I was assigned the same distribution barricade as the previous few days. I dreaded the line of disappointed face as I put on the now awkward uniform. Mikey was at his locker next to me, a similar look of discontent on his face.

  “Do you think they will take more supplies again today?” he asked quietly while buckling his belt.

  “I hope not but I expect them to,” I answered honestly.

  “There isn't any food left. We are doomed if we keep going like this”

  “I know” I have tried racking my brain around how to solve this problem since we cleared the gate but nothing has come to mind.

  I closed my locker before turning to Mikey who had also just finished getting ready.

  “Let’s do our best today and hope a solution comes up soon”

  As we left the locker room I could hear Chief Dobson’s voice carrying down the hallway. “I don’t care, talk to your buddy the Mayor and get the damn food back”

  There was a quiet response before Chief spoke again.

  “I don’t care if he named himself King. Just get the City’s food back Howard or I swear I will go collect them myself, sword in hand”

  Chief and Howard rounded the corner walking quickly. Howard’s eyes narrowed as they locked onto me. “Shouldn’t you be at your post Stormson.” He bit off my name like it was an insult.

  “That is where we are headed sir” I smiled despite the disgust threatening to throw up the protein bar I had for breakfast.

  Howard looked like he was about to say something but Chief had turned to block Howard’s view. “Go get our supplies back Howard. Now.”

  Howard scowled but turned on his heels and left.

  Chief turned back to us shaking his head. His forehead was pinched with stress and despite the system’s vitality he looked exhausted.

  “Mikey, Elias, how is it out there” he asked as he pinched between his eyes.

  “It's not good” Mikey answered “we are almost out of supplies, the city is scared and desperate.”

  Chief nodded his head and sighed, “Just as I feared. Get out there and do your best. I will send a few more officers to help secure the line. Especially since we never found out who fired that shot.”

  “Thank you, Chief” I said and he smiled slightly.

  “Least I could do.” He walked pass us and headed towards his office.

  Mikey and I exchanged looks before continuing on. There was already a long lineup of people waiting with ration slips clenched close to their chest.

  I opened the back door, there was only twenty boxes of supplies left in the space.

  With a heavy sigh I pulled the first one onto the table and began handing out the supplies.

  After fifteen minutes of handing out the supplies I heard a familiar rumble in the distance. The sounds grew louder and soon the crowd caught onto the sound. The transition was instantaneous.

  Fear and anger swept through the crowd as the convoy of Black vans approached the checkpoint. Angry curses coursed through the crowd as the enforcers exited the vans.

  “Go back to the Mayor, you damn dogs!” someone called from the crowd.

  The lead enforcer cleared his Sig P226 from his leg holster in a fluid motion. The crowd grew silent as he scanned the crowd.

  “That would be your King you are talking about. I suggest caution unless I treat this whole crowd as treasonous and execute you on the spot." When he finished speaking more enforcers formed up next to him with AR-15’s held at the ready.

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  “You will not,” I called as I stepped between them and the crowd. My hand tingled with the urge to summon my sword.

  “What are you hear for?” I said instead.

  “Daily allotment,” he said, barely glancing at me as he reholstered his pistol.

  “But you took everything we could spare yesterday,” I said in shock as I tried to comprehend their words.

  The lead enforcer gave a signal to three of the other enforcers and they approached the open door grabbing more tubs of supplies.

  “You can’t do that!” someone called from the crowd.

  “There isn’t enough for everybody already.”

  “How are we supposed to survive?”

  The enforcers ignored the crowd and loaded the tubs in the vans before getting in themselves and speeding off towards the Mayor’s residence.

  “Fuck the Mayor and Double Fuck the King” someone called and the fear in the crowd quickly switched to anger.

  “Let’s go get our food back.” Another called.

  “Down with the Mayor, Down with the King” someone chanted and it was quickly taken up by the crowd as they surged after the Black Vans.

  “Fuck,” I muttered turning to Mikey, “tell Chief what happened and that I will be following the crowd monitoring.”

  Mikey nodded before running into the detachment. I coiled my muscles and leapt into the air, landing on the roof of a nearby business. The crowd pushed towards the Mayor’s residence, growing in numbers as the chant drew in more and more people.

  “This is going to be bad.” I said to myself before jumping to another roof following the crowd. They weren’t looting, their anger solely focused on the cause of their agitation.

  The hundred people doubled to two hundred then doubled again to four hundred before reaching the street where the Mayor lived.

  There was smooth stone around the property with a single giant metal gate the led to the property. The Mayor’s house sat on a small rise behind the gate. A line of enforcers stood behind the gate with their rifles slung across their chest. They stood unmoving watching the approaching crowd.

  I wind stepped in front of the gate, my sudden appearance causing many of the enforcers to lift their weapon until they recognized my vest and uniform.

  I made eye contact with each enforcer before turning towards the crowd quickly approaching.

  I walked to meet them as they approached. The people in front wore masks of anger but began to slow as they approached where I stood.

  “Move aside Officer. Our anger is with the Mayor not you,” a man in the front said.

  “I am sorry, I can’t do that.” I said as I widened my stance.

  “You can’t stop all of us” he said with disbelief.

  “No but I can hopefully hold you back until reinforcements get here.”

  “You would attack us to protect the mayor?”

  “No… I will attack you to protect you from those enforcers.” I indicated over my shoulder to the row of enforcers. “They will shoot you without remorse. I will only stop you.”

  A seven foot tall man stepped out from the crowd and I had to strain my neck to look him in the eyes.

  Jesus is this guy part giant. How the fuck did I not see him in the lineup this morning.

  “You can’t stop me from getting what is ours.” He rushed at me, except it was extremely slow in my eyes.

  He lumbered towards me as if he was fighting through molasses. I sidestepped his outstretched hand grabbing the wrist as I passed. I wrenched it sideways spinning the big man mid stride and pushing him towards the crowd.

  “What was that?” someone said from the front as everyone stared in shock at the big man who was now stumbling towards them.

  “What?” the big man said before turning around.

  “I told you. I won’t let you get yourselves killed.” I resumed my stance.

  The big man looked at the guy next to him and they nodded together as they rushed forward.

  This time I entangled them in each other before pushing them back to the crowd. This time they fell to the ground in a mess of limbs.

  “WHAT IS HAPPENING?” the big man shouted as he tried to pull himself loose from the struggling shorter man.

  Suddenly there was a shout from the Mayor’s residence.

  “ELIAS!" and a familiar giant silhouette sailed through the air landing next to me on one knee.

  I groaned at the cringe superhero entrance.

  Logan beamed up at me as he stood to his full height, dwarfing the crowd easily.

  “Looks like you were having fun without me.”

  “Aren’t you supposed to be guarding 'His Majesty' ” I joked as the crowd just stared at the both of us.

  “This looks more fun and technically I am assessing if this crowd is a threat to 'His Majesty' ” he quoted my sarcasm perfectly.

  “They aren’t. They are just here to protest PEACEFULLY,” I emphasized the peaceful part while making eye contact with as many people as I could.

  The big man got to his feet and nodded in stunned silence.

  “We are working on getting your food back. If you want to protest, do it here. Just give us time to get the supplies back first," I said loudly to the gathered group.

  Sirens were suddenly blaring as Police cars began racing in our direction. Jamie, Kira, Chief Dobson ran pass the crowd at superhuman speed, standing beside me.

  “What are you?” the small man asked finally as he stared at our small group.

  “Valen Police Officers and Players that stood against the monsters you saw in front of the detachment” I said proudly.

  “It was real?”

  “Does that mean that monster thing really exists”

  “Are they superheros?”

  The crowd broke into gossip as more and more Police officers showed up setting up a barricade, the protest temporarily forgotten.

  Chief took a minute to pull me aside.

  “What happened?”

  “They wanted their supplies back from the Mayor. I stopped them by demonstrating my abilities and Logan’s timely arrival but I doubt they will leave without the supplies.” I said grimly.

  “I will see what I can do,” Chief walked to the gate and one of the enforcers opened it before letting him in and quickly closing it behind him.

  I turned back to the crowd and watched as they tried to organize. It was going to be a long day.

  I miss the fucking dungeon.