by Keegan Long
“Cerberus,” Joe muttered. “Cerberus is known for being the three-headed dog that lived in the underworld during the time of Greek mythology.”
“Yes,” Jill confirmed as she continued her story. “And there was one name left in the carvings of the cave. Yours.”
“Do you know how crazy this sounds,” I suggested to her as none of this made sense.
“That is exactly what I thought,” Jill continued on. “I dismissed it completely and even when Cerberus came out and revealed itself I was still in denial.”
“When did that change?” I asked.
“Until your sister,” she told me as I saw her eyes begin to water. “My revolution was coming to an end. We were running low on resources and people had lost hope in the cause we were fighting for. In a last-ditch effort to give a damn on this cursed Earth I gave what I thought would be my last order. I sent what men we had left to a re-education facility Cerberus controlled in an effort to free what kids they had. The mission barely was a success but then one of the escapees revealed herself to me and told me on how we had to go rescue her sister, Delaney Nordbrock.”
“My god,” McKenna commented as she realized the impact she had caused.
Jill smiled at McKenna as she relived the past for a brief moment before continuing her explanation. “Mitch was able to gather a small group to go to your rescue. Ever since he rescued you things have changed in our favour. You have inspired not just me but all of us and have given us hope. Prophecy or no prophecy I know you are special.”
My head and heart were pounding so fast that I thought they would jump out at any moment. How could this happen to me? None of this made any sense to me but she told her story with no hesitation. I knew she believed in it and was not lying to me.
Joe was the first to stand up and make his way over towards me. “I believe it. I’ve seen the things you can do and how you inspire people to do great things. You have even inspired me to fight for a cause that I thought was as good as gone. Your gift of inspiration is what makes you so special.”
“This is exactly what we need,” Susan joined in. “If people learn of your story and how you were meant to lead the world against Cerberus they will unite. Cerberus’ most deadly weapon is not their robots or drones but fear. Take that away and they got nothing. We finally have the fighting chance we’ve been waiting so many years for.”
“Woah, hold on,” I quickly interrupted and put her thought to a hold. “I am no leader. I was not born to lead the entire world. It’s too much”
I had to sit myself down on the floor as I felt as if I had been hit by a bus. I did not ask for any of this. I just wanted to live a normal life away from Cerberus. How could any of this be real?
McKenna was the first to come to my side as she sat by my side as tears began to run down my face.
“I can’t do it,” I told her. “Even if the prophecy is true. That is too much and I won’t be responsible for the fate of the world.”
My sister put her arms around me and gave me a big hug as she held me close and tight.
“I know you can do it,” she told me as she squeezed me. “You know how I know that?”
“How?”
“Because you’re my sister,” she answered. “You can do anything. I’ve seen it. And you don’t have to face this alone. I am with you. Together we can do anything.”
“She’s right,” Jill said as she sat on my other side. “And I will be there by your side the entire time. There is no prophecy for this but I know we were meant to meet. Because together we will free the world from the tyranny of Cerberus and rebuild the country we both called home.”
I soon realized that I had the strongest and most caring people by my side. The fact on how this changed everything but still saw me as who I am instead of what I’m supposed to be meant the world to me. They were right. I could bring the people of the world together to stand up and fight against Cerberus.
I was still completely blown away and amazed that this prophecy was made about me so many years ago. The fact too that it was discovered just before Cerberus unleashed hell on Earth make it even more reliable. The Earth was sending me a message.
“I once faced a similar situation that you are,” Jill told me as she stayed by my side. “Very small compared to your situation but similar. When I became President, I had the responsibility to protect all the people in the country. I had to be their leader. The horrors, I hope you never have to face, is that I failed them. There’s not a day that goes by in which I wished it was nothing but a bad nightmare but its real. But I know you’ll be a great leader and even better than me.”
“Jill, you didn’t fail them,” I told her as her story inspired me. “There’s nothing you could have done.”
“There’s always something you can do,” she told me. “You just have to do it. I denied the signs and paid the price. But with your help I know I can make it up to them. Together we cannot fail.”
“Ok then,” I said as I got up from the ground and looked around at everyone. They were my family and I knew they cared about me as I did for them. That is why I knew I had to do this.
“Remember, Delaney,” Jill began as she gave me one last tip of advice. “Leaders aren’t born. They are made. It’s time The New Revolution gets a face.”
“I’ll do it,” I said. “But I’m not doing it just because some prophecy says I am meant to but because I want to. And we do this my way.”
“And we’ll follow you all the way,” Joe smiled. “Until the end.”
“I see why there’s a prophecy,” Sarah said as she came up to me and laid her hand on my shoulder. “Because you inspired me the first day I met you. It’s true.”
“Thanks, Sarah,” I smiled back at her. “It means a lot.”
“It looks like we have a new weapon of our own,” Kevin joked but was sincere in his words. “Cerberus doesn’t stand a chance.”
Everyone laughed at Kevin’s comments. It was good to hear those laughs as the last few hours of my life have completely flipped me upside down.
“So, what do we do next?” Nicole asked as everyone looked at me.
“You can do it, Delaney,” Jill told me as she saw me hesitate for a brief moment. “We all believe in you and will follow you wherever you lead us.”
I took a deep breath and finally found my courage to be myself again. “We stick with the original plan. We go to California and find Keegan’s sister and have her lead us to him.”
I was soon later interrupted from the noise of a blaring alarm and flashing red lights that filled the room.
“What is it?” I asked as Joe dashed back to the computer to see what was going on.
“It’s time to go,” he replied. “We got company.”
8
An Unpleasant Surprise
As we ran through the long hallways of the Cerberus base the loud screeching alarm continued to echo wherever we went. We had stayed here way too long and now our chances of survival have turned against us. No Cerberus soldiers or robots had entered the base yet but I knew they were only a few minutes behind us.
The plan was to escape the way we came in. If we are lucky enough we’ll be able to sneak out through the tunnels and have Lee pick us up and fly out of here as fast as we could.
“I already have informed Lee on where to pick us up,” Joe informed us as we continued running down the white hallways with our guns drawn. “He’ll cloak the ship so no one will notice him.”
“Also tell him to have the guns ready,” Jill ordered. “We’ll probably need them.”
We were only a few minutes away from the armoury and out of the danger that awaited us outside. I could see the door and how it seemed to be almost in arms reach. But then I felt a terrible sensation as the hairs on the back of my neck perked up and I knew danger was right behind me.
“Get down!” I yelled at everyone as we dove for the floor.
To our luck we missed the bullet that came from behind us by only a few seconds
as it made contact with the wall in front of us instead.
“Contact!” Kevin yelled as we all got up and sprinted to the nearest cover we could find.
I sprinted to the nearest hallway intersection and used the corner wall for cover. McKenna was right by my side and together we began firing back at the Cerberus soldiers who started to emerge at the other end.
“This isn’t looking good!” I yelled over to Jill as the bullets kept flying past me.
“It sure isn’t!” she yelled back at me. “We can’t get stuck here. We have to move. Now!”
“I got something!” Susan yelled over to the both of us. “I got some smoke grenades. We can use them for cover and run.”
“Go ahead!” Jill ordered. “It’s the only thing we got!”
Susan set her bag down on the floor for a brief moment until she pulled out two slim canister looking grenades. She quickly pulled the pins out of the top of the grenades and rolled them on the ground towards the Cerberus soldiers.
The smoke quickly began to fill the hallways as everyone’s visibility of the other side began to diminish. We decided to rush down the hallway I was taking cover behind because the robots in the armoury could be turned on at any minute and we were not going to take any chances.
As we continued to run down the hallways we made every turn we could in an effort to lose Cerberus that was hot on our trail.
“Where’s the damn door,” Nicole said as we all looked around trying to find the nearest exit.
“There’s only one way in and out,” Susan informed us. “It looks like we’ll just have to make our own.”
Susan quickly pulled out another one of her compact grenades and without hesitation she threw it at the closest outer wall. There was no time to take cover or react and it exploded while covering everyone in a pile of dust.
“A little warning next time would be nice,” Mitch joked with a deep cough.
“Sorry,” Susan replied with a faint smile. “Not time. Let’s go.”
To our luck Susan’s plan worked and the hole in the wall she made lead us right outside. I knew we didn’t have much time until the outside forces noticed the smoke and giant hole on the side of their building.
When I got outside I looked up to find what I feared would come this entire time. Several Cerberus drones were soaring through the sky and a large group of Cerberus soldiers could be seen just on the other side of the field. And then they spotted us. All we could do now is run.
“RUN!” I yelled at everyone as we started running the opposite direction and away from the city.
I ran as fast as I ever had in my entire life. There was no point in fighting back due to the fact that we were hugely outnumbered. As I ran I could feel the bullets hitting the ground near my feet. The drones were surely about to hover over and end us once and for all. But then to my surprise the shooting stopped and we all stopped in our tracks confused on what we were confusing.
As we all turned our backs we saw that the field had begun to fill with smoke from all the gunfire but could see all the Cerberus soldiers standing in a straight line across from us. They were all standing perfectly still with their weapons still out and drawn but were not aiming at us anymore.
Moments later two of the soldiers moved to reveal the figure of someone we had thought died during the Battle of New York. He looked and sounded just like Joe and wore a full black suit and very expensive by the looks of it. It was not Joe though because Joe was right beside me. It was his clone, Tyler.
“So, we meet again,” he addressed us from across the field with his sinister smile. “It has been too long.”
“We thought you were dead!” I yelled at him from the distance as he kept walking towards us until he stopped in the middle of the field.
“I’m sure you would have liked that,” he laughed. “But the game ends here.”
“This is no game,” I reassured him as I tightened my fist in anger. “Cerberus has killed millions of innocent people around the world. It ends now.”
“I know you’ve seen the tape,” he interrupted. “I also know you’ve seen the file about you.”
“What of it?” I asked as I tightened my grip on my gun this time.
“You think you know everything now,” he grinned at me. “But there’s so much more.”
“Don’t listen to him, Delaney,” Jill quickly countered. “You know everything now. He’s bluffing.”
“Don’t be offended, Madam President,” Tyler replied. “These are secrets you don’t even know. Secrets created by The Creator.”
“You know nothing about him,” Jill said with a nasty tone that I had never heard from her before.
“True,” Tyler agreed without hesitation. “But I know what he created. Even he was too blind to see the greatness of his creation as he tried to destroy it.”
“Where is he!” Jill demanded as we had to hold her back from advancing on Tyler.
“No one knows where he is,” Tyler spoke. “But when I find him I will kill him alongside your pity little revolution.”
Jill opened her mouth to speak again but I was the one to beat her to it. “Not if I kill you first.”
I quickly drew my gun and fired at him. As I watched my bullet fly right at his head I was amazed to see how it went right through him how no effect at all. His body scrambled for a second to reveal that Tyler was not really here but merely just a projection.
“He’s not here,” Joe informed us. “Just a projection from one of the drones above us.”
“Do you really think I was that stupid,” Tyler began to speak. “I thought you knew me better.”
“Coward!” I yelled at his projection. “What do you want?”
“What you failed to give me last time,” he answered as he pointed at Joe. “Hand over the host and I’ll let you all live for the rest of the day. Live to fight another day, right?”
“Never,” I responded without any hesitation as everyone prepared themselves for the worse.
“As you wish then,” Tyler responded with an overdramatic tone in his voice. “I guess the prophecy ends here. My boss will reward me greatly for me bring your head to them.”
With Tyler’s last remarks his projection vanished into the sky and was no more. The Cerberus guards on the other side of the field loaded their guns and prepared to charge. I’m sure they had strict orders on bringing Joe back alive but could eliminate the rest of us.
We all prepared for the worse and readied ourselves to run like hell again but this time it was not needed. As soon as the Cerberus soldiers began their charge towards us the Liberty ship uncloaked right before our eyes and began firing at the Cerberus soldiers and drones.
A mass of Cerberus soldiers began flying to the grounds as they were laid waste by the machine guns from the ship. The drones began exploding as the Cerberus cannons from the upper deck fired with no errors and hitting each of its targets. The Cerberus soldiers and drones quickly began a full retreat back towards their base and we were finally safe.
“It’s Lee!” Lindsay cheered alongside everybody else as Liberty began to hover down with the cargo doors opened.
“Hop on board, everyone!” Kevin ushered to all of us. “It’s time we get out of this hell hole.”
Everybody quickly boarded the plane and we were back into the skies and above the clouds in a quick minute.
Lee approached the group from the pilot’s cockpit once he finished putting the plane’s system on autopilot. “Was my timing ok, Madam President?”
“Your timing was perfect,” Jill smiled as she patted the robot on the back. “Thanks for the save.”
“My pleasure,” the robot responded. “Where should I plot a course to next?”
“California.”
9
California
Lee quickly plotted a course to California and we were on our way to the place I thought I would never see. It would take many hours to reach our destination even with the plane’s incredible speed technology so all
we could do was wait again.
Joe was the first to pop into my room and check to see how I was doing. “How are you doing kiddo?”
“Not really sure how to answer that one,” I told him. “I feel like my life has completely changed in a matter of minutes.”
“You’re still the same person,” he comforted me. “You’re still Delaney. Nothing has changed.”
“Thanks, Joe,” I smiled. “You always give the best advice.”
With our expression of our final thoughts Joe left my room and I found myself alone once again collecting my thoughts until they were shortly interrupted by a knock on my door.
This time it was my sister McKenna who came and sat beside me on the bed. “How you doing sis?”
“Alright,” I told her. “I think.”
“And I thought I had seen it all today,” she said. “I can’t imagine what you are going through though.”
“To be honest I can’t even imagine it’s real,” I told her. “But everyone believes it. It even adds up at some points.”
“Then let them believe,” McKenna said. “Real or not. If people believe in something then they have hope. And hope is all we need to win this war. Without hope, there is no revolution. And if there is no revolution we submit to a life full of oppression and tyranny and I cannot live with that. When I have kids and even grandkids one day they will ask me what part I had in all this. I refuse to tell them that I did nothing. I want to tell them I decided to give a damn and did something.”
“Wow, Kenna,” I said in shock. “That’s some pretty powerful stuff you said there.”
She smiled at me and laid her hands on my shoulders and looked me straight in the eyes. “You are not a weapon Delaney. You are and will be a symbol for the entire world once they learn your story. And if you decide to step down I will be by your side no matter what. But if you decide to become the person you were meant to be I will follow you till the end.”
