Chapter 19: Perspective

December 2, 2023 10:04 AM

Flonne had collapsed after her crazed and terrifying killing spree. Aviel had watched in horror as the sweet, innocent fairy had shown just how much power she had at her fingertips. Even if she acted like a little girl, she was still a 12 scale story tall fairy that could crush a person without any effort, and that was without her magic. Seeing her easily overpower the squad of Resistance who had been about to kill Aviel and slaughter them all, save one, like she was just kicking over a bunch of toys had been a cold slap of reality to Aviel. Whatever Flonne acted like, she was still a nigh-unstoppable juggernaut when it came down to it.

Flonne was still unconscious by the time Aviel had recovered her senses. Rather than just wait for Flonne to wake, Aviel searched the dead bodies of the Resistance for anything useful. She debated taking one of their guns, them being the most obvious tool they had. On one hand, they could be the difference between life and death. On the other, they were Resistance weapons...the same kind that had killed her mother, father, and two of her partners. But what better revenge then to kill them with their own tools? It was a good enough excuse, but Aviel knew deep down she needed ever advantage she could get right now and the guns were too valuable to pass up either way.

She took what looked to be a over-sized pistol and as much ammo as she could stuff into her pouches. She, also, found some dried trail jerky and a bunch of scrap paper all bound together with a bit of string. The first paper was badly damaged and looked to have been weathered badly from use. The second, however, had some writing on it much like a journal of some kind. She looked at it and then down at the person who had owned it, the first guy she had run through. He was about her age, maybe a bit older, with brown hair covered a hand-sewn wool cap. His lifeless green eyes stared upward, blankly, a look of fear and surprise forever locked in them. His clothes were all torn bits of fabric sewn together in a patchwork of styles, but all with a dark green color to them Over his ripped fabric was a large fur jacket that looked to have been made from a deer pelt. He reminded Aviel a bit of Sanders... though maybe that was just because she still felt his lose so keenly.

She looked at the journal and thought about just tossing it down. She didn't want to know about this guy, didn't want to know his reason or past, didn't want to make him a fellow human rather than just an enemy... She looked back at him and for a second she could have sworn he looked exactly like Sanders, laying there dead and forgotten. She shook off the sight and the man was back to normal, but the feeling of despair was still there. She sighed as she moved over and sat close to the still unconscious Flonne and turned to the second page of the journal.

August 19, 2023: At least I think its the 19th.

Was moving through one of the old towns today when we found some still usable paper in one of the trash cans. Thankfully, the thing was one of those wire ones with the big holes in it, otherwise we would never have been able to get into the bag. Took most of it back to use for messages, news, and that sort of thing, but I managed to keep a few hidden and used them to make this journal.

Feels good to be able to write again. Was beginning to think I had forgotten how to. Man, I didn't realize how much I missed writing in my journal till now. Funny how its these small things you wind up missing the most. Not the security, running water, or actual toilet paper. No its just the ability to write my own thoughts down. Maybe I am crazy like the other guys say, but then who wouldn't be in this world? Pretty much everyday someone dies or just vanishes. People don't even bat an eye now when someone just stops showing up for meetings and such. Fuck, what happened to us?

August 25, 2023

Thomas died today. We were trying to lure a giantess patrol away from one of our outposts and he got spotted. Didn't even get time to react just, one second he was there, and the next gone. Rest of us managed to scatter and get away, but we had to abandon the outpost. Scouts say a fairy is in the area now, watching to see if we come back. Going to be tough finding a better outpost than that one too. Can't really beat using an old billboard for watching the highway. Don't even need to go to the top, not that we could anyway, to see most of what is coming. Not to mention a few still have power which we can leech off of. And that one did too...

Oh well, nothing for it but to move on. Going on patrol with Douglas, Samantha, and Justin tomorrow to look for a new spot. Wish I could spend some time with Thomas' family, but I just don't have the time. Well, being the hero is never easy I guess.

August 27, 2023

Didn't find a place for a new outpost on patrol. Had a few close calls with Society combing the area and spent more time just dodging them than actually looking. Probably going to be sent out in September when the heat has died down and the bitches moved on.

Patrol wasn't a complete loss though. Me and Douglas managed to bag a big buck each on the way back. We already got plenty of food saved up for winter, but they were just too well set up to pass up. Got double rations for it which was nice. Course, since I already get more food than the non-fighters I gave my extra food to Thomas' family. Least I could do for them.

The rest of the entries were mostly the same. Just more patrols, deaths, and general happenings that Aviel didn't fully understand. Whoever wrote it, however, was careful not to give any specifics about location and such. It was always vague or just flat out missing. Apparently the boy wasn't a complete idiot.

She started just skimming most of the entries till she came to October. Manchent was captured in October... maybe there was something here about that. She looked through, but there was no real mention of it. It wasn't until a few days before Manchent's kidnapping that she found something interesting.

October 14, 2023

Something big is about to happen. Not sure what, though. Everyone who is involved is either being left in the dark or being really hush hush about it. Even Henderson won't say anything about it and he usually won't shut up. Said Derek would skin him alive if he said anything. Probably would too, guy scares the shit out of me.

Hate being out of the loop like this. A lot of my friends are being sent out to help with whatever is going on. I hate having to stay, but someone has to stay and guard everyone. Just got to trust they will come back... Dammit I wish I was going too.

The next few days were just normal stuff with nothing to note. It wasn't until a few days after Manchent's death that he was mentioned again.

October 25, 2023

The guys and girls from that mission came back today. Well...some of them anyway. It was hard to get them to talk about what happened, but I finally got Douglas to tell me. Apparently they had gone into Atlanta to liberate Doctor Manchent. Easy to see why they wanted to keep that quite now. Everything went according to plan up until they got to the suburbs.

They had been about to load up everyone and pull out on the tunnel train when a Society Ranger group found them. Giantess busted into the train depot, killed everyone guarding it, and nearly caught the train before it could leave. Unfortunately, two Society traitors and a fairy attacked the train. They killed everyone on board, save for Ollie and Derek. Both of them got thrown off the train and had to hobble back to the destroyed outpost where the troops who that had been on watch had gotten back together once the giantess left. Douglas was lucky he was in one of the watch groups, unlike poor Justin and Samantha.

We, also, have been hearing rumors that the Society announced that Manchent is dead. Those damn monsters probably killed him to keep him from helping us. Morale in the town is lower than low now. We lost a lot of good people AND the tunnel train for nothing. Even been some rumblings of replacing Darius. Nothing will come of it, though. Nothing ever does. No one is willing to take his job, I know I sure as hell wouldn't.

Aviel was about to skip to the latest entries when she heard a loud groan come from Flonne's direction. She looked back at the fairy and saw her eyes slowly fluttering open. She groaned again as she rubbed her head with one of her hands.

"What....what happened? Ow, my head...why does it hurt so bad?" she said as she glanced around in confusion. Her eyes settled on Aviel and the dead bodies near her. Flonne eyes opened wider as she looked around at the dead people in the area.

"When...wait, I...I remember. I tried to heal my wings, but then my head and..." she trailed off as she looked off as if lost in thought. Aviel moved toward her and waited a few moments before shouting up at her.

"Flonne!" she yelled to make sure the fairy heard her. Flonne snapped out of her thoughts and looked down at Aviel.

"Huh? Oh, Aviel. I'm so sorry for making us have to fight these Resistance. You weren't hurt, right?" Flonne asked as she leaned down to hear Aviel better. She had a worried and sad look on her face.

"Its alright, Flonne, and I am fine. I should be asking if you are alright, passing out like that. What happened?" Aviel said as she smiled up at the fairy. Flonne looked to the side as if debating something before answering. She opened her mouth to say something, but closed it as she reconsidered.

"If you don't want to tell me, its fine. We can save it for later when we get back to Atlanta," Aviel suggested. She didn't want to force Flonne to do anything that might bother her or, worse, make her pass out again. Flonne got a worried look, but nodded after a minute of silence.

"Alright, let's just focus on the problem we got. We can't stay here, more Resistance might show up looking for these guys or a way to get warm. We need to get moving," Aviel said. She paused a moment to think about where TO head. Heading back to the battle site was too risky. Isabella would go back to it to try and pick up their trail, but Slutice and her fuckbuddies might do the same and there was no telling who would be there and when, too dangerous. They could just head straight for Atlanta and try to make it back that way, but they would have to go through a lot of Resistance held area's and have to spend lots of nights in them too. They had already had one close call, Aviel didn't feel like risking another. That left only one real choice left. I-75, the highway they had used to get out here.

"Once you feel up to it, we need to head east and try to find the highway. If we can find it, we can follow it back or wait for a non-Sword vehicle to come by and hitch a ride," Aviel explained as she looked up at Flonne. Flonne, however, wasn't paying attention and, instead, was doing something with her stomach. It looked like she was stroking the slight bulge in her abdomen with an almost motherly smile on her face. Aviel remembered, now, what was in there... That would have to be dealt with too.

"BEFORE THAT," Aviel yelled to get Flonne's attention, "we will have to deal with him." Flonne snapped out of her stroking and turned to Aviel as she nodded toward her stomach. Flonne looked at it and frowned like a child being told they had to get rid of a puppy they found.

"But...but he can't hurt us inside me. And you will kill him if I do let him out!" Flonne said in an accusing tone.

"Of course I will! He is the enemy!" Aviel yelled.

"NO!" Flonne yelled loud enough to cause Aviel to wince a bit.  Her face took on a hard and angry visage. "Sanders wouldn't kill someone who wasn't a threat and I won't either!"

"Sanders is..." she stopped as she saw Flonne's look start to change. The anger began to fade to be replaced with sadness as her eyes began to redden and mist. What was she doing? That...bastard in Flonne wasn't worth this. Wasn't worth spitting on Sanders' memory and hurting Flonne like this.

"Fine, fine. I won't kill him, but you can't keep him inside you," Aviel said, trying to come to a compromise.

"Yes I can, I can kee-"

"NO, you can't," Aviel interrupted, not wanting to hear anymore information about Flonne's lower regions.
"I won't kill him, but I still want to ask him some questions. He might know something about what happened the Doctor Manchent, alright?" Aviel asked, hoping Manchents mention would get Flonne to coincide. Flonne stared at Aviel for a moment, hands still over her stomach, before she looked down and sighed.

"Alright..." she said in a sad tone before laying back down. A low gurgle came from her stomach as she began to breath a bit heavier. Aviel looked away, having no wish to watch, and waited for Flonne to finish. Flonne's breathing soon turned to gasps as the gurgles turned into rumbles then back again. Flonne gave a loud cry of effort and pleasure as a loud slurp came from behind Aviel followed by the sounds of something wet landing on the ground.

Aviel turned to see the Resistance member laying on the ground, covered in Flonne's juices. His black hair clung to him in a matted clump and his ragged fur clothing was all soaked through. Aviel wasted no time as she drew her sword and moved toward him. She glanced at Flonne and saw her head lulling to the side. She was completely out of it after rebirthing the Resistance scum and would not be able to stop her. She looked down at the scum and saw he was in no better shape. His eyes were barely opening and he looked like he was beyond out of it. It would be so easy, just lift him up and make it sound like he tried to fight back, Flonne would never know. The thought was so tempting, so easy...

Aviel cursed herself as she used her free hand to take out some wire from one of her pouches. She rolled the bastard over with her foot and pulled his arms behind him. She quickly tied the wire around his wrists and then tightened them as tight as they would go, uncaring if they hurt. The pain got a cry of alarm and shock from the asshole and he snapped back awake.

"OWW! What the hell?" he said as he tried to look back at Aviel. "Who the hell are yo- OWW!" Aviel tightened the wire a notch too much and then slammed his arms back down. She walked to stand in front of him and then hauled the dirty scum to his feet, her sword still in her hand.

"I ask the questions, not you. You will keep quiet unless I ask you something and if you piss me off, I will hack off your fingers. Understand?" she said into the scum's face. He looked at her with confusion till he looked at her shoulder and her Shield patch. No sooner had he seen it did his face completely change. His shock gave way to utter hate as he reared back to try and headbutt her. Aviel was quicker, though, and raised the pommel of her sword in front of her. The idiot slammed his head right into the metal and cried out as he stumbled back. Aviel let him go as he fell on his ass, his eyes blinking in pain and confusion.

She let him lay there for a second before she kicked him in the neck, slamming him down to the ground with her boot cutting off his air.

"Let's try this again, do you understand NOW!" she said as she pressed down on his neck. He gasped and then made no sound at all as his air was completely cut off. Aviel smirked down at his thrashing and debated on leaving him like that till he turned blue. She decided not to, figuring the idiot would have learned his lesson by now. And if not, well he wouldn't be using a gun ever again then.

She got off his neck and stepped back as he gasped for breath and coughed as he fought to refill his lungs. He rolled over and groaned in pain, but remained silent. Aviel hauled him back onto is feet, him staggering, before walking over to Flonne's face. Flonne was still recovering, but looked at least somewhat coherent now.

"Here, he is your problem while we get out of here. I'll question him once we find someplace safe to rest," Aviel said as she pushed the scum onto Flonne's cheek. Flonne looked at him and the scum got a look of fear on his face as he backed away from her. He didn't get very far before he bumped back into Aviel who shoved him forward again. This time he stopped before bumping straight into Flonne and turned back to Aviel with that hate-filled look again.

"You won't find any place safe out here. The rest of the Phoenixes will track you down and kill you for this, you damn traitorous bit-" was as far as he got before Aviel smacked him across the head with the flat of her sword. He  spun around and slammed into Flonne's cheek before falling to the ground, unconscious. Flonne's eyes widened at the sight as she recovered from her birthing.

"Aviel! You promised!" she said slowly getting back into a sitting position and gently picking up the scum.

"I promised not to kill him. I never said anything about not hurting him, doubly so when he calls me a bitch," Aviel said glaring at the unconscious bastard. He was lucky she hadn't loped his head off for calling her that. Flonne gave her an annoyed look, but let it slide as she used her magic to heal the slowly appearing bruise  on the scum's head.

Aviel turned away and fumed to herself. Damn idiot thought his people could track them. With Flonne being able to fly there would be nothing to track. They would never find them....and neither would Isabella. Shit. Aviel hadn't even thought of that problem. Flonne had walked to this shack so Isabella might be able to follow their trail here, but once they left she would have no idea where they went. She looked around for something to leave a message on. It had to be something Isabella would see or understand, but the Resistance wouldn't. There wasn't much to work with though, just the bed, ruined table and chairs, and the fireplace. Ruined table and chairs....   Aviel smiled to herself as she got an idea.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

10:34 AM

The idiot was  back awake now, thanks to Flonne's magic, but at least he was too shocked to say anything. He clutched at Flonne's hand so tight that Flonne was actually wincing whenever he shifted. His eyes were as big as saucers as he stared down at the ground far below them. Aviel rolled her eyes at him as she rested easily in Flonne's other hand.

Flonne was flying high through the air, holding both of them in her hands. Far below them, the sea of white with wave like hills raced past. The wind was biting cold up here and, even with Flonne's hand providing some warmth, Aviel found herself shivering. Flonne wasn't doing much better, trying to keep her arms close in to her chest while keeping her hands still. Worse, Flonne couldn't go her full speed lest they risk hypothermia from the wind. The trip was going to be a long and cold one to be sure.

For a few minutes, the group was silent. Flonne focused on flying and trying to keep warm while Aviel debated on whether to risk turning on her tracker or not. The Resistance scum keep quiet as he tried to stare at anything but the ground. He was shaking and breathing rather heavily as he tried to keep some level of calmness, and failing utterly. He was worse than Sanders ever was, the wimp. Damn him....even after promising...DAMN HIM...

Aviel turned away from her tracker and looked down at the ground. She looked over the rolling sea of slowly receding white snow, broken up by small tufts of trees, until she spotted a small open area that looked to have been a dirt road at some point, though it was now well overgrown by shrunken plants.

"Flonne, lets land at that clearing and take a moment to get warm!" Aviel yelled up to the fairy, leaving out that she was going to question their...guest as well. Flonne nodded and slowly descended down to the open area. As they came down, the prisoner seemed to get calmer and relax more at the prospect of being on the ground.

Flonne landed and put them both on the ground. The prisoner practically fell to the ground in joy as his feet touched solid ground. Flonne pulled her jacket around her tighter but stopped shivering now that the higher wind wasn't biting into her. A bit of sun was peeking through the clouds now, warming the area, and Aviel welcomed the slight increase in temperature. Most of the snow in the clearing was either melted or starting to melt.

Aviel looked up at Flonne and motioned for her to come closer. Flonne knelt down to hear her as Aviel keep a close eye on the Resistance scum in case he tried something.

"Do you mind seeing if there is a stream near here? My water has ran out. You don't have to fly just walk around and see if there is one," Aviel asked.

"No, I don't mind. I'll be right back," Flonne said with a smile before walking off and into the forest. Aviel waited till she was out of sight before moving straight toward the prisoner, her dagger drawn. He looked up at her and started to stumble back, but stopped as he tried to put on a brave face. Aviel wasn't fooled for a second, however, and pulled him slightly down to her face.

"Now, its time you answered my questions. Try to lie and you WILL regret it, understand?" Aviel said. The scum looked about to say something stupid but a quick poke in the stomach from her dagger got him to swallow his words. Instead he just nodded, still trying to look defient, but Aviel could see he was terrified. Good.

"What do you know about Manchent's death?" Aviel asked, watching his face for any sign of deception.

"That you, Society slaves, killed him," he said with an angry look. He stared directly at her without any side glances or anything. While it wasn't true, he sure thought it was. At least he hadn't lied.

"I meant about the operation your people did to save him. Details, how they did it, that sort of thing," she said glaring at him. He gulped but keep quiet. Aviel gave him an angry look before spinning him around and grabbing his hand. She pressed her dagger against one of his fingers, blood already leaking where it had cut him just by its touch.

"Alright, alright!" the scum said as he tensed up with fear. Aviel let her dagger move away, but keep it ready to move up again.

"I...I don't know a whole lot. D-" he stopped and reconsidered, "They wouldn't let me go on the mission. All I know is that they were going to pull the Doctor out of Atlanta using some kind of jammer Ollie made. Everything went fine up until one of your Ranger groups found the train and killed nearly everyone and recaptured Manchent." Aviel listened intently to the scum's voice. She didn't detect any signs of lying in his voice and he seemed to scared to really think of a good lie anyway. His sudden stop was odd, but she forgot it in favor of the jammer.

She remembered that their signals had been jammed during their fight on the train. She had figured they had just brought it in case of the worse, but this guy made it sound like they needed the jammer just to get Manchent. Sure the added advantage of no one being able to call for help would be a good idea, but required?

"Why did they need the jammer?" she asked keeping her voice even and without emotion. She didn't need him figuring out what she wanted.

"I don't know," he said a bit too quickly. Aviel moved the dagger back up and his eyes went wide in fright.
"I'm serious! I have no idea why! I tried asking but they never told me, hell they almost kicked my ass for asking! All I know is they tested it a lot and made sure it worked before they took it, I swear!" the panicking idiot said. Aviel lowered the dagger as she went back to thinking.  This still didn't make sense. Why was that jammer so important? And if it was so important, why was it so short range? It only effected her and Sanders' radios when they boarded the train. That wasn't a big enough area to really help against pursuit in the city and if they only needed it for that one potential problem why test it so much? She was missing something...

"What about the bomb collar? Know anything about that?" Aviel asked.

"Bomb collar? What does that have to do with Manchent?" the scum asked in genuine confusion. She poked him in the side with her dagger, though not hard enough to break skin.

"I'm asking the questions, now what do you know?" she growled out.

"Oww, nothing. I never heard anything about a bomb collar, just the jammer," the prisoner said. She didn't want to believe him, she wanted him to know the pieces she was missing. But she could tell he didn't. She had known the moment he had gotten so confused when she had asked him about the collar. Would make sense that the Resistance keep THAT tidbit on need-to-know basis, though. Doubly so if they did get it from a Society traitor. She doubted he knew anything else useful about Manchent so she decided to switch topics.

"Alright, then what were you doing out here?" Aviel asked. It wasn't typical for Resistance members to be out and about during winter, doubly so with a snow storm hitting. He sighed as he seemed to cave into himself.

"Trying to warn a village nearby of the storm. Some of the people that ar-...were in my squad had family there," he paused as he closed his eyes, "They just wanted to be left alone... Just wanted to stop having to fight and hide and constantly be terrified. They didn't even have anti-giantess weapons." He stopped as he turned his head around to look back at Aviel. His face was a twisted mass of hate and anger.

"But you....monsters didn't care. No your giant bitches just marched on in and started killing everyone! Didn't even ASK if they were Resistance, didn't look to see for weapons, didn't do ANYTHING BUT START KILLING EVERYONE! WOMEN, CHILDREN, DIDN'T FUCKING MATTER, YOU GODDAMN MURDEROUS MONSTERS!" he yelled before turning away in disgust. Aviel let him vent without a word. He was telling her everything she wanted to know, after all.

"Guessing you were stupid enough to try and stop our giantesses?" Aviel asked in a mocking tone. The prisoner looked back at her, rage in his eyes.

"We tried to SAVE PEOPLE! Something you fucking psychopaths would never understand! We couldn't kill them, but we tried to at least lure the giantesses away. Thought a few rockets would get their attention, but all they did was sick their damn cat-freak on us and go right back to massacring the townspeople. Never even bat an eye at us. At the damn catgirl..." he looked down at the ground and closed his eyes tightly. "Killed everyone...Just started grabbing up everyone in her path and crushing those she couldn't stuff down her throat. Had to split up... She went after the other group...you.....DAMN MONSTERS!" he suddenly yelled before trying to headbutt Aviel's face with the back of his head. Aviel dodged it and stabbed her dagger into his hand. He cried out in pain and swore as he tried to slump down to his knees, but Aviel keep him on his feet. Tears were beginning to run down his face as he cursed to himself. Pathetic...

Aviel didn't believe him for a second that the village was innocent. Undoubtedly it would have become a Resistance base and been used to stage more attacks on Atlanta. And why should she care that the Swords killed kids? The Resistance had killed kids, burning entire border villages to the ground, and stole EVERYTHING from her. As far as Aviel was concerned, they deserved every bit of what they got. Even if they got it from Lutice.

She was about to ask him about what he knew about any Society traitors, but stopped when she heard and felt Flonne coming back. She pushed him away and he stumbled forward but keep his feet. She slid her weapons away and moved away from the scum before Flonne's face appeared over the trees. Aviel made it look like she had simply been waiting rather than interrogating the scumbag. It seemed to work as Flonne was all smiles as she came back over and knelt down to Aviel.

"There is a small stream a bit that way," she reported, pointing off behind her. She then glanced over at the prisoner and saw his cut hand. She frowned at Aviel before reaching down and healing the cut with her powers. Aviel ignored her frown, she didn't really care if the fairy disapproved or not.

"Alright, lets head there and get some water," Aviel said. Flonne picked her and the scum up and after a short walk were at the small stream Flonne had found. It was indeed small, even to Aviel, but was more than enough to fill Aviel's canteen. She drank some while the scum drank it straight from the stream. He throw her glare after glare as he drank, but Aviel ignored them. He was no threat, just a stupid whiny kid who got his people killed. With them all refreshed, Flonne took off back into the air and headed east again.

They soared for a few minutes before an unshrunken town came into view ahead of them. Aviel told Flonne to head for the town, thinking they could at least get some shelter in the buildings if the highway was still too far away. Flonne did as she was told and landed in the street of the small, abandoned town. Once again, the prisoner fell to his knees and had to recover from the flight.

Flonne placed them on the ground as Aviel looked at the buildings. Oddly, they didn't seem to have been ransacked or been disturbed at all. That was...odd to say the least. The Resistance and even the Society tended to strip buildings of their supplies and such. This town was way too close to I-75 to not have been found. And then there was the silence. The only noises were their own breathing and Flonne's slight rumble as she shifted. Something...something wasn't right here, she was getting a bad feeling about this place.

"Flonne, do you feel that?" Aviel asked as her hand drifted down to her sword. Her eyes moved over the dark windows and open doorways. She could almost swear something was watching them...waiting for something.

"Feel what?" Flonne asked as she looked around without her usual innocent smile. She either wasn't getting the same feeling or just hadn't noticed it yet. However, the prisoner looked up and got a puzzled look. He looked over to a nearby street sign and his eyes shot wide at seeing it.

"We need to leave, we need to leave NOW!" he hissed out at Aviel. Aviel was about to tell him to shut up when the feeling seem to get worse. This time, Flonne seemed to sense it too as she inhaled sharply and started to look around in fear. Suddenly, Aviel knew what that feeling was and her fear only quadrupled in intensity. Of all the places to wind up...dammit they needed to leave right NOW.

"Flonne, pick us up nice and slowly. Once you get a good grip on us...fly away from here as fast as you can," Aviel ordered as she suddenly found her hand gripping the hilt of her sword in a death grip. The prisoner was struggling in his binds to reach a handgun he didn't have, but didn't seem to realize it at all. Flonne gulped and nodded as she knelt down to them. She keep looking out into the town for something that didn't seem to be there and Aviel had to fight from doing the same. Slowly, Flonne's very welcome fingers wrapped around her and got a good grip on her. No sooner had Flonne gotten a good grip, did she leap off the ground and take off at full speed away from the town.

The feeling of discomfort suddenly exploded to turn into a feeling of pure terror as something came after them. Aviel had no idea how she knew something was after them, all she could see was Flonne's breasts and hands, but she knew, she knew with every part of her being. Both Flonne and the prisoner felt it too. The prisoner began to yell for Flonne to go faster and to hurry up while Flonne began to whimper and cry and beg Sanders or Isabella to help her. Aviel tried to fight off the feeling, but it was just too strong. She gripped Flonne tighter and tighter and found herself yelling for Flonne to hurry right along with the prisoner. Her eyes were leaking like crazy as the fear got worse and worse as it got closer and closer. She begged someone anyone to help here, to make it stop, to make it go away, to not let it catch her, to oh god it was RIGHT THERE! SANDERS, ISABELLA, MOM, DAD, SOMEONE SAVE ME!!!!!

Flonne gave one last cry of terror before her hands glowed green and they suddenly shot forward as a huge gust of wind caught them. The feeling began to lessen as they rocketed away from the area. Aviel began to cry now in relief right along with the prisoner, but Flonne didn't seem to realize it at all. She screamed and screamed in terror as they keep racing forward until she took in a sudden inhalation of breath. Aviel felt Flonne jerk as if she had hit something and her hands suddenly shot out away from her chest, as if to try and keep her balance.

Aviel saw Flonne tripping over trees and trying to keep her balance as her eyes and nose ran like waterfalls. Her feet got tangled in the wildlife and she cried out as she feel forward. Aviel felt the air being sucked out of her as Flonne's hand plummeted toward the ground along with the rest of her. At the last second, Flonne managed to lift her hands up to avoid them smashing into the ground and instead got them to come down slowly. Flonne hit the ground with a monstrous crash, sending snow flying away from her. Aviel gasped for breath to get back the air the G-forces had sucked out of her as Flonne laid there, still whimpering and crying from the ordeal.

Aviel looked around to see they had landed in just another part of the woods. She had no idea what direction Flonne had gone when she had fled and thus had no idea where they were. The snow here had mostly melted by now with only a few bits of it lingering under the trees. The prisoner was losing his last meal onto Flonne's hand as he cried in relief at the same time. Aviel whipped her eyes, angrily, and cursed their damn luck and her tears. Of all the places they could have picked, they picked one of THOSE areas. Dammit, she should have realized it the moment she saw the buildings untouched.

Aviel patted Flonne's hand to try and get her to let go, but Flonne only tightened the grip rather than loosen it. The fairy looked up at Aviel with her still crying face and pulled Aviel closer.

"Aviel, it almost got me...it almost got me... I could feel it..." she sobbed out as she began to shake and whimper in terror. Aviel thought about hugged the fairy, but she was a bit loathe to do that. She wasn't the touchy-feely type or...well...anyway she wanted to comfort Flonne, but Isabella was better at that kind of thing. Aviel wasn't sure what to do.

"Its...its alright that thing is gone and we won't be seeing it again," Aviel said trying to sound comforting. It didn't seem to work all that well as Flonne didn't stop crying. Aviel sighed to herself as she tried to think of what Isabella or San-...

"Come on, Flonne stop that crying. Its gone and we still need to find Isabella and Sanders, right?" Aviel asked having to fight her own tears back at mentioning Sanders. Flonne stopped whimpering and looked at Aviel for a second before sniffing and using her forearm to rub the tears away, the prisoner groaning at the sudden movement. Flonne tried to put on a brave face as she nodded.

"Yeah, we need to find them. Need to make sure they are save," she said more to herself as she began to stand up. She had gotten to her knees when a rocket suddenly flew out and impacted right on her thigh. The rocket blew a chunk of flesh off Flonne's leg, sending flesh and blood flying outwards. Flonne cried out in pain as she fell forward onto all fours. A second rocket came flying out straight for her head, but Flonne saw it in time to use her wind to blow it off course.

"FLONNE LET ME GO!" Aviel yelled and Flonne did as she was told. Aviel rushed forward and took out both her weapons just in time to see ten Resistance soldiers come out of the trees, guns all trained on her. Hidden in the trees, she could see at least three more with rocket launchers pointed at Flonne, and those were just the ones she saw. She glanced back to see more coming out on either side of Flonne and could guess some were behind them as well. Fuck, they were surrounded.

The Resistance soldier held their fire and Aviel's mind raced to think of someway out of this. Flonne could take a lot of punishment, but couldn't dodge or deflect all their rockets, not when she was already hurt. And Aviel would get shot to pieces before she even took a step. Fuck fuck fuck FUCK!

A rustle from the trees in front of her got her attention back to her front. Out of the trees came a monster of a man, a monster who looked all too familiar. In his hands was a massive laser cannon and he wore a huge fur clock over his patchwork clothing. It was the man from the train, the one that had nearly killed both her and Sanders. He glared at her in utter hate and recognition.

"Manchent is going to get his due today and your fairy isn't going to save you. Throw down the weapons and release your prisoner and I will make it quick. More than you deserve," he growled out like a rock-crusher as his laser cannon slowly hummed to life.

Article on Resistance propaganda:
The Resistance is quite versed in using, not just dirt tactics to fight our brave soldiers, but also lies and twisted facts to make them seem better. These lies are nothing more than propaganda aimed at trying to turn you against the Society and thus unraveling the very fabrics that keep us safe. To help fight against this propaganda we have listed the most common used messages in their lies and provided proof they are nothing but false.

 Many Resistance claim that Society soldiers attack and destroy any and all villages outside of Atlanta. This is completely untrue as Sword and Shield troops are educated in detecting Resistance forces. The only "villages' destroyed by the Society are those that side with the Resistance, either openly or secretly. Those very few that are neutral and, universally, burned to the ground by the Resistance for daring not to join them.

Other claim that we are, in fact, slaves to the Society. Such accusation are, of course, laughable. Our government is run by elected officials voted for, and given office by, the people of Atlanta. And the United States government is still run as it always has by representatives voted for by each city. The Society works alongside, not over, out government and must abide by laws set forth by our government while on our shores. To suggest we are slaves, is to suggest our government has no real power.

Finally, many claim that our media is nothing but a propaganda machine for the Society. Obviously, any opinion that is not theirs must be propaganda. This is perhaps their weakest argument by far as our media is concerned only with the truth and not what is popular or approved by the Society. In fact, the Society has no influence in anyway with our media outlets.