Annarchy

This is the breaking point. We can’t keep ignoring them anymore. The ‘Mint will no longer be in control. I run though the base.

“What is going on Ann?” Gunter exclaims from behind me. I don’t stop jogging.

“The ‘Mint is getting stronger! We have to attack now!” I tell mission control to sound the alarm. I have been waiting for this day all my life. We will not be silenced this time!

“Ann, it’s pronounced Government,” Gunter mumbles. He is always nagging me about my mispronunciation of government.

“Well to me they are the ‘Mint,” I snarl. He knows I will not say it properly. Aliz calmly walks up to me. She is shaking.

“Ann- Ann, we can’t attack,” she stutters.

“Why not!” I angrily exclaim.

“We- We don’t have- have enough ammunition.”

“Ugh, cancel the alarm. We can wait,” I mumble. She tells the alarm squad to call false alarm. I stride back to my office. I start organizing my papers, trying to find out where our inventory data went wrong. Knock Knock. I look up from my papers.

“Come in,” I say. Two of the guards walk in.

“Ann, someone is here to see you,” they say in unison. They divide in half, revealing my long-gone friend, Carson. He smiles. The atmosphere in the room lightens.

“Carson,” I softly say, “You came back.” I’m so excited. I walk over and hug him. I’ve not seen him in forever.

“Yeah, I’m back. Did ya miss me?” he questions. I look into his eyes, his big, blue eyes stare back.

“Of course I did!” I exclaim. I take hold of his hand. The tattoo I gave him is still there, the Japanese symbol of love. He slightly smiles to the right.

“I’m glad to see you again, Ann. I didn’t think I was going to come back,” he whispers. I squeeze him tighter.

“It doesn’t matter anymore. All that matters is that you’re back,” I tell him. Carson volunteered himself to be a spy for us. We sent him to The ‘Mint’s main base to work. He has been there for three years, but now he’s back.

“But look at this place!” he admires, “When I left, we didn’t have nearly as much stuff as we do now!” I shyly shrug his compliment off. He cocks his head to the side.

“Ann, are you okay? Before I left, you were an outgoing, lovely badass. You’re being quiet. Did something happen while I was gone?” he questions.

I slow my breathing down. I’m trying to stay calm, but I can’t. I end up bursting out crying.

“We got ambushed a year ago! I’m so sorry!” I cry. He doesn’t look angry, but worried instead.

“What did they do to you?” he defensively asks. I hesitate to answer. I shake my head.

“What did they do?” he demands. I look down at the floor for a moment. I turn around and roll my tank top up. I show him the long scar running down my spine.

“They almost killed me,” I mumble, “I’m sorry.” He hugs me tighter. I thought he was never going to let me go. But he does. He sits down in my chair, looking over the papers.

“Where did my chair go?” he ask. I laugh.

“We had to get rid of it, the attackers caught it on fire,” I tell him. I sit on his lap. He laughs.

“I think I like this seating arrangement better,” he admits. I shake my head jokingly.

“Okay, our ammo inventory has gone down by 25%. It's either we have a thief or that the data-keepers can’t count,” I inform him. He plays with my hair.

“Carson, are you listening to me?” I ask. He looks me in the eye.

“Yes, I am. But don’t you think we could talk about this later? Let’s just hang out,” he suggests. Without warning, he picks me up and stands up. I wrap my arms around his neck. I’ve missed him so much. He sets me down at the door. The alarmers sound the lights out alarm. Carson walks with me to my room. I unlock the door.

“This place hasn’t changed a bit,” he notices.

I nod. I unzip my skirt to reveal some shorts. Carson laughs at me.

“You always wear shorts under your skirts don’t you?” he teases. My face turns red and I nod.

“I always have, you know that,” I say. He laughs and sits in front of me at the table. I shuffle through papers. For every one Rebel, there are five refugees. For every five refugees, four will retreat to The ‘Mint. That means only one refugee out of five will join the rebellion. That’s not very good. I shake my head. Why must people fall to power? Carson lays on the couch.

“I’ve missed you so much,” he says. I approve the papers and join him on the couch.

“I’ve missed you too,” I say. I look at the time, “Imma go to bed, see ya later.” I stand up and fistbump him. I go back to my room and fall asleep.

The next morning, I am awoken by the sounds of desperate knocking. I groan and answer the door. It's Gunter.

“Hey, what's up?” I ask. He practically drags me to base.

“We have new refugees you need to meet,” he says. I take my wrist from him.

“I can walk on my own,” I snarl. He nods.

“Sorry… sorry,” he mumbles, “I'm just excited.”

“It's okay.” It's quiet for a few minutes.

“So, I heard Carson is back,” Gunter says. I nod.

“Yeah, he arrived back last night.”

“Aren't you two dating?”

“What? No. We are just really, really good friends. We're partners in crime.” Gunter nods.

“Oh, okay.” He swipes his ID and reveals to me the young, adorable new refugees. My jaw metaphorically drops as I stare at the small children. Once I snap out of my trance-like state, I punch Gunter in the arm.

“You kidnapped children!” I exclaim. He clutches his arm and shakes his head.

“No, I found them and saved them,” he whines. I approach the children. A blue eyed, brown haired, little stares at me.

“Are you Annarchy Nett?” she asks. I almost lose my concentration. Her voice is so beautiful, so perfect.

“Oh, um, I go by Ann. Who are you little girl?” I ask.

“I am Rosemary Renae Makyla La Von Chez. It's a pleasure to meet you, Annarchy.” She holds out her hand. I shake her hand. She giggles.

“Call me Rose, okay,” she says. I nod. I look back at Gunter.

“This little girl is amazing,” I say. He nods and pats my back.

“Yeah you haven't even met her twin.”

He motions to the reserved little boy in the corner. He looks just like Rose with the brown hair and icy blue eyes. I slowly approach him and kneel down to look him in the eyes.

“Hey buddy, what's your name?” I ask. He nervously bites his lip.

“Connor Riley La Von Chez,” he whispers. I smiles.

“Hello Connor, My name is Ann, welcome.” He grins.

“Are we going to kill the government?” he innocently asks.

“Gunter, it looks like we have a future sniper,” I say, “And yes, we will kill the government one day.” Rose flicks her hair.

“Why can't we just have a peace treaty?” Rose asks. I glare at her.

“Because the ‘Mint doesn't want to have a peace treaty, leaving us to kill them in war,” I explain.

He moves me away from the twins and takes them to the bunker so they can get a room. I swing the door open to my office and start to abuse a pillow by punching it and "strangling" it.

A few moments later, Carson walks in. He freezes when he see the feathers starting to fly around. I continue the punch the pillow.

“Ann, Ann what's wrong?” he ask. He stops my punch from hitting the pillow.

“Nothing. Just Gunter bringing in two orphans and one is sassy as hell,” I growl.

“It's okay, you don't have to be so violent.”

“Yes, I do. I follow the the letter Ps.”

“Psychotic, Pyromaniac, and Paranormalist. I know Ann. That doesn't mean-” He is interrupted by the alert alarm.

I spring up to my feet, grab my binder, and head down to Base Control.

“Aliz, what the hell is happening!” I yell. She groans.

“We spotted helicopters hovering over the base! We are shooting them down now!” she yells back. I rub my hands together in excitement. I share a glance with Carson. We both know I love shooting down helicopters.

“Okay,” I say. I run back to the stockroom and grab a gun. We fit our armor on as well. The armor is tight and worn.

“Note to self, find clothiers to fix armor,” I say. I strap up and pat Carson on the back.

“Best of luck,” I say. He repeats, “Best of luck.” I'm out the door, open-firing at the helicopter. Carson and the other refugees start to fire their guns too. Gun shots are echoing everywhere. People are getting shot down. Finally, the helicopter goes up in flames and starts to fall.

“Scatter!” I hear the general yell. We all get inside the base, except for me. I detour to help a wounded soldier and they close the doors before I can get in. I bang on the doors.

“Let me in!” I scream, “PLEASE!” Soon, everything is black and I can't remember what happened next.

Carson's Point of View:

The sirens are ringing. She was gone. What else could I say? My best friend... everything I've ever wanted in life, dead.

"We have to help dammit!" I scream at the solider controlling the gates.

"Silence, we will survive," he says, almost monotone. I, filled with rage, punch him and run out onto the deck.

"We surrender!" I scream, "Please stop shooting!" The war stopped. I jumped down to the ground and put a gun to my head.

"We don't want victory anymore. We just want peace," I say, and with that, I pulled the trigger.

No, my friend, we will not survive.