Underground

49

Estelle
I drop my phone on the floor in shock, the sound of it bouncing off the floor filling the silent house.
"Stefan..." August's eyes widen in both fear and shock. "Stefan's dead!"
Ned runs in the house, breathless. "Did you hear?"
I nod. "We did."
"Stefan." August repeats. "Ned, Stefan's dead."
"Yeah, I know. That was the first bloke I thought about." Ned says. His Irish accent was more clear in this drastic situation.
September walks down the stairs, confused. "Why's Ned here?"
"South-side was bombed!" Ned yells, running a hand through his hair.
"What?" September asks, his eyes widening. "My friends from school!"
"Everyone else that didn't have the brains to leave died!" I say. "We're ending lives!"
Annaliesee was the second one walk in, tears running down her face. "Did you hear?"
"I did." I say, walking over and hugging her.
She sobs into my shoulder. "My classmates, my professors, my friends!" She says between sobs.
I hold the younger girl, our sister agreement worked, Annaliesee and me had become as close as we wanted to be.
Leeciy come in next, Cirus on his back. "That was an offensive move."
"I know." I say. "That's the start."
"How do we get back?" He wonders aloud.
Annaliesee steps out of my arms and wipes her tears. "Remember that one time you hacked the government?"
He nods.
"We could hack them again and broadcast some type of message." She continues.
"Like propaganda?" Ned asks.
"Who would be our face?" I ask.
"Estelle, they're going after one person." September says. "That was probably their plan B."
"Who?" I ask.
August pipes up. "E, they were going after you."
"Oh my god." I say.
"Did anyone bring a camera?" Leeciy asks.
Ned raises a hand. "I was going to get some sweet pictures of the scenery."
"Can we use your camera for video purposes?" Leeciy asks.
Ned nods. Let's do this.
***
I stand in the old school, my hair done and in a tight-fitting full-body leather leotard that Annaliesee was coincidentally working on.
On the board I would be filming in front of was written on.
'RIP South-side, Oregon'
Annaliesee found flashlights, which they would shine on my face and the board.
Ned sets up the camera on a makeshift tripod, which in reality was a bunch of history books.
He signals my start.
"Hello, citizens of America." I say. "You might have heard of me, commonly referred to as 'Underground Girl.'" I say the last part while doing air quotes. "Anyway, you've probably heard of the bombing of South-side, Oregon, which is being covered up with a failed experiment at South-side Labs. Which is, as I said, a cover up, the US government is looking for me and my group of Underground People, and decided to bomb South-side Oregon, killing tons of people. We were staying there, but we just left." I say, smirking. "This is my way of telling whoever recklessly decided to bomb that city, that I am still alive and still breathing." I take a deep breath before saying. "We accept the send for a war, see you on the battlefield."
The flashlight click off and Ned stops the camera.
I lean against the chalkboard and bury my face in my hands.
"Are you okay?" August asks.
"I'm killing innocent people." I say. "These people shouldn't be dying."
"You're not killing them, the government is." He says.
Annaliesee places a hand on my shoulder. "Besides, this will expose them."
"Maybe it will, maybe it won't, but it will definitely start a war." I say. "I need some air."
***
Four hours later and I'm in bed, desperately trying to get to sleep.
Luca's worried, no doubt.
I screw my eyes shut, laying as still as possible.
At last, I slip into a restless sleep.
Everything is black, that's all I see.
"Estelle!?" An exasperated voice calls. "Estelle please!"
Luca.
"Tell me you didn't die!" He yells.
My eyes widen. "Luca!" I turn, looking around for him.
"Estelle?" His voice was puzzled now.
"I'm here! Where are you!?" I yell, my voice breaking.
He runs toward me, enveloping me into a tight hug. "I thought you were dead!"
"I'm not dead, I'm okay." I say.
He holds me tighter. "Where are you, like in real life?"
"Willowdale, Montana." I say. "I was going to tell you last night or the night before, I just didn't have time."
He sighs. "Okay, you're safe."
"You're safe too, right?" I ask.
He nods. "You're near me."
"I know, I was going to tell you to find me and I didn't have time." I say.
He pulls away, holding me at arms length. "There were no survivors."
"I kinda guessed that." I say, biting my lip.
"You survived."
"I escaped before they bombed." I say.
He falls to his knees and laughs. "I worried over nothing!"
"Yes, you did." I say.
"I want to wake up." He says. "Snap my neck."
"No!" I say. "Luca, I'm not killing you."
"Fine, then we're just going to have to wait!" He says, throwing his hands in the air.
I laugh. "At least we're not alone."
***
August turns his hotspot on so Leeciy can hack into the government.
"How's the video?" I ask.
Leeciy shrugs. "It's good."
Cirus looks over at me. "Smart."
"Thank you." I smile. "You're smart too."
She sighs and points at the screen. "Smart."
"The video is smart?" I ask.
She nods.
"C'mon Cirus, you speak full sentences to me." Leeciy says.
"I'm sorry." She says.
"Don't apologize, it's okay to be shy." I say, patting her head.
"Uploading now." Leeciy says.
I nod.
"Broadcasting." Leeciy stand up and stretches.
"Luca's coming today." I say.
August nods. "Cool, I'm going to go and wake September." He walks up the stairs.
"Hey, Estelle?" Leeciy says.
I turn to look at him. "Yeah?"
"Keep your calm, everybody's on edge and you and I panicking is only going to start a domino effect."