A giant boom fills my ear, forcing me to bolt upright. I barely notice the sun's twelve-noon position, but the pain in my shoulder makes me wince and squeeze my eyes shut for a few seconds. Not only that, but my back is stiff. "What the heck was that?"

Danny's already looking around for any danger, his gun raised. "Sounded like a gun. They must have been ordered to shoot."

"What? The guards?"

Danny's voice seeps with sarcasm. "No, darling, the citizens. The guards handed their guns to the citizens, and the citizens are shooting them."

I shoot him a mock-cold glare and command him to shut up. He takes the hint and snaps back into fighter-mode. He hands me an aspirin and some water, and I down it quickly. Like the few other times I've taken medicine before, the pill works immediately.

"We've got to go back to town." Three large booms sound again, and my head throbs at each menacing burst of noise. Danny stands, sweeps his gun around the surrounding land, and looks down at me. "Let's move."

I toss on my sheath and backpack and sling my bow across my chest Ignoring the ache in my shoulder the best I can, the throb is still a bit painful. I really hope that it doesn't affect my shooting, both with a bow and a gun. This time, however, I'm going to use my gun. Twisting my gun out of its holster, I nod at Danny to tell him I'm ready to go.

As soon as my gear is secured, Danny and I jog in the direction of town. Every 20 seconds or so, another bullet fires. The sound grows louder and louder as we approach Fort Collins, and each shot sends a sense of duty through my sweat-soaked skin. A weird sense of deja vu reaches my heart, but this time, Danny and I are the offense.

Once we reach the end of the forest, I watch the ElectroBoards flash the Renegade flyer. Every paper flyer in the town isn't gone either, and there are no people in sight. Another shot is fired, and Danny and I turn towards each other.

"They must be in the center of town," Danny says. I nod in agreement.

Following Danny, we cross behind some houses in the direction of town square. After a tiring jog, we stop behind a particularly dingy house to rest. Our goal destination is in view, but another bang cracks through the air, echoing through the empty streets. I walk along the side of the house, squinting at what's down the main road.

"Ashley," Danny hisses. "Get over here."

I wave a hand at him to shut him up, and that's when I notice all the townspeople lined in the street, or three spaced-out rows of people. One row is considerably shorter than the other two.

"Children," I whisper. The other rows must be males and females respectively. The guards stand parallel to the males, pointing their guns at them. The message on the ElectroBoards keeps blaring.

"Any resisters will be punished," the speakers across town chant continuously.

I mentally swear. The ISA is using our declaration of war against us. The resisters the Renegades wanted to punish were the Panel and the guards. But that's not the case now. Now, the ISA was to punish their own resisters: the citizens.

"Ashley," Danny hisses again, this time right in my ear. I jump as he yanks me by my left arm across a paved road. We cower behind some bushes, utilizing the scarce camouflage. Danny unzips his backpack, revealing a hidden compartment in the bag. My eyes flit across five additional guns and a few bullet cartridges.

"Geez, Danny," I say as he hands me an extra bullet cartridge. I slide it into my holster.

"Listen," he commands, "those guards are shooting innocent people, and we need to stop them. My dad issued an order to take out the guards, meaning this is happening across the country. So we need to paralyze all the guards. No guards means no problems."

"Wait..." I draw out. "How do you know there's an order issued?"

Daniels whips out his compass. "It's a communication device, too."

I nod as a bullet goes off, and my eyes bolt towards a man face-down on the ground, blood dripping from the hole in his forehead. A young woman in the line behind him screams and sinks to her knees. The guard shoots her as well. I can't help but turn away.

My stomach churns as I bite my lip to keep from screaming. I look at Danny with panicked eyes, but he's composed. I take a few shaky, deep breaths, twisting my gun in my palms. My hands are shaking.

I concentrate on halting the shaking, but it doesn't work. "We've got to shoot them all," Danny says, "There's only 15 or so of them."

"Only 15?" I say. "That sounds like a lot of guards to me."

"Then you better aim well. I'll start at the other end of the street and you start here." He motions to the mouth of the street. "We'll work our way to the middle. Sound like a plan?"

I agree, nodding a few times. With a supportive half-smile, Danny jogs 50 yards to my left, concealed by the brush. I take a deep breath and lock my aim on the back of one of the guards. At least there not facing us head-on.

My eyes meet Danny's as we prepare to shoot. He signals the number one with his fingers, then two, then three. I fire my gun, hitting the guard square in the back. I don't wait to watch him fall before scrambling to aim at the next guy.

After regaining their senses, the lined-up people grab their children and flee the streets, causing the guards to wildly shoot. The bullets' bangs pepper the air, terrifying everyone.

People scream, cower, and run. One guard taps a finger to his ear, reporting the anarchy to the government. So I aim my weapon and shoot the guard in between his shoulder. He crumpled to the ground.

Man, that felt good. Take that, Imperial savages.

Danny's skill and my hiding abilities make it easy to shoot the guards, even when they look in our direction. The first six or so guards are easiest to hit. The rest are a bit more difficult.

Crouching closer to the ground, I search for my next victim. The surrounding buildings and tangled undergrowth offer Danny and I an advantage. Whenever a guard tries to fire through the opening in between each building, they give us a clear shot at their own self. As if that wasn't helpful enough, the panic of the remaining citizens serve as a much-needed distraction, making the guards easy victims of Renegade bullets.

I hit at least four more guards, maybe more, before Danny and I meet side-by-side again. Danny shoots a lot quicker and cleaner than I do, so he knocked down at least a few more guards than I did.

"How many did you hit?" I ask quickly, taking out another guard running towards us.

"Dunno, maybe 7, maybe 10." He aims again and hits another guard. The man stumbles to the ground and lands on his back, unconscious.

We watch closely for more guards. Most the citizen already cleared out of the town square, so the air is still. Danny rises from his concealed position.

I reach to pull him down. "Danny, get down; there could still be Guards."

Danny waves a hand at me as if to quiet me. He should have learned by now; Ashley Cardry never listens to Daniel Fadhill's stupid ideas.

"Danny," I hiss again. A group of citizens walk between the two buildings in front of us.

"Ronan?" Danny says to the approaching group. They all nod, swinging their guns in their palms and between their fingertips.

I keep low near the bushes. What the heck is a ronan?

Apparently, Ronan's the leader of a rebel gang of citizens. With a guard-like haircut and a really cool tattoo on his left forearm, I'm indifferent about his true identity.

How the hell does Danny know him and his followers? I stop and think for two seconds. They could be undercover Renegades.

"Oh good, you two managed to knock out all those guards," Ronan smirks, waving the weapon he stole from a fallen guard. "And where's Ms. Ashley Cardry? I want to congratulate her on shooting the correspondent guard mid-sentence."

Ronan pauses and lets out a peculiar, but cute, laugh. "The last time I saw anything that funny was when young Danny here got his pants caught on a lamp post."

Danny blushes fiercely, and my heart soars as I let out a laugh. This Ronan guy is the best person ever.

※ ※ ※ ※ ※

your support and love for Instability legit melts my heart and helps me create amazing characters like Ronan.

and just for the record, #sarcasmrulestheworld