The Program [COMPLETED]

Chapter Twelve

After a while of walking, Aiden and his group fell upon a large building that was streaked black with smoke. It once stood proud and ornately, but it was now reduced to practically a skeleton. The building had tinted glass paneled windows and was made mostly of smooth cement. It looked for the most part, uninhabited, but Aiden didn't plan on leaving anything untouched. The building appeared to be about three or four levels tall, and was set up similarly to that of an office. To Aiden, the structure looked a lot like an Official Outpost, most likely decommissioned years ago. Aiden supposed the office setup made sense, considering that Official Outposts were meant to house records of incidents all over Second Unit's sector. Of course there would be Officials working inside it, operating at desks and managing case documents.

"It's an old Official Outpost," Aiden assessed.

"Fairly new," Virgil added. "Twenty, maybe thirty years old or so. Looks like an electrical explosion is what's caused all the damage. This looks like an Official Outpost."

Roman nodded. "It's been abandoned for years. Occasionally you'd get some of the poor or homeless making little colonies in here, trying to make it by on the streets. They never last long. The Crime Officials sweep the area, and they arrest them. Kind of sad, really."

Aiden furrowed his brow. He hadn't heard that arresting the homeless was even possible for Crime Officials. Surely this wasn't routine? Exceptions must have been made.

Zariah tilted her head, analyzing the structure. Aiden had learned well by know that Zariah could assess incoming threats better than anybody he knew. If her actions back in Abree City weren't proof enough for that, then Aiden didn't know what was.

"It looks safe enough," Zariah concluded. Farley crossed his arms, and Jace and Darius readied their weapons for safeguard. They looked at the building warily.

"Whoa, whoa," Roman glanced at the soldiers. "If you find anyone in there, it's going to be a civilian. What kind of threats do you think you're dealing with?"

"There are cartels everywhere around the cities," Virgil said. "We bring our firearms as a precaution. The air strike was assembled so that the cities infiltrated by a cartel known as Phantom could be cleansed of the threat. Trust me, this kind of stuff happens more often than you think."

"Alright, well, I'm coming with you," Roman replied. Farley shook his head.

"Roman, we can't ask you to enter that building. It's unfit for a civilian. Besides, you have no protective gear or body armor whatsoever," Farley pointed out.

Roman scoffed, his lips curling upwards in what could have been offense or an amused smirk. "You never asked, I decided for myself. I'm going in there with you, Lieutenant. Besides, you're letting this kid go in there with you, but not me?" Roman gestured to Darius, who shifted uncomfortably and looked down at the gritty street.

"Private Alton is a qualified soldier of the Program," Aiden reminded him. "You're a civilian."

Even as he said it, Aiden knew that Roman wasn't just any civilian. The young man had lean muscles, despite his meager appearance, toned from life on the streets and from working in factories and power plants. Aiden was sure that the man could fight, better than majority of average civilians, and was remarkably bright. Aiden wondered why Roman hadn't been inducted into the Program from the start. Perhaps under different circumstances, he could've gotten to know this young man as a soldier. Then again, it wasn't up to him. The Observers were responsible for soldier induction. It was the purpose of the Test, after all, and Aiden had been hand picked by them for showing remarkable skill in all aspects of intellect and physical attributes from a young age.