PRDS - 4413 Part.1 Chapter 4: The Frees

“... see what happened up there?”

“Yeah, it was like tons of fireworks in the broad daylight. Thank god I was not right beneath it, haha”

“They deserve this. For dumping us like garbage on this planet.”

“Hehe, it’s their turn to get robbed.”

“It will be the end of this….”

Luckily, it seemed that they did not notice me while I was hiding myself in the bush. Captain was right. FREEMANs were gathering up. I needed to hurry. There would be massacres and I had to hurry my way to the land site to save one more person.

FREEMANs are the ones that aren’t chosen. Not chosen to be on the P4R4D1SE on the day of ascent. Chosen ones were not announced until the day of ascent and everyone got the same chance to be on the P4R4D1SE which made them believe that all could be on the P4R4D1SE. Not chosen ones got left behind on the earth while the chosens are enjoying their peaceful lives. Everyone was waiting for such a life. People have never stopped fighting even since before the construction of the P4R4D1SE. Of course, it was mostly a fight for survival. They had to fight for resources while natural resources were being drained for the construction. I vividly remember how it used to be on earth. People were expected to give up the resources for the construction, and the result was a Great Depression around the world. People could never gather themselves to fight against the stagnation. Their wish to be on the P4R4D1SE did not let them stand up against the government. As far as I remember, I was one of the people who remained silent and prayed for the luck to be the P4R4D1SE. Some people could not tolerate any longer, attacked construction sites. Their resistance did not even last a week. They got disqualified to be on the P4R4D1SE, that must be the beginning of the FREEMANs.

After the ascent, the struggle for survival got worse. There was barely anything left on the earth, the air between people became a lot menacing. In recent years, I started to witness a few meaningless massacres around the mission area. Whole group of people were found dead in their place, there were no signs of battle, not even kids could not avoid what was coming to them. For usual cases, there is usually plundering without lots of killing between FREEMANs. Which is a smarter way of surviving for the plunderers, most of the survivors could hold on to their lives, while the plunderers keep their chance to ‘harvest’ for later. These recent massacres must be the sign that FREEMANs were on the edge. Maybe it’s the sign that the weaponry is running out or they cannot be satisfied with the amount they collected. My captain could have foreseen this occurrence as soon as he saw a bunch of dead bodies, and had rescue teams focus on work for 3 years. We had to trace the strong FREEMAN group and interrupt them every time they tried to execute another massacre. That is what my team does. We arbitrate and conserve the FREEMANs.

If we had actual support from the HQ, we could have provided enough life sources and prevented these killings between living ones. Well, it seemed clear that FREEMANs are the least caring thing for the most of the people in HQ. 90% of the support that the rescue teams get comes from the civil organizations.

...

“Did you meet him?”

“Huh? I am sorry ma’am. What was it again?”

“Did you meet him? My husband. He promised me that he will be there waiting for me.”

“Yes, it was Mr.Rockwell, right? Thomas Rockwell. I’ve met people who saw him. It sounded like he has been staying in the F3 area since the ascent. I shared some supplies with the people around that area. He will be fine.”

“No… that is not good enough. You need to check his well-being by yourself. You know what? Please do me a favor and take me with your team the next time. He needs me. I need to be there. I am tired of staying in a safe place and praying for my husband's wellness. Please. I will pay at any cost. Take me with you.”

“Sorry ma’am. You know it is illegal. No civilian is allowed on the ship for a mission to earth. You cannot risk your safety to meet your husband. There must be a reason why Mr.Rockwell chose to be left. He wanted your safety more than his. Even we cannot guarantee your safety once you go down on earth.”

“I don’t care whether it’s safe or not! My husband is not..! Please. I don't want to be safe just for myself anymore… Please.”

…

Hmm. she would not have expected that she would actually come down on earth the way she never thought about. I hope she got to meet him now that she is on earth.

Most of the supporters of the rescue teams are just like her. People who left someone important on earth. Hope they don’t go crazy and run around to look for people. It is a lot more dangerous than what they think on earth. A living hell for outlaws. It is not a good place for the civilians.

I started to hear several gunshots from ahead of me. I looked around to hide, almost stumbled behind a man-sized boulder. A few gunshots were bursted out as if they were responding to the previous ones. It must’ve been a shootout between the security team and the FREEMANs. If the security team was around, the landsite should be near. As soon as I reported to the captain that the shootout was already starting, I hurried my steps to the destination.

“Identify yourself.”

Gun loaded in the back of my head. Damn it.