The Visionaries

21

At some point, Six woke up.

"Get up." the guard said. He rubbed his eyes.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Get up!" He kicked her in the ribs. Message received. He got up and followed him to a door. He opens it and walks away. There were guards everywhere and a few towers with machine guns on them. He saw them. His friends. All bruised, cut, burned, and injured.

"Guys!" He ran to them. Dany hugged him, starting to sob. Bree joined the hug, then Norrin, and then Aaron.

"I'm glad you're alive," he said. "I was worried about you guys."

"Us too." Bree said.

"Anyone heard of Alma, Six?" Norrin asked.

"He was in my cell beside me but I haven't heard anything from her." Six said. "Also I found out my real name. It's Duane."

"How'd you find that out?" Bree asked.

"Well, my mom talked to me in the ancestral lands." Six said. "And she told me that. She also told me to be strong."

"Aww, that's nice. What do you want us to call you now? Six or Duane?" Aaron asked.

"Duane." he said. "That is my name after all."

"Fair enough." Dany said. The doors opened and then was Alma in grey scrubs like the rest of them escorted by two guards.

"Alma!" Dany ran to her. They hugged and started to cry, stroking each other's hair. The others ran to them. They all came in for a big group hug. They slowly let go as Alma wiped her face. She smiled and stared directly at him.

"Six." she said, tears in her eyes.

"Alma." he said. The group parted to the side and they hugged. He hugged her tightly and she placed her head on his chest.

"I missed you." he said.

"I missed you too." she said. She let go and grabbed his hand. "I was worried about you all." She turned to see their friends.

"We were too, girlie." Bree smiled.

"I have something to tell you." Alma said. She looked down on the floor. She had tears in her eyes and her lower lip was pursed.

"What is it, hun?" Bree said.

"Michael could be my father."

Everyone's mouths dropped to the floor.

"Hold the phone, what?" Bree's eyes widened.

"Does that mean Lana-" Aaron said.

"Yeah, it does. She was married to him."

"Why?" Norrin asked.

"She didn't know until after they got married. He was good at lying, I guess." Alma says.

"And so was Lana. Even if I can see why she didn't tell you right off the bat." Bree said.

"Yeah, imagine telling your five year old, 'Hey, honey. Your dad is an evil white surpremacist who wants all of us dead.'' Norrin said.

"I'm sorry." Aaron said. "I know this has to be fucking you up majorly."

"It's nothing. How are you faring with what happened with your tribe by the way?" Alma asked.

"I'm a bit better." Aaron said. "Before we got attacked back at HQ, the other O'odams and I thought about trying to restart our tribe. Start fresh."

"That's good." Alma said.

"We'll give you guys a second." Norrin said.

They left them to go to the other side of the yard. Alma hugged Duane. He hugged her back, gently swaying with her in his arms.

"I heard about what happened with Michael before you said anything." he told her.

"Did you?" Alma said.

"I did. I'm sorry. So do you think that they'll test you against him?" he asked.

"I think so. He said he'd kill all of us if it was negative." Alma said, exhausted.

"Well, he'll probably kill our friends. Knowing Michael, he probably has something planned for both of us."

"Well, that's something I definitely wanted to hear." Alma sighed. "I"m worried about our friends more than I am worried about myself."

"I know. So am I. Especially for you." Duane cupped his hands on her face. 

"I feel the same way." Alma gave him a half-hearted smile. "What do you think will happen to us?" 

"I don't know. I figure that is something we'll have to wait for." 

He sighed. He felt fear and anguish for whatever the future would hold for them. 

"I love you."

"I love you too." she said, standing on her tippy toes to give him a kiss on the cheek. He smiled at her. The pink in her hair was fading into a rose gold and her roots were growing in. She had beautiful brown eyes, a beautiful chestnut color with tiny specks of black in them. She cradled his face.

"Time is up!" a guard exclaimed. They roughly grabbed the others and cuffed them.

"I love you." he said, smiling at her, as they dragged him away.

"I love you too." she said as they took him in a different direction. They half-dragged, half-carried him into his cell. They threw him into a cell. He heard his shoulder snap out of place. Fuck. That hurt but it would probably heal whenever he snapped it into place. He saw the crack into the wall. It was the same cell. The guards walked away and he scooted to the wall.

"Alma?" he asked.

"I'm here. Are you okay?" she asked.

"I am. And you?" he asked.

"Yeah, they drew blood from me earlier. I guess he's trying to do it as soon as possible."

"That's...news, I guess. Alma?"

"Yeah?"

"If we ever get out of this mess alive, what would you want to do?"

"Hmmm, go back home. Start a farm. Get some chickens. Also see my family. Hug them. Tell them I missed them and that I never wanted to leave them. What about you?"

"I think I want to find out what happened to my family. But I don't know if that'll happen."

"I'm sure you'll find something. Nazis sure love keeping track of everyone and everything."

"You think so?"

"Yeah, I do."

Duane sighed. He hoped he could at least find a grave site for them. And figure out what tribe he was.