A Leap of Faith

Noa slammed his shoulder into the door, breaking it open. Flames consumed the apartment. Part of the ceiling had collapsed, and a woman lay beneath a burning beam. Her lifeless eyes stared ahead, blackened blood dried on her face. Noa gagged but managed to hold it in.

“Tochi?! Tochi!”

He ran down the hallway.

“Tochi!”

A scream came from somewhere up ahead.

“Tochi?!”

Noa kicked open the door to Tamara’s room. Black smoke poured out, stinging his eyes. He ducked and pushed through the thick haze.

Tochi was on the floor, crying. The center of the room had caved in, with the bed sticking up halfway down the hole. Tochi was on the other side, with the hole separating them.

“Tochi!” Noa yelled. “I’m here!”

“Noa!” Tochi said, leaping to his feet.

Noa looked around. There was no other way. “Tochi! You have to jump!”

“Jump? I can’t jump across this hole!”

“Jump on the bed and then jump over!”

“I-I can’t!”

The floor started to shake.

“You can! You can do this Tochi! I won’t let anything happen to you! I promise!”

“You promise?”

“I swear it!”

Tochi back up to the wall and then leaped onto the bed. CREEEEK! Just then the floor fully gave way and the bed started to fall. Tochi screamed.

Noa dived after him and caught him with his arm just in time. Tochi clung to him for dear life. The flaming inferno roaring underneath him as he dangled in mid air.

Noa strained to pull him up. When Tochi got back on the floor and he picked him up.

“See?” said Noa, “I got you.” They ran out of the apartment and back into the hallway.

In the hallway, the floor ahead collapsed with a loud crash, sending embers and smoke into the air. Noa skidded to a stop as ash filled his eyes, making one of them burn. He cried out but didn’t let go of Tochi.

He spun and ran the other way, turning a corner and spotting a fire escape at the end of the hallway. He sprinted toward it, shielding Tochi with his arm as part of the ceiling fell. Shards of debris cut into his arm, but he kept moving, holding Tochi tight.

They burst onto the fire escape, the cold night air hitting them like a wall.

Noa ran into the parking lot, setting Tochi down. Tochi sat down on the pavement, coughing.

Noa rubbed his burning eye and turned back toward the building. His arm dripping in blood. Flames lit up the night as the Pile Apartments burned. 

***

Across town, on a rooftop overlooking Gen City, a man stood staring at a ViGen advertisement on the building across the street.
It was the same man as before—the one with dried blood smeared across his face. His eyes were hollow and tired, his shoulders hunched.

The glowing sign displayed a cheerful couple smiling under the tagline: “ViGen saves! Don’t you deserve to live on?”

The man gave the sign the middle finger, his expression unchanging.

“Stop right there!” a voice called from behind him.

He turned to see Dex and Sasha with their guns drawn. They each pressed the ViGen logo on their uniforms, and it changed from black with neon back to white and green.

“I finally found you!” said Dex. “Get on the ground and put your hands behind your head!”

The man just started laughing. “Such a loyal dog, aren’t you?” he said.

“You are wanted for suspected terrorist activity, carrying a weapon, fleeing a scene, and the murder of one Mr. Connor!” said Sasha. “There’s nowhere for you to run!”

“Run?” said the man. “I’ve been running my whole life. And now I feel like I’ve finally made it to my destination.”

The bloody man stepped onto the edge of the building.

“Whoa!” said Dex. “Don’t do anything crazy!”

“Did you know there used to be such things as kings?” the man said. “Queens too. There were once places that weren’t ruled by anyone. Places where a man could have a wife and kids without permission from a company. A company that pays to make the laws. That approves whether you live or die. Who’s worthy of being loved or hated.”

“We won’t ask again! Get down, now!” said Sasha.

“I would like to see that world. I hear they even had things called gods. I would like to have known what that meant.”

The man turned to them with a big smile on his face. “Don’t you see that your life is in a fence?” he asked. “A cave! You only see the shadows dance on the wall. Don’t you know that the light that comes every morning is from a beautiful, colorful world?”

Dex put his gun on the ground and raised his hands.

“What are you doing?” asked Sasha.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” said Dex. “I just want to find my family. Please, I have to know what happened at that club. I chased you over there, but I don’t think you ever went inside. Who killed all those people? What drugs were they using? Have you seen someone with green and black hair?”

Dex started slowly walking toward him. Sasha kept her gun trained on the bloody man.

The man’s smile grew wider. “The mother of our savior!” he said. “Our liberation! You are her blood? Then just wait and see! You won’t be blinded anymore!”

“The mother?”

Dex thought for a moment. His eyes grew wide with realization. He moved faster. He was halfway there.

“Is her name Tamara?” asked Dex.

Dex was almost there.

“I can leave this gift with you then!” said the man. “My final gift! Know that there is something beyond the dome. You can only get there if you’re not plugged in. Not tethered to the system. It’s out there. And I can’t wait to see it!”

The man leaned back off the edge, but Dex leaped for him and managed to grab the man by his coat. Now Dex was on the ledge, barely holding onto him. Before they could both fall, Sasha grabbed Dex by his pants.

The man smiled as he dangled by his coat. Dex’s grip was strong, and he pulled the man closer to his face.

“Is her name Tamara Colt, dammit!” yelled Dex. “Are you implying she’s connected to you? Don’t lie to me!”

“Lie?” said the man. “You don’t know what truth is. You wouldn’t know it if you heard it.”

“Try me!”

“Lean back!” said Sasha. “I have to get you both back up here!”

“The truth is,” said the man, “they don’t rule us. We do. Soon we will be free again. For our king is already born.”

The man then wriggled and slipped out of his jacket, plummeting through the air.

“No!” Dex screamed.

Sasha yanked Dex back onto the roof with a hard PLOOP.

The bloody man continued to laugh as he fell through the air.

***

Back in the car, Rob spoke again, breaking the silence. “Yeah, it’s a pretty highbrow event tonight. Donna’s supposed to give a speech.”

Rose’s stomach dropped. She swallowed hard. “Donna is supposed to be there? Since when?”

“It’s on the program, miss. Did you not read it? Here, I think I have a copy—”

SMASH!

A deafening crash came from the car ahead of them. Something heavy had dropped onto its roof.

Rob cursed and jerked the steering wheel. The car swerved violently, smoke pouring from the tires as they screeched against the pavement.

Rose was thrown side to side in the backseat, clutching at the door handle to steady herself. The car skidded to a halt, the smell of burnt rubber filling the air.

Rose stumbled out of the car, dazed. A small crowd had already gathered around the wrecked car in front of her. Rob stepped out and joined them, squinting at the scene.

“What the heck is going on?” he asked.

Rose moved closer to the group, her steps unsteady. When she saw what they were looking at, her stomach twisted.

“J-Jason?” she stammered, recognizing the man. He was one of her fellow rebels! The only one to make it out of the raid. The one who carried their message.

The bloody man’s body was mangled in the wreckage. A jagged shard of the car’s metal pierced his face. Rose’s stomach churned. She turned her head and vomited onto the pavement.

“He jumped!” someone in the crowd said.

“Check to see if he’s saved!” another voice called out.

A bystander stepped closer, leaning in to inspect the back of the man’s neck.

“No,” the person said flatly. “He’s an error.”

Rob frowned. “Damn errors. What was he thinking? Now we’re going to be late.”

The sharp sound of a slap cut through the murmuring crowd. Rose’s palm had struck Rob’s face, leaving him holding his cheek, wide-eyed.

“He’s dead!” Rose snapped, her voice trembling with anger. “Have some respect!”

Rob said nothing, stunned into silence.

Rose glanced around and saw the rest of the crowd staring at her. Without another word, she turned on her heel, climbed back into the car, and slammed the door shut behind her. She did her best to hold back her tears for a fallen friend. This is the part she hated the most. Keeping up with apparencies.