Flashf0rward

Chapter 5: Our Only Hope

Ivy

At first, all I heard was static, then a message slowly faded in. "If there's anyone out there, I'm broadcasting from 47.6062° N, 122.3321° W. I am alone, uninfected, and in a safe area. I need immediate rescue from my coordinates. If there is anyone on this channel who can hear this, please acknowledge this transmission. I will be waiting on the top of the Space Needle when the sun is at the highest point in the sky every day."

Looking at Julie, my eyes were wide, and she nodded. Pulling the headphones off, I spoke. "It's a girl." Julie nodded. "I know, but we don't have any way of transmitting back to her. The mics on this thing were damaged in the attack on Reservoir, and we don't have the parts to fix them. But we know where she is, and where she'll be. She's back in Seattle."

I sat down in the chair beside her in disbelief. "How long has she been there? We must have missed her when we travelled there." Getting up from my chair, I looked at Julie. "Keep that signal locked. I'm gonna go gather everybody. They need to hear this." Nodding, Julie pinned down the signal while I rushed out the front door.

A few minutes later, Wren, Sparrow, and Jude were gathered around the front of the radio, listening into the repeating message. Wren finally put down the headphones and looked at Julie. "How long has this been repeating for?" Julie shrugged. "Not sure. This is the first time I've ever picked up on it." Sighing, Wren looked at Jude. "If she's where she says she is, then maybe there were more people in Seattle than we thought."

Jude shrugged. "We were low on personnel when we did our search of the city. It is possible we could have missed a few hideouts." Sparrow looked at Wren. "The city's big, too big even for me. I could do a sweep of the city, but it would take too long, and I could miss even more." Wren shook his head. "No, I think going back is out of the question."

I looked at Wren, frowning. "Wait, what? You're not even going to check this thing out? What if this person is just the first of many that are trapped in the city?" Wren turned to look at me and sighed. "Ivy, I know that rescuing people has always been our top priority, but with the weather warming up, the morphs are going to be more active than ever. We need all the security we can get. Whoever this mystery broadcaster is, she only seems to be one person. I'm sorry, but we can't go after her."

Crossing my arms, I walked up to him. "So you're just gonna condemn her to die? Is that it?" Wren stared back at me. "It's not that simple, and you know it. Seattle is full of those things, and we leave ourselves vulnerable if we make some of our strongest hitters leave. The city is at least a few days ride from here, and we run the risk of leaving ourselves exposed for that long."

Putting my hands on my hips, I glared. "What if it was me, hmm? What if that was me on the radio crying out for help? What then?" Wren frowned back at me and raised a finger, pointing. "Stop it. That's not fair." I raised my voice, almost yelling. "Why not?! She could be anyone in this room, Wren, and you're just leaving her!" Wren shouted back. "I'm not doing anything!" We both stopped, seeing everyone else staring at us.

Wren stepped back, then looked down. "We're ignoring the signal. That's final. And no one else finds out about this." Tears brimming in my eyes, I walked over to my room and slammed the door. This was one of the many times I wanted to punch my brother in the face, but I didn't know why I found this such a big deal. Maybe it's because I did put myself in that girl's shoes. Whatever it was, it seemed to set me off.

I heard a knock at my door. "Go away." I said as I sat on my bed, wiping my eyes. "Vee, it's me." I heard Sparrow say from the other side of the door, then I sighed and got up, walking over and opening it. "Jude and Wren left already. Just me." She said, and I let her in, closing the door. "That wasn't fair to Wren..." I said, placing my head in my hands as I shuddered slightly. I felt Sparrow place her hand on my back. "I'm not gonna disagree with you...but I don't like this any more than you do."

Looking up at her, I watched as Sparrow sigh. "I spent most of the first year after the Singularity racing around the state, looking for Marissa. I sometimes stopped to help people, even though I knew I could get myself killed. But I still did it because every time I saw someone in danger, I thought of what I would do if Marissa was in the same situation."

She turned to stare into my eyes, and she rubbed my back slightly. "He's never told me, but I know that Wren does the same thing with you. That's why he worries about you so much. But the reason he's not doing anything now is because he has a lot more to worry about. A whole village's worth of people. It's hard for both you and him. But he's ultimately doing the right thing."

Staring down at the floor, I placed both my arms on my knees. "I know...but it still feels wrong. Like it's just as bad as if I left them behind myself." Sparrow brushed some of my hair behind my ear, and I looked back at her. "I know, sweetie. But sometimes you have to understand that you can't save everyone. That's just how the world works." Clenching my fist on my jeans, I closed my eyes. "I know...but it hurts."

Sparrow shook her head. "Never said it would be easy. The best thing we can do is care for the people we have and make sure they don't suffer the same fate." Opening my eyes, I leaned into Sparrow's side, giving her a hug. She returned it, and then gave me a kiss on the forehead. "Get some sleep, kiddo. You look like you need it." Nodding, I watched her get up from the bed and walk towards the door. "See you tomorrow." I said, and she turned back and smiled. "See ya." With that, she walked out.

After extinguishing my candle, I climbed beneath the covers of my cot and stared up at the ceiling, trying to think of anything else other than that message. But of course, I couldn't get it out of my mind. She was so easily within reach, but we just couldn't seem to get her. Then, something that my brother had said stuck out to me.

He said that we would be vulnerable because we'd have to take a bunch of heavy hitters with us in order to make it through the city. But what if we took someone who was fast, light, and could get in and out without people noticing? I would be going, so it would probably be at least two people. Me and a metahuman. Sparrow immediately popped into my mind, but I knew that she would never say yes to something like this.

I started rattling off all of the metahumans that were in the village in my mind. Then, I remembered that there was one that could potentially fit the description. However, I'd heard that he wasn't exactly a people person. Well, if he wouldn't agree, I'd make him listen to reason. My plan slowly began to form as I laid there, and soon after, I drifted off to sleep.