Nine

Remus stared down at the people jostling in line for pie, like ants in line for a fallen piece of fruit. He could make out the faces of a few of his watershed heights neighbors, such as Takuda Hiroshi. Remus was standing on the rooftop of Watershed Heights, and he was in a good mood. Ever since Josh showed up, he had felt empowered; he felt more alive than he had in 30 years. Maybe it was his friend, Josh. Josh was the first friend Remus had made since the end of the war. so much time alone had wiped the memory of laughter and love from Remus's head, and the new feelings surged through his old body like electricity. He felt like he could do anything.

Josh climbed up onto the roof and came over to Remus.
"hey old man, you smell what i smell? whatya say we go grab ourselves some pie?"
"that does smell pretty damn good. i wouldn't mind a bite."
They made their way down to the crowd around the diner, and jumped into the mix.

after quite a wait, they were finally near the front of the line. their mouths watered, and their stomachs grumbled. After the long wait, they had become impatient.

They were next in line when a policeman sauntered past them to the front.
"Hey what the fuck man, we were next!" shouted Josh.
"Is there a problem, sir?" said the policeman, in a voice that said "give me a problem."
"Yeah, we were next, and you can't cut just because you're a fucking pig!"
The policeman grabbed Josh by the jacket, and threw him into Remus, knocking them both to the floor. Both of them jumped up, and Remus threw his fist into the policeman's stomach. The policeman pulled out his baton and slammed it into Remus's face. Remus heard the crunch of breaking bone, and felt the hot blood gushing from his nostrils. After another blow to the head, Remus passed out.