The Phoenix Project

She's got a gun.

Sky opens the door for me and I walk out on the dark street. The street is lines with shops and restaurants. Skyscrapers soar high, people are walking around talking laughing or not talking at all. Me and Sky walk side by side down the road to our meeting spot. There are officers walking on the street with their wives on their arms looking all high and mighty. Walking around and looking I see that Rayal isn't so bad. It has southern twang but city lifestyle, and I like that. Rayal is what we call Nashville now. Nashville was a city in Tennessee before Emperor Lakeless took over. Now it's just Rayal. Sky takes my hand and whispers, "I feel like we are goin' to get attacked." I squeeze his hand. We walk down the street and find the alley we are meeting our weapons suppliers. I duck in to the alley after checking to see if any officers were around. Sky follows.

"Man I thought y'all would never come!" says a voice from the shadows of the alley. "Well we're here." I say. That came out a little harsher then I meant it to be. The body from which the voice came appears from the shadows. He has a small build. He doesn't look more then 15. "Were is the stuff man?" asks Sky. The boy pulls a case from behind a dumpster. I reach for the case but he pulls away. "I need your names." He says. "Lin, and Sky." The boy reluctantly gives us the weapons. We leave without another word.

Sky opens the weapons case and gasps. The case is full of guns and knives. I pull a pistol out of the case and hold it. Its fits me perfectly. "Hey its 12 I think we should go to bed. Gotta be ready for tomorrow" Sky says. I agree and begin to get ready for bed. I go in to the all-white bathroom and take of my wig and make up. I brush my teeth and put on some sweatpants and an old t-shirt. I walk out of the bathroom and Sky is sitting up in bed. The TV is in the news, which tells us nothing except how we are doing so great in war that we are obviously losing. I climb in to bed and pull the cover around me. Sky starts to pull his shirt off and I tense. He looks over and says, "Oh... um sorry..."

"No, no its fine." I assure him. Even though I feel very awkward.

"Are you sure? 'cause I don't want to make stuff-"

I cut him off, "No it's ok."

He pulls his shirt off and I get a glimpse of his muscular lean body before he slides down into the sheets. He looks at me from the other bed. "I'm so not ready." He says, his voice is sleepy and scratchy, and very attractive.

"Neither am I. And I've been doin' this for a year. Doesn't get easier."

"Do you think we are gonna die?"

The question hit me like a truck. So unexpected and blunt.

I decide to be truthful, "We might."

There's a long silence. Then I tell him goodnight and turn out the lights.

***

The next morning I am the first to wake. I look at the rectangular piece of glass that is my cell phone. It says its four am. We don't have long before people will be down in the lobby. I crawl out of bed and walk over to were Sky is sleeping. I stand over him and just watch him. Yep this is kind of creepy. But I watch his slow breathing, and calm expression. I look at the time on my phone again. Two minutes after four. I lightly touch his shoulder, and whisper, "Hey it's time to get ready.". He doesn't move. I try again, saying it a little louder. Nothing. Finally I go to the last resort. I yank the covers off of him. Exposing his bare chest and pajama clad legs. His eyes open. "What the hell was that for?" He asks, clearly annoyed with me. He sits up.