We all stared blankly at Melody, as if she had two heads. Nobody said a word, fearful that whatever we'd say would make the situation worse. Finally, I was the first one to speak up.
"Are you out of your damn mind?!" I tell her, wondering what in the hell she was talking about.
"No, I'm perfectly sane," Melody answers calmly.
"I can't fight a war!" Calum complains, throwing his arms up in frustration. "I can barely get out of bed on time!"
"And I can't kill people!" Ashton chirps, looking like he might faint.
"Guys," she says, a little more sternly this time. "This was bound to happen, you all knew this. We have to fight for our right to live freely; if it could be done hundreds of years ago, it could be done today."
"We aren't even capable of holding a gun," Michael points out. "How do you even expect all of us to survive?"
"I'll train you," Melody reassures. "I'm experienced."
"Some of us are going to die," I said.
She looks at me in the eye. "That's the risk we're forced to take."
"We're not going to win," Michael shakes his head. "They have thousands of people by their side."
"And we have hundreds of people on ours," she replies. "Quality over quantity."
"But-" Luke began.
"No buts," she says. "Don't panic, guys, we will win. But with those attitudes of yours, we won't. I have a good method to win this."
"Oh yeah? And what method is that?" Calum asked.
"Gorilla warfare."
"Gorilla warfare?" Ashton repeats, bewildered.
"America used this method over Britain multiple times and won," Melody says. "I'm sure we can use this method over people who can barely survive a day without their cellphone."
We all keep quiet, unsure of what to say. I look around and see my parents with concerned expressions on their faces. Luke looks scared, Calum looks tired, Ashton looks confused, and Michael is looking at me. If there was a mirror I'd look at myself. These people are important to me. I want them to live. I want them to be safe. I want all of us to be free and happy.
I want to win.
"I'm in," I speak up, surprising Melody.
Michael stands next to me. "I'm in, too."
"I'm in," Ashton says, smiling at me.
"I guess I'm in as well," Calum grumbles, crossing his arms.
One after another, everyone agrees with Melody, who looks extremely pleased with herself and everybody else.
"Good," Melody said. "We'll train for one week and then we go."
-
The whole entire week consisted of Melody teaching us how to hold a gun and how to shoot it. We didn't use the weapons, though, not wanting to waste any bullets or explosives (or wanting to kill a person just yet). If we got hungry we smuggled food from above with Melody's help; rejected food that laid wasted in the garbage. It sounds disgusting but there was no other choice. We couldn't just starve.
Today we decided it was time our hardships were over. We wanted to live, not struggle to survive. So we suited up head to toe in armor that Melody had stolen and prepared ourselves with weapons.
