Rise

Mission Log 7

I expected to be up in heaven. I expected to be walking the gold streets of heaven and looking down on my mother and siblings. But what I expected didn't become reality. Thirty minutes later, I woke up. My body lying still and stiff with pain. My vision is flooded with colors of vibrant red, purple, and blue. What is this? Am I even alive? My hands grasp the cool, hard metal floor underneath me. I feel my heart, just to see if I'm still alive. It beats, but something doesn't feel right. A hard, substance seems to be surrounding my heart. Several gaps exist between the substance. Is this bone? My fingers go back to my heart. Wait a minute! Reapers are said to have a bone heart. And this feels just like bone. Have I become... a Reaper?! But how? That's not possible! Unless...

"Now, there's always a chance that you'll survive. But that chance is very small." So I'm a Reaper. And somehow, tonight was my lucky night. Well, I'm alive at any rate. My body aches as my hands grasp the floor. I have to get up! A loud grunt comes out of my mouth. My body lifts up at a snail's speed. But after a few minutes of pain, I stand up. Sooo, where do I go? I can't go back to the elevator. And if I'm a Reaper, I can't wait for the Reaper Hunters. I have to keep going. I have to move out! I move outside of the large ominous room. A flood of light starts to seep my eyes. The vibrant red and white that coated my vision gave way to colors of grey, brown, and black. My vision's back to normal. That's good. A long pipe extends down the ever-narrowing hallway. It's tall; I could easily go through it. But when I emerge from the other side, I see a figure stand before me. His arms crossed, his expression a one of sunken despair, and his eyes pure red. His eyes settle on me. I could recognize him anywhere.

"You! What do you want? To finish the job?" Zaire stands before me. He shakes his head vehemently.

"Aiden always suspected your ability to bond with the Reaper virus. But I will admit, I didn't have very much confidence." I push past him, not bothering to listen to what he had to say.

"Look, child. The team wasn't what you thought it was." I stop. My body turns to face him.

"Save it! You betrayed us! Of course the team wasn't what I thought it was!" A tidal wave of anger washed through me. But Zaire didn't seem to be affected.

"Aneira, look, Margret was a traitor as well as I. She worked for the US government. She spied on us for months..."

"That doesn't matter! Why? What did you have to achieve by this?" Zaire began to look away. His eyes lowered to the ground.

"If I tell you... will you understand?" I nod and let him proceed. Zaire was an army veteran. He had worked in the army for about three years. He would have continued had he not sustained a serious injury. An injury that took his leg. Seeing the look of shock on my face, he told me he didn't know what exactly happened. But next thing he knew, his leg was gone.

"Yeah, my injury was so severe, I could never serve again. So, the military sent me home. Of course, I was honorably discharged. I was sent back home to New Haven. Where my story takes off..." Zaire couldn't find work. According to him, no one wanted to hire him.

"It's a shame when no one wants to hire a honorably discharged veteran. I tried everywhere, but no one wanted me. How truly shameful..." So, when offered a job as part of the newly formed Reaper Hunters, he couldn't refuse.

"When I was offered the job, I was ecstatic. But like you, I was a rookie. I didn't know what I was in for..." And that would be his downfall. Zaire went in with a team of seven. On this team were SWAT, himself, and a couple other Reaper Hunters. Among the Reaper Hunters was Margret.