Authors: Tahereh Mafi
Juliette shouldn’t have to see this.
Six soldiers have rounded up almost thirty civilians—a mix of men, women, and children—and
they’re going to kill them. It’s basically a firing squad. They’ll just go down the
row,
pop pop pop
, and then drag the dead bodies away. Put them into an incinerator. Clean it up, nice
and simple.
It’s disgusting.
I’m not sure what the soldiers are waiting for, though. Maybe they need final approval
from somewhere, but there’s a slight delay as they talk amongst themselves. It’s raining
really freaking hard, so that might have something to do with it. Honestly, they might
not even be able to see where they’re shooting. We should be taking advantage of this
opportunity. This weather might end up helping us out in the end.
I squint against the rain and take a closer look at the people, trying hard not to
lose my head. They’re not doing too well, and I’m not either, to be honest. Some are
pretty hysterical, and it makes me wonder how I would do in a situation like that.
Maybe I’d be like that guy in the middle, standing there with absolutely no expression
on his face. He looks almost like he’s accepted what’s going to happen, and somehow,
his certainty hits me even harder than the tears.
A shot rings out.
Dammit
.
A guy on the far left falls to the ground and I’m shaking with anger. These people
need our help. We can’t just hang back and watch thirty unarmed, innocent people get
killed when we could find a way to save them. We’re supposed to be
doing
something
, but we’re standing here for some bullshit reason I can’t understand because Juliette
is scared or Kenji is sick and I guess the truth is we’re just a bunch of crappy teenagers,
two of whom can barely stand up straight or fire a weapon, and it’s unacceptable.
I’m just about to say something—I’m about to yell something, actually—when Kenji lets
go of my hand.
About goddamn time.
We charge straight ahead and my gun is already up and aimed. I spot the soldier who
fired the first shot and I know I need to fire; there’s no room for hesitation. I
get lucky: he goes down instantly. Five more soldiers to take out—soldiers I’m hoping
I won’t recognize—and I’m doing my best, but it’s not easy. It was pure luck that
got me that first target; it’s almost impossible to shoot well in this weather. I
can barely see where I’m going, much less where I’m shooting, but I drop to the ground
just in time to avoid a stray bullet. At least the rain is making it hard for them
to take us out, too.
Kenji is making miracles happen today.
He’s invisible now, and working fast. He’s staying sharp despite being injured, and
he’s just a part of the wind, taking out three soldiers in one go. Two soldiers are
left and they’re distracted by Kenji’s dance just long enough for me to take one down.
One more left and I’m about to take him out, too, when I see Juliette shoot him from
behind.
Not bad.
Kenji reappears just then and he starts bellowing for the civilians to follow us back
to shelter, and Juliette and I join in, doing what we can to get them to safety as
quickly as possible. There are a few compounds still standing, and they should be
enough. The civilians can get inside and away from the battle—as well as the storm
brewing in the sky. And even though their gratitude is touching, we can’t stop long
enough to talk to them. We have to settle them back into their homes, and then keep
moving.
It’s what I’ve always done.
Always keep moving.
I glance at Juliette as we run, wondering how she’s holding up, and for a second I’m
confused; I can’t tell if she’s crying or if it’s just the rain streaking down her
cheeks. I’m hoping she’ll be okay, though. It kills me to see her deal with this.
I wish she didn’t have to.
We’re running again, charging through the compounds now that we’ve gotten the civilians
back into their homes. This was just a stop on the way to our final destination; we
haven’t even reached the battlefield yet, where Point men and women are already trying
to keep Reestablishment soldiers from slaughtering innocent civilians. Things are
about to get much, much worse.
Kenji is pulling us through the half-demolished landscape. I know we’re getting closer
to the action now because there’s so much more devastation here: units falling apart
and half on fire, their contents strewn everywhere. Ripped couches and broken lamps,
clothes and shoes and fallen bodies to step over. The compounds feel like they could
stretch on forever, and the farther we go, the uglier it gets.
“We’re close!” I shout to Kenji.
He nods, and I’m surprised he even heard me.
I hear a familiar sound. “Tanks!” I call out to him. “You hear that?”
Kenji shoots me a bleak look and nods. “Let’s move!” he says, making a motion with
his hand. “We’re not far now!”
It’s a fight to get to the fight, the wind whistling hard in our ears and slapping
sharply against our faces, angry raindrops pelting our skin, soaking our hair. I’m
frozen to the bone but there’s no time to be bothered by it. I’ve got adrenaline,
and that’ll have to be enough for now.
The earth shakes under our feet as a harsh, booming sound explodes in the sky. In
an instant the horizon is lit on fire, flames roaring in the distance. Someone is
dropping bombs, and that means we’re already screwed. My heart is beating fast and
hard, and I’d never admit it out loud, but I’m starting to get nervous.
I glance at Juliette again. I know she’s probably scared, and I want to reassure her—to
tell her everything is going to be okay—but she doesn’t look my way. She’s in another
world, her eyes cold and sharp, focused on the fire in the distance. She looks different—a
little scary, even. Somehow, that worries me even more.
I’m paying such close attention to her that I almost trip; the ground is slick underfoot
and I’m up to my ankles in mud. I pull my legs free as we forge ahead, gun steady
in my hands, and focus. This is it. This is where it’s all about to get very serious,
and I know enough about war to be honest with myself: I might walk onto that battlefield
with a beating heart and be dragged off with a dead one.
I take a deep breath as we approach, three invisible kids walking through the compounds.
We make our way over fallen units, broken glass from shattered windows; we sidestep
the garbage strewn about and try not to hear the sound of people screaming. And I
don’t know about the rest of us, but I’m doing my best to fight the urge to turn around
and run back to where we started.
Suddenly James is the only person on my mind.
Shit.
This is even worse than I was expecting. There are fallen bodies everywhere, collapsed
and piled together and bleeding into one another. It’s almost impossible to distinguish
arms from legs, enemies from allies. Blood and rain are mixing together and flooding
the ground, and suddenly my boots are slick with mud and the blood of someone else—dead
or alive, I don’t know.
It takes just a split second for enemy combatants to realize we’re new to the battlefield;
when they do, they don’t hesitate. We’re already under siege, and I glance back just
in time to catch a glimpse of Juliette and Kenji still making their way forward before
I feel something sharp slam into my back. I spin around, and one sharp crack later
my soldier’s got a broken jaw. He doubles over and reaches for his gun and I beat
him to it. Now he’s down and out, and I’m already moving on to the next one.
We’re all so jam-packed together that hand-to-hand combat seems unavoidable; I duck
to avoid a right hook and punch the opposing soldier in the gut on my way up, grabbing
a knife from my belt to follow through. In, up, twist, and he’s done. I yank my knife
out of his chest as he falls. Someone charges at me from behind and I turn to meet
him when suddenly he’s coughing up blood and falling to his knees.
Kenji saved my ass.
He’s on the move and moving well, still not letting his injury cripple him. We’re
fighting together, he and I, and I can feel his movements beside me. We shout warnings
to each other, helping each other when we can, and we’re actually doing okay, making
our way through the madness, when I hear Kenji shouting my name, his voice scared
and urgent.
Suddenly I’m invisible and Kenji is screaming at me about Juliette and I don’t know
what’s happening but I’m freaking out and I know now’s not the time to ask questions.
We fight our way back to the front and jet toward the road, Kenji’s panicked voice
telling me he saw Juliette go down and get dragged away, and that’s all I need to
hear. I’m one part furious and one part terrified, and the two are having a battle
of their own in my mind.
I knew this would happen.
I knew she never should’ve come with us. I knew she should’ve stayed behind. She’s
not built for this—she’s not strong enough to be on the battlefield. She would’ve
been so much safer if she’d stayed behind.
Why does no one ever listen to me?
Dammit
.
I want to scream.
When we reach the road, Kenji pulls me back, and though we’re out of breath and barely
able to speak, we catch a glimpse of Juliette as she’s loaded into the back of a tank,
her body limp and heavy as they drag her inside.
It’s over in a matter of seconds. They’re already driving away.
Juliette is gone.
My chest cracks open.
Kenji has a firm hand on my shoulder and I realize I’m saying “Oh God, oh God” over
and over again when Kenji has the decency to shake some sense into me.
“Get your shit together,” he says. “We need to go after her!”
My legs are unsteady, but I know he’s right. “Where do you think they went?”
“They’re probably carting her back to base—”
“Dammit. Of course! Warner—”
“Wants her back.” Kenji nods. “That was probably his team he sent to collect her.”
He swears under his breath. “Only good thing about that is we know he doesn’t want
her dead.”
I grit my teeth to keep from losing my mind. “All right then; let’s go.”
God, I can’t wait to get my hands on that psychopath. I’m going to enjoy killing him.
Slowly. Carefully. Cutting him to pieces one finger at a time.
But Kenji hesitates, and I stare at him.
“What?” I ask.
“I can’t project, bro. My energy is shot.” He sighs. “I’m sorry. My body is seriously
jacked up right now.”
Shit. “Contingency plan?”
“We can avoid the main roads,” he says. “Take the back route and head to base on our
own. It’d be easier to track the tank, but if we do, you’ll be in plain sight. It’s
your call.”
I frown. “Yeah, I vote for the plan that doesn’t get me killed instantly.”
Kenji grins. “Okay then. Let’s go get our girl back.”
“
My
girl,” I correct him. “She’s my girl.”
Kenji snorts as we head in the direction of the compounds. “Right. Minus the part
where she’s not actually your girl. Not anymore.”
“Shut up.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Whatever.”
It takes us a while to get back to base, because we have to be hyperaware of my visibility.
We’re slower, more cautious, and careful to take our time hiding inside and around
abandoned units every hundred yards or so, just to make sure the coast is clear around
every corner. But when we’re finally approaching base, shit kicks into high gear.
We weren’t the only ones taking the back route.
Castle, Ian, Alia, and Lily flipped out when they saw us; they were hiding inside
a unit we thought for sure was empty. They jumped out at us from behind a bed, which
made me nearly piss my pants. We only had a moment to explain what had happened before
Castle was sharing his own story.
They got Brendan and Winston back—broke them out of Sector 45 just as they’d originally
planned—but the two of them were in bad shape when Castle found them.
“We think they’ll be okay,” Castle is saying, “but we have to get them to the girls
as soon as possible. I’m hoping they’ll be able to help.”
“The girls are on the battlefield,” Kenji says, eyes wide. “I have no idea where.
They insisted on fighting today.”
Castle’s face falls, and though he doesn’t say it out loud, it’s clear he’s suddenly
very worried.
“Where are they now?” I ask. “Brendan and Winston?”
“Hiding,” Castle says.
“What?” Kenji looks around. “Why? Why aren’t you taking them back to Point?”
Castle goes pale.
It’s Lily who speaks. “We heard whispers while we were on base breaking them out,”
she says. “Whispers of what the soldiers are going to do next.”
“They’re mobilizing for an air assault,” Ian cuts in. “We just heard they’re going
to bomb Omega Point. We were still trying to figure out what we should do when we
heard someone coming, and jumped in here”—he nods around the unit—“to hide.”
“What?” Kenji panics. “But—how do you—”
“It’s definite,” Castle says. His eyes are deep and tortured. Terrified. “I heard
the orders myself. They’re hoping that if they hit it with enough firepower, everything
underground will just collapse in on itself.”
“But sir, no one knows the exact location of Omega Point, it’s not possible—”
“It is,” Alia says. I’ve never heard her speak before, and I’m surprised by the softness
of her voice. “They tortured the information out of some of our own.”
“On the battlefield,” Ian says. “Just before killing them.”
Kenji looks like he might throw up. “We have to go right now,” he says, his voice
high and sharp. “We have to get everyone out of there—all the ones we left behind—”
Only then does it hit me.
“James.”
I don’t recognize my own voice. The horror, the panic, the dread that floods my body
is something I’ve never felt—never known before. Not like this. “We have to get James!”
I’m shouting, and Kenji is trying to calm me down, but this time I can’t listen. I
don’t care if I have to go alone; I’m getting my brother out of there. “Let’s go!”
I bark at Kenji. “We have to get a tank and get back to base as soon as possible—”
“But what about Juliette?” Kenji asks. “Maybe we can split up—I can head back to Point
with Castle and Alia; you can stay here with Ian and Lily—”
“No. I have to get James. I have to be there. I have to be the one to get him—”
“But Juliette—”
“You said yourself that Warner isn’t going to kill her—she’ll be okay there for a
little while. But right now they’re going to blow up Omega Point, and James—and everyone
else—is going to die. We have to go
now
—”
“Maybe I can stay here and look for Juliette, and you guys can go—”
“Juliette will be fine. She’s not in any immediate danger here—Warner isn’t going
to hurt her—”
“But—”
“Kenji,
please
!” I’m desperate now and I don’t care. “We need as many people at Omega Point as possible.
There are tons of people left behind, and they don’t stand a chance if we don’t get
to them now.”
Kenji stares at me for just a moment longer before he nods. “You guys go grab Brendan
and Winston,” he says to Castle and the three others. “Kent and I will commandeer
a tank and meet you back here. We’ll do everything we can to get back to Point as
soon as possible.”
The second everyone is gone, I grab Kenji by the arm. “If anything happens to James—”
“We’re going to do everything we can, I promise—”
“That’s not good enough for me—I need to go get him—I need to go right now—”
“You
can’t
go right now,” Kenji snaps. “Save your stupid for later, Kent. Now, more than ever,
you need to stay in control. If you go crazy and head back to Point on foot with no
regard for your own safety, you’ll be dead before you even get there, and any chance
of saving James will be lost. You want to keep your little brother alive? Make sure
you don’t kill yourself while you’re trying to save him.”
I feel like my throat is closing up. “He can’t die,” I say, my voice breaking. “I
can’t be the reason he dies, Kenji—I can’t. . . .”
Kenji blinks fast, forcing back his own emotion. “I know, man. But I can’t think like
that right now. We have to keep moving. . . .”
Kenji is still talking, but I can hardly hear him.
James
.
Oh God.
What have I done.