Endy- Reaching for the Missing Moon

by Jiny Lee

  And I brought Diane to my place to live with me and Kimmy. Kimmy was busy in the office so I got to spend quite a lot of time with Diane.

  We went down to the 13th floor to see what happened to our old place. I told her that there was not much remaining on that floor but she insisted on seeing for her own eyes.

  On our way, she asked me about our mom and dad. I told her the truth without adding or subtract anything. She wasn't surprised. She said she kind of expected. I saw her eyes swelling with tears but pretended that I didn't notice.

  I knocked on the door of the place, where I used to live with my mom and Kimmy. A lady opened the door and asked me whom I was looking for. I told her that I used to live here and I came to see the place for the sake of old memory. She recognized me. She said, 'Oh, you're one of those heroes, right? Thank you for everything. Come on in, I'll give you something to drink.'

  Diane laughed and said, 'Heroes, huh?' and she poked my side with her elbow.

  We went inside and looked around. The lady had us sit down by a table in the middle of the room. She brought us a cup of tea and said she was thankful for what we had done to the cartel and about the cure as well. She also said she had a little boy.

  'You don't know how glad I am to think of the future for my son. You had freed us from fear of the Cartel and now you freed us from the sun. My son won't have to live like me. He'd choose to live whatever life he wishes to live and he'd live under the bright sunlight.'

  I felt a little awkward. I said 'Ma'am, you can also live under the bright sunlight. And I didn't do it to be a hero,' but she said 'A hero is not the one who wishes to be a hero. Hero is the one who gives hope to the people in desperate need of one.'

  She smiled. It was awkward but I didn't hate it. I actually liked it a little. I thought, 'Yeah, maybe what I have done so far was not all that bad.' Diane jokingly told me, 'You are my hero, too, Endy.' I laughed it over.

  After that, we went to see Diane's old place but unfortunately, the place had been renovated and changed a lot. A neighbor told us that the place had to be rebuilt cause it was severely damaged. I remembered that there were major battles on this floor and there were even death traps filled on this floor. No wonder some of the places were not the same as it was.

  Finally, we went to the staircase where we sat and saw the stars a few weeks before the Chigan Sar,

  'Do you still remember what you said?' asked Diane.

  'Said what?' I said.

  She said, 'Come on, Endy. Don't pretend that you don't remember anything.'

  And I was like, 'No, I'm not. It's just that there are so many things that we talked about together. Remember? After Danny and Kimmy joined the Rebel, it was just me and you together all the time.'

  'You told me about your dream. You said maybe one day everyone in this building would get cured and be free. You promised me,' she said. And she leaned her head on my shoulder.

  I flinched a little. And she laughed about it, too. She said, 'I can hear your heart beat,' and I said, 'That's because your putting your ear on my shoulder.' She said, 'No, I'm not putting my ear on your shoulder,' and I shyly pulled my body away from her, but she sat close to me again and said 'Alright, alright, Mr. Shy boy. I won't tease you,' and she leaned her head on my shoulder again.

  We sat there without a word for a while. Not a single word was needed for that perfect moment. It didn't feel awkward anymore. A pleasant absence of word continued and my heart wasn't drumming like a fifteen year and eleven months old boy anymore.

  The stars were shining so brightly like it was on the day we were sitting together like this. Diane still had that long black hair and brown eyes that I remembered. Just grown a little bit longer. I turned my head to her side and looked down on her face lying softly on my shoulder. She, too, looked up at me. I didn't say anything but just stared at her face like I did years ago sitting on this same stair. I looked at her hair, her eyes, nose and her lips. They were the same red that I'd always remembered.

  'You see, I ...' I said. I was trying to say something nice. Perhaps some classy words to show her how I felt, and how I'd always felt about her. But I didn't have to. She shook her head with a perfect smile that nearly stopped my heart from beating and closed her eyes.

  Everything seemed to be perfect. I hoped nothing more but for those days to continue. But my humble hope got its wings broken before it could take off the ground..

  ...

  I woke up the next day by the sound of a siren ringing all over the building. I got out off the bed and hurriedly put on clothes. Diane asked me what was going on. I said I didn't know but I'd go check it out. I told her to go straight to Chris's Bar cause that was the safest place on the floor to be if something not good happened. She said she would and told me to come to the bar when I found out what was going on. I said I would.

  I ran to Kimmy's office to see what was happening. Everyone was there. I asked everyone what the siren was about. Kimmy said with a trembling voice.

  'Suddenly, the soldiers from outside the city broke into the building. We are trying to hold them back but... there are too many of them and they're all heavily armed. They're wearing the powered suits like the corsac armors. They're even using the fire throwers and the UV lights to kill the innocent men and women. What should we do? They're already moving up to the third floor!' said Kimmy.

  'Don't panic. Nergui is on his way here. Let's hope he'd come up with something,' said Purple.

  Just about time, Nergui opened the door and he immediately saw what was going on. He thought for a minute and said he was going down to the basement.

  'Why?' I asked. He said 'I'm using the night crawlers to hold them back. They won't be prepared for the unexpected attack from behind. Evacuate the civilians as soon as possible.'

  'Okay. Everyone. Suit up. We're the only ones who can stop them.' said Purple. But Nergui stopped him.

  'No, you have to stay here. You must not fight them now. Like you said, you're the only ones who can stop them. If you die, their would be no way to stop them from killing all the people in this building. Wait until I make all the hundreds of night crawlers to raid them.' he said.

  'Where's Diane?' asked Kimmy. I said she was at the bar. Kimmy told me to bring her to the office, so I ran to the bar to find her.

  When I opened the door, there were already so many people shivering in fear. Everyone looked at me and ran toward me to ask me what was going on. I tried to calm them down and find Diane. I shouted her name and I heard her answering back behind all the crowds. I asked them to please remain calm and calm down for just one minute but they wouldn't listen.

  'Everyone! Shut the fuck up! He's trying to say something!'

  Suddenly, everyone became quiet. It was Liz. She stood up on her serving bar and settled down the fuss for me.

  'Thank you, Liz. Everyone stay calm. I know you're afraid and very confused right now, but we have to stay calm. It's true that the soldiers from the city is attacking the building but everything should be under control. We'll do everything to keep you safe.'

  After I told them to remain calm in one place, I brought Diane out of the place. I told her that Kimmy asked me to bring her to the office.

  When we got back to the office, We got a call from Nergui that he was ready to unleash the night crawlers. Kimmy told him to do so, and we prepared ourselves to go down and fight the soldiers.

  'Be careful, Endy.' said Diane. I said, 'Don't worry.' She said 'I mean it. Be careful. Don't die.' I promised her.

  ...

  When I wore the Corsac armor that time, I immediately felt something different. The armor reacted to my signal much faster and much more agile. I asked Kimmy if she did something on it. She said she just recalibrated a little.

  Alex and Fox wore their armors and ran straight to the academy to prepare the cadets. They were to take the cadets to the armory. I went down to the battle front with Purple and Wonder. Purple asked me if I got the shot. I said I didn't yet. All the other guys ha
d got the shot except me. He said it was a shame.

  It actually was. I could actually see them moving like they were not humans anymore. They moved much faster, acted stronger, and most of all, their reflections were truly remarkable. I was barely following them with the help of the corsac armor. If I was a man wearing a shining armor, they were like gods wearing godly armors.

  'Why didn't you take the shot?' asked Wonder. I said 'I don't know, I was just waiting for my turn after everyone else.' Wonder said, 'Yeah, that's typically you.'

  When we arrived the fifth floor, we could hear the gun fire and people screaming. They were already marching to the sixth floor. People were forming a kind of militia to fight them back but they were not enough.

  We told them to prioritize the evacuation of the people while we were trying to stop the soldiers. We went out and confronted the soldiers.

  The soldiers looked startled to see us wearing the armors. It looked like they didn't expect us to have that much of a technology. We managed to slow them down, but we had no other way but to retreat. They were well organized. We killed a few of them but they surely outnumbered us.

  'What should we do?' I asked. Kimmy said, 'Nergui just said the night crawlers will rush up to hunt them from behind and we could buy some time.'

  Just about time, we could see the soldiers baffled from behind. Purple caught the moment and shouted 'Cover me!' and he dashed to the middle of the soldiers with a knife in his hand. Wonder followed him with a suppressing fire. I joined her.

  He was a monster. He slaughtered the soldiers one by one. Their armors were helpless. There was blood all over the place. They started to run away. We didn't stop pursuing them till we reached the second floor cause we heard Nergui told us to stop. He said if we followed them to the first floor, we'd also have to fight the night crawlers.

  We blew up all the passages to the first floor with explosives and let them fight the night crawlers. In the mean time, Alex and Fox joined us with the armed cadets.

  The situation seemed to be under control at first. Soldiers didn't dare to come in to the building anymore. It was hard for them to take care of all the night crawlers emerging from the underground. But we knew it was just a matter of time. We had to come up with something.

  Should we talk with them? Why did they decide to attack us from the first place? We had to do something.

  'Why are they doing this all of a sudden? What should we do?' I asked Purple. He said 'Don't know, but Finlin is on his way up to the top floor to talk with Jacques. If the soldiers are planning to take over the whole building, they must be prepared, too. Maybe we'd have to form an ally with them. Kimmy, where's Finlin?'

  'Hold on, I'll reach him,' Kimmy responded. We waited but she didn't say for quite a long time.

  'Kimmy? What's going on?' asked Fox a several times. Kimmy didn't answer.

  'Damn it, Kimmy? Kimmy! Endy, go check if she's okay.' said Purple.

  'No, you don't need to. Holy...' said Kimmy.

  'Kimmy? What's going on? Are you alright?' asked Fox.

  '... Finlin is dead. I just received a message that he sent. I'll play it for you,' said Kimmy with a trembling voice.

  ... It's a trap! A set up! Fucking bastards! They brought them in! ... They, they had a deal. Jacques made a deal with the city! He told them about the serum and everything. Fucking coward! The city will do everything to kill all of us! And Jacques that dirty rat is promised a good place in the city. Kimmy, tell everyone that ...

  That was the end of the message. I was confused. I was like, what the fuck is happening right here?

  It turned out that Jacques informed the city about the serum and what it would do to us. The city became afraid about the possibility that we would no more be confined to this building. And moreover, about the fact that we'd all be superior to them in every way. I remembered what Nergui told me before. It's a human nature to be afraid of the beings greater than him.

  So Jacques sold us to the city. It was obvious that he also handed them over with some useful tips. That was why the soldiers were wearing something like gas masks.

  'Guys? I got a visual of enemy heli-carriers approaching.' said Kimmy.

  'They are trying to invade from the top! Jacques that son of a bitch will open the door up for them. Kimmy, make an announcement and tell people to stay away from the top floors. We have to keep people safe. Make everyone gather up on the floors in the middle! Make them gather on the 78th floor in the police academy and the 100th floor near the Sarny Sum. We're going up. Alex, take half of the cadets and stay around here. They'd come up from the first floor, too. Fox and the other half of the cadets are going up with me. Shit! They're trying to disperse our focus!' said Purple.

  'Some of them are climbing down the building using ropes!' Kimmy exclaimed. 'Where?' asked Fox. And Kimmy shouted with a desperate voice.

  'Everywhere!'

  35

  They were roping down and breaching in through the windows from everywhere. It was the worst case scenario. We had nothing we could do.

  'How's the evacuation going?' asked Purple to Kimmy. She said almost all the people in the building is now gathered up on between the 78th and the 100th floor. Purple told her to make them all armed with weapons. The only option left for us was to secure the minimum floors and hold it.

  We set up a defence post on the 78th floor and Alex brought all his cadets back up. We opened up our armories and gave out the weapons to all who wished to fight. Men, Women, boys and girls. Everyone held a rifle or a pistol to defend themselves.

  Soldiers marched in from everywhere. We got a report from Nergui that they almost cleared out all the night crawlers. That was the last message we got from Nergui. We weren't sure if he was still alive. We literally fought til the end. Everyone of us. We had to retreat little by little and lost the floors one by one, and we lost many of our beloved friends, too.

  From the bottom, we retreated to the 97th floor. Alex died in the way. He carried his arm full of explosives and blew himself up to buy time for the cadets. Wonder went crazy and bursted down the floors. Fox was blocking from the 110th floor but she also had to retreat to the 104th floor. We tried to talk with them but they didn't even try to listen. They came in endlessly. People panicked. Once someone decided to fire the pistol on his head himself, some more people chose to kill themselves out of overwhelming fear.

  Some people even started to blame us. They said that we shouldn't have found the cure, and we shouldn't have trusted the day walkers. And it progressed into 'we shouldn't have destroyed the cartel and the old system.'

  Fox got mad at that and tell the woman who said that. Fox said, 'How dare you say things like that? Others are risking there lives to fight and you're sitting there talking shit and just making things worse? You miss the old days? You miss the days of being slave? Oh sure you do cause while we were living lives in fear, you people from the higher floors were kissing their asses with your nose brown!'

  Then the woman's face turned red. She began to scream and speaking tongues, and suddenly pulled the trigger and shot Fox.

  People around her quickly stopped her and took her pistol away. I ran to Fox. She was shot near her chest. I ordered a cadet to take her to the medic. Purple slowly walked toward me and Fox without a single word. After seeing a cadet carrying Fox, he slowly walked toward the lady who shot her.

  'I.. I didn't mean to...'

  That was what she said. Purple told people around her to step back. And when they did, he shot her on her head, and shot her twelve more times until he emptied his pistol.

  Everything was over. There was no way. We had nothing left.

  We abandoned every floor except the 100th. Kimmy abandoned the office. Everyone gathered up in Sarny Sum, and we built the final defense line at the hall in front of it. Sarny Sum accommodated all the remaining people. It wasn't just because the place was large enough.

  The soldiers stopped rushing in. It was sure that they knew it was going to be the final
battle.

  Everyone was ready in their final position. We were standing by on our side, and they were standing by behind the walls and the streets. Suffocating silence was covering up the atmosphere, like the calm before a storm.

  Purple stood in front of all of us and started his final speech.

  'I'm not going to lie tonight. I'm not going to give you a lengthy, meaningless listing of words to lie to you tonight. We've fought for the whole day and I won't say we've fought well. We've lost many of our friends, families, and lovers. And that's why I'm not going to lie to you tonight.

  'Tonight have to be our glorious night. For all our lives, we've suffered. For all our lives, we've been suppressed. We've been a slave of the system, of the bloody sun, and of everything else. But tonight, we're not. Tonight is the night when we'll fight as a free man, and as a free woman. And tonight is the night when we'll face our destiny as a free man and woman.

  'We are not a slave tonight! Tonight is the only night when we don't have to blame someone else and put our destinies upon someone else's hands! Tonight, we'll greet our destinies under the full moon with open arms!'

  No one made a single noise at his speech. There was no cheer or hurrays. Instead, everyone grabbed his weapon at hand harder. Everyone was determined to fight back, even though we all knew that there would be no tomorrow.

  I saw a man beside me crying. He looked like another cadet from the police academy. I tapped on his shoulder. He looked at me. I said, 'It's normal to be afraid. I'm afraid to death, too. But I'll fight till my last breath to get the people inside the Sum to live a few more seconds.'

  He clenched his jaws in determination, and nodded to me. He must have had someone at the back just like me. I thought about Diane. I'd throw myself into the burning flame to save her.

  The soldiers rushed upon us without a warning sign. I rushed forward with the others who were wearing the armors. Purple, Nari, Steve, and me. Purple moved like an angry wolf with his knife. Steve was punching and kicking the soldiers with his shattered fists. And I couldn't even follow Nari movements with my eyes. She was the shadow itself. The serum had turned her into a deadliest assassin.