11 Chapter Eleven: Signs of a World War (1/2)
A couple weeks pass as the group; Siran, Alex, Zia, and Finn made their way to Cairo. The voyage over the ocean was long and very boring for those who couldn't sit still, namely Finn. After they arrived at Africa, they spent about a day looking for a way to board the bullet train that will carry them east to the other side of Africa. This bullet train had plenty of space for passengers but most of the train was reserved to hold goods meant to be traded. Eventually, the train stopped just north of Cairo's city limits and they had to go through an immigration checkpoint to enter the city. The immigration system was just meant to check people going into the city for affiliation with any military and/or weapons. All of them were cleared to go through, although Alex had a little bit of a problem. They discovered that he is an Ex Ly'Lum, but after finding out that he no longer is affiliated with them, they let him pass. It was clear to them that the people here did not like The Ly'Lum at all. Eventually, they made their way near the center of the city.
”What should we do from here?” Alex asks.
”We'll likely need to find a way to make money while we're here” Finn says. ”I still have plenty of money for now that I was able to exchange for this country's currency, but if we plan on being here for a long time, then we'll need a way to make more unless you want to live on the streets in Egypt”
”Before we get into that” Siran says, ”I think we deserve to enjoy ourselves at least a little. We can go sight seeing for a while to clear our minds of our journey so far”
”I agree” Zia says.
”You always agree with Siran” Finn says. ”Besides, you just wanna go see the Pyramids don't ya?”
”That'd be a great place to start” Siran says. ”I want to see them too!”
Zia almost jumps for joy as she turns around and begins walking and says ”Then let's go!”
”Do you even know which way to go?” Alex asks.
”A few giant pyramids will be hard to miss” Siran says.
”The Great Pyramid of Giza?” An unknown voice says from behind them.
They turn around and find a short person leaning against a wall, wearing wraps around their body. They looked like boy trying to dress up as a ninja, but sounded like a female adult.
”I can show you the way, but I'd suggest not getting involved there” she says.
”Why not?” Siran asks.
”It's no longer just a sight attraction like it once was” she explains, ”It's a home for rebels”
”Rebels?” Siran asks, ”rebels against what?”
”Glad you asked” she says, ”against The Ly'Lum's recent involvement with this country. We rebels don't approve of them being here. Recently they've been getting too involved with every country that's been flourishing and we think they only have bad intentions”
”... we?” Siran asks. ”So you're a rebel?”
”I uh” she begins to make excuses, ”I never said that. You must've misheard”
”No, we definitely heard what you said” Finn says in a disappointed tone.
”You're not very incognito either” Alex says. ”You stand out like a sore thumb”
”And you're a bad liar” Zia says.
”Who are you anyways?” Siran says.
”Worry about that later” she begins to explain. ”We need to worry about getting somewhere safe. You never know who could be working for them here”
”At least give us your name” Siran says.
”I got an idea” she begins to say, while completely ignoring Siran. ”You said you wanna go to the Pyramids, then we can go there and I can explain where it's safe”
”And that's the rebels hideout now?” Siran asks.
”You catch on fast” she says. ”How'd you already figure that out?”
Siran, Alex, Zia and Finn just look at each other in amazement of how dumb this person was. The group follow this girl to the pyramids. They make it outside of the city of Cairo and the climate seems to change drastically, because the city had a flourishing green environment, but immediately changes to a sandy desert as they approach the site of the pyramids. When they arrive, the girl shows them to a passage that leads under ground. When they enter, there's just a single large room lit up by several lamps, and sandstone pillars to support the roof from collapsing. She then takes off the wraps around her face, exposing bright and long pink hair.
”My name is Rose Atiyeh” she says, ”and this is our hideout”
”Where's everyone else?” Alex asks. ”You said rebels, so I assumed there would be more”
”There's just me here” Rose explains, ”everyone else is too scared to fight back. So I'm here to protect them”
”Okay” Siran says, ”I can see where this is going. It's almost pitiable, but basically there is no rebel group”
”There was!” Rose interjects, ”... I'm all that's left though”. Her head begins to hang low in depression.
”I'm sorry” Zia says. There was a short pause of silence before Zia proposes ”are you guys hiring then?”
Rose looks up in surprise and says ”what?”.
”Well” Zia explains, ”we're not friends of The Ly'Lum either, and we'll be here in Cairo for a while so might as well help”
Rose's eyes light up with almost a fiery passion as she says ”Not just anyone can do it though! You'll be an outlaw here, forced to live off of very little. Stealing whatever provisions you can, and living in secrecy”
”Been there, done that” Finn says.
”Well” Rose begins to say, ”you'll also have to fight if the time ever comes, surviving purely on your own abilities”
”Yep” Zia says.
”Well...” Rose begins to say, running out of excuses to try and intimidate the group, ”you won't be living in luxury no matter how hard you try, so if you wanted to live comfortably-”
Siran interrupts with ”I kind of assume that position, are you going to let us help out or not?”
”When did this become a job?” Alex asks.
”When we found a job” Siran replies.
”So who are you anyways, Rose?” Finn asks.
”I'm the sole survivor of the rebels in Cairo” Rose says with pride, ”I'm a ninja!”
”Aren't you a little too young to be a ninja?” Alex asks.
”I'm 19 dammit!” Rose shouts as she begins to pout.
”You're barely younger than I am” Finn says. ”I think that makes you the youngest one out of all of us”
”How old are all of you?” Rose asks.
”26 years old” Zia says.