Legacy's Ghost

Episode 32: Dead Before We Turn Thirteen

Sensei's head jerks up and his eyes widen. His face pales and I know in an instant that I am right.

"But all the LAs are fighting them on the other side of the dome," Nash says, voicing what we all know. The terms of our treaty has always been that fighting occurs far from the civilians to avoid innocent deaths. This was the terms of our agreement made centuries ago.

And yet, there's no denying the nearly deafening sound, and the scent that has my stomach gurgling and churning, threatening to empty its contents any second now.

Sensei's already bolting into action.

He runs to a wall with a panel that's always been closed. I've always assumed it was the electrical panel that powered the lights to the cavern. But when he punches the door, it swings open, revealing an arsenal of weapons.

He points to each of the TAGs and barks, "Everyone take one. You guard this flank. Shoot everything that is not human and aim for the stomach to kill them quickly. Do not let them get through you. The colony depends on it!"

Oliver, hands out weapons while Nash and Margo, the other two LA's position everyone into a staggered line that resembles an arrow's point. Nash takes point, and Oliver and Margo taking the outer-most points at the back.

Trina and I stand side-by-side behind Nash.

The hissing turns to more of a high-pitched chittering, like a swarm of crickets or grasshoppers are surrounding us, closing in. The chittering increases until it's frenzied.

My body trembles. Every inch of my skin is covered in goosebumps, and I'm drenched in sweat. Memories of my time in the cavern cycle through my brain in a continuous, nightmarish loop, complete with the toe-curling pain ghosting through my psyche.

The walls and the earth start to tremor and vibrate. Dust filters to the ground. Sand shifts over the ground.

Behind us, children's terror-filled cries fill the air. Women are wailing.

Something inside me awakes and begins to hum, anticipating, sensing, alerting to the swarm's proximity.

The hissing and chittering are nearly deafening now. Like the Swarm is right on the other side of the cavern walls, all around us, yelling, and hissing at the top of their warrior-like lungs.

My ears ache and my muscles clench.

Pebbles drop from the ceiling, and chunks of the cavern walls drop to the ground.

The ground rumbles at our feet until my feet are numb from the vibration.

Trina moves closer to me, pressing herself against me until we're back to back, each of us staring at the walls.

Chunks continue to fall away, like someone is burrowing through them, on the brink of breaking through.

I glance back at Trina, and her blue eyes are wide, shining with tears, face pale with fear.

Dead before we turned thirteen. That will be us.

I never had a girlfriend. Not even a first kiss. Not even held hands.

All my life I've fought to survive. Fought for my right to live. Now that I've had a taste of what it feels to be alive, I'm going to die.

The stench of dirt and Swarm fills my nostril, blocking out anything else--the sound, the vibration, the taste of metal and oil in my mouth.

They're here. The Swarm. And they want blood. Annihilation.

The hum inside my body intensifies. But the hissing and chittering ceases, leaving a eerie, bone rattling, soul-wilting quiet.

We are going to die.

Dammit! We're going to die!

Fury and indignation surges through me like flames from a rocket upon take-off. It fills every limb, consumes every inch of my body. It seethes, and roils, and churns, and burns. Roaring, and shaking, bellowing and storming.

My hands tremble. My nostrils flare. Heat fills my chest. It ricochets through my thighs and back. Ragged blue electric bolt crackle off my body, burning holes into my robe, and exposing parts of my unpigmented skin.

All of the TAGS turn. They stare at me, their eyes wide and mouths gaping. I barely notice how Sensei Tatsumi lurches toward our group, gathering the kids to him, his eyes oscillating from left to right as if trying to establish which threat is bigger: me or the Swarm.

Trina is the first to scurry closer to the walls, to the enemy about to obliterate them.

Then, as if aware of her proximity, the Swarm breaks through the walls, and surges into the caverns. True to their name, they swarm into the caverns, grabbing, and chittering, and biting and ripping.

The walls echo with screams and shrieks and gunshots.

I stand, my hands at my sides, shaking, paralyzed with rage.

Trina unloads her entire clip into the Swarm before one of them grabs her. She screeches in terror, her eyes fixated on the pinchers coming at her face.

Something inside me finally snaps and I roar, surging forward and grabbing the Swarm by one of his dozens of arms.

The second I touch him, it's like a shockwave of blue and purple electricity echoes and shoots out of my body, flinging into every chamber, through every Swarm, and ricocheting off the walls and down the corridors.

The chittering extinguishes in an instant. The wailing and fear quiets to a startled whimper and confusion.

I don't know what I did. I just know I'm responsible.

I drop to my knees, then fall to my side, curling into a ball on top of a black pile of ash. Every nerve ending feels raw and exposed, like they've been hit with a flame thrower and are twitching from the trauma.

Children are still crying. Women are still wailing. But cheers and expressions of wonder now join the cacophony.

Trina drops to her knees in front of my face. She hesitates before she touches my shoulder. "Atan. Are you all right?"

I shiver and shake, my teeth chattering until I'm sure they're going to break.

Someone flings a blanket over my body. A few seconds later, I'm being carried out of the caverns and back to the Monastery, surrounded by TAGs. Someone in the distance yells at the colonists to keep their distance.

My eyes are closed, but I hear the quiet murmur ripple through the group carrying and protecting me. "Do not say a word to anyone about what happened."