The Youth Division

Chapter 5

5.

When I woke up, my vision was blurry, and my head hurt. Like, a lot. The first thing that popped into my head was Pyra. Oh, god why? I killed her, if I had listened, if only I had... "Rise and shine, Josh." The team was sitting by my bed. The entire team. Including Pyra?! She sat at the end of my bed, and smiled. But...she didn't say anything. Mira broke the silence. "Hey, sleeping beauty. If you're confused to see Pyra alive, you should be. It's a miracle she's alive."

Pyra looked down. I could see the scar on her neck. How horrible. A constant reminder of what I did to her. "And Josh, I got good news and bad news. What do you want to hear first?"

I sighed. My speaking was very rash, as if I had a cold. "May as well pile on to the bad news."

"Your right arm and left leg are disabled. You can no longer move them."

My eyes widened. I'll never go into the field again. I'll never avenge Pyra. "Want to hear the good news?"

"That would be really nice."

"You know that shipment? Yeah, it was filled with prosthetic limbs. AUGMENTED limbs! We can replace your other limbs with them!"

I was happy to hear that. It may take a long time, but I think it's a second chance. A second chance to kill Viktoria. I look to Pyra. "Pyra, I'm so sorry. It's...all my fault...I can't imagine what you're dealing with." She got up and sat beside me. She mouthed 'It's not your fault'. Why doesn't she just...oh no. OH NO. I looked to Jason. He shook his head.

Pyra can't talk.

I looked down at my hand. She mouthed again. 'It's not your fault'. "Stop. Pyra, this is my..."

'It. Is. Not. Your. Fault'

'It's not your fault'

'It's not your fault'

She slowly got closer to me and our foreheads touched. I cried. I cried not because I did this. Not because of what I could have done. It's because of what I couldn't do. I placed my hand on the back of her head and said. "I'm so sorry!"

A little voice got out this time.

"It's.....n...not...your...fault."

***---__+__---***

When Mira and I reached the crate, we looked inside. Hundreds of arms and legs. Some were in special containers which read 'WARNING! HIGHLY EXPERIMENTAL!' In English and German. The black one caught my attention. I read the label. 'GENOS-5 SERIES'. That sounds badass. "Mira, get the one in the black case."

She pulled it out and we looked inside. Black metal made the arm look menacing. It had orange LED's and it was a full set, with a replacement for each limb, and enhancements for all limbs and the chest and eye, which came in the form of contacts. "Is this the one you want Josh? It's the strongest here...and the hardest to install..."

I looked back in my mind. Viktoria ran away with a purple one, which was one of the best from the shipment. I think. She stopped to choose, so it must be powerful. I need to match or better Viktoria. "I need this to beat Viktoria. I need this for Pyra."

"Josh, I admire your courage, but this is high tech shit. This, if done wrong, can kill you!"

"Then don't mess up."

Mira smiled. "That's not in my vocabulary." I wheel-chaired my way out of the complex. I struggled with that, so Mira pushed me. Oh god, wheelchairs suck.