Malevolent

Chapter 7

I roll over and see I need to get up for my meeting. I quietly put my clothes on and brush my teeth.

No one is downstairs, as expected, and I eat some toast. I put everything in my backpack, including pen and paper, just in case I need to write something down. I hear someone come down the stairs, and I quickly hide in the closet.

"James?" I think that's Mom

I don't respond.

"Hm, must have heard things in my head." She walks back upstairs

I open the closet door, and grab my keys and backpack and head outside. The air is crisp, but cold. I throw on my backpack.

Crap, I have to take the back roads. I think we aren't allowed out this early, so I play it safe on the way there.

When I'm almost to the building, I see a police, I think he sees me, so I duck. His sirens go on and starts driving toward me. I pedal as fast as I can. I see an FBI truck pull up behind me, I see Chloe.

"Hop in!" She exclaims

I grab my bike and just inside, they slam the door just as the police car tries to run me over.

"That's how you get yourself around?" Chloe asks

"Yeah?" I ask

"I'll talk to my people about getting you a car or something, that way you can fit in a little better." She says

"Well, how will I be able to drive around this early?" I question

"We can probably get you a police car, or at least a badge, I don't know we can figure it out." She says

"How did you get this car?" I ask Chloe, as we stop

She opens the door as she answers, "Well, you could say we stole it." She smiles

We walk in together, as the guards let us in, we are just in time, everyone is talking to each other, and I see Trinity and Michael sitting in silence, probably confused. I walk over towards them.

"Hey guys." I say

"Hi James." Trinity says

"Quite the setup they got." Michael says. Michael is a tech guru, which could in turn help us.

I look around us, and there is a lot of technology, computers, electronic whiteboard, phones, etc.

"Alright guys, regroup." Chloe says. Everyone's eyes fall on her.

"So, I would like to welcome 26 more people into the group, please make them feel welcome," she continues, "Which just reminded me, this Sunday at 12 p.m. we will have a team lunch here, to get to know each other, so we can in turn build trust and unity." Talking begins amongst people.

"Alright... Now, we will go over phases of our plan per meeting. We might have to act quicker, depending on what kinda curve balls our government throws at us." She says

Chloe continues, "So today we will start with the first part of Phase 1, which we are slowly approaching," she says, "So, in the beginning of Phase 1, our goal is to reach 300 members, and we currently are sitting at around 220. So we are close..."

"Anyways, we will be distributing these apples, please give them out to people that want a change, people that still believe in a good future, I will hand them out at the end of this meeting," she continues, "Now, after that, we will hold a video conference with all the other groups of the rebellion."

She pauses for a second, then continues, "We will decide when and where to meet, but it might change if something bad occurs."

She continues, "For example, in my work area, 15 people were shot dead in the last week, 25 in two weeks."

"That would be an example of something bad, and if it were to occur, we would need accelerate the speed our program, to neutralize the problem," she pauses, "And fgatst about it, any questions?"

We sit there for about 15 minutes with random questions, I really don't listen to, except one.

A man in his 20's asks, "What happens if we are caught, or interrogated?"

Chloe stands there, like she doesn't know how to respond.

"Uh... Well... It's probably best if you deny any questions of the existence of this resistance, we must keep this a secret. If they throw you in jail, we can get you out, if that's what your afraid of." She responds

"Okay, no more questions, sorry, have a good week, see you guys on Sunday! Here at 12!" She exclaims

Chloe and I meet up, I look at her and chuckle, "You really think this gonna work?" I ask

She looks at me, her amazing eyes looking into me, "It's gonna have to, I think we have everything worked out, and we can adjust if anything goes wrong."

"Well, I will support and listen anything you tell us to do." I smile

"Good... Hey, also, I forgot to tell you, I want you to be a part of my head team, you got the brains, can you do it?" She asks

"I will gladly do it." I sat

"Good." She smiles, and hugs me

"Oh and, in the case of me somehow dying, you're in charge." She tells me

"Wow... Okay, sounds cool, not saying I want you to die." I start laughing

I look down at my watch, 6:15, we still have an hour.

"Well, we still have an hour until work..." I say

Chloe looks at me, "Hm, what if we have breakfast at that Cafe, my treat." She smiles

"You sure?" I ask

"Positive." She smiles again

We walk towards a car, "Throw your bike in the bed of the truck." Chloe says

I lift up my bike and put it in. I hop in the front seat, and she drives.

"How on earth are you driving?" I ask

"Well, it's not really one hundred percent legal, I have someone else's card of ownership and drivers license, can you believe they cost $600? Must really want people to stay off the road, easier to maintain probably."

We talk for a few minutes, since the Cafe is pretty close. We get out of the car and get seats.

The waiter comes to us, "What can I get for you guys?"

We both respond, "Pancakes." I laugh

"Alright, I'll get those to you as soon as possible." The waiter says

He leaves, I ask Chloe, "So about that car... How will I drive it around without being noticed?" I ask her

She responds, "Well, The Team has developed a cloaking technology, so it basically makes you invisible, we are gonna use it for every vehicle, so we can get by without being noticed."

"That sounds really cool, how do they do that stuff?"

She laughs, "Well you'll figure out soon, since you are on the team and all."

"Oh yeah I forgot, haha," I continue, "So have we created a name for this rebellion group, thingy?" I ask

"As a matter of fact, yes, we decided to name ourselves The Phoenix." She responds

"You know what a Phoenix does, right?" She asks me, "Cause if you didn't, the name wouldn't make sense."

"Yeah, I kinda do." I say

"Well, the way I know it is, is that the Phoenix burns itself to ashes after a while of living, and then is reborn from the ashes, in a more pure form." She continues, "Thus, the name Phoenix, we plan to fix our government, and make it better." She says

"There is always a chance for a better future." True statement

"I like it."