Antumbra - A Lost Cause

Indoctrinated - Chapter Fifty Five

Elia kept low to the ground as she moved between the bushes, careful to keep her head down and out of the light. There wasn't much cover the closer they got to the water treatment facility, so they had to go one by one. They had spent days scoping it out, more than Elia expected, but still less than she wanted. She didn't have the heart to admit to Silva that she was having second thoughts, ever since Travis found out what they were doing, but now she had no choice. There was no going back, they had to show the humans they weren't there to be victimized. Somewhere, Arva was fighting her battle, and now it was Elia's turn to fight hers.

"I made it," she whispered over her walkie-talkie. They didn't have much resources, and without being able to even get close to the city, everything they did have was scrounged from their homes. She held her position just by the fence, tucked behind a bush until her team assembled one member at a time. Silva was next, a satchel slung over his shoulder. Then came Chelle, who was particularly invested in this operation ever since her brother was assaulted on his way home from school, and finally two newcomers Elia wasn't personally friends with. Zachery, an unemployed twenty-year-old who often volunteered at the church, and Sammy, a girl Elia had gone to school with but never really knew. Both of them had their own reasons for wanting to do this, which made Elia trust them. It was time to hit back, and that at least was definitive in Elia's mind, even though Travis' words preyed on her conscience. Their group was small, but that was an advantage when they were sneaking in, and now that they huddled in the near pitch darkness behind the bush all they had left to do was breach the fence. Silva retrieved bolt cutters from his bag and got to work making an opening in the chain link fence, the rest keeping a lookout. In between the snaps of wire being cut, the sound of distant riots echoed in the distance, and above them the clouds occasionally lit with flashes. This did nothing to calm the human population, as the light show had been going on constantly for the past few days, and divines were seen more and more. The humans had taken it as a sign that they were growing more and more angry, and Umbras were getting more common along the edge of the Lows near the wastes. It was like everything was slowly going to hell, and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it.

"We're in," Silva whispered, and he pulled the fence open. Not that wire fences were much of a challenge, but Silva bent the cut segment like it was paper. While most Hybrids' deformities were either simply surface-level or a hindrance, Silva was a rare case of someone who was given an advantage, especially since he'd started working out and training. His previously lanky and elongated arms were now more toned and filled out along with the rest of him, and combined with his oversized hands gave him unusually immense strength. Elia had also become stronger, more coordinated, and it made her feel ready to take on anything.

"Stick to the shadows along the East wall," Elia whispered to the group, "make sure nobody sees you from the street." They moved quickly, the sound of their collective heartbeats nearly audible as their adrenaline pumped. Elia guided the group to a small door tucked in an alcove. They huddled in the dark as she took out the blueprints, along with a small flashlight, and tried to decipher the notes she'd made in regards to the entrance.

"We want a door that leads to a hallway," she scrutinized the somewhat overwhelming mix of lines and scribbles, "and if the gate we cut is here, and the street is here... this should be the door we want." She poked her head through the small glass window to check inside, and was satisfied this was the right place. Chelle reached into her own backpack and pulled out an envelope and a hammer. Silva took them, and opened the envelope to retrieve a large sheet of paper. He plucked at the corner and peeled, revealing it to be an uncut sheet of adhesive paper, and placed it over the glass. He smoothed it out, Elia helping him get it into the corners as they made sure every centimeter of the glass was covered. Elia held the envelope over the window as he held the hammer to it.