RIM OF THE WORLD | Gabriel

chapter five

"How is your watch still working at the pulse?" I heard ZhenZhen as Alex as we were biking. "It's not electronic, it's mechanical," Alex replied, showing his watch to ZhenZhen. The two continued to talk and I placed my chin on Gabriel's shoulder.

"How are you feeling?" I asked quietly, not wanting the others to hear our conversation. "I feel a lot better, thanks to you." He says, leaning back into me, making me hold onto him tighter. "Gabriel!" I squeal. But before I anything else can happen, three huge military trucks zoom past us, nearly hitting ZhenZhen and Alex.

I jumped off the bike and ran to them, "are you guys okay?" I asked. They nodded before we took off after the trucks. "HEY! HEY! HEY! HEY!" We screamed, taking off our helmets.

"Hey! Stay where you are. Do not move!" A voice boomed. I froze, dropping my helmet and putting my hands up. We're going to die, holy shit.

"Same side. Same side. Same side!" Alex repeated as the soldiers moved closer, guns pointed in our faces. "Kids! Kids!" A soldier yelled, lowering his gun. "You should've evacuated hours ago. We're at war." He said, walking closer to us.

Alex stumbled forward, hands still in the air. "Sir, we were in the mountains when the attacks started. C-can you tell us what's going on? How big is the attack?" Alex rambled before Dariush interrupted. "--did it reach the nation's finest Mercedes dealership?"

I looked at him with wide eyes, "are you fucking serious?" Dariush looked at us before continuing. "My dad owns it. I'm the future heir to that shit!"

"Shut up!" ZhenZhen snapped, glaring at him. The soldier shook his head, "all I can tell you is you are not safe here. Everyone on the bus right now. It'll take you to the evacuation center." I lowered my hands and took a deep breath. Stay calm, stay calm, stay calm.

"You okay?" Gabriel asked, taking my hand. I nodded, "I think so."

"Let's go!" The soldier yelled, beckoning us to follow. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait!" Dariush shouted as Alex ran up to the soldier, grabbing his uniform. "Hey wait!" The soldier turned around, shaking his arm from his grasp, "knock it off."

"Wait! Hey! Stop!" Gabriel yelled. "Just listen!" I shouted. The soldier stopped and sighed, turning to face us. "You need to take this key to Pasadena," Alex said, taking the key from around his neck and handing it to the soldier.

He looked at us with surprise. We probably look so stupid right now, five teenagers telling the military what to do. "Where'd you get this?" He asked, grabbing the key. "An astronaut from the space station gave it to us," ZhenZhen answered. "Yeah before she was eaten by an alien," I mumbled.

"She said we need to take it to JPL," Gabriel said, pointing at the key with his free hand. "What's on that key can stop the aliens." Dariush butt in. "You need to get that to JPL in Pasadena to a Dr. Fielding," I said, joining in on the conversation.

"We've been receiving Morse code from a Dr. Fielding at JPL all day." The soldier murmured, staring at the key. "Finding this key has been the primary objective. Thanks, kid. You may have just saved the world." He continued, looking at Alex.

He patted Alex on the shoulder, "we'll take it from here." He stepped back, "okay, we need to go. Move out. Now!" The soldier yelled as we all broke out into smiles.

"Holy shit! We did it!" I exclaimed, turning towards Gabriel and hugging him. "Yo, I am so happy I told y'all to go down the hill!" Dariush yelled and I looked at him and laughed, "oh shut up."

We followed the solider to the bus as the doors opened. "Great job, guys, you did it!" He congratulated, giving us each a high five as we entered the bus. I let go of Gabriel's hand as I high fived the soldier and waited on the bus steps for Gabriel.