Chapter 13

I charged toward the group, catching them off guard. Their momentary confusion gave Scipio an opportunity to seize one of their weapons, throwing the attacker into another thug.

I tensed as the glint of firearms caught my eye. The odds were against us, but I reminded myself that in this world, there were no rules.

Ducking and weaving, I threw punches and kicks, but the presence of guns made it difficult to close the gap. Scipio, however, was fearless.

With lightning-fast movements, he disarmed the attackers and tossed the guns in my direction. I kicked them away, determined to keep the weapons out of their reach.

I kept a watchful eye on Scipio's wife, knowing that she was the key to his compliance. With a steely gaze, I searched for any openings, ready to act on instinct.

Half of me believed that the man who held her hostage wouldn't dare harm her. She was their leverage, and without her, they had nothing.

Scipio tried to reach for his wife, but the man holding him quickly shifted to the side.

Two other men pointed their guns at his head, but he quickly ducked before the bullets grazed his hair. He groaned in frustration, feeling trapped.

In the meantime, I maneuvered myself closer to Scipio's wife. I grabbed a man by his collar and used him as a shield. The man holding Scipio's wife panicked and accidentally shot his own comrade. "Shit!" he exclaimed.

With no more protection, he aimed at me once more, while keeping his knife close to Scipio's wife's neck. As he pulled the trigger, I slid towards him, kicking Scipio's wife in the shin.

She fell to the ground, but I quickly cushioned her fall and kicked the gun from the man's hand. Scipio's eyes glimmered with relief and hope as he and his wife shared a gentle gaze.

With no more restraints, Scipio took down all the attackers. He let go of the three who ran away, who were just children.

As silence returned to the empty hallway, Scipio took his wife in his embrace. They held each other tightly for a while.

To be honest, it was awkward for me to just stand there. So I turned around to leave.

However, Scipio stopped me. "Wait, Tesla Iota, right?"

Scipio gathered all the guns scattered around his feet and pointed them toward the ones near me. "Grab those. You might need them someday. I mean, for your mom."

I looked down and picked up two guns from the floor. "Um, thanks, I guess," I replied.

"Thank you for saving my wife."

"Thank you," his wife chirped, expressing her gratitude.

***

I stared at the guns lying on the table as if looking at them long enough would provide me with answers.

Where in the world did the thugs get these guns? Did they infiltrate the NSS base?

That would be impossible. The NSS soldiers were fiercely trained and known for their great strategic skills. Ambushing them would require people who can outsmart them.

Aidan, for one, was a top candidate to be part of that elite troop. Of course, he would be a whole new breed of NSS soldier, one with no loyalty to the country whatsoever. If any NSS soldiers dared to raise questions as Aidan did, they would be shot on the spot.

But, anyway, no one would mess with people on that level.

Even if, let's say, there were people capable of passing through the soldiers and stealing the guns, those people wouldn't be as weak and dim-witted as those raiding us. They had to be at least on the same level as the swift kid I had met back then.

No answers came to me. I hid the guns in a drawer to keep them out of sight from my mom.

"You won't believe this, Tes!" Aidan suddenly barged into the house.

His face glowed with excitement, although it still couldn't hide his pale skin. I wanted to ask about his health, but he kept on without giving me a chance to speak.

"This is nuts. You really won't believe this," Aidan squirmed in place.

"Wha--?"

"He saw a bird," Nadia said, ultimately killing the whole tension that Aidan tried to build.

Aidan's big body slumped on the ground. "Seriously, Nad? Did you have to steal my thunder like that? It's me who witnessed it. I should be the one telling Tesla about it."

"Yeah, you could do that. But you were acting like a kid. Besides, how can you be so sure that it's a real bird?"

He flinched, creasing his eyebrows. "Then, what? If it's not a real bird, tell me what it is! It was flying in the sky. I'm telling you, it is a bird!"

I watched this silly Prince Charming attempting to persuade us. "I was walking home from school that day. Nadia stayed behind to tutor her juniors on upcoming practical tests. I was bored, so I visited the Public Store to look around. Then, when I looked up, there it was, flying above me. It happened just like that." He snapped his fingers.

"It could be a military plane," Nadia challenged his assertion.

"It has been ages since the NSS used military aircraft," he disputed.

Nadia shrugged. "As you said, things have been crazy lately. Maybe the government has decided that war is coming?"

"Even so, an NSS aircraft wouldn't fly that low. It's against protocol. You'd basically be killing innocent civilians if you flew the aircraft that way. I know because I've simulated it a thousand times."

"But, you know, with your headache and stuff, could it be your imagination?" I asked cautiously.

"Do you think my headaches make me delusive?" Aidan ground his teeth. "Listen, guys, I'm positive it's a real bird. This changes everything. If it's a real, living, breathing bird, then we need to question the fundamental of this country. How can a creature live freely without an oxygen mask like us?"

He's right about that. The government had informed us that only Genesis was habitable for humans. Other locations were destroyed by failed experiments. The air was contaminated. Any living being without a mask would perish.

Assuming the government was telling the truth. If not, then...

"Then the green zone could exist," I expressed my thoughts out loud.

"Yes!" Aidan shouted, his brown eyes brightening with joy that someone finally understood him. "That's what I was thinking too. The government has been lying to us."

Aidan was a dreamer, and he could be ludicrous at times, but I understood his point.

This was no longer about petty politics or power struggles; anyone who created and enforced this lie was committing a crime against the citizens of the country.

Nadia lowered her voice, "Accusations without solid evidence could be considered a coup. And such an atrocity could cost you your life."

"If it's evidence we need, then the evidence is what I'll find," Aidan declared resolutely.

Nadia glared at Aidan. "But how? It's dangerous. We're no longer dealing with weaklings, we're up against the government now. I admit that you're strong, brother, but you can't possibly think that you could win against a group of NSS soldiers. They have guns!"

"Speaking of guns, guys, I have something to show you," I interrupted.

I displayed the guns, and the twins were shocked. "How did you get them?" Nadia asked.

"My neighbors were attacked. These are what the attackers left behind. Scipio said they could be of use to me, but unfortunately, I don't know how to use them."

"Who attacked them?" Aidan's Aidan's tone became serious and tense.

"I don't know. Some group of thugs."

"Are they any good?"

"Nah. Below average, I would say. They had the upper hand because they had Scipio's wife. Once I freed her, they had no power at all," I explained.

The twins exchanged a quick glance, and then Nadia spoke up, "There are rumors circulating about the Prime Minister. We don't believe them because they sound too ridiculous, but according to the Parliament, she was fighting back."

Aidan nodded in agreement and added, "Supposedly, she was gathering her own team to rebel against the President. There are suspicions that she'd stolen government resources to support her rebels."

"If her target is the President, why would her people attack my neighbor?" I asked, confused.

Aidan pondered for a moment before offering his theory, "Perhaps the rebel group is trying to incite an uprising. It could be a tactic to create chaos and distract the government while they make a move."

To be continued...