OVERRIDE

Chapter 4 Blue Skies Maybe and Blue Eyed Babies

"Jordan!" screamed commander James, one of the original founders of me. "What took you so long?"

I was out by a small water fountain, when I met my troupe. There were 60 of us in total, and 150 troupes in all. That makes a whole 9,000 person unit in Old D.C.

"Sorry," I said, pulling out my small shotgun. Today, since I was sick, I didn't really feel like handling a rifle.

"What's a matter with 'ya?" James asked, seeing my drooping face.

"Woke up with a bug," I said. "mom thinks I have a virus."

James sniffed his nose, then turned around to face the school, not caring about my bug since he and I both knew that it would be cured with a little programming.

"Stevens wants us to fire at the school today." He said.

The school?! No! Not where Lia-

"Guns up!" he cried, and all 60 of us men instinctively held up our guns at the same time.

"Fire in 10-"

No, I thought, I can't fire at the school! Lia's in there! The world just seemed to be full of cruelty.

"5-"

I honestly never felt so...pulled by another person. I couldn't describe the feeling. I felt warm and happy when I was around her, and I felt a certain urge to protect her. I couldn't really explain it. One thing's for sure, it felt awesome.

"FIRE!"

I was shaken back to a terrible reality by the loud gun noises.

"Please." I prayed, holding up my gun. I tilted the nose of it straight up to the sky.

I released the latch, and stared as the bullet went straight up into the dark sky.

Was there a blue sky beyond those clouds? I wondered. I've always been told there was a beautiful bright blue sky beyond these gray clouds in some of the farther, more peaceful provinces. Could it be true?

I want to see one. I thought. I won't believe it until I see it.

"Alright! Let's move!" said James. "Let's start the rounds!"

I quietly shuffled my feet across the barren street, with the other 59 men doing the same. The guy next to me had a scowl on his face, and the one behind me hadn't bothered to clean himself in a while.

There is no more good left in this world. I thought. It's all about scaring people to death. Fear is a power.

I looked at all the shop windows that had been set on fire. People were screaming. It was against our code to shoot them, but still, they didn't know that.

I saw one mother lay her child on the ground and give him a kiss. She then wiped her tearing up eyes, and made a run for it.

"Wait!" I called, pushing my way through the crowd of men. "Wait! You left your-"

Suddenly, it hit me. She purposely left her child. She couldn't take care of it anymore.

When I reached the crying kid, I bent down and scooped him up. He looked about two or three, he could walk, but barely. He was crying like there was no tomorrow. I needed to get him to safety.

I'll take him, I thought, however, one of our slogans in the military is 'No Mercy'.

Anyway, I wrapped my blue blazer around him, keeping his blue eyes and blonde hair sticking out, and ran, unsure of where I was going.