My name?

Oh, it's David. David Fadel.

So I'm guessing you want to know about the incident at Rory drive, huh?

Well, I guess I gotta go back a few months so that you'll get the gist of why things went down the way they did.

You see, I only just found this city, & even though I never heard of the damn place, it really seems to be growing on me.

I've been to New York, Chicago, L.A. & a dozen other places but being here feels like... Home.

It feels like a place that a guy like me can really prosper.

In New York City I worked for a small group of Egyptian immigrants. We were looking for a nice bite of the big apple & found a way of getting that bite.

We forged checks.

Then, to avoid culpability or detection, we would put it in a bank account under the name 'Trevor Gustafson.' One day 'Trevor' walked into the bank & tried to withdraw the entire account & make a run for it. The cops were alerted by an anonymous caller & when 'Trevor', who's real name was Adil, tried to make a run for it, he was arrested & sent to jail.

He also TALKED. Sang like a fucking bird, mentioning all of us by name.

So we all ran. I headed to Chicago & lived there until they caught wind of me, forcing me to move around from city to city. I thought I'd be running forever until someone at a bar in Bethlehem Pennsylvania told me this rumor about a big city where you go if you never wanna be found. "A hidden Emerald," He said  "hiding in plain sight."

Tatama.

I made it to Easton & asked around for this "Tatama town." They kept asking me if I meant Tatamy, & me not knowing any better, I said "Sure."

They gave me directions & I headed right over.

I was immediately disappointed, that place is tiny & barely counts as an apartment complex, much less a town.

The next night I headed back to that bar hoping I'd find the son of a bitch & yell at him for bullshitting me.

I found him, walked up to bastard & tapped his shoulder.

"Hey asshole," I told him, "you told me Tatamy is a big city. You said I could disappear there. That place is tiny as fuck. & i doubt I could find a place there."

The man laughed all uppity-like, pissing me off even more.

"Oh sweetheart," he began, " you don't FIND Tatama, Tatama finds you."

I was about to ring his fucking neck, but instead hesitated, kept my cool & asked him how a guy like me could "Get found by them."

His face went from smiling & gleeful to blank & almost expressionless.

"You... You really want them to find you?" He asked me quizically as he snapped his fingers to the bartender, signaling that he wanted another shot.

I nodded yeah & as he smirked slyly he said "you got it then kid. I'll let them know..."

A month or two had passed, & I remember thinking that the guy was full of it, plus the heat was dying down from that forging operation so I wasn't even thinking about it so much at that point. I even started looking in to leaving the state.

All the same, it turned out that guy was right.

They found me.

One minute I was sleeping in my bed, the next I was slapped awake in a bus by a lady wearing a red suit screaming at me to wake my pansy ass up, get off the bus, & get in the new citizens line.

As I was dazed & slowly getting my brain to realize the situation I was in, I failed to notice that everyone was already outside, so I got up & joined them.

"Alright," the lady in red began "my name is Red General Debbie Munson, or Red Gen for short. We don't know why you're here. We don't know why they brought you here. We certainly don't know why they CHOSE you, but know this. You can forget about your past life. You are now citizens of the great city of Tatama. You will BE good citizens. You will be fruitful to the cause of keeping our city prosperous one way or another, or you will be discarded. It is up to you, ladies & gentlemen. You will now be sent to building 4, where you will be taking our aptitude test to determine what your job will be. We could always use bright minds for our sponsor corporation Rozentec, but we could also use  good cleaners as well. You could be a bureaucrat, a breeder, even a doctor! We'll find out what you're good at, no worries on our end. Now stay in line & follow me!"

We followed her into the building, where we the walked a hallway that led us into a room with desks that each had a packet of papers & a pencil. I sat down somewhere in the back & after everyone else sat down Red Gen shouted "all right then, good luck!"

She then headed out the door, closing it behind her.

The test was easy enough, multiple choice & simple 'what would you do?' Scenarios. A bunch of people got their results almost immediately. Most were deemed either Cleaners, prostitutes or Breeders, whatever the hell that was. When one lady protested, Gen asked her if she'd prefer to be re-educated. The fearful look in that lady's eyes as she quickly spouted "no" stuck with me.

I didn't get my test results back.

Instead, some guy in a fancy red suit came up to my desk, handed me a little business card, & told me he'd be hearing from me soon.

So then Gen dismissed all of us, giving me a little smirk as I walked past her.

They put us in transitional rooms to wait, & one by one my former test mates were picked up by various leaders of their respective trades. The protesting girl from earlier was picked up by an older woman in tight clothing & caked on makeup. Poor girl, she looked absolutely defeated as she followed the lady out the door.

Damn shame.

Gen waited until there were three of us left;

Me, a guy named Destin & a young black girl named Rhea.

" You three,"  Gen began, "are quite...Unique. I'm recommending the lot of you to the Red program. I see A LOT of potential in each of you. DON'T disappoint me."

She then waved at someone who was behind us, & walked away towards the door.

That was the last thing I remembered before our "training" began.

We were subjected to a week of what they called "to hell & back" training, in which they've said has a lower than 12% graduation rate.

So color me surprised when after the week was over, all three of us made it.

We all received a sleek shiny red new suit.

"Welcome to the red brigade," Gen announced, "you are in charge of protecting the interests of our fair city. You are fortunate to have the privilege of reporting DIRECTLY to the mayor. Here are your new phones. You DO NOT SHARE THEM. You do NOT make calls on them. They are to receive calls only. WHEN you are called, answer it. Do your job, & we will reward you handsomely. Don't do your job, & well...You don't want to know."

She then left us a keychain with three keys & told us that we would be working together from now on.

The first month was pure heaven.

We mostly dealt with scam artists & people attempting to flee the city, something I've always found confusing by the way, since this place is damn near a utopia & there are technically no poor people. No one goes hungry, everyone has a job & most importantly we all work together.

I guess some people are just contrarian by nature.

We were a great team, the three of us. Rhea, quick witted & stubborn, Destin a powerful behemoth & me the brains of the crew.

We were quickly noticed by the ranks & even gained a nickname among the brigade: the sweethearts.

Sounds endearing I know but the reason why we got that name was not really as endearing.

You see, we like to work quickly when we do our jobs, so we tend to take advantage of having an adorable fifteen year old anytime there's a pervert we're dealing with or just people who'd never suspect such an adorable girl was capable of literally dismantling them while they watched in horror.

Little Rhea can put on quite the show.

The incident that gained us our nickname also happened to be our first case. We were chasing a man who had just robbed a friend of the mayor's, & he was attempting to spend it on booze, women & gambling...

The usual addict shit.

We went in before Rhea, & not realizing that he had aquired a pistol, failed to see when he shot at me & Destin, hitting us in an arm & a leg.

Ha, funny.

So after we shot the bastard in his arm he charged after us, looking to kill us with another fine instrument of savagery that he'd aquired: a machete.

He held the thing up to chop me down but never even noticed little Rhea coming till it was too late. As his blood splattered on my face she shouted "keep your fucking heads straight, sweethearts."

When we did the report about our first mission, they noticed that we quoted her saying that & from then on the name just kinda... stuck.

We've been a bit busy lately, so pardon me if what happened at Rory drive doesn't make me feel all emotional & shit. This is our job & I think we do it well.

So we get a call around four in the morning talking about a "mess we had to clean up."

So Rhea got some quick reconnaissance done & we were off to check out the situation. Apparently some new food product was turning people into god damn fiends, ripping each other apart so that they eat whatever residue they had on their skin.

Man, that is some fucking salsa.

Driving there we noticed some guy running towards the Rozentec center.

I love the gullible ones.

So we get to the street & notice these fucking savages chomping down on some poor girl. I'll admit, it kinda got to me when I realized who she was. It was that same girl I saw the day of the test, getting dragged out by a dolled up whore to a future of god only knows what.

I hesitated for a second, but quickly remembered we had a job to do, & the three of us unloaded a hail of bullet riddled justice on the sick bastards.

I know, I know...

We were supposed to take them alive, restrain them & take them to the help center for reprogramming.

But the van was already full, & we weren't planning on taking two trips, so we thought we'd do 'em the favor.

Get off your high horse, consider it 'population control.'

What happened right after though, well...

That wasn't us.

An older lady walked up to us & kept getting closer to Destin.

"Destin Charles, is that you?" She asked.

"Ma'am," Destin answered, "I... I don't know who you're talking about..."

"It IS you," She repeated, "I'd recognize your face anywhere. At least I think so, you look just like him!"

We had no idea what was happening at that point. Destin looked very uncomfortable & began to sweat profusely as he slowly said "Ma'am, I don't know what you're talking about. Get back in your home. We're..."

"Do you remember Matilda?" She asked him.

He began to sweat even more as he yelled at her, telling her to fuck off.

"You DO! you do remember," she began, "I knew you would.You used her you know. You toyed with her emotions & then you left. Do you remember her telling you she was having your baby? Do you remember telling her to 'get it out'? I do. I was the one who spent years after you left consoling her. I saw her get sadder & sadder."

The old lady pulled out a shotgun. At that point we pointed our guns right at her. She held the gun down & laid into it, using it as a makeshift crutch.

"This," she began, "this is what she used. This is what she used to end her constant self-blame. Her constant self pity. She shot herself, turned her beautiful face into an unrecognizable puddle of blood & sinew. You did it to her Destin. you..."

It was at that point when Destin pulled the trigger & put a bullet between the lady's eyes, downing her instantly.

He then threw his rifle to the ground & began to sob uncontrollably.

"That was ten god damn years ago," Destin yelled, "I was twenty! How would I know she'd do it? How would I..."

Destin fell to his knees, began to fidget & pat himself on his side, reaching for his pistol in the side holster.

"I'm," he stoically murmured, " I'm sorry you had to see that. They'll never stop. They're never going to stop blaming me for what she did. This'll never stop..."

He then put the pistol to his head & quickly pulled the trigger.

Me & Rhea pretty much stayed quiet as we called the whitecoats & jotted down the usual notes.

We brought the addicts in our van to the help center, then went to our barracks to rest.

That's... that's pretty much it.

Destin was a good soldier. He just had some hidden demons I guess. Fucking bad luck finding that lady there of all places, huh?

Well, I said my piece, can... I get back to work now?

{Fin}