He laughed. "Hahaha! How funny it is! Don't you think?" He realized Kenny was not laughing. "It is not? Fine." He shrugged and asked, "Should I start from the very beginning?"
"Yes."
Orange sat down facing Kenny and began giving answers. "As you know, the control of our world lies in the hands of powerful creatures different from humans known as Skultars. They were given the name because of a strange skull mark on their body. They control this world and we humans are mere subjects for them."
"What is your point?" interrupted Kenny. "I know all that."
"We were told since childhood that we were under the rule of tyrannical humans before they took control. We were about to be destroyed by our own evil and it was them who provided the world much needed peace and prosperity."
"It is all a hoax. A propaganda," Kenny commented with a sour face.
"You are smart, Kenny," Orange remarked. "But not everybody is like you. Majority of humans believe these lies as they have been fed this over and over again. Of course, not everybody is like that.There are people like us who question them and the whole reality they have created, but their voices are crushed. They disappear without a trace. What do you think happen to them?"
"The ones in power can not take an opposing idea to be printed on the people's mind," Kenny replied. "So they kill the idea before they gain ground."
"Bingo." Orange smiled. "You are a smart man indeed. It is right. And why do you think they are so successful for such a long time?"
"Their skultar abilities," answered Kenny. "It works as their cheat code. No weapon could overpower them. No rebellion could be successful unless we find a solution to their tremendous destructive powers."
"Exactly." Orange grinned, making his canines visible. "We are that solution. We are The Outliers. We can crush their tyranny, Kenny."
'The Outliers' - the name struck Kenny's mind as he had heard this name in the recent newspapers. They were a declared terrorist organization who had dealt considerable damage to the government. Their members were unknown except that they were a group of "misguided" skultars, and their founder 'Symon' was a heretic and a madman thirsty for blood. But Kenny seldom believed those lies.
Kenny first chuckled, then laughed cynically. "I never thought I would meet one of you in such circumstances. What do you want from me?"
"Kenny, you are aware that a human cannot possess a skultar ability, right?"
"I am aware. What about it?"
"But you would not be aware of this. There are a handful of humans who possess those abilities. We have named them 'The Exceptionals'."
Kenny's eyes expanded in surprise. "Is that even possible?"
Orange smiled and revealed, "Yes, Kenny. You are one of them."
At this moment, there was a fire which reemerged. It had long gone into the sea of hopelessness, but it had returned. That anger. That vengeful thirst. It all returned at once.
Orange could observe his changing expressions and smirked, as he knew the man had more to him. He was not just an ordinary worker in a roadside restaurant.
Kenny gave him a fiery look. "Is that why you saved me?"
"Bingo again! We cannot afford to lose an Exceptional. They are our key to unlock some unknown secrets about this world. The government wants to erase them but we do not know why." Orange moved his face closer to Kenny. "I wonder how you came to hold such powers because a human body is incompatible with it."
Kenny looked at his hands as he himself could not grasp how got the abilities. He could only remember the incident with Marya the previous day and some incidents from his past, which made no sense until now.
"What do you want from me?" he asked.
Orange jumped up and presented his hand for him to hold on to stand up. "Kenny, we, The Outliers, want you to join us. Become a rebel against tyranny, against falsehood. Besides," he grinned at him. "the government wants you dead. They will be after you once they realize one of their members has been killed."
Kenny forced a smile after he heard the offer. "I have not much to decide then." He took Orange's hand and stood up. "I am one of you now."
"Excellent. You are a smart man. No doubt." Orange's expression changed suddenly. It was as if he suddenly remembered something. "Ah. I forgot to tell you. Your girlfriend went home. She looked sad for some reason. Probably she thought you ditched her."
Kenny grabbed his head. "Ah, shit! I forgot about Marya. I have to go and explain everything to her."
"No, you can not," Orange objected.
"Huh?"
"You can not tell anything to anybody. It will be better for your health."
Kenny could feel his glare. It seemed as if his intimidating aura entered his body and gave him this uneasy feeling. "Is that a threat?"
"Take it however you want, but we want utmost secrecy," Orange explained.
"Understood," Kenny said, and turned to leave. "I am off then." He stopped midway and turned to speak again. "She is not my girlfriend." He had to clear it before leaving.
Orange nodded. "Alright. I will meet you later," he said with a smile while he stared at Kenny's back going farther away from him.
"You did not show an ounce of fear. It was as if you have seen so much that you find it exhilarating. Just who are you, Kenny?" he wondered by himself when Kenny was gone.
***
Kenny walked on the footpath and was in on his way to his home when suddenly something struck his mind. "Oh, shit! I forgot to ask him. How would I contact him again?"
***
It was night, and a few men in black suits investigated something in the public restroom near the park. One of them touched the floor at the place where the large man had been killed.
He took out his phone and connected his call to someone.
"Sir, I could sense a faint scent of blood here. I can say for certain that it was their work," he said into the phone. "They had tried to erase every trace of their misdeed, but they could not accomplish it completely. They were probably in a hurry."
The call had connected to the white-suited man who had attacked Marya's father. "Hm." He cut the call and opened a picture in his phone he had just received.
It was a still from the CCTV footage outside the flower shop. It was a picture of Kenny and Marya meeting for their date and one could see his driver at the corner keeping an eye on them.
The white-suited man's eyes were fixed on Kenny as he frowned.