The alarm pounds my ears, forcing me to get up.
8:00
Friday, November 4th.
Today is the day, the day we show the Republic who we really are. The last three days have been jammed full of final preperations, we have all the troops and the gear needed. I go to my closet and throw on my battle clothes, a light pair of jeans and a ragged shirt. I grab my old jacket and throw it on, I feel the bullets and note against my chest.
I go to my nightstand and grab my pistol, I slide it inside the other pocket inside my jacket. I put on my shoes, and check the room one last time for anything that I may want to bring. I find nothing, I open the door for the last time, I look back into the room.
Go time.
I go down the elevator, I see Chloe in the front office, she was waiting for me.
"Good morning James." Chloe says
"Good evening Chloe." I jokingly say
We walk out to her car, we get in and go.
"I see you have your jacket." Chloe says
"I can't leave it behind, this jacket has some history behind it." I say
We make it to the hangar, it looks as if we're the last people there, we get out and see Eric.
"There are the stragglers, welcome guys." He says, "So we have ten helicopters, twenty in one chopper. Five of them will go to the east entrance, the other five will to to the west entrance."
He goes to one of the trucks and opens the back doors, "These are your specialized helmets. The radio has already been calibrated, there's a drop down visor that lets you see in infrared, it picks up heat signals." He throws them out to us, someone hands me one.
"Remember, we're not going to absolutely decimate the place, we're going in, taking down the gate security, and hopefully quietly make our way through the capital." Eric grabs a small device, he presses a button, and it displays a 3d map of the capital, "Team captains, you'll be given one of these, this displays the capital in real-time, thanks to Lucinda who designed the whole thing."
I see Chloe walk up and grab one of the devices.
"There is a list over by the door that shows who's in who's team. And if that's all then let's get going. Good luck all, be safe." Eric says
I walk over to the crowded list.
Chloe Evergreen
James Delgado
Noah Reinhardt
Wyatt Hanes
Lucinda Davies
The list goes on for five more people of whom I don't know. I walk over to Chloe, "Congrats, you were picked into the elite team."
We all huddle around Chloe, "Welcome everyone, you were all handpicked by me to be apart of this elite team. We are the front line on the western division of the capital. We have specialized equipment that Lucinda and her team built to not only protect us, but to warn us of eminent danger. Our assignment is to clear the way for everyone else to follow, if we are successful we will be the first team to reach the capitol building. There's a whole lot of danger, but I thought you guys could handle it. You all have a specific skill set that you'll be forced to use in some sort of way, don't fail me guys." We climb into the helicopter, I put my helmet on. They hand me a tactical vest, and a rifle. I'm all suited up to fight.
"We're going to need you in the gunner seat." The pilot asks me.
I go to the seat and sit down, not expecting any action.
"James, Noah, if you hear any sort of siren, you're weapons will be activated. You're going to need to locate the target, and take it down, that's if something happens." The pilot says over the radio.
The helicopter blades begin to rotate, the leaves kick up around us, and soon enough we're leaving the ground. We make it past the hangar roof, I see the rising sun in the distance.
"Beautiful sunrise." Chloe says
The alarm pierces my ears and wakes me up, the machine gun lifts up, ready to fire. I position the gun, and the seat moves with it, it's a rotatable gunner seat, neat.
"We got jets on your side James." The pilot says.
I look to my right, I see at least two jets and a helicopter rapidly approaching us. I position the gun toward them, and open fire. I watch them pierce the jet, he eventually pulls out of the fight. The helicopter returns fire, but the bullets stop just feet in front of me.
"New shielding technology, like it?" Lucinda asks
I continue to rain bullets on the enemy chopper, I land one on the pilot, the helicopter has gotten so close I can see his reaction, he grasps his arm.
I look to the blade engines, I begin shooting them out, the whole helicopter turns into a ball of smoke, it too eventually leaves in fear of losing their lives.
"Good job James."
The flight passes us through what Chloe tells me was St. Louis, the large arch is what told her we were there.
"The arch was a symbol for the gateway to the west. Back then, the west wasn't California, it was a lot farther east. However, it still stands as a representation of exploration and our morals. Well at least it used to." Chloe says
"How do you know all this?" I ask her
"I read old history books in my free time. It's just almost surreal that we're doing something that America did four hundred-plus years ago, fighting for our independence." She says
"Interesting." I say
"There's so much history in four hundred years, the sad part is that history fourty, fifty, years ago isn't so great. We used to stand for what's right instead of what's convenient." She says
"Sorry if I'm interrupting your history lesson, but we're about one mile of the landing zone." The pilot says
I look up and see the large capital out in the distance, we decided to not land at the gates, because we would be attacked before we even would land. The acres of forestry below us begins to get closer to my feet. Eventually we stop moving and begin landing.
We land on the grass below us, trees surround us in every direction, but I can still make out the large buildings in the distance. I climb out of the gunner seat and jump onto the ground, everyone breaks into their teams. Lucinda hands us all a small device, "These clip onto the front of your helmet, just lay it down, and it will find its position. This device has a constant tracker, and if it does find a bullet, it will shoot it down. We found it more efficient to do this instead of having a constant shield around you."
She hands Chloe the GPS, "I assume you know how to use this, correct?" She asks
"Yeah, you taught me how to use it." Chloe says
I'm handed one of the small devices, I lay it on my helmet, I feel it slide around my helmet and lock into place.
"Basically how the thing works is that it senses the enemies bullets, I've programmed it to recognize our bullets as opposed to their rounds." Lucinda says
"We're going to all camp out here tonight, then make our way to the gates tomorrow morning. If we're lucky, we'll just have to scale the fence, usually no one is guarding in the morning." Chloe says
I'm given a small backpack, I look inside, looks to be freeze-dried food, water, a blanket, and some emergency magazines. I see Chloe a little ways out, she's laying her stuff down.
It's probably 7:00 p.m. by now, I think we're getting up early, so I lay my blanket close to hers. Everyone seems to be going to sleep, I lay my blanket down, and use my backpack as a pillow.
"Goodnight James." I hear Chloe mumble, she's so ready to sleep.
"You seem to be going to bed quite early." I say
"Shut up James." She mumbles and chuckles.
YOU ARE READING
Phoenix (Part 2 of the 2 Part Malevolent Series)
ActionThe rebellion has grown to national attention, the government knows the threat at hand, and will do anything in its power to destroy it. Rebellion comes at costs, including friendships and losses. James and the rest of the rebellion continue to pus...
