Chapter 1
"Marrissa!!" Feet pounded against the sidewalk, the girls voice at a high pitch squeal. "Hey! Wait up!"
Marrissa stopped and let her friend catch up to her. Aredesa had her hair in a braid, the golden strands coming loose from the do as a light breeze blew past.
"Hey." She said just as her disheveled friend reached her, ignoring the glances from strangers as their kids played in the field, and guys threw around a football as bikers passed by on the track.
"Marrissa where were you?" Aredesa asked breathlessly. "You were supposed to meet me at Mocha Michelles an hour ago!"
"Oh no." Marrissa groaned, hitting her forhead with the palm of her hand. "I am so sorry. I totally forgot about the project!"
"It is okay. These things happen." Said Aredesa, then her blue eyes suddenly brightened. "Guess what happened while I was waiting for you? A guy asked for my number! And he was rather cute."
"Cool." Marrissa replied, tucking a dark lock of hair behind her ear. She watched over her friends shoulder as a boy ducked behind a tree to get away from another in a game of tag. Suddenly there was a flash of light just out of the corner of her eye, toward a grove of trees. She whipped her head towards it. She swore.......
Never mind, She thought, It is just my imagination running away with me, even at 16 years old. I need to stop with this foolishness.......
She was jerked back into reality when a perfectly manicured hand was waving in front of her face.
"Marrissa? What are you staring at?" Asked Aredesa, concern plain in her voice.
"Oh nothing." Marrissa replies, shaking her head as she turned to her, smiling. "Let's go."
Jonathon brought his blade down upon the creature and it came away soaked in the green goo that passed for its blood. He shook it off in disgust. The beast had been following him since he got off the subway.
"Nice. Must be a new one." Said his buddy Mark, who came out of the brush with his gun drawn, icey blue eyes surveying the scene.
"Yeah." Replied Jonathon. The creature was a grotesque combination, having the head of a snake and the body of a beetle. "What do you wanna name it?" He added, nudging it with his foot.
"I don't know." Mark said, tilting his head. "Beatlesnake? Not very creative but.... it'll do. Come on. We need to get back to base. It'll dissolve in a few minutes and you know how nasty that smell is."
"Alright." Says Jonathon, sheathing his sword. They took off running, hiding between the trees and slipping through alleyways. Jonathon loved running. It made him feel free of this accursed place that they named Eutopialis. They being the Peacemakers.
They ran this place to their own twisted design, so perfect, at least to them. Jonathon and the Resistance were the only ones who had noticed what was wrong with it. The Peacemakers had changed everything. It all started with the program Safety 54, originating within the USA and spreading throughout the world. They had these chips that were implanted within the base of your neck, and it stopped all the crime in the world. How? By targeting your nerves in your brain that controlled decision making, making you do good instead of bad.
But there developed a problem, at least among the views of certain people. Everytime they upgraded the chips, the people became more like robots. Every time, a piece of their personality was taken away, and replaced by something rehearsed, robotic. The people who noticed it took it upon themselves to stop it. Therefore the Resistance was born. Jonathon's own parents had been killed fighting as its agents, by a mutant far worse than the one he just dispatched.....
"Are you coming?" Mark asked, pulling Jonathon back out of his head. They had reached the Base.
"Yeah." He replied, blinking away his thoughts. Better not to dwell on the past to much.
