After-Shocks

Allen stood on a vast plain, overseeing the fields all around him, he enjoyed the feeling. But the vibration he constantly felt dampened his feelings. 

So Allen finally woke up after his body was constantly shaking. Is it now in fashion to shake someone awake? Allen located his surroundings with his hazy eyes, he was being carried on the back of someone. 

He struggled and they both fell down, Allen got up and dusted off his clothes, though the dust was non-existent. Right now his legs were in the air, not that he attained some meditation state but Moth was grabbing him by his collar right now. 

He was barking something but Allen couldn't tell what it was so he had to guess. 

"Okay my bad" 

"You listening to what I am saying" Moth raised one eyebrow.  

"As long as the feelings reach the heart, other things don't matter… Okay, something along the lines of ``what are you doing?" 

"Dammit I am a better philosopher. And you asking me? I didn't say that" 

"Where are we going" 

"See for yourself" The 5 of them traveled on a long barren road that had no end in sight. The road was so silent that the sound of their doors steps could be distinctly heard.  

"Tap, tap, tap"  

It's somehow strange , it's true that this way is usually deserted but no chirping of birds or buzzing of insects, perhaps the effect of the Shockwave.  

"For how long have we been unconscious ?" 

"I don't know of myself but you have been unconscious for more than half an hour than me. And you can just see the time?" 

Right. Allen saw his wrist but finally noticed that his wristwatch was missing. My wristwatch? Allen looked to the wrists of others and saw that they have the wristwatch intact. 

They wouldn't have taken my watch just to prank me right. I do remember I had it till I fell asleep, so during the time everyone was unconscious. But we were affected pretty badly, someone so close to us that wasn't affected by the shockwave, I know of only one such person.  

The shockwave was truly high tech, it has even affected organisms of small size. If we have taken hours to wake up, then how much time will they take? Wait a minute, shouldn't they take less time, no maybe more is right? Depends on the source I guess.  

It took Allen a couple of minutes to see the end of the dead silent road. They had now truly left the ground of the institute. The area around the gate was also private property, some of the institute, some of other's. There was a park size private garden, golf track, etc.  

They crossed the boundary and soon saw the roads in tatters. There were quite a few vehicles which jammed the road. Some burning here and there with marks of crashes visible.  

But it was in the end a city with multiple backups, which had already started to kick in, the torn down vehicles were removed from the road and the lightly damaged buildings were already being repaired.  

A little bit of blood was scattered all around but the whole situation had already settled somewhat. Now it was the authorities turn to step in and implement a new plan to follow.  

The bulletin board is already showing the schedule of the meeting. The further away from the shockwave the lesser the effects it seems. I had guessed so but a proven theory is better than a guessed one.  

The more they walked the more Allen got confused. At last he asked the question that was bothering him" We are not going to my house are we. If we are, I think it's better to just stay somewhere else for now, like…"  

"Like a hotel right. Well I had guessed pretty much what you were going to say, it's not that we didn't consider it but the decision was made after careful planning on our part, while you were enjoying your sweet nap! 

I don't want to explain anymore right now, just ask Luke afterwards, we will have plenty of time when we arrive so just keep quiet till then" Luke sped up after finishing.  

He has also been affected a lot, it's not only me that wants answers, everyone has his own considerations, his own problems to solve, own problems…  I can't calm down. He talked like that to me. Just wait, I am going to slap you left and right till your cheeks swallow when we reach there. You wouldn't know what hit you in dreams.  

They heard the sound of vehicles stopping. At first they didn't mind it as cars traveling was per usual especially now that confusion must have been created. But hearing multiple cars stopping was concerning. Particularly the concern escalated seeing many police cars gathering ahead. They all had their noiseless sirens on them. Rapidly more of them came together and a blockade was being formed.  

"A blockade's forming right in front of my eyes. Wow, the first time seeing it live, it exceeded expectations. you see this Luke… Hey Luke?"  

Luke was just staring with hallowed Eyes. With the other two whispering with each other.  

People these days don't know whispering in front of others is bad. Whatever, hey Luke open your eyes. Where did your light go, did your end finally come, but where am I going to find a coffin that fits you right now? I think most places would have closed due to confusion…but burning you doesn't seem right, in the first place I don't have time to dig for you. Sorry man but you will have to go like this… I will at least shut your eyes though" He shut his opened eyes.  

Luke finally regained the light in his eyes after his vision suddenly blacked out.  

"Huh, did my speech motivate you so much that you found the willpower to fight against death in a deserted land where you couldn't find hope in complete darkness? I think I have a talent for consulting."  

"Shit how did you make that much of a story? I was just burning the image in my mind but you disturbed me, how are you going to Pay For That."  

"Ah oh um, ahem. Once a woodcutter was cutting a tree alongside the bank of the tree, but suddenly his 

"His Axe fell into the river? How is that paying back, you are just annoying me"  

"Yes his Axe did fall into the river but listen here. An angel didn't come to give him axe"  

" Then what came?"  

"A spirit man, a creature not of our type came and killed him right there for disturbing his leisure time."  

Allen and Yushin had distanced themselves a little away from them. They signaled to follow and Luke went ahead ignoring Tim. Tim heaved a sigh and wiped his sweat.  

As they neared the blockade, the eyes of most cops were gathered on the group. A cop headed towards them so they stood still.  

"Please be patient and help in our investigation. Where have you all Come from?"  

"We came from the road you see behind us. Why do you ask so, is there any problem with that" 

The man subconsciously stepped back slightly and said" No there is no problem, on the contrary we are here to receive the members of the institute so they can relocate to somewhere else. The current confusion needs to be quickly removed as it is causing unrest, so we urgently require their presence. The police here are to ensure their safety in this period. If you are a member please verify your identity".  

Allen's mind gears spun and there was intensive activity of neurons" Isn't he being too cautious. A little can't be helped but so much is like showing hostility, like we are suspects of a crime. Wait, Crime?"  

Like the four of them had telepathy, they could understand each other's mind at this point and their previous confusion couldn't catch up with their increasing and overwhelming fear. Their intelligence came to bite back now. They couldn't calm down.  

They understood the sort of trouble that the institution had caused and as core contributors they were going to receive the full reception of these well trained men.  

Hundreds of armed burly men against four weak lambs was not even fun to imagine. Not to mention the numbers were still increasing.  

Allen tried to talk as casually as he could using all of his will and wits" Is that so. I would love to help, but sadly we are n-not from the institute. It's always been a dream you know… sorry I sidetracked. Anyways we were standing outside the private park. Since we had nothing much to do we thought we may as well go for recreation."  

"Is there any witness to testify to that?" This was the main reason their mouths were sealed, anything they said could have been used against them and they had no witness to prove their testimony. 

"About the witness…" Allen anxiously signaled to the group to start an act. Luke caught the hint perfectly and using his years of unsuccessful experience started acting.  

He posed as he had another shock, but a smaller one. "Are the after effects of the shockwave occurring to him? Bro, we…"  

At this moment someone caught the attention of the cop so the attention of others was also piqued, and they saw someone that had the same face as Moth with them. Even his body shape was the same. He was even wearing similar clothes? Even Twins should know limits, otherwise they would be thought of as duplicates. Wait, where's Moth right now.  

He couldn't spot him moving his eyeballs sideways. Is he Moth, but how?  

"Sir, is there any problem with these people? I thought as much when I saw them before. "  

"Oh gentleman, did you see them before? We need to confirm their whereabouts to count the number of missing people. Our research radius will be minimized like this"  

"Oh, was that it? In any case I can lend a hand in this matter. I saw them loitering around the private park when I exited the private park around a few minutes before the Shockwave. Does that answer it?"  

"Ah well thanks for your time. You can also go now, but leave the young man, his suffering of after-effects will be cured by high end hospitals. And don't worry about the cost as we will know how to deal with people who have after-effects"  

Damn I had already marked the day as the worst possible but at least something good should happen.Nothing's going in the right way.  

"Sir about that, don't worry. As I said before, like I have permission to the private park(self-granted), I can admit him myself(illegally, won't though) .The data analysis would go to the Government in the end, and his family would also settle like this. Decisions's yours. I just want to create less trouble for you.What do you say" 

"Nothing much can I say. As long as caring citizens like you exist, I can be proud to do this job. I will leave this responsibility with you then." (What did he say about permission and self?)

  

He really saved the day. I am curious as to how he bypassed those officers, but what was he going to do if the officer said no? He could not persist could he, it would have been extra suspicious. Well that's enough worrying for a single day.  

"Wait" Wait, the single word made their relaxed shoulders go tense again. Even Moth was no exception. He had testified so if any problem were to occur…  . 

"Why did you go outside the private garden instead of the public parks available? You could not enter the private property so wouldn't the public park be more suited for recreation.  

Allen cursed and cursed. He cursed the people on social networks as well as the policeman. How the hell is he so fast-thinker? And they said cops could be tricked easily.  

The other cops seeing the situation was not resolved went into position, observing their next move which left them with little choice to choose from.  

They were about to turn when the cop again said "Never mind, you can go. The minds of the new really do think differently. It would never cross my mind to go for recreation to somewhere where I can't even enter. Isn't that just wasting time? I need to change my thinking to think like them, it will upgrade my skill of solving crimes. " The first sentence was audible while the other was all whispering.  

The net loosened and they successfully went right amidst them. The only obstacle remaining was a device like metal detector and they passed through it successfully This detector was mostly used to identify criminals by retina scans. They couldn't use this to identify members of institutions because the private details of members were not available for outsiders. 

Security provided by the institute to its members was difficult to measure even on a scale of one to ten.  

"I was almost captured because of you. I want to see how you will make me do something like this again." Luke said, grinding his teeth.  

"Huh you are blaming me, who told you to start comedy, don't blame me okay" Allen went forward denying the claim.  

Luke said nothing more and just grinded his teeth.