Chapter Text
July 28, 1998
Somewhere in Twentynine Palms, California, a man stands alone in front of a desk littered with newspapers, tapes, and his journal. The man is tall, albeit a bit lanky, and there are bruise-colored bags under his eyes. His hair reaches below his shoulders turning into a shaggy mullet, with white strands littering his hair.
It’s been eight years.
Eight years since he was browsing through a Bulletin Board System back in high school, scoffing about the idea of an apocalypse. Eight years since humanity failed.
Cellbit remembers that day in October, 1989.
A young teen sat on a chair hovered over his bulky white computer screen. His room was littered with mementos, a Tutti Frutti poster surrounded by old newspapers, photos and more.
The teen’s hair is long, nearly up to his shoulders. His friends tell him it’s a mullet but he protests the comments. Currently, he’s browsing through a Bulletin Board System, one of his favorite hobbies.
Usually, his days are spent either researching murder cases, solving online puzzles, or obsessing over multi-user dungeons that he’d make all his friends play with him later.
A seventeen-year-old Cellbit had been looking at more online dungeons to solve with his online friends. However, none of them were online due to another one of Maxo’s conspiracies. He was getting sick of Maxo making his friends paranoid with his ridiculous ideas.
Starting rumors about an apocalypse in this day and age was just cruel. Adults believed anything in those days. The rumors online were spreading fast but he paid them no mind. He had laughed it off until he heard his mother yell his name to come downstairs and view a tape they had received.
“Cellbit!” His mother called, “Come downstairs, there’s something we need to watch!”
Apparently, their family had been sent a tape by the federal government, everybody he knew had been sent one. It was a set of instructional tapes that would be sent throughout the week; they were instructions on how to prevent the disease, and how to survive their upcoming doom.
The name of their dilemma was long and laborious to say out loud.
Ophiocordyceps Unilateralis.
The instructional tape had informed them that it was a cordyceps that infected carpenter ants. The cordyceps took control of the ant acting as its host, then forced the specimen to die. Once the ant died, a fungus would grow inside of the ant so its spores could infect other ants.
It was a fascinating topic to explore and examine, Cellbit guessed a lot of scientists wanted to know more about the cordyceps. However, people didn’t take into consideration that the cordyceps would mutate under all the experiments it had undergone. And it sure as hell did mutate when it became applicable to humans.
The Ophiocordyceps Unilateralis began to infect humans and then began to control them.
There were only a few cases at first. Cellbit knew a few people in his neighborhood who had gotten sick. They prepared funerals and had to put them to sleep before it was too late, he thought the word “kill” was too harsh.
In the present, Cellbit had documented nearly everything about the pandemic from day zero. He had the names of victims, deaths, and dates. He took pictures, drew diagrams, and illustrated infected humans. The very few cases were throughout the country, but in California, it had spiked quickly due to the huge population.
The tapes had nicknamed it the Oppy , or the Opposition.
The second tape that was released to the public was the symptoms a human may have if they were infected by the Oppy. A human wasn’t only supposed to defend themselves from infected humans, but to report it to authorities immediately so that they could “help.”
Cellbit had found out the hard way that the government didn’t want to help infected patients but to kill them before they could transform and infect others.
He didn’t completely disagree with the action at first, but when they killed his family, he started to rethink that. He had lost friends and loved ones because they were too lazy to find a cure. They had more resources than Cellbit did and yet it felt like he was obsessing over the pandemic more than they were.
He glanced over the pages in his journal, stopping at one with bright red letters at the top. It reads “Symptoms.”
The symptoms were gruesome, he had seen all of them first hand but it never failed to make him queasy.
A human with the cordyceps began the transformation by peeling off all human skin, a human removes all of it unwillingly and will not be able to grow it back properly. The skin patches are described to look like a poppy flower, round and bright red.
Then, your teeth would fall out.
Old teeth will begin to fall out and new ones grow in replacement. They grow bigger, and sharper, and can tear through skin far more easily. Cellbit cringed at the idea of how painful it would be to get bitten by a flesh-piercing bite.
Typically, infected humans are more easily prone to panic attacks, the more afraid one is the faster it spreads and overtakes you. Due to the constant panicking, a human may experience hallucinations, seizures, or constant vomiting.
The video had stated how much time typically one had to report the infection, or to kill themselves.
At least a week, but it depended on the mental state of a human’s mind. More resilient humans could possibly last up to two weeks before fully succumbing to the parasite.
Cellbit felt sick thinking about it.
He snapped out of it when he heard a door open behind him. He didn’t need to turn around, he knew who it was. A man leaned on the doorway, looking at him with a smug look.
“You done mumbling to yourself?” He teased, tilting his head on the door frame.
“Not mumbling.” Cellbit glared at the man.
The man was wearing a short red crop top that read “Camp Crystal Lake”, and blue jean shorts. He had long dyed blonde hair with brown roots at his scalp, it was in a braid reaching down to his chest. An earring dangled from his left ear and a necklace hung around his neck loosely.
The man in front of him was his best friend, Forever. Cellbit would never actually admit it to his face, but Forever was like his lifeline. He genuinely didn’t think he would’ve made it this far without Forever. He was almost like a brother to him, but Cellbit would also rather be caught dead than admit that to him.
“If you’re not mumbling, then let’s get going!” Forever peeled himself off the doorway and walked over behind him.
“I know, I know… I just need to pack my…” Cellbit paused, beginning to pick up the newspapers and sticking them inside the journal neatly.
“Your obsession, right.” Forever replied, teasingly.
“It’s important.” Cellbit snarled, clearly annoyed by his work getting referred to so lightly.
“I’m just joshin’ you, Cell! Tô mexendo com você!” The blonde man raised his voice and sighed, ruffling Cellbit’s hair. “You’re going to do great things with that brain of yours, but you’ll get nowhere with your attitude, y’know?”
“I think I’m quite charming.”
“Of course you do.” Forever put his hands on his hips and snickered, “Maybe you’ll find someone to settle down with who’s willing to put up with your craziness someday.”
“You do it every day.” Cellbit reminded, grinning at the man.
“Because I have to, unfortunately.” The taller man flicked his forehead, “Now, hurry up. You don’t need help right?”
“No, I should be fine.”
“Is there enough space for your tapes?”
“Yeah, I’m just worried about carrying them in a bag, what if they break?” Cellbit muttered, trying to stack the tapes on top of each other in a specific order.
“Let me handle them then.” The blonde man offered his hand. Cellbit raised an eyebrow but handed over the tapes to him.
He had kept all the tapes his family received from the government in 1989, it was a hassle carrying them but he wanted to preserve them. It was important for the future of humanity, they needed all the evidence that existed to possibly help future scientists find a cure.
Cellbit and Forever had been alone for five months now.
They used to travel in a group of five, Felps, Pac, Mike and them.
He’s been friends with the five men since they were in high school, they had always hung out online, either playing Colossal Cave Adventure or any Multi-user dungeon games. All his friends thought it was lame and outdated since it was an online game from the mid-70s but they stuck out to hang out with him.
Pac and Mike were those stereotypical popular guys, wearing vests, khaki pants, and their hair smoothed back. They’d drive around together in that shiny Chevrolet Cavalier that they saved up for, blasting music. The two had always been together for the majority of high school, they were considered “a package deal” due to their inability to be separated.
Felps was a little more alternative than the rest of the group, he had a necklace tattoo, piercings, and started dressing more goth or grunge during their high school years. It didn’t change the fact that Felps was their friend, but they usually didn’t interact in school.
The five of them had stuck together for the past few years during the pandemic, but they ended up getting separated during a military swoop five months ago. They were gathering survivors, and infected, to take into custody.
Many, including Cellbit, feared the government due to their irresponsible actions and uncaring nature toward the people. There were herds of people running from their hiding spaces. Mike, Pac, and Felps had gotten lost during the running.
Forever and Cellbit hadn’t seen them since.
Cellbit’s thoughts were interrupted by Forever’s shuffling with the tapes. He looked over and saw that he had stacked the tapes neatly and wrapped them in clothing so that they would be secure.
Cellbit smiled at the man softly, appreciating the gesture. He looked down to his arm where a bracelet clung loosely around his wrist. It was a dumb friendship bracelet Cellbit had made him when they were teenagers; Forever had made him one in return and neither had taken it off since.
“That should do it, Cellbo!” Forever exclaimed, lifting the bag up and hauling it over his shoulder.
“Thanks.” Cellbit looked at the strangely empty desk, “I think I’m done here…should we get going?”
Their conversation was interrupted by glass shattering from the other room and Forever quickly dropped the bags and ran out of the room, alarmed.
Cellbit just sighed, knowing full well who it was. He followed swiftly behind Forever and they both walked into the kitchen seeing a small boy and a broken glass on the ground.
The boy had dark skin and brown eyes, his afro covered his eyes so you could barely see them, but over his afro, he wore a red winter hat. He was wearing a bright Brazilian soccer shirt that was a little too big for his body and blue shorts. On the lower part of his left leg, there was an aid for the young boy; it was a prosthetic leg of sorts, made up of plastic, wood, and some mechanical parts.
The boy stared up at the two men and then tried to walk away, whistling innocently.
“Richas!” Forever scolded, “You have to be more careful, you could’ve gotten hurt!”
The young boy was named Richarlyson, he was currently nine years old and traveling with the two older men.
The blond man rushed over to the boy to check his hands for any injuries or bleeding of any sort, making the smaller boy glare at the man harshly.
Richarlyson was their child, they weren’t blood-related by any means, but they had raised him like their own. They had found him a few years ago abandoned in an old house, apparently his parents had killed themselves after finding out they were infected. He was fairly young when Pac, Mike, Felps, and the two of them had found him.
Richarlyson barely knew how to speak when they had first found him.So naturally, he caught on to their Portuguese and English rather quickly, and was fluent in both languages. They had all taken turns in taking good care of Richarlyson and the boy considered all five of them his dads.
After they had split up from the other three, Cellbit and Forever realized that Richarlyson was beginning to act out more.
Richarlyson would throw tantrums, give them both attitude and he had even started breaking things when he was more upset. The boy could communicate easily, but when he was angry or needed attention he’d go non-verbal almost.
Neither of them knew how to deal with it.
Cellbit considered the tough love strategy, refusing to give him attention or fall for his childish tantrums, while Forever attempted to coddle and please his son in any way he could.
Both reactions made the child more angry.
“Richarlyson.” Cellbit glared at the boy, “You need to stop breaking things. If you want our attention, just call for us and we’ll gladly come running.”
“At least, I would.” Forever muttered, receiving a glare from Cellbit. “But he’s right, Richas! You need to stop breaking things! You’re being bad!”
Richarlyson began to scream in anger at the scolding and he started shoving Forever away from him, hitting his chest harshly. Forever was crouching and he ended up losing his balance, falling onto one of the shards of glass. The man hissed in pain, and quickly stood up.
“Richarlyson!” Cellbit shouted, sounding even angrier than he was before. Richarlyson’s eyes widened and he looked at his dad with guilt.
“Pai..” He ran over to Forever and tugged on his shirt, “Você está bem?”
“Estou bem, filho. Trust me I’m okay, Richas!” Forever smiled softly at the boy and began to pick the shards out carefully, he pulled out a first aid kit from one of the bags on the table.
“You’re not okay!” Cellbit said, annoyed by Forever’s inability to lecture the boy, “Richarlyson has been misbehaving for far too long and you keep letting him get away with it. He’s only going to get worse.” The tired man rubbed his temples, clearly stressed.
“He’s a kid, Cell.” Forever said, gently. “He’s…as stressed as us. He’ll feel better when we get out of this house!”
“His tantrums started before that.” Cellbit glared at the man’s refute.
Richarlyson started acting out as soon as he had lost his three other parents. He guessed it must’ve been a really sudden change, but there was nothing they could do to soothe that pain for the boy.
“What do you want me to do about that?” Forever turned around, he was still bandaging his cut, but it looked like he had gotten most of the glass shards out.
“Discipline him.”
Forever was always quick to be loud. He was one of the loudest people that Cellbit knew, so it wasn’t surprising when Forever raised his voice to max volume at the suggestion.
“I’m not hitting our son, Cellbit! Caralho!” Forever shouted, scoffing, putting his hand over Richarlyson’s left ear to stop him from listening. Richarlyson just looked bored and began to cling onto Forever’s waist even tighter.
“That’s not what I meant! I meant like…punishing.” Cellbit spluttered, surprised, “Take away his toys or something..?”
“He doesn’t exactly have toys, Cellbit!” Forever screamed, “He’s a little boy! He’s been through a lot so be nice to him!”
Forever’s yelling was getting intolerable. Even when Forever was happy he would scream, it was like his default to any emotion was to scream and let everybody around them know how he was feeling. It was endearing sometimes, but right now, it was annoying to Cellbit.
“Right,” Cellbit cursed at himself, Forever was right. There wasn’t really…any reason for Richarlyson to have toys so they never got him any. “Then what about time outs?”
“What warrants a time-out?” Forever scoffed, still being loud.
“Can you guys not talk about me like I’m not here?” The young boy interrupted glaring at Cellbit, still clinging to his blonde dad’s side.
Forever sighed, and smiled down at the boy. He picked him up, placing him on his hip, and then kissed his forehead gently. The boy looked away stubbornly, pouting, and trying to ignore his dad. Cellbit…felt his heart warm watching the two. He wished the moments they had were always this domestic, but they usually never lasted.
“I’m sorry, Richas.” Forever coddled, “I didn’t realize I was being so loud.”
“You never do.” Richarlyson reminded, teasingly and stuck out his tongue at him.
“You’re getting so big, Richas.” Forever whispered, endearingly and began hugging the boy tightly. Richarlyson’s face lit up slightly, but when he saw Cellbit was staring he quickly put on a tough demeanor and rolled his eyes.
“My little man is getting too old!” Forever gasped, dramatic and deafening, “Are you too old for me to pick you up like this?!” He made sure to frown exaggeratedly for the boy.
“Não! Nunca.” Richarlyson shook his head and then hid his face in Forever’s neck, wrapping his small arms around the taller man.
Cellbit sighed and then began to walk out of the room to bring their things over, but Forever stopped him.
“Cellbo, where do you think you’re going?”
“Uh, to get our things.”
“Hug your son first.” Forever said, in a tone that suggested this wasn’t up for debate.
Cellbit reluctantly walked over to the two with a hesitant look. Richarlyson looked less than displeased at Cellbit.
“Parem de me olhar assim.” Cellbit sighed at the boy, “Now give me a hug.”
Richas sighed as well, but he opened his arms and Cellbit gladly took him into his own, giving him a soft kiss on the forehead as well.
“Eu te amo.” Cellbit muttered, but Richarlyson didn’t reply. The older man frowned slightly but didn’t let it get to him too badly.
“Now you can go get the bags,” Forever smiled, “We’ll wait outside so that we can get going.”
Cellbit nodded and walked over to the room where they had each slept in many times. He still wasn’t fully sure why they were leaving. Forever had claimed they needed to go out more, to stop being so cooped up in one house. It’d be better for them to find other people, or go to an area with more supplies.
He had even suggested going to a Sanctuary.
A Sanctuary was a place completely defended and surrounded by the military, they had only recently begun to spring up two years ago. It was fully implemented in every state, the government had spread the news and information through the radio about the oasis that it was.
They offered housing, safety, and most importantly, food.
Sanctuary’s were a luxury, but they always had plenty of room due to the fact that nobody actually reached the Sanctuary’s on time to fill up the spaces.
The capitals of a state held a Sanctuary where there was civilization, a social system, and resources. It was hard to actually get to a Sanctuary due to all the security around it and the amount of Opposition hovering around the populated cities. The military used special devices to scan humans, a safe way to be told whether or not a person was infected.
It was safe.
At least, people had assumed it was. But then the military started to capture people to forcefully locate them in Sanctuary’s. They’d come into areas, storm buildings, and houses trying to find survivors. That’s how they had lost Pac, Mike, and Felps.
It was fair to say that Cellbit didn’t trust the Sanctuary one bit, and had freaked out on Forever about the suggestion to go to one.
Cellbit desperately hoped nothing would go wrong on their journey, but his anxiety made him want to crawl into a hole and hide away with his small little family. The thought of losing any of them made him want to rip his hair out. Both he and Forever were well aware of Cellbit’s…anxiety problems.
He had stressed so hard that he had begun to grow white hairs. This had only worried Cellbit more and he would have harsh anxiety attacks, but Forever was always there to keep him in check.
High school had been hard for him. He found himself never willing to socialize, more interested in being shut in and using the computer all day. Meeting Forever and the others was genuinely like a wake-up call to how fun it could be to have others around him.
Cellbit stopped to look around the room that the three of them had all slept in comfortably. The memories they had made for the past few months were fond ones, but he knew it was time they moved on for their own safety.
He left the room and saw the kitchen was now completely empty.
The atmosphere was…still soft. The paint peeling off the walls, the rusting door knobs, broken doors, and yellowed windows. The house was on its last two legs, he didn’t even know why Forever and him had come running to it, perhaps it was desperation or luck. It was completely run down, musty, and old, but to Cellbit, it was everything.
He opened the front door cautiously and saw Richarlyson on Forever’s shoulders, waiting patiently for him. The younger boy cradled the man’s head and kissed his forehead. Cellbit’s eyes softened as he realized that the house wasn't everything, but they were.
Forever turned around to see Cellbit had been staring at them, he raised an eyebrow confused.
“Are you ready now?” The blonde man asked, walking closer as Richarlyson rested his chin on Forever’s head.
With you two? Always. Cellbit wanted to respond, but instead, replied with a simple answer.
“I am now.”
“Good,” The man smiled, “I have the map, I think we should head into more populated areas-”
“Populated? ‘Sure about that?” Cellbit questioned, “That means there’ll be more infected there.”
“But there’s also more supplies there.” Forever argued, “Besides, we have a car.”
“That piece of shit could stop working on us anytime, and if we’re stranded with a bunch of monsters then we’re done for.”
“Unless, we can find more people.” Forever suggested, “If we can get to Sacramento-”
“No.” Cellbit immediately cut him off.
“We could go to a Sanctuary, Cellbit!” Forever exclaimed, “We could…we could find Felps, Pac, and Mike again, Cellbo.” He pleaded.
Cellbit turned to look at the man in the eyes, and he found pure hopefulness. He had forgotten how badly Forever wanted to see his family again. The look on Richarlyson’s face made it almost impossible to say no. He shook his head and dragged his hand down his face.
“Fine,” Cellbit muttered, “But this is a dumb idea, Forever. I am warning you.”
Forever and Richarlyson both cheered and began raising their hands in excitement. Cellbit huffed, but smiled at the two.
“Go start the car, dumbass.”
Forever nodded and ran over to the hidden car, pulling the car keys out of his pocket. He set Richas down next to him carefully and then opened the car door for him. Cellbit began to walk towards them as well, going around the car to the passenger seat in the front.
The blonde man was usually the one who drove due to the fact Cellbit would get too jittery and nervous when on the road.
“You good to go, Richas?” Cellbit turned around, asking the younger boy sincerely.
“I’m good, Cellbo.” Richarlyson said, bluntly. Cellbit blinked at the name. Usually, Richas would call him Pai or Papai, but it seemed he was trying to get snappy with him. Cellbit was a grown man though, he wouldn’t let his nine-year-old son get under his skin.
But, he did feel a little sad.
“Richas, don’t disrespect your dad. It’s rude!” Forever scolded, looking at him through the rearview mirror. He didn’t scold him any further though as he turned the car on, and it came alive with a bursting roar.
“It’s fine, Forever.” Cellbit muttered, “If he wants to be a baby then he can be a baby.”
Cellbit didn’t want to be fighting with his son. He loved Richarlyson to bits, but he needed to find a way to lecture him and stop him from being immature. With Forever’s constant coddling, it only made it harder for Cellbit.
The rest of the drive was peaceful, albeit quiet. Nobody spoke, simply enjoying the sound of the working motor. The wheels on the hard asphalt in a dead town seemed to resonate throughout the neighborhood.
Richarlyson had fallen asleep rather quickly, only thirty minutes into the drive. He really was a baby, Cellbit thought endearingly. Forever was focusing on the road, wondering if he was taking the right route.
The man was almost glad that nothing too exciting was happening.
“Forever,” Cellbit muttered, seemingly half asleep as well.
“Mm?” Forever hummed, “Yes, Cellbo?”
“Eu te amo,” Cellbit replied, truthfully and earnestly, “I don’t say it a lot, but thank you for everything. You’ve helped me so much, and if I was going to be stuck in a Hell for this long, I’m glad it was you and Richas that I was stuck with.”
Forever turned to look at him, with his eyes widened and jaw slightly ajar. His eyes quickly went from surprised to glazed as he began to tear up.
“Cellboo!” Forever wailed, “You can’t spring that stuff on me, man! I’m driving here!” He sniffled, still crying.
“Focus on the road, idiot.”
“I am! I am! I swear to you.” Forever sniffed even harder, “Cellbo, I love you too! You’re like my weird brother sometimes that I have to drag out of the house, but I love you because of that. I know we’ve both been on edge, but I know you’re trying your hardest-”
Forever didn’t get to finish, because a rock was thrown at the car window. Both Cellbit and Forever froze, Forever stopped the vehicle trying to see who had thrown the rock or what had tried to hurt them. The shatter of the car window had awoken Richarlyson who looked distressed and frightened.
It happened far too quickly. A group of people surrounded the car, all dressed in white attire with matching masks. They all wore white suits, khakis, ties, and a prominent white bear mask.
“Pai?” Richarlyson whispered, “O que está acontecendo?”
“I don’t know what’s happening, Richas.” Cellbit muttered, “Come here, now.”
Richarlyson quickly crawled to the front seat, sitting on Cellbit’s lap and clinging on to his dad with fear.
“Forever,” Cellbit whispered harshly, “What the fuck do we do?”
The people only began to get closer, and they made sure to make it known they had weapons on them. Cellbit turned to look at Forever, very much panicked and anxious, but Forever only glared harshly at the people surrounding the vehicle.
“Listen to what they say, do not freak out.” The blond man steadied his breathing, “They have more people and stronger weapons, we can’t fight them.”
Cellbit swallowed, but nodded at the man. Forever rolled down the window and he looked up to one of the figures approaching the car.
“What do you want?” Forever spat.
The person didn’t speak, instead, he held up a piece of paper.
Come with us, please.
“What?” Forever raised an eyebrow, “Why would we do that? How do we know you won’t hurt us?”
The figure looked down at Forever, more menacing and irritated. This time he held up a different paper.
We won’t hurt you. Promise :)
Forever contemplated his decision, unsure of what to do in a situation like this. There was no way he and Cellbit could possibly fight all of these guys. He looked over to Cellbit and Richarlyson who both looked terrified.
“Stand up, and get out of the car.” Forever demanded, “Não solte o Richarlyson.” He whispered, hoping none of the other people surrounding their car knew Portuguese.
Forever exited the vehicle, with his hands up and no weapon in sight. This clearly pleased the people in white as they began to nod approvingly. Cellbit followed soon after with Richarlyson close to his chest.
The child in Cellbit’s arms had attracted the attention of the people around them, but nobody spoke nor commented on it.
The same person who had held up the papers, lifted up another paper. It was the same one as before with the same sentence.
Come with us, please.
Forever looked around, looking for an open spot where they could run. The group was staring at him expectedly and he began to nod slowly. They all marched in a circle, surrounding them to make sure they couldn’t get away.
But this only opened their opportunities as there were openings for them to run.
Forever got very close to Cellbit.
“Corra para a esquerda.” He muttered, knowing the man heard him, “Em três segundos.”
Run towards the left in three seconds.
Cellbit didn’t need to be told twice, he began to count in his head and he watched as Forever began to quickly sprint. Their running seemed to have stunned the group for a second as they started to watch the men run.
It didn’t take long for them to begin to run as well, and they were fast. Faster than them.
“Cellbo!” Forever shouted, as he realized that carrying Richarlyson was slowing him down.
One of the men in white managed to catch up to Cellbit and then revealed a crowbar. Forever didn’t warn Cellbit on time because he was quickly hit over the head harshly with the crowbar. It immediately made the man stutter and he failed to keep himself steady.
Cellbit’s head began to bleed, it poured onto his face streaming down to his neck. Richarlyson was released from Cellbit’s hold and he ran up to where Forever was, timidly hiding behind the man.
The blood had made Forever see pure red.
He pulled out his own weapon, a long machete and ran towards the man who had hit Cellbit and sliced him across the chest. Although it didn’t kill him, it made him fall to his knees in pain. Forever quickly got down to put Cellbit’s arm over his shoulder and he began to run with Richarlyson close behind.
“Richas!” Forever shouted, “Cellbit! He isn’t going to wake up soon!”
“How do we wake him up?!” Richarlyson asked, clearly panicked by the statement.
“We can’t!” The blonde man shook his head, “You two need to hide while I distract them!”
“No!”
“I need you to trust me, Richas!” His father pleaded, “I need you to trust that I’ll come back for you!”
Richarlyson looked at Forever with pleading eyes, but his statement was final.
Forever and Richas began to make their way through a neighborhood littered with cars and trash. The neighborhood was easy to navigate as there were many hiding spots, but the group was close behind.
They quickly ran into one of the homes and locked the door. Richarlyson began to barricade the window, back door, and even the front door before Forever stopped him.
“Richas,” Forever put his hand on Richarlyson’s shoulder, “They’re going to find us and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
He looked at the boy with tears in his eyes.
“No! No!” Richas cried, “There has to be another way!”
“I can distract them, Richas.” The man cried, “I promise you I will come back. I will do everything in my power to come back to you one way or another, but I need you to trust me right now.”
Forever got on one knee, and brought the boy into a soul-crushing hug before kissing his forehead softly. He held out a pinky and offered it to the younger boy who was still crying.
“I left Pai Cellbit in one of the rooms upstairs, there was a closet in there.” He whispered, “I want you to hide in that closet, okay?”
“Okay, Pai.”
“Be nice to him while I’m gone.”
“Okay, Pai.” Richas sniffled, seeming dejected.
Forever pulled a pained expression, but quickly snapped out of it and began to open the door quietly. The blonde man wished he didn’t have to do this, but he’d do anything he could if it meant protecting those dear to him, especially his family.
Forever closed the door behind him, as Richarlyson watched another one of his fathers disappear.
TAPE 1: IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT
