1:43 PM
BRRRRR
BRRRRRRRR
BRRRRRRRRRR
Isa slowly got up to check who was calling and looked at the time.
"Huh, guess I slept longer than I thought"
She picked up her phone
It was Jarvis
"Holy man, did you go into a coma?" Jarvis said as soon as Isa picked up.
Isa laughed "No, I just passed out a little. I was really tired."
"I can tell. But hey I was talking to Colt last night about uptown since his shop's there and he says it isn't as bad as the officials are telling us, Saying it's basically a small country. but the national guard is posted around the borders to block any supplies from coming in, But he says he can get us in."
"How? The National Guard is there and they're on high alert."
"Somehow he knows the leader? back when he used to work for ATUN"
"Damn."
"He'll text me when he finds a good time, but in the meantime, we'll just have to go from there."
Isa sighed, knowing he was right, but she couldn't help but be nervous, "Alright, I hope it's safer than all of the other stuff we've done"
"Yeah, me too. But hey, at least it's safer than being shot."
Isa frowned, remembering what happened, "Yeah... I hope it's safer than that..."
They both sat in silence for a moment, not knowing what to say.
Jarvis finally broke the silence.
"Alright, I'm gonna head out and get some food. I'll see you once Colt sets something up, alright?"
"Yeah, I'll see you later, make sure to get something good."
Jarvis laughed "Alright, will do."
"I'll see you later," Isa replied, smiling.
She hung up and set her phone down.
She sighed, getting up from the bed and going to the bathroom, seeing herself in the mirror.
She frowned, looking tired, exhausted even.
She had dark circles under her eyes.
She sighed, looking at her reflection, her expression neutral.
It had been a long week.
It had been a long month.
She undid her hair, looking at the mix of the brown and pastel pink hair dye at her edges.
She sighed, looking at herself, trying to think of what to do.
"You look exhausted," she said to her reflection "And you're starting to get a little pudgy around the waist, you should go to the gym more..."
She rolled her eyes, hating how her brain started criticizing herself at times like this.
"God you sound like an idiot, just shut up," she muttered, annoyed.
She shook her head, trying to clear her mind, trying to ignore the voice in the back of her head.
"Just ignore it, it's nothing to be concerned about."
She put her hair back up into a ponytail before going to her kitchen.
As she opened the fridge she saw some leftovers from the night before.
She took some out and heated it before eating it.
She sighed, sitting on the couch, staring at the wall, listening to the distant traffic outside.
It was so quiet.
It was a nice change of pace from her old neighborhood which had been loud all the time with people yelling and music.
It was quiet, peaceful, calm...
She felt at peace.
It was quiet.
Too quiet.
But it was okay...
She sighed, wishing she could just fall asleep.
But she couldn't
She could never fall back to sleep after waking up, no matter how tired she was.
It was a curse she had gotten from her parents,
She tried everything, she tried sleeping meds, she tried melatonin, she tried therapy, she tried yoga, she tried meditating, she tried exercise, but none of it worked.
The best she could do was to lie down in bed, but even that was difficult at times.
But that's all she could do, all she could do was lay there.
She sighed, eating the last of her breakfast.
"Guess it's time for work," she said to herself
She washed her plate and put it away.
BRMM
A text message from Jarvis.
"Colt sent the spot, you wanna come? Meet me there?"
"Sure, when?"
"I'll be there in an hour and a half to pick you up."
"Alright see you later."
"See ya"
She set her phone down and went to the bathroom taking off her clothes and taking a long nice hot shower
It was so nice to take a long nice shower instead of those quick ones
She sat in the shower for a moment, letting the warm water run down her skin.
the steam engulfed her, the stress melting away, the hot water feeling relaxing.
Smiling as she stood under the hot water, she closed her eyes and felt like she could fall asleep right there.
She ran her hands through her hair, getting it nice and clean, she washed her face, rubbing the shampoo in, enjoying her shower but suddenly remembering where she had to go
"C'mon Isa, You gotta get up now, you need to get out of the shower."
wishing she could stay in the shower forever she got out, drying off
and taking a moment She stared in the mirror, seeing how her eyes were sunken and tired, her skin pale and looking so tired and worn out.
she dried her hair, getting most of it dry and combed out, then putting on her makeup, fixing her look as best she could, adding some blush to brighten her cheeks. She did her best to hide how tired she was.
She pulled her hair into a bun, making her look more professional and serious, not wanting to look like she didn't care.
putting on her clothes, a simple black shirt, dark jeans, and her shoes.
looking in the mirror she didn't like her outfit
It was so boring, so drab...
"It's not that bad..." she mumbled "Just look normal, no need to wear anything fancy."
She looked around the room and saw nothing that interested her, she picked up her wallet and put it into her pocket.
She stepped out of the bathroom and texted Jarvis
"Hey, I'm ready. How far are you?"
"Almost there, Be there in like 15"
"See you in a minute."
She sighed, not knowing what else to do.
"What is the matter with me?" She said to herself, annoyed.
She looked around the room, looking for something to do, and she found a piece of paper and a pen
"Hmm, What to do..." She thought for a moment before writing down a few ideas for articles that needed to be done.
2:33 PM
BRMM
She got up to get her phone,
It was Jarvis.
"Hey, I'm here. You ready?"
"Yeah, just let me grab my things."
Running to her door and locking it she ran out to Jarvis.
"Hey, Isa!" He smiled and waved.
Isa smiled "Hey Jarvis!"
She hopped into his car and they headed towards uptown.
"So how does Colt know the Leader of the Free Zone?"
"He said they had met during that big war Quitania had with the Central Alliance back in 2011."
"Ah."
Jarvis drove for a moment, looking at Isa, seeing how tired she was.
"Hey Isa, how you doing?" He said in a soft voice.
"I'm alright-"
"Don't lie to me" He said mocking her voice from all the times she said that to him.
Isa laughed, "OK, I'm not alright, I'm tired and my head still hurts"
Jarvis frowned "That doesn't sound good, did you take some aspirin?"
"Yeah, I took some before I went to sleep last night but I still felt exhausted, even with that long nap. I think it might be stress-related or something, I dunno."
"It's probably because of stress," Jarvis replied
"Yeah probably," Isa said, leaning her head back against the seat.
"How bad is your head?"
Isa put a hand on her head, massaging her scalp, trying to work out the pain.
"It's not too bad, It just kinda aches but not too much. I just don't want it to get worse, I hate feeling sick"
Jarvis nodded, "I know the feeling"
His GPS rang, this was the stop.... a subway station?
"Hey, what's going on? I thought we were going uptown."
"We are. but this is the stop?"
She looked at the stop
"Isn't this under construction?"
"Yeah but I asked Colt, He said we would be fine, Just stay behind me, and I'll watch out for you."
Isa frowned, "OK, I'm not sure about this..."
Jarvis rolled his eyes, annoyed, "Oh c'mon, it'll be fine, just follow me, don't look down."
"That's easier said than done" Isa replied
"Yeah, I know," Jarvis said as he parked the car.
Isa and Jarvis got out of the car and headed towards the construction site.
It was strange, but as they went down it seemed....completed? confusing them even more.
"You sure we're in the right place?" Isa asked as they walked into the station itself.
It was like something straight out of a movie.
The floor was concrete, the walls were cement.
There were old metal poles lining the walls, some wires hanging from them, but most were just sitting on the ground.
There were several pillars lining the ceiling, the supports for the station above.
The station was clean and well-maintained.
Then they heard murmurs, chatter, talking.
Jarvis putting his hand out to stop Isa, peaked around the corner, seeing people in the distance.
It was a large group of people, most of them Quitanians some humans
"Woah..That's a lot of people..." Isa said, her voice soft
"I know, I don't know what to make of this," Jarvis said, pulling his camera out.
Isa peaked around the corner, seeing the people, seeing all of their faces.
The faces, all mixed and blended, some Human, some Quitainian, some both, they all looked the same, all mashed together, it was like a giant patchwork.
"Should we go?" Isa asked
"If Colt says it's safe..."
"Alright," Isa sighed, shaking her head.
They stepped out into the open, walking towards the group of people.
Suddenly they see Colt, Talking with some Quitanians with kevlar and rifles
"Colt! We're here." Jarvis called out.
The crowd looked at the two and excited whispers spread through the crowd, curious eyes looking at them.
They walked through the crowd towards Colt.
"Colt!" Jarvis said, walking towards him.
"Jarvis!" Colt said, walking over to Jarvis and shaking his hand.
"I was wondering when you would get here, I had almost given up on you,"
"Sorry, we were honestly a bit confused by this place" Jarvis Chuckled
Colt chuckled and stepped to the side
"This is Naeme, she's one of the guards for this place"
He gestured to a woman, she was dressed in kevlar, wearing a helmet, carrying a rifle and several other weapons.
"I'm Isa," She said, offering her hand to the woman.
She took it "I'm Naeme. I've seen your article"
"Oh?"
"Yeah, you're a great reporter."
"Thank you"
"We're grateful for what you're doing."
Isa smiled a bit glad people knew her work, Jarvis also extended his hand
"And this is Jarvis."
Naeme shook his hand, "Hey."
"So how do you know Colt?" Jarvis said,
"I only met him recently, Kalia Introduced me to him."
"Huh," Jarvis replied, not sure what else to say.
"So, You said you have a plan to get inside?" Isa said
"Waiting for the train"
They both looked confused
"Yeah, you're gonna see. It's a bit weird."
"How?"
"Maintenance Train with some carts attached to it, originally meant for construction workers, We bring people on it for quick rides into the Zone, With the National Guard blocking the roads, this is the only way in."
"Huh..." Isa said, Not sure what to say.
"Anyway, You can look around but I gotta keep an eye on the trains so just don't go anywhere, I'll be back when they're ready for us." Naeme waved and looked down the tunnel
"Got it," Isa said, nodding.
Jarvis looked around for a moment, then at the people.
"Should we ask them something? Maybe we can get more information."
"Sure," Isa said as she looked around the crowd of people.
The two of them approached some Quitainians and a few humans who seemed to be talking about the violence in the city,
"Hey, Can we ask you some questions?" Isa said, trying to be polite.
"Woah, You're Isa Bellas!" A little girl said excitedly
"Yup, That's me"
The girl squealed excitedly, jumping up and down.
"Sorry about my daughter" Chuckled a Quitanian man "She's a big fan of yours."
"It's ok" Isa laughed, "It's always nice to meet fans."
The man nodded "So you wanted to ask something?"
"Yeah, We're actually looking to ask some questions. What has your experience been like these last month?"
"It's been tough. I trusted the police first, my dad used to be one ya know? I just thought people took it out of hand, thought there wasn't much protesting could do, but then with that shootout with those Human Worker folks it kinda got a bit rough, They even attacked the site I worked at. but once I heard about this, I figured it might be safer for us to stay here. but It's been a stressful month."
The man frowned, his expression full of sorrow and pain.
Isa smiled at him, hoping to cheer him up.
"I hope it ends soon too."
The man sighed
"I just hate myself for being so naive, I thought with time we could get what we could without the protests, I guess it wasn't going to be so simple..."
"Hey, Don't beat yourself up, It's not your fault," Jarvis said, patting the man on the back
"Yeah, don't blame yourself, if you couldn't do anything, then you couldn't have done anything," Isa added, hoping to make him feel better.
The man looked up, "I guess you're right..." He smiled a bit, feeling better.
"Anyway, I hope the police take action soon, I just want this to be over, I'm just sick of it..."
"I feel ya, It's been rough for all of us."
The man smiled and gave a nod, but his daughter tugged on Isa's leg, distracting her.
"Can I get an autograph?"
Isa looked down, seeing the girl, smiling, "Sure"
Isa signed her notebook, smiling as she did so.
"Thanks!" the girl said, excited
"It was nice meeting you." The man added
"You too," Isa replied
They parted ways, as Isa and Jarvis looked for another person to talk to.
They eventually found someone else a human who was talking about what was going on, Isa tapping them on the shoulder, interrupting their conversation.
"Can we ask you something?"
"What's up?"
"What do you think about what's been happening in the city?"
"Honestly? It's bullshit."
"What do you mean?"
"All the shit that's happening, It's bullshit. They need to step up, get a grip, and do something about it. It's bad enough when people get murdered over the jobs they've worked at for their entire life, but now they're attacking people on the street. It's bullshit."
"You've seen these attacks?"
"Yeah, they don't tell you shit, just about the violence. but I've seen some shit."
"What?"
"My friend is a Quitanian, I knew him while we were working together, but when they started attacking him and his friends I knew shit had gotten real. I can't really get to him. He said they've been hitting the site where he worked, He's a construction worker, and they got a lot of good people there. I think the police attacked his friends too. The government ain't protecting them, I've heard some stories of people who have been beaten by the police, the ones who go out and try to defend themselves. It's fucked."
"What do you think we should do?"
"Honestly? I think we need to stop pretending this is going to be okay. They need to do something, This isn't fucking okay. And they need to do something now."
"How long have you known your friend?"
"I met him when we first started working at the same place, We were on the same shift, But after a while we became friends, we both lived in the same apartment building so we'd hang out. He's a great guy, He's in the Hospital here according to his relatives so I'm going to visit him, I just want to know he's alright."
The man clenched his fists in anger, his face turning red as he shook, trying to calm down.
"It's bullshit. I don't care if the cops have guns, we have the right to defend ourselves. And now he's in the hospital because he went out and did it. This shit isn't going to stop. They need to do something or we're going to lose more people. If they aren't going to protect us, then we need to protect ourselves."
He stepped closer to Isa, his voice rising, his anger and frustration apparent.
"Do you know how hard it is to live with all this? To see the violence on the news, to see people being beaten, to see them killed on the street, to see people die for no reason. I've been through so much this last month. I was worried about my friends. It's gotten worse lately and I can't even talk to my family without them getting mad at me for being a betrayer to my race. This is bullshit. I hate it, I hate it all. I just want this to end. I just want it to be peaceful. But I can't stop what's happening. So please, do your best to help, help make sure people survive, help me make this stop, do something."
The man looked like he was on the verge of tears while another Quitanian woman comforted him, patting him on the shoulder, holding him close, trying to console him, Isa was confused but also felt a bit uncomfortable, not knowing what to say to him.
The man comforted and calmed down a bit, he took a deep breath.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell..."
"It's ok," Isa said, "You're just upset"
"Yeah, I'm just so sick and tired of this, It's bullshit, this is all bullshit."
Jarvis nodded "I understand that, I thank you for being an open-minded person, treating people with respect, and letting them talk to us about their experience."
"I just want this to stop..."
"So do I.."
The two shook hands, and the man stepped away from the group.
"So much violence lately, It's fucked up," Isa said to Jarvis
"Yeah..."
They went to go find another person, looking towards one of the armed guards.
"Excuse me, We just wanted to ask you some questions, If you don't mind?"
"Woah, you're Isa! Yeah of course anything for you, What's up?"
Isa smiled at his comment as she fixed her voice note
"So what made you want to be a part of the Freedom Fighters here? Why did you choose to fight?"
"I had always wanted to defend my people, I originally joined the army but they....they were horrible, One day I got fed up and fought my bunkmate who kept harassing me..." he paused "They dishonorably discharged me after I beat the shit out of him"
"Do you regret that decision?"
"I don't regret it. They deserved it, leading up to me joining the QFG and eventually The New Atlas Defense Force."
"How is it? Being in the defense force?"
"Honestly? I love it. I love defending my people, I love protecting them, and it feels good to defend them. More than the government ever could."
"Do you believe in what you're doing? Are you committed to the cause?"
"Hell yeah! I'm in this for life! I'm not gonna stop, I'm going to do what I can to protect my people, I'm here to stay. And I'm not gonna give up."
"Thank you" Isa smiled at the man's words, a sense of hope in her eyes.
Jarvis nodded as other Soldiers for the ADF cheered at his words, some saluting.
The sound of rumbling quickly cut through the cheers
It was the train
They looked down the tunnel, seeing a headlight approaching.
"Here we go," Jarvis said, putting his camera back on his shoulder and turning it on, seeing the train come closer.
"Is it gonna be safe?"
"I guess we're gonna see"
The train pulled in, It being a dirty yellow with 'Atlas Transit Authority' Plastered on the side, carrying a few passenger carts as well as cargo carts with various crates on them.
"Woah," Jarvis said, in awe
The train slowed to a stop.
Jarvis walked up to Naeme
"This is amazing, how did you pull it off?"
"We have people in the transit authority deleting the train off of the system, and people who run the trains as well."
Jarvis nodded in approval
"How long are we going to be on the train?" Isa asked, looking around
"Just about 10 minutes, it's not going very far. The train is moving out of the city."
"Is it going towards uptown?"
"Yes"
The doors open and the people begin to file in, Isa and Jarvis joining the line, Naeme nodding ahead
"You get to sit in the train itself" She smiled as Colt hopped on
The two hopped into the rail car, a human driver waving at them
"Hey folks, name's Antonio."
He wore a bright yellow vest and a green helmet
"You must be that reporter everyone's been talking bout huh?"
Isa laughed "Yeah that's me".
"Nice to meet you," Antonio said, a large grin on his face.
After adjusting some buttons on the control panel "Alright, Let's get going. You guys comfy?"
Jarvis sat in a seat near the front and buckled in, sitting across from Isa
"Yes thank you."
Antonio nodded, giving them a thumbs up.
He closed the door, locking it and sealing it in before turning on the train.
The train began to move, Isa staring at the tunnel as they headed into the dark.
Jarvis sat tweaking his camera
"This is awesome, I can't believe it."
"Yeah it is, It's like some sort of secret railway or something."
Colt chuckled at his comment, Naeme somewhat lost in thought
"If you think this is cool, Wait till you see the inside of the zone" Colt smiled
Antonio reached for his Radio "We are 5 minutes out, any other trains on the track?"
The radio crackled to life "You're good to go."
Antonio nodded and set it down
"Alright, we're good to go, just got to get through the tracks."
Jarvis was shocked "There are other trains? how big is this operation? I didn't know you were bringing more people in."
"Yeah, we're trying to keep it a surprise for a while," Colt said, a large grin on his face
Antonio pulled off his headphones, looking up at Jarvis and Isa
"We have about three trains shuttling people and supplies into the zone at any given time, the National Guard has no clue about it. Thanks to our connection at the ATA"
Jarvis looked down at the floor of the car, thinking to himself
"This is wonderful" laughed Isa, impressed "I mean it really is a beautiful idea, I love the concept."
Antonio smiled "Glad you think so. I just want to make a safe place for us to be, and now that it's illegal to enter the city we have to find some way to get in. This is the safest way"
Jarvis nodded as he thought to himself he didn't know how he was feeling about all of this.
He felt hopeful about all of it, but he was also scared.
What would happen once they get a grip of the riots and protests? What will happen once they regain power over Atlas?
Will the army take over and stay that way?
What happens then?
Is it possible that a war is coming?
Will they be ready?
Jarvis's foot rapidly tapped on the ground as Isa tried to comfort her friend
"You ok?"
He just nodded "I'm just nervous is all"
"Why? This seems like the calmest we've ever been this last month."
He laughed at Isa's comment "I know, I know but..."
"But?"
"It's all so crazy."
He paused, trying to find the right words to say, as the train rumbled as it moved, the vibrations causing their bones to shake, the roar of the tracks and the machinery, it was loud, yet oddly soothing, The sound of the tracks was like a drumbeat, steady and constant, the sound echoing off of the walls.
"You know the government isn't going to take this lightly," Jarvis said, feeling uneasy about the entire situation
The group in the car paused at his statement, all eyes on him, silence falling over them.
Jarvis's leg shook under his pants, his body feeling tense and tense
He hated this feeling.
"They're not going to like us taking power away from them," Jarvis said, his voice becoming quiet as if he didn't want to talk about the subject
Colt sighed turning to Jarvis, "Yeah, I know."
Antonio sat there, listening to the conversation, feeling uneasy about it.
Naeme who had snapped out of it by what Jarvis said turned to him with vigor in her eyes
"It's True." she said, "We don't have many options but I don't care. I'm going to do what I can to defend my people. I can't just stand by and watch as people die on the streets anymore. They're killing each other. And we can't just ignore this, We have to do something, even if the government tries to come after us. We will prevail. We have to. It's the only way we'll get anywhere"
Antonio nodded in agreement, agreeing with what Naeme had said, Colt, adding on "I agree with Naeme. We can't just stand back and watch. We need to take control, to show that we can protect ourselves, that we're strong. That we can fight back, If we can't fight, we will die. If we don't do anything, we will die." Colt said, his voice firm
The Feeling in the cart was filled with a feeling of determination, the fear of dying was gone, replaced with the determination to survive, the determination of wanting to live, the determination of wanting to fight, the determination of wanting to take control, of wanting to win.
A feeling of hope and hope filled the car, the determination to fight.
It was a strange feeling, it was a feeling Jarvis had never felt before.
Jarvis smiled a bit at the conversation, seeing everyone talk about it with passion.
"You're right," Jarvis replied, feeling less nervous now.
He liked this feeling, he liked this passion, he liked the feeling of fighting, he liked the feeling of being hopeful.
He didn't know what would happen but he wanted to keep feeling like this. He wanted to feel hope, he wanted to be hopeful.
The train finally began stopping, the wheels coming to a screeching halt,
"We're here folks," Antonio spoke into the audio system, unbuckling himself, opening the door, and letting the passengers off of the train.
Isa and Jarvis unbuckled themselves and hopped off, looking around
"This way," Naeme said as she led the way towards the doors.
The group went through the doors, seeing the station under construction with guards and food vendors all around. You would think this is a farmers market and everything was normal If it wasn't for the armed guards sitting at the station
The two looked at each other, both wondering what to say, not sure how to act, not sure how to feel.