Project Guardian Angel

A Whole New World

I woke before my alarm the next day by a few minutes and turned it off so as not to wake Melody. She lay curled on her side hugging her pillow. I got dressed with a smile and nearly tripped over Toby when exiting our bedroom. "What are you doing?" I asked quietly with a confused frown. Toby yawned sleepily and looked up at me from his nest of cushions and blankets.

"Guarding you." He said it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"And why are you guarding me?" He stood and cracked his neck rubbing his eyes.

"Cause you're our alpha now. We drew straws, I got your bedroom door. Lance got the window, Felix got the front door, and Cam is sleeping on the couch." Toby smoothed the ruffled fur on his head and ambled down the hall towards the living room leaving me to follow, still confused. As Toby had said, the boys were sprawled about my living room,

"Guys, is this really necessary?" My hands went to rest on my hips as the superhumans woke up.

"It makes us feel better." Cam rumbled sleepily. I let out a sigh and strode into the kitchen to fix some eggs for breakfast. After last night's feast the yellow powder that congealed into a gelatinous mass when I added water seemed incredibly unappealing but since almost all of the chickens had been wiped out with a weaponized bird flu, eggs were far above my pay grade.

"You're not actually going to eat that are you?" Felix asked peeking over my shoulder to examine the gently sizzling mass in the pan.

"Unfortunately, yes. This is all we have." He made a quiet sound of disgust and turned away to leave the kitchen.

"Are eggs so expensive?" Cam huffed and rolled off the couch, surprisingly graceful for his size, and swatted Felix on the back of the head making his cat ears flatten. "What was that for?" Felix demanded.

"Eggs are expensive Felix; you lead a good life now but remember your roots. Remember living off of trash and sewer rats." Felix wilted.

"I had forgotten. It's been so long... Thank you for reminding me what we are fighting for. Isis," he turned back to me. "I apologize for my words. I shouldn't have been so insensitive." I poked at the "eggs" halfheartedly and shrugged off Felix's apology.

"It's fine, I don't like them either."

"Did you know that you can tell someone's mood by their body temperature?" Lance perched himself on the arm of the couch near Toby. "You're depressed." A heavy sigh escaped me and I poked the eggs again then turned off the stove. The eggs had cooked into a dry, yellow blob that I broke apart and slid onto plates before sprinkling with salt and pepper.

"Yeah, I am." A pair of warm arms wrapped around me from behind.

"That's not allowed lover." Melody rested her chin on my shoulder and kissed my cheek. I smiled and turned in her arms to hug her back and kiss her tenderly.

"Well I'm all better now." She smiled at me and tugged my hair gently.

"Good." Melody kissed me again and took the plates to our guests leaving me to watch her. "Oh how I long for a real house." She lamented at our crowded living room. "With a proper garden, and an orchard, and a mew for doves." I knew the dream well for we had built it together.

"And goats, some horses, and cats up the wazoo." I tagged on to the end. Melody turned to look over her shoulder at me and stuck her tongue out playfully.

"Love you." I made a kissy face making the boys aww.

"You two are so cute!" I blushed slightly but Melody only laughed and handed out silverware.

"Hey Isis?" Toby questioned bringing my attention to him.

"Yeah?" He looked thoughtful for a moment then spoke.

"That stone mansion from your memory, does it still stand?" I paused with a spoonful of egg almost to my mouth.

"I reckon so... what are you thinking?" The eggs made it into my mouth and I grimaced.

"Well... maybe we can all move there? I mean I've never really had a home outside of the facility..." He scuffed a foot paw on the floor his ears drooping. "I'm a test tube baby." Toby said quietly. I thought about the old stone mansion I had once lived in.

"There should be enough room for all of us. We're probably going to have to do a serious amount of cleaning and renovating though." Immediately Toby's ears perked up and his tail started to wag.

"That is a wonderful idea." Melody declared collecting the empty plates. "But you guys have to go to the facility now for stuff." The eggs had been eaten without complaint but were in no way enjoyed.

"Okay, okay, We're going." Melody was beaming at the prospect of our dream becoming a reality and she was radiant. I tugged my shoes on and pulled Melody close stealing a kiss slipping my tongue into her mouth making her limp in my arms. She sighed when I pulled away heading for the door with a wicked grin. "Love you." I sang back to her.

"I love you to babygirl." She replied with a slightly dazed look.

We headed out the door ducking out of sight from neighbors who had started to begin their days until we got down to the waiting limo. "Does Leon know you snuck out last night?" I asked as we piled in. Each of the guys had their respective plates in hand, washed and dried.

"Yeah, he actually encouraged it. What was it he said?" Cam turned to Felix who sat across from us.

"Eh... team bonding?" Lance nodded his confirmation.

"Team bonding." Cam nodded his thanks. "That we feel the want or need to protect each other makes us stronger together." The limo took off taking the five of us to the compound.

"That makes sense."

"You seems to know stuff about things. How did the world come to be this way?" Toby asked eagerly. "Well... back in 2016 the U.S elected a president who was a racist, sexist, pig who cared nothing for anyone but himself. He stared World War three somehow, I'm not clear on the details, and built walls around every state forbidding travel between them. Umm... let's see bombs were launched, cities were toppled, millions died and nature was left to reclaim what it had lost to man and to heal. Those are the ruins. Some stories say that there are still people living out there in the ruins." Toby's eyes were wide with amazement.

"Wow..." I held up a hand indicating he wait and that I wasn't done.

"The council elected themselves to control what little civilization was left to "keep the peace" and prevent more war." I made finger quotes. "At first this was probably a good idea because everyone was sick of the fighting and the living in fear. But power corrupts and now we have a tyranny. Each of the council members controls one pocket of what has become of civilization. We happen to live in the heart of corruption. We need to give the power back to the people." I hadn't realized I was giving an activism speech until I got applause. "Uh... thanks?" Felix laughed and we all joined in.