The Force (Fighting Freedom Book 1)

by Paige Clendenin

  “Because they know that you are the only girl our age in this complex that got an F3, and they want to see if you’re deserving of it…” Eli says as he looks at the floor.

  “Liz,” Shawn says as he stops in front of me and turns around, looking me in the eye. “Don’t trust them, they will try to get to you in some way.”

  “I won’t,” I say shyly.

  And then the four of us head to the dining hall. We get our food and sit at the table we have claimed to be ours since day one.

  It starts to concern Eli, Mar, and I when all the younger kids start to filter in, but we don’t see Zac, Syl, or Shae.

  “Where are they?” I ask Eli.

  “I don’t know, I don’t see them,” he says back to me as he raises out of his seat to get a better look over the crowd of young people.

  I get up and start pushing my way through the crowd of kids, and Eli is right behind me.

  “Zac.” I can hear Mar hollering his name over the crowd.

  I see Jake walking my direction, and he looks concerned. All I can think is that this is not the time to want to talk to me, but he stops in front of me anyway.

  “I think you guys better follow me,” he says, “get Mar.”

  “Okay, hang on,” Eli says, as he starts back through the crowd to go find her.

  The three of us follow Jake down a maze of hallways and to a door I think I recognize, but all the doors and halls of the complex look the same to me. He pushes the door open and my stomach drops.

  We are in The Force medical compound.

  I gasp, and Jake puts an arm up to stop us, so that he can talk to the guard.

  As I look around the room, I don’t see anyone that I know, except Magi, and she’s too busy mending a kid with a bloody nose to notice me.

  The guard motions us on and we travel down the aisle between cots full of bloody and broken people.

  I check behind me to make sure that my brother and Mar are still with us, and they are, but they are holding hands.

  When did this develop?

  I figure it’s because when I look up to Mar’s face, she looks like she is going to be sick, and rightfully so, after all, I feel the same way.

  We get to the end of the aisle, and Jake pushes through a curtain that hangs from ceiling to floor at the end of it. On the other side of the curtain is another door.

  I didn’t notice this door when I was here before, but it was behind the curtain so, I guess I just didn’t notice it.

  Behind this door is a long hallway, dark and dim. The only light comes from the occasional blue bulb that hangs to the right of the doors that line the hall.

  There are at least ten rooms in this hall, five on either side.

  “What is this place?” I ask Jake.

  “It’s the medical compound holding rooms for…” He looks down and then back to me. “For bad cases.”

  “Who’s in here?” My brother pushes past me as he yells the words.

  “Shhh…“ Jake says with a finger to his lips. “You’ll see. Come on.”

  We walk to the last room on the right, and he pauses a moment before pushing the door open.

  Inside the room are two cots with figures laying in them that are badly banged up, and a boy that is sitting in-between the cots with his arms resting on his knees, and his head buried in them.

  The boy is Zac, and if the boy is Zac… my stomach drops… the two figures must be Shae and Syl.

  “What happened?” Mar says as she runs to her brother.

  He lifts his head, and his eye is blacked, and he has a large red and blue bruise on his jaw. He doesn’t say anything at first, just sits there with tears in his eyes, looking at Mar, then to me and Eli.

  “I tried to protect them,” he says, “I had just left for a few minutes…“but then his sobs come, and he says nothing else.

  Eli and I walk closer to the girls, and they are badly banged up. They’re not moving.

  “They were given medication to help them rest,” Jake says from the door, as if he knew that I was wondering why they were unconscious.

  I nod my head.

  “Can I talk to you guys, out in the hall?” he says.

  “Yeah,” I barely say, I’m trying not to cry.

  “I’m staying here,” Mar says.

  “Okay,” Eli says softly, then he leans over and whispers something in her ear, but I can hear what he says.

  He asked her to look after the girls, then he kissed her cheek, and turns towards Jake and me.

  We both follow Jake out of the room, and into the hall.

  “What happened?” Eli demands the second the door closes behind us.

  “Now I didn’t see it myself, but Hannah told me what happened.” Jake leans against the wall and presses his palm to his head.

  I can’t help but to think he still looks exhausted.

  “Alright, what did Hannah say happened?” I whisper.

  “It turns out there’s this boy, Tommy, I think he’s twelve. He has been picking on Syl since they got their phase rankings,” Jake pauses.

  “That must be the boy that tried to hit her on the first day,” I say.

  “I guess the kid, cornered her, trying to get a rise out of her so that she would fight him, but she wouldn’t do it.”

  “She wouldn’t fight back if she didn’t have to,” Eli says.

  “Yeah. It’s like I told you Liz…” Jake pauses a moment, like he‘s thinking about whether or not to finish his sentence. “People will try anything to get to you, just because you are a higher phase than they are.”

  “Yeah, I know,” I say.

  “Anyways… what happened?” Eli says, sounding calmer this time.

  “Anyway,” Jake starts. “The boy started hitting her, while she was cornered, and she started fighting back, but he got a few good punches in first. Then Shae, ran and jumped on this kid’s back and wrapped her arms around his throat.”

  “Shae did that?” Eli asks, with a surprised look on his face.

  “Yeah, and it would have worked,” Jake hesitates. “If Tommy’s friend Shane wouldn’t have gotten involved. Shane pulled Shae off of Tommy and started beating on her, and Tommy started focusing more on Syl.”

  “Syl couldn’t take him?” I ask.

  “I think she could have, but this other kid James got involved, and it became a free for all on the girls.” Jake looks down.

  “Where was Zac?” Eli asks.

  “That’s the part I was getting to,” Jake says. “Zac must have been in the bathroom or something, and when he came in and saw the fight… he…” Jake pauses for a moment.

  “What did he do?” I ask softly.

  “He started punching and kicking the boys, knocking them around left and right. They got a few hits in, but that’s all. Zac was able to get them away from the girls, but by then… they had been hurt pretty bad.” Jake looks me in the eye and squeezes my arm. “He blames himself for leaving them alone, but he saved them… he did. You need to make sure that he knows that.” Then he lets go of my arm and looks away.

  “Thanks Jake,” Eli says in a grateful tone.

  “You’re welcome, but you should know something; Zac, and Shae have now been moved up to an F3, so…” Jake pauses.

  “So now they’re going to have to watch their backs too?” I ask

  “Yeah,” Jake says as he looks down.

  “Hey, Shae’s awake and asking for you guys,” Mar says as she leans her head out the door.

  “Okay,” Eli says, and then he turns to Jake. “Thanks again.”

  “Yeah,” Jake says as he looks up at Eli. He gives a smile, but it’s small and pitying.

  Eli follows Mar into the room and I start to go too.

  “Hey Liz,“ Jake says, and I turn back around. “Visiting hours are over at nine, I’ll send your food down here, but you will have to make sure your back in the dorms by lights out.”

  “Thank you, will you let Shawn know what happened?” I ask.

  “Y
ou’re welcome, and yes I will,” Jake says earnestly. “You can visit tomorrow, but only during brakes and free times,” he looks down. “Not my rules, sorry.”

  Then he turns and walks down the hall and out the door, looking over his shoulder at the last minute.

  Chapter Twelve

  The next two days are a blur, endless classes, then checking on the girls, who are recovering just fine. We have been trying to convince Zac that he did a good thing, but he doesn’t believe us.

  I read all of the correspondence letters from General R. J. Timothy while I was watching Shae and Syl sleep. They are interesting, but short and to the point.

  March 29th, 2026.

  The Force is developing fine, it will be a while before it is up and running at full power. I have high hopes.

  November 22nd, 2029.

  I have turned command of The Force over to Captain Norman Smith. It is still in its beginning stages, but I can see that it is coming along as expected. The Elected has done exactly as I thought. The war has ended, but they continue to tell the people that it is raging. They even drop bombs every now and then in barren locations for appearance’s sake.

  June 9th, 2031.

  The Force took its first members today. A group of intelligence and weapons experts that volunteered for full service. The complex received yet another wing for developing weapons and for engineering machines. The Elected has divided what is left of the usable land into sections between the remaining big cities.

  They all are mostly the same, just giving some kind of update on what The Force had achieved and hoped to achieve. Or… told about a new wing of the complex or member that had signed on. Most every correspondence gave an update on The Elected, but it was the last one that got to me the most.

  August 9th, 2068. This will be my last update. I am 84 years old, and I will not be around much longer, I am sure of it. My breaths are getting shorter, so, as my life that remains, this update will also be brief. The Force complex is ready to start the phase program. I could not be any more pleased.

  And then it ends.

  That was the last that anyone heard from General R. J. Timothy. The man devoted all of his life in hopes of restoring peace in his country and never got to see it happen.

  Today in class, we learned that he died an old man, asleep in his bed, on August 10th, 2068, just hours after his last update was sent. The update was sent to a Captain Samuels. We learned that Captain Mortimer Samuels was the father of The Force’s current captain E. J. Samuels.

  There have been three captains of The Force from its start, and none of them have seen the peace either. I begin to wonder if this peace is obtainable. After all, they… I mean we, have not moved against The Elected yet… what are we waiting for?

  I still haven’t talked to Jake. I think because of all that has happened with the girls, and I respect that he wants to give us time with them. I just wish he would find the time to talk to me. Shawn has been visiting the girls every day too, which makes me feel good that we have a friend in him.

  Eli and I wander to the medical compound, and by now they all know us, so we are allowed in. We travel down the aisle into the back room and down the hall to the last room on the right.

  When we go in, Shae and Syl are sitting up and laughing.

  They almost look normal.

  “Hey, we get to leave today,” Shae says, with a smile.

  “Great,” I say, trying to share their enthusiasm.

  In reality, I am wondering if this all will happen again, but I don’t want to ruin the good mood that they seem to be in.

  There is a knock at the door.

  “Come in,” Syl says.

  The door opens, and Magi walks in with a big smile on her face.

  “Did the girls tell you the good news?” she asks.

  “Yeah,” Eli says quietly.

  I think he is worried to.

  “I was just going to let you know, that we have spoken to higher ups, and they are going to allow two extra armed guards to be in the dorm for a while,” Magi says, as if she can sense our worry.

  “Were there not guards in there before?” I ask.

  “Yes, but in the younger dorms…”She pauses for a moment. “Fighting is not as big of a problem. Normally, they all phase together and it works out that they rarely fight. When Syl came in with an F3 phase, they did not think to up the security, and the only guard that is in that room normally, had stepped out.”

  My brother stands up and walks close to Magi. His eyes look stern and his arms are crossed at his chest. “Well… now… there are three of them, so the guards better be on their toes or else…” he stops and looks around for a minute, then steps closer to her. “Or else I might have to have a word with those higher ups of yours.”

  He sounds mad.

  “Alright, I will make sure of it,” she says, looking intimidated. “Come on girls, it’s time to go.”

  We all hug and say our goodbyes. It’s after dinner, so we won’t be able to see them again until lunch tomorrow. All of the groups eat breakfast on their own, normally a protein bar and a small glass of milk, so until then, all we can do is pray that nothing bad happens.

  We go back to the dorms, and I am exhausted, so as soon as my head hits the pillow… I’m out.

  Sometime later, I am awoken by a sound that I think at first is the morning alarm, but it seems more like someone talking. I am so tired still, I know it can’t be morning yet.

  I flip my watch over and see by the moonlight that it is only 1:00a.m. I must have dreamed the sound, because I don’t hear it now, so I lay my head back down hopping to get some more sleep.

  I hear the sound again, it’s coming from behind me, I think it’s my name being whispered, but it doesn’t sound like Eli, Mar, or even Shawn.

  I roll over, and a hand covers my mouth before I can let out a scream.

  “Shhhh,” Jake says, as he takes his hand from my face. “Come with me.”

  I sit up, startled at first, but then I get my bearings. I spin my legs around my cot, and pull my boots onto my bare feet, but I don’t lace them up. I am trying to make the least amount of noise as possible.

  When I stand up, Jake takes my pillow, and the pillow from the spare cot across from me, and stuffs them under my blankets so it looks like I am still laying there. Then, we both quietly walk down the aisle and to the door.

  He has his usual Force phase leader clothes on, but he also has a dark brown backpack slung over his shoulder.

  The guard gives us a look, but Jake just puts his hand on the guard’s shoulder and whispers “thanks Bill,” then we walk through the door and away from the dorm.

  I don’t dare speak in fear that I will get us in trouble, but in the back of my mind, I try to remember that Jake is a phase leader, and son of the captain’s right-hand man. He probably walks freely anywhere he wants to go.

  “You better tie those,” Jake whispers, as he looks down at my feet.

  I bend down and tie my shoes, double knotting them before I‘m done, then we start to walk again.

  In silence, I follow Jake down several halls, some that I recognize, and others that I don’t. Before I know it, we are standing at a door with a glowing exit sign above it. It’s then that I know that he is taking me out of the complex.

  I don’t know whether to be happy or scared out of my mind.

  He pushes the door open, and I half expect an alarm to go off, but it doesn’t. Then I follow him out the door, and it closes behind us.

  The fresh air hits me in the face, and I take big gulps of it, filling my lungs with its richness. The air in the complex is stale and humid, but this is wonderful in comparison.

  I let the starry night take me over. It had been raining at some point because the ground has collections of water puddles in places all around us.

  “I love the smell that follows a rain,” I say, with a smile on my face.

  “Me too,” Jake says, and he too is smiling.

  We continue
walking for quite a while before we stop at a fence about twenty feet tall.

  “This is why I had you tie your shoes… you scared of heights?” Jake says with a mischievous grin.

  “Nope.” I say, as I start to climb ahead of him.

  He laughs under his breath. “I didn’t think so,” and then he starts to climb after me.

  I reach the top of the fence and throw my legs over, Jake is right behind me. I just sit there balancing at the top. I know it’s only twenty feet up, but at this moment, and in this place, I feel like I am on top of the world.

  A single moment passes where a few birds fly overhead, well they could be bats as late as it is, and I think about the feather that rests just over my heart inside my shirt. That causes me to think about R.J. and the peace he thinks is possible, and I want to see it so very much.

  “Hey,” Jake says, as he swings his legs over to balance next to me.

  “Hey,” I say laughing and smiling.

  I just sit there, staring at him for a moment, laughing into my shoulder, and smiling ear to ear.

  I know I must be a sight.

  “What?” Jake says, smiling back at me.

  “Nothing,” I look away embarrassed. “It’s just that this is incredible, the stars, the rain, the freedom… it’s great.”

  “Yeah,” he says, while looking out over the land. “I come here a lot when I need to think, or just get away.”

  I wonder if I am the first person that he has showed his sanctuary to.

  Of course, I’m not. Why would he choose me, a little girl from section R9, one of the poorest sections in our Corridor?

  “Here is the fun part,” he says, before I can respond, and then he opens his backpack.

  He pulls out two small pieces of raw meat and hands one to me. I take it, but I don’t have the slightest clue why I am balancing on this fence, holding raw meat. Then I notice why…

  Running from the distance are two ferocious looking dogs with spiked collars.

  “When they reach the fence, we have two minutes to get to where we are going,” Jake says as he keeps his eye on these dogs. “Can you run?”

  “I think so,” I say, but I can’t help thinking that I sound scared.