The Defiant

Hello Paradise

Atlas

We were so quiet as we stood about thirty yards from the facility's entrance. I had a feeling that the very makeup of this place was watching us. At the top of the facility wall, a guard stood posted, completely unaware of the crowd of us below. 

Or at least we hoped they were unaware. 

Sparrow had cast a mirage into the minds of whoever was in range. We were invisible to all except ourselves. Next was getting over the wall. There was no way to activate the gate from here, and the sound would alert the guards above that something was wrong even if Sparrow covered it with a vision of it staying closed. We decided to spare Saya's teleportation powers for if things went wrong. He could take any injured out, or if we needed to retreat completely; we didn't want to be without an escape route. 

So, instead, we decided to climb the wall. And attack from above and take out as many guards as possible, until we descended and attempted to slaughter all of The Mother's army that resided here. 

Maralynn had equipped us all with some collapsable ladders. Sparrow had shielded those from the minds of the guards as well. Levi, Dakota,  and Estelle extended them as quietly as possible and leaned them against the wall. One at a time. Slowly. So slowly. We climbed to the top and amassed there. Looking down at the facility, I thought it looked a lot larger than it had felt before. 

The night we escaped replayed in my mind as the last people climbed up the ladders. I remembered that Sparrow had almost not made it out. We had the element of surprise on our side at that time. No guards were lining the tops of the walls before. I hated to think it but they probably already knew we would use Sparrow's power to get in. How they responded to that knowledge, I'm not quite sure. 

I was tasked with giving out the orders. I gave the two-finger symbol, signifying that we split up. One group would go one way, and one would go the other. I gulped down my dread as I watched Josiah lead Saya, Roan, and Dakota along with Estele, Blake, and Delta. I nodded to my team and we walked to take out the first guard. 

That first kill was so easy. So simple. I was expecting some reaction after he went down, but there was nothing. Ezra simply touched him with those deadly gloves and he went down shaking from the electricity. After it was done, we took a moment and processed how even though the process wasn't hard physically, this was still going to take an extreme emotional toll. None of us were older than twenty-two, and yet would all have bloodied hands. We were killers. 

We continued on. Every time a guard was taken down, Sparrow would put a fake image of another going up in its place. It took thirty minutes to meet again at the back of the facility. Everyone's faces were ashen. 

"Does anyone else think it's strange that they haven't reacted yet? I know Sparrow is covering us, but we just took out their entire fucking border patrol for god's sake," Kyla whispered.

"And shouldn't they have more forces here? It's dead quiet," Ezra observed. 

"Maybe they are all in the Kansas facility?" suggested Dakota. 

As if in response to his words, The door to a dorm opened up and we watched as one of the Grade A boys from the new round of bombs left the building. 

"I recognize that guy," Ezra said. "It's not a mealtime, I wonder where he is going."

And in response to that, two guards followed him out. We watched curiously as they turned corner after corner till they were out of sight. Besides those three beings, it was still dead quiet and nothing moved. 

"Should we go down there now-

A scream broke through the air and we all tensed.

"No! What is that?! Help! Help! Hel-"