I roll my eyes upward. “I will make every shot count.”
“Damn right you will. Every shot missed is a bullet wasted, every bullet wasted means another Vojin gets the chance to live. I’m not having that shit. We need to show them we aren’t playing. We have a plan too, and that plan is to stop the destruction they are so insistent on implementing. Like,” he emphasizes, “our parents were trying to do.”
“Speaking of their plan. You remember when I told you about the time in the burrow?”
“Yeah. What about it?”
“They said they would destruct the world, saving only four, and you and I were two of those four considered for the reconstruction.”
He lowers his weapon, turning away from the targets. “I’m not following you, Ky.”
“They also said they will get rid of all the—” I’m cut off by someone shouting. Three gunshots follow the disturbance.
We race over to the growing crowd, shoving people out of our way as we make it to the center. A girl from Luke’s team, the one who came to his room some nights ago, is lying on the ground with a shot to her head, neck, and one in her vest.
Luke crouches down next to her. “Who shot her?” Luke asks calmly.
“I did.” A boy, also from Luke’s group, steps forward, standing proudly on the other side of her corpse. He crouches down too, strong shoulders and mighty frame shadowing Luke. “Her mouth was glowing. It was inhuman,” he informs calmly.
“Okay, Charles. What was happening when her mouth started glowing?”
Charles drops one knee to the dirt and rests his arm on the one still propped up. “She was mad, arguing with Abel and Tamela. She was going to yell, and these weird colorful particles burst from her mouth.”
Luke looks up and off to the right at twins who may be Abel and Tamela.
Abel is standing with his arms crossed, deep pink eyes peering through his lashes. “There has been talk about her being an implant. She was accused, and she became defensive. The dusty stuff circled up to the sky and Charles shot her.”
Charles stands up. “She was a friend, but not good enough a friend that it could go ignored.”
Luke stands. “No one is that good a friend to ignore them being an implant.” They shake hands over her dead body. “You did what you were trained to do.” Charles nods. “You are also privileged to carry her body to the general’s office and explain her death.”
A few laugh at Charles twisted face when he looks at her bullet-riddled body, blood pooling beneath her corpse. “I guess I don’t have a choice.”
“You do not,” Luke says.
“Luke and Ky!” Cory is running in our direction, beelining through the group of onlookers. Nearly tripping, he stumbles to a stop, gaze locked on the body. “Who is that, and why is she dead?”
“She was an implant and got shot. What is it?” Luke asks.
“A shipment came in for you. Some heavy artillery the general thought you’d want to see asap.”
Luke nods then says loudly, “Ky and I are going. If you all happen to find any more implants amongst yourselves, bring them to us or the general before you execute them. We’d like to keep up with them in case they can be used for testing. Come on, Charles. Pick up Virginia and let’s go.”
Charles scoops up Virginia. Her head dangles over his arm, dripping blood on the way to the general’s office.
Jord throws his hand out when Luke opens the door. “No. Don’t bring that in here. I won’t be able to get the bloodstains or smell out of this wood for months. Take it back outside without leaking all over the porch.” Jord follows us out of his office. “Implant?” he guesses.
Charles informs, “Yes,” placing her on the ground. “I shot her, Sir Jord.”
“Okay, return to your training and have Cory clean this up.” Jord waves his hand in sweeping motions, and Charles nods and runs back to the field. “I have something you two would like to see.” His smile wrinkles the chocolate skin around his eyes and mouth. Going back into his office, he goes through the mysterious door in the back corner. I’ve been wondering about it ever since the first time I stepped foot in here. The door leads to a bedroom-sized room full of bulky suitcases and boxes. Jord picks up one of the suitcases and sets it on top of a box. Opening it, he reveals a black handgun with a long barrel and bulky handle like the one from the lab back in Highrum.
I take it from him. “I’ve been waiting to get my hands on this.” It’s smooth as polished gold and light as a bottle of water. The metal warms in my hand as my grip gets comfortable around the trigger. I grab the mag from the packing cushion in the suitcase and stuff it into the gun. It clicks, and the sound is mouthwatering. I put the gun down to grab another mag and pop out a bullet.
The bullets are sterling silver with a clear line down the middle. A dark mist slowly moves inside of it. It flows like fog, almost unnoticeably if not being studied. The mag is also light, along with the bullets.
I hand the loaded gun to Luke. “You’re going to like it.”
He takes it from me, and I go back to the suitcase to move it from the box. I go to open the box and stop myself. “Can I look inside this?” I ask Jord.
“Yes.”
In the box are face masks with breathing filters; they are thin and light as well. “These are air purifiers, right?” I ask, showing Jord a mask.
“Yes, they are supposed to be light on us and easy to use. They are to be soundless as we breathe through them and filter our air so we are not affected by the explosive particles.” I nod, turning back. “Look at what they got for us. This is the best part.” He picks up a bigger suitcase and cracks it open on the floor. “Check this one out.” Between his hands, Jord cradles the most gorgeous shotgun to ever bless my eyes.
“Aww,” I sigh. It takes my breath away.
“The only girl you’ll ever meet that’s left speechless by a piece of machinery,” Luke jokes.
I scoff. “There are plenty of us out there.” I can’t tear my eyes away from its beauty. “Do you see this, Luke? Please let me hold it.” Jord passes me the weapon. Black steel makes up a double-barrel, pump-action, twelve-gauge shotgun. It’s the length of my arm, and the weight, though heavy, is comfortable. I press it to my shoulder and take the handles in my grips. The finger grooves are easy to align with, and the shot scope will make aiming a breeze. “What is it? Fifteen rounds?” I ask, lowering the weapon and leaving it to rest in my hands as I gaze upon its gorgeousness.
Luke comes to my side and rubs his hand over it. “Yes. It’s nice.” He takes it from me. “And the weight is perfect.”
“This gun is ten rounds,” Jord answers. “The best thing about that gun and its rounds is if there are Vojin in a line you can take them out with one bullet. It will enter them and, before exiting, release the poison, and plow through the flesh. It’s a brilliant round. That thing will keep going until it runs out or until it meets a non-penetrable object.” From another box sitting on the floor, Jord retrieves a narrow bullet with a sharp tip that ends in a point. “This would come in handy.”
I smile. My adrenaline pumps just at the thought. “We’re going to do some serious damage. I want to shoot this gun!”
“Let’s go!” Jord says, waving me toward the door.
“There are multiple of these?” Luke asks. He moves it out of my grasp as I reach for it. Jord nods and picks up another suitcase, setting it beside the first. “Stop, Ky.” Luke swats my hand. “Get your own.”
“I had it first, Luke. Why must you be a jerk your entire life?” I huff and pop open the new suitcase for the gun I am going to carve my name into. “Do we have test bullets?”
“A few,” Jord responds. He grabs a box of shotgun shells and a handgun. I grab a handgun for the Zombies and stuff it into my spare holster. Luke follows my lead. “Get the others and meet me in the target hall.”
“I’ll get Marc and Sean, you get Collins and Cecilia,” I tell Luke, leaving, keeping the shotgun glued to my hands.
&nbs
p; On my way to find Marc, I run into Sean running laps around the base with his team.
“Two more laps then hit the showers,” Sean shouts to his team. He slows his run, and his eyes immediately admire my shotgun. “What is that beauty?” he sings, reaching for it.
“It’s nice, right?” I keep it out of his grasp. “It’s new. Made for a specific being.” I wink twice. “Come on, we have orders to test it out. Where’s Marc?”
“This way,” he says, turning on his heels and heading for the weight room. “Can I hold it?”
I hand it to him. “Sure.”
Gripping the barrel, he sings, “Whoa, it’s not heavy. With how bulky it is, it looks like it should be.”
“It’s incredible. We also got these.” I pull my handgun with the long barrel from my back holster and show it to him.
“Cool.”
We enter the weight room, and Sean shouts, “Marc! Look at Kylie’s new gun.” He holds it up with one hand and points to it with the other.
Marc looks up from helping someone on the weight bench. He leaves her and comes over to us. “Whoa.” He snatches the gun from Sean and feels it in his hands, testing its weight. “Hey,” he greets me.
“Hey. You like my gun?”
He nods, examining the weapon. “I like your everything.”
I blush and bite my cheeks to fight the smile. “Good. You both get one, and we’re going to test them.” I wave for them to follow me. “Let’s go.”
Marc passes the gun back to Sean and turns to his group, ordering, “Continue until lunch. I’ll meet you all by the obstacle course after.”
“We understand,” his group says in unison.
We head for the indoor target range. Sean asks, “Would this happen to be for our vengeance on the outer world?”
“It would,” I tell him. “I wish you could see what the bullets do.”
“Ky,” Marc puts his arm around my shoulders, “You are very attractive in a dress, breathtaking, but seeing you excited about guns…you are drop-dead gorgeous.”
Blushing, I bump my elbow to his side. If we were back home or hidden from the world in his room, I’d kiss his cheek and whisper, “Thanks, handsome.”
“Aw, you two are so cute,” Sean teases. “Now, Ky, you should say, ‘And Marc, you’re remarkably hot when you hold my guns.’” He and Marc laugh, but it’s over my head.
“Sean, I don’t get it. But can I please have my gun back?”
“Here,” he hands me the weapon. “Let me see your new pistol. I see the handle peeking from your holster, and it looks superb.”
I take the shotgun and pass him the handgun. “Here. Wait ’til you all see the bullets for these things.” We enter the target hall where Jord, Luke, Collins, and Cecilia wait for us. It’s brightly lit with the recessed lights shining off the white bulletproof walls and tile floor.
“Close the doors behind you,” Jord instructs.
Sean closes the door. “Is this some secret target practice operation where we’re all going to strip to our socks and shoot guns? Because I’d like to be a part of something like that.” He skips back to the line of us.
Jord throws his hand over his eyes and rubs his temples. Gesturing with his free hand, he orders, “Grab a gun from the table, one of each. We can’t use the bullets we will be using in action because we have a limited number, but we’ll use dummies because our targets must be on point. I planned to discuss our mission tonight, but since we are all here, let’s go over it now. Then we can enjoy shooting these new weapons.” He straightens his spine and crosses his arms. “In battle, I’ve fought with most of you in the past. We have all accomplished our missions and made it out alive. This will be nothing like that…”
I survey the room, and the reality of what we are about to do sinks in on the others’ faces.
Jord continues, “We will be away from our home, on another’s turf. We do not know where or what we are going into. Only that we are going. I cannot guarantee all of us will make it out alive. But I promise, you will be prepared and have the artillery we need to bust some alien ass.”
I look over the weapon in my hand, eager to fire off a few shots. If he’d only wrap up his briefing quicker.
“You all are holding our new weapons made specially for this mission. These will allow us to abolish the enemy. And in an extraordinary way. Kylie and Lukahn have been witnesses to that. The bullets must be shot in a specific place on the enemy in order to be most effective. This is the left side of the chest.” He points to the target point on his chest while his other hand digs in his pocket. “These.” He holds up a blue and green marble. The particles on the inside slowly fuse like the ones the coyote threw up a few months back. “Are our form of transportation. Getting there and leaving. We are not the only ones leaving there, just the only ones in our Separation sector. Another group will leave with their own.” He stuffs the marble back into his pocket. “Two groups from Chicago will go. One group from New York.” He nods, and we follow with a nod. “Our mission,” he continues in a more instructive, deep tone, “is to raid and invade as they have done to us. Destroy as they have destroyed. Kill as they have killed. We will shoot everything we see and anyone who is not our own. Look out for each other. They could be capable of things we aren’t aware of, so do not let your guard down.”
“Is there something we are trying to find out by going there? A message?” Collins asks.
“Yes,” Jord answers. “Don’t fuck with us,” he states smoothly, without a blink or waver.
“What if it angers them, and our actions make them go through with this threat?”
“Seits and I will be looking for their Premier.” Their leader, I correct mentally. They do not have a Premier. Jord likely knows this, but maybe he wants his ignorance to come off as though he knows little about the Vojin, so the others won’t suspect him of being a double-dealer. “If they do not change their instruction, he will end up like the rest.” Collins peeps like she’s about to ask another question, but Jord talks over her. “Stay quiet when we arrive. These guns are silent. We will be like thieves in the night. We will come in, steal the lives of many, and escape without being noticed or erupting havoc. Respond.”
“We understand,” we say.
“Alright,” he concludes. “Test your firearms. Kylie, I know you would like to go first.”
I’d love to go first. Grinning ear to ear, I step in front of my target so it’s ten feet in front of me. I load my shotgun with the dummy bullets Jord has in a box sat next to my feet. They’re similar to the thick, black, pointed rounds without the center line of poison.
Pressing the butt of the shotgun to my shoulder, I click off the safety and pump two rounds into the chamber. I wrap my finger around the trigger and press my cheek to the cold metal to peer through the scope. Excited jitters tickle my stomach as I line up my target.
I have an idea.
I pull the gun down, looking at Jord. “Do you think if we shot the dummies with the other bullets they’d explode like the one did back in Highrum?”
“I doubt it. All the required components are not involved to make it explode.”
“Ky,” Luke barks, “can you just shoot the damn gun?”
“Yes, Luke.” I raise the gun again. “Gosh. Have some patience.” I aim and fire. There is no kickback, no jolt, no blast, just a quiet pfft. Like the sound of blowing air through a straw. I hit the dummy in the chest and look at the gun, amazed. “That is incredible.” The gun is huge; the bullets are big, but it’s so light and quiet.
“I didn’t even hear it!” Collins states with annoying astonishment.
I take out the handgun and load it with a dummy bullet and shoot it. It’s also quiet, like the ones they shot in the labs.
I step away from the target area in awe as I stare at my weapons. Walking to the table, I set them both down, and everyone takes turns shooting the new guns.
After the shock wears off, we practice hitting the targets in the appropriate place
. Still targets are easy to hit, but moving targets, as Luke pointed out, are the hardest.
“This was a good exercise,” Jord praises, wrapping practice up. “There are specific masks you will also be provided to protect us from the explosive matter and particles that will kill them and may be harmful to us. We will attack at twenty-one hundred hours tomorrow night.”
“So soon,” I overhear Collins say to her sister, but I ignore it. I may not trust her, but Jord’s right; we do need her for this mission because she is an excellent shot and a great fighter.
We leave the target hall and head to our homes to put our guns away.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
For dinner, we gather together at our usual table, quietly discussing our new mission. “I personally think those guns are the most amazing things man could have invented,” Collins says, spooning her soup.
“Good thing nobody cares about your opinion of man-made products,” Sean retorts.
Luke is the only one not sitting with us. He had to follow up with the other leaders to discuss the other countries’ infestation of Zombies.
Sean and Collins bicker back and forth, and a joke I recall Fein telling trickles into my mind. She must’ve been mad at me for pulling the trigger. That girl, Virginia, she was an implant and died. I’m a mixed Creation, and though one or two may know, it’s a miracle I’m still alive. Marc should’ve wiped us clean off the Earth. Now, here we are, going on a suicide mission, and everything in my gut is telling me this is why my life was preserved, because with this one, we aren’t making it out of there no matter how good our weapons are. Something is telling me Luke and I are going to be dead on the floor of the Vojin base, lying next to each other in a puddle of our own blood. And I’m comfortable with that as long as I can kill at least thirty-two of them. Shoot me down, fine! But I’m not going out without taking a few of them with me. They’ll remember our names, and forever they will ring along with those of my parents.
Salient Invaders: A Young Adult Post-Apocalyptic Dystopian Series (The Separation Trilogy Book 2) Page 29
