INSOLENCE

CHAPTER 4

I decide to get up. I simply grab a pair of shoes and brush my teeth - they'll provide uniforms, combat boots and other necessities. All I need to bring is myself.

But I obviously need to wear clothes.

I tap tap on Tori's door before entering her room to find her sitting on the floor, thinking. She looks up at me with sad eyes.

"Come here." I say simply, void of emotion. I don't want to seem scared.

I must be brave.

Tori stands and crosses the room to give me one last embrace.

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

I begin to step away, and give her a slight nod. "I'll be back soon; I promise."

A single tear rolls down her cheek. She nods back.

I leave her bedroom and enter my mother's.

She lies on the bed, asleep.

I'm about to wake her to say goodbye when I decide against it - I want her to feel at ease. She needs the rest - I could her hear muffled weeping for quite some time last night.

Instead, I lean forward and kiss her on the forehead. "I love you, mom," I whisper.

I exit my house and begin my journey to the Equity Building, alone.

Well, I take that back. I guess silence is here with me. Something about it is oddly...

Comforting.

* * *

I approach the Equity Building at a gradual pace. My heart is slowly
picking up speed, and the reality of the situation at hand begins to set in. My hand pauses in front of the door handle.

Before I enter, one thing crosses my mind.

Please, I think.  Please let me come home safely for Tori.

An odd sense of peace comes over me, and I open the door.

Inside, I see Blake.

For the first time in as long as I can remember, he's not smiling. His eyes seem to have gotten darker, and he's sitting on a bench against the left wall, running his hands through his blonde hair. He looks up.

"Hi."

I cross the room and sit next to him.

"Hi."

It is only now that I notice everyone else on the bench opposite ours. There's about twenty of us, and it occurs to me that in the other lofts, right now, more teens just like us are sitting, waiting to be whisked away to boot camp.

The same woman from yesterday opens a door at the end of the lobby. "Please, follow me, all of you. I've clarified that everyone's here, so we're going to get you on an aircraft."

Everyone hesitates.

The woman frowns. "Don't be shy - please, just follow me."

Blake stands first, and everyone else follows suit. She leads us down a hallway with several turns before ushering us down a flight of stairs. At the bottom, we round one final corner before she stops and pulls a small device from her pocket.

"Open the aircraft doors - I've got the drafts."

At the end of the hallway, a large garage door begins to lift. It reveals the inside of a good sized aircraft, most likely an Alpha Corporation quad copter.

We look at the woman, and she nods. "Board the aircraft and have a seat. It will take off in just a few moments."

Blake looks at me slowly, and that's when I see a tear escaping his eyes. Several of the other boys are crying, too.

We enter the aircraft and secure ourselves, the garage door shutting. I feel the blades start to spin, and the copter begins to lurch forward and build up speed.

Blake begins to truly sob now, and no one cares. I start to when I think about all that I'm leaving behind, and everyone takes off their brave faces to reveal what we were all feeling.

We say nothing, and silently shake as the tears warm our cold cheeks.

Slowly, our sadness dies down, and it stays quiet.

Even without talking, we've formed a bond. Even without uttering a single word, we've all grown closer together.

We still say nothing as our emotions flatline, and I hope that Tori is doing okay I at school.

I also hope that Valeria is all right.

But I still pray that I will come home okay... I can't bear to leave these people like this.

My only request is that if I die, I'm gone before I feel the pain.

Although, at the moment I wonder if any pain can be worse than the abandonment I'm causing to everyone back in my loft.

But it's not my fault.

I wasn't the one who chose this. The government chose it for me.

Maybe Tori was right.

Maybe they should pay.