That night was described as one word: Anxiety. Phillip had come home at around 3:27 PM. He apologized profusely for frightening them. He also said that he felt like a failure, but was instantly reassured by the kids.
They resumed their planning. Nothing was changed, and they planned to break into Genesis that night.
As April put on her bright-ish clothing, she rubbed her hands together. She looked in the mirror, and gave herself a pep talk.
"Okay, April. You're going to run in there, no, not run, walk in there. You're going to go in there casually and walk around until someone catches you--"
She stopped whenever the door to the bathroom opened. It was just Jett.
"Hey, okay, so I need to talk to you." Jett said, shutting the door. April just lightly nodded her head.
"Alright, here's the plan, if Phillip tells you anything different, don't do it. The plan that we have right now is perfect. We think Phillip either has dementia, PTSD, or multiple personality disorder. We're leaning towards PTSD, but that's beside the point. You catchin' my drift?" Jett asked, and April held up a thumbs-up sign. Then, she captured a thoughtful look, "Wait, isn't he like, the Leader of the group?"
"Yes, April," Jett sighed in irritation, "But listen. He's gone loco, homes. Do what we tell you instead of him. I know, sounds bad, but I mean, it'll ruin the mission, got it?" April let out a breath of contemplation. Then, she nodded.
"Alright, good. Have fun!" Jett said, then walked out of the bathroom. She left April with her thoughts.
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All eight of the group piled into the hover-car. It creaked and groaned under the weight. Jett sat in the front, and April ended up sitting on her lap. In the back, Marie say uncomfortably next to Akio, who was on top of Jackson, which was next to Toby. The two boys were very, very uncomfortable.
"So," Akio began, "Um, hello there." Jackson started sniggering in response. Toby had a really crude joke sitting in his mind, but waited until he needed it. Marie just didn't like the situation.
"Akio," Phillip called.
"Yes?" Akio replied.
"You brought the laptop, right?"
"Yeah, I did. Why?"
"I need you to hack into the Genesis mainframe."
"On it." Akio finally had a reason to stop dwelling on the fact that he was sitting on another male's lap. He opened his laptop, and powered it on.
As his nimble fingers raced across the keys, he felt arms snake around his slender waist. Akio freaked the fuck out, swatting at Jackson's arms. Everybody in the car started laughing. Except for the three in the front since they didn't see what had happened.
"Are you gay, or something?!" Akio laughed, getting back to his business.
A few minutes later, Akio heard someone say something from behind his back, "Hey there, watcha doin' up here?" Jackson said creepily. Akio slowly looked up, mouth taut in a straight line due to irritation.
"What pretty eyes you have behind yo' corneas." Jackson continued, causing a lot of people to laugh.
"What the heck?" April looked back along with Jett.
"Okay Jackson." Jett said, raising her eyebrows and looking back to the road.
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The seven kids watched as they pulled up into the big city. The buildings looked abandoned. as if they'd been left to rot for centuries. The bombings that had completely pillaged the land, this city being a huge target.
It was old St. Louis. The Arch, or the Gateway to the West, was almost destroyed. Only half of it remained standing, halfway to the top and above had been torn off by various elements. Metal supports and other structures were sticking out of the torn ends.
"I remember visiting the Arch." Jett stated quietly, eyeing the structure.
"Me too. Going up in the elevator and looking out the windows." April joined.
"Fun times. Fun times indeed." Jett commented, turning her sight away from the saddened building. It broke the young girl's heart to see her favorite monument in its current state.
"There it is, guys." Phillip pointed out an average-sized building. On the side was a sign that read, "Hampton Inn." Although there were a few letters missing to it, the kids could still make out what the sign said.
"How many kids are in Genesis again?" Marie asked from the backseat.
Phillip made a right turn, then answered, "I don't remember, but I think it's around twelve or thirteen. Not counting the Leader or Leaders."
"Dang, son. That's a lot of kids." Jett said as she leaned back against the seat.
"I heard that they even have doctors and stuff like that." Toby said.
"What? Seriously?" April responded, looking back at the boy. Toby nodded, and April looked mad.
"Why don't we have doctors?" April agitatedly whispered.
"That's because we don't have enough recruits, April." Phillip replied.
"'Would you like me to fix your lateral malleolus?'" Jett quoted from a movie that they watched a few months ago.
"No, Jett," April began, "You'd probably start screaming and cussing at my broken extremities. Then you'd throw random instruments everywhere, probably puncturing your assistant in the eyeball."
"Heehee, probably." Jett laughed, thinking about how sad it was that April's statement was true.
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"Okay, guys," Phillip put his arm around Jett and April's seat, "Here's the plan: Since we're parked far enough away to where Genesis can't see us, April is going to get out, and run to their headquarters. She's gonna do what she's gotta do, then, we're going to send Jett in. Akio is going to lead her around the ductwork to where we're guessing Heidi is located. Got it?"
Everybody agreed, Phillip looking to April, "Okay April. You know where to go, right?"
Without waiting for a response, Phillip dug around in the large box in the backseat that was in between Toby's feet. He pulled out a small ball about the size of a Dubia insect attached to a thin clasp.
"Put this on your shirt collar." He ordered, April obligingly taking the ball and clasping it to the black shirt underneath her hoodie.
Phillip then grabbed an earpiece from the box, and turned it on its loudest volume.
"Speak into the ball." He commanded.
April looked at the little thing attached to her collar, then spoke, "Hello?"
"Hello?" The earpiece echoed her word back.
"We're going to be listening to everything that's going on. And they won't be able to tell that it's there unless they look real close." Phillip reassured, "Alright, well, whenever you get arrested or captured or whatever, just whisper it into the microphone. Then we'll send Jett."
"Got it." April said, climbing off of Jett's lap and out of the car.
All of the kids said goodbye to her in their own ways, "Bye April!"
"Good luck!"
"Please don't die!"
They watched as April's gangly legs carried her around the building behind them, until she vanished from sight.
Joseph sighed, "And now we wait."
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Hey there!
Sorry I went on that hiatus. A lot was going on at school, and it made me think about some of the characters in this story.
That's all I really needed to say, so, like always, this is trubberys, signing out.
YOU ARE READING
The Vertigo Project (CRINGE-FEST 2K15)
Adventurefor gods sake why am i keeping this
