Marked

The bags thudded against the rocky terrain, lifting up dust in a few places. Hundreds of faces looked on quietly at the only salvation that lay before them.

Most of their expressions shared in her disbelief. Her entire life she had thought the capital was invincible. Never in a million years would she have guessed that one day she’d be a part of an attack against the same city that seemed impenetrable. Yet here she was, preparing to end it all once and for all or die trying.

“Henry knows how to fly an aircraft,” Michael said to Juan. “You’ll go with him back to the bunker to ensure all three of our aircrafts are loaded with enough fire power.”

Juan nodded his head in agreement. “Only three?” He asked.

“That’s all that was there when we took over the bunker. Guess the capital never let us have any more, for obvious reasons.”

“Well jokes on them. We now know their dirty little secret and thanks to them we know exactly where to hit them where it will hurt the most.” Yalina said.

Michael turned away from them then and headed back towards the hundreds of bunker soldiers who looked to him for direction. There was something about him that people trusted, despite him being the traitor’s son. Maybe Michael was more like his father than Abby, but whatever it was that made them put their faith in him, Rachel was glad. He, at least, seemed to know what he was doing.

“Fifteen of us will go to the generators to take out the power. Bryan, you will be responsible for getting them there and then back to the bunker as soon as you’re able to. You won’t be able to reach the capital in time to fight with us, so you will be of better use back home. We will radio once we are at the outskirts of the city so that you can proceed to attack the generators.” Michael said to an older man with a blonde beard.

Bryan tipped his chin in acknowledgement, his burly arms crossed in front of his massive chest.

“It’s crucial that none of us use our watches.” A woman advised from the frontlines of the crowd. “We don’t know if the capital can tap into them and it’s better not to risk it.”

“Yes, she’s right,” Michael agreed. He pulled a few radios out from one of the many black bags and began to distribute them around. “We will use these to communicate and nothing else. I want each group leader to have access to one.”

“We’re going to need all the man power we can get if we’re going to make this work.” Yalina continued, taking a step forward and placing a hand on Michael’s shoulder. She spoke loudly, so that her voice echoed perfectly through the mountains. “The rest of us will make the drive to the capital and wait for the power to be cut off and for the bombs to be dropped. Then we attack.”

A gust of cold air buffeted against the armored trucks and the people grew uneasy by this.

“We can do this.” Rachel reassured. “We need to do this, for our families.”

The bunker people muttered their agreements, determination replacing fear. All around them, the mountains stood tall against a backdrop of stars, silent witnesses to their plan.

“Everyone pick up a gun.” Michael ordered. “It’s time to bring down the monsters that hunt us once and for all.”

The line moved quickly, each person approaching the pile of armory, dipping down to pick up a weapon or two and then filing away silently. Tension was thick in the air, intermingled with the howls of the wind which only made what they were about to do feel more daunting.

Rachel shivered inside her jacket but it wasn’t from the cold. Her nerves were pulled as taut as wire. It was then that Juan approached her, his eyes cast with worry but overpowered by deep determination.

“I-um, I’m leaving now. I’ve gotta head back with Henry so we can take off in the aircraft.” He said. He rubbed the back of his neck. “I just wanted to say goodbye.”

“Be safe,” She said to him. They stood silently for a few moments, neither of them sure what to say next. Then his mouth turned up at the corners into a cocky grin and he opened his arms up wide. “Come on, bring it in. I know you can’t resist, the Juan. Gimmie a hug.”

Rachel laughed, sounding only slightly crazed as she wrapped her arms around him in a tight embrace. “Be safe and come back. You’re the only family I’ve got left,” She told him feverishly.

“You too.” He replied. “Let’s go avenge our families.”

Rachel nodded her head and gave his hand a departing squeeze. She watched him retreat until his bob of curly hair disappeared into the crowd.

Wrapping her arms around her body, she watched as the last of the stragglers gathered their guns, all the while contemplating which weapon she should choose herself.

“Here, I think you’ll like this one.” Yalina said as she came up behind her. Rachel took the gun from her and turned it over in her hands, carefully studying it.

“I never got the chance to teach you guys about weapons but this one is an automatic rifle, pretty easy to operate and very effective at killing things. You just pull the safety here,” She motioned. “Point, and shoot. Clip is down here. You’ll have to reload once you’re out, so make sure you grab enough ammo.”

“Got it, thank you.”

“You’ve got two modes: semi-automatic and full automatic—”

“I remember Charles teaching me that; full automatic will continue to shoot bullets as long as I press the trigger, right?”

“That’s right,” Yalina’s lip twitched almost as if she wanted to smile.

“What’s this button for?” Rachel asked.

“That,” Yalina said, motioning with her own gun. “Is a built in taser.” The tip of her gun shimmered with a blue, electric current as she shot Rachel a wicked grin.

“Fancy.”

When Rachel didn’t say anything else, Yalina shrugged a shoulder and muttered,“Let’s get going then.” She turned away but stopped as though she had forgotten something.

“And, Rachel?”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t do anything stupid.”

*********************

It was a grueling five hour drive from the mountains to the capital. Most people slept during this time but Rachel was too worked up to even contemplate closing her eyes.

The first of the lights began to twinkle in the distance like stars fallen out of the sky. The heavens were still pitch black, the buildings in the distance illuminating the horizon with a soft, white glow.

They abandoned their armored trucks in the forest, deciding to go on foot from there. Easier access that way and they didn’t want the purrs of the engines alerting the poachers of their approach.

It was a little after four in the morning, the perfect time to attack, while everyone within the capital was still sleeping. They’d concluded that the panic would be great for maneuvering around the city, the disorientation would make for good cover.

The outskirts of the city were just as Rachel had seen in her simulation, except that here, a thin, blue wall pulsated and rippled around the city like a waterfall that you could only see if you tilted your head just right.

High buildings pierced the air, perfect spires of glass and metal. Massive screens filtered through various colorful ads, lamps floated in the air, shinning like disembodied fireflies. Trains sat dormant,high up on their skeletal supports, wrapped in metal tunnels that looked like the ribcages of dead animals.

They stopped a few yards away, where the forest hadn’t dissolved into paved roadways quite yet. A few poachers patrolled the perimeter of the wall, but not enough of them that it was worrying. What lay ahead would be the true challenge; for now, all they could do was wait for the power to go out, the sign that the people at the generators had been successful.

Rachel fidgeted with her gun, tapping her fingernails against it’s cool surface.

“I can’t believe we’re really doing this,” she whispered to Yalina. Michael glanced over his shoulder to look at her, giving her a tiny, reassuring smile. Again, she felt the same guilt she did every time she looked at him for having punished him for his mother’s wrongdoings.

“There’s no turning back now.” He said gently. He pointed his gun towards the sky. “Like a rollercoaster. Have you ever heard of rollercoasters?”

“No,” She shook her head.

“I’ve never been on one, not in real life, but I went on one in a simulation once. It’s like this fast moving train, propelling you through loops and flips and making you plummet down from really tall heights.”

He gestured towards the air again with his gun. “There’s this part, where you’re going up and up on the tracks and when you reach the highest peak, that’s the moment you realize that there’s no going back. That it’s happening.” He sighed with his eyes trained on the capital. “That’s where we are right now: at the very top of the rollercoaster. All you can do now is hang on and pray that the ride doesn’t kill you.”

It was so refreshing to see that he was nothing like his mother and Rachel found herself having an odd sense of respect towards him as he spoke. Despite his mother’s evil, he had chosen to remain good.

She’d come to a conclusion a long time ago that there were no good people in the world. Only people who chose to do good over evil every day. It was time for that now: to choose good, no matter what the cost was.

She gave Michael a small smile and returned her gaze to Yalina, absolutely certain that her eyes were still screaming with fear.

“He’s right. This is happening, Rachel, so you better prepare yourself mentally and fast. We’ve got one shot at this, one shot only, and we need to get it right.” Yalina said to her.

“I’m afraid to kill people,” Rachel admitted in a small voice.

“If you don’t kill them, they will kill you.” The other girl stood straight as a pin, her face set with defiance. Rachel wished for a moment she could be as brave as Yalina. Nothing seemed to faze her, not even the possibility of losing.

Rachel, on the other hand, was quivering like jelly on the inside. But then she thought of him, saw his face in her mind, saw the familiar smile that crinkled up his eyes. If Hector had been there at that very moment, he would have turned to her, his curly hair tickling his cheeks as his jaw moved to speak.

He’d remind her, “It’s our job to make the world good again, remember?” He’d look out into the city with ambitious eyes that wanted nothing less than to save the world.

“Let’s go make the world good again.”

She sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly. She owed it to him to make this happen, to remain brave no matter how badly she wanted to turn around and run away. You need to do this, she told herself. For Hector, for Jed. For mom.

The lights flickered, like lightening ripping through the sky on a cloudless night.

“It’s starting. Get into position everyone,” Michael muttered towards the crowd. The message passed down from person to person until there was silence once more.

Michel shoved his radio towards his mouth. “Henry, are you there?”

“Henry here.”

“The generators are falling. Are you in position?”

Static buzzed on the other line for a few moments before Henry replied. “We are in position, flying over the capital in approximately three minutes.”

“Tell him there’s an aircraft field. A few are kept underground but most of them are lined up along the landing strip. Tell him to destroy that first and then head to CN headquarters.”

“Yalina says there is an aircraft field. Start there and then work your way around the city. We’re counting on you to cover our backs.”

“Got it, Michael. Be safe out there, son.”

“You too, Henry.”

Rachel blinked and in the next instant, the lights were out.

“Now!” Michael shouted.