Step Two

Rei silently led us through the gates halls as alarms rang out around us. They’d completely closed the border off, metal barriers completely covering the road to freedom.

Nari pushed my wheelchair along without a word; Not that I blamed her. Just one look at her expression was all it took to see how she was feeling - scared in these alarm filled hallways.

Not a soldier was in sight as we went along.

“What went wrong with Bravo?” I finally worked up the courage to whisper.

Rei scoffed at himself. “Fucking traffic. I kid you not.”

I couldn't help but laugh. All this careful planning, only for the plan to get thrown on its side because of traffic? Something so mundane was really the cause.

“Your guess is as good as mine on when they’ll actually get here. Not much in the way of reception around these parts.”

Great, so we were pretty much relying on that serial killer. Actually, Rei said the western flank was taken care of, and the serial killer just happened to attack right where we needed her to. It couldn't be…

“Rei, who's the third team?”

“Team Gamma? Well, that should be obvious now.”

“But how? She's this superhuman serial killer that even Fides can't catch! And what, you just have her on call?”

“She's… a friend.”

“That really clears it up.” I rolled my eyes. Knowing Rei, that would be about all he would say on the matter.

We walked along the halls, slowly picking up the pace. Faster and faster we went as Rei’s expression got worse.

“Here we are.” Rei pushed open a bolted metal door to the left of us. “Thank god, it's still there.”

Inside the door was a ginormous storage center, filled with wooden crates on either side. Guns, food, clothes, everything was labeled to a tee.

But that wasn't what interested Rei. Rather, it was the supply truck that quietly lay in the center of the room, and the garage that accompanied it.

“Everyone but Kono, hop on. I'll need you to run a check on the engine.”

“Easy as pie!” Kono grinned and hopped down towards the truck.

The suspension rumbled as we hopped in the trunk. Hay tickled my arms as I grabbed onto the truck bed.

“Ready to go?” Nari grabbed my arms and counted down. “Three, two, one!”

With all the strength she could muster, she lifted my arms in the air. My back left the familiar chair, yet it just wasn't enough. No matter how much Nari struggled, she just couldn't get me up onto the bed.

“Fuck, let me give it another shot.”

“Nari, let's just wait for Kono, ok? Neither of us has the strength to get me up there.”

“But…” She sighed. “You're right. Better to be safe than sorry.” With Rei and Kono under the truck, and Rei’s soldier somewhere I couldn't see, we didn't have a ton of options.

“So, South Korea.” Nari paused for a second. I got the memo, we were heading to another country! One completely separated from everything we knew. Sure Fides was te- terrible, but it was the world we knew.

“A world without Fides’s rule, you gotta wonder what it's like.”

“Can’t be any worse than here.” Nari grinned slightly as she met my eyes.

“Can it? Those rumors of life before didn’t come from nowhere, Nari. Sure Fides may have had a hand in spreading them, but something can't be created from nothing. The best lies have a sprinkle of truth within.”

“You think I know? I may have thought Fides to be bullshit, but betraying them was beyond my wildest dream. I’m miss neutral, and always have been.”

“But why Nari? Ever since Kono took us in, you've been hesitant to pick a side.”

“It’s just always benefited me since I can remember. My parents were split, you know, one on each side of the Fides debate. It didn't help that once they separated my dad decided to hop in with the resistance.

It was their loyalty that got them killed in the end. Both died in the exact same accident, independently of each other. It's still unknown what exactly caused the accident, but it was clear to me - picking a side in this endless war gets you killed.”

“Fuck, I never knew.” How had I never realized? I’d talked a bit about the few memories I had of my parents, nothing major. But I’d never asked Nari. I’d just gone alone this whole time without a care in the world.

“It’s ok. I hid it for a reason but well, if this goes south there may not be another time to mention it.”

“It won't. We just have to trust Rei.”

She glanced over in his direction. “I hope we can.”

“BOOM” The base rattled with the force of a nuclear bomb.

“Guess they're finally here!” Rei grinned as he appeared from under the truck. “Give them hell boys!”

“Took long enough bro.” Kono slowly made his way toward us. “Truck looks good to go!”

“Commander!” Rei’s soldier rushed in from the hall. “Huge squadron coming this way.”

“Fuck. Everyone, get on!” Rei tossed open the door and plopped himself in the driver's seat. It wasn't long until everyone was good to go, everyone but me that is.

“Kono, need some help over here.”

“Was wondering why you weren't up there kid. Gonna get Nari on some drills in Korea.”

“Oh god no.”

Kono dashed over towards my chair, just as the worse case scenario came to fruition.

“Surrender or die!” Fides soldiers poured into the room, guns raised.

The truck roared to life, rubber burning against the floor. It blasted towards the exit; just as my wheels rolled back and I fell onto the garage’s floor.