( Ken s Final Hours ) A short story from the The Red-Blooded Loyalist book by Evan Lee. Baraboo High School. For UW Creative Writing festival

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1 ( Ken s Final Hours ) A short story from the The Red-Blooded Loyalist book by Evan Lee Baraboo High School For UW Creative Writing festival

2 Ken I take a sip from my drink as I watch the remaining few residents get their weapons ready before going out. Everyone is cleaning and loading their gun with this ammo called bullets. Ammo that will be utterly useless to them against the Red Blood. I don t know why they still bother to use guns. I mean, what good will it serve them? They might as well run away or just give up and die. Running away would give them a chance to live for another day. Giving up and dying will make things easier for everyone. Why did I leave the Red Blood? What was I thinking? I should have just kept my feelings all bottled up, instead of letting them all loose The Red Blood is an army of three factions: The Honor Guards, The Loyalists, and The Lightfoots. I was once a Loyalist. The residents finish getting the guns ready and start heading out of the bar and into the poorly lit hallway. I watch them all leave until only one is left. Lily, a woman whom I have zero interest in caring. She approaches me. Don t worry, Ken. We ll take down this Loyalist and show the Red Blood that we deserve to make our own lives, Lily said.

3 I give her my fake smile and false bravado, I know we will, Lily! With you leading the residents we can t possibly lose! (Why did I say that?) She smiles at me, It s always good to hear you all happy and ecstatic! If only that was true Hey, what should I say to the Loyalist if he gets into our base because I want to show him that we are strong? Lily asked. (Please don t kill me?) You should shout, Die Red Blood! so you show him that he is nothing but property for the Red Blood. That s the problem with this world; you re either dead or property. That s a good one! I ll be sure to say it before we pop up and rain bullets down on him! she answers. We then hear a fellow resident shouting for Lily to come because they need all the help that they can get, since the Loyalist armor is virtually indestructible- our bullets show no effect. Looks like I better get going. After this, do you want to play another round of cards? Lily inquires. Do I have a choice? Of course! I ll get the cards ready before you come back! I reply. Good! I ll see you once this is all over! She waves to me while running into the hall and closing the door behind her. They re all going to die. I turn off my fake smile as I take another sip of beer in this filth of a bar. Considering that there is trash all around the place and disgusting cigarette smoke that I can smell and taste. As

4 for the beer, it taste like sewer water and smoke; however, it s the only thing different from dirty water. Here I thought beer would have at least a decent taste, no wonder the Red Blood banned this stuff. The Loyalist they re talking about is probably Lloyd. I can t say for sure. All we know is that this person is a Loyalist and a man. But I have a feeling it's him because Rachel, the Red Lord in this area, would send no one else but him to take me down. And, this could be a way to test his loyalty (and love) to her, which is something he would probably do in a heartbeat because of his secret relationship with Rachel. No one else knows about their tryst, except for me. Lloyd needs to learn how to hide his love letters. The Red Lords rule with an iron fist. They raise their citizens to be good and loyal, including Lloyd himself. Although I am the one responsible for raising him the way he is now, I was his caretaker, his mentor. And in a non-biological way his father. I should have stayed with the Red Blood so I could still be the influence on Lloyd. But I just got tired with it all Killing these Traitors or residents just got boring after awhile. At first it was fun and exhilarating, but doing it over and over for many years didn t feel the same anymore it just felt stale and depressing, knowing that you killed so many people. Following the rules got boring as well. Don t do this. Don t do that. Don t smoke that. Don t drink that. Don t have sex. and Say Glory to the Red Blood every time you finished talking with someone. I didn t want to follow them anymore, I didn t want to be a Loyalist anymore.

5 But being a runaway is even worse. Sure, being a traitor has more freedom, but the living conditions are horrible. Traitors hideouts always end up being dumps because of the smell and the filth, just like this bar. It s dangerous, not just because of the Red Blood, but some of the other residents are aggressive. Resources and security are low, which means there are gangs that will go around to hurt, kill, and rape for resources and just for fun. It also doesn t help that there are three rebel factions who are at constant war with each other and runaways, instead of concentrating their main focus on the Red Blood. The X s, The Swords of Freedom, and The Old Government: all three factions that are being killed by each other and the Red Blood. Being the hero of the people, I thought running away would be more fun and entertaining even though I don t really care about people. That ll teach me for trying something new. In fact, being a runway is not only horrible but also exhausting. There is not much to do, but to sit around and wait for Lily to give me a task, but she won t because I m too old even though I m in my fifties. I even tried to do the stuff that I was not allowed to do like drink, smoke, and gamble but those were all unsatisfying. I even had sex with that prostitute outside of the base (who is probably dead by now) and I still felt dull while she had fun. I wish I could turn back time, so I have a higher chance of living. I then hear children screaming in pain from the classroom in the compound. That s strange, how did a person get in without blowing up the entrance,? Unless. we have a spy, which is no surprise considering that the Red Blood send spies to kill traitors. I wonder who the

6 spy is? It s probably the teacher who said she ran away from the Red Blood since she is the only armed adult in the room. Then silence-- before hearing a door open and close. Normally, I would attack, but considering that I don t have a weapon and that person does, it would probably be best if I just ignore it. I wait for another couple of minutes then I feel an explosive from the entrance. Bullets ricocheting from the Loyalist s armor. (After the residents run out of ammo, they re going to regret this fight.) There s silence again. Already their ammo is gone? Now the purge begins. I hear muffled shots, but these from the Loyalist. I hear wails of agony from different residents. Why did the traitors even attempt to fight the Loyalist? Fools, they should have known it was useless. I take another sip and listen to the cries of death. When the purge ends, the clicks of boots get louder as he comes closer. He s looking for me. I shouldn t be surprise, considering that I am not only the last runaway but also the main target. It s time to face it. I m done for. I m going to die a bored, old man.. unless.. If that Loyalist is Lloyd, then I could convince him to let me live. I could tell him that our familial bond is stronger than his allegiance to the Red Blood.

7 I know that we may get caught by the Red Blood, but I will at least live for another day with Lloyd. The clicks stop. After a short while they start to come closer to me. I hear a detonator bomb being stuck to the outside door. I take another sip and put on my fake smile. Here goes everything. The bomb explodes taking the door down. The Loyalist enters. Time to greet my fate.

STAND FIRM, STAND STRONG, STAND IN CHRIST

STAND FIRM, STAND STRONG, STAND IN CHRIST November 4th / Mark Idol The Whole Armor of God Ephesians 6:10-18 Main Idea: 1. To be strong in Christ, to stand against the devil s tactics, you must take up