by Daniel Evora
Finally, Ben reached the center of the village where most of the Rebels were waiting for the attack. Most of whom were packing away supplies onto vehicles. There wasn’t much to pack first off. A majority of what they were bringing along was more ammo, weapons, and money. He approached one of the men who wasn’t wearing a Rebel outfit, but a fancy suit, with a microphone tucked in his ear and a black painted gun on his waist. His badge read Agent 0021, Hunt. The only one that stood out to the rest of the Rebel troops, with his glasses on, and his jet black, straight hair covered with gel, along with little to no blemishes on his semi pale skin.
“Again, thanks for the help Tom,” Ben explained to the man.
The agent turned to him, “It’s nothing. I can only spare some supplies. Just make sure no one finds out about this. Helping you guys could compromise the Agent's neutrality.”
Suddenly, an alarm went off...on the Agents’ watch. He quickly turned it off and glanced around only to find every Rebel staring at him.
“Sorry about that, looks like I gotta go,” The agent explained. “My partner needs me.”
“Go,” Ben replied. “We’ll be good.”
The agent nodded and started walking towards one of the vehicles. But, there was something else, Ben could feel it in his bones. A faint sound all too familiar. The coil whine of the transports rushing towards their position. His anxiety levels were climbing, as he rushed to the edge of the village to see the transport land about two meters away from them. He zoomed in on the incoming soldiers using his visor. He watched as the Silent Death soldiers slowly marched in an orderly fashion. In a hurry, Ben put down his visors and rushed back to the center of the city, hopping over built cover and raising his voice.
“The enemy is approaching!” Ben shouted out. “Take your positions and prepare for the attack! Remember! We are not to stay! Evacuating as quickly as possible is the number one priority!”
Every Rebel trooper in the area stopped what they were doing and rushed behind cover. Two of which were manning turrets. Everyone else who wasn’t a Rebel was escorted to hide inside a bunker made for weapons. Some of the men left the women and children to assist the Rebel forces, as they joined up behind cover as well while barely raising their rifles over the sandbags to keep watch while still protected.
The marching got louder and louder as they approached closer and closer to the village. Ben could almost hear each and every step. Then, suddenly, the pacing of their march became disjointed. The loud march turned into dozens of Silent Death soldiers rushing towards the base. Ben reached into his vest and grabbed a grenade. But, before pulling the pin he waved his hand to one of the Rebel soldiers with a flare gun in his hand. He pulled the trigger, causing the flare to launch up into the sky as a beam of light. Distracting the Silents, Ben pulled the pin, peeked above his cover and tossed the frag grenade. The blast initiated the men to fire at will while pulling back.from the cover to give them time to get all the townsfolk out of harm's way. But, the Silents rolled through like a tank. One of the turrets already cooked itself from the incoming gunfire. Two casualties within the first ten seconds were already reported. Twenty Rebels, and a couple of men from the village were left standing.
Adrana and I pulled through from behind as their groups split up. She went with Sam Each into twelve moving throughout the village. My rifle was super accurate, as I could take down others from about forty meters away.
“Keep pushing forward!” Sam screamed, as he could hardly overcome the sound of the battle, and gunfire. Adrana then spoke. I could not hear her or read her lips, but after Sam ordered. “Everyone get to cover! Flash blitz, on my command!!”
Each Silent Death trooper held out a flashbang grenade. As we used the Rebels’ cover for our own. Everyone pulled the pin and threw it on command from Sam. Once we threw our flashbangs, the firing stopped. I peeked over cover and suddenly, the percussive, all-to-familiar sound of a smoke grenade. The light grey smoke spread throughout, as we charged into the thin cloud. Each of us treaded carefully through the smoke with the stocks of our rifles going up against our chest and lower right shoulder. Then, moments later, the cloud lifted, revealing the position of every Rebel soldier in the area.
“Round them up!” Sam ordered, as they tried to run from the village. “And search every house!”
Many of the Rebels were trying to sprint towards the desert in a last attempt to avoid any conflict or captivity. Every Silent Death soldier caught at least one trooper trying to escape, and all were disarmed. Some even tried to force the captor to drag them across the concrete floor of the town. Others were trying to fight off their captor.
One of them tried to escape my grasp. He tried to push me off, until I hit him in the groin with the stock of my rifle. The man fell to his knees, and yelled a swear word while wincing. I forced him back up, since he didn’t dare to resist arrest anymore. Once we reached the middle of the village, I tossed him towards the others who were captured.
“That’s all of them,” I informed Sam.
“Are you sure, Nate?” Sam questioned, and he looked around the empty village. Squinting his eyes. “There had to be more who were hiding. Search some more.”
“Alright,” I said, nodding my head once.
Suddenly, as I was busy searching one of the town homes for exploits. All of us could hear one Silent Death soldier shout, “Over here! I think I found something!”
A few of us rushed over to his position to find a hidden bunker covered in sand, and dead leaves. We tossed the leaves away from the site and it revealed the metal handles of the bunker doors. I opened up the bunker as we found every citizen hiding. Some screamed as we forced them to the outside and put them in cuffs. We grouped them together and brought them to the center of the city.
The rest of the Rebel troops were captured and grouped with the citizens and were forced onto their knees. Ben stared at Sam with animosity. The anger and resentment was reciprocated by Sam. Something wasn’t right with Sam. Out of all the years I’ve known he was never this hateful about anything. I was shocked to see him this stoic and angry-like.
“Nate,” Sam said.
“Yeah,” I replied.
“Adrana has told me you have information about a mole in the Silent Death, no?” Sam asked. “She told me he’s among us.”
Ben’s widened eyes stared into my soul as he slightly shook his head. For a small moment I looked back at Ben’s shocked expression, then back at Sam who nodded and compelled me to spill the beans. Waiting for an answer.
“Who is it?” Sam ordered.
I paused for a second, then I slowly raised my finger in between Ben's eyes. He was shocked beyond belief that I would have the guts to snitch. Next thing I know the Silents approach him and drag him away from the other people.
“No..No! Nate, I trusted you--you bastard!” Ben raged trying to get free, as two troopers dragged him across the floor. Sam punched him in his gut, causing him to fall and grunt in pain.
Sam approached Ben and scanned his person, and finally looked at his badge. “Perez, Benardo. The mole. Leave this one alive for interrogation. The rest...you know what to do.”
The men, women, and children all cried in terror as they were lined up among each other. Some of the mothers and fathers grasping onto the smaller hands of their children.
“Fire on my command!” Sam ordered, as we raised our weapons along with the stroke of his hand.
I lined up with the rest of the men and women who took aim at the citizens. I was shaking. My mind was telling me not to do it. But, I had to. It was like I was forcing myself to go along with it.
Sam put the whistle in his mouth and blew it. I had my finger on the trigger and pulled it. I couldn’t bear to see the look on the people’s faces as some were filled with holes, and the corpses were left to bleed out on the floor and die. So, I closed my eyes as I continued to fire until my magazine ran out of ammo. I finally opened them up again only to see the sight of nightmares. Everyone was on the groun
d dead. Some had blood in their hands. One of the children was crying tears of blood, and another was on the brink of death as a trooper ended their life. I put away my weapon, and stared at the damage. Ben looked at me with only hate in his eyes while he continued to kneel on the ground.
“General,” another trooper reported. “Look who we found trying to escape outside the town. An Agent.”
“Well, isn’t that something? Looks like the Agents have broken their state of neutrality,” Sam smirked as the Agent was put in cuffs just like the rest of the people. “Wouldn’t be the first time.”
“I’m not telling you anything!” the man retorted, while grinding his teeth.
Sam yanked his glasses and crushed them with his shoes, then he approached me, as I stood there silent. He grabbed my arm gently and put me in front of the Agent.
“I order you...to eliminate him. No witnesses shall report what happened here,” Sam whispered in my ear.
I turned my head towards the Agent who was breathing normally. He had no fear on his face. I loaded my rifle and raised it in the middle of his eyes. I set it to semi-automatic. So that only one bullet would come out of the barrell, my hands trembled, my fingers shaking. And...nothing. I just stood there as everyone watched me struggle. I tried to get my adrenaline going, but there was nothing I could do to make myself pull the trigger. My morale was low, but there was nowhere to go.
“Do it,” Sam ordered again. But this time his voice was less stoic and more worrisome. It threw me off a bit as if Sam had a bit of desperation rather than impatience.
The Agent’s face dropped. He stared at me in desperation. Shaking his head as he said, “Please, I’ve got a family. Wife and child.”
I knew that there were only two ways out of this. The first option; I shoot him between his eyes and that would be the end of it. I could go on with my life and everything would be fine. The second option; I don’t do it and escape. In an act of pure instinct I chose the second option. I threw a smoke grenade down to the floor as everyone in the vicinity coughed up the smoke. I freed the Agent and Ben by shooting their handcuffs, then I threw another flashbang to distract them. The Agent went his own way as I grabbed Ben and brought him over to one of the vehicles.
“Nate, what are you doing?!” fumed Adrana, while chasing me
“This is my last offer, Addie,” I said to her, while at the same time reaching out with my hand. “Come with me.”
She looked at my hand, then turned around to hear the Silent Death troopers getting closer. I ended up carrying Ben over to the vehicle and stopped. Adrana stared at me and began to step further back. Eventually, she turned away and went back towards the Silents.
“Dammit, Adrana.” I muttered, while still helping out Ben. He fell back to the ground. Wincing in pain.
“C’mon, Ben, we’re almost there!” I shouted while starting up the vehicle.
I tried dragging Ben across the sand by his shoulders. He was much too heavy, and the sand knocked me off my feet while trying to do so.
“No, c’mon! We...can still...make it,” I said while dragging Ben off the ground into the vehicle.
I looked back up only to see the Silents spotting me. “Shit, Ben. I’m sorry.”
I left Ben on the sand as I hopped into the Rebel vehicle and floored it.
“Hold your fire!” Sam shouted, as the Silents tried to fire at me.
Sam rushed to the edge of the village, and looked through his visor. He zoomed in on me and watched as I drove off into the empty distance.
“Nate,” Sam breathed heavily. “What the hell are you doing?”
My throat was parched. The wind blew on my face. An hour had passed as I continued to drive forward with no other destination. I had no idea where I was going. The only thing that truly mattered was getting out of that mess. I looked back to see if anyone was following, but that only thing I could spot was more sand and desert bushes.
Suddenly, the vehicle began to stall, and it slowed down quickly.
“What the-” I said to myself, as I tried to press down on the gas. “Aw, shoot.”
The vehicle came to a safe halt, as I used the brakes. I jumped out of the car and checked under the vehicle. I discovered that the fuel line and the tank had been shot as it leaked all over the place.
“Dammit...Dammit, Nate! What were you thinking, you idiot!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. My voice echoed through the distance. I kicked the tire and punched the side of it. “Now I have nowhere to go, the vehicle has no more fuel, and I’m stuck in the middle of a desert!”
I looked down the road each way. No one was found who happened to be driving along. There were a few lights going down the road. Everything else was getting so dark that I couldn’t see farther than fifty meters in front of me. I tried pushing the car, but it wouldn’t budge most likely because of its heavy steel armor. Then, I hopped back in the vehicle. But, the engine stopped rumbling, and the vehicle’s headlights turned off. After that, it was nearly pitch black.
“Great…” I said to myself with a fake grin on my face. “Just great. Perfect.”
...
Adam stared out of his wide office window. From it he could see all of Kalo City. He watched as the front gate turrets fired on more protestors who tried to break into the city. It was less and less rare to see it nowadays for him. Hearing the gigantic turrets fire upon the crowd became a daily thing for him. He could almost hear the screams of pain and suffering. At the most Adam could feel it, the people crying out sent a chill down his spine.
Suddenly, one of his men barged into his office. Adam was unphased.
“Sir!” the messenger troop saluted. “I have brought an urgent message from General Kamarov.”
“Kamarov?” Adam averted his eyes onto the messenger.
“Yes, Commander,” the trooper blurted out.
“Get me on his channel!” Adam ordered, as the messenger transferred the call.
“General Kamarov, do you hear me?” Adam asked.
“Loud and clear, Mr. West,” Sam responded.
“What is it that you wish to tell me? Was the attack successful?”
“Well, yes...and no,” Sam stuttered.
“What do you mean; no?” Adam questioned the validity of the answer.
Sam paused for a second, and sighed. “We have a...traitor. On our hands.”
“Traitor? Who dares to defy the Silents?” interrogated Adam.
Sam whispered to himself while blocking his watch. He rubbed his forehead and sighed. “Dammit, Nate.”
“Well, then? Who is it?” Adam asked once more, with a more bitter tone.
“It’s...It’s Nathaniel, sir. He freed the Rebellion General and spared the Agent.”
“What?! Is Nathaniel in your custody?”
“N-No, sir.”
Adam sat back in his chair, and played with his hair. He stared at the desk while ruffling through his hair. Then, he pointed at the man.
“Get me Lieutenant Adrana,” Adam demanded.
“Yes, sir,” the messenger saluted.
The man rushed out the door, his hands shaking and sweating like crazy. Adam's eyes followed him until he was out of sight and out of mind. He stood once again and looked out the same window. Adam took a deep breath and checked his watch.
To Adam’s surprise! Adrana spoke out of nowhere. The sound of her voice made Adam jump at her. He took another breath of relief to release the pressure in his chest.
“Yes, Mr. West?” Adrana questioned.
Adam continued to look through the glass.
“I have a task for you,” Adam explained. “Due to Nathaniel’s recent incident, I’m putting you at the head of the investigation.”
Adrana frowned. She already knew what Adam was about to say, when she put her head down and stared at the floor.
“What do you want me to do?” quizzed Adrana.
“I want you to find him,” Adam clarified. “And I want him alive. Since I know you’re close to Nathan, I’l
l trust that you’ll do your job, no?”
Adrana saluted, “You can count on me, sir.”
Adam turned and nodded his head at Adrana, signaling her to leave his office immediately.
The next morning, the scorching sun was the only thing present in the empty blue sky. Not a single cloud to use for shade. Only small bushes and plains of dry land. The I-15 was surprisingly empty for a popular roadway. I continued to struggle down the side of the road. Thirsty. My lips were almost cracking as I tried to conserve my energy. I stopped and looked down both sides of the highway and detected a whole lot of nothing but paint, sand, and the black asphalt.
One hour passed as I eventually ran into a place of inhabitants. An extremely small town containing a dirty, abandoned gas station, a small pub, a trailer park, a pretty average farm, and some other insignificant buildings that never really caught my attention. I nearly tripped on my own feet as I started to do a slow jog towards the area. Every step meant that I was closer to water. I finally reached the beginning of the town, and decided to take a small break from jogging, with my hands on my knees. Then, I looked up and continued moving forward. Walking the rest of the way until I reached a huge sign. Most likely, the sign was supposed to have the name of town. Some parts of it were broken, and four of the letters in the word were completely missing. I would’ve said four and a half as one of the letters was already halfway gone. However, I could still identify it.
“A…” I read to myself. “V...I...L...A...C. What the heck is that supposed to mean?”