1 Hiroshi: The Deviant

Rain Starts To Pour As I Leave Out Of The Cafe. I Look At The Front Of The Door And I See A Piece Of Paper With My Face On It. A Reward Of One Million Dollars For The One That Turns Me Into The Police Dead Or Alive. And Put The Piece Of Paper In My Pocket And I Put My Hoodie Over My Head As I Start To Walk Down The Street Of The City. I Look Up At Billboard That Is Playing A Hologram Of A Government Sponsored Commercial. It Warns Citizens To Keep On The Look Out For Deviants. I Spit On The Ground As I Wrap My Hands Up In A Cloth I Have In My Pocket. Deviants Are The Bane Of Human Existence. They're Biological Deformities That Should Not Exist. In A Society Where Humans Have Evolved To The Point To Where They've Developed Abilities To Adapt To A Dying Planet. Hybrids Rule This World. Those Who Are In High Power Are The Most Powerful Of The Hybrids.

Human Who Couldn't Adapt Have Been Killed Off Due To The Harsh Conditions Earth Has Thrown At Us Over The Past Thousand Years Or So. But That's What The Government Has Told Us And What We've Been Taught In School. But I Think It's All Bullshit. The Rain Stops And I Take My Hood Off Of My Head. I Keep My Head To The Ground So That People Can't Identify Me As A Deviant. There Are Two Ways To Tell If Someone Has That Gene. Different Colored Eyes And A Birth Mark On The Left Hand That Looks Like A Burn Mark. Luckily For Me I Was Born With Both On Top Of Having The Deviant Gene Which Gives Me What Hybrids Hate And Fear The Most. Two Superhuman Abilities.

What I Am Is Looked Down Upon By Those In Higher Power. Being A Deviant Is The Equivalent Of A Human Having A Third Arm Or A Second Nose, Disgusting And Alien. As Far As I Know The Government Hunts People Like Us Down And They Kill Us. I've Seen It Happen So Many Times On The Television And Even In Real Life. The Government Hires Powerful Hybrids To Take Deviants Out. I've Seen Multiple Of Them Be Killed In Front Of Their Friends And Family, Age Doesn't Matter To These People Either. People As Old As Eighty To Children As Old As Even Seven Aren't Safe. These Hybrids Use Their Abilities To Kill Innocent People Just Trying To Live Peaceful Lives Just Because They Were Born Different From Them. This System Is Disgusting And Inhumane, But To Be Honest We Lost Our Humanity A Long Time Ago.

I Turn The Corner And I Walk Onto A Huge Street. I Can See A Ton Of Police Officers Everywhere As I Start To Walk Down The Street. It's Just A Couple More Blocks Until I Reach My Home. I Live In A Sort Deviant Refuge For Deviants. The Building Is Located Somewhere In The Underground Of The City. I Walk Down The Street And I Turn Into An Alleyway, I Look Behind Me To Make Sure No One Is Following And I Head Into The Building.

I'm Greeted By The Receptionist As I Walk Up To The Elevator That Leads To The Underground Of The City. She Rolls Her Eyes At Me As I Give Her A Fake Smile.

"So. What'd You Steal Today Hiroshi?" She Asks. Jenna Is The One That Makes Sure That No Police Officers Or Regular People Get Into The Underground. She's An Important Person But She Definitely Has A Smart Mouth. "You Know That If You're Going To Be Leaving The Underground Everyday You Should At Least Bring Something Back For Those Kids."

"Jenna. If I Could Steal A Boyfriend For You I Would. But That Would Be Kidnapping, And I Wouldn't Want To Put A Poor Man Through That. Especially Not With You." I Say Pressing A Button On The Elevator. The Door Opens Up And I Walk In. I Take A Key Out Of My Pocket And I Insert The Key Into A Lock On The Elevator.

The Elevator Door Closes In Front Of Me And The Last Thing I See Is Jenna Sticking Her Middle Finger At Me. I Descend Ten Floors To The Underground As The Elevator Shakes And Shudders. I've Always Hated Being In These Things. They're All Just One Strap Away From Being A Big Ass Coffin. The Elevator Door Opens As The Smell Of Must And Damp Water Finds It's Way To My Nose. A Group Of Children Run Past Me As I Head To My Bunk. I Throw My Coat Onto My Bed As A Little Girl Walks Behind Me. She Crawls Onto My Bed And She Starts To Rummage Through My Pockets.

"Hiroshi. Did You Bring Some Food Back For Me?" She Asks. She Fixes Her White Hair As She Puts My Black Coat On. I Pat Her On Her Head As I Snatch My Coat Off Of Her.

"Asya. What Did I Tell You About Putting My Clothes On?" I Say Picking Her Up And Putting Her On The Floor.

"That If I Put Your Clothes On I'm A Dirty Whore." She Says Doing Her Best Impression Of Me. "But I Don't Know What A Dirty Whore Is So I Could Care Less."

I Take A Deep Sigh As I Pull A Cinnamon Bun Out Of My Pocket. Her Red And Blue Eyes Light Up As I Hold It Over Her Head.

"Where Did You Get The Money To Buy This?! I Thought You Were Broke!" Asya Says To Me Jumping Up And Down.

My Eye Twitches At The Fact That She Just Automatically Assumes That I Have No Money, But She's Right About It.

"I May Be Broke, But There Is One Thing That I Am Good At, And That's Stealing From Other People." I Say As I Pull Out Multiple Wallets From My Pocket.

I Drop Them On My Bed As Asya Tears Into The Cinnamon Roll Packet. I Pat Her On Her Head As I Pick Her Up And I Put Her On My Bed.

"Hey. Be Sure Not To Tell Anyone Where You Got That From Okay?" I Say Poking Her In Her Stomanch. Asya Starts To Giggle As She Nods Her Head.

"I Promise I Won't. Thank You For This Hiroshi. I Won't Have To Go To Bed Hungry Tonight." Asya Says Wrapping Her Arms Around My Neck.

A Group Of Small Kids Runs In The Door Behind Me And They Start Laughing At Asya.

"Asya Has A Boyfriend! Asya Has A Boyfriend!" All Of The Boys Yell As They Run Past Me.

I Grab The Leader Of The Boys By His Collar As He Runs Past Us And I Lift Him Up Into The Air.

"Hey Wes. How Are You Today?" I Say Looking At Him In His Eyes. I Can See The Colors In His Eyes Start To Change, One Of The Main Signs Of Someone Becoming A Deviant.

He Looks Away From Me And He Tilts His Head Towards The Ground.

"Mariah Is Going To Kick Your Ass If You Don't Leave Me Alone Hiroshi. I May Be Afraid Of You But She Isn't." Wes Says Sticking His Tongue Out At Me. I Pluck Him In His Forehead And He Starts To Cry A Little Bit.

"You Can Tell Mariah That I Said That She Can Kiss My Ass." I Say Dropping Him To The Ground.

"Or You Could Just Tell Me Yourself." I Hear A Woman Say. I Let Out A Loud Groan As I Turn Around To Look At Mariah.

Asya Stands Up On My Bunk And She Jumps Onto My Back. She Sticks Her Tongue Out At Mariah And Mariah Rolls Her Eyes At Her.

"Hey Mariah, Tell Your Boys To Stop Picking On Asya Alright? She Just Wants To Enjoy Her Food." I Say Walking Towards Her.

Mariah Looks Me Up And Down And She Bucks At Me. I Flinch A Little And She Starts Laughing.

"How About Next Time You Go Out You Bring My Boys Back Some Food. You Know That We're All Starving Down Here." She Says Patting Wes On His Head.

"Hey! I Wasn't Even Thinking About Giving That To Asya, She Went Rummaging Through My Pockets When I Came Back." I Say Back. Asya Hits Me On My Head And Jumps Off Of My Back.

"You Meanie!" She Says To Me Sticking Her Tongue Out. I Do The Same To Her And She Starts Laughing.

Asya Runs Off In The Direction Of The Courtyard And When She Reaches The Door She Turns Back To Me And Waves At Me.

"Hey! Be Back Before Sundown. If You're Not In Bed By Eight No More Snacks For You Kid!" I Yell To Her. She Nods Her Head And She Leaves Out Of The Bunker Room.

Wes Follows After Her Leaving Only Mariah And I In The Room Alone. The Entire Mood Changes As Mariah Sits On The Bed In Front Of Me.

"So. How's It Looking Above Ground?" She Asks Me. She's Referring To The Real Reason Why I Went To The Surface To Begin With.

I Sit Down On The Bed Opposite Of Her And I Take A Deep Breath In And Out.

"Government Officials And Police Officers Are Starting To Get Close To This Part Of The Underground. It Won't Be Too Long Before They Find This Place Out." I Say To Her.

Mariah Places Her Face Into Her Hands After I Say This. Here's The Thing With The Underground. The Underground Isn't A Physical Place, It's The Name Of Organization That Hides Out The Deviant Race. As Far As I Know There Were A Ton Of Hideouts Like This Across The Country. But One By One The Government Has Been Wiping Them Out. Countless Lives Have Been Lost. I'm Guessing The Main Part Of Their Plan Is To Wipe Out The Children. The Next Generation Of Deviants.

"So. Have You Thought About Getting Rid Of Some People Of Those People? She Asks Me. "You Know, Let's Kill Them Before They Get To Us."

I Shake My Head No.

"Mariah. You Know I Only Fight When Provoked, And You Know How Bad That Would Look On Us If We Went Out And Started Killing Anyone That Looks At Us The Wrong Way." I Say To Her. "We Have To Think About The Kids That Come After Us. I Don't Want To Go To War Against The Entire Government."

Mariah Stands Up And Looks Out Of The Window.

"So What's The Plan Now? How Long Until You Think We're Discovered?" Mariah Says Turning To Me.

The Laughter Of The Children Ring Out From The Outside As I Stand Up And Close The Blinds.

"Look. I'm Planning On Moving A Small Amount Of Us To A Bunker On The Outskirts Of The City Once Night Falls." I Say To Her.

"How Many Are We Talking?" She Asks. This Is The Question That I Feared The Most.

"I Don't Know. Maybe Ten At The Most Maybe Less." I Say Rubbing The Back Of My Neck.

"Ten?! Are You Serious Hiroshi? There Have To Be At Least Fifty Of Us Down Here. Thirty Kids At The Least! Let Me Guess It Was Going To Be You, Asya, And About Eight Other Kids At Random Right?"

I Don't Respond.

"You Asshole. Were You Planning On Leaving Me Here Too?!" Mariah Yells At Me.

"No, I Wasn't. That's Why I Told You First. I Wanted You To Help Me." I Say To Her.

"So What, You're Just Going To Abandon Everyone Here? Wait Until The Government Finds Them And Then What? You're Going To Let Everyone Die? You're Going To Let Your Own Kind Die Because Of What Hiroshi?"  Mariah Asks Grabbing Me By My Collar. "You're The Strongest Of Us Here, Everyone Looks Up To You. The Elders, The Kids, And Me. We've Been Friends Since We Were Little Kids. You Saved My Life Hiroshi."

"I Can't Save Everyone Mariah! These Guys Are Going To Have To Learn To Defend Themselves. I Can't Be Their Only Hope, We Won't Survive That Way. Why Should We All Die?! Why Can't A Few Of Us Live To Fight Another Day?" I Say Tearing Her Hand Away From My Collar.

I Move My Jacket And The Piece Of Paper With My Face On It Falls Onto The Ground. Mariah Picks It Up And Looks At It. After Reading It She Shoves It Into My Chest And Turns Around. I Grab The Picture Of Me And I Throw It Into The Garbage Can.

"You're A Wanted Man Now Hiroshi?! You Need To Leave The Underground. Now." She Says To Me.

"But Wait. You Just Said That You Wanted Me To Stay! What The Hell Happened?!" I Say Standing Up. "Don't Tell Me That You're Scared That If You Leave With Me That You'll Be Killed. If You Stay Here You Could Die Too! It Would Be Best To Go With Me When I Leave Tonight. I Can Protect You!"

"No Hiroshi. It's Like You Said Before. We Can't Rely On You To Protect Us Forever. We Need To Start Looking Out For Ourselves." Mariah Says Walking To The Door. "When You Leave Tonight, Don't Take Anyone With You. You Should Be Gone By Morning, For The Sake Of Everyone Here."

Mariah Closes The Door Behind Her And I'm Left In The Bunker Room By Myself For The Rest Of The Day. Mariahs Words Echo Through My Head As The Sun Starts To Go Down. On Cue All Of The Kids Come Running Through The Door From The Outside And They Start To Climb Into Their Beds To Turn In For The Night. Asya Is The Last Of The Kids To Come Inside And She Immediately Runs Over To Me. She Has Dirt In Her Hair And On Her Clothes.

"Asya, You're Starting To Fit The Dirty Whore Thing That I've Been Saying." I Say To Her. She Slaps Me Across My Face And Then She Gives Me A Hug.

"Mariah Told Me To Slap You Every Time You Say That." Asya Says To Me. I Rub My Hand On My Cheek And Asya Starts Laughing.

"Don't Be Such A Baby Hiroshi. I'm Supposed To Be The Kid Here." Asya Says Climbing Into My Bed.

"Hey, What The Hell Are You Doing Kid? You Know I Always Sleep On The Top Bunk. Come On, Come Down." I Say Stretching My Arms Out But She Just Grabs Onto My Pillow.

"Alright Asya. I'll Sleep On The Floor Again." I Say Ripping The Cover Off Of Her.

"Hey!! That's Mines!" She Whines At Me.

I Laugh At What She Says.

"You Have No Idea How Wrong You Are." I Say Wrapping The Cover Around My Neck. "Hey Asya. You've Always Wanted To Go To The Surface Right?" I Say Stroking Her Hair.

She Nods Her Head Yes.

"That's Good. You'll Be Going Really Really Soon. I Promise. Just Remember That When I Say Come On, You Come With Me Alright? No Questions Asked. I'll Bring Some Of Your Friends Too Okay?"

She Shakes Her Head Yes Again And She Turns Around And Falls To Sleep. I Take The Cover From Around My Neck And I Put It Over Her. She Grabs Onto The Cover Tightly As The Air Starts To Grow Colder. I Grab My Jacket And I Wrap It Around My Body As I Sit On The Floor. I Look At The Clock And It Reads Eight Thirty PM. That Gives Me Four Hours Until I Can Leave From The Underground. I Look Around At Everyone One More Time, There Have To Be About Thirty Kids In Here To Two Adults. Well One Since Mariah Isn't Here Right Now. Which Is Strange Since She's Typically Back Around This Time. I Start To Get An Eerie Feeling As The Night Drags On.

An Hour Passes And She Still Isn't Back. This Isn't Like Her At All. I'm Starting To Get Worried. Time Drags On And The Clock Reads Twelve AM. It's Getting Close To The Time That I Was Planning To Leave. I Guess Mariah Really Doesn't Want To Have Anything To Do With Me. I Start To Pack My Things Up Quietly But Something Stops Me. I Look Around The Room At All Of These Kids And I Realize Something. I Can't Leave Them Here By Themselves. I Have To Find Mariah. She Needs To Be Here For The Kids. I Drop My Bag And I Head Outside To Look For Her. The Outside Is Completely Dead Except For The Occasional Rat And Gust Of Wind.

The Underground Isn't That Big Of A Place So She Couldn't Have Gone Far. Unless She Went Up To The Surface. But Why Would She Do That? She Has No Reason To Do That. But Just As That Thought Leaves My Mind I Can Hear The Door To The Elevator Open. I Immediately Turn Around To See Mariah Stepping Out Of The Elevator. The Feeling Of Relief Washes Over Me As I Start To Walk Over To Her. But She Puts Her Hand Up Like She's Telling Me To Stop.

"Mariah, Where'd You Go? You Never Leave The Underground. What's Going On?" I Ask Her.

She Remains Silent. The Uneasy Feeling That I Had Before Begins To Creep Up In The Back Of My Mind Once Again. Something Is Off Here. Something Doesn't Feel Right.

"Mariah. Why Don't You Walk Over To Me And We Can Take You Back To The Kids Alright? It's Way Past Curfew." I Say Extending My Hand. But She Doesn't Respond To Me.

"Hiroshi. I'm Sorry. But I Had To Do It." She Says Pulling Out A Piece Of Paper. I'm Confused For A Second But Then I Realize What It Is. It's The Bounty That Was Set Out On Me.

My Heart Drops Into My Stomach As A Group Of Hybrid Soldiers Come Out From Behind Pillars. They Start To Surround Me As Mariah Steps Away From Me.

"The Reward On You Was Too High To Ignore Hiroshi. I Bargained With The Police And They Said That They Would Give Me And The Rest Of The Deviants Full Immunity If I Turned You Into Them." Mariah Says As One Of The Soldiers Hands Her A Large Bag Of Money.

Mariah Runs Towards The House Leaving Me Completely Surrounded By Hybrid Soldiers. None Of These Guys Have Guns So I Can Easily Deduce That They All Have Some Sort Of Ability. I Just Need To Get Them To Use It.

One Of The Soldiers That Looks Like He's In Charge Walks Up To Me. He Takes Off The Black Scarf From Around His Mask And He Starts To Laugh At Me.

"So You're It Huh?" He Says To Me. He Stands Well Over Six Feet Tall And He Has A Big Scar Going Down His Left Eye. "Who Would've Thought That Me, Captain Evan Would Be The One To Find You. Hiroshi, The Hybrid Killer."

I Can Feel The Mood In The Air Change As That Name Is Uttered. I Can Hear The Gasps Of The Other Soldiers As They Learn Who I Am. I Close My Eyes And I Take A Deep Breath In And Out. There's No Point In Keeping The Act Up Now. They Already Know Who I Am. I Start To Laugh Maniacally As Captain Evan Backs Away From Me A Little Bit.

"Well, You Caught Me." I Say Throwing My Hands Up. "That Little Bitch Told You About My Plan Huh?"

"You Bet Your Ass She Did. A Secret Bunker On The Outskirts Of LA? Really? That's The Best Idea The Great Hybrid Killer Has? You've Killed Over A Hundred Hybrids And You've Gotten Away From Us On Multiple Occasions And Yet Your Best Plan Is A Bunker On The Outside Of The City. I'm Extremely Disappointed In You Hiroshi." Evans Says.

"If You Seriously Think That's The Only Plan That I Have Then You're Severely Underestimating Me Evans." I Say.

"Hm? What Do You Mean By That?" Evan Asks Me. I Pull A Small Remote Out Of My Pocket And All Of The Soldiers Start To Tense Up.

"I'm Guessing That You Had An Entire Squad Of People Waiting For Me Just In Case I Got Away From You Here Right?" I Say As I Click A Button On The Remote. When I Do That An Explosion Sounds Off In The Distance.

You Can Feel The Entire Underground Shake As The Explosion Continues On. The Sounds Of People Screaming And The Ground Shaking Causes Everyone In The Underground To Wake Up. All Of The Doors Fly Open

"What's Going On Out Here?!"

Who's Making All Of That Noise?!"

All Of The Kids Run Outside As I Jump Up On Top Of One Of The Pillars To Get Away From The Hybrid Soldiers. In The Midst Of All Of The Panic And Confusion I Walk Along The Railings Above The Underground Towards The Elevator Door, But I'm Met By Captain Evans Right Before I Reach The Elevator Door.

"You Always Were A Tricky One Hiroshi. I'll Give You That. But It Seems Like You Have No Where Else To Go Now." Evans Says As A Group Of Four Soldiers Appear Behind Me. "So What's Gonna Be Your Next Move? It May Be Your Last."

I Look Above His Head To See If The Bomb I Placed Is Still There, And Sure Enough It Still Is. My Plan To Lead These Guys Over Here Worked. If This Bomb Is Still Here Then The Other Four Must Still Be In Place As Well. I Take The Remote Out Of My Pocket Once More And Evans Laughs At Me.

"You've Already Used That Button Kid. It Won't Work Twice." He Says Laughing.

"There You Go Underestimating Me Again." I Say Back To Him. I Look At The Ground To Calculate How Far Of A Jump It'll Be Once I Press The Button, Once I Figure Out Where I'm Going To Land I Press The Button Once More.

But Right When The Bombs Start To Go Off, Asya Catches A Glimpse Of Me And She Starts To Run Towards Me Calling My Name. Right Before Everything Disappears In A Flash Of White Light I Can See Asya Run Directly Under A Pillar Where I Had A Bomb Planted Just As I Goes Off And My Screams Are Drowned Out As The Bombs All Go Off At Once.

•Authors Note: "Let Me Know What You Guys Think. Who's Your Favorite Character So Far? What Do You Expect? Etc....

Next Chapter: "Two Sides Of The Same Coin; Hiroshi Vs The Deviant Killer"