“...Thank you for everything,” she muttered.
“Oh no, dear. Thank you. Now, you should get going. Run, Eden.”
Eden turned around, and ran, without looking back. She got out of the house in mere seconds, finding herself back in the Core’s street, but it wasn’t enough. She kept running; something inside her urged her to leave, as fast as possible. Otherwise, she might turn around and do something foolish. She knew there was no one to save, but she still felt her heart clenching with that strange pain. A very loud uproar came from somewhere on her left, distracting her. She spotted several trails of dark smoke, and more importantly, the sound of gunfire. Large drones and Overcrafts had appeared a bit farther in the sky, charging in all directions to go and try to contain the invaders. They were already too late. Now that the people of the Suburbs were in the streets, they would have issues using any large-scale weapons without risking their own citizens’ lives.
A siren began wailing, and red lights appeared. A loud, robotic voice resonated throughout the Core.
“Citizens, stay home. This is an emergency situation. Citizens, stay home. This is an emergency situation.”
The voice kept repeating that, but a lot of people were already outside, in their gardens, looking around with worried expressions, some of them covering their mouths in shock or pointing toward the ruckus. While Eden ran, she spotted countless faces behind their windows, trying to catch a glimpse of what was going on. She couldn’t help but feel a little bit sorry for those people. Most of them had never witnessed, let alone experienced, violence. Their perfect, choreographed lives were being completely blown off their course by the people of the Suburbs. Eden’s pity for those people had to stop right there, though. There was enough misery on the other side that she couldn’t help but resent them also. In fact, their blindness and self-indulgence were infuriating. If they knew so many people were outside, without ever getting fresh oxygen, even if they believed them to be criminals and delinquents, shouldn’t they have expected children to be born there too? How did they never, ever doubt such a tight and controlled system? The answer was most likely that they never had to. Perhaps they were taught to never ever doubt anything. And thus, the fake paradise of the Core could go on while the Suburbs experienced everyday hell.
Eden’s run through the streets was catching eyes, but not as much as the sky now filled with battle drones and Overcrafts, or the explosions coming from the south, north, and west. Every one of those citizens knew something was happening, something big. Eden even had to push her way through a few crowds to get closer to her allies.
“Eden, how far are you?” asked Dante’s deep voice in her ears.
“Not too far. But there’s... Oh, shit.”
She jumped out of the main street right in time and into a private garden so as to not be seen. She could hear the sounds of the fight, but there was little to no chance she’d get there; two large vehicles were blocking the road ahead of her, with armed human soldiers patrolling, their weapons up and ready to shoot.
“Secure the perimeter. Make sure no one goes in, we have to contain those people. We have permission to shoot and kill.”
“But our citizens–!”
“They should be off the streets. If they’re not, their loss. The orders are clear. Shoot anything that moves. We can’t take any chances with those kinds of people. They won’t give us any either.”
Eden felt a cold chill down her spine. They were even ready to kill their own citizens? This was getting insane! She crouched down, hoping the perfectly-cut green bushes of the garden would hide her. The street was quiet compared to the fight up ahead, but she had no idea how she’d be able to get by the two vehicles and all the soldiers with them. She had only caught a quick glimpse of them, but there were too many for sure. She looked around, but the garden didn’t seem to have any other exit either. She was trapped in her hideout for now... She looked up, and in the house, there luckily seemed to be no one at the windows. Had no one spotted her jumping in the garden? Or had they gone to call the authorities already? Eden barely dared to breathe. If she made any sound, they’d shoot...
“My Kitty, you’re just two blocks away from your favorite Big Kitty!”
“...Why is she not talking?” asked Nebty. “Ghost, can you hear us?”
Eden grimaced. Even whispering would have seemed too risky for now. She was glad years of Diving had taught her to keep her composure because the voices in her ear sounded so loud, it would have made her panic already. But she knew only she could hear them. There was no way the soldiers would pick up on this.
“Where is she?” asked A.
“Found her, near the Tiger’s group’s position. Why isn’t she moving? She isn’t hurt, is she?”
It was so frustrating not to be able to answer when they were all trying to understand her situation. Eden took deep, slow breaths to calm herself. There had to be a way out. She slowly moved to the end of the garden, to the corner that was on the same road as the crossroad those stupid vehicles were keeping her from. It was so frustrating. There was just an arm’s length, thick bush between her and the way leading straight to Dante...
“My Kitty’s playing moody. My Kitty is all pouty! I gotta find my favorite little Kitty...”
Eden tried to think. Would Loir be able to find the two vehicles if he had her position? Probably not. They looked like old-school army trucks, not something too technologically advanced. The Core had most likely decided not to send too many technology-reliant assets, given that the Edge was busy wrecking the System already...
“Eden,” suddenly said Dante’s voice. “If you can’t join us, get to the tower first. You won’t be noticed like we are, and I can find you. Just go.”
She bit her lip. She knew the tower was on her right. She could definitely head there first and meet with them a couple of blocks farther down, but it didn’t solve her problem: she was stuck in this garden for now. She looked around. Could she try and ask the inhabitants of the house for help, if there were any? Perhaps they’d let her in, and she could get out through a window on the other side. The only issue was if the soldiers found her first, but she had to try it. There were few options left and no time to lose…
She moved, and a branch snapped; it was the scariest sound she’d ever heard.
“Over there!”
She heard the men shout, and ran toward the house’s door. If they began firing, she’d be dead for sure...
However, no gunshot was fired. A second later, a loud, enormous bang shook the whole neighborhood. Eden was thrown across the garden and her body slammed against the door she’d hoped to reach. She fell to the ground, gusts of wind still sweeping her face. She looked up. From the fire and smoke right across the tall bushes, at least one of the vehicles had been hit by something. She jumped up onto her feet despite the pain radiating from her back, and looked around, looking for the source of the explosion. It didn’t take long.
A massive cloud of dark smoke was coming up from where Mr. Charles’ house once stood.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
