"...ke u.."
"...ake up! Rich.."
"Wake up Richar... oufftt!."
My eyes widened while I clocked the person in my dark bunk room with a right jab thinking that it was some kind of assault towards me. Well, it wasn't a jab with good posture but damn! I think I strained my back doing that punch while lying down. "Fuck!" I groaned. I shot up readying my bare knuckles for a fight even if the room was a bit dark and my eyes were still adjusting in the darkness. If they think they can just sham-shod me while asleep, fuck them! I ain't going down without a fight!
"Come on!" I shouted. "Yeah.. Yeah.. I gotcha. Fuck! I think you broke my nose!" said the person lying down on the floor of my room. I ran towards the light and turned it on ready for a fight.
"Bennie?" I said. "Why the fuck did you woke me up so suddenly! My heart went from 0 to 120! Fuck, you almost gave me a heart attack. Wait, you actually did!" I stated while panting. Steadying my breathing by taking deep breaths I helped Bennie up his feet.
Still pinching his bleeding nose he staggered up to his feet holding onto my shoulder he said " You hit like a motherfucker you know that?" he claimed. "Sucks to be you," I replied. "What the hell dude? Why did you wake me up like.." I asked while looking at my watch. ".. 2:30 in the morning?".
He sat up straight while wiping his blooded nose with a tissue on my mini table. " Do you trust me?" he asked. I looked him in the eye and replied "Yes Bennie I do. You've been like a brother to me ever since we were kids. We always have each other's backs."
"We need to leave. Like right now. Remember our gaming sessions? All those protocols we like to mimic like military men, must and will apply." he said. "We are not military but we both agree is efficient and mostly cool yeah?" He stated.
"Gotcha. Oh right. Rog. Should I call you with your favorite call sign then?" I asked. "Yeah," he smirked. "Roger that Big Ben. So what's actually happening?" I asked.
There are a ton of questions running through my mind right now. But I always sum it up to what, when, and where, why and how? Simplifying problems is the basis of life. Removing all unnecessary information to derive the simplest questions so that the simplest solution can be found. I was always this way. the brains of our dynamic duo so to speak. Bennie's the brawn. You need some shit done he's your man but working out the kinks? The loopholes. The simplest solutions to complex problems. That's my job. When he agrees to do something, I'm the one to disagree even if I know I will lose the argument, and vice versa. This way we both cover each other's blind spots. This has always been our combo. Our bread and butter. No one I mean no one fits my personality as him. Some tried but there is always the disconnect. That's why we play online games so well. That's why we treat each other like brothers. Faithful to each other to the end. Hell maybe even find brides to be at the same time but I digress. Now is not the time for fantasizing.
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
He stood up and went out of the door saying "Alright Richie. We must leave. Right fucking now." I stood up following him to the door while checking my phone. No connection. "That's weird," I said questioningly. "No internet connection?" he asked. "Yeah," I answered. "I got an idea why but I'll explain on the way outside," he replied. We jogged down the concrete hallway almost 400 meters long with sideway entrances obscuring a bit of our path. The worker quarters or bunk rooms as I would like to call it is located 3 floors down from the front entrance of the mesa. The mesa where we work provides the electricity to the nearby border town a few kilometers down the river. The mesa according to our contract is 4 floors deep from the waterfall to the ground. They said it was an investment to stem the water to a viable newly established port near the border town. It was as if it was an establishment to provide life to a rather desolate space near the river to the sea.
After the mesa was built. A conglomerate of immigrants applied for a new life. Who wouldn't right? New town, new commerce, new people to meet, fewer competitions and yeah I'm also talking about the babes. Of all the craziness of the state of the world is in right now? Who wouldn't jump on the opportunity? Nearly 20,000 people applied from various invitations of the company and nearly 300,000 people at the end of those said slots. Do you think it's a bit high number of applicants but considering the space needed to be occupied and the work required to make a town working? It's a good number. That is when I and Bennie were hired out of college. Less competition and higher pay. Not only that it's quite peaceful here, to be honest.
Bennie slowed his pace in front of me saying "Whatever you'll see in the next few hours keep in mind that we are a duo. You're my battle buddy. You cover my ass and not someone else okay? Like we always do. If you see something weird, keep your eyes on my butt and stick to it like a goddamn peanut butter to a sandwich. Got it?" he stated.
I was about to quip my comeback when the fluorescent lights began to flicker. It's still quiet because people are still asleep in their bunkrooms but people have night shifts so I was wondering why the lights would flicker. We were at an electricity facility for crying out loud and *BAM*. A heavy click and power down sounded throughout the facility,
It was so dark I couldn't even see my hands. A few seconds later red emergency lights flooded our eyes. We both knew and understood without saying a word. We need to get the fuck out ASAP.