The Patriots

CHAPTER 28 (WIPEOUT)

The next day, as Del ordered, the kids arrived even before 5 a.m. Cecilia came earliest and she even forgot to text Kelvin.

"I'm hurt." Kelvin mouthed as he approached Cecilia who was warming up for training.

"I'm soo sorry. You know Del hates me. I didn't want to get into any more trouble with him," Cecilia apologised.

"Who said he hates you?" Kelvin raised a brow  amused.

"I just know it," Cecilia pouted. Kelvin just smiled shaking his head. Kelvin was more comfortable and open around Cecilia now, but Cecilia was still a bit shy of him.

"Good morning kids," Del walked in. Cecilia cleared her throat and stood at attention. Vera came to stand beside Cecilia, mirroring her action. Cecilia pinched her hand hard, but Vera could not cry in pain because Del was there.

"You're dead," Vera mouthed to Cilia, giving her an evil smirk. Cecilia just chuckled because she knew Vera would do nothing.

Anna also walked in with Roger, Miles and Peter. The tent suddenly grew dead silent. The look on their faces made the kids realise that something bad had happened, or will happen soon.

"We won't train today..." Del started, "...but there's a serious issue at hand. "The rebels are planning on attacking the Ministry of Defense. We can't allow it. The moment we do, the whole country will be in jeopardy. The other news we have from our raven is that, some of the rebels are working for the Chief lieutenant. He is actually the mastermind behind all these killings, and the actual rebel leader is somewhat innocent... even though he is guilty in some way." Del paused as all the kids gasped.

"So...the plan is to eliminate all the rebels. We have to wipe them out. We will raid the rebel camp unannounced and carry out this mission."

"But we have to know the motive they have," Cecilia chirped in. "We have to negotiate with them to expose the Chief and not to kill them. That would mean we will be shedding more blood. I thought this whole idea of making us freedom fighters was to stop the bloodshed." Cecilia said shaking with some kind of rage.

'Here we go again', Del sighed and said as calmly as he could, "Those people have already refused all negotiations. They are more like beasts now. If we want to stop the bloodshed, we must kill them all. That's the only way."

"¡No!" Cecilia shook her head. "That's not the only way. They're still human and killing them is not the only way. We have to give them a chance! We need to give them a choice!" Cecilia shouted trying hard not to cry. The ghetto had been her playing ground all her life. They were once a peaceful community and she couldn't bare to lose that. The wipeout would mean destroying the whole ghetto, she had to save it.

"There's no time for chances. We take action in the next 72 hours." Del ended with finality in his voice.

"Don't waste your time kid," he said to Cecilia.

Cecilia was fuming with rage and she cried so hard after the meeting ended. Both Vera and Kelvin came to console her.

"Thank you guys..." she sobbed, "...but I have to go." Cecilia wiped away her tears and headed towards the ghetto. ''I'm sorry," she whispered as she run into the ghetto. ''But I've got to do this,'' she said to herself.

Cecilia arrived at the ghetto and was disgusted by what she saw. There had been so much change since she last came here. They were all drinking, smoking and having guns. She felt a little sorry for them because they were going to be killed and they had no idea about it.

"I have a message for the boss," she announced.

"Another hermosa has paid us a visit," one of the rebels commented, and they all laughed devilishly while looking at her. Another one stood up and approached her, asking her the same questions Vera was asked.

"Who are you? And what's your business here?"

"I work for the government and I have information for your boss." Cecilia answered, confidently standing up to the rebel.

The rebel stood quietly for a while and disappeared into the crowd. He came back shortly, followed by a man.

''That's definitely the boss," Cecilia thought.

Wolf, who was the initial boss arrived and blew a whistle. All the rebels gathered around all of a sudden. Cecilia all this while had a hood on, and it covered almost half of her face. ''I feel mystic. I'm now the girl in the hood,'' she fantasised like she was not surrounded by dangerous-looking men. She smiled despite her condition amidst the growing tension around her.

She was now in the center, with the boss standing a few steps away from her.

"I'm going to make this clear. Don't waste my time. Anything you're about to say, just get straight to the point." Wolf ordered.

"I am here to..." Cecilia paused mid-sentence when Wolf lifted his hand to stop her. She rolled her eyes at this authoritative gesture.

"Take off the hood," he demanded calmly.

She hesitated for a while, but finally took it off. Many were surprised she was this young and brave. Wolf was surprised too. He liked her confidence.

"You may proceed," he signalled.

"Please retreat from your plans and surrender, or else you're all going to die," she rattled.

Wolf looked puzzled. She said the same thing the other girl said the last time. He was not planning anything then. He didn't recall having any plans yet too, so what plan was she talking about? He didn't want to question her, so he allowed her to continue.

"Think about your families. My team can help you. The government will finally listen to you, but you have to stop the bloodshed."

Cecilia was surprised when Wolf laughed so hard.

"You think we haven't tried?" his facial expression suddenly changed, from smiling to a dead serious look. "Those people up there think they own the world. They are selfish and greedy. They treat people like us as if we're trash. We're all humans, you know? And we won't stop fighting back," he said, with so much passion in his words Cecilia admired him instantly.

''He's just like Charles,'' she thought and shook the thought from her head.

"Sì. I know you're all humans. That's why you have to make a change. Stop the bloodshed," she replied hurriedly trying to get her words to sink into Wolf's emotions.

"Enough kid!" he shouted. "Tie her up," he ordered and two rebels grabbed Cecilia by the arms.

"Wait, what?!" she struggled and looked at Wolf bewildered. She knew her words got to him. Some part of him just didn't want to give in.

"Don't do this, please. Please!" she pleaded but Wolf just walked away. She used her skills to break free and fight back. She broke a lot of bones and she actually had a lot of fun. She would have beaten them all up and escaped, but they were too many. They finally managed to strike her down, unconscious. One rebel sneaked behind her as she fought with three other rebels. He then hit her head with his gun.

She saw the shadowy figure who was standing across the street staring through her window at a distance. He was still in the shadows and he looked as if he was falling. She couldn't keep her eyes open and fell down, losing her consciousness.

Kelvin didn't follow Cecilia when she run off. He thought maybe she needed some space to clear her head, so he stayed back at the camp. He was feeling uneasy the whole time though. He had a bad feeling that Cecilia had gone to the rebels' camp and was now in trouble. He furrowed his brows deep in thought. He had to plan well before making a move towards the rebel camp, so he wouldn't worsen the case.

Cecilia woke up tied to a post. Her head was throbbing with pain and she felt warm blood dripping from her head unto her back. ''Now what?'' she thought as she looked around the dark room. Sitting on the cold floor, she started to question what she did.

"Was it worth it to try to save their lives?" she soliloquised. "Maybe Del was right after all," she chuckled bitterly.

A/N: I'm emotional right now🥺
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