The East PacificBoard

This was the... what... seventh time this week Harry had seen this nightmare.

It always started out the same way. He would be at the port with Andy, fishing like they do, and then all of a sudden a ship with a weird-looking flag would come out of nowhere and start shelling the commune. More of them would arrive, and then the Westmore National Guard would show up and a violent sea battle would go down as the commune is set on fire by the battle.

And Andy, no matter what, would always die in a brutal way before his eyes, be it from getting crushed by a shell or getting set on fire by an exploding gas cannister.

It was the same goddamn dream all the time. Why him? What in God's name was this dream trying to tell him? That his friendship with Andy would end in blood and tears spilled? That Freeville would be burned down by some crazed soldiers who speak some weird language?

What the hell did this dream even mean?

...

Harry wakes up in a cold sweat in the tent, having been traumatised by his brain for the eighth time this week. Andy is stirred awake by his sudden jolt, and instinctively knows what happened to Harry. In a low voice, he murmurs, "Did you have the nightmare again, Andy..."

"Y-yeah, Andy, I did."

Andy lets out a dry laugh. "OK, how did I die this time, hm?"

Why would Andy ever joke about something like this?

"Uh... well... you got hit by a flying gas cannister."

"Again? Oh, come on, that's hardly cool. I thought I told you I don't want to die from getting bonked across the head by a giant metal pole."

Andy seems nonchalant about this, as usual. He gets up, taps on Harry's head and says, "Hey, Harry's brain. Come up with a cooler and more epic way to kill me, otherwise, stop traumatising my friend, OK?"

Harry lets out a little chuckle, and then looks at Andy and asks him a question. "I don't get it, Andy. Why are you so chill about this? I mean, it's literally about you dying and stuff."

"Harry, bottom line, it's just a dream. I'm not dead in the real world, and it'll be a looooong time before I die, mate. And besides, even if I die tomorrow, I'm fairly sure that if your parents arrive on the next ship by the time I'm gone, they'll be able to take care of you just fine."

"Now, go to sleep. We got a big day tomorrow, and believe me, I do not want to be cranky because I didn't get my."

Andy tousles Harry's hair and then goes back to sleep.

Harry lies back down, and stares up at the roof of the tent. After a while, his eyelids close and he drifts off back to sleep.
...

Relations between Westmore and Ci Arovannea continue to decline as more and more reports of Arovans being lynched for the death of Brodie Malakai continue to make headlines everywhere on the internet. By now, Hart has made it very clear that he absolutely condones the lynchings and has encouraged that all citizens should make an attempt to get rid of the scumbags that did this to one of their own.

The very existence of the remaining 1923 Arovans in Westmore are threatened by the very existence of the One Republic. Only time will tell if they will be outright destroyed or deported from the nation before it is too late for them.