Chapter 6: Farewell Childhood

Year 2020, January 18, 6:30

The morning sun is shining brightly, the dew on the grass is sparkling but it's not that much of a bright situation for some kids.

Ricky: "N-no...I-it can't be… Our hard work… Our effort.. All gone.."

The group of kids looking down at the broken drone, all hope is gone, this was their last chance. Their eyes full of dread and emptiness. Only Despair shadowing over them.

Ricky: "This can't be happening… Please tell me this is just a bad dream."

Everyone had a disappointed face full of frustration and sadness.

Rami: "Hey Ricky, it isn't too late yet… We can still do this. There's still a chance!"

Shy: "Yes Rami's right we can still do it."

Osa: "We can't lose hope. It's not over just yet."

Alex: "Stop thinking you're a genius Ricky, a dumbass makes mistakes. But that doesn't mean that it's all over. Did you really expect that the drone would perfectly work the first time? You're getting ahead of yourself. But if we're all together anything can be possible, if we fail once we'll try again, if we fail again we'll give it more effort and try again and again and again till it's complete. We still have time! So don't worry, you're better than that."

Ricky: "But how are we even gonna do it? Today is school isn't it? You need to go to school or else your parents would yell at y'all. Besides it's my fault that the drone did not work, I dozed off early. You all should go to school, I'll find a way to fix it."

Rami: "We're not going anywhere, just as Alex said if we are together anything is possible. We'll help you."

Osa: "You heard her."

Alex: "Even if we are a bunch of losers who can't make miracles, we can make it work if we work on it together. I'm sure of it."

Their eyes were not of a coward anymore. They were determined, and if they have the courage do what it takes I cannot back off now. My eyes became teary due to the sheer compassion of my friends. I realized that I need to get on their level or I'll be known as the coward who had the chance to save the world but didn't even try after failing miserably just once. I could not let that happen. My face regained its usual calm demeanor, I smirked, and then said.

Ricky: "You're all right, we can do this!"

The depressing mood was lifted again. We were now determined more than ever. This is not the time to lose hope. We are human beings, we do not give up this easily. We try again and again and again until it goes our way. Humans have the power to do anything for their survival and protecting people they love.

Shy: "Ok so now what? Where do we work on the drone? We can't stay here, else mom will kill us."

Ricky: "Hmmmm… Honestly I have no idea."

Rami: "Lets get on our way to school for now. We'll think of something somehow."

Osa: "Yeah, if we're going to do it we have no time to lose. We'll think of something on our way to school."

We embarked on our way to school without any plans, unprepared and still terrified at the back of our mind. But we were determined now, our eyes reflected flames of courage and not shadows of cowardice anymore.

On our way to school.

Ricky: "So do we just take the drone to school?"

Osa: "I don't think they'll allow us and besides if a place is dangerous for now then school is that place."

Rami: "Yeah who knows what Mr. Parker will do."

Alex: "Ok... So where do we even go now?"

Shy: "Hmm, have you seen any empty or abandoned houses near this area?"

Ricky: "I'm pretty sure there are a few abandoned houses here, but we need to be careful, debris might fall on us."

We went inside an alley, it was dark and cramped but after we got out on the other side there were a few abandoned houses. We inspected each house but most of them weren't in the best shape. Suddenly, Shy saw something.

Shy: "Wait why is there a hole in that wall of that house?"

Alex: "Meh... Probably fell down."

Shy: "No if it fell down on its own the hole wouldn't be like that and the whole wall would've fallen."

Ricky: "Well then let's go check it out."

Osa: "Did you forget our main objective? We aren't supposed to play around."

Rami: "Wait...is that blood?"

Alex: "It might be those guys again."

Ricky: "Wait it means there's still a chance that there is a survivor. We can save them."

Osa: "But we don't have any time."

Ricky: "If there is a small chance of a survivor we must help them Osa. We cannot leave them there by themselves can we?"

Osa: "Fine lets go. But be on your guard"

We approached the scene slowly, we were greeted by a familiar face in a pretty terrible state.

Ricky: "Ken?!! What happened here? Why are you here and who did this to you?"

Ken was in a pretty bad shape, almost a bloody pulp, broken bones and swollen face.

Ken: "Oh it's you guys...why are you here?"

Rami: "We must call an ambulance right now!"

Shy: "Right I'm on it."

Ken: "No wait you have another mission don't you? You have no time to lose.... I'll recover soon… Besides I have my own mission… I can't back off now."

Alex: "What do you mean mission? You're in pretty bad shape. I don't think you might even be walking like this."

Ken: "Oh yeah? You really think I will back down like this? I have decided that I won't go back on my words."

Ricky: "Look, I don't know what mission you are talking about but I'm pretty sure you cannot succeed if you are not treated soon enough."

Ken: "You don't need to worry about me, my mission is a selfish mission for my own good but you need to do this… For the world."

Rami: "But..."

Ken: "You guys need a place to hide and fix the drone right?"

Alex: "Yeah..."

Ken: "There's an abandoned park behind just a few houses to the left, I used to play there with Ali. No one else knows about it anymore since no one lives in this area anymore. I'm pretty sure you all will be safe there."

Ricky: "Thanks Ken… You really saved us but let us do something for you too."

Ken: "Just fucking go neither of us have any time...."

Osa: "Fine then.. Let's go Ricky."

Ricky: "But...."

We all left Ken there since his stubbornness wouldn't let us help him. But even if he was injured that bad, he changed- he could see a clear path now what he should do. His eyes too were burning with flames of courage and he was determined. We still called an ambulance just in case.

We reached the park. As Ken said the park was abandoned and we could see that. There were mosses growing all over the park. The grass wasn't trimmed, vines were wrapped around the gargantuan trees, small trees were growing in some random places.

Alex: "So this is the place?"

Ricky: "I guess so."

Shy: "Hey guys… What if there are bugs here?"

Alex: "Eh we'll just swat em away… Or are you still scared of bugs huh?"

Shy: "H-Hey! I'm not scared of bugs anymore… Only caterpillars."

Alex: "Hahahaha imagine getting scared of caterpillars."

Shy: "At least I don't get scared of my own shoe lace."

Alex: "Shut up!"

Osa: "Dumbasses we didn't come here to have fun. We came here to fix the drone."

Ricky: "Yeah Osa's right we need to get serious. This isn't time to play around."

Rami: "Right.. Let's do this guys!"

We started working on the drone, One of its rotors got damaged and its circuit was burned. We had to rebuild the circuit from scratch. If I was working alone it would've taken us at least 1 whole day but since everyone was working together we could do it faster. We barely finished it before sunset, It was 4 p.m. We hurried to the roadblocks, It was finally the time.

16:20, near the roadblocks.

Ricky: "Ok so It's already 4:20, School is over but we need to be careful of Mr. Parker, We need to hurry up and get the evidence and run away from here."

Alex: "So what after we get the evidence?"

Ricky: "We either go home and upload it on the internet or we show it to the police or something."

Osa: "Nah don't upload on the internet. It'll just be marked as a fake conspiracy if you do that."

Ricky: "Makes sense, yeah let's just run to the police station after this."

Alex: "Alright so I will pilot it right?"

Osa: "You sure you can do it?"

Alex: "Don't underestimate my controlling skills after gaming for how long I have."

Ricky: "Alex this is not a game."

Alex: "Yeah, yeah, I know, Now hand me the controller."

Rami: "Ok then… Shy and I will be on a lookout."

The time to save the world has come. It all depends on us now, and on Alex the most.

Alex: "Mission Heaven's Eye Commence."

My brain was filled to the brim with anxiousness and fear. This was our last chance, if this doesn't work then… It's all over. What if we fail? What if Mr. Parker catches us right now? That would be the worst outcome. If he catches us right now we're done for. What would happen to the world and our families then? As these thoughts were filling my head, I felt two hands on both of my shoulders.

Osa and Alex: "Don't worry, you can rest. We got it!"

Alex was my first ever friend and Osa was almost like my older brother. They both no- everyone taught me something in my life. Alex taught me how to keep up a smile even in grave situations. Osa taught me how to program and stuff but also taught me to keep on moving forward. Rami taught me that even if you're going through a hard time, it can be covered up by the help of friends. Everyone here is my precious friend and I don't wanna lose them.

Ricky: "Let's do this!"

Alex switched on the drone and the drone started levitating a few inches above the ground.

Alex: "Alright let's see if the controls are working well or not."

Osa: "Do you underestimate my genius?"

The drone would fly as it is controlled through the mobile app and the footage is clear too.

Alex: "Alright! It works perfectly! Let's do this!"

Ricky: "Don't cheer too soon..."

Osa: "Don't worry Ricky, This time I have a feeling that we're gonna succeed."

The drone entered the skies beyond the roadblocks, cruising over the destroyed houses. But no sign of corpses or the mutants.

Alex: "Hey something's wrong. I can't see any corpses or the radioactive guys."

Ricky: "Huh what do you mean? There were a lot of corpses last time. They can't remove the evidence this easily can they?"

Osa: "Try going lower."

Alex: "Are you sure about that? What if someone notices the drone?"

Ricky: "Just do it. It's our last chance, there's no way they would have removed all the corpses in just one day. They have to keep the corpses hidden from satellites so they've hidden them in blind spots."

Alex: "But isn't it too risky?"

Ricky: "Just fucking lower it!"

Alex: "Jeez alright boss."

Alex lowered the drone but yet there was no sign of corpses. The sun was about to set. Our time was almost over. All hope was lost. My mind was filling with despair again until...

Alex: "Hey wait what's that?"

Osa: "Did you find them?!"

The drone's camera slowly panned on a pile of burnt corpses. I don't think anyone has ever been as excited as we were to see a pile of burnt corpses. I don't think anyone has been as excited as we were, at all, I think for that moment, we were the happiest people on Earth...

Alex: "Yes! We got it!"

Ricky: "You found it?!"

Alex: "Holy shit we did it! We have the proof, we've won!"

Ricky: "I never thought I'll get this happy by seeing corpses."

The mood was the highest it had ever been, but life isn't so simple, things would swiftly take a turn for the worse.

Osa: "Wait who's that?"

Alex: "Huh?"

Osa saw a mysterious figure in the footage but just as we were about to look at it the footage got corrupted and we couldn't see anything.

Alex: "Wait, wait, wait, wait, no, no, no, NO!"

Osa: "What just happened?!"

Alex: "I don't know..."

Osa: "Shit! The phone is gone, with the footage and with the drone. Something happened."

Ricky: "Wh-..."

I was shocked so much that I couldn't say a word. I just stood there hopeless. Success was almost in our grasp, and despite all our efforts, we lost it all, at the very last moment…

Rami: "Hey guys-"

Alex: "Hey wasn't that Rami's voice?"

Osa: "Rami?! What happened? Where are you?"

Alex: "We never should've gone to explore… Now we're doomed."

Osa: "Rami!? Rami! Where are you?!"

Between all this chaos I heard footsteps approaching me from the back. Very familiar footsteps… Growing louder and louder. A man spoke with a very rough but gentle voice. The voice and the manner of speaking was very familiar.

Mr. Parker: "Hello Children isn't it too late? Shouldn't you go home now? It's very dangerous around here you know?"

I thought to myself, "This can't be happening, after coming this far. First we lost the drone, then Rami disappeared and now of all people Mr. Parker is here.... My mind went blank.