The Visionaries

31

Duane looked around the room. It was clearly a reception area. The TV screens turned on. There were two women, gagged and bound together. It was Lana and Charlie.

"Charlie!" Duane yelled.

"Mom!" Alma exclaimed.

"Hello, Duane and Alma." he said. "I have your mother and sister here. You think you could beat me? Be the heroes of your own story? Have it all?" He grabbed Lana's face and turned it to the camera. "It would be such a shame for her to go out without seeing her grandchild."

Lana looked horrified.

"Alma, don't do it! Please save yourself and the baby!" she pleaded.

"Leave her alone!" Alma's fists clenched.

"And it would be a shame for this lovely little girl to go out without seeing her first nephew or niece." he grabbed Charlie's face.

"Leave my sister alone, you bastard!" Duane said.

Michael smiled and moved closer to the camera.

"I want you to meet me at the penthouse. Just you two. No one else." he said. "Or they die."

Duane looked at Alma and the rest of their friends.

"It's okay. We understand." Bree said. "We'll help you get to the floor."

"Thank you." Duane said. His muscles stiffen and he was having a hard time breathing.

"Calm down." Dany put her hand on his shoulder. "You two got this."

Duane looked at Alma. She nodded.

"Guess we'll see who gets to the penthouse first." she had a smile on her face. Duane smiled back at her.

"Let's do this." He said. Aaron hugged both of them. Dany hugged her sister and patted Duane's shoulder. Bree prayed to Creator for their safety and the safety of Charlie and Lana. Norrin hugged them.

"Be safe." They said in tears. Alma gave them an extra hug.

"Kick a lot of white people's ass for me, okay?" Alma said. The guards arrived. Norrin broke water pipes. Aaron removed said pipes from the walls. Bree smiled and air swirled around her hand. Dany had purple energy swirls on her fists.

They went to the stairs. They had to stop at the fifth floor. He wasn't tired but he knew Alma was. They entered the fifth floor. It was chaos. There was people ganging up on guards, beating them with mops and rifles. The staircase was at the end of the hall.

The guards saw them. Alma looked at the plants. She nodded at Duane. He instantly sent flames into the guards who were screaming. They ran past them and into the sixth staircase. They kept running until they reached the tenth floor. They saw guards dead in horrific ways and people bloodied. There were medics treating wounded.

Duane's father was tying a tourniquet on a woman's leg.

"Duane!" He said, hugging him.

"Dad!" He said. "You know about.."

Patrick broke down. Duane wanted to cry.

"I know. He separated us this morning. I didn't know what he was doing but I had a feeling he had a backup plan if you sabotaged your own execution." He said.

"We're going to get her back, Dad. I promise." Duane said.

Patrick nodded. "Well, soldier." He patted Duane's shoulder. "Seems you have a mission."

Duane chuckled through almost tears. He looked at Alma. "You must be Alma." He said.

"Hi." She said. "This is an awkward way to meet my in law."

Patrick chuckled. "Anyway, here." He handed them two guns. An AK-47 and a gun he couldn't identify. He still didn't fully have his memories and it still annoyed him.

"Fill up with lead for me, will ya?" Patrick said. Duane smiled. "I will. Before we go, what was Mom's name? And what is our tribe?"

"Your mother was Isabel Ruiz. Your mother was Lumbee and Yoreme. I am Lumbee." He said.

Duane smiled at him.

"Thank you." he said.

They continued into the building. They found another elevator and hopped in. Alma had strapped the gun's strap over her shoulder. He stared at her. Her bangs were blonde and her roots were halfway through her bangs. Her face was covered in dirt and blood. So was her clothes and hair. To be hair, he wasn't looking any better himself. That and his own hair was growing longer and covered in blood as well.

It was a cold January morning. There was snow outside of the window and it was cold.

"What's wrong, Duane?" a voice said. He turned around to see his mother.

"Mom, will they ever come back?" he asked.

"Oh, my baby." She hugged him. "I don't know how to explain it to you. The world is a cruel place. Especially for us. But there is beauty in it. There's love in it. Remember that always, my baby."

Duane stared at Alma. She was the beauty and love to his world. And so were their shared friends and their families.

"You ready?" he asked Alma.

"I'm ready." she smiled at him.

The door opened and the penthouse living room was a mess. There was a lamp knocked over and the head was broken. There were pillows with stab marks and blood on a couch. Duane unlocked his gun. Alma turned the light switch on. There was blood smears and bullets everywhere.

"What just happened?" Alma asked.

"Seems like someone didn't want to be held hostage." Duane said.

The sound of glass breaking was heard in the distance. Alma and Duane ran towards the direction of the sound. They found Michael in a room with Lana and Charlie. Charlie was bound to a chair while Lana was attacking Michael with a broken lamp. Alma instantly shot at Michael's leg. He fell down.

"You bitch!" he screamed. He tried to grab a gun laying on the floor when it was thrown out the window by Lana. Lana grabbed the lamp and smashed it into his skull, repeatedly.

"Duane!" Charlie said. He quickly ran to untie her. She hugged her brother.

"Is Dad ok?" she asked.

"He's fine. Just reliving his army days, I imagine." Duane said. "Come on, let's go."

Alma said, "Oh shit." as Michael's hand twitched.