Written by: Talon Harvilicz
Chapter 3: Hell on Earth
It was hard to kill a Third, Quatre learned that personally himself. Humans knew better ways of killing a Third. He wished a human would kill him.
He laid on his back, staring up at the ceiling. The room was silent, except for the usual rudeness of the noise outside. His apartment was located in not the best neighborhood out there, but at least it was something. He knew how to defend himself. No human would scare him and no human would hurt him.
He sighed and turned his head to the television that ran with the sound off. The hopeful next President Une was on the television doing another one of her idiotic speeches again. No Third liked her. She was against the Thirds, and instead of them being slaves, she wanted them destroyed. Quatre squinted an eye at her, and picked up the remote control from the floor, growing curious what she had to say this time. He turned up the volume a bit to listen.
"...threats to our economy must be distinguished, and we ourselves must rely on ourselves. The Thirds are draining our lush economy. Over the years, they had taken our jobs, the love of our children, and the representation of our county. We must distinguish them before they harm us even further. One day when you least suspect it, they will start a revolution, and all humanity will be in danger..."
"Bitch," Quatre muttered. "You bitch. You don't understand Thirds." He turned his head away. "I wish there really would be a revolution---no a war. Then you'll see what Thirds are made of."
There was a shatter of glass below his apartment that stopped him from saying anything else.
"Fucking Thirds," a man shouted. "Une for President!" The man laughed.
Quatre sighed. "I really wish there was a war."
Seconds later, his glass window shattered. A brick came hurtling into his room, and crashed to the ground. Quatre jolted upright on his bed. He sneered at the outside. He had never seen the neighborhood so rowdy. He even heard a woman screaming.
Quatre shook his head. "I need to get out of here." He better or the humans would start targeting him. He got up, slipped his jacket on, and left, but not the direction of the front door, that would be a bad idea.
Things were looking bad. Something strange about this night triggered a spark from the humans to start rioting and targeting Thirds. Une, he thought. It had to be Une. Her speech stirred up something. That fear of a revolution and taking advantage of their county scared them. What a bunch of bull. He didn't want their stupid county or their economy; he just wanted to be treated equally. He wanted to be treated like a human, like his new owner did, like most of the people at the office in the Criminal Justice Bureau did.
The police sirens were off. Quatre kept moving with the traffic on his motorcycle to avoid any trouble. While waiting at a stoplight, he looked over to see a crowd gathered at a sidewalk. He watched a second, noticing a black-haired female Third sitting on the ground in the middle of it. He saw one man had a chain leash attached to her collar. A leash! That display of pure slavery was biting at him, playing with his emotions. It made him angry and upset. The group laughed, and the man with the end of the chain yanked on her. There were tears in her eyes.
Quatre leapt off of his motorcycle, letting it collapse to its side, as he bolted through the crowd, to the female Third. He leapt in front of her.
"Leave her alone!" he shouted at the crowd. He glared at the man with the leash. Quatre helped the female to her feet, and unhooked the chain from her collar. She held onto him for protection as he glared at the group of humans. Some of them were armed.
He backed up, watching himself where he stepped just in case a human decided to attack. "Come on," he said to her. "Run!" He bolted to the side, with the female Third staying close by him. He shouldered a few humans aside as he made his way back to his motorcycle. He picked it up from the ground, and mounted on it with the engine still running. The female sat behind him. He revved the engine, and took off before the gang of humans could attack them. He dodged traffic, speeding more than he should. He came perilously close to getting hit by a car, but he swerved out of the way to avoid it.
He went on, until he came to a more quieter spot in the city. He stopped by a sidewalk, and looked back at the beautiful Third behind him.
"Are you alright? You should be safe here."
She nodded to him. "Thank you." She stepped off of his motorcycle, but didn't turn her back. She faced him, her features remaining stressed, until he pulled his sunglasses from under his jacket, placed them on his face, and drove off.
Quatre walked through the quietest spot in the city, his favorite place to go when he needed time alone---the park. At night, mostly with nights like this, when no one was around, he could walk about freely without being hassled. The park was nearly deserted this night, with most of the chaos happening in the heart of the city. No couples were walking, no male gangs were roaming, and no children were trying to spare more time into their deadline.
From under his sunglasses, he learned that the humans were destroying Thirds, premature to Une's election. The humans for her cause wanted their destruction now.
Did the humans ever think of the feelings of others? It seemed to him humans cared about nothing but themselves. They were superior while everything else remained inferior.
Something struck him. It struck him like electric, causing him to stop in his tracks. From under his sunglasses, he heard a familiar voice, and briefly a familiar face. The visage went into static seconds later after he saw it. It was his old friend, Rashid.
What is it? Quatre said to him through Third communication, similar to telepathy.
It's been a long time, Quatre, Rashid answered. Tonight, I must say good-bye to you again.
Good-bye? Quatre asked. What's going on Rashid? Tell me, tell me, please.
You must leave the city before it's too late, Rashid said. A Third is no longer safe here. I am no longer safe. Run Quatre. They will do to you what they're doing to me. You deserve to live. You are a special Third, so different from your sisters. You have a spirit so rare that needs to live on. Don't waste it by staying here. Go.
Rashid?
Go...
He was fading. He was dying. Tears began to stream from his eyes, down onto his cheeks.
G-Good-bye Rashid, Quatre said. I-I love you. You were my best friend. I'll never forget you.
Rashid was gone. Quatre collapsed onto a nearby bench, sitting on it with a drop. He ducked his head, leaving his sunglasses on his face. He heard silence after that. The tears humans programed into him continued to stream gently over his cheeks. Why did they have to give him emotions? It made him too human, and being human was something he didn't want to be. They were cruel and selfish.
He sat there, alone. He didn't move for several minutes, until something approached him.
"Hey, are you okay?" came a light voice.
Quatre lifted his head to see a blonde-haired little girl standing in front of him. He stared at her. She was human.
"Why are you crying?" the little girl asked.
"Because," he said. "There's nothing I can do. I'm only one. I can't fight back."
"Don't you have friends?"
Friends. That's right. "Do me a favor little miss," he said. She looked at him curiously. "Whatever you do, as you grow up, don't hate anyone. No matter how they look or why they are, don't hate them. Always think of them first, instead of yourself."
She smiled. "Okay! I'm always nice to everyone."
He smiled weakly back. "Stay that way, okay?"
She hopped once on her toes. "I will."
"Cindy, get away from that Third." a woman called. He lifted his head to see a woman nearby. "Come on."
The little girl grinned at him before turning and trotting over to her mother. Together, the two left him.
Quatre sat up straighter. If people like her existed, then maybe life was worth living. But of course, she was a child. Children knew the truth, they were innocent. Before teachings from adults, people were people, and prejudice didn't exist.
Quatre stood up and walked off. He walked to a tree, not knowing where else to go. He took a moment to begin to decide his fate. Stay and die, or leave and visit friends he knew.
Nearby, he felt someone in the shadows. He turned.
"Come here to beat me?" he said. "Just like the other humans want to do?"
The hidden person was the detective he met three days ago. He stepped out. "No. I see that you made it out of that fall alive."
"Of course," he said. "It takes more than a fall to kill a Third."
"I know."
"What do you want anyway? Why are you following me around? I don't want to talk with you if that's it! I'm not in the mood, okay? In fact, I should take some of my dying friend's advise and leave! Stay away from me. I'm not going to trust any human ever again!" Tears were returning. "Go away, go beat and burn some more Thirds if that makes you humans feel more superior! Fucking human, how do you like it? Like you know how it feels to be a slave!" He pulled at the ring on the center of his collar. "You know what this is? You made this. Because of you humans, you made my life a living hell. You made that." He pointed to the city end. "If you want me out of your life, fine, fuck you! You'll never have to see me again." He stormed off, leaving Detective Barton without a word in return. He left the park, for his apartment, to leave the city forever. He mounted his motorcycle and followed the road.
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