One month had passed since Drew joined the Rebels. He had discovered many new friends although Ava had became the closest. Currently, about ten people had gathered inside Drew's room which resulted in laughter and shouts echoing across the entire room.

"I researched about some structures that existed on Earth many years ago." Billy suddenly said once the conversation had died.

Everyone else lost interest all of a sudden. Billy was quite famous among the Rebels as the historical nerd. However, Ava seemed interested in his talks.

"Go on." she urged, earning scowls from everyone else in the room. She however didn't seem to mind it. That was her attitude. She never cared about what others will think about her.

"Err....Alright." Even Billy was stunned by Ava's interest.

He opened his phone and showed Ava the pictures of Earth's famous monuments.

"Magnificent." Ava remarked. "Does nobody live on Earth anymore?"

"No, nobody lives on Earth anymore after the destruction in Third World War . The war started in 2071 and lasted for ten years. By the time the governments of Earth realized that this war could cause extinction of humans, it was already too late. Billions had already died and all the most populated places were exposed to nuclear radiations. This left only one option - leave Earth. Mars was the first planet they colonised after which humans reached Alpha Centauri. Slowly, humans reaching more planets of the galaxy and lif...."

"That's enough history for today." Drew interrupted.

"Yeah, I just asked a 'Yes' or 'No' question." Ava stated.

"Okay, fine." Billy sighed.

"By the way, has anyone ever thought about just leaving Mecca for good?" One of them spoke up.

"That's clearly useless." Billy declared. "There are eight colonized planet out of which, two are for very rich, three for very poor, one is industrial planet and one is mining planet. Only Mecca is the place for Middle Class like us. We have no other place to go."

"You don't have to give a complete back story along with everything you say." Drew laughed causing everyone else inside the room to laugh too including Billy.

"By the way, what's the story of Chief Bogart? I was never told about it." Drew said once the laughter had died. "And before you open your mouth, I don't want the story from you, Billy.".

"Zack never told you about it?" Ava inquired.

"He said he'll tell me later. Must have forgot." Drew replied.

"Bogart worked for the government once. He was the man in charge of the Department of Planning. His task included planning where the houses, roads and other buildings will be. When the President discovered about Kerb, he gave Bogart the task to clear away the residents from major areas. Bogart politely refused the offer." Ava said.

"What happened next?" Drew asked.

"The President couldn't let Bogart walk away after knowing this secret. He was caught and tortured but finally he agreed to work for the government."

"He did? Then how di-"

"It was his plan. He was put under supervision for an entire month but after that, he gained some trust. As soon the watch over him got removed, he escaped and took help from his employees to start 'Rebels'." Ava said.

"And what about Zack?" Drew asked.

"He is the reason why we all are here. Earlier, only Bogart and his employees were part of the rebels. Then Zack came. His house was part of the first hundred houses that were emptied due to Kerb mining. Instead of letting him be taken to orphanage, he revolted. In the events that followed, the single teenager killed three policemen before running away. He then started causing many troubles to the government for the next few weeks so that he could catch the attention of Rebels and was successful in it. Bogart

arranged for them to meet in private. That's when Zack convinced Bogart about how the number of Rebels could be greatly increased if teenagers are recruited and here we are." Ava finished.

"If we are done with the stories, can somebody put on a decent movie to watch together?" one of them spoke up and everybody else agreed.

Zack rang the doorbell to Bogart's room and then patiently waited. After a few seconds, he heard Bogart's hoarse voice,"Lucy, open the door."

The door automatically slid open and Zack entered Bogart's room. The most surprising thing about Bogart's room was this it was just like every other room. There was nothing fancy about it.

Inside the room, Bogart was sitting on his bed and watching an action movie like always.

"Hello Zack." Bogart said, pausing the movie.

"Hello, Chief. Why was I called?" Zack enquired.

"I just wanted to tell you that I will have a meeting with Andy and Jim tomorrow in one of our safehouses."

"Why not here?"

"You know there could be many spies inside the base. This meeting is an important one because we'll discuss all the operations we will undertake this year. We can't afford being spied."

"Alright, I'll take care of this place during your absence."

"Good." Bogart said.

"I have to go meet Judy now. Good Night." Zack wished.

"Whoa! Wait!" Bogart exclaimed.

"Yes, Chief?" Zack turned back to face Bogart.

"How are things with our recruit?"

"Drew? You don't need to worry about him now. He has fit in quite well. He's still not very good in combat but has created a lot of gadgets along with Ava. And he has made many more new friends too. I have seen him go out with Ava and some others many times this week."

"Nice job. Keep recruiting more." Bogart said.

"I will, Chief." Zack said before departing from the room and instructing the Walker to take him to Judy.

"Late, as usual." Judy was waiting for him with a deathly glare stuck to her face.

"I am sorry. It was Chief Bogart. He called to tell me something." Zack defended.

"Whatever." Judy sighed as they both entered her room.

"Lucy, change the bed to couch. " Judy commanded.

In response, the bed readjusted itself into a couch.

"Now open the TV." Judy instructed and as soon as she did, the front wall changed into a big television screen.

Judy and Zack sat down on the couch and then Judy scrolled through the list of movies.

"Let's watch a Horror movie today." Zack laughed.

Judy's face turned to him in an instant. "You know how much I hate horror movie."

"You weren't scared when fifteen enemies rushed on you during that mission but a simple ghost that is behind a screen scares you."

"It's different. You won't get it." Judy protested. "Also, the talk about missions reminds me; you are getting too busy with work nowadays. You need to take a break at times. This is the time of our life for fun. You never go out with me and the others."

Great, Zack thought, a simple joke has turned into lecture. Although he knew that Judy was speaking the truth when she said he isn't spending time with his loved ones anymore.

"I know I have been growing very distant to you lately but I can't help it. I have responsibilities. Also, it's not easy for me to go out in the public. There might be people who still remember my face. I was quite infamous before joining the Rebels. It's very risky."

"Alright, don't go out with us but at least spend time with us inside. Mostly every night, I do something fun with Ricky, Susan, Noah and Brian but you never join us. The only time we spend with you is when we're eating. It's almost as if you don't enjoy our company anymore." Judy muttered

"I don't like your company? What are you saying? No, that's not true at all." Zack snapped. "All of you, especially you, mean a lot to me."

"Then spend time with us sometimes."

"Alright, fine, I swear I'll make it up. I can't promise that I'll join you every time but I'll spend more time with you guys from now. How does triple the time sound to you?" Zack cheered her up.

"But if you multiple zero with three, it's still zero." Judy smiled.

"You Devil!" Zack smacked a cushion on her face playfully, starting another casual fight between the one.

It could indeed be said that the night was colourful for all the Rebels. However, happiness was something fate had planned for them. Something they didn't deserved for long. Everything was about to go downhill.