The day of the festival came.
Akilah and Amora got to the cafeteria early to help move the tables, clearing the middle of the gigantic room for the activities. The sound of rustling was loud as the wheels of the tables moved on the tile floor.
The band was in Sticks' room doing their last minute rehearsal, excluding Alex, who was helping Bloom with the cafeteria decorating. Kai and Taro got sent on a mission to tell all of the compound residents about the schedule for the evening.
"Ok. Girl talk!" Amora whispered excitedly.
"Oh god." Akilah rolled her eyes.
"What?!" Amora wore a jokingly angry face.
"Every time you say that, you ask who I like, I say no one, and then you change the subject." Akilah shrugged honestly.
"Well… I mean you do like Kai, right?" Amora raised her eyebrows as she waited for an answer.
"WHA-?!" Akilah stopped what she was doing to turn towards Amora, shocked at the suggestion.
"Is that a no?" Amora still held her eyebrows raised.
"Yes! I mean no! Yes, that's a no!" Akilah's eyebrows furrowed.
"You'll find someone, eventually!" Amora laughed as they continued to roll the tables to the side of the room.
"I'm gonna have to move the teddy bear and the flowers Kai gave me off of my nightstand. I don't want them getting the wrong idea." Akilah thought to herself.
"This might be the best Halloween festival of any of the compounds, dude!" Amora and Akilah overheard another compound resident talking to another resident. They looked at each other as they questioned their knowledge.
"CompoundS?" Akilah asked.
"Hey, Bloom." Amora walked over to Bloom, who was helping Alex put up some of the last minute decorations.
"What is it, honey?" Bloom turned and smiled as she continued to cut pieces of tape.
"Is there more than one compound? I thought this was THE compound." Amora asked curiously.
Bloom chuckled.
"I'm sorry, honey. It's me and Alex's fault that you don't know more about the compounds." Bloom handed Alex more tape.
"Not my fault." Alex muttered jokingly. Bloom gave her a stare that said "Kinda is".
"So there is more compounds?" Akilah asked.
"Yep! Did you learn about the capitals of the United Nations in school?" Bloom looked for confirmation as the kids nodded.
"Well, just like the regime has a six capitals set up in every continent with a Correctional Advisor in charge, the rebellion has six compounds set up. Me and Alex were real close friends with the leader of the Tokyo compound, when we were all little, of course." Bloom smiled as she waited for anymore questions.
"Wonder how he's doing. Haven't contacted him in a while." Alex said as she taped up the last corner of the poster she was working on. Bloom nodded towards Alex in agreement.
The girls looked at each other as they tried to digest the information.
"It's five o' clock!" The girls heard someone yelling over the crowd. The residents stammered to finish up the decorations, which only needed a couple more seconds. The remaining kids all grouped up in the cafeteria as Kai sped around with Taro on his back like a noble steed, ringing the news of the clock like a childish Paul Revere.
After the decorations were up, the residents lined up at the lunch line, which was longer than the kids had ever seen before.
"I hope-" Amora's words were cut off.
"Yes, they'll have apple juice." Chase smiled as Amora chuckled.
The kids grew closer to the line as they saw the feast with their own eyes. What seemed like one million options shined on their pupils. Hot dogs, burgers, a roasted turkey, all next to a seemingly unlimited list of sides. Kai's mouth dropped to the floor as Taro's mouth began to water.
"I never knew being part of a band could be so much fun." Vida held her blue tambourine.
"Right? Especially with people you care about." Hendrix smiled down at Vida, who smiled back.
"What are you guys getting? You know what, I don't care. Whatever you guys are having give some of it to me." Kai stammered over his words, his eyes never leaving the feast's options. Taro had to hold his head back, as to prevent him from licking the glass.
They got through the line, each teen's plate filled to the brim. They sat down on the large orange and black colored mat that the residents had rolled out onto the middle of the cafeteria floor.
After talking and eating for about ten minutes, Alex knelt down to Vida, Chase, and Hendrix.
"You guys come set up the stage." Alex whispered as the three teens got excited.
At the side of the orange and black mat, some of the residents had brought out a significantly large elevated platform for the performers. The bandmates set up their instruments on the platform.
Sticks came out of her room for the first time since yesterday to set up her drum set. Alex lugged her bass amp onto the stage, plugging it into her bass. Hendrix plugged in his guitar amp. He was about to connect it to his guitar before he remembered that noise from yesterday.
"I'll just wait until we start." Hendrix thought as he rested the chord on the amp.
Milo, who was sitting in the corner the whole time typing into his laptop, looked up and noticed Hendrix's look.
"Oh, that old thing? You can take it. Use it whenever you want. It's really of no use to me at the moment, y'know, since I've already invented better things." Milo went back to typing on his laptop, giving his usual smug look as Hendrix's worried face turned into a big grin.
"Really?! Thanks Milo! You're the best!" Hendrix made sure the distortion and voice on the amp's settings were turned up to the maximum.
"Testing, testing, testing." Chase looked at his microphone, confused. He tapped the mic expecting it to make noise, but nothing came.
"It's not plugged in, stupid!" Akilah screamed over the crowd. Chase quickly plugged it into the stereo system before running back to the microphone.
"I-I knew that. I was just testing the durability." Chase nodded, proud of his excuse.
Vida stood next to Hendrix, tambourine in hand. She smiled at him as he smiled back.
"You'll do great." Hendrix mouthed the words. Vida nodded back.
Vida looked back at Sticks, who gave her an honest smile in return.
"Let's let the music speak." Vida thought, as she wiped away any thought of apologizing verbally.
"Everyone ready?" Sticks pointed her drumsticks at her bandmates as they nodded back.
Sticks had to yell over the combined buzzing of the instruments, which had now filled the hall, catching the attention of the compound residents who weren't already watching.
"One! Two! One, Two, Three, Go!" Sticks counted as the band exploded into sound. Hendrix's guitar became of wall of violent noise, just the way he liked it. The low end was carried by Alex's veteran basslines, as she tried to act nonchalant, telling the crowd this is easy. Sticks drums were just as aggressive as always, the snare radiating sharply through the large hall.
Hendrix looked out at the crowd, who he had never noticed the individuality of. Each person rebelled visually, in their own way. The crowd danced wildly, just like the pictures of hardcore punk shows that Mr. Frewin had showed him when he was little. spiked hair dyed in mismatched colors, ripped jackets painted with slogans, and painted boots dotted the crowd.
Hendrix spotted Kai and Taro, who were jumping and throwing themselves into other residents, having the time of their lives. He also noticed Amora and Akilah, who awaited Chase's vocals eagerly, one of them waiting to support him, the other waiting to laugh at him.
"DIE. I mean. BONFIRES BURNING BRIGHT." Chase started with the wrong song's lyrics but quickly caught himself. Akilah burst into laughter as Amora started to blow kisses at him.
He sang with just as much energy as in the rehearsals, which just made the crowd go even crazier.
Vida kept the tempo steady with her tambourine, intermediately looking at Hendrix for confirmation of her performance. Hendrix would smile and nod back.
The three songs went better than any of the bandmates anticipated. The crowd loved the Halloween themed punk of the Misfits.
As the last song ended, the crowd erupted into cheering. The encore went on for a length that made the awkward Hendrix a little nervous. He fiddled with his fingers, as he thought about what to do with his hands.
After the crowd started to disperse and get ready for the movies, The band started to dismantle their equipment.
"I guess you could say that, together, we are Halloween!" Chase smirked at his remark. The bandmates laughed.
"We did awesome guys. Let's go watch these movies." Sticks said, surprising Alex.
"I would have never thought, in a million years, that Sticks would have joined in on the other Halloween festival activities. These kids really are something." Alex thought to herself as she smiled and nodded.
The Halloween festival went better than anyone could have thought.
At the Washington D.C. Capital Airport.
Officer 1060 stood at the exit to the B section of the airport.
"Correctional Advisor, I'm glad you could make it." Officer 1060 saluted the Advisor as he walked down the ramp, the two Officers behind him carrying his suit cases.
The Correctional Advisor wore a wooden mask with a simple painting of the mouth of a lion painted on the bottom half. His long dreads, pressed down under his military cap, covered most of the eyeholes. He wore a black-patterned military uniform, boots polished like obsidian.
The sound of his boots stomping on the tile floor of the airport, his menacing, bloodshot look, and the way he controlled the officers behind him with the twitch of his finger all sent shivers down Officer 1060's spine.
"I am glad that you can join me on my mission, and I apologi-" Officer 1060's statement was cut short. The Advisor grabbed him by the shirt and pulled his face close to the Advisor's mask.
"ANY… Dissenter that refuses to bend their knee to the holy spirit must be dealt with. You have FAILED to eliminate any dissenter belonging to this rebel group, and you have FAILED to bring in the powerful rebel like we have requested. By the name of the living god, if you get in my way on this mission, I WILL deal with you accordingly." The Advisor released Officer 1060's shirt, making him tumble back a step or two.
"Now let me see their files. We'll set out for infiltration tomorrow at 6 sharp." The Advisor said as he readjusted his cap.
"Yes sir." Officer 1060 gestured the deputy behind him to give him a stapled stack of papers.
"Here's what we know about the rebels." Officer 1060 handed the paper to the Correctional Advisor.