Journey

Elijah

One question how am I supposed to fight the Brights in this armor? It is supposed to protect me from dying and stuff. I guess that's nice but how am I supposed to not die if they throw a grenade at me and I can't get out of the way of the explosion. This wasn't thought out very well. One advantage we have though is that if we jump on top of them we might be able to smash them with all the armor we are wearing.

Lorelei has to go through gun shooting 101 again. I guess she didn't pass the first time. So I'm just sweating my head off in this freaking armor Kourtni insisted we wear.

I don't know what to do in the 30 minutes we have before we have to go outside so I go and see Lorelei training. She is training with a young adult wearing some sort of gloves that she kicks. Lorelei is still as gorgeous as she was the day I met her and now she looks deadly. It is a breathtaking combination.

"I might have to start calling you deadly nightshade," I tell her.

She looks over at me and smirks.

"Bet I could take you." She tells me.

A defiant smile appears on her face.

"Right here right now," I say returning the smile.

We battle it out. I'm sure we both look ridiculous with our armor on but I am having to much fun. Finally we both fall to the floor.

We both burst out laughing.

"Oh boy. If we are considered the young and able than this militia is in trouble," Lorelei says laughing.

Of course that only made us laugh even harder.

"Lorelei. Elijah. What are you doing here? You are supposed to be getting ready," Stefin tells us.

We jump up. We sprint from the room to the lines where they are heading out to the outside. Lorelei isn't in my line anymore. There is about six people left in the line I'm in. We blend into the darkness. I squat in a burnt high rise. We have our guns trained into the street. We sit in the darkness for thirty minutes. Long enough for the rest of the troops to pour into the abandoned buildings.

The night is deadly still. It's almost like an omen warning us of disaster coming soon. A sudden burst of wind almost blows me off my feet. The light from the dim stars seems to be darkening. I know it's just my senses going haywire from anxiety but it feels weird to be out here.

"Anyone else feel cold?" One of the members of my squad asks.

Cold? How is he cold? We are in these suits.

"How are you cold? I'm sweating bullets," Another says.

I look up at the sky. It is filled to brim with stars and large planets. They provide a light that fills the sky. It isn't bright outside but it's like how my room looked when it was rainy and the curtains weren't drawn. It was kind of pretty.

I laugh to myself. How in the world am I thinking the sky is pretty when I might be dead in a few hours?

My com goes off. We turned in our coms when we got here so they could modify them to get the all calls. I didn't think they were necessary until now. I guess I didn't see how important they were in the field.

All I hear at first is static.

"The vehicles are approaching," The voice tells us.

My heart leaps. We are going to actually see the brights. My stomach churns and I feel a wave of vertigo come over me. I sway a little.

"It's going to be okay," Says one of the men.

"Yeah, we have the element of surprise and cover," He tells us.

We all mutter agreements. Sitting in the quiet of the night is really getting on our nerves. Our coms go off. We all jump and I almost fire my gun that I have on my side.

"Lorelei!" One voice shouts.

"Commander get back to your post!" Another yells.

"Shoot her legs," A third voice says.

"No," I yell into my com.

A few gun fires go off.

"Stop," I try again.

I sink to my knees. Lorelei got shot. By her own people. I tried to tell her to obey the captains.

"Hey Elijah."A voice says on my com.

"Lorelei?" I ask.

"Yes. I escaped the gun fire. Get your command to not shoot. I can't explain right now but look at the vehicles they are coming in," She tells me.

I turn my eyes to the streets. The first vehicles are coming down the road. My men are about to shoot when I hold up my hand to stop them.

"Hold it," I tell them.

I study the vehicle closely. It is almost too dark to make out any details. The cars look boxy. Not exactly what I expected. Then I see it. The symbol Lorelei hoped I'd see.

"Don't shoot," I yell to my men.

I rush down the stairs to the streets.

"What is he doing?" Someone asks.

They back away from me.

"Someone shoot this fool!" Someone yelled.

No one shot me. I guess they didn't have the heart to shoot a child.

A voice comes on my com.

"Go towards the vehicle Eli," Lorelei tells me.

I do as she says and see the people inside. It's the other colony.