Chapter Twenty

I swear I'm gonna have nightmares after this. When we were going out of the base we could hear loud screams, gunshots and laser beams. Mrs Pierce was determined to run. She was putting ourselves after her and helped all she can. I'm so grateful. It's like Zayne, Fayre and I are her own children. We reached the surface safely and got out of the cave as the wall to the stairs closed. Without wasting anymore time, we ran as fast as we can and as far away as possible. Heading southwest. Fortunately the main door is facing west so we only need to shift diagonally. I don't know how far we went. We did not stop even when we started panting. We kept running straight. We came across the stream once and had to shift again our angle. Because the stream will only lead to the cities. We eventually stopped after the stream encounter. My heart was racing so bad. I think we looked like we have a bad case of asthma. Everyone was sweating a little. On Dust, it's rare for anyone to sweat. Because of the cold and dry condition. Well that means we actually ran very wild. Even challenging the annual marathon they have in Ava. It's scary but amazing what we, humans generally, can do when faced with danger. Everyone sat on the rocks and got hold of ourselves. Getting our breathing to a slow pace.

'I'm never running like that again' Fayre said after a few minutes of silence.

'We would die if we did not run just now' Mrs Pierce said. Fayre kept quiet, knowing that Mrs Pierce was right. Dying was worse than running out of breath.

'Where were you from?' Mrs Pierce asked Fayre.

'Yula'

'Can I ask about your dad?'

Fayre did not answer immediately. She just looked down sadly.

'If you don't want me to, I'll change the topic'

'No, you can ask'

Mrs Pierce looked at her for double confirmation. But she just looked down. Maybe that means Fayre is standing with her decisions.

'Did you know your dad was part of the government? Or an accomplice to the government?'

'No, I don't know. He said he was helping me by locking me inside but we knew that the base was about to be attacked. So that means, he's not protecting me. He's just trying to get me killed in the attack.' Fayre explained her opinion. Towards the end, she started crying.

'Hey, don't worry, we're in this together okay' Mrs Pierce said. Coaxing everyone. Zayne and I lost our parents too. Orion lost his dad. I can't believe what just happened the past few hours. We were just peacefully watching television.

'Okay everyone, we can rest when we get to the main base' Mrs Pierce said standing up. Suddenly, there was a gunshot. And Mrs Pierce fell to the ground backwards. Blood poured out of her head onto the surface creating a massive tiny pool.

'Mom!' Orion shouted. He went to her side. We all did. We saw a hole on her forehead. That's where the bullet entered. I looked to the direction where the bullet came from. There he was. Mr Johnson. Everyone was scared. Zayne started crying. I wrapped my arms around him in defense. Fayre seemed to have a panic attack. I was overwhelmed with mix emotions of anger and sadness. Orion was totally mad. He yelled angrily while staring at Mr Johnson.

'You killed my mother!'

Mr Johnson smirked, pointing his gun at Orion.

'We don't have to do this the hard way. You step forward I shoot you'

Orion remained in his place. But he was very furious.

'I only have one favour to ask. You all are still children. Precious future dummies of the government. So I will need you to follow me to Ava. The capital will be grateful to have rebellious children as their idiots' Mr Johnson said. Laughing evilly. 'Oh and Fayre, just for you to know. I'm not your father. You're adopted'

That made Fayre started tearing again. Everyone was having a very bad day. Mr Johnson went closer to us and pointed the gun on Zayne's head. I was boiling.

'Get that away from my brother!' I growled. I guess that shocked Mr Johnson for a while.

'I shall do that if you all stand up now and do everything I say'

We all quickly got up. I carried Zayne, protecting him as much as I can from the evil monster. Mr Johnson shoved us with his gun.

'When I adopted you, I always thought you would grow up to be a useful lady for me. But you're just soft and pathetic like my wife'

Fayre was still crying. She won't be stopping soon. Mr Johnson was just making it worse. We walked slowly, moving in the direction Mr Johnson wanted us to. Not long later, we met with the stream again. And we followed the stream wherever it brought us. Only Mr Johnson knows where we were going. Throughout the reluctant journey, he kept talking. Telling us about his personal life. How he became a triple agent for the government. And how he roamed the surface hunting for lonely rebels. I say he has a sad life. The government's using him. And he thought he'll be rewarded. Pity. No not pity. I'm still mad. He has no mercy on someone who has children to take care of. I can't believe he just killed Mrs Pierce without hesitation. He said Fayre and his wife were pathetic. Actually, he is.

I've never seen a dome so big like this. From one side, I can't see the end of it. Avawexiyouz. Big lighted letters work as a sign above the city entrance. Bright lights came from the tall structures I can see through the glass. The highway is filled with spacecars wanting to enter the city. Mr Johnson made us climb the stairs to the highway pavement. Security officers walk about the entrance. There are checkpoints where the vehicles or men will have to go through to be examined before heading inside.

'These kids are under my arrest' Mr Johnson said to the security tasked at one checkpoint.

'Identification' the officer said. Mr Johnson brought his hand forward. The officer took his hand and placed it on a reader. I could see the screen from outside the booth. Mr Johnson's ID appeared on the screen. Then he checked the rest of us. The officer was aggressive. I could still feel the pain when he grabbed me even when we're heading through the forcefield barrier. For a moment I was afraid I'm gonna turn into thousands of electric cells. But the forcefield only cleared me from any form of dirt. I felt fresh. We all did. But that doesn't capture my attention as much as the spacebuilds. All around, tall spacebuilds with many shapes and patterns stood firm on the surface. Their bright lights would cheer people up. But if I weren't so sad, angry and tired, I would have admired the surroundings. I'm finally in Ava. Which used to be my dream. They said once you enter, the record will state so and you will be protected like I mentioned before. But the record won't change for me and the rest of us.

'We're not gonna explore. We're gonna head straight to the palace and meet the chief' Mr Johnson grinned happily. That was when I realised one thing. Many people who noticed us from the outside, were staring at us curiously. I think I know why. Because we were the only ones from the outside without spacesuits. But that's good. The more people that know the truth, the more people who will go against the government. But we didn't waste any more time. We can't even if we wanted to. Mr Johnson forced us into a spacecar. It's a six-seater cab.

'Where to sir?' the driver asked.

'The Palace' Mr Johnson said. 'And do hurry'

The driver unhappily drove off to the palace. I knew why the driver was unhappy and what he possibly wanted.

'Don't mind this idiot man here, he's just very grumpy. Thank you for the ride sir' I said to the driver. That got Mr Johnson mad. And he was sitting beside him. He can't do anything to us right now. Not without the driver noticing. We're in the city of no-harm-on-anyone-at-all.

'Why thank you kind boy' the driver replied happily.

'Don't listen to him. He's under my arrest' Mr Johnson said.

'I'm not listening to you, you rude little idiot' the driver said. Mr Johnson did something I wasn't expecting. He took out his gun and pointed it at the driver.

'I'm a government authority. You don't mess with me'

'Th-that's illegal' the driver said in shock.

'Not to me'

'Hey jerkface, put that gun away' I said. Mr Johnson turned in frustration and pointed the gun at me. That actually got the driver very angry. He stopped the space cab.

'Get out!' he shouted at Mr Johnson. That startled him. Luckily he did not shoot at me. I've seen many movies where the person accidentally shot someone else because someone shocked him.

'Ten silver' the driver said.

'So expensive' Mr Johnson said.

'You're in the capital idiot'

Mr Johnson took out ten silver coins and handed it to the driver.

'Now get out'

Mr Johnson got out of the car and turned, waiting for us to follow.

'Stay in the car kids' the driver said. And suddenly, he drove away. I could hear Mr Johnson shouting after us. I'm feeling satisfied.

'Thank you kind sir' I said. The driver did not reply immediately, he took quite a long pause.

'I'm just an undercover. Chief Willie sent me here. He received a message that the other bases have been attacked'

'You're a rebel yourself?' Fayre said.

'Don't say that out loud'

I saw the driver smiled from the rearview mirror.

'The name's Jack'

'Nice meeting you' I said.

'Nice meeting you too' Jack replied.

Afterwards, Jack drove in silence in the busy streets of the city. Turned some corners and into a more quiet area. Then he stopped in a narrow alley in between two old spacebuilds. We got out. Jack got out too. I looked around. Lucky there's no camera monitoring this area. We followed Jack to the end of the alley, a wall which is a spacebuild part of the two spacebuilds around us. Jack placed his hand on it and a ripple of techcells went out from his hand to the corners of the wall. And then the wall opened. A walkway turning to the right.

'What you just did isn't normal right?' I asked.

'It's not when the current government is our leader' Jack replied. I actually don't understand what he meant.

'Head inside. A group of people will be helping you soon'

'You're not coming?'

'I gotta continue my undercover'

'What if that idiot report about you?'

'Don't worry about me. I'm old and dying soon. It's better I bring the car away from here than get the officials suspicious'

'Thank you so much for your help'

Jack got in his car and reversed. He drove away. We entered the walkway as the wall started to close in.

'You guys okay?' I asked my friends. I was still holding Zayne's hand. Fayre and Orion nodded in reply. They've been through a lot lately. That's why they're not talking much. Especially Orion. He had just witnessed his mother being murdered in front of him not long ago.

'Come on' I said, leading the way. We turned the corner to the right and continued down the dimly-lit walkway.