by Keegan Long
“We wait for a reply!” he answered as he resumed firing his gun out the window.”
The radio gave back some static response but soon later a male voice began to speak over the walkie. “Task Force 119 we read you loud and clear. We are sending reinforcements to your current location. ETA five minutes.”
“Five minutes!” Nicole shouted at Mitch. “We’ll be dead in five minutes!”
“Not if I can help it!” Mitch replied. Mitch quickly loaded a new clip into his gun and rose above the window and fired his gun a few times into one of the Snatchers. He soon later would fall to the ground dead.
The gunfire resumed to hit our car but I could hear a loud distant rattling coming towards us. Then I heard a loud voice yell from outside our car.
“FIRE!”
I felt a huge explosion beside me hit the group of Snatchers and heard their footsteps begin to run away. I stuck my head out carefully to observe what was going on. There was now a tank in front of our car which was covered in a green camouflage paint design. Reinforcements were here.
We all made our way out of the car and saw that it was completely covered in bullet holes.
“Are you all alright?” a man asked us as he got out of the tank and approached us.
“Perfect timing like always Kevin,” Mitch cheered as he made his way towards Kevin and gave him a great big hug.
“I try my best,” he responded.
Kevin was older but more on the younger side. He looked as if he was probably around the same age as Mitch. When he took off his helmet he revealed his short brown hair and green eyes that could be seen through his glasses. He had a very friendly personality look just like Mitch does as well.
Kevin then made his way towards me and looked at me straight in the eyes. “So you’re Delaney?”
“Yes sir,” I responded.
“Well let’s get going then,” he told. “I have someone waiting for you back at base.”
“The President?” I asked.
“You’ll soon see,” he answered with a smile. “Everybody in the tank!”
We all got in the tank and soon made it to the base. To my surprise, it ended up being an old movie theater located in an abandoned mall.
As soon as I got out of the tank I saw someone come running towards me. I couldn’t tell who it was at first but when they reached they gave me a huge and lovingly hug.
“Delaney I’ve missed you so much!” the girl cried in joy as she made contact with me.
Then when I saw her and felt her warm and recognizable hug I knew who she was.
It was my long-lost sister McKenna. We were finally reunited.
5
Madam President
I can’t believe what was happening in my life right now. First, I get broken out of prison and now I have been reunited with my sister after being separated from each other for five years. This all seemed like a very good dream but of course it wasn’t a dream. It was real!
“I can’t believe you’re really here,” I said to her as a started letting tears roll down my face. “How is this possible?”
“We broke her out of her camp about six months ago,” Kevin answered seeing that both of us were unable to talk at the moment. “She then insisted we get you too and now here we are.”
“I thought this day would never come,” McKenna said as both of us finally broke away from each other. “We planned this for months and are resources were spread thin but we finally got a chance and we took it.”
“She told me all about you,” Mitch told me. “It wasn’t that hard to find you once I was in. You make yourself pretty well known.”
“For good reasons,” I assured him.
“So, how long have you guys been camped out here,” Sarah asked as she started observing the front of the camp.
“We’ve been stationed here for about eight months,” Kevin answered. “I know it’s not pretty but she does the job.”
“Why an old beaten up movie theater though?” Bekah asked as she looked at the front of the partially destroyed building in disgust.
“It’s actually what’s inside that counts,” Kevin reassured us. “We can’t make it look pretty then they’ll know we are based here.”
“Come on I’ll give you a tour,” Mitch gestured towards us to follow him inside.
We first entered the front gate that surrounded the whole theater with various watch towers positioned throughout. Mitch informed us later on that everybody takes turns being in one of the watch towers throughout each week.
Soon later we made it to the front doors of the theater, which all had no glass present. We entered and made our way into the main lobby and that is when my mouth dropped in amazement.
There were floods of people and it wasn’t just soldiers. There were ordinary citizens, scientists, farmers, doctors, kids, and even teachers living all together in this one big complex. And this was just the beginning.
The theater had two hallways that were supposed to lead to the projection screens, but instead each had a system of underground tunnels that have been dug that go right beneath the theater. Kevin informed me that if you take the right hallway tunnel it takes you to all of the storage rooms, labs, and even has a path that takes you outside to where they have built a farm where they grow all their crops to feed everyone. If you take the left hallway tunnel then that leads you to all the housing where people stay, which is all underground too. This was perfect I thought to myself. I would have no problem living here while blowing off some Cerberus heads every once in a while.
“Isn’t it amazing?” McKenna asked me as she saw my face drop. “It has everything you need in order to survive.”
“It sure is,” I replied as I still looked at everything going on.
“Everybody here pitches in,” McKenna began to explain to us. “You either help the soldiers, or help the doctors with the injured and sick, or help grow the crops with the farmers. We are just one big community that works together to survive.”
“I think I’ll be joining the fight with the soldiers,” I said with a grin.
“Don’t forget about me,” Sarah butted in as she put her arm around my shoulders. “We’ll have those Cerberus soldiers running in no time.”
“What do you do here McKenna?” Nicole asked.
“I actually work with the President,” she responded. “I’m somewhat of a secretary and organize and help with various objectives.”
“Well that seems like a pretty cool job,” Bekah commented.
“Did I hear something about me?” a female voice came behind us.
We all looked around and saw a woman standing behind us with her hands crossed behind her back. She was more on the younger side like Kevin and Mitch, but unlike them, she had a very determined but friendly look about her. You could tell that this person could be a nice person, but cross her and you would probably wish you were dead.
The woman was wearing black pants and a nice formal button up dark green shirt. Her brown hair wasn’t long and went down to just above her shoulders.
“Sorry to interrupt,” she responded as she looked around at all of our confused faces. “Jill Steinbeck. President of the United States.”
I was shocked when she told me that she was the President of the United States. She looked so young to be President.
“It’s a great honor,” I told her as I reached out and shook her hand. “Not to be rude in anyway way ma’am but aren’t you a bit young to be President?”
“Oh don’t worry about it I get that all the time,” she replied as she smiled back at me. “Traditionally back during the time of the United States, you had to be 35 in order to run and become President. I got so much support though when I was making speeches and other things that many of the people wanted me to run for President. Changes were made to the Constitution and I took office when I was 25 years old. Though that only lasted for about four months until all hell broke loose.”
“Wow, what an incredible story,” Bekah commente
d.
“It sure is,” I said in agreement. “We were all so young we probably didn’t even pay attention to it.”
“It’s quite understandable,” Jill replied. “Especially with one year of war and another five of tyranny, it’s easy to forget about our past. And that’s what Cerberus wants us to do. That’s why they have those re-education prison camps to try and make the younger generation forget and in somewhat brainwash them into loving Cerberus.”
“Well not us,” I said in pride. “They didn’t break any of us.”
“As long as some of us still have that American spirit in us we haven’t lost,” Jill informed us.
“And I want to help you,” I said in support. “And by that, I mean we actually want to help you. All of us.”
Jill smiled at this as if it had just made her entire week.
“You know this building is where it all began for me” Jill started as she remembered her past. “The first job I ever got was working right here in this very movie theater. I remember it as if it was yesterday. I started off as an employee and then made my way up to manager soon after. Then I entered the political side of the world and became President even though it was only for four months.”
“Don’t worry Jill we’ll get you back up there one day,” Kevin said as he approached Jill and put his arm around her.
We all then began to look at them in shock. Were we missing something?
“I see I forgot to tell you that Kevin and I are married,” Jill said as she looked at all of our confused looks we were giving them.
Now it all makes sense now.
“Seeing that you have all had a pretty big day why don’t you get some food and get a good night’s rest,” Jill suggested to all of us. “No offense but you all look like shit.”
Everybody laughed at this. I looked around at each other and Jill was right on how we all looked pretty bad. We had dirt and sweat covering our bodies and even some of us had blood stains on our clothing.
“Sounds good to me,” I replied. “And thanks for everything.”
“Don’t mention it,” she told us. “Then tomorrow when everybody is awake we’ll have a meeting in my office and discuss what our next steps should be.”
We all said our goodbyes to Jill and Kevin while Mitch showed us the way towards our room.
We walked down the left hallway of the theater and were soon underground. There were several hundreds of doors, each representing a small room with two beds.
“I actually have a slightly bigger room than most,” McKenna told me. “So I was thinking that you and Sarah could stay with me in my room and Nicole and Bekah could be in their own room right next to ours.”
Mitch also informed me that each floor had a bathroom with a tub to rinse off in but there was no running water, unfortunately. That didn’t bother me though because we didn’t get that luxury back in the Cerberus prison camp. Once a week they would take us into a large empty room and just hose us down if that counts.
The rest of night went pretty smoothly though as we all got something to eat and actually were able to finally sleep in nice and comfortable beds. The moment my head made contact with that pillow I instantly fell asleep.
My life would never be the same now.
6
Origins
I woke up the next morning feeling more refreshed and alive than ever. I can’t remember the last time I got that much sleep. I could sure get used to this.
“I see you have finally woke up,” McKenna said as she walked in the room. “Get enough sleep?”
“Yeah, haven’t slept that good in years,” I told her as I stretched out my legs. “What time is it?”
“It’s almost noon,” she answered. “I didn’t know if you were ever going to wake up.”
“How about the others?” I asked. “Are they up?”
“Yeah, they got up a little while ago,” McKenna informed me. “Sarah has been running around with me while Bekah and Nicole are getting an armory tour from Mitch.”
“Have you heard anything from the President?” I asked as I got out of my bed.
“She’ll meet with us after you have had something to eat,” McKenna answered. “Don’t worry we have lots of time so don’t rush.”
“I won’t don’t worry,” I promised. “I just have to change my clothes.”
“Don’t worry about your old clothes,” McKenna said. “I picked out some new clothes for you to wear.”
McKenna came over to my side and handed me a tank top and a pair of jeans.
“Thanks, sis,” I said as I took the new clothes from her.
McKenna made her way back to the door and opened it. “I’m going back to the lobby where everyone else is at. You change and meet me there and we’ll get you something to eat.”
“Sounds good,” I replied. “See you in a bit.”
McKenna closed the door behind her as she left to go back to the theater lobby.
I changed into the new clothes McKenna gave me and instantly felt an amazing feeling of refreshment. For the past five years, I always had to wear the same thing. Now my body could breathe once again.
Once I was done changing I made my way towards the lobby where I found all my friends waiting for me alongside Mitch.
“How does it feel to be back in normal people clothes?” he asked me.
“Never felt better,” I replied with a smile.
“Here’s an apple,” McKenna said as she came over and handed me a piece of fruit. “Sorry but that’s all we can spare at the moment.”
“It’s ok,” I told her. “I’m not that hungry anyway.”
“So what’s the plan for today?” Sarah asked the group.
“I’m going to take you all to Jill’s office,” Mitch replied. “Then that’s where we will all have a discussion on what we are going to do next.”
“How exciting,” Nicole commented as a grin appeared on her face. “I hope it includes some more shooting at Cerberus.”
“Don’t be ridiculous Nicole,” Bekah said in a jokingly manner. “Of course it is.”
“It won’t be easy though,” Mitch told us. “We haven’t even put a dent in Cerberus yet. This is just the beginning.”
“Doesn’t matter,” I said as I took a bite in my apple. “We are full of energy and ready for a fight.”
“Good then,” he smiled back at me. “Let’s get going then.”
Mitch lead us to the right hallway this time where all the equipment storages and labs were. Mitch informed us that Jill’s office was at the very end of the hallway.
We soon later made it and Mitch held the door for us as we all walked in. As I walked in I noticed there was a big table in the center of the room where Kevin and Jill were sitting at as they waited for us. When they saw us come in they both came to the door to greet us.
“It’s nice to see you all again,” Jill told us as she came over to shake everybody’s hand. “I hope you all slept well.”
“Sure did,” Sarah answered. “Thank you very much.”
“Why don’t you all have a seat,” Jill said as she showed us to the other side of the table opposite of where she and Kevin would be sitting.
“I’ll be outside in case anyone needs anything,” Mitch said but was soon interrupted by Jill.
“I actually would like you to be in here too,” she told him as he joined the table with us. “We’re all together in this now.”
Everybody got situated and we looked at each other all thinking what we were about to learn. Jill probably had the most knowledge about this war than anyone here and we were about to find out what it is.
“I want to thank you all first for being a part of this with me,” she began. “I came to conclusion if you guys are to help me with defeating Cerberus you deserve to know the truth. All of it.”
“What do you mean by the truth?” Nicole asked.
“The full story of everything,” she answered. “There is a lot more you don’t know and I’m the only one in this room who k
nows the whole truth.”
“About Cerberus?” I asked.
“Yes,” she told me as she began to tell the story. “When I took office I learned the terrible truth about something that should have never taken place to begin with. Project Red Eye was scheduled to launch in less than a month, which I already thought was a bad idea to begin with, but that didn’t stop them. But what I learned was that the government had already planned to start working on something else that would make the robots look like a joke. Human cloning.”
“You got to be joking,” Mitch interrupted as he looked in disgust.
“That’s just wrong,” Bekah joined in.
“It violates all the rules of nature itself,” Sarah also joined in.
“My thoughts exactly,” Jill continued. “I urged them to stop and shut it down but they would not listen. They continued to work on the project in secrecy and I could never figure out where this was all taking place. I soon found out that people were dying in these experiments and I decided I was going to make this public. But I was already too late.”
“Cerberus,” I muttered. “They had something to do with this.”
“At first, I thought Cerberus was just a terrorist group that hacked us and wanted to see us destroyed,” Jill continued on. “Oh, how I was wrong. The war waged on and not until it was almost over did I find out the truth. Cerberus was never a terrorist group or even a gang. Cerberus is the United States government.”
“What!” I exploded as I lost temper of what I was just told. “What do you mean by this?”
“Cerberus is the part of the government that was involved with the human cloning and even the robots. They never had the intention to shut them down permanently but when I was going to tell the people everything they turned them against us. They have killed millions of people all over the world. And it’s all my fault.”
“It’s not your fault Jill,” I acknowledged. “You were going to do the right thing but they were behind your back and a step ahead of you the whole time.”
“The world has destroyed itself,” Jill said in anger. “Because of them.”
