FicWad

He was surrounded by his soldiers, as they camped together for perhaps the last time. Inside sources had told them the Angels were planning a major attack tomorrow, so here they were to stop them. To defend humanity. He looked around the once vibrant city, the apocalypse had all but flattened some of the biggest cities, and even whole countries had dissipated. This one was lucky to be surviving. The apocalypse was devastating, but the war after seemed to be as equally horrendous.

"Hey Captain! Stop looking so deep and come join us for a drink will you." He turned to see his loyal rebels. The humans who he had struggled through the apocalypse with. The rebels he had secretly been training with, and now they were soldiers he fought alongside with. Getting up from the watch post, he signalled from Lenni to go and keep look out for a bit. Passing the booze he picked up a bottle of beer, using the cap of his boot to undo the top, before swigging away at it.

The man who had called him over was a young lad called Calum. He was a bit cheeky and rough around the edges, but he couldn't help but be oddly charmed by the man. Despite the fact he showed respect in a rather strange way.

"Here's to today!" Calum called.

"And tomorrows victory." And with a cheer they all drank and celebrated. In that moment he looked around, and he saw hope for humanity still. These people. His people. Tomorrow he would defend his world by their side and lead them into battle. Tonight though, they were nothing more than friends, enjoying each other's company.

It wasn't until twelve when they decided to take a break from driving, having wanted to get as much distance from the City Of Santori as quickly as possible, before The Virtues started following Astrid's trail.


"What do you two want?" Jacob asked, as Ryker and Nikki made their way out the car, it was the unspoken agreement it seemed that Astrid best stay in the car until they knew where they stood.

"More cigs." Astrid gave Kye an eye roll at the instant reply.


"What?"

"Well, I have no idea whether smoking affects our fucked up biology, but you seem set on testing it out." She muttered only half-jokingly. Kye sighed, he was used to Astrid's rather hypocritical rants about his smoking habits.


"You act as if you don't borrow some from me on occasion." He pointed out.

"Oh and also grab us a coffee if you can, I'm shattered and I still have a long way to drive." Kye was still not happy about his mouldy sandwich awakening that morning.


"No worries, Astrid?"

"A beer and a burger." Now it was Jacobs turn to roll his eyes at the predictability of the pair.


"Fair enough, Kye I'm getting you something to eat as well. You haven't eaten all day. Don't think I haven't noticed." Jacob lectured, slamming the door before anyone could disagree.

"I forgot." He muttered more to himself than anyone else.


"You're always forgetting to eat kid. I swear it's a wonder your able to function without us." Astrid laughed. Kye's laugh was only half hearted, and Astrid looked over now concerned about the younger. He had been quiet all drive, usually her sleep is disturbed by Kye's obnoxiously singing over the blaring music.

"Hey kiddo, you alright?" She asked looking into the rear-view mirror, the car behind had suddenly become very interesting to watch.


"Yeh, I'm just tired." He muttered.

"Fair enough, I thought you might have actually eaten some of that poison sandwich. Last thing we need is you chundering in Benny." She joked turning back to face the other.


"Who do you mistake me for, Ryker?" He replied in mock shock, and Astrid found her concern washing away.

"Oh we all know you occasionally hit the good stuff Kye." She winked.


Inside the lonely garage the three wandered about the few patrons that were already there. Ever since Michael had taken control people seemed to drive less and less. Many stayed far more isolated in their individual communities, so the few who moved about tended to do so for either work or a long term commute. The gas station was empty with the exception of a single business man ordering coffee from the Carabicks Coffee machine, and a young rather wealthy looking couple, who seemed intent on buying one of every food item the shop. Nikki skipped over to the coffee machine ordering 'a shot in the dark' and a 'dead eye'. All the time she kept her mind open, making sure she'd catch onto any suspicion. The business man thought they looked odd, and seemed wary but his voices of concern seemed too quiet to surface into any real problems. As for the couple they were too busy imagining what the food would taste like to pay any attention. The cashier was too tired to care, he was thinking of his home and his dog. Possibly might go out to pick up some women. Nikki smirked to herself, seemed the man didn't have a lot of luck with girls. He reminded her of the desperate men she used to see on the streets, passing by rows of prostitutes hoping for a single night of seedy false happiness. She always assumed that was probably her path in life. Damn how things have changed.


Jacob grabbed a cold coffee, figuring Kye would need it later since they still had a way to drive before they would settle in for the night. Looking round the half empty shelves of processed trash, he found a sandwich for Kye and some lunch for himself. They didn't do warm food it seemed, so Astrid was just going to have to be happy with a pasty and a beer. Making his way to the checkout, Nikki came over with the two coffee's and a pie.


"Richard get over here with your food so we can pay." Jacob called over before facing the weary looking cashier. They regularly used false named when talking in public. It was a simple code however, as they always used the first letter of their actual name. It wasn't particularly cryptic, but complication wasn't necessary all the time. Observing the cashier, Jacob noticed that he was only young, yet he had bags under his eyes that you'd expect from a disillusioned 30 year old. Times must be rough up here.


Ryker looked over, before grabbing a chocolate bar to add to his armful of food. As he placed them down with the rest of the stuff however, he heard the bell ring as another customer entered. He looked round to see new figures walk in. Two men specifically. The first seemed your average bloke. Blonde short hair, cleanly shaved it seemed, rocking a shirt and jeans like any bloke does. It was the figure to his right, the man with shabby brown hair and loose stubble. This man who walked a step behind the other, he made Ryker shiver like he just stepped into a warm shower. He felt like a man Ryker didn't have to worry about protecting. It was the lack of anxiety the two men caused that made Ryker anxious. He looked away before he got caught staring, yet it seemed the cashier was still just scanning items. Perhaps he hadn't been staring for as long as he thought. He decided that sobering up for a bit was not a good idea after all, and as soon as he got in the car he was going to light his last spliff. He'd just take Kye's bitching on the nose, Kye didn't like when people smoked drugs in the car. It left a smell. Walking back Ryker's mind was suddenly invaded by a voice. [Did you find them two guys strange?] Jacobs's voice is bizarre when heard in his head. The voice he hears is the normal voice Ryker would hear when thinking himself, which is no actual describable voice at all. It's almost as if his own thoughts were speaking to him, if it wasn't for the way it was suddenly planted in his head, Ryker would almost think he was talking to himself. He nodded subtly, catching Nikki do a similar thing. Well at least it wasn't just him man.

Kye had his sunglasses on and tied his hair out his face by the time the rest returned to the car. He enjoyed the air on the back of his neck. After being trapped in the car with his hair cascading down his body and heating him up, it was a relief to stretch his limbs and enjoy the oxygen.

"I got you a dead-eye!" Nikki called, running over to hand Kye his coffee.

"Dead-eye! Bloody hell I'm not sleeping tonight." He laughed, graciously taking the heart-attack inducing drink along with Jacobs's sandwich. [Don't eat yet, just keep driving.] Kye thought to himself, and in his tired state did not realised at first the thought was not his own, so passing the coffee to Astrid he began to fire up the engine. It was only as he was pulling out did it click how out of place that thought was. They always stopped for a bit to eat and stretch their legs for a while. It was Jacobs thought, he concluded, and that means something must be very wrong. Though no one spoke until they were safely away from the gas station.

"What's the matter? Why did you want me to keep driving?" Kye asked. Astrid looked round at Jacob. She didn't need context to know that Jacob must have mentally spoken to Kye instead of speaking out loud. Even though Jacobs little thoughts in their heads didn't really effect their free will, Jacob was still often hesitant about using his abilities without good reason. So concern was always needed when he did.

"There were two strange men who walked into the garage." He explained.

"Holy men?" Kye asked instantly. They had been tracked a couple times by holy men, but never had they figured out the five of them were together, or that all of them were Deviants. It made situations like this risky for them because the last thing they needed was for their connection to each other to become apparent. As far as it seemed, Michael himself didn't even know all five Deviants existed, or who they were. They wanted to keep it that way. Better for Angels to think they were a scattered few, and humanity to think they were a great underground force, than for the truth to come to the surface.

"No, I don't think so. They didn't feel like Divinity. Could you make anything of them?" Jacob turned to Nikki, who was sipping her coffee nonchalantly.

"Not really." She muttered, burping, and then placing her coffee between her legs.

"I couldn't read the scruffy one at all, his thoughts were beyond my reach. He didn't even seem to feel anything, completely cold. The tanned one wasn't that much better though. His thoughts were all casual and unimportant. It felt forced like he intentionally kept his emotion and deep thoughts away from the surface. I think he knew I could read him." Kye's blood went chillier in his already freezing body, as Nikki all but casually explained the situation, as if it was nothing more than an odd weather report.

"You don't think one of them was an angel do you?" Kye asked nervously. This was whole new level of terrible if he was. They were essentially doomed.

"I don't know." Jacob sighed turning to his phone to viciously text whoever was at the other end.

"Probably man." Ryker voice interjected, along with the familiar scent of weed. Is he smoking that in the car? Kye seethed. If it wasn't for their current circumstance he would've chewed Ryker out for it.

"The guy had such a warm aura man, like he just oozes trust and respect." Now it's at this point dear reader I must break your suspension of disbelief to explain something, though it probably isn't what you want to know. An aura of complete righteousness is an instant flag for an angel. Why? Because humans are emphatically flawed, even saints have their weakness. Now if after everything we've been through in the past few decades, you still believe that angels are perfect, you're an idiot. With that being said, angels are very good at pretending to be flawless.

"Shit!" Astrid smashed her fist against the dashboard, and Kye felt himself feeling grateful that Benny didn't have airbags, because she left a significant dint in it. Not that he was any happier about the fact Astrid had damaged his car.

"What the fuck do we do now?" She seethed, anger radiating from her like boiling chemical concoction. They began to worry that Astrid might actually loose her temper completely and attack the car. Well, all of them except for Nikki it seemed.

"I say we kill them." The youngest suggested, biting into the cold sausage roll as if they were discussing what to do with a child's dead fish, not the possible end of them all.

"I second that." Of course Astrid agreed.

"I bet Kye could really show that angel the power of Deviants." Kye's heart seemed to sink a little at that comment, as his hands tightened and then softened against the steering wheel. He had killed many times before, and even killed an angel once. It didn't bother him, it's what you had to do to survive sometimes. That didn't change the fact however; that whenever he did end a life, a part of him seemed almost sickened by it. Like a separate section of him saw the action and was horrified and disturbed.

"Look our best course of action now is to continue to the hotel, we can deal with it there. If we do anything strange now they'll know we're onto them, if they don't know already. At least at the hotel we can hopefully get the drop on them, perhaps deal with this without much notice. We need to find out what they know." Jacob calmly explained, trying to bring back down the rising violence of the car.

"I don't know man, something seems off." Ryker spoke up, ending the conversation. Not that they didn't stop thinking about it. For many hours to follow anxiety loomed over the car. The engine may be loud, but still there was a tangible silence amongst them that couldn't be over powered by noise.

They were about an hour away from a motel Ryker had found on the edge of Angelsole, the traffic had been clear allowing them to travel further than they thought. It was then however, that the finally diminishing anxiety of the car was interrupted by a new problem.

"They know about Astrid." It was Jacob who broke the news, staring down at his phone.

"They do? There's nothing in the news though, and my connections have heard nothing on the streets." Ryker asked, having now ridden off a lot of his high.

"I don't think they're making it public, but I just got a message from Dee. She said to be careful because they've got a picture of Outlaw and the secret services are working to get information on her." Kye's froze as the reality of their situation hit. With the weird group in the gas station and now this! This time they might have pushed their luck too far.

"Look don't panic, we'll be fine. I'll wear sunglasses and hat or something." Astrid stated, trying to diminish the rising atmosphere. Kye could hear it in the undertones of her speech though, a sense of guilt lacing her voice.

"Ah yes that will work." Jacob couldn't have been more sarcastic if he tried.

"Look what do you want from me? We've all fucked up before?" Astrid growled.

"Yes we all screw up, but this could have been so easily avoided. You exposed your wings in public Astrid. How could you be so stupid?" Jacob began to lecture. At this Astrid's voice raised to a shout almost instantly.

"I lost my temper okay? They were attacking her, the filthy scumbags!"

"You're always losing your temper Astrid!" Jacobs's voice raised to match her challenge.

"I wouldn't even mind the mistake but you didn't even tell me you were leaving that night!"

"Oh because that would have changed any of this?" Astrid laughed bitterly, consumed by her growing rage. From the corner of his eye Kye could see her shaking, as she gripped her fist in an attempt to hold back physical anger.

"I would have tried to stop you from going out in a bad mood. We all know you shouldn't be alone when you're annoyed because you lose all self-control!"

"Oh because you're so perfect." Her teeth now clenched as words were being dragged out of her with a string of spikes.

"I'm not! I never said I was! But of course you weren't listening. You never listen!" Jacob was yelling at full capacity now, getting clearly irate himself.

"Oh don't chuck your control issues onto me." Low blow.

"Because you're one to talk about 'issues' aren't you-"

"Enough!" Kye yelled slamming his fist down against the steering wheel, causing the car to swerve in the road. There was a silent pause of shock, as everyone turned to the driver. Kye could usually ignore the arguing but this time he had enough! Between the constant driving, long hours, rising threat and the ever low level anxiety he lived with, Kye had reached his limit. He was not going to sit and listen to his family exchange comments that they never usually say in a million years. There was a line, and no matter how angry they got, the pair never had the blatant disrespect to cross it like that.

"I have had enough of you pair constantly clawing at each others throats! I've had enough of this bloody car, and I have had enough of this bloody lifestyle. That's it!" He yelled over engines.

"Kye I-" Astrid started.

"No! Listen to me. We are all stressed, but that is no reason to start falling apart at the seams. And why? Because some dickhead angel has got in for us? I spend literally everyday wondering why the hell I'm here! I have no memory, my entire body is ruined, I live constantly on the run, and I don't even know why I bother living. The last thing I need, right now, is you two acting like children. What's happened has happened. Deal with it and shut up!" He snapped, leaving the car to bathe in the shock. Kye had never lost his temper like that. Never been so blunt and on edge. It left all of them at a loss for words. Kye switched on the music as he glared out into the road. The rest of them sat in uncomfortable silence. All of them aware of the comment Kye just admitted to, yet none of them knowing what to say. Kye hated it all. Hated how it seemed he was living his life on a treadmill, there was no end or final goal. He was just aimlessly running, trying his hardest to keep up, as the world around him kept increasing the speed. All watching and waiting for him to finally trip up and fall. He couldn't stop running though. He wanted too. Wanted to just fall off and embrace the end, but something seemed to shackle him to the treadmill. Something was forcing him to run. He just wished he knew what.

o-z