Helpless [Book 2]

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➟ sam
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(VMC)

"C'mon, we can't just sit here. We got the door, let's go," Kyle said, offering a sad smile at Hazzy.

"Yeah, yeah, we're coming," Jack said. "You good, Hazz?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine. Now uh," she said, pulling herself up, "who's ready to kick some robot ass?" I smiled as a few whoops and hollers filled the room. Zane was the first to bound up the steps, followed by Ly, Kyle, and Tommy. I hung back with Jack and Hazzy for a minute.

"That was a pretty clever trick you made up there," I said to Jack. She didn't respond, but rather shook her head.

"Yeah, I guess," she said, walking up the stairs ahead of me. I gave Hazzy a sympathetic gaze, but she, too, walked defiantly ahead. I looked around the empty training room.

"Alright, sure," I muttered to myself, "fight some robots, save some people, get out alive. No big deal, right?"

It sure as hell was a big deal.

Up the steps, the light was almost blinding, as compared to the darkness of the basement. Screams echoed around us, and green jBot bullets whizzed through the air. It was chaos. Elements scattered in all directions, bleeding blatant red as far as the eye could see. I grabbed on to the nearest person to me, who happened to be Hazzy. "Oh my god," I whispered. I could feel my heartbeat in my chest. This place was my home of the past- what is it, three years now? To see kids I once knew being torn apart by these terrible robot things... It was horrifying.

I saw Piers through the carnage, dodging bullets and grabbing children. A little girl, a little boy, small children that were completely innocent. "Alliot!" I heard someone else call. I turned to see Super, fists clenched against his chair. "Alliot, please. Save as many as you can. SOSA has been compromised."

"What? You're leaving?" Jack said, looking over at Super. "After all this? After all the things you've worked for?" With that, I realized how important this school was for Jack, for Tommy, for Nia. The look on her face said it all. I'd lived here a couple of years and it was my home. For these people, who knew little outside the walls, it was so much more than that. This place was a godsend.

"Jocelyn, one day you will understand. But for now, this place is just a building. A building with stories, history, and memories, but a building nevertheless. The people inside it, however, are cherished. They are the ones with the memories. They are the ones with the history, with the stories. If you really want SOSA to live on, it lives on within the people. Now go. For me, Alliot. For the people. Save SOSA."

That was all we needed to hear.

"Sam, Hazzy, Ly. You three work on getting kids out of here. Kyle, Jack, Tommy, and I will work on beating the jBots," Zane said, controlling the situation.

"Why do I have to save kids, I want some robot action," Ly whined, and Zane shot her a look.

"Because I'm the leader. Also because your powers make you pretty great at saving people," Zane added the later part as an afterthought. "Now go, come on. You heard the man. This school needs saving."

We split off, each running individually with our separate goals in mind. The hallways were so crowded and messy it was hard to think. I grabbed a tall brown haired teenager by her shoulder, watching as she shimmered into invisibility. "Don't let go. Carry as many smaller kids as you can and don't let go," I instructed her, pulling a nine or ten-year-old up into my other hand. He, too, fizzled into invisibility. The teenager grabbed another boy, and the four of us moved in a strange cluster to the school's front lawn. I set down the child and released the girl's shoulder, and we all faded back into color.

"That's so cool!" the kid said, looking up at me with wide eyes. "Can we do that again?"

"Maybe some other time," I said, my own eyes darting to SOSA. "I have to go now, sorry." The boy nodded sadly, and I looked up at the teenager. She nodded in understanding, gesturing to the building.

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" I nodded back at her. With that, I turned on my heel, running back into the confusion.

I had seen some wounded, but no one appeared to be dying. That was a relief.

Hazzy was floating kids above the jBot's reach, and Ly had managed to rope a few with her vines. I plowed past them, into the other realms of the school. Students and staff alike screamed as the bullets fired. "Mister? Mister!" Someone called, tugging at my pant leg. I looked down, seeing a little girl, no older than ten. She had her hand pressed to her stomach. Her hair was in two French braids, and she wore a red collared dress. Her eyes looked up at me, wishing, hoping. There was so much hope in those eyes. So much hope, and so much more fear. "Mister, I'm hurt," she said. She moved her hand to reveal a gaping wound, red, oozing.

Any relief I'd felt earlier was gone. "Oh my god," I said, panic taking over. "Oh, my god. Okay, um... we need to get you a doctor. We need to get you-"

"Mister, it's okay. I understand I only have a little time left," she said, a smile on her face. "But I want you to take care of my sister," she said. "Her name is Alice and I love her."

"Oh my god," I said, falling to my knees in front of the girl. She took a step further, pulling me into a hug.

"Thank you, mister," she said. It was only a couple of seconds before I felt her slump forwards.

The first casualty of the war.

A little girl no older than ten.

That was when it began.

Blood stained my worn out t-shirt as I marched down the halls. My fists were clenched. My face was stoic. My eyes were keen for a girl named Alice. Flashes of green made it difficult to see. In the disarray someone jumped onto my back, sending me stumbling. I grabbed another girl by her braids and made a dash outside. If I had been on the second floor, if I had been somewhere higher or without doors... that would have sucked.

I dropped the girls on the front lawn, my eyes screaming apologies as I ran back inside. It was a cycle- save someone, see someone else die. It felt never-ending. I needed to find Alice.

I just hoped Ly and Hazzy were having better luck than I was. It was near impossible to carry more than four elements outside with me and to think, the entire school was relying on us. It was almost terrifying. Everywhere I went, everywhere I saw people screaming, falling, dying. It was horrible. And part of it was on me.

A weird sensation was taking over me. A brief moment of doubt, of fear, of insanity.

It was gone before I knew what hit me.

I spotted a girl who looked a lot like Ann and pulled her to the side. She wore twin French braids with a blue collared dress. "Are you Alice?" I shouted over the noise. She nodded. Her eyes bulged and her hands shook. She looked so scared in that moment.

"Have you seen my sister?" She asked me. I felt my hands start to shake, too. I swallowed the lump in my throat. "Did you hear me?" She said, speaking louder. "I asked you if you've seen my sister!"

"Yes," I said, taking the girl's hand. "Yes, I have. Alice, we need to get out of here. I know a place where you'll be safe, but I need to go back inside."

"Will you find my sister?" She asked. "Will you find Ann?" My heart was beating harder than it had all day.

"No. No, I won't," I said, pulling her along. She resisted, and I took a shaky breath.

"I'm not leaving until we find my sister," she said. I wasn't going to cry. I wasn't going to cry.

"Alice, there's something I need to tell you. Your sister, she didn't make it. I'm sorry." I was going to cry. The little girl's eyes, too,  brimmed with tears and I picked her up, carrying her out through the building. Bursts of fire and bullets exploded in the background, and I flinched. I felt like I was carrying the blame. The weight on my shoulders was overwhelming. If I was in her shoes, if lost someone I cared about... I don't know what I would do.

"Sir," she cried as I set her down. "She can't be gone. She just can't. I loved her. I loved her."

This little girl was no older than ten.

This marked war.