(Reverence 3, 59 / 4:22AM)

  Yellow sand blew against the outside of the metal walls.

  Gripping the steering wheel with a death grip, hot sand littered the asphalt road, as not even the tiny bit of sand retraced light back to his irises.

  Dunes as tall as most hills, the vast horizon sweeping the already dead sun, not even the thick stick bushes that decorated the side of the road kept Jack company. Feeling like he was driving into the unknown, the sky above him didn’t let out a single piercing star, leaving him but his ownsome to plow through the lonely desert; in total darkness.

  (Jack’s thoughts) The desert to the south, the Nabu desert.

  Jack’s fingers dug deep into the leather wheel.

  (Jack’s thoughts) Haven’t seen a single town for barely 50 miles. When are we going to find a town—

  A green billboard several hundred feet soon began to come into play.

  The van’s headlights glimmering the white letters, Jack squinted his eyes, having his mouth slightly open. Nodding once, the green billboard began to be displayed on the side mirror to his right, as he continued to stare straight at the road.

  Sure enough, the silhouette of houses and buildings were on full display.

  Looking toward the front of the wheel, a small system of letters displayed the van’s general information. In the middle between the oil and the battery levels, the gasoline tank arrow already pointed onto the 1/4th mark.

  (Jack’s thoughts) I should probably refill in this town. Who knows how many towns I will see again.

  A couple of minutes rolled by, and the van soon slowed right along a gas station pump. Shutting the car off completely, all of the lights from the inside turned on, the light raining down on them like waking up to a bright light at the end of surgery.

  Their eyelids filled with eye boogers, they groaned in unison. Being the first person to stand up on his own feet, Luke rubbed his eyes, letting flakes of eye crust fall down onto the floor.

  (Luke) Let’s just get what we can get and go.

  Everyone nodded, Luke opened the passenger side door, shutting it close as Jack began to do the fueling process for the van. Getting a simple gas pump into the fuel tank, he then saw everyone step down from the van, all heading toward the inside of the station.

  But there were only four other people inside the back.

  As Luke, Sean, Miles, Pacifica, and Hope went to get snacks, Jack peeped to take a look at the barely awake Chris, Christian, and Benn. As for Luna, she was still in a deep sleep, her mouth wide open for even a tarantula to crawl inward.

  (Jack’s thoughts) Right, Benn can’t enter in…

  Looking around the empty lot, the many signs on the road that they passed were all coated in red letters. Noticing that some of them showed symbols of animals like rabbits or horses, there was also the symbol of cats and dogs being shown as well.

  Right along the largest billboard, a logo displaying a dying shark-human drenched in blood locked in his memory.

  Connecting the two dots, the grip on the gas pump that he held soon began to tighten. Keeping his eyes down, he scanned all around him as no boots or small steps took precedence.

  (Jack) We really hit the jackpot, didn’t we?

  Inside the van, both Christian and Chris were right in front of Benn, who just blindly stared at the floor.

  Christian had his arms folded onto his chest, filling up his lungs like a large balloon. Inhaling an abundance of air out of his nostrils, a small cough escaped from his parched lips, his throat coarse as sandpaper being laid out on the desert sun.

  All while Chris fiddled with his fingers.

  (Chris) Why aren’t you going anywhere, Christian?

  The man with the cowlick pushed his entire body to stand up, using the heels of his boots so that he had his back straightened out already. Walking toward the shark-human, his towering presence clouded over him like a cop.

  But slowly, his arms and hands soon dropped to his sides, extending his right hand. Turning his attention away from the floor, his droopy eyes locked onto Christian’s, whose eyes turned from frustration to tiredation.

  Stolen story; please report.

  (Christian) Sorry for what I’ve said to you for the past couple of days … I’m just not used to seeing a shark-human in the flesh that’s all…

  Benn widened his eyes, as not even the soles of his feet were able to push him upward to stand himself. Only extending both of his hands outward, he clamped down on Christian's hand, keeping it in a cage.

  Continuing to tilt down his head, his dark coated eyelids that sagged couldn’t even lift themselves to form smiling eyes. His lips not push upward, nor did his cheekbones, with only a small whisper pushed from his parched lips.

  (Benn) It’s ok.

  A small click reverberated through the gas pump, causing Jack to pull out the pump. Putting it back where it belonged, he wiped away a bit of sweat from his forehead with his right sleeve. Placing both hands on his hips, he arched his head back as the pitched black sky above him didn’t let a single moon shine on him.

  But his ears perked up.

  Turning his head to the right, a couple of rocks and pebbles were kicked upon, as several men and women wearing all-black robes were seen in the dark. Noticing that their hoodies were pointed upward, most of them had blue lines on the edges of their sleeves and collars.

  (Jack’s thoughts) What the hell… don’t tell me that…

  Counting about eight of them, the men and women in black robes carried with them one beast-human, whose hands and feet were tied up like a fish. Their mouth bound with a simple bondage of…

  Animal fur…

  His cheeks were pushed upward to resemble that of a chipmunk.

  Both of his feet and legs dragged against the concrete ground, drool leaped from the corners of his stuffed mouth. Wearing nothing but black boxers, his bare skin was shown to the entirety of the world, his back reddened with bruise marks from top to bottom.

  With most of the goonish purple blotches being right on the center of his spine. Along with the left side of his hair being missing, it looked as if someone scalped him with a dagger, with blood camping on the center of his forehead.

  Setting him down on the concrete, one of the robed men plunged his fist into the beast-human’s mouth, taking out the animal's fur—hair that mummified his mouth dry.

  (Luke) Hey Jack what’s going on—

  Luke and the four others carrying with them snacks, all stopped and watched at the display of evilness. Dropping the snacks on the ground, Luke took a step back as the sight in front of him was enough to scrunch up his fists. Despite a can of vampire and blue-cow jabbing onto his toes, the pain that he saw in front of him couldn’t even register the pain below his boots.

  Hope and Miles widened their eyes, as Hope covered her mouth with both of her shaking hands. For Miles, he only put both of his hands onto the back of his head. Pacifica soon ran back toward the van, her boots marking her steps along the concrete ground. As for Sean, his porcelain pale face began to blister red, as if his skin tried to camouflage with his blood.

  (Beast-Human) Please! Please! Save me—

  (Black Robed Man #1) Shut it! You know the rules of this town! No beast-humans after dark!

  Grabbing the helm of the beast-human head, the robed man couldn’t grab his hair as most of it was scalped off. But where would the hair be?

  Well, why would a beast-human be bound up by animal hair inside of his mouth rather than duct tape?

  Grabbing the beast-human's forehead, the leader pulled out a small metal pear from his pocket, its light shining onto the tear-ridden eyes of the beast-human. His breath trapped in his throat, the beast-human arched back his entire body from the device, shutting his eyes as whimpers vocalized the air around him.

  As the object had a title displayed on the side; “Pear of Anguish”.

  (Black Robed Man #1) Now for your punishment. Which hole do you prefer this to shoot out from?

  (Beast Human) N-N-No!

  (Black Robed Man #1) You knew the rules boy! Now take it like a champ—

  A hand tugged the leader’s shoulder, causing him to turn around.

  A robed woman, carrying with her a small bible in her left hand, extended it toward the leader. Putting back the pear of anguish into his pocket, he snatched the bible out of her hands, pushing his head back while reading the cover.

  (Black Robed Man #1) Why bring me this?

  (Black Robed Woman #1) He had it inside his pants pocket.

  (Black Robed Man #1) Then that changes his punishment.

  He let the front of the bible drop flat onto the ground, as his left foot stomped and squeezed and turned on the holy grail. Putting his left hand back into his robe’s pocket, his fingers grazed against a cold metal.

  A small revolver took presence to the beast-human, as tears began to roll down his cheeks to his chin.

  Not able to scream, nor yell, his vocals couldn’t even conjure up a yelp for help, with the leader loading in just a single bullet into the chamber. A clamp locking down, the small revolver’s barrel soon pointed toward the beast-human’s forehead, having it hover inches from their fur.

  (Black Robed Man #1) You know we Black Piranhas hate the idea of a fucking God controlling our lives. A religion that tries to preach love and peace? Forget about that.

  Having his finger on the side of the gun, the black-robed man soon trailed it downward toward the trigger.

  The other two robed men, who only held him up by his bound hands, took two steps away from the beast-human, keeping their distance as the leader placed his left foot back. Taking one last look at the frozen beast-human, he had his other hand on the bottom of his back.

  All the while Luke and the others just watched with their jaws dropped.

  (Black Robed Man #1) We choose who lives and who dies. Exercising our right to purge the weak is what we, ourselves are destined for. Yes … we are our gods.

  Not even the cicadas blazed their melodic songs.

  The world turned to white, no one moved the tiniest muscle upon their frozen bodies. Except for the leader.

  As a crackled shot grazed the desert air.

  Smoke emitting from the barrel, the leader pulled back his gun and he slowly holstered it back into his pocket. The two blacked-robed men dropped the beast-human corpse like rotting meat, and both of them smacked their hands to get rid of the fur that tingled their palms.

  Cold blood seething the sand, it blended into the night air. But before they walked, they turned to the visitors from a faraway land.

  The leader, who silently watched the group of jaw-dropped men and women, turned his head back to begin his walk toward the forest. The rest of the robed people followed suit, it only left Luke and the others to be the only ones in the middle of the night.

  The silence continued to fall upon the outsiders.

  Hearing the sounds of boots mingling the asphalt, a tightening hand scrunched his left shoulder, causing him to turn his head around. Seeing the eyes of a man with a foul glare, he gulped down whatever saliva he saved inside of his mouth.

  While the man continued to watch as the robed people were out of their sight.

  (Christian) So this is the infamous Black Piranha clan…

  Tilting his head downward, both of his jaws collided with one another, leading his teeth to subside to be pushed down into his gums. His right foot twitching led to his entire right leg moving on its own as if he had Parkinson’s disease on just his leg.

  (Christian) Count me in on the train heist, but promise me that Chris won’t get on.