Containment in Skyscrapers - Chapter 7

[tankicola 111]

Chapter seven

Ten days after containment

 

Justin’s new totalitarian regime over Skyscrapers was now met by weekly protests. Justin could not see any hope in forcing the public to remain calm, so started using the preponderance of law-abiding citizens to tempt protesters into obeying. “Law-abiding citizens,” said a harassed Justin one day, after a particularly tiring clash with protesters,  “Will always reap a reward in the end, be it amenities to their allocated place of refuge, or extra provisions. Please remember that we are all in this together.”

 

Bill was lying on a stretcher. Redman and Rose were shooting worried and nervous looks at his figure every few minutes. Rose was flipping feverishly through a copy of the newly quotidian edition of ‘The Guard’.  

“When is Justin going to announce what happened last night?” asked Rose. 

“Well, he said today, but he didn’t expect this many people to be protesting,” replied Redman nonchalantly. “You do need to read The Guard properly, Rose.”

“I do,” said Rose.

Redman looked skeptical. 

“Redman!” said Justin, running out of nowhere. “Didn’t I say specifically that everyone should be in the SMH by nine? I said it in the guard! You need to read it properly, Redman!”

 

Redman looked most morose when he took his seat next to a smug Rose. He barked huffily at Cherry for looking at him. “Right, quiet!” yelled Justin, from his high seat. 

There was silence. “As some of you might have already heard,” he glared pointedly at General Reeves, “There was an attack yesterday night.”

There were murmurs from the crowd. 

“This has confirmed our fears. We need to evacuate many of you out of skyscrapers. Spies have been brought into Skyscrapers in the form of robots. Do not panic, for we have a way of testing you. We will need to do that before you leave. Our telecommunications system has been implemented to an advancement to code red procedure. Atra has already been alerted of the imminent threat of open warfare in Skyscrapers. They will be here by evening. You have two hours to gather things and go down to sector five of the Skyscrapers Military Ground. There we will let people who have tested negative go. Your time starts now."

 

Redman was going around skyscrapers, checking on homes and people, so the group of recruits were left to Rose. They had all been given a tag number and been tested. As she made them gather their things, red lights flashed through the air. This did not disturb Rose, who seemed to be well informed of the procedure. Then there was a loud siren, and a voice said: “You have thirty more minutes to gather relatives, things, and get to sector five of the SMG. Those who are untested within this period cannot leave. If you are untested and still in Skyscrapers by the time the aircraft from Atra have arrived and left, then you must alert an official. Five hundred people will be staying back to make sure everyone is safe. Trust them and obey every command they may give you. You have thirty minutes.”

Rose seemed more agitated as she pushed them out of the garage, giving them food, water, and a small pen knife concealed within a black uniform. As she helped Liam search for his lost shirt, another alarm sounded. She fell to her knees. It was ear-splittingly loud, reverberating around the room, and she had to put her hands across her ears as she ran out, to see what was happening. A blaze of fiery warmth hit her; the bluish grey sky was melting, dribbling sluggishly into the earth. She watched as the gargantuan black shape reached the ground. The spacecraft-like shape reached the place below the hill on which Rose stood, watching. She ran down, and saw Redman, Leo, Liam and Cherry standing at the back of the crowd. Cherry, Loe and Liam were holding Bill’s stretcher whilst Redman pushed and stood on his toes, trying to locate Rose. “I’m here!” she said, and Redman turned. He was sweating heavily in the light and fire from the engines of the aircraft. 

Redman saw Justin calling for everyone to make a queue, and promptly started ordering Cherry, Leo and Liam to do so too. 

 

As they got into line, tanks started appearing through large hatches that were placed along the right side of the aircraft. Their turrets turned towards the crowd, watching them. 

“Quiet!” yelled Justin, who was standing on a tank.

There was silence. 

“Right, before you enter, you must tell my troops your name and tag ID. If you test positive, then my troops will detain you. It will be for your safety. Please comply with every rule they might give you. You may move now.”

 

Within two minutes, the sky was clouded with dark black spaceship-like aircraft. Five had already landed, and passengers were being evacuated into them. Generals Hunter, Levi, Grant and Grandburg, who had walked out of the small hatches, were helping Justin and his troops to detain people who had tested positive. But then a resounding explosion drowned the air, and the entire crowd looked up, to see two burning aircrafts heading straight for the highest skyscraper in Skyscrapers. 

There was a terrible, horrible grinding noise, and with ominous creaking and smashing of glass, the entire structure that had once dominated the skyline started to descend upon the people who had made it. The crowd ran, trampling people, suitcases, pills, syringes and tables in their race to get out of the destructive path of the falling skyscraper. Some ran into the aircrafts’ open hatches, others back into Skyscrapers. But then the earth-shaking, dust-exploding chaos stopped. Everyone looked up, to see the massive skyscraper leaning against another building, stable. Rose let out a sigh of relief. As Justin re-made the queue, staring apprehensively at the figure of the skyscraper, another aircraft landed. But something was wrong. It was smoking from three of the four engines, and the back was blazing with fire. 

The hatch opened by itself, startling Justin. Slowly, as the crowd walked forwards, Rose caught sight of bodies strewn everywhere inside, platinum-coloured blades impaling most of them through the chest. 

[Person_Random 4,991]

Approved.

Great chapter seven! This new installation did not disappoint. It was much more lively and descriptive than the previous chapters, however, there were a few more typos than usual. To lower the number of spelling mistakes, I'd suggest that you run it through Grammarly or Google Docs for a double check right before you submit. Otherwise, I'm excited for chapter eight!

Edits:

Spoiler

• Removed a few commas.
• Changed some spelling. Aircraft is always aircraft, whether there are 1 or 100 of them.