Refracted

- - 54 - -

Erupting from its chest, the electric blue flame shorted the VISOR's circuit. It collapsed onto the floor. Dead. As dead as a machine could get anyway.

Synchronised, the other VISORs all turned their heads to us. The rest of the group was beside me now and they loaded their own guns. Simultaneously, we aimed and fired taking down three more VISORs. There was still no predicting how many there were left.

Below us, I watched as the crowd surged forward whilst still focusing on my own targets. I felt my energy returning as the atmosphere became saturated with excitement and intense fury. The exploding noise of bullets and weapons drowned out the whirring of the VISORs so I had to rely on my sight to find them.

Within minutes, I had emptied my round of bullets and was searching through my pack to find some more. Once I had done so, I loaded my gun for the third time and began shooting again.

People were intertwined with robots and aiming became much harder. Some civilians were armed with their own guns whilst others had random weapons such as crowbars and baseball bats. Anything that could dent a VISOR and stop it from functioning.

Then the battle became bloodier as people began to fall from our side. My heart dropped as I saw one girl resembling Harleen but I realised that her skin was too light and moved on. Yet the worry had been planted and had to fight my own battle just to focus. All the time, my mind conjured up the worst images and outcomes while I tried with extreme care to take out VISORs.

VISORs were killed sporadically but the sense of victory quickly diminished when its place was only taken up by another. More robots flooded in from streets until they surrounded the warehouse.

"I'm running low on bullets!" Sofia shouted over the commotion. "Anyone got anything to spare?"

The boy to the side of me checked his own pack. "Nothing. I'm running low too!"

I checked my own pack only to grasp at empty space. The bullets currently loaded were the last ones I had and then we would be stuck up here. Everyone was in the same situation and soon we would be trapped...

"We need to get down off here!" I yelled.

"Okay, let's do it. I'll lead to the bottom and Verity take up the rear!"

We left the roof and began running down the stairs. The stairwell was almost silent, just the violence outside could be heard. I imagined the boy that had helped us before cowering in his dad's arm, wondering if his other dad would make it home. I wondered if any of the rebels would make it home to their own families. Some definitely wouldn't.

Unending guilt filled me. After all, it was I who had convinced them on the broadcast to fight. It was I who persuaded them to give up their lives for a cause that could end up pointless.

"Don't give up!" Sofia shouted through the stairwell. "It's not over yet!"

The guilt didn't dissipate but I found some more strength. We wouldn't let the fallen rebels' sacrifice be in vain. We would still fight. I would still fight.

Still doubtful but prepared, I braced myself as we reached the bottom of the stairwell and were thrust into the chaos. Sofia and the other two were instantly whisked away and I was left to defend myself. Using the last of my electric bullets, I took out two more VISORs before having to resort to ordinary bullets.

These bullets exited my gun much faster and the accumulated damage to the VISORs was devastating. Fortunately, these bullets didn't require much aiming and I just fired the second I spotted the enemy.

It was impossible to tell who was winning the battle but it seemed as though we were steadily gaining more control. Gradually, we expanded our ground and we gained our own space to defend. I found myself on the edge of the circle that we had conquered with the warehouse directly behind me. Beside me, two more people with machine guns kept up a continued spray directed at the VISORs which prevented them coming any closer to us.

Deciding that it was safe, the demolitions team made their way from the cover of nearby building to the entrance of the warehouse doors where they began working on them. The security system was way too technological for us to hack with a closed network to eradicate the chance of us forcing them open. Plus the manual override located inside. Getting in was the problem, not getting out. I heard the hiss of a laser as they began cutting through the thick metal that created the outer layer to the blast doors.

Yet my attention was quickly regained by the VISORs as another wave of them appeared at the end of the street.

"We need you to keep holding them off!" Rachel commanded.

Relief flooded through me at her voice but I still felt nervous at the absence of Harleen. I hoped to Terra that she was okay as I started up another round of gunfire.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

I used the senseless noise as something to focus on so to coerce away the intrusive thoughts. With every blow, my hearing got more damaged but that was a little price to pay if we succeeded.

The work on the doors made some progress as time rushed by and wave after wave of VISORs advanced. Finally, we organised a switch out as more people went out in front of us to expand our radius. Relieved, I released the trigger and gave my aching fingers a rest. Lowering my gun I turned to head towards one of the buildings we had set up as a headquarters. This building was empty and yet I couldn't shake the feeling that came whenever I thought about that boy in the apartment.

Once inside the building, I was given multiple new clips of bullets, both electrical and ordinary to use when the battle resumed. However, I desperately wished that I wouldn't be fighting anymore today. Then I was directed towards a room on the floor above where I could shower and rest before I was needed again.

Surprisingly, the elevator was functional as I rose to the floor with my assigned room and I pictured what this building would have looked like just 24 hours ago. The exterior wouldn't be covered in bullet holes and normal families would be sitting down for a meal or sleeping right about now. In other cities, that would be exactly what was happening. We were just a small part of an extraordinarily large planet. We were insignificant and yet this revolution felt so great and important.

Stepping out of the elevator, I checked to see what room I was in. It didn't really matter though as I never made it to my room.

A girl walked past me and the elevator doors shut behind her. It took a moment for me to register who it was before I was charging down the stairs to meet her on the ground floor.

"Harleen!" I shouted as she exited it. Surprised, her eyes scoured the room to find me until they finally rested on mine. A smile broke out and I enveloped her in my arms, lifting her in the air.

"I thought something had happened to you!" I whispered.

"What do you mean? I'm fine," she said. "I didn't really think you cared anyway."

That hurt but I honestly deserved it.

"I'm so, so sorry," I replied. "Everything just felt hopeless and I hated how vulnerable I felt. I don't know what I would have done if something had happened to you."

She opened her mouth to reply but no words came out as a sudden uproar started.

"We're in!" Someone yelled.

On cue, a great creaking of metal deafened us all as the dust cloud created from the movement settled. A great gaping hole was left where a door had once been, leading into the warehouse.

"Shall we go see?" I asked her.

"I'd rather not," she confessed.

"I'll be back then," I promised. "Don't go."

She nodded and I made my way towards the warehouse, picking up my gun on the way. Finger on the trigger, I followed Rachel in with a few others behind me.

Apprehensive, we walked further and deeper into the warehouse, unsure of what we could expect to find. Someone found a light switch and the gloom illuminated to reveal an empty warehouse.

Empty.

Something was wrong.