Rebellion

Doing It Again

You patrolled the halls, rifle on your back, pistol in it's holster on one hip, and a knife in a sheath on the other. You held a clipboard in your hand and checked off the rooms you had been checking, just so that the boss knew that someone had been there. 

After not sleeping well last night, you were glad to be inside tonight. It was usually quieter inside. As you entered one room, you thought you saw movement. You shone your flashlight in that direction. Seeing nothing, you decided to move on, but you would be back.  

You're being ridiculous, you thought to yourself. 

It was just because of what happened last night that you were suspicious. There was no one there. No one would be able to get inside the building without getting caught.

Jack couldn't believe that he hadn't been caught. He let out a breath and poked his head up over the desk. He couldn't believe that the guard had completely missed him. He cautiously got up and moved toward the door.

At the sound of another guard, he plastered himself against the wall. Two guards walked by this time, chatting with each other. As soon as they passed, Jack took off out the door. He had found a map for the building, and now he knew where he was going.

Dodging the guards was probably the most difficult thing. Lucky for him, he quickly found the room he was looking for with no more issues. 

There was a large digital map of the city in the middle of the room. Jack wasn't sure what it was, but he logged into the computer anyway. Anti was so stupid, at least, that's what Jack thought. He had written the password on the map.

Once in the computer, Jack saw a file marked, "Locations." He clicked it, and another few options appeared. He could pick between "Dead Leads" and "Possibilities". He clicked "Dead Leads" first.

Almost immediately, the map lit up with different red x's. They were marked on different buildings and parts of the ground. One of the x's had a side note: "Previously occupied; empty before invasion."  Upon closer inspection, Jack noticed that location was their last hideout. That's when he realized--they were looking for them. They were trying to find their headquarters.

Jack quickly clicked on "Possibilities." The map lit green circles on the locations that were possible hideouts. To Jack's relief, their real HQ wasn't circled, but they were getting close. He probably shouldn't mess with it, but barely thinking, Jack wiped the entire file, and watched the circles disappear from the map. 

Well, that answered his question. They were starting to expand their search. In an effort to buy some more time, Jack also erased the places that they had found. He quickly searched the filing cabinets for a hard copy of what he had just seen. Within minutes, he had found it, but it hadn't been updated. That was fine; he could remember what he had seen.

Suddenly, the door flew open. "Hey!"

The rebel stood there, and raised his arms in defense. You stayed there, and pointed your gun at him. He was a total clone of Anti, though you weren't actually sure who the real one was. Anti said he was the original, but you knew they were liars, so you actually didn't know. All you knew was his name was Jack.

"Don't move," you ordered. You weren't letting him go this time.

"Look, I'm just here to make things better," he said, "for all of us."

"Shut up!" you yelled. 

You hated that your voice shook. You could feel yourself barely keeping aim. But you weren't going to do this again.

"Hey, I can tell you're not doing this by choice," Jack said. He started lowering his hands. "But you don't have to."

He started inching toward you and the door.

"I will shoot you!" you threatened. 

"So, why haven't you?" Jack asked, still moving. "Anti wants us alive. You know that. On top of that, you don't want to."

You cocked your gun, and he stopped. You stared him down, but said nothing.

"You don't have a choice, do you?" he asked.

"Let's go," you said, stepping toward him.

"No, wait," Jack said. "There are other options. You don't have to live like this."

You stared at him. What if he was right? Suddenly deciding to seize the opportunity, Jack bolted for the door.

"Hey!" You yelled again, and took off after him. "Jack!"

He hadn't gotten too far. He paused at the corner,  and glanced down the corridor. He looked back at you as you approached. 

"Listen, come with me."

You froze. "What?"

"You'll never amount to anything from here, you'll only learn to do what they tell you," Jack argued. He stepped toward you. "If you you help me, then maybe we can stop this whole thing."

Footsteps thumped toward you from around the corner.

"Our hideout is at the edge of the city," Jack said. "If you ever decide to leave here, come join us."

He took off again, and you just stood there, unaware of what had just happened. Instead of following him, you turned and watched as he disappeared down the hall. Were you right to let him go? Did he really want you to join them?

Suddenly, you heard something behind you. Footsteps that were slowing down. You turned and saw two of the other guards that were on duty tonight, Tyler and Ethan. And they did not look happy.