9 Chapter Nine: Service With a Smile (1/2)
The night grew even more late as the first hours of dawn approached. Finn was still sitting on the porch of this run down and abandoned house that he and some other people, including children, have taken shelter in.
”Time to start brewing a plan” Finn says, ”because I'm sure you haven't already made one yet”
”Actually” Siran says, ”I was thinking that we could move them to Seeira. It would be easier for them to live there since you can become a citizen there and people don't have to know about your personal background. As long as you have money, or can work for someone else, you can live there”
”Are we really going back to Seeira again?” Alex asks. ”We just came back from there. You've gotta stop trying to run back home, you'll only cause more trouble”
”Is Seeira where you're from?” Zia asks Siran.
”No, I'm actually from one of the old countries”
”Which one?” Finn asks.
”America” Siran replies.
”That's nuts, isn't that where that Naris Catastrophe started?” Finn asks. ”That place must be torn to bits after Naris destroyed and terra-formed most of the planet”
”Most of it remains” Siran says, ”I think... but what was left was a fresh hell”
”Anyways” Finn interrupts, ”how are we going to make it to Seeira? That's too far away from here”
”If we can get transportation large enough to carry all these people” Siran explains, ”we can take all of them easily. How many people are there here?”
”Eight adults and three children” Finn replies. ”Not including myself”
”How are we gonna find a car big enough for all of them?” Alex asks.
”If only” Siran begins to say with his hand under his chin, thinking, ”there were somewhere around here that had vehicles designed to carry lots of people over long distances... a vehicle large enough to hold EVERYBODY... kinda like, a military cargo truck or something?”
”Yeah” Finn says, sounding annoyed, ”I get it, and there is a place where cargo trucks frequent, but what the hell is wrong with your brain? Thinking about stuff like that. I doubt you even know how to steal stuff like that!”
”Well” Siran says, in a seemingly playful and sarcastic tone ”NO ONE is better at stealing stuff from such dangerous people than I AM”
”Uh, yeah” Finn says, very condescendingly, ”I am!”
There was a brief pause as Alex, Zia and Siran stared at Finn. Finn looks Siran directly in the eyes before realizing that he just basically volunteered for said dangerous job.
”Ah, shit!” Finn says.
”Congrats, fantastic Mr. Thief” Siran says as he pats Finn on the back, ”you're our guy! We'll start tomorrow night, as for the morning, introduce us to your friends!”
”You're an asshole” Finn retorts.
”Not the first time I've heard that either” Siran says with a smile.
The crew goes inside to sleep, carefully finding a spot to lay down on without waking anyone up or alarming anyone. When they awaken the next morning, they find three kids, two boys trying to climb on Alex and one little girl playing with Zia. Alex is mad, and possibly woke up too early from the kids, but Zia was enjoying herself. Three of the adults, two women and one man were watching the kids and laughing. They were the parents of these kids, and they seemed relieved to watch their kids have fun. Finn sits next to Siran as Siran begins to sit up and put his sunglasses back on again. Finn hands a cup of water to Siran and then lets out a big sigh.
”Thanks” Siran says to Finn.
”It's good to see at least some people enjoying themselves for once” Finn says as he's watching the room liven up as the kids played. ”In case you haven't already guessed, these are all the people in this area who have gone homeless. It's hard watching parents, let alone kids, go without a home. That woman on the far right, her name is Alexa. She's a single mother and the girl playing with her”
”With Zia?” Siran interrupts.
”Yeah, with Zia, here name is Isabelle” Finn replies. ”The older of the two boys is also her son, his name is Johnny”
”And the other boy?” Siran asks.
”His name is Jake” Finn replies, ”those two over to Alexa's right are his parents, James and Sasha”
”You seem really attached to them” Siran says. ”It's a good thing they have someone who cares so much around them. Aren't you homeless too though?”
”Yeah” Finn says with his head hanging low. ”At first I didn't care about anything. I'd scavenge the streets just to survive then mind my own business, but I couldn't stand watching kids starve to death”
”So you secretly stowed away in an abandoned house and stole money and food to feed them?” Siran asks.
”Sounds about right” Finn says. ”Why would you want to help anyways?”
”Well personally” Siran replies, ”I couldn't stand watching children die of starvation either. I've been homeless before and I know how much it sucks and how hard it is to live. Besides, with this being an abandoned house, it's only a matter of time before you're forced out of here for renovations, so they can make a new house to sell. However, that's not the only reason. If I can rattle The Ly'Lum enough, there's a chance I can get the right people caught off guard and gain information about the happenings within The Ly'Lum. I've never trusted them, but lately they seem even more shifty. Almost like they've been planning something and are finally making their move. I can't quite yet understand what though. Other than that, they've also began hunting me down even outside of country. So I guess it's also self defense”
Finn takes a moment to think about everything and then says ”so it's personal?”
”In some ways, yes” Siran says, ”however, one of the reasons why I want to build a group to fight back with isn't because I want people to fight for me”
”Then why do you try to form a group?” Finn asks. ”Why not fight them yourself since you're confident in your fighting ability?”
”Because, more people than myself have a bone to pick with The Ly'Lum. This room is a perfect example of that. I want to give those who have a will to fight, the power and motivation they need to fight back. I'm not doing this for me, I'm doing this for them. My time as a hero has long since passed”
”What the hell does that mean?” Finn asks.
Siran just stands up and walks away towards Zia to talk to the kids for a bit. Zia and Siran entertain the kids happily for a while, as Alex entertains the kids unhappily before yelling at Siran for not helping him escape from ”the clingy grasps of the children” and Finn sits against the wall and watches them, thinking to himself.
Eventually, the day comes to an end as the night draws near, everyone in the house had a smile on their face as they all socialized and had fun to pass the time. Eventually, Siran tells the homeless people that they have a plan to get them out of there, without telling them the actual plan, and that they must go soon to get them a ride. The group, Zia, Alex, Siran and Finn all meet up outside to discuss their plan.
”So we have to head north-northwest of here” Finn says, ”there we will find a warehouse that often has cargo trucks parked in the front. These things will be really hard to hijack due to the computers that the trucks are built with. So if any of you are really good with digital magic and hacking, that'd be really convenient”
”I don't know any digital magic” Alex says.
”I know a lot, but not any hacking” Zia says.
”I'm good with digital magic” Siran says, ”but I have no clue how to hack”
Finn facepalms and says ”fantastic, I guess we have to hope for the best”
The four of them make their way to their destination. It was a large warehouse and it had several trucks parked outside and inside. However, there were also plenty of guards around.
”How are we supposed to get past all these people and get out with a truck that makes a lot of noise?” Finn asks.