I woke up to the sunrise warming my skin. I rubbed my eyes and sat up slowly, but winced as a stab of pain shot through my injured neck. I would have been concerned it was something serious if we didn't all have insane regenerative abilities. Just another bullet on our weirdo resumes. The pain should be gone tomorrow, or at most the day after. But my injury was instantly forgotten as I watched my first sunrise. Unlike the rainbow of hues in the sky the night before, the sky was painted a glorious orange, richer than any shade I had ever seen before. The clouds seemed to glow as if on fire. As time passed, the horizon became tinged with gold and the sky above faded to a deep crimson. Around me I heard yawns, stretches, and groans as the the rest of my squad slowly woke up to this beauty in the sky. As soon as the last of the color faded into brilliant blue, our half-asleep ears were blasted with a sudden wake-up call.
"Alright ladies, show's over!" shouted Agent Davids, a few of us almost falling out of the trees in surprise. He really needed to start giving some warning. "Up and at 'em, stop wasting time!" With more than a few grumbles, some more profane than others, we all got up and flung ourselves into the air. The sun blinded my sleepy eyes, and my flight path was merely a pattern of half-asleep dips and frantic wingbeats lifting me up again. Needless to say, I am not a morning person. Just as I start to doze of midair yet again, I heard wingbeats travel to my side.
"You want me to take the lead?" asked Asset 4 softly. I would be concerned about her trying to take my position if this wasn't Asset 4. She's so kind, she just does stuff like this without a second thought.
"No, n-" I started to protest, but I was interrupted by a yawn so large my wings stopped for a moment. After more frantic flapping, I heard Asset 4 giggle. Before I could come up with a witty remark, I was interrupted by- guess who?- Agent Davids.
"Alright, you lot should be approaching the mission site," he said. "Stay low, and set up camp in trees nearby. And not, may I add, on the treetops."
"Yeah, whatever, Agent Killjoy," I teased. But I obliged, taking another thrilling dive down to an elevation where my wingtips are just barely brushing the treetops. As Asset 24 reached my level, I heard her giggle behind me. The leaves did tickle my wings quite a bit. Before long, the mission site appeared before us.
It was a worn structure, brick walls riddled with cracks and holes. The tin roof was rusted and patchy, obviously having been repaired repeatedly. Above the whole thing rose a half-crumbled brick cylinder. It all looked rather sad, but that's why it was chosen as the rebel's base. Looked inconspicuous, and there's nothing around that I can see in any direction. Just a path made of grey rocks leading off into the woods. Before I could report to Agent Davids, a small band of people appeared on the trail. We folded in our wings instantly and dropped down into the foliage. The rough bark dug into my palms as I position myself to get a better view of the base. Within moments a small, chubbier woman in a white coat and a tall, muscular woman in a black tank top and cargo pants rushed out of the old building to meet them.
"Flora report?" said the white-coated woman excitedly to the light-haired man at the front of the group. In response, the man babbled off a load of sciency terms I didn't understand. While the woman replied with more science talk, I felt a gentle tug on my jumpsuit.
"Hey Asset 1?" whispered Asset 24, looking at me with those big, green eyes. "I really, uh, like the word Flora. Do you, er, think that, um, maybe that could be... be my new name?" I heard some more whispering and a bit of giggling behind me, but I ignored it.
"Sure," I replied with a smile, making Asset 24's- no, Flora's- face light up. After a few more minutes of science talk that a couple others take names from, the woman with the white coat notices a dark-haired man further back in the huddle and grins.
"Jamie!" she shouted, running toward him with her arms out.
"Hey!" he responded with a laugh, lifting her up and touching his face to hers. After a few seconds of lover talk, he put her down and rummaged through his bag for something. He pulled out a large white flower with a flourish. "A lily for my beautiful flower," he grinned, handing it over to the woman.
"Oh, Jamie, it's gorgeous!" she exclaimed, touching her face to his a second time. The muscular woman behind them rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue in mock disgust.
"I'm Lily," said Asset 4 with an air of finality.
"And I'm Jamie!" exclaimed Asset 14 a fraction of a second after. I noticed Asse- Lily's- eyes narrow a bit, but then her shoulders shifted in a subtle shrug. Back on the path, the tall woman stepped forward and struck up a conversation about the group's expedition that gave the rest of my squad names. Well, everyone except me. I had resigned myself to remain nameless for now until the tall woman started to hum.
"Whatcha hummin'?" asked the blond man leading the group. "Sorry I had to ask, I just couldn't make out a melody through all those flat notes."
"Melody..." I whispered to myself as the woman yelled at the blond to shut up. "Melody," I repeated louder. "My name is Melody."
"Alright," interrupted Agent Davids, an odd edge to his tone. Well, his tone always has an edge, but this one felt strangely different. Was it suspicion? Surely not, all we did was name ourselves. I brush aside the thought as he continues. "Enough sappiness. Time to head in there and take them all out." I began to stand up, but sank back down as my injured neck spasmed painfully.
"I've got a mild injury," I reported. "I think it would be better to wait at least a day."
"How bad is it?" he demanded, no trace of sympathy in his voice. I did a quick body scan and notice a few torn ligaments.
"Torn ligaments, it should be healed by tomorrow."
"And how exactly did you get that injury, Asset 1?"
"Um..." I racked my brain for a possible explanation besides the lake. If he knew that the mission was delayed a second time because of that break in protocol, we would never be allowed to have fun again.
"Remember, Melody?" Lily began, giving my a sly wink. "You took off too fast this morning, it gave you some whiplash. It wasn't too severe, Agent Davids, it should be healed in the morning." I flashed her a sheepish grin, and she responded with a smirk and a thumbs up.
"...Alright," he growled, convinced. "Just make sure she sleeps with her neck in a safe position."
"Yes, sir."
"You lot!" he shouted. This sudden change in pitch left us all less surprised than before. I guess we're adjusting to his explosive nature. "Stay in position, watch the building for any suspicious activity. We attack in the morning."
I heard a couple more "Yes, sir"s from my team, and the transmission static cut out. We didn't move from our perches all day, only half-watching the building. We spent a bit talking strategy and going over battle moves, but after that was done we moved on to casual conversation, using our new names so much we'd already almost worn them out. We watched the sunset and stars through the patchy treetops from our branches below, eventually falling asleep down there. We don't want to push our limits any more than we already have.
YOU ARE READING
The Indestructibles
Science Fiction*NOTE: This story contains a homosexual relationship* ~~~ "We were made to be untouchable. Now we're dying. And I'm going to find out why." Melody and 24 others were made in a lab to be supersoldiers. Fighting or fleeing, they were built to be perfe...
