by Daniel Evora
“Is Nate alright?” she whispered to Max, looking confused.
I heard them as Max turned back, and he sighed. “I’ll tell you later.”
Klara silently nodded, and we moved on.
The house stood out in the neighborhood. It’s walls on the outside were painted light, sky blue. The roof was covered in a thin layer of snow as winter cold was beginning to fade into March weather. But, it was still cold. The block was quiet for the most part except for a few cars or people that walked by.
Thomas, Lily, and I opened the gate in the front yard, which was covered in a layer of frost, and we walked up the small steps on the porch. No creeks were heard as Thomas stepped up to the door. He lifted his fist to knock and took a deep breath.
I could hear someone walking up to the door. Since there were two they only opened up the first one. The woman we saw stared at Thomas for a few seconds and then spontaneously, opened up the second one in a rush to hug Thomas. She cried tears of joy in his arms and so did he.
“Thank God, you’re alright!” she cried, as the woman looked at Lily and I.
“Thank you, for bringing him home,” the woman said to us, as Lily nodded.
“You’re very much welcome,” I replied.
“I don’t know how we can repay you, kid,” Thomas said while turning to me. He smiled.
“Oh, it was nothing.”
“No. What you’ve done to bring me back means everything,” Thomas held out his hand for me.
I shaked his hand. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Thomas.”
“Same here, Nate. Thanks for not shooting me,” joked Thomas.
“Now, how about telling me the Agent's real name?” I asked him.
“Still classified,” he replied, with a smirk.
“Not even the name you can’t share?”
“I’ll get around to it, but for now, stay safe,” Thomas told me.
“Well, it was nice meeting you ma’am, but I’m afraid we have to go now,” I said, walking away to the front yard.
“Wait, Nate, one last thing,” Thomas said, just before I closed the front yard gate. I let go of the painted wood and stepped back onto the property.
“Yeah?”
Thomas walked up to me, handing me his business card. “If you ever need me, sometime in the future, give me a call. But, for now I’m gonna spend some time with my family.”
“Alright,” I responded. “ You two have a great day.”
Thomas rushed up to the porch again and both him and wife waved at me as I stepped into the car, and drove off to the Rebellion Headquarters.
“That kid’s something else, isn’t he,” Thomas said to her.
“And we’re about to have one of our own,” she replied, resting her hand on her stomach, while grabbing his arm. “We are getting older.”
“I’m not even that old,” Thomas said, while smiling. “Neither are you.”
“Not yet,” she said, chuckling along, too. They both stepped into the house and then again the neighborhood fell silent.
...
When I lay in my bed, all I did was try to get my mind off of it. But it was like it was stuck there. I didn’t want it to leave my mind. I didn’t want to forget what happened, but at the very least I wanted to just think about something else for five seconds. Thinking about it for a second made me realize that only thinking about thinking about something else would only make me think more about it. Then all of a sudden this crashing wave of anger hit me and all I wanted to do was punch the wall and scream and shout. The same feeling I had when I was stranded out in the desert. A feeling of powerlessness. So I punched the wall and groaned in frustration for those two short seconds. Gripping my hair while the pain from my hand just made me angrier and then staring down at the floor once I sat up.
A few more seconds after, Matthews opened the door and most likely heard what was going on.
“Nate…Ben is asking for you. Follow me.”
So I stood up and walked with him all the way over to where Ben was waiting for my appearance. It was probably certain that Matthews knew what was going on just before he opened the door to talk to me. But, he was Matthews, and I never expected him to talk about it to me. All he did was look at the floor for a moment and went back to normal.
As we walked right up to the face of the entrance doors, they slid right open. The muffled noise from groups of people talking cleared up and became noisier. There weren’t that many others in the room. I couldn’t count them on my hands, but it was no concert. The place was somewhat like a courtroom. Well, the only similarity was the fact that there was an audience watching while we strolled right down the middle pathway, and the conversations lessened and lessened to a whisper.
Matthews--who took the lead--came to a halt, and looked to Ben as he stepped his way in. He nodded at Matthews, where he left my side and stood next to Klara who I didn’t notice was near the back of the room.
“Good evening, everyone,” Ben greeted, with a raised voice. The whispers came to a silence. “With Christopher’s passing, I’m now burdened with the decision of what to do with the renegade. Nathaniel has decided to join the Resistance.”
And just like that some of the people behind started to scoff and pout. I looked around and instantly checked Matthew's reaction, only to see him crossing his arms. Ben noticed this, too.
“I know some of you may not like it, but it’s my order,” he sighed, then turned to me. “Nate, you’ll take over what’s left of Christopher’s squadron. Effective immediately.”
Ben averted his eyes away from me and went around the room; he even raised his voice a little higher, “Do I make myself clear?”
No one made a sound; to which Ben nodded. “Good. Since we don’t have any...differing opinions, I’ll just have to get through the official initiation oath.”
The oath is what caught my full attention as I made eye contact with Ben. I knew it was serious business, so I put my grieving aside for the moment. Ben brought out a piece of parchment and held it out in front of him. It was strange that he brought it out though considering he only looked at it for just that moment and never really seemed to look at it while reading its contents to me.
“Nathaniel, do you swear to preserve the peace?”
With a straight face I said, “I swear.”
“...to cast out all selfish ambition...to pledge yourself to our goals?”
“I swear.”
“And lastly...to protect your fellow Resistance at any cost?”
I paused for a second on that last one. There was something about the last line of the oath that got me thinking so hard about the whole thing. I couldn’t quite make out what it was. However, I could hear some people’s clothes ruffling as they paid full attention to me. Sitting up straight. Making the pressure even worse.
At any cost?
“I swear,” I eventually said.
“Very well. Welcome to the Resistance, Nate. Meeting adjourned…”
The conversations between people erupted once again and about half of them gradually leaked out the door. The ones who stayed stared at me for a quick moment, and then waltzed out the doors. Matthews bolted right past me and went to talk to Ben as he was getting ready to leave the room as well. He pointed at him angrily and I could hear his words as clear as day.
“You better know what you’re doing.”
Ben glared at him as he rushed out the meeting. Nothing else.
“So, you’re my new general,” Klara pointed out; walking right up to me.
“You’re in his group?” I questioned.
“Yeah, it’s me, Max, and those guys that were looking at you after,” she explained. “I’ll get you introduced to them.”
“Thanks,” I uttered. She followed the rest of them, and Ben approached.
“Don’t mind Matthews, he’ll get over it.”
I shook my head. “He won’t.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Ben sighed in agreement. “I’ll go talk to him.”
He was the last to leave the room besides myself. The doors shut behind him and it was completely silent as I stood in the empty space. I took a small breath through my nose and turned back towards the front wall. The symbol of the Resistance. With its metallic shine, pollish, and everything else on top.
Then I thought about the oath again. That last line stuck in my head without the interruption of anyone else to pressure me into saying something within a certain time frame. I thought about it and just stared at the shining symbol for a minute. Afterwards, I decided to finally walk outside and join the rest of them.
I watched as Ben awkwardly glared at me, and closed the door to my office as I looked out my window as they celebrated the victory of Phoenix Post. Couples reunited, everyone having a nice time for a temporary moment. Lily noticed me, as I quickly turned away from the window and closed the shutters in an instant. Then, I noticed the commander badge. Shining from the bright light coming from the ceiling. Reflecting as it hit the corner of my left eye. I picked it up and stared at the small piece of glossy aluminium. Afterwards, I walked over to a mirror and put on the badge. I clipped on the badge over the Silents mark and glanced at my appearance. Something didn’t feel right about the fact that I was wearing the badge. I couldn’t tell what it was at the moment, but it bothered me quite a bit.
Suddenly, Max opened the door, and noticed myself looking at the badge on my chest. He looked at me through the mirror
“Looks nice on you,” Max complimented.
“Thanks,” I lied.
“If you feel like you shouldn’t have it,” Max explained. “Don’t. You’ve earned it. Least I think so.”
“I’ll take what I can get,” I replied. I took off the badge. “I’m not sure about it yet. Just putting it on makes me feel like...I stole it. As if the badge doesn’t belong to me.”
“Well, I can’t really comment on that. But, hey. Actions speak louder than words,” Max said. “C’mon, they’re waiting for you outside.”
“I’ll be there in a minute,” I answered. But before he shut the door, in the same position he was leaning in, and smirked a bit as I watched from the mirror. I waited until I couldn’t hear him walking through the corridor.
One last time I looked down to the badge and something drew me into it. Then, I thought of her, and Sam. I missed Sam. I missed Adrana...Adrana. Adam. All of a sudden a rush of emotions somehow came trucking through. All the thoughts in my head were firing faster than I could barely comprehend. I couldn’t stop thinking of the Silent Death and what lies ahead for me and Sam, and Adam. The thought of Adam made me feel uneasy. But, not afraid; like on the train. A part had the will to jump. To leap instead. I knew where the feeling was heading, and I knew I couldn’t let it come to form. So, I went and locked that feeling away, and buried it as far down as I could. That seemed to work.
Coming back to my senses, and in the moment kinda scared of the badge, I placed it on the desk in my quarters and didn’t look back when I exited the room. Matthews, Max, Sara, Ben, and Klara awaited me to come and join their little mini-victory briefing. But that’s all that it was made out to be. A small victory.
Even though I had still lost her. I couldn’t get those words out of my mind.
“Welcome home…”
Home.
Something about that sentence stuck with me as I walked out into the Main Hall of the Resistance Base. I knew that it wasn’t perfect here--far from it--but at least it made me feel nice to say it. It made me feel like I was just leaving that orphanage again for the first time. A place that I could finally call…
Home.
The calm wind was just enough to flow through Sam’s thick hair as he stared out onto the balcony view. He stared out to Kalo City with the most confused and conflicted look you would’ve ever seen on a person. Leaning on the balcony rail. Alone.
The hallway to his quarters quickly became a silent, lonely stroll. The Silents have suffered a defeat and it showed within the faces of those who returned from the city of Qeles, Arizona. Phoenix Post was now in the hands of the rebellion.
Adam watched to see all the troops come back from the base from Sam’s office window. The both of them carried faces of disappointment; Sam especially along with grief for Adrana, and Nate. His eyebrows inclined slightly at the thought of losing to the rebellion after so long. But, then Adam thought of Chris, and what he did to him. A huge wave of remorse flooded his soul. Sam turned to him when he heard another step into his house, who sat behind him from where he was standing. Sam was messing around with his weapon. Taking it apart and putting it back together again.
“Where’s Adrana?” Sam asked, rotating his weapon.
Adam didn’t answer.
“So...you killed her.”
“A slight change in plans.”
“Plans? Is that how you see it?”
Adam looked up right towards Sam and ever so slightly squinted his eyes.
“Adrana was flake; just as he was,” Adam explained, in his defense. “She committed treason; just as he did.”
Sam quickly turned around and it looked as if he was about to say something to interrupt Adam and turn this argument into a fully fledged debate. He opened his mouth, but he closed it and no words came through. Continuing to stand there and think about what he had just said to him. Adam noticed Sam’s abrupt silence. He knew exactly where Adam was going to go next to that sentence. It took him a few seconds as he stared out at his rich balcony view of the city once more.
“I’m no traitor,” Sam reassured, then turning to Adam with a straight face. “You of all people should know that.”
Adam stared at him from his seat and leaned onto Sam’s desk. His face warped the moment he heard the words leave his lips. He almost couldn’t believe that he had the guts to bring that topic and violently rip it out from its grave. He then got up from his seat and placed his palms face down on top of the desk. Leaning towards Sam, Adam gave him that same straight look while uttering one word to him in response.
“Good.”
In the silence that was the two staring at each other with a hint of animosity, yet familiarity, Sam’s eyes eventually veered off from his.
Adam spoke again.
“So, what’s next?” asked Sam. “Sir?”
Adam was inspecting his weapon and played with it in Sam’s chair. Thinking about something that Sam was clueless about.
Sam then asked again. “Adam?”
“You talked to him...didn’t you?”
For a small moment, Sam was genuinely confused with who Adam was referring to. But, in that same instance, everything became clear to him.
“What does it mean to you, anyway?”
“If you really want to find your killer, I can help you.”
Sam shook his head, “So now you want to help me? After all this time? The catch?”
“All you have to do is help me find him.”
Sam nodded, “He have a name?”
In a clear voice, “His name is Jacob Price.”
