by Keegan Long
The Principal was nothing but a dictator to the young people he kept within his jails across the districts. Principal Hansen was his name. John Hansen. He was a grumpy big man with a short, dark brown beard and little to no hair on top of his ugly head. The man I hate most in this world besides the President of Cerberus. No one knows who that is though because they keep it a secret so he or she isn't targeted for assignation attempts.
There was much chatter heard within the dining hall as Principal Hansen came into view for everyone to see. Whispers of voices could be heard filling up the hall.
“Alright everyone hush up,” Hansen addressed to everyone as they soon became quiet. “I know you weren’t expecting to see me today but I am here to address some serious Cerberus business.”
“What is this all about?” I whispered across the table to Sarah.
“I have no idea,” she silently replied. “But this can’t be good.”
Then what was about to happen next, I was never expecting.
“Delaney Nordbrock,” he said. “Please step forward.”
What did he want with me? Did he learn about my plan somehow? It wasn’t even that serious and was only something to make them mad at.
“Yes,” I said as I stood up after he called my name.
“Please step forward and come up here to me,” the Principal replied.
What he would do next though would really push my limits and trust me he does not want to go there. I then walked up to him and approached until we were soon looking at each other face to face.
“You are in the presence of a Cerberus superior officer,” he told me with a grin. “Cerberus protocol says you must bow down to them to show them respect.”
“Like hell,” I responded while giving him a nasty look.
“Guards,” he commanded as he pointed towards me. “You know what to do.”
The guards made their way towards me and whacked me a couple of times with the blunt of their assault rifles, which in truth hurt like hell. After having them whack me a good few times Hansen had them stand me back up after falling to the ground.
“Have you rethought your actions?” he asked me as if he was trying to teach me a lesson.
“Nope,” I responded with a smile. “That was well worth it.”
Hansen gave the guards a little head nod signalling them to punish me some more. The guards did as they were ordered and beat me up a couple of times again on the sides with the blunt of their weapons.
“You have done nothing but disrespect your country the past several years you’ve been here,” he told me as I was kneeled over on the floor after the beaten. “When will you ever learn?”
“The Cerberus Federation is not my country,” I responded harshly while looking at him straight in the eyes. “But the United States is.”
That’s when I knew I had crossed the line. The mention at all of the United States was strictly forbidden throughout the whole country as if it was a bad curse word that no one should say.
“How dare you!” Hansen yelled at me as he almost spat in my face. “The revolution is dead. The United States is dead. Your president is dead. And if you don’t adapt to our new ways so will you.”
“I have no problem dying for my country,” I responded. “And I would gladly take some of you bastards with me.”
“I want you out of my face,” he told me as he commanded the guards to lift me up from the floor and take me away. “I say some time in the basement should do you some good.”
“I agree,” I replied mocking his command.
The guards carried me out of the dining hall and threw me into my very own cell in the dark cold basement. I had no problem with this though as I have become used to it with all the times I’ve been down here.
I eventually made my way towards the bed. It was made of nothing but cold cement. I laid down and closed my eyes as I had nothing else to do down here. I went over the events that just happened and have to say that was way better than what I originally had planned to mess with them. Even though I hate the Principal like no other he did say something that made me think as I laid there on that cold bed made of cement.
Was the United States President really dead?
2
The Mysterious Notes
After spending the rest of the week in the basement I was released to go back to my cell. The Principal had now left the state and was probably travelling back to D.C. where all the top officials stay. Thanks for the visit and you can come back anytime.
The day went on like any other normal day here at this God forsaken hell hole. I needed to get out of here and soon. I’m tired of being stuck in this place. I can be out there in the world making a difference. Fighting off Cerberus and sending them a message that some of us still have fight in us.
It was finally time for lunch soon. I made my way down toward the dining hall like any other day. The meal was nothing but garbage again but no surprise there. On the menu, it said it was cheese and pepperoni pizza but I don’t know how they call this pizza.
I sat down at our regular table, like always, and was soon joined by the group again.
“So how was the basement?” Delaney asked me as she took a seat next to me with her tray of food.
“It was fine,” I told her. “Cold as ice like usual.”
“Well at least your back up here,” Nicole commented as she refused to look at her plate of food. “Not much better though.”
“I need to get out of here,” Bekah said with a frown down towards her food. “I can’t die here.”
“We will all get out of here,” I reassured them. “One way or another.”
“I want to get out of here as much of all you,” Sarah spoke to the group. “But how are we ever going to get out of here. If you haven’t noticed we are surrounded by Cerberus guards 24/7 and who knows what’s behind these camp walls. There could be more guards or even worse, Centaurs.”
“Centaurs?” Nicole asked. “I’m sorry but can you bring me up to speed.”
“It’s what we call the robots that do Cerberus’ biddings,” Sarah answered. “Killer robots that were supposed to be shut down but instead were hacked and turned against us. Killing millions of people and turning this country into nothing but a wasteland.”
“In other words, the reason why Cerberus is in control today,” I said.
“I’ve never seen any of the robots inside the camp boundaries,” Sarah said. “But they could be just outside the fences or stationed somewhere not that far away.”
“Avoid them at all cost,” Bekah addressed the group. “They are deadly precise with their shots and highly intelligent.”
“Well let’s hope we don’t run into any of them anytime soon,” Nicole expressed with a look of fear on her face. “They seem scary.”
“They are very scary,” Sarah said. “But we will protect you Nicole now don’t you worry. And when we are out of here fighting these Cerberus bastards we’ll make them to what they really are. Nothing but a pile of junk metal.”
Nicole smiled at this and her face of fear soon disappeared.
“Sarah is right Nicole,” I began to speak. “We’ll protect you no matter what. One day we won’t have to live in this era of fear, but we can’t accomplish that unless we stand up and fight.”
“I dream of a day like that every night,” Bekah said. “Where we can wake up to the sunlight without drones flying above us and only birds in the trees.”
“I’m right there with you,” I said in support to Bekah’s dreams. “Just like the good old days.”
“Now that’s something I would die for,” Sarah commented with a bright smile as if she was daydreaming.
The buzzer in the dining hall soon went off signalling that are time was up and that we needed to head back to our rooms.
“Well, I guess I’ll see you guys later,” I addressed the group as I stood up getting ready to head back to my room.
“See you at dinner then,” Sarah said. “Hopefully it will be bett
er than this nasty lunch. I don’t have high hopes though.”
We all laughed at Sarah’s comment about the food.
“I’m sorry but I don't have high hopes either,” I responded.
After our goodbyes, I made my way towards the dish return and dropped off my plate of food that I didn’t touch. On my way out the dining hall’s doors a Cerberus guard bumped into me, while in the process almost knocking me to the ground.
“Watch where you’re walking twerp,” the guard yelled at me as he kept walking past me without even looking back.
I wanted to yell something back but by the time I could he was too far away to hear anything I would have said.
I then continued on through the doors and soon up the stairs and into my room. When I entered my room the door closed behind me, which was soon locked after it was completely shut which could be heard through the sound coming through the door.
I walked on towards my bed and decided I was going to take a nap since there was nothing else to do in a room with nothing but one small window. As I sat on my bed I put my hands in my pocket and found something that was not supposed to be there.
I was so shocked at first, I quickly took my hands out of my pockets without taking out the object that was inside them. How did it get there? Then it hit me. The guard. On my way out the doors of the dining hall he must have slipped it into my pockets without me noticing. What would they want with me?
I slowly slid my hands back into my pockets and felt the presence of a piece of paper in my right pocket. I quickly took it out to reveal that it was a small note with some writing on it. It read:
You are not alone. We are with you.
I couldn’t believe this was happening. Who was this person? I had so many questions. Was there still possibly some resistance out there fighting that I haven’t heard of. I needed to find this guard and see if they could get me and my friends out of here.
Dinner could not have come sooner enough as I had so much to tell the others. I skipped taking my nap and went over how I would tell the others and how to make sure the real Cerberus guards wouldn’t find out about the note.
The day went on and the buzzer in the room finally went off signalling that it was time for dinner. Once that door unlocked I opened it up as fast as possible and rushed my way down towards the dining hall as fast as I could. Once I got to the doors of the hall I walked in slowly not to draw any attention to the guards. I got my plate of garbage food like usual and made my way towards the table and took a seat as I waited for the others.
As I waited for the others I looked around the dining hall to see if I could recognize the guard who slipped me the note. They all looked the same to me with their uniforms of black including their face masks.
“You look a bit on edge tonight Delaney,” Sarah observed as she sat down at the table. “Is something wrong?”
“No nothing’s wrong,” I told her. “But I have something very important to share with all you.”
“What is it?” she asked me as she began to look very curious on what I was about to reveal to her.
“Let’s wait until Nicole and Bekah show up,” I told her. “I don’t want to risk it too much and it would be easier just telling you all at once.”
A couple minutes later Bekah and Nicole came over together with their trays of food and sat down at the table.
“What’s with you guys tonight?” Nicole asked giving us a weird look. “You two seem to be a bit on the edge.”
“I have something important to tell you guys,” I began to talk. “But you can’t let anyone know about it. Anyone.”
“We won’t don’t worry,” Bekah replied. “Now what is it?”
“On my way out of the dining hall earlier a guard bumped into me,” I started. “I thought it was just a normal guard because he yelled at me like they all do but when I got back to my room I realized the guard slipped me a little note into one of my pockets.”
After telling them the story I pulled out the note quietly and showed them and what it said.
“What do they mean by we?” Sarah asked as I slipped the note back not my pocket.
“I have no idea,” I replied. “Do you have any ideas?”
“Maybe there's another resistance group out there,” Nicole commented. “And they somehow have heard about what you have done.”
“Do you know who the guard is?” Bekah asked. “Do you recognize him here in the dining hall?”
“I looked around earlier and can’t find anything similar,” I told them. “I got nothing.”
“I believe our best plan right now is to wait,” Sarah addressed the group. “There is a good chance that this person will contact you again and until then we should wait it out.”
“That’s a good plan,” I replied. “We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves too fast and blow this up whatever it is. I’m just really hoping this person can get us out of here.”
“Me too,” Nicole said. “Get me out of here. I’m ready.”
“I think we all want to get out of here,” Bekah commented. “But if we really want to get out of here we need to do this right which means being patient and smart about it.”
“When they contact me again I’ll make sure you guys know right away,” I told the group. “We’ll get out of here somehow. And I’m god hoping this is our chance.”
“Well hopefully we find out soon,” Nicole said. “I hate waiting.”
“It shouldn’t be too long Nicole,” I reassured her. “We must stay alert.”
The buzzers in the dining hall once again had gone off signalling that our time was up and that we were to head back up to our rooms for the night. I didn’t want to go up because I know I wouldn’t get any sleep with all that was going through my head right now. I also didn’t want to leave my friends because who knew what was about to happen. Our lives would probably never be the same.
I dropped my tray off as usual but on my way out the dining hall doors I ran into the same guard from before. He ran into me just like before but this time I noticed and felt him slip another note into my right pocket. I was cautious not to show any emotion of this though so I wouldn’t draw any attention to myself and risk this being discovered. After I was through the doors I quickly went up to my room and shut the door behind me.
I went to my bed and quickly examined the new note that had been given to me and read over it multiple times. It read:
It’s time we get out of here. Meeting tonight at midnight. Stay put.
So this person was planning on helping me escape. But why?
The night dragged on and I definitely would not get any sleep now. I wanted it to be midnight now but time seemed to be twice as long as it usually is. I had no idea even what time it currently was because they don’t give us any clocks of sorts to have in our rooms. All I knew is the sun had set and the stars were out signalling it was getting close to midnight.
I spent most of my time pacing back and forth in my room while I waited for this mysterious guard to contact me. I came up with several different scenarios on how this night could play out but still had no idea on what to expect. And then it was finally time.
I heard the lock of my door switch, which signalled that someone outside had the keys and were coming in. I stood up from sitting down on my bed and stared as the stranger opened the door and made his way into my room.
I noticed that the man was a bit on the older side to who I usually interact with. He was in the Cerberus uniform that all guards wear here. Dark black pants with black body armor as well as blast shield mask.
Once the man entered my room he quickly, but quietly, shut the door behind him to avoid being seen by anyone else. He then made his way over towards me and took off his mask and set it down on my bed.
The stranger had a welcoming and friendly face and I noticed he was a little more on the heavier side with his weight. He had short dark black hair, which complemented his dark brown eyes as well. He didn’t have a beard but a little scruff could
be seen.
Now it was time to get some answers.
“So, do I talk first or you talk first?” I asked him as to get this conversation started somehow.
“I don’t have much time Delaney so we’ll have to make this short,” the man responded as he sat down on my bed.
“How do you know my name?” I asked as I walked in front of him. “And who are you?”
“I can’t answer all your questions now,” he told me. “But I can tell you who I am. My name is Mitch. And I’m here to get you out of here.”
“Why me?” I asked.
“Because you have some friends that would like to see you,” Mitch replied with a smile. “And you have a pretty good reputation outside of these walls.”
“I have some pretty good friends here,” I began to explain to Mitch. “I’m not leaving here without them though.”
“Don’t worry they are all accounted for in the plan as well,” he responded. “I’ve been observing you for quite a while and knowing the type of person you are I knew you weren’t going to leave them. They will be safe right along with you.”
“Good,” I said with a smile of relief. “What’s your plan on getting us out of here then?”
“We don’t have much time as I fear that Cerberus may be onto me,” Mitch answered. “So that’s why I’m breaking you guys out tomorrow first thing when breakfast starts.”
“And how do you plan on getting us past all the other guards?” I asked as I have started to question how he was going to pull this off. “They outnumber us. And by a lot.”
“I have a small group of troops that will help us,” he assured me. “It will be a fast escape. We’ll have to run like hell.”
“Oh, we can run,” I told him. “Don’t worry about us.”
“Good,” he replied. “Then we should have a good chance at getting out of here alive.”
After our conversation, Mitch then got up from sitting down and started to put his mask back on.
