The Keepers

Cat- Infiltration

It is me or my sister. That is what it comes down to. I can join the keepers now and guarantee the safety of my family in the realm, or wait until Liz comes of age and send her out to die. She couldn't shoot a can off a wall from ten feet away. I, on the other hand, well.... I know how to work a gun.

My dad died last week, he was brought down by one of them. He taught me everything I know about guns and other weapons and powers. He was so amazing and well known, absolutely nobody was worried that he had been sent up with a squad of G ranked keeper-wannabes. G ranks are sent up on little missions with no training to see who is strong enough to make it as a keeper. Lets just say it turned into a big mission.

He was a rank A keeper. One of the best. He was invincible. Except he wasn't. His followers were picked off easily until he was alone against hundreds of them. He held out for a while, fighting off machines and grenades and all the shit thrown at him. But he forgot to watch his back. When backup arrived, they found he had been brought down by a simple drone. Figures.

There has to be one keeper per family unit. They gave us time (half a week) to grieve and then threw the notice of eviction our way. Without a keeper in the family we are not allowed to remain in the realm. My mom is disabled and cannot run, and my sister is too young.

So... As a smart 15 year old girl who is now of age to join the keepers, I did the responsible thing. Send myself to a certain death. I keep reminding myself that we all have a certain death at some point. Mine is gonna just be because of the decision to save my family.

As I near the base, a wave of fear washes over me. I keep walking though. I had to keep walking, for my family. For the keepers. I have a good shot, I can probably be of use.

The automatic double door of the base opens and I walk through. Instantly tall men and women surround me. All in uniform. Most preparing to get on a ship to fly into space to fight the ones. I near a desk that has a lit up sign reading "Application". The woman sitting behind the desk has a stern look on her face. She stares into her computer as I weave between soldiers to greet her. Her eyes meet mine. "Are you here to apply as a nurse? I have the papers..." She is cut of by my hand raised in the air signaling her to stop, "No. I am applying to be a keeper."

Her eyes widen a bit, filled with confusion and sympathy. "Well then... Here are your forms." She says handing me a packet, "you may sit on the bench and fill them out. Hurry along though, you only have 10 minutes until you meet him." She point to a bench and I give her a nod of thanks. I walk over to the bench and fill out the forms.

Last name- Aldaine
First name- Catherine
Short name- Cat
Height- 5"5'
Weight- 128 lbs
Gender- female

That was the beginning. It asked me about my past, my history with weapons... Why I was enrolling... And other things like that.

I finish with two minutes remaining. I walk over to the lady and she quickly scans my answers. When she sees my last name she looks up, and I knew she didn't have to read the reason to know why I was there to enroll.

She hands the packet back and gestures to a soldier. He runs over, taking his helmet off and revealing dark hair that falls over his dark eyes . He is only two or three inches taller than me, but he is tall enough. I am a bit on the short side... But anyways. He responds to her, "Yes m'am?" In a kind tone. "Seth, would you take this girl... Uh," she stutters, "Cat Aldaine to see him?" She says, looking at him. Like I'm not even there. "Yes m'am." He replies, giving me a slight look of sympathy.

We walk down one hallway, and then down the next. We arrive at the door and the dark haired soldier turns to me, putting a hand on my shoulder. "Hey, I'm sorry about your dad. Good luck." He says. He opens the door and clears his throat. Then solutes the figure at the desk in the middle of the huge office room. "Sir. Seth Zedler here to introduce ms. Cat Aldaine." He addresses very formally.

"Let her in." He says. His voice scares me almost instantly, but I don't show it as I walk in. I salute, like dad told me to do in his presence. "At ease." He mutters. I put my hands behind my back and stand like dad always would, legs shoulder-width apart.

"So you came. I thought we would have to evict you and your family." I don't respond. "Well. You will have your first mission in one day as a rank G. Depending on how you do will be your starting rank. Then you will be given a squad." He explains, though I already know it all.

I walk out the door and Seth is still there. He looks at me, "That was quick. He must doubt you." He says, a small smile peaking at the corner of his mouth. "If you shoot anything like your father, he will be surprised. Now let's get you to your IQ test." He adds, and walks further down the hallway without waiting for my response.

I quickly run down the hallway after him. He brings me to a room where there is another man. He points to a computer and I go sit. Seth waits near the door.

I pass, it was easy. I knew I would, dad trained me for it in case something like this happened. Seth leads me back down the twists and turns of hallways and I finally gather the courage to speak, "Thanks," I say obviously nervous. "No problemo." He says jokingly and leads me back to the desk where the stern-lady waits.

"You have tonight and tomorrow morning to say goodbye to your family. You will not be seeing them until your training is complete and you begin to move up ranks." She chatters hurriedly as she writes everything down. "You will join others G's on your first mission tomorrow. We will see if you move up into a squad." She looks up at me and smiles, then hands me the paper that she was writing on. "Oh, and dear, tell your mother her old friend Sandra says hi." She adds. Doesn't she realize how horrible her timing is?

Seth goes back to whatever it was that he was doing and I walk out the way I came in. Through the doors. Does mom realize that I will be gone for so long? Does Liz? I need to see them now. I can't waste another minute. I start running, I keep it up because there is no time. I need as long as I have. To say goodbye. Well, maybe see you later?

I get home. Sweating more than I ever have before, but I hug my mom anyways. "Honey... We will miss you. We have already received word that they took you in immediately. Liz didn't take it well." I nod, a tear brushing my cheek. I jog into our room. She is asleep, I frown. I wanted to talk to her. But I figure it makes sense that she drifted off, I have been gone all day and it is late now. I fall asleep on my bed and wake up suddenly when my alarm blazes. I start to pack my things.

My sister wakes up. I don't notice when she starts helping me shove the small amount of clothing I have into an even smaller duffel bag. "I will miss you." She mumbles, still tired. I hug her and reply, "I will miss you too. Just remember to help mom. I will come back."

My mom and my sister watch me go. I walk slowly, but I will make it there by noon. As I reach the top of the hill, I look back and wave, then disappear from their view.

Hours pass, and the base comes into view. This time, soldiers are outside training. They are obviously G's who can't rank. Each one marches to their own beat. Whereas rank D's, C's, B's... You know... The good ranks that aren't As, train and fight as one. Together. Rank A leads them.

I walk back through the double doors and the lady looks up at me. "Your right on time." She stands up, "Follow me, let's get your gear and line you up. You will depart in 30 minutes."

30 minutes later, I have never been so nervous in my life. I am sitting in grey armor, packed onto a ship with 29 other Rank G 'keepers'. The ones next to me are guys that tower over me in height. I notice that they are literally having a conversation above me. About me. What they don't know is that I have handled a gun before and I am about to whoops their asses.... Hopefully.

Then, suddenly,
without a countdown,
we are thrown into space,
towards the Ones who are trying to kill us. And towards the Ones who we are going to kill.