Terrified Of What I'll Find

The rebels sprinted into the shopping district, leaving the smoldering ruins of the compound behind.

Kai, Chase, and Taro carried the steel-wrapped Hendrix; Alex hauled a barely-conscious Bloom on her back.

Helicopters swept across the skies above as they darted through narrow alleys, keeping to the shadows.

“Where…” Akilah was about to ask Alex a question when red and blue lights zoomed by the street that the alleyway led to.

“Where are we going to go?!” Akilah finished her question in a whisper.

“We’re going to the airport. We should be able to sneak onto a plane when Bloom recovers.” Alex looked to her back to check on Bloom, who was now slowly blinking.

“Where are we gonna fly to?” Chase asked, looking up from Hendrix’s steel cocoon.

“We’ll go to the compound in Tokyo. I have some friends over there who’ll be glad to take us in.” Alex nodded assuredly.

“How are we going to get there?” Amora asked. The two girls were worried out of their minds, as was everyone else that was still conscious.

“We… We’ll have to walk…” Alex didn’t appreciate her own answer, but there wasn’t a better one. “The van’s too known, and our faces are probably on every screen in the district.”

“Alright. How far is it?” Taro asked, trying to calm his worried mind down through reason.

“It’ll take some time. At the slowest… We’ll probably get there in a day.” Alex nodded towards the quiet end of the alleyway, jogging down into the next.

The kids followed, letting Alex’s estimation soak into their minds.

“We’ll be on the run… For a day? Probably more than a day when you factor in the times we might have to stop to avoid detection…” Akilah’s mind began to run on overdrive, thinking of all the ways this could go wrong.

The group jogged down alleyway after alleyway, eventually making it out of the main strip of the shopping district.

Their hearts were able to take a slight breather, even if it was just the tiniest amount. The amount of Correctional Forces cars and helicopters began to dissipate as they got further and further from the central strip that the compound rested relatively close to.

Vida looked down at her hands as the group slowed their pace to catch their breath.

“Why are they still shaking…?” Vida asked herself. She looked at the steel strings Hendrix had wrapped himself in.

The face that Hendrix made in response to her question back at the compound rang through Vida’s head.

“I don’t care if I die trying!” Hendrix’s words echoed through her head as well.

She remembers what their dreams were when they first got to the compound.

“We’re supposed to enjoy the world we create… The world after all of this evil goes away… All of us together… You can’t die trying…” Vida crossed her arms, balling her fists up.

She had never felt such confusing feelings. Vida’s anger towards Hendrix’s words ate away at her, but the deep sadness did as well. Fear peppered her already spiraling thoughts, making a concoction of emotions that made Vida physically sick.

Amora looked over to find Vida slightly hunched over, her dreadlocks blocking her face as they drooped down.

As Vida began to unknowingly slow her pace, Amora slowed with her.

“Vida…?” Amora muttered softly, trying to get her attention while also getting her out of her own head.

Vida looked to Amora. She had tears flowing from her eyes. This was the most distraught Amora had seen Vida.

“What… What’s wrong?!” Amora tried to contain her shock.

“Do you think one of us will… Die?” Vida’s question seemed to come out of the blue, but she continued.

“I remember the times when I was scared for Hendrix. In that street fight… On the tower… But it never caught my mind that I could’ve lost him forever… The people we’re going up against are so strong…” Vida rubbed her face, her muscles tired from trying to hold in her tears.

“They have the advantage in numbers… We’re just some kids who got lucky… Are we all gonna die?!” Vida’s eyes widened as she focused her gaze back on the ground.

Amora went silent. She hadn’t fully thought through the consequences of going against a government either. She opened her mouth, but not a single word escaped it.

“What if Chase dies… What if Vida dies… What if… I die?” Amora’s head started racing. She tried to stay calm, in order to help her friend through the same dilemma, but ultimately failed.

Vida didn’t know that she was talking loud enough for the rest of the kids to hear. Alex, still carrying Bloom on her back, was leading the way, so she wasn’t able to catch Vida’s questions.

Amora opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by a voice from up front.

“We might. All of us, some of us, none of us, I don’t know. Milo… Milo was the type of guy to think everything through. There was no way he didn’t think of every possible outcome… And that motherfucker still died…” Taro talked without turning towards the girls. Kai and Chase, who were still carrying Hendrix with Taro, remained silent. Nobody could see the expression on Taro’s face as he spoke.

Vida moved her hands to cover her face, while Amora’s wide eyed expression showed how much her mind was racing.

Chase nodded to Kai, who nodded back to him. He let go of Hendrix, walking towards the back of the group, towards Amora.

Chase grabbed Amora by the sides of her arms, both of them stopping their slow walk.

“Amora, I’ll never leave you behind, mark my words. I’ll be your hero, everyone’s hero. I’ll make sure no one dies. Please believe me…” Chase looked into Amora’s eyes as she let out a deep sigh.

“Even though he doesn’t know how the future will turn out, he still makes me promises. It helps me, in Chase’s own way.” Amora into Chase’s eyes.

“Thanks…” Amora couldn’t muster a smile. Chase nodded, returning to carry the unconscious Hendrix.

Vida wished that she could talk to Hendrix right now. She wished that he would take back those words he yelled at the Advisor, that he would make her a new promise.

“Stupid… You don’t know if keeping that promise is even possible…” Taro muttered to Chase, just quiet enough for only the three boys to hear.

“I…” Chase fell into silence before continuing. “I’ll just have to give it my all. In all the movies I’ve watched, I’ve learned one thing: The hero always tries their best, that’s all I’ve gotta do. My promise made her feel better right now, and I can try my best-” Chase was interrupted.

“And it’ll make her feel even worse when you die. Life isn’t a fucking movie.” Taro controlled his anger, trying to keep his words quiet. The two boys fell silent.

Bloom looked up from Alex’s shoulder for the first time in a while. She had slowly regained some of her energy, just enough for her head to stop spinning.

“The halfway hideout is up here on the left.” Bloom muttered weakly.

“I know. Rest, babe.” Alex smiled back at Bloom, who put her head back down on Alex’s shoulder.

The sun, which was rising when their run began, was starting to set. They had been walking for over twelve hours. None of the children had comprehended how enormous the District of Columbia could be.

The group walked through quiet streets towards a tiny shop that looked quite abandoned.

As they walked up to the shop, the kids started to question what they were in for.

“Can you stand on your own?” Alex asked Bloom. She nodded in return as Alex let her down.

Alex took a keychain out of her pocket, trying each key against the door, trying to find the right one.

“What is this place?” Akilah asked, looking over Alex’s shoulder to see inside.

“Back when Jaden and Sie- I mean Mr. and Mrs. Frewin were young, they worked here part time for an old man to help out the compound. They tried to hide the fact that they were rebels, but when the truth finally came out, the old man who owned the shop was thrilled. He had a basement just in case he had to hide out, so he gave the keys to the shop to us just in case we had to flee the compound.” Alex finally found the right key, opening the door as the group followed in.

“Where’s the old man?” Kai asked, looking around the empty room.

“He died a while ago. You guys were probably still in diapers.” Alex chuckled to herself, trying to keep her mood up in spite of their situation.

The room was filled with empty shelves. Some of them were toppled over while others still held their position, carrying one or two pieces of miscellaneous machinery on them.

Alex locked the door behind them, guiding them down to the basement.

The group saw red and blue lights pass by right as the last of them got into the basement. They let out a collective sigh.

The basement didn’t look as old as the kids thought it would be. After all, it was better than their expectations of camping out behind a building somewhere.

The basement had sleeping bags, canned goods, and a working light. Besides that, it was empty yet clean. The smell of dust still invaded their noses, however. There was no doubt that this place had been waiting for them for as long as they were alive.

“Kids, just rest. Tomorrow we’ll try to make it to the airport. Once Bloom is back to her usual self we’ll be able to make it onto a plane.” Alex sat down against a wall as the kids got comfortable.

The boys put Hendrix down near a corner of the room. Vida decided to sit down next to it.

The teens slowly got settled into their respective sleeping bags, with everyone being able to get to sleep in the next five minutes. They were all exhausted.

As the dead of night came to consume the sky, the kids collectively fell fast asleep.

They were able to get their minds off of the situation they were in, even if it was just while they were asleep.

At about one AM, the quiet of the basement was interrupted.

Vida, who was sleeping directly to the left of Hendrix’s steel sarcophagus awoke to a deep rumbling.

She looked to her right to see the strings shaking, like Hendrix was rocking his stringed structure from inside.

“Hendrix?!” Vida called out to the boy inside. The rumbling grew harsher, the steel vibrating like a muffled growl. Vida’s fingers burned as she clawed at the strings.

“LET ME OUT!” Hendrix screamed from inside. His voice screamed in frightful terror.

“HENDRIX!” Vida tried to pry apart the strings with her fingers.

The steel coffin wouldn’t open for anyone.