*****

I agreed to meet Zach the next day several blocks away from our hut. He gave me directions that were easy to follow, and told me to come alone. I agreed, since who was I going to take with me? Zach was the first person who I knew supported True Order.

The rest didn’t need to know that I was one of them.

Again, I had to lie to Alex. I told him I was heading to Lorenzo’s. He told me to be careful, and his scared eyes nearly broke my heart. The lie I’d told him about being followed was clearly still on his mind. Without saying it out loud, I promised him that we wouldn’t have to live in fear for long.

Because I would help to fix this world.

He didn’t suspect anything when I left, and I made sure to stay far away from Simon. No one else paid any attention to me when I left our village and headed to the nearest street. Zach hadn’t given me the directions on paper, but I’d repeated his words like a mantra the entire day. I was fairly confident I still remembered it. Besides, it was like a ten-minute walk, mostly just down one street, then a couple of turns. He’d described the building I was supposed to meet him at, and thankfully, it stood out. I walked to the back like I was told to and found a small maintenance-type of door. It was rusted and scratched and probably easy to break through, and the alleyway it was located in looked even worse. My heart was racing again when I knocked five sharp times, then waited.

There was that one moment again… that I hesitated… What if… Maybe I should’ve just stayed out of this…

But… My father would be proud… Their deaths were never avenged, either…

The door flew open so suddenly I jumped back. Thankfully, it was Zach himself who stood behind it. He quickly grabbed me by my hoodie and yanked me through the doorway, then slammed the heavy door shut.

“You made it,” he said, smiling. “You weren’t followed, right?”

“No, sir,” I said sternly.

“And you didn’t tell anyone about this?”

“Of course not,” I said.

“Good. You’re not a liar,” he said and gestured for me to follow him.

“How can you tell?” I asked as I hesitantly followed him through the dirtiest narrow hallway I’d ever seen, and I’d spent nights in plenty of collapsed buildings.

“We’ve been watching you very carefully,” he told me without looking at me, his voice low and almost intimidating.

It made me shiver… I hadn’t noticed anyone following me, but he said it so confidently…

The doubts I had grew a little stronger…

This place didn’t make me feel any better. It was clearly abandoned, but somehow still standing. There were cracks on the floors and walls, large piles of disgusting, smelling trash lying around everywhere, and the noises… I heard someone muttering right behind a door we walked past… I heard a distressed shout somewhere far above us. I heard creaks and cracks and water dripping into puddles…

I was getting a little scared now… So did my alpha, who was quietly begging me to leave this place. It could sense dangerous alphas everywhere… Dozens and dozens of them…

When Zach started climbing up the first set of stairs we encountered, I nearly turned on my heels. The landing between floors had such huge cracks I was surprised it was still holding. The railings were… disgusting… I heard rats above me.

Zach turned around halfway up to see where I was and saw my horrified expression.

“Sorry. This is how we’re now forced to live,” he explained. “While the governor buys beds worth three grand to her precious soldiers – murderers if you ask me.”

I frowned and started climbing. “Three grand?”

“Yup. It was on the news some time ago,” he said as he continued leading the way. “But that’s why you’re here, right? To help us end that madness.”

“Yes, sir,” I said, and hurried my step to catch up with him.

I could buy years and years’ worth of salve for Alex with three thousand dollars… And she paid that much for a single bed for her soldiers? I was suddenly getting very upset…

We climbed a few flights of stairs, then stepped into another hallway. This one wasn’t nearly as bad as the first one, but the stench was still bad enough to make me gag. A few doors down, Zach stopped and grabbed his keys to open the door for us. Again, I hesitated a little, but I ended up following him inside.

And… Man… the small apartment wasn’t any better than the hut Alex and I had. Just a mattress in the corner, and a couple of mismatched chairs next to a small table. There was a small kitchenette, with a tiny fridge below a simple counter, a tiny stove, and a small sink. The faucet was on, but there was no water coming through. He had a small bathroom too, but it was now looking more like a storage unit. If there was no water, the room was pretty much useless. I was surprised he still had electricity.

“This is where you live?” I asked.

“Home sweet home,” he said. “But not for long.”

“Yeah?” I asked, and he smiled as he sat down next to the table.

“We’ll soon take this country back from those who illegally stole it from us,” he said and gestured at the other chair. “Let’s talk.”

I nodded and sat down, feeling a bit more relaxed now. My alpha still didn’t like any of this, but I ignored it for now. If it spotted something that was actually threatening us, then I’d leave, but for now… I just wanted to talk to Zach… I’d never had the opportunity to talk to someone who shared my beliefs… I had to stay. Of course I had to stay!

“So you are a True Order supporter,” I said.

“Are you?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said without hesitation and breathed out, feeling… Lighter. “Yes, I am.”

He smiled. “So am I. But are you serious about helping us? Because if you’re not–”

“I am!” I said hurriedly, almost jumping up from my seat. “I want to help. I’m so done living like this!”

“Good, because like I said, we need all the help we can get,” he said. “Those bastards are slaughtering us faster than we can recruit new people…”

“So how can I help?” I asked.

He watched me closely for a moment, calculating… “You good at stealing?”

My heart dropped a little. “I… I don’t like to steal…”

He snorted in amusement. “None of us do, but what else can we do? Besides, they’re stealing our lives.”

I bit my lower lip, hesitating again… But he didn’t give me much time to consider his words.

“Well, if that’s your answer, then I guess this is pointless,” he said and got up.

“No!” I coughed before I could stop myself. “I was just…”

He leaned closer to me, his stare harsh now. “Look, kid. We have to do what we have to do. No one is giving us the money, so we have to take it, all right? If you want to help us, you have to grow thicker skin. We’re risking our lives every day to save this country because our enemy is bigger, and meaner, and they have all the support they need.”

I swallowed hard, then nodded. “I understand.”

“Good,” he said and sat back down. “I do have a job for you. It’s very easy too. Practically no risk at all.”

“Okay.”

He nodded, then peered out the window. “None of us like it, but what can we do? We didn’t choose this life. We were forced to live like this. We need True Order. They knew how to run this country. We had such a good thing going on, but the omegas ruined it. Look at this mess they created… Look at what they did to our beautiful country…”

He paused and turned back to me. “If you steal a few handbags, is that really such a big thing? You said you lost your home because of them. Wasn’t that stealing, too, in a way?”

I nodded a little. “I lost my parents, too.”

“See? They stole everything from you! They have no right to cry over a few handbags!”

I took a deep breath. “Right… Yeah… You’re right.”

“I know I am,” he said, smiling again. “They’ll survive. Your parents did not. Our people did not. I’ve lost everything three times already. I lost my home and my family when I was a child. I lost my beautiful mate when I was barely an adult. And when I was just about to get my life back in order, they came and stole it all again. I am taking a few handbags in return just to put an end to this madness.”

“I understand,” I said.

He leaned closer to me again. “They will keep taking everything from you. Don’t ever forget that. Don’t ever forget what they’re capable of. They don’t care about our lives. They don’t even care about their own people. Those homeless people living in that grocery store? The governor doesn’t care about them, even though they support this equality nonsense. If the governor cared, she would’ve already helped them, but instead, she’s buying beds worth three thousand dollars to her army of hundreds of soldiers. How is that right?”

“It’s not right,” I agreed, still feeling horrified that she would waste so much money…

“And don’t ever, ever let them know you are one of us patriots,” Zach said quietly. “You will end up dead faster than you can blink. You know they’re allowed to kill us, no questions asked, right? The army can kill whoever they want as long as they claim their victims were True Order supporters. No one’s going to question them. They don’t like their neighbor? Shoot him and tell the cops they were a True Order supporter. A girl rejected them at a bar? Shoot her and claim she was one of us. Run over an old grandpa crossing the street? True Order supporter. That’s all they need, and everyone just accepts it.”

“I know… I’ve heard so many horrible stories…” I muttered, feeling more and more disgusted with our government.

“Uh-huh,” he said and leaned even closer to me. “And what about the mafia, hmm? In what world with a working, fair justice system does the governor herself support the mafia? The mafia! When True Order was in power, the mafia was treated the way they are supposed to: as criminals. Murderers. Drug dealers. Gun dealers. Human traffickers. Pimps. Kidnappers. Robbers. The list goes fucking on, but here? In this… this equal dystopia? The army protects the mafia. They protect our country’s largest, most dangerous criminal organization!”

“Right?” I said, getting fired up as well. “I heard the army hides all proof of their crimes.”

“And it’s true!” Zach said and laughed. “The heroes of our people are hiding evidence they leave behind! You heard about that nightclub shooting that happened months ago?”

I shook my head.

“Well, a group of our patriots were trying to spread the word and show people how wrong and disgusting this equality bullshit is. They burned some flags, sure, but they didn’t do anything else wrong. They just uploaded a message on their social media. Big fucking mistake, because they then tried to have a peaceful night out at a local bar, and the mafia showed up,” he told me. “And guess what the mafia did?”

“What?” I whispered.

“They just killed them all. Slaughtered in cold blood,” Zach said, leaning back in his chair, and turned to stare outside again. His posture dropped, and his eyes turned sad. “A dozen men who simply uploaded a video, trying to spread the truth… The mafia just rolled in and killed them all, and none of them got punished for it.”

“My lord…” I whispered in horror.

“The army hid all the evidence. Not a single piece of it was left behind. Even the news reporters tried to ask one of the army captains about the mafia’s involvement, but he just laughed and gave some bullshit replies. When the reporter tried to ask more about it, he just walked away,” he said and sighed. “That’s the world we’re living in. You get killed by our own army just for trying to speak the truth. And you know what was the worst part about that nightclub shooting?”

“There’s still a worse part?” I asked.

“The mafia killed a bunch of civilians, too,” he said quietly. “I heard there were like thirty civilians who got killed in the process, and the army just hid their bodies. No one even questioned the mafia. There’s so many stories about how people went in with their friends, and after the shooting, no one ever saw those friends again.”

I looked away, shaking my head. I was getting more and more enraged…

“How could they do that?” I asked, feeling sick.

“They’re murderers who’ve been protected by our sick, twisted government for so long that they don’t even care about hiding how much they love killing people,” Zach explained. “And did you hear what the mafia did to the looters not that long ago? The largest clans?”

“I think the mafia attacked them because the clans were keeping slaves?” I said slowly.

“That’s what they want people to believe,” Zach said. “The clans weren’t keeping any slaves. The mafia found out that the leader of the clans, Grant, was a True Order supporter. The mafia once again just rolled in and started shooting. They didn’t even care if the others were on their side or not. They kidnapped all their omegas too, claiming they were kept as slaves, and now they’re all missing. They claim they’re safe now, but I just know it’s now the mafia who is keeping them as slaves and selling their bodies and babies.”

“That’s so sick…” I breathed out.

“And the army was there too. They helped the mafia to kidnap the omegas and kill everyone who tried to stop them,” he said. “They injured Grant as a punishment for trying to protect his clan, and now he can’t even eat without help.”

“How do you know all this?” I asked, feeling so disgusted I was about to hurl. 

He gave me a sad smile. “Grant is my brother. And he did nothing wrong. He was just trying to survive and take care of his clans. He joined four clans to make sure they were strong enough to protect themselves. And look what happened. The mafia attacked them almost immediately, just because they wanted to grow stronger.”

I stared at him. I thought about Alex… How horrified I’d be if someone hurt my brother like that… 

“So… Do you mind stealing a few handbags for us so we can put an end to their madness?” Zach asked.

“I’ll steal whatever you want me to steal,” I said, gritting my teeth together.

“That’s a good boy,” he said with a smile. “I was sure you would help us. I can see you actually care about the truth. I can see you actually care about our people and this beautiful country that is now ruined by omegas and those who support them.”

“I do,” I said, straightening my posture. “I really do.”

“Good, because what I just told you are only a few of all the horror stories of them abusing their power and torturing their own people. They need to be stopped before it’s too late for us all,” he said.

“Yes, sir. I will help however I can,” I said.

“Good. Do you know how to drive a dirt bike?” he asked.

“…No?” I said.

He chuckled. “I’ll teach you how.”

“But why?” I asked with a frown.

He just smiled wider.

“You’ll see.”