(Libertatem 1, 59 / 6:30AM)

His lower body thrusted itself forward.

With his upper body and head going along with it, the motion and blur only enlarged his pupils, as even basic shapes and objects in front of him were inverted in width. He rubbed his eyes with the knuckles of his pointer fingers. Water trickled onto his hand, his own created tears salted his dried-up hands that drank it like sand in the desert.

(Luna) You’re awake.

Ceasing his rubbing eyes, his lower waist received a colossal bear hug that could only be given by someone with immense strength. Unable to turn his body, he turned his head to the right of him to see the said person.

Which was a person with honey-tanned skin and dark brown eyes, with her short bobbed hair barely reaching her shoulders.

(Luke) H-How long was I out?

(Luna) Long enough.

(Luke) But … that doesn’t explain-

(Luna) Just be quiet.

Shutting his mouth, Luke pinned the back of his head against the wall of the industrial building.

As the two heard footsteps, they turned to see Hope walking toward them. Her eyes were only half open and blood flowed out of her nose, along with her feet barely able to keep her body straight. Hope tilted her face downward as she extended her right hand onto Luna.

(Luna) What are you—

By merely touching her head, the friction between negative and positive soon shocked both of them.

Gawking her head open, her body twitched as the electrical current traversed through every part of her body. Letting go of Luke’s body which soon started to twitch the same as hers, Luna curled her hands into fists as she pushed her body upward.

(Luna) You bitch!

(Hope) Hahaha…T-T-Try to get … m-me!

(Luke) Luna, don’t.

Placing his right hand on her right shoulder, Luke gripped the contents of her leather jacket as he dug his fingers into it. By placing a tight hold on her shoulder, Luna turned her head back toward the meek-filled young man.

(Luke) She’s exhausted from healing Miles. She’s in a drunken state.

(Luna) … whatever.

Brushing off his hand, Luna walked toward the rest of everybody who shrugged off the excess dirt and stone that got into their cargo pants or jackets. With everyone seeming to be in one piece, a sense of relief washed over Luke as he exhaled a breath of air out of his pink lungs.

Next to him, Hope took a step right next to him, making Luke place his left hand on the back of his head as he rubbed it.

(Luke) Thanks for healing Miles during the flames. Without that, we would’ve all been dead.

(Hope) Sssshhh.

Her shyness completely gone by the drunken state that she’s in, she placed her pointer finger onto the center of Luke’s chapped lips. Keeping her head down, a slight giggle came out of her mouth as she slowly lifted her head upward.

(Hope) Did I do great?

(Luke) Uh… a-absolutely … Do you want another compliment?

(Hope) No silly. Do you want to hear a compliment?

(Luke) Uh...

Her face was now on the same level as Luke’s, her eyes gleaming and filled with joy as she lit up a bright smile that reached toward the height of her nose.

Putting both of her hands up in the air, she had her palms opened upwards as she arched her back. By having both of her wobbling legs be held onto the lukewarm cement that made her boots squeak, she slightly tumbled to the left as she opened her mouth.

(Hope) You looked a lot like a hero!

Putting both of her hands down toward her face, she covered her mouth as small intervals of giggles came out in a repeated pattern.

By just her giggles alone, his entire face was soon blustered into a flustering frenzy as he took many steps back onto the wall behind him. Lowering his left hand so that he could rub his neck and lower left cheek, he looked down at the ground as he avoided eye contact with the giggling woman.

Unable to speak, the sounds of a helicopter's blades can be heard.

(Jack) How’s it going, you lovebirds?

Jack jumped onto the black slightly melted asphalt that was not blocked by the large building. Seeing that everyone was huddled up in there, especially a young man and woman in front of the alleyway, Jack placed both of his hands onto his sides as he tilted his head to the right.

Because of this, Luke turned his head away from both Hope and Jack, as he puckered up his lips into his mouth. As for Hope, she waved at the well-groomed man as she slightly stumbled to the right.

(Hope) We’re doing great! Didn’t you see Luke?

(Jack) Yeah, he’s a real pro. Imagine if he was in the Survey Corps.

(Hope) The what?

(Jack) Forget what I said. Anyway, tell the others to come out here.

Hope turned her sluggish body backward to see that everyone was still talking and wobbling their feet like crazy, along with everyone seeming to barely be able to get up from the state they were all in. Clasping both of her hands, she closed her eyes as she cleared her throat.

As she hunched her body forward, waving her hands around in the air.

(Jack’s thoughts) Cute.

(Hope) Everyone come quick! Jack’s here!

Everyone turned toward the direction of the young woman with blue eyes and blonde hair, along with the well-groomed man who waited for them outside the alley.

Walking slowly, a trail of nothing but soldiers clumped and thumped the stone ground that was beneath their boots. As most of them walked out of the alleyway, they witnessed the still-darkened sky that was blocked by the now blackish smoke. The tint of red being completely gone, cleaned, wiped off the face of Terra, everyone looked to see that hell itself started to erode.

(Boris) We all made it.

An imaginary violin swelled the air around them.

With the morning sky still being blocked by the stubborn black clouds from above, everyone ignored the massive crater that was formed by the giant creature’s last blow. The heat from the crater itself blowing against their dirtied faces that were smudged with dirt and dust, they continued to look far to the east side of the city.

(Jack) Sucks that the clouds are blocking the sun.

(Luke) At least we don’t have to worry about getting killed.

(Jack) True.

As they all stared into the east where the sun was supposed to be shining, all of them perked their ears up to the sound of cars and jeeps rolling through the debris-ridden asphalt.

Seeing only a few jeeps worth of soldiers stopping behind them, the engines of the roaring automobiles soon ceased, along with the headlights closing down on themselves. The jeep doors swayed wide open, allowing dozens of soldiers to stomp down onto the street that burned the soles of their boots.

Luke straightened his back as well as taking in an abundance of air inside his body, keeping the air in as he soon let it out.

(Luke) Guys!

In front of him was none other than a shark-human, a teenage girl, four agents, a man wearing a cowboy hat, and a monolid woman.

As David led the others from behind, he put both of his hands inside his pockets as he tilted his hat up. Looking behind to see that he had the entire group behind him, David clunked his black leather cowboy boots as the soles started to steam from the darkened asphalt.

Allowing his eyes to be seen, he was face to face with Luke as both of them stood at equal height.

(David) You did good, kid. I knew Boris saw something in you.

(Luke) Well, I wouldn’t have done it if it weren’t for Luna, Jack, Hope, Miles … and the rest of everyone all together.

(David) Still though. These last couple of hours have been pretty tiring for all of us. I suppose that a good nap would get us all back into shape.

(Jack) Yeah, it’s like The Array all over again…

Luke and a few others let out a couple of soft chuckles as they remembered their first time trying their hardest to survive, as Luke scratched the top of his head with his left hand. Still having his head up, he turned his attention toward the others who had smiles and laughs on their faces.

But there was someone that they were missing.

Looking around the two groups that connected, Luke swayed his body back and forth as he placed his right hand flat against his eyebrows. Scanning the area from east to west and north to south, he curled his right hand as his fingers dug themselves into his palms.

(Luke) Have you seen Gwen, David?

(David) … Yeah, we managed to find her …

Luke’s breath got caught while he took a step forward, allowing his right hand to be dropped to his side.

His Adam’s apple jumping up and down, his vocal cords collided against themselves as the words that were trapped from within his throat couldn’t come out. Placing his right hand onto his chest, he grabbed his collar with his fingers and he tugged it outward to let out the prisoners of words.

(Luke) W-Where is she?

(David) She’s in one of the jeeps … she’s been hit pretty bad, and she’s still alive, but barely…

(Luke) T-Take me to her.

David tilted his cowboy hat downward while darkening his eyelids at the same time, not allowing Luke or anyone to see through his face. Turning his body the opposite way, he pushed his legs to walk toward the farthest jeep that was in the back of the group of automobiles, his feet on the verge of causing his body to stumble.

Luke and Jack followed suit, with Hope, Luna, and the other dark angel members seeing the two men follow David. Benn, who darkened his eyes, tilted his face downward as both of his hands twitched violently.

(Hope) What is it, Benn?

(Benn) … Gwen’s in the back.

(Luna) Gwen? Is she injured?

(Benn) … it’s not looking good for her.

(Miles) Oh, man …

Despite all of them looking down to the ground below, the Dark Angels slowly pushed themselves to follow the three men who forced their legs to move forward.

Their breathing fastened, their legs wobbling, and the pressure that dawned on top of their backs like golden anvils began to slow down their steps. As for the four young men that watched as the scene unfold, Stan grits the ends of his teeth as he turned his attention toward his friends.

(Stan) Hey, let’s go with them.

(Gary) Wait … are they…?

(Fred) Yeah …

(Diego) Damn…

Boris, Jenny, and Loraine also witnessed everyone that they were close to walking toward the farthest jeep from the group of jeeps. Taking off his fedora hat, he held the top of it with just his chubby fingers as he motioned Jenny and Loraine to get up.

(Boris) Come on Loraine, you too Jenny…

(Jenny) Oh no …

(Loraine) ok…

The only people who didn’t walk to the jeep were Johnny, Elizabeth, Briggs, Alexandra, Eren, and Ada, who all sat down on a huge load of stone and brick. Having their hands grasping the edges of the stone, they all looked down to the ground as their palms began to scrape against the sharp edges.

(Johnny) So one of their own is injured.

(Elizabeth) That sounds horrible … maybe I could—

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

(Agent Ada) Don’t bother, we four all saw her wound…

(Agent Eren) She looks … bad.

Briggs decided to remain quiet as he continued to blankly stare at the concrete in front of him, his eyes analyzing the bits of rock and brick that were in front of his feet. As for Alexandra, she turned her head to see Briggs being fully immersed in the fictional abyss as she couldn’t hear a single hum or noise from his throat.

Slowly, she slid her right hand on top of his, gently holding it down.

Briggs continued to stare into the ground, his hand unretracting to Alexandra’s action.

(David) She’s in here…

Popping out the hood of the trunk, it swung wide open as the entirety of the Dark Angels gathered around to see what lay beyond the—

A mole of white bandages was wrapped around her stomach.

Blood drenching the white bandages, she also had her eyes and mouth barely open as she motioned her head up to see the group of soldiers in front of her. Trying to conjure up a fake smile, the crevices of her lips twitched as her legs wobbled.

(Gwen) H-Hey guys… can you get me out of the jeep?

______________________________________________________________________________

Unable to even walk, her feet dragged against the contents of the ground below and kicked a few rocks from her way.

Having both of her hands wrapping around both Luke and David’s necks, she tilted her head upward as all of them walked east to see the giant crater that lay before them. With no signs of grass or flowers blooming across the lukewarm asphalt that still recovered from the flames from earlier, they all stopped right along the edge of the crater.

(Gwen) Set me down here.

Giving each other a nod, both Luke and David settled Gwen down as she dropped to her knees. With all three of them having their knees on the pavement, Gwen pulled back her right arm that held David’s neck, while continuing to keep Luke’s neck in a hold.

Having her butt on the pavement, she slouched her body as blood started to drip down onto the black asphalt, her bandages already soaked with her blood. Her breathing heavy, she swallowed a heavy substance down her esophagus as it burned its way downward.

(Luke) Gwen…

(Gwen) Don’t worry, it’s just a scratch.

(Luke) But Gwen-

(Gwen) Hey, I said don’t worry. I’ll be alright. But Luke…

His head unable to even look at her freckled face, his right side bang covered his facial expression that Gwen could see through even with her blurry vision. Having her face peered into his hair, her wheezing and raspy breath stung her throat as blood trickled out of her mouth.

Which was already smeared in dry blood.

(Gwen) Can I … just lay my head down on your lap…

Just the tip of his head, Luke nodded at Gwen’s request as he tucked his feet below his legs. Having his right hand around her upper back, he lowered her down as the left side of her head softly came in contact with his barely meaty thighs.

Like a pillow, she turned her head to the right to see a full front view of Luke’s face, his eyes on the verge of tears.

(Gwen) I told you that I’ll be alright okay.

(Luke) You’re not going to make it…

(Gwen) That doesn’t make it the end of the world, right? As long as you’re here along with everyone else, then that makes it okay in my book.

Her own hot and bloodied breath that was mixed with iron reached onto Luke’s quivering face, as his nostrils opened up by the scent of her mouth alone. With gentle ease, he glided his left hand onto her forehead as his left palm felt the burning heat that radiated from her skin.

And with his right hand, he hovered over the bloodied bandage wound that kept whatever blood that wanted to spur out. As she had her own hands motionless on the asphalt, even the feeling of her arms soon began to fade as well.

(Luke) W-What caused you to be like this … who did this to you …

(Gwen) Someone much stronger than me. Or rather someone much smarter than me.

(Luke) Y-You could’ve taken out anyone you wanted right?

(Gwen) …

(Luke) Right?!

(Gwen) Oh, Luke…

A single teardrop rolled down from his right eye.

The cold droplet of what used to be contained and trapped within his eye rolled down his right cheek as it hovered over his jawline. As the droplet of water remained on his skin, his vocals began to jump in intervals that made him seem as if he was choking on something.

Footsteps stomped behind the two of them as the entirety of the Dark Angels gathered around the dying woman, along with the young man who held her dear. Pinning her eyes behind Luke, she noticed the bowl-cut-haired man that darkened his face.

(Gwen) What’s the matter? Finally, showing guilt for once?

(Boris) I didn’t expect this to happen…

(Gwen) No one did.

(Boris) You were our golden child…

(Gwen) Don’t worry, I was planning on leaving for a long time.

Boris titled his head down while placing his other hand onto the hand that held his hat. Having them together, he moved his hat where his crotch was, as he looked the other way while letting out an excess of air from his blackened lungs.

While letting out a raspy cough.

(David) You just had to go above and beyond, did you…

(Gwen) What? And you didn’t.

Same as Boris, David placed his right hand on top of his cowboy hat, taking the brown hat off as he just held it with one hand. Glancing at Jenny and Loraine with pushed-down eyes, he noticed that both of them sniffled and covered their mouths with both of their hands.

Tears dropping down onto the asphalt, David used his left arm to pull Jenny closer to him, and she instantly used her head to nuzzle onto his left shoulder. Staining the area with her tears, Loraine curled up both of her hands as she looked down onto the stone cement.

(Miles) This is bull…

(Gwen) Lighten up, Miles. At least you’ll say goodbye.

(Miles) But who’s going to lead us…?

(Gwen) Don’t worry, I know who.

Miles' eyes reddened as the salted tears that wanted to pour out assaulted both of his irises.

Wiping away the contained tears with his right sleeve, he continued to stare at Gwen who didn’t have a shred of fear or sadness inside of her. Seeing that Gwen is practically just smiling away the fear of death, Miles curled up his left hand and quickly placed it inside his pocket.

(Jack) We’re going to miss you Gwen…

(Gwen) Try to read my mind.

(Gwen’s thoughts) There’s nothing to read in my mind anyway dummy.

Jack turned his body 180 degrees as he placed both of his hands on his sides.

Staring west, a small sniffle came out of his nose as his facial expression wasn’t seen from Gwen’s eyes. Letting out a raspy chuckle, a small stream of blood streamed out from the right corner of her lip, rolling down onto Luke’s left thigh.

Gwen then turned her attention to the two girls who were side by side with each other, both of them being in the back of Luke.

(Gwen) Don’t kill each other for one boy you hear? There are plenty more men just like Luke.

(Luna) S-Shut up…

Instead of an angry growl, Luna placed her right hand onto her left shoulder, rubbing it along her skin as she had her entire face softened from the view below her. Her voice meek and quiet, she avoided eye contact as Gwen continued to let out a cheerful smile.

(Luna) Who am I going to get angry with…?

(Gwen) There’s always Jack. It’s ok if you use him as a punching bag.

(Luna) …

Unable to respond, Luna fidgeted under the heavy stare that Gwen gave her, as Luna put both of her knees onto the asphalt similar to Luke. Hope, who watched Luna be right next to Luke from the right of her, still gave her undivided attention to the freckled woman.

Tears began to roll down from her eyes, hitting the black pavement, causing a small puddle to form underneath.

(Gwen) Sorry, Hope, but the wound is too deep for you to heal. In your state, I’m practically a goner.

(Hope) B-But—

(Gwen) No buts. This is the way it is. This is natural considering what we went through.

Same as Luna, Hope placed both of her knees down on the ground as she slid toward Luke’s left side. Placing her hands on Luke’s left shoulder, she didn’t care that her rival was right next to her, as she glanced at her with rolling tears.

Along with Luna, her jaw clattered against one another followed by her throat pushing down unneeded liquid that tried to go through her nose.

Seeing four men from the back, Gwen cleared her bloodied throat as the dryness from her throat alone parched her vocals.

(Gwen) You four need to get girlfriends you hear!

(Stan) That’s all you’re going to say to us…?

(Gwen) There are more girls other than just Luna and Hope, so don’t get envious of Luke ok?

The four men straightened their backs as they put both of their feet together at the hearing of Gwen’s words. Gulping a huge load of saliva down their throats, Stan, Gary, Diego, and Fred placed their right hands onto the corners of their right eyebrows, their hands angled so that they gave her a proper salute needed for her respect.

(Stan, Gary, Fred, and Diego) Yes ma’am!

Her face flustered a slight red, as she avoided eye contact with the four of them that soon dropped their salute fairly quickly.

Behind Luna and Hope was none other than Benn himself.

Instead of a darkened face or a deep frown face like the others, Benn had his eyes pushed upward with his mouth agape. His eyes twitching, his hands shaking, everything about Benn’s reaction was a complete 180 compared to his old personality.

(Gwen) Benn…

(Benn) Gwen…

(Gwen) Do you have anything to say?

(Benn) … not the right time.

Instead of a chuckle or a soft laugh, the only thing that came out from Gwen was none other than just a sniffle from her red nose. Her vision was blurred by the tears that softened her eyes, she couldn’t even wipe it away as her arms were now gone from death.

Followed by her lower stomach and abdomen starting to shut down as well.

Last but not least, Gwen looked straight at Luke’s teary-eyed face, his tears beginning to drop down onto her freckled face. Still clamping her forehead with his sweat-stained left palm, he soon felt the sudden temperature drop that turned her skin cold.

(Luke) If only … if only—

(Gwen) You did the best you could, you all did.

(Luke) I tried—

(Gwen) At least you tried.

(Luke) Why…?

Luke slouched his shoulders down as her chest began to soften under the touch of his left hand. With his right hand, he glided it across her chest and neck as she couldn’t even register the faintest tickle or touch.

Having it caressed her right cheek, even her face soon began to chill up. Like rubbing with frozen play dough, her face soon began to turn ghostly pale.

(Luke) Why do you expect less of others… I’m not strong, I’m not that fast, I’m just—

(Gwen) A soldier.

(Luke) Why do you replace my words with yours… it’s not going to—

(Gwen) Work, I know. But you did accomplish one thing.

Gwen lit up a faint smile as even her lips began to lose the strength to reach her ears. Her eyes flickering up and down, she slowly pushed her head to the left of her as she faced her head west.

Not looking at Luke, she nuzzled her head more into his lap like a cat trying to make itself go to sleep.

(Gwen) You did become my best soldier.

Unable to breathe, the air that got stuck inside his lungs punched the outer layers of his ribcage. Having his body flinch forward, he hunched himself as two different hands were placed side by side on both of his shoulders.

As the tears that flowed onto Gwen’s face ceased.

(Gwen) And because of that, you’ll be the new commander of the Dark Angels. You’re way smarter than what you take credit for.

(Luke) … But …

(Gwen) No buts … no buts … promise me you won’t die.

He shut his eyes as his eyes took in the dark desolate place of his eyelids, leaving him to keep his eyes in place. Taking in a big deep breath in, his lungs that awaited a fresh breath of air soon expanded outward as the smokey air still clouded the victory that they were bestowed upon.

Opening his eyes, he let out a huge breath as his reddened eyes that were salted by his tears were quickly swept away. White returned to his eyes, he looked toward the morning sky to the east.

(Luke) I promise.

All looked up upon the clouds that soon started to break and tear from the force from the other side.

(Gwen) And lastly, thank you for saving me too. My life would’ve been a bore without you…

Unable to move her head, Gwen’s eyes had one last bit of strength as she kept them still onto the parting sky that dusted the smoke and ash.

The Dark Angels, the four nerds, the agents, the platoon of soldiers; all awaited for what God may give them.

And in what God has given them, was just a kindle of warmth.

A kindle of the rising sun from the east, the very first sunrise.

(Gwen’s thoughts) Wow…

Her body completely drained from death, she stared into the last message of warmth and compassion for what that single star had given her.

The sun warmed their skin, the residue of dirt and dust blanketed the multitude of their skin and clothes. As if the clouds were being vaporized into thin air, despair itself was relinquished off the face of Terra. Taking in one last breath, she inhaled one last breath to her now blackened lungs that returned to their original color.

And in one last swift with her eyelids, she let out her last breath, along with her eyes picturing the burning sun from her grave.

(Gwen’s thoughts) So this is Paradise…

She lit up a warm smile, as she lastly felt the warmth of another soul. As she passed away into the morning air.

Feeling as if he was holding ice, Luke moved both of his hands underneath her corpse as he gently lifted her. Having both of his knees on the ground, he pushed himself upward while carrying Gwen.

Putting one knee down on the ground, he allowed his other leg to stabilize his body under the weight. And with the other knee, he scraped his knee cap along the debris as he had both of his feet flat on the ground. Turning his head and body toward the rest of everyone, Luke grit the back ends of his teeth as he stared at every single one of them.

(Luke) So I guess I’m the new leader now…

(Boris) It was Gwen’s choice, to begin with, so I have no right to intervene.

(Jack) So what now…?

Luke noticed the continuing reddened eyes and sniffling noses that blanketed the clear morning sky. Turning his gaze down onto the warmly smiling corpse that he held with both of his arms, he tightened his hold around her as he paid back the same smile tenfold.

Looking toward Jack specifically, he straightened his back and cleared his throat as he still slightly avoided eye contact with the red-haired man.

(Luke) Well … the first thing that I want to do as a leader is to bury her in a place where she would’ve loved to be.

(Benn) Sunflowers…

Everyone turned their attention onto the shark-human that had his hands motionless to gravity, his eyes peering into the ground beneath him. Not putting any pressure onto his feet, his heels didn’t glue to the lukewarm ground that kissed and slobbered the black leather boots that they all wore.

(Benn) Gwen was raised deep in the Kepputhan Prairies just South of here. She always recalled playing tag with her younger brother in a field of sunflowers, but I always wondered who her younger brother was until yesterday…

Luke slowly walked toward the shark-human that put on a darkened face with just his eyes alone, as everyone took a step back to let Gwen sleep her forever slumber in his arms.

Standing in front of Benn, Luke’s height towered over him as his head blocked the light from hitting his face. Seeing past his right side bang, Benn directed his nervous gaze into the new leader that was right in front of him.

To catch everyone by surprise, Luke pushed her corpse forward so that her ice-cold body tickled Benn’s chest.

(Luke) Can you be the one to bury her?

(Benn) Me?

(Luke) If it’s alright with you.

(Benn) … absolutely Fenix.

With Luke’s face flustering a pinkish red from the display of respect that he was given, Benn wrapped his arms and hands around Gwen as he lightly carried her like paper. Nuzzling her head onto the right side of his chest, Benn cradled her as if she was practically a kid, giving her a useless warmth that wouldn’t even try to bring her back.

And in that very moment, a single tear sprinted out from Benn’s left eye.

Scrunching up his face back to what he was used to, Benn looked upward as Luke had both of his hands on his sides.

(Benn) What now, sir?

(Luke) You know you could just call me Luke, or even Fenix…

(David) But you’re a leader now, son. Being strategic doesn’t make you the best leader, that’s one warning that I want to give you.

(Luke) I know … and thank you guys for being open about that decision.

Turning his head toward the continuing rising sun, the bright blue sky practically dawned upon them as the clouds above gave way to a new beginning.

Or rather the end of the beginning.

Or rather…

(Boris’s thoughts) Guess the culmination of genesis is at its point, huh Joseph?

Folding his arms, Boris put on his black fedora that was bristled with grayish hair that wrinkled his old head.

Turning his head toward the rest of the soldiers and agents who waited for them to make their move, Boris raised his right hand as he got the notice of a blonde-haired agent. The agent, tilting his head up, also raised his right hand as he quickly stood up.

(Boris) You and the rest of the platoon head back to the complex and tell the world that we just won this battle! Tell them who did it!

(Agent Briggs) Sure thing.

As Briggs gathered his agents as well as the other soldiers around, Boris glanced at the sight in front of him, as Luke was swarmed by many of his fellow friends and comrades. Letting out a chuckle as well as a small cough, Boris sniffled his nose a bit as a warm liquid tried to escape.

(Jack) Does this mean that I can laze around all day then?

(Miles) I could drink as much soda as I can now right?

(Stan) Hey relax on him, okay, he’s only been a leader for barely a minute.

(Fred) This means I get to be a wingman huh, sounds pretty cool.

(Gary) What about me?

(Diego) You tried to hurt Luke when you first met.

(Loraine) Hey Luke, can I get away fully when I bully Jenny?

(Jenny) Hey Luke, can you be a dear and give Loraine a suitable punishment for her?

(Luna) I think it’s obvious that I should be a wingwoman for Luke. I’m the strongest.

(Hope) And the smelliest.

Luna growled as she dug her knuckles on top of Hope’s head, rotating them right to left as if she were trying to drill the hole that she left off with.

Putting both of his hands as if he was making a surrender, Luke let out a wry smile as he closed his eyes from the entirety of everyone’s questions and comments.

(Luke’s thoughts) So this is my life now huh…

David remained close to Boris as he put back on his brown cowboy hat on his blackened head. Having his right hand gripping the front of his hat with his fingers, he had his left hand inside his jacket’s pocket as the morning sun continued to trap the heat from within his clothes.

(David) Hey Boris, what do you think lies beyond human’s horizon?

(Boris) Hmm…

(Joseph in Boris’s thoughts) I’ll tell you more about it later. For now, let me just speak with my girlfriend Mary okay?

(Boris) Even I don’t know that question…

In life, everyone goes through hardships.

Some more than others, and some have it worse than others.

Through the stars, through the sunflower fields.

Through the difficulties of managing friends and family.

Through the difficulties of leaving one’s past behind.

Through the difficulties of making a promise that you’ll never get back.

And through the difficulties of being trapped inside of a cage that has an open wide door.

What may lie beyond these sets of individuals, and their hopes and dreams, all lead to one thing that bonded them together…

(Luke’s thoughts) You know what … I guess I’ll never get tired of this … friends that depend on me and for me to depend on them…

Despite everyone around him freely venting or haggling at him like a rich father, Luke let out a soft chuckle while coughing at the same time. Couching just two times, a tiny hint of blood spurted out from those two coughs.

Putting both hands to his sides, his side bang that covered his right eye finally swayed to the back of his ear, fully showcasing both of his eyes.

As he never wanted this haggling and venting to end.