Bob and Roger were working under the scorching heat of the sun. The heavy rain a few days ago felt like a dream, but the two day-laborers had no option but to unload heavy crates from ships. Their personal finances were a bit tight due to a pickpocket incident they suffered. As they carried their load, they kept glancing longingly at the nearby sea water. How they wished they could just jump into the cold embrace of the water — if only they knew how to swim.

  Bob stacked his crate on top of a wagon, he was finally released from his heavy burden. ”Dear Luminous, Yezus, give your poor sheep a break.” Bob complained to the Gods. “Don’t say God’s name in vain, Bob.” Roger retorted.

  The two of them walked towards the ship, getting ready to carry more crates. “It’s not in vain, Roger. I do need a break. If it wasn’t for that little scamp, we don’t have to work this hard.” Roger doubted that statement. Even if they were not robbed, they would still need to work as hard as they did right now. After all, they were just two broke men. “Yeah, Fuck that kid.” But Roger would not pass on the opportunity to curse his mortal enemy.

  They reached the stacks of crates they had to move to the wagons. When Bob put his hand on them, he could feel a vibration. “What?” He looked around the crates, even touched them all over — the vibration was real, he did not imagine it. “What’s wrong, Bo-”

  RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE

  Roger was about to ask Bob what’s wrong before he got cut off by a violent shaking. Bob propped himself up, holding the stack of crates from falling while Roger slipped. The sailors were holding the ships ledges while the other day laborers in the port dropped down to the ground. After a few seconds, the shaking stopped. Everyone looked at each other with concerned faces…

  RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE

  … and another shaking. The same thought crossed everyone's mind. It’s an earthquake. Bob, Roger, the sailors, and everyone else in the port were coastal people. They knew that an earthquake near the sea would lead to one thing — the wrath of the sea, a Tsunami.

  “AAAAH”

  Panic ensued. The sailors left their ships, the people ran as fast as they could to the nearest high ground — outside of the city. In a matter of seconds, hordes of humans poured out of Hazen. Bob got what he asked the Gods, he got his break…

  … Careful what you wished for,

  **********

  RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE

  The crow was flying inside the tight space of the sewer. Even in the air, he could feel the earth shaking violently. Ground and dust fell from the sewer’s roof, the crow had to dodge or he would be knocked out from the air.

  The crow was not concerned about the aftermath of the earthquake, it did not fear Tsunami. It knew that the earthquake was not natural, but caused by Molrrets, searching for the kidnapped children. However, the crow was concerned about the Molrrets. How many Molrrets were there, to be able to cause such violent earthquake? How many Molrrets were under Regulus' command?

  The thought made the crow shudder, but right now, it should focus on finding a Molrret. It knew how to stop the earthquake — the crow had found Carven’s hideout. It just needed to inform a Molrret and they would do the rest.

  RUMBLE RUMBLE Plop

  A Molrret came out from a hole on the sewer wall. It sniffed around, looking for traces of the kidnapped children. The crow seized its chance. It flew towards the Molrret, and poo neared it. The crow wanted to communicate through piss, but as a corvid, it did not have the ability to do so. It hoped the smell of the poo could work just as well as piss.

  The Molrret sniffed the poo, but it got confused instead. The crow realized that it had observed Regulus for far too long that its own common sense started to warp. The crow sighed, it did not have a lot of options — and the Molrret in front of it should not be able to reveal its secret.

  “I know where the children are.” So the crow decided to talk.

  *********

  RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE

  The cave was shaking, dust and debris falling. The urchins were sitting nervously, not from the shaking, but from the tension. They were waiting for the shaking to stop, for the Molrrets to find their lost comrades. Some of the kids were fiddling with their newly gained weapons — they learned how the muskets work, reloading flintlock pistols and trying to holster as many as they could, or preparing fire bottles and torches. Some kids, like Carl, already finished their preparation and just waited impatiently.

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  “Reg, are they done yet? Have they find everyone?” Carl asked Regulus, but Regulus did not respond. “... Regulus.” Regulus turned his head, that’s when Carl realized Regulus still did not understand the concept of nickname. “So… did the Molrrets find them? In fact, can’t you find them with your nose?”

  Regulus shook his head. “No and no. I already tried finding them myself. Some of the smell was washed by the water… and we lived inside the sewer for too long, that our smell started to blend in.”

  Carl did not really understand how smell worked, but he understood that Regulus could not track them. “Fuck. Fuck.” Carl paced around the cave while cursing under his breath. “Carl, calm down. You’re not helping.” Kisara complained. Carl’s impatience annoyed her.

  “HOW CAN I BE CALM KISARA? THEY GOT DANIEL!!! MY BRO!!!” Carl exploded. “YOU DON’T FUCKING GET IT YOU BITCH. I’M SUPPOSED TO BE HERE!!! I SHOULD HAVE BEEN HERE!!!”

  “OH SHUT THE FUCK UP, CARL!!!” Kisara was triggered by Carl’s words. She stood aggressively, some of her girls had to hold her back or she would charge at Carl. Carl responded to Kisara’s aggression, he too had to be held back by the boys. The both of them hurled insults at each other. Everyone tried to calm them both, but to no avail.

  “You two — calm down.” A commanding and firm voice echoed through the cave, calming the two down. They knew this voice, familiar even — it was John’s — All this time, he was silent, unresponsive, lost in his own world. He finally awakened, back to his old self.

  “Carl, if you got nothing to do, help the younger kids prepare. Make sure everyone is prepared when the times come… Or you could throw away the zombies.” John pointed at the zombies' bodies that were still lying in the caves. Everyone was too busy to care about them, so they had been left there, rotting. “I’ll help the others.” Carl chose the non-disgusting option. He removed himself from the commotion, and the crowds dispersed slowly.

  Done dealing with Carl, John turned to face Kisara.“Don’t get too riled up Kisara. When the times come, I’ll trust you to lead the girls. Maintain your calm at all times. We need you.” Kisara nodded. She was still a bit worried about John, but he seemed better. “... and when this is over, go make up with Carl.” She wanted to complain but John stopped her, “Carl is a brat. He’s not gonna apologize first. Be the mature one for me okay… just this once.” John pleaded with Kisara, she pouted a bit but in the end she accepted. “Fine… and I’m sorry for shouting.” John smiled warmly. “Wrong person.” John nudged his head at Carl who was now bothering the younger kids. “Fuck off, John.” Kisara cursed playfully. A smile replaced her previous scowl.

  John fucked off and approached Paulie and Cooper who were watching the commotion from a bit far away. “You two, when the fighting starts — if the fighting starts. I want you two to be in the rear.” Cooper looked dissatisfied, he knew he was a bit cowardly, but he did not expect for John to exclude him from the fighting. “We can fight too, John.”

  “And you will. You two are very observant. I want you in the rear for that reason. If a group needs help, I want you to help them. If a situation is turning bad, I want you to warn us.” John explained what he expected from both Cooper and Paulie. Cooper agreed after hearing the explanation, the role given to him made sense. “Cooper, I want you to act a bit more like a scout while you can leave Paulie to delegate… like usual.” The three of them chuckled. It was the perfect job distribution for them while also an underhanded insult on Paulie. “Glad to see you back, John.” Paulie was relieved that John had returned to his normal self. “Yeah… by the way, did you guys bring the cannon?” John wondered. “No, we didn’t think we had the time. We should have though.” Answered Paulie. John just nodded a little, “well, you can grab it next time. Not like we know how to use it anyway.” The three of them laughed, they were so fascinated by the cannon they did not realize they cannot operate it.

  John said his goodbye to Paulie and Cooper, leaving them to their own devices while he headed towards Regulus. Before that, he stopped next to Uri who was glaring daggers at him. “Uri… I’m sorry about Andy.” John apologized, but Uri spat instead, “fuck you, John.”

  John just smiled at Uri’s insult. “After this, you can do whatever you want to me. I promise you that.” Hearing that, Uri turned his face away from John. He did not want to see John’s guilty face. “I rely on you, Uri.” John tapped Uri’s shoulder before he continued walking towards Regulus.

  “Regulus.” John greeted Regulus who was sitting with his leg crossed, waiting patiently. “John.” Regulus returned John’s greeting.

  “I won’t apologize anymore to you, Regulus…” John declared to Regulus, “I believe that was the right decision to make.”

  “Alright.” Regulus had no intention to criticize John’s decision. Even though he understood John’s decision led to a disaster, even though the decision was meant to harm him — Regulus respected it.

  “Promise me one thing, Regulus.” John requested Regulus. “No matter what happened… keep your words.”

  Regulus turned his head to face John’s. Regulus was blind, sometimes, he did not even face the people he’s talking to — but he felt the need to face John right now. “I will.” Regulus replied.

  “Thanks Regulus. I’ll leave everybody to you.” John left Regulus. He had said everything he needed to say. Now, he got one last thing to do, to speak to his most important person, his best friend, D’aka.

  D’aka had been observing John the whole time, he was worried. Even now, John still felt a bit off to him. “Are you alright, John?” D’aka asked John. He did not know what to expect, will John be forthright with him?

  John pondered D’aka’s question for a bit before answering, “Honestly, I don’t know. All I can say is… everything seems clear to me now. I know what I need to do.” John’s answer felt a bit… wrong, ominous. D’aka could not put it into words. “Joh-”

  Before D’aka could voice his concern, John slung his arm over his shoulder. “Forget about me for a second. I got something important to say.” John said with the biggest smile on his face, “When the fighting happens, I want you to lead everyone on the front. And I mean lead.” John emphasized. “You’re such a big guy, the biggest out of all of us… but you’re so quiet, so timid at times.”

  “Well, I don’t really like talking. It tires me out.” D’aka defended himself. “That’s fine in day-to-day life. But when things get rough, I need you — we need you to be loud and big. Have some more confidence in yourself, big guy.”

  “I…I’ll try.” D’aka answered meekly. John laughed at his predictable meekness. “Seriously, you’re too reliant on me. Let me tell you a secret D’aka. I rely on you a lot. We all do. Our group wouldn’t have so many members or survive for so long if it weren’t for you.”

  “You’re overexaggerating, John. If anything, it’s because of you. And we got Regulus now.” John just shook his head on D’aka’s attempt to put himself down. “No. If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t get this far. Heck, I’ll probably join another gang instead.” John laughed.

  “And you shouldn’t rely on Regulus too much.” D’aka was confused by John’s statement. “Why?” he asked. John was silent for a bit, thinking on how to deliver his words to D’aka. “Cause he’s just a kid. Sure, he’s as reliable as Iron… but if we all just relied on him… who can he rely on?”

  John’s words hit D’aka deeply. He realized that he had been relying too much on Regulus… and John. D’aka contemplated, and John added more, “You relied on me. And I relied on you. D’aka, be someone Regulus can rely on.”

  Something bothered D’aka, there was a sense of… detachment in John’s voice and words. He wanted to ask John if there was something more to his words, but he was distracted. The earth had stopped shaking.

  Plop

  “Kiiii~”

  A molrret plopped out of the ground in front of Regulus. All the kids turn their gaze towards it. At last, the time had arrived. They stared intently as the Molrret pissed in front of Regulus… they were waiting for Regulus’ confirmation.

  Regulus turned to face the crowd of urchins…

  “We found them,” he announced.

  …It’s finally time for action.