The Bearing

10. The Interference

Of course, they would come at night. Nobody's expecting it. The broken force field must have set off an alarm, just as my mom said, but how did they find our coordinates?

Trepidation fills my chest as I turn to face Gray, debating whether or not to wake him up. What if I'm being paranoid and imagining things again?

What if I'm not?

"Gray, wake up." I nudge his arm, causing him to lightly stir in his sleep.

"Gray." I try again, shaking him harder. His eyes flutter open.

"Hey beautiful, what's wrong?" He stares at me with wide eyes, confused. Even in the middle of the night, his voice sounds rough and strong instead of tired.

I cannot get distracted. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" He tightens his lips and leans in towards me to listen.

"Yeah, I hear shouting. It's getting louder."

"We need to alert the others." I leap out of bed and sprint outside toward my mother's cabin. Out in the open air, I can almost discern words.

A booming male voice shouts, "I think we found it!"

I quicken my pace and knock loudly on my mom's cabin door.

She rushes and swings open the door instantly. "I already heard them. I knew I was right about the force field. We need to grab all of our weapons and fight. The others are trained to look out for intruders. They should be awake."

Mom and I hurry toward the weapon storage room. Sure enough, the rebels are exiting their cabins and joining us in a swift, calm manner. They must have practiced this formation.

I seize a knife made of dark obsidian, the sharpest material available, and slip it in a sheath, wrapping it around my waist, then throw on the heavy gun holder, slinging it around my back. I've definitely gotten stronger.

They're here. White teletrucks come to a halt in front of our camp.

The military crew exit their vehicles and march in, wearing their white, skin-tight bodysuits and face shields. They're the most protective armor the URA has, allowing for quick movements without weighing them down. They immediately shoot anything they see on sight. A woman dashing toward us drops to the ground, an electric bullet hitting her back. Our guns are based on technology from twenty-five years ago, before they invented electrical bullets that both stun and injure. More bodies begin falling. I watch a bullet strike a tall, thin man's neck, splashing blood on a wooden post five feet away and the blonde woman standing next to it, who I presume is the man's wife. She cries out with despair, pulling out a knife and speeding toward the soldier who puts down his gun for a split second. That one second makes all the difference. She goes straight for his throat, slashing it open. Blood gushing over her hands, she makes another slash on his cheek as he falls to the ground. To her far left, a small boy with light blond hair watches from behind a cabin door, crying and screaming in panic. The woman darts toward him and swoops him up, rushing into the cabin and closing the door behind her.

I was a fool for thinking I was prepared for any of this. Bullets whiz around me amongst the shrieking and frantic running.

My mother reaches for a rifle and aims for the gap between a soldier's face shield and his head. The bullet hits him in the exact spot, knocking him dead instantly while blood spurts out from his brain.

"Watch out! Behind you!" She tilts her head to the right, then aims her gun again and moves forward.

I swivel around and come face-to-face with a soldier. Behind his face shield, his black eyes hold a callous expression. He is here to finish a job and doesn't care about any lives lost in the process, including his own.