Demolished

Kael: Chapter 4

KAEL CHAPTER 4

My mother looked down at me, her hair pulled back into a bun. She tucked some of the loose brown strands behind her ear as she leaned over me to insert a thermometer into my mouth. I was five years old, and I'd come down with the sickness. Her eyebrows drew together in concern as she looked at the thermometer in her hand.

"I'm okay, mommy." I rasped, my voice shallow. My throat burned but as long as she was there I'd be okay. "Listen to me, dear. I'm going to get some medicine, alright? I'll be right back. You stay put, okay honey?" She asked. Her eyes had tears in them and she bit her lip.

"Don't go away mommy!" I cried, my own tears feeling cold against my scalding skin.

"Shh. I'll be just a minute and then I'll be back. You need medicine." she whispered. Don't go! I pleaded in my head, but it was too late. I heard her screams and smelled her blood as men stormed into our tiny hut. A guy with greasy red hair pulled me off my bed. I screamed for my mother, and watched as they yanked her by her hair and held a knife to her chest. "I love you, Kaellen." she whispered as they sunk the blade deep into her throat. I yelled and pounded my small fists into the shoulder of the guy holding me.

I woke up in a sweat, tears racing down my cheeks. "Mom." I whispered into the dark room. It was that dream again. I still remembered that night like it was yesterday. The thugs breaking in and killing her, leaving me crying in my bed, not able to move for fear they'd come back for me. Then the group of dusty red-clad guys walking in hours later and taking me to a place with medicine and good food. I take a shaky breath and swing my legs off the edge of my bed. My heart's still pounding in my chest as I grab my water bottle off the nightstand. There is no way I can sleep anymore tonight, so I dress in my dark clothes and slip down the stairs and begin to walk. I don't really care where I go. I just want that disturbing dream out of my head. My steps lead me into the back halls in the other building where I'd been given the serum that caused the nightmares. A bright door with the familiar dark symbol. The Siosa's medical ward. I notice that it is cracked open, and a sliver of yellow light lay across the hall floor. I can faintly hear someone's voice. I creep closer to hear what they are saying

"... and the chosen recruits?" a feminine voice asked.

"They'll be given the first set of injections tomorrow." A man's voice drawled.

"Yeah. Then we'll test their ability to withstand radioactivity by having them go outside. It'll all be like a fun science experiment, just like with Torres when he was a kid." I cringed at Rodriguez's loud sneering voice. 'A science experiment'. That's what they thought of us. Specimens to be observed. My lip lifted in disgust. This couldn't happen to my recruits too, I thought desperately. Whoever they'd chosen, they couldn't go through what they'd put me through. But maybe if they did go through the first set of injections they'd be able to leave NORAD and find others to help them. I didn't agree with what the Sosia leaders had done- destroying America wasn't going to 'fight government' very effectively, but I'd had no choice but to go along with it, the other option the death of myself and all of the Insurrectionists that I'd grown up with. So maybe after this group has had the first set of serums I can leave with them and disappear into Mexico or somewhere. I hated being stuck here, being told what to do. The first set serums let me survive radioactivity for about two weeks. I didn't know if the nightmares happened after the first or second set of injections. Maybe it was the second. I crept back to my room and mulled through a plan to escape NORAD. If we all were let outside the heavy doors, we could just walk off. They don't have many, if any others that could be safely exposed to the radiation level that had recently topped 20,000 mSv. That was one of the highest radiation levels ever read in the world. It could work to my advantage, however, even with the first injections the others wouldn't be able to stand it for longer than a week. A problem that I would have was that hundreds of Siosa soldiers were given a special strain of the serum that only blocked them from radiation and they should be swarming the Mexican border, killing all survivors of our blast. That's why I'd need some others to help me. I still didn't want to have anyone else endure the injections, but I told myself that this was the only way. The only way to escape Siosa.

At 0400 hours, I was taking out the last bit of my anger on a dummy, punching and jabbing, my body going through the well-known routine, when Rodriguez walked in. The last person I wanted to see, I thought sourly, sending a too-hard punch into the dummy's stomach. It fell on the padded floor, dust rising around it.

"Not in a good mood, eh, Torres?" he snickered, sauntering in. "We've got some things to plan. I've chosen two recruits to undergo the injections. Everyone will be tested, but instead of actually choosing based on the tests, we'll choose beforehand." He must have seen the confusion cross my face, because he added "You know. Didn't I tell you that we needed to choose the top four recruits to be given the injections? I might've forgotten, oopsies." He laughed his scratching laugh. We were supposed to choose the recruits? I thought they were all supposed have an equal chance, but apparently this was another trick of the army.

"No, I didn't know." I replied, my voice sounding irritated as pulling the dummy off of the floor.

"Ah, well, I guess since you didn't know, I've already picked all four of them. Not a big deal, really." His voice was dripping in sarcasm, knowing that there was nothing I could do. He was a rank higher than me- my new commander. My lips tightened into a straight line. "Who'd you choose?" I asked, punching the now-upright dummy again.

"Gerard. Alex. Jessica. And Tella. She'll undergo the full serum. All four of the injections at once. I think she is stronger than the rest and has shown the most dedication to practice and work. So, as I knew it was okay with you, I've already had everything prepared for them. Don't be late, because you're helping with the first injections. Oh, and you'll check on them after, of course."

"Wait. It won't like... hurt the recruit to have all of them at once or anything, right? It won't damage her?" I asked, remembering how bad they were even spread out between four weeks.

"Who knows? And who really cares anyway? I know I don't. She lives, yay, she doesn't, oh well." Rodriguez rolled his eyes and walked toward the door. Why did I care anyway? Ever since I was young, I'd been taught that being attached to others made you weak. I was also taught not to ask questions, so I turned back to my dummy, trying new combinations with my feet, elbows and fists.