Once we emerged from the basement, we realized we were inside a bar decorated with fluorescent blue neon lights and pitch black walls.
From what I could see, everyone in the building was dressed fashionably in outfits composed mostly of dark leather. Even the man at the bar, he wore a white shirt with a shiny black leather vest and a dark bowtie with thin silver stripes. He was mixing a drink when he saw us pass by. He didn’t say anything, but his eyes just followed us with careful observation.
Almost all the men within the building were wearing boots with spokes and black cowboy hats—a few even had glowing bandanas of various colors hanging from their necks or covering their mouths. It seemed that the restaurant had a consistent theme of futuristic cowboys or something.
Or at least that’s what I thought, until we got outside.
Outside, the theme continued.
The sky was a deep impenetrable black, except for the white twinkling stars sprinkled throughout it like scattered diamonds. The moon was tinged with an electric-blue hue that casted an ethereal glow over the land.
The city stretched endlessly before me, packed full with towering buildings that resembled the types used at Town Square in New York. Animated giant billboards hung from the buildings, blaring through the darkness with bright ads and captioned shows.
The ground beneath us was a sidewalk made of solid concrete, but the area where the roads should have been, was instead replaced with lush green grass. The square was filled with men and women who criss-crossed between us holding bubbly conversations—all of them were dressed in dark clothes with a modernized spin on old western fashion. And instead of lamp posts or sunlight, the city was lit up by brilliant strips of neon lights which adorned the corners of every building and walkway, bathing everything in a futuristic glow.
Shua and Abdul must have seen the stupid look on my face, because they both looked at me with shit-eating grins.
“Welcome to New Egypt, my friend.” Abdul said, gesturing around him.
“It’s quite different here compared to the surface world, isn’t it?” Shua said.
“That’s one way of putting it…”
I was wondering why there was grass instead of roads, but as I looked down the path, I got my answer.
A few blobs of light strutted down the lush green, as they got closer I realized the lights were men and women atop sleek black horses. The horses were decorated in personalized fluorescent strips of light and cloth—some even had shimmering headgear. It seemed to be some sort of status symbol, or at least that’s how I took it. They were decorated in the same way that someone might decorate their car or style themselves to make a statement to others.
I remembered to close my jaw. Looking at Shua’s colorful-ass poncho made me realize how sorely out of place we were here. Our clothing made us stick out like a baby in a haystack, and based on what Abdul said, the deputies would be closing in at any moment.
And any moment, they did.
It hadn’t been two minutes since we left the bar when an angry handful of deputies stormed down the square in their neon-striped horses and glowing uniforms. Abdul ran forward with his hands in the air.
“My good sirs! I—”
“GET ON THE GROUND!” a deputy roared.
The first one was a man with a thick mustache and a pulsating green badge who hopped down from his horse and stomped over.
“Sir! I’m only—”
“ON THE GROUND NOW!”
Abdul fell shakily to his knees as the other deputies filed in. Their batons ajar. Unfortunately, they weren’t as talkative as Abdul hoped.
The first one delivered a hefty swing that crashed into Abdul’s rib.
“Deputies! We come peace!” he grunted through gritted teeth.
The deputy hammered his fist into Abdul’s jaw. He whimpered, slamming to the ground as the other struck him again.
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“UNLAWFUL ENTRY IS PUNISHABLE BY DEATH!”
Me and Shua stepped back as the other deputies set their eyes on us. I nudged Shua behind me and flashed the Windchaser.
“NO!” Abdul begged, lifting his hand to me, “You mustn’t fight!”
“Yeah, you must be fucking insane!” I snarled.
The baton cracked against Abdul’s back, he thumped to his stomach.
“The boy will die, Daymond!” he gurgled. “They will only incapacitate!”
More deputies ran towards us. I glanced back at Shua, who for the first time looked like a scared little kid. His lips trembled as he pressed them tightly together. He clenched bundles of my shirt in his fists as he pulled himself close to my back.
A deputy yanked me away from him. I tripped to the floor as another dove and tackled Shua.
I covered my head with my arms. They struck me with their baton before pressing my face into the sidewalk and driving their boots into my ribs, one after the other.
I watched Shua. He yelped as a deputy bashed him, and blood flowed from an open wound on his temple.
“Stop!” I screamed.
Shua pushed against him.
“You little shit!” the deputy yelled. Another dragged him to his feet and swung into Shua’s soft stomach.
“AGGHH!”
He painfully collapsed to his knees as they struck the back of his neck.
“Please!” Abdul pleaded. “Not the boy! I beg you!”
The deputies ignored him. Another fist collided with Shua’s head, he fell limply. They kicked him as he winced and curled in anguish.
“Get off him!” I demanded, thrashing at the two deputies above me.
Everyone in the street had stopped, silently spectating as Shua cried out. Another swift kick struck his forehead, his eyes clenched tightly as he struggled on the ground. One held him down as the other pounded frustration into his abdomen.
My head grew hot, “I said get off!” I thundered.
The deputy grabbed Shua by his neck and pulled him closer, prepping his fist for another strike.
“Shield Break!”
The shield exploded around me, sending the deputies on top of me soaring.
I flashed the Windchaser and whipped air at the deputies on Shua, flinging them into the street like tumbleweeds.
“The hell?!” The deputy jumped off Abdul, rushing toward me. I whipped an air current at him, slamming him into a nearby spectator.
The deputies grumbled as they struggled to lift themselves from the ground.
“What in the hell is that?!” a deputy slurred.
“It don’t matter! Kill him!”
The deputies reached for their holsters as Abdul ran and grabbed hold of me.
“STOP! EVERYBODY PLEASE!”
The deputies winced as they laboriously clambered to stand. I pushed off from Abdul and ran to Shua, lifting him up. He appeared dazed, but somehow still conscious.
The old man panted, wiping the blood streaking from his nostrils, “You say our entry to New Egypt was unauthorized. The law dictates that any who are guilty of such offenses shall be executed—that, I am fully aware. But I also am aware that New Egypt is a place of law, and the law dictates that the sheriff must authorize such an execution, as long as the suspects agree to go before him peacefully.”
“Shove it up your ass!” the deputy spat, gripping his shoulder. “The law also says lethal force can be used when necessary!”
“Here it is not necessary. With all surrounding civilians as our witness, I declare that we pose you no further threat!”
“The boys you’re with attacked us!”
“Which is also punishable by death. I understand! But my friend had no lethal intent, and is willing to go before the sheriff peacefully with no further incident.”
The deputies face twisted into a nasty scowl.
“Please! There is no need to instigate this matter further amongst all these people!”
The deputy’s eyes glided across the growing crowd before dismissing them. He unholstered his revolver, aiming it at me and Shua. His eyes locked onto mine with his devious smile displaying a cracked tooth.
“You may be good with words, old man. But if judgment is what you seek, the sheriff will have to judge your corpses… I’m sure he’ll understand.”
Abdul’s eyes snapped open, he fell to his knees, “Deputy, please—!”
The man blasted five rounds that cut through the dense silence.
I held out my arm, “Shield.”
The shots rippled across my barrier like pebbles against a pond.
Dink. Dink. Dink. Dink. Dink.
The deputy's expression tensed as he rustled back, the corners of his lips twitched nervously, “What in the Sam Hill…?” he whispered.
The deputies all looked around at each other anxiously, their hands still perched on their holsters. Abdul was right there with them, his eyes wide. I glanced back at Shua, a faint smile danced across his lips.
The silence was deafening as the deputies awaited for someone to give a command.
Abdul showed his palms in a placating gesture, slowly advancing, “Just take us with you, sir. No further actions need to be shown here.”
The deputy tongued his cheek before lifting his hat to slick back his hair, before putting it right back on. He slowly strolled over to his horse, looking over the other deputies faces before sluggishly heaving himself up to the mount.
“Load up the suspects,” he said quickly, as if ripping off a bandaid. He refused to look back at us or the other deputies as he tightened his hands around the horse's reins.
After a few quiet moments, the other deputies grabbed our arms before locking us in cuffs and shuffling us to their horses.