Bullets, Bomb-blasts, and Battlefields: Facing the U.D.C.

Chapter VIII: the Second Day

I “woke” up that morning feeling like crap. Why? Because I didn’t sleep a wink. I looked around at the sound of wings, and watched the carrier pigeon land on the branch next to me.  Luckily for the bird, its leg tube was marked with the initials ‘HML’ – Hot Mess Land.  Otherwise, it would have been a dead pigeon.  There were two small capsules in the tube, and a note. 

It read, “This is an energy supplement. Take one capsule and all your energy and your strength will be fully restored for a day. Take the other in the morning. I’ll be waiting to congratulate you when you get to HQ. But that’s in two days. Good luck!

Ms. Wellman

It was very rare for a teacher to help a student, mainly because they don’t need the help. But I needed it, so I popped the capsule in my mouth and swallowed hard. For the sake of the Resistance, I hope they sent some to the other teammates as well, but I doubt it. I put the other capsule in my back pocket for later.

Again, I was hopping through the trees, not a sound out of me. I had my new sniper rifle slung across my back with the strap pulled tight so as to not rattle when I ran. 

I had the school in my sights now as I came to the end of the woods. The rendezvous point was in Ms. Wellman’s room. So making sure the coast was clear, I ran flat out towards the sixth grade bunker. 

To my left I saw a shadow quickly approaching. I scampered up the nearest tree before the enemy could see anything. Scotty walked around the corner and stood right under my tree. I silently unsheathed my Katanas, and then I leaped.

I landed right on his shoulders, crushing them. I paused a moment, then decapitated him. There was thunder, and the countdown read 41 Vs 12. I held no remorse for him. I’m not a cold hearted killer; I’m not like that at all. But it seemed that their whole team was made up of people I’ve hated my whole life.

I made it to Ms. Wellman’s room after that. It looked as if I was the first one to arrive. But I was wrong, for Blake sat there with a nine mil trained right on me. I immediately started talking to buy time. “Hey Blake, what’s up?”

“Not much. Just the fact that I’m here to kill you,” he answered. 

“Do you have to resort to such extreme measures?” I asked. I saw a flicker of movement behind Blake.  It registered in my mind as a small female form dancing through the shadows.

“You know the rules, Jacob. To win the U.D.C., all of the opposing team members must be eliminated. I barely made it on my team. So if I take you out, I get raised to a whole new level.  And after all, it’s just business.”

“You’re right.  This is just business.”  Right then Bethany dropped from the ceiling. She disarmed him and had him in a headlock. She was about to sever his spinal cord when I stopped her. “Wait, Bethany.”

“Why?? He is the enemy, he deserves to die. After all, it’s just business,” she spat.

“Bethany, release him. That’s an order!” and she let up but she still had a firm grip on his arm. “You can tie him up nice and tight, but you will not lay a hand on him. Am I clear?”

“Crystal,” she said, eyes downcast.

“Good. No, he doesn’t deserve to die. No one else deserves to die either, as a matter of fact. But he is different. He doesn’t want to kill.”

“How can you tell?” Bethany asked.

“I can see it in his eyes. He doesn’t want to kill or die. And I’m betting they threatened to kill you if you didn’t come here now. Am I right?” He nodded his head. “There, see. I also assume that they thought if he didn’t kill me, I would kill him, right?” Again, he nodded silently. “Then in that case, we will keep him alive as long as possible. Just to prove them wrong. Okay? Okay.”