"We're doing one last round of graffiti and then we're getting out of here," Adam says as soon as the nine men have gathered around him in the office in the Sky Army caverns. "The Squids are getting more daring and if we're not careful, we won't get out of here alive."
"That business with Bluey was a statement, wasn't it General?" one of the men, Billy, asks.
"It was a statement about what the Squids are willing to do to get rid of us," Adam says darkly. "How many recruits are still in the city?"
"One group of five and the ten of us," another man says.
"Alright. All of us will get out tomorrow, as soon as the gates open if we can help it. We'll head straight for Kay's Anchor to the rest of the recruits."
"Cassandra should have reached the Benjas and General Mitchell by now," David says. "By the time we get there, they would have met up with the recruits."
"Then what?" Billy questions.
"I'll figure that out as we travel there," Adam says. "For now, let's deface the Squid's 'beautiful' Capital."
They head out. Adam tags along with another pair for the night. They spread out, writing yellow words all over the Capital, both in the poorer parts and in the wealthy parts. They all know that it is their last chance to denounce the squids so they write as much as they can on the walls and then fade away back into their caverns. They change back into their normal clothes, confirm where they will meet up tomorrow to sneak out of the Capital and then go home. Adam helps David pack away the cans and the black clothes, putting them into one of the storage rooms in the cavern. If everything turns out well, they won't be coming back here. But it never hurts to store things, just in case.
"Hey, can I take one of these home?" Adam asks, holding up an almost empty spray can.
"Take two," David shrugs. "Won't be needing them anymore, it would be a shame for it to go to waste."
Suddenly, Adam is hit with an idea. "Then let's use them up." He quickly tells David his sudden plan and David readily agrees, saying that he'll get some men onto it.
Adam takes two almost empty cans, hides them under his shirt and sneaks out of the caverns. He makes it home without any trouble and he hides the cans under his bed. He dusts the wood chips off from his shirt as best as he can. He doesn't dare light his lamp but it's too dark to see what he's doing properly. So he decides to roll up in his bed sheets and wake up a little earlier the next morning to get ready to leave.
The air is cold when Adam wakes up. He should have had a fire going last night, but it is too late to worry about it now. He silently rolls out of bed and takes out the two spray cans from underneath his bed. He isn't entirely sure why he took them, so he leaves them to one side as he gets ready to leave. He pulls on his basically wood-chip-free clothes and takes his hair out of its ponytail. It instantly falls into his face, almost completely concealing it which is perfect.
He takes the small box out from under his bed and stuffs the money inside it in his pocket. It isn't much, but it might come in handy in the future. There is one more object at the very bottom of the box, hidden underneath some old brown paper pieces that Adam had put there to hide it a long time ago. He furtively looks around and then takes it out. The gold of the object catches the faint light of the early morning and the words 'GENERAL' glint in silver, slightly tarnished but still recognisable. He pins it backwards on his shirt so that the front is pressed against his chest and the back of the pin peeks out a little. He takes the other Sky Army recruit badge that the young girl gave him and slips that into his pocket.
Adam looks around his house. He doesn't see anything useful he can do or something he can take. His eyes drift over to the spray cans and he suddenly gets an idea. He picks up one of the spray cans, shakes it and paints words on his one blank wall, stretching from one side of his house, over his fireplace and ending above his bed. He writes four words in large letters and then a message in smaller letters.
He rearranges his hair over his eyes to hide his face and leaves his home, closing the door behind him. He walks swiftly, his head down, trying to avoid attracting attention to himself as the Capital slowly stirs. He meets his small group of five to sneak out of the city at the grocery store that Billy works at. There are a few small but deep handcarts filled to the brim with watermelons and bundles of wheat. Adam moves a few of the wheat bundles and the yellow of spray cans underneath peek up at him.
"You seem rather happy," Billy mutters, loading another melon into the cart beside him. "Any particular reason?"
"Well, let's just say that I don't want to be here when someone discovers the words I've written on my wall."
Billy turns to stare at him, his mouth gaping. "You didn't," he says.
"I haven't even told you what I wrote."
"From the grin on your face, it's gonna get you into a lot of trouble, so let's get out of here."
Less than a three minutes later, five men pushing heavy handcarts trundle towards the Capital gates, bent over the handles, completely hidden in the crowd. Adam catches glimpses of the slogans written everywhere on the walls. DO YOU SEE? DO YOU UNDERSTAND? THE SKY ARMY NEVER DIES! He ducks his head down and grins. The Squid General will not be happy to see the writing.
The five push their carts to the gate of the Capital. The Squid guards barely glance at five workmen pushing out their wares to try and make ends meet. Adam feels his heart rate quicken as the shadow of the gate passes over him and the breeze tugs gently at his long hair. He glances over his shoulder at the Capital that is slowly getting smaller and smaller the longer they push their carts. He grins to himself, the words he wrote on his wall flashing in his mind.
THE SKY ARMY LIVES
The next time we meet Squid General, it will be on a battlefield. And this time, I will win.
-General Adam of the Sky Army.
If I could stop being sick, that would be great, then I can actually write some chapters for this book!
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Rising to Fall
Action"We can't fight. Not anymore." When General Mitchell of the Benjas starts poking his nose into places it shouldn't go, he uncovers more than he bargained for. Can he enlist the help of the defeated army? Are the rulers destined to slowly take over a...
