Guts: Flames

"So you give up every chance you get

                                Just to Feel New Again!"                                            

                                            -Emergency(Paramore)

The narrow alley from the backdoor led us to various paths. Together, we were 15 people.
Uri stopped. “What’s wrong?” I asked.
“We can go to my brother’s apartment.”
“Ernest? How can we be sure there aren’t any giggles there? Worse, if HE’S not a giggle.”
He smiled. “He’s much better than that.”
The route to Ernest’s apartment wasn’t a very long or complex one, just a simple strait from Winfreed Street to Fringe Street.
There were some giggles wandering around the area. Before we could continue, we heard a scream.
“Nina!” One of the survivor boys, Tyler, shouted. The girl, Nina, was being stabbed in the chest 4 times. A hobo Giggle.
Nina fell to the ground, dead. Tyler fumbled for his weapon, a meat cleaver. But it was too late. The blade was already on his throat.
Luke smashed the Giggle’s head in with his crowbar.
“Go! Go! GO!”
Ernest’s apartment was nearby; we just have to run for it. Luke unhooked his crowbar from the hobo and followed us.
There were 4 Giggles in sight. I rushed at them. The biker guy first. With my axe, his head rolled off his shoulders when the blade met his neck.
“Wirick! Duck!” I did. Vivi pulled the trigger. The lady fell dead with a bullet hole in her head.
The other 2 was backing away. “Don’t let them escape!” They ran for it.
Ms. Aria fired staples at high speed, but it barely did anything to the giggle. Jessica, with her good hand, threw her box cutter with amazing strength. It hit the running giggle’s back strong enough to stun him. Dianne grabbed her bat and bashed its head in.
The other one escaped. No use worrying about it. Ernest’s apartment was in sight.
 His apartment was barracked with various bikes and cars.
Urien was right. Ernest was much smarter than he looked.
“E! Can you hear me?!” Uri shouted. A window opened.
Ernest, Urien’s brother, was far from Urien. If Urien was just an ordinary teenager by looks, Ernest looked different. Uri had brown hair, Ernest had black. Uri fell short to his height. The only thing they had in common in appearance was their green eyes.
“Uri. You’re alive! I thought you were dead.” Uri threw a rock at him. 
“Ok! Ok! Sorry!” He had Urien’s sense of humor, but felt more cynical or deadpan in comparison to Uri.
A hole opened from the car blocking the entrance.
“Get in.” We did as told. Ernest’s apartment looked like the Ignition never happened.
Electricity, food, internet.
“Ohhh, Thank GOD. I need to use facebook.” Dianne said.
“Fuck Facebook! I doubt it’d be up after all this.” Jessica said.
“Oh? Hayley Williams says otherwise!” She was right. Facebook was up. Hayley Williams had updated her page with “No sign of Giggles today. Taylor still wounded. Jeremy looking for help. SOS, if you see this” I guess even stars are having trouble.
But, how the hell was Facebook still up?!
“Ok everyone, meeting. Now.” Ernest had rounded us up.
“I have a plan that can shut down this madness.” A plan? I thought Gyros cant be stopped! I listened intently.
“There’s a reason we aren’t affected by the Gyros. Did anyone notice? We have a sort of connection to imagination. Our Imagination is big enough to resist the mind control. Urien, your imagination stems from your song writing. Wirick, yours from your love of short stories. Ms. Aria, your an English teacher. You tell me. You get the picture.” He sipped coffee from his mug.
“The Gyros is artificial. Man Made.” That took me by surprise. I had always thought the Ignition was caused by some sort of supernatural causes.
“I had traced files from the military that found the cause.” What IS Ernest’s job?
“A man by the name, Yoli. He used a sort of drill to create a hole to the center of the earth. With it, he dropped a line and inserted some sort of component in it. With it, the Ignition was nearly complete. With what technology he had, he inserted the line to a satellite and translated the Gyros into the unwilling minds of people. If we can cut the line free from the core, we can stop the satellite, stop the Gyros, and kill Yoli.”
This information had struck me harder than when I found out Chuck was ending.
If we do this... Everything will be back to normal.
“I’ll give you all a night to think about this. IF you decide to join in the fight, we leave at dawn. The rest can stay here. There are weapons in my closet. Do NOT get out of this apartment.
That night, we were divided by 2 bedrooms. The guys have Ernest’s room. The Girls had the spare.
With the revelation of todays disaster, I really couldn’t sleep. A lot of the younger survivors decided to stay here. I got up from my cot and went to the living room.
Vivi.
She was sitting in the couch, looking perplexed.
“Can’t sleep?” I ask. A nod.
“I just can’t help feeling sad.” I raised an eyebrow. “You’re sad we can end this?” She shakes her head.
“No. Sad cause... I had to kill my parents to stay alive. I killed them, when I could’ve spared them. If I hadn’t killed them, they may have skewered me with a knife, but... I could’ve gone back to them if I had finished this.” I stayed silent. Tears were springing from her eyes. I had to leave home too, but I got out before I could lay a finger on my parents. With a comforting hand, I placed all the sympathy I could muster for the day into her.

The next morning, Ernest rounded up everyone in a huddled circle like we were in football.
“Ok, let me get this right. Everyone coming will be myself, Wirick, Uri, Ms. Aria, Vivi, Dianne, Jessica, Luke, and Mike. Everyone else is staying here.”
Everyone remains silent.
“Well, I have no objections. If we do this, we have to be ready to give away our lives. This mission is the only thing that can actually turn things back to normal. We leave in 30ish. Grab whatever you want from the Weapons closet and any gear you think you’d want to bring with you. After 30 minutes, we’ll meet up downstairs.”
The team dispersed. The survivors who didn’t want to go with us were huddled in a room wearing Pajamas that Ernest had managed to ransack from a box of old things and were watching reruns of How I Met Your Mother.
The Weapons Closet was a large, wooden door that would normally look like something you’d put clothes in. When opened, an array of weapons, firearms and melee alike, were neatly arranged like plates in a cupboard. I couldn’t help but ask.
“Did you always have these?” There was a hint of fear in my tone. I’ve known Ernest and Uri since I was just 7. I’ve been to this apartment more than once. While Ernest was elusive and mysterious about his career, I never pegged him as the type to keep dangerous weapons in his closet.
There was a grin on his face as if he was reading my thoughts.
“No.” He had said so surely
“Then where’d you get this stuff?”
“I was at a police station when the Ignition happened. I was bailing a friend out. Then the police where either going out the streets or trying to rip us to pieces. I had to kill them. When we were sure no one was left, We ran for the weapons room. I grabbed everything and we ran for our apartment.” Friend? Well, where was he? If he were with him, he should be here too. It dawned on to me that he may have died on the way, but it slipped out by accident.
“Where’s your friend?” Uri had a grim look. Ernest’s eyes soften in sadness and there was a long silence before he finally answered.
“He’s dead. He didn’t even make it 5 steps outside when he was speared with a Stop Sign.” I suddenly felt guilty for asking him. I didn’t want to open old wounds.
“I’m sorry.” Ernest left the room, but I know he must be feeling depressed now.
I turned my attention to the closet. I grabbed an old Python Revolver, 5 boxes of ammo, and a baseball bat, but kept my switchblade hidden in my belt. Uri, like always, picked range over all. But his lethality boosted to more than just a pencil sized curtain rod the moment an old M1 Garand with Scope had caught his eye. He took an army knife with him.
Vivi kept her gun in favour of the other guns stashed in the closet. It was an army issued USP. It may hold special meaning to her. She did take a small hatchet though.
Ms. Aria gladly tossed her Staple Gun away for a Beretta 99. She says it’s been her dream to hold one of those. She took a Stun Gun with her.
Jessica and Dianne were giggling as they picked the same weapon, Colt 1911. Dianne didn’t take anything else but Jessica kept her Boxcutter with her.
Luke took an old looking Remington shotgun from the back of the closet.
“You’ve got an eye for weapons there, kid.” Ernest returned with his arms crossed, smiling. Luke smiled back.
“Ok, you guys. Stop gawking at your weapons and be careful where you aim. It’s about time we get this show on the road.”

The road was as empty as it got. Ernest was holding a Jack knife in one hand and a small map in the other.
“We’re heading right. Lucky for us, Yoli’s base of operation was on this town. See? That satellite over there is the same satellite we need to destroy.”
The building overlooking the satellite was a big, military like ensemble. It didn’t take a lot to convince me that getting in wouldn’t be a joyride in the park.
“The giggles out here aren’t the biggest threat we’ll be facing, so I suggest you guys stop yourself from getting Trigger Happy until we get to the compound. Got it? If you have to defend yourself, I suggest you go melee for a while.” With those words, Dianne looked at her feet. She obviously didn’t think it through when she opted to take the gun instead of picking up a side weapon. I sighed and gave her the bat I got in the closet. I still have my switchblade with me. Not as effective though.
“Move out.” We split into teams so if we ever get separated we’d be in a better position to defend ourselves. I was with Uri, Ms. Aria, Vivi, and that Mike fellow. He was holding a machete close to his chest and hid a Service Pistol on his belt.
“It’s too quiet.” As if Uri was jinxed, a rustling sound thrashed in an ally to the left. The other group formed a circle with everyone facing all directions to discern any other attacks. We were just walking carefully, trying not to aggravate any Giggles we saw.
Then it happened. An office worker giggle sky dived from a two story building with a kitchen knife, and a hobo giggle jumped out the trash from the ally.
The sky giggle fell on Mike, who managed to avoid the knife by inches. The Machete was knocked out of reach. Ms. Aria zapped the giggle to his back, and it fell off of Mike, staggering. Mike fumbled for his Service Pistol, but the Giggle shoved Ms. Aria away and stabbed Mike’s leg. I rushed at the Giggle with my switchblade and slashed at his back. There was a piercing cry, but he was still stubbornly alive. Mike was cradling his leg and the Giggle turned his attention to me.
“My salary is worth more than your petty little vigilante missions.” He said so ominously. My blade was raised up, and as the Giggle tried to rush me once more, his neck met with the tip of Uri’s Army knife.
He was dead.
The other group seemed to have been successful too. Ernest wiped his Jack Knife clean with the dead Hobo’s shirt.
“You guys alright?” He shouted.
“One casualty!” I shouted back.
Their group came to us. Mike was bleeding heavily. Luke seemed distraught. They were close, I assumed. They’ve been at each other’s side when we left 7-Eleven and had been talking at Ernest’s apartment.
Mike lay in pain. Jessica grabbed a first aid kit from her knapsack and grabbed some antiseptic and gauze.
She quickly patched him up, but it seems Mike couldn’t possibly go on with a bad leg.
“Sorry. I don’t think I can continue.” Mike said. Everyone was in thought. We couldn’t leave Mike there. Giggles might kill him here. And we’re already miles away from the apartment. Then we heard another rustling sound. We turned around, but it was only a small girl at the door behind us. She wasn’t a Giggle. A survivor. 
“Tina! Look! There are people!” Then, a teenage girl with neck length hair and a punk rock shirt getup pulled her away from the slightly boarded up door. She was holding a gun.
“Who’s there?!” She shouted, aiming at us. We raised our hands. She withdrew the gun.
“Is everything alright?” She asked.
“Our friend is hurt. Can you help us?” She hesitated, but finally let Mike in.
“Aren’t you guys coming in?”
“No. We have to keep going. We have to do something right now, but we’ll come back for you guys when it’s all over.” I replied. She didn’t ask anymore and nodded.
“Well, I wish you good luck. Anna, say goodbye.” The small girl from before came back and gave us a cute Bye Bye as we walked away from the last sign of safety

So the story skimped a little, but thats alright! The last chapter of the Guts Trilogy will be the longest of the 3! Hope you enjoy!
Also, I got the idea to name the weapons from Battle Royale. I read it a few days ago, and the author didn't hold back on naming every weapon they had.
It was truly inspiring.
~S and D