_____________Outside the Mirage home base_____________
“Those bastards.”
Cam tried to pull the two kids behind her away from the sight they arrived on the grounds. Some of her friends and acquaintances were on the ground wounded. Soldiers and Mirage members alike were scattered on the dusty red grounds where they have fallen.
It was when they found Kit kneeling over a groaning Pup that her rage boiled over. His leg had been shot and it would have to be taken care of as soon as possible. If not, he might just lose that leg.
“You fuckers!”
She let go of Charlie’s hand, grabbing her pistol while shooting her cut-off automatic at the approaching reinforcements. She flipped the pistol to its highest setting and fired at one figure that had appeared at her peripheral vision. As the one responsible for keeping Boomer abreast of everyone’s status other than Rolf, she knew all their members and spotting the soldiers was an easy task.
It wasn’t time for mercy anymore. They were going to take their home and their lives if they could help it. Fuck morals. EJ would chew her out later, but at least she would be alive to do so. When a large man charged at her, she turned both of her weapons at him turning at the last moment to see that he was just a distraction. Another solider had come from behind and he stared down the barrel of his rifle.
She heard Maria scream from a distance. She hoped the two kids could run away from this. If nothing else, they should be the ones to escape. She closed her eyes as she waited for the burn of the laser shot. But it didn’t come.
When she lifted her lids, her eyes met the wide ones of the soldier who was going to shoot her. Turning around, the other soldier was also frozen in mid-charge, confusion reddening his face. She whirled, looking for the source of the frightening interference and saw an amazing sight.
Charlie stood defiantly where she had left him, fury visible on his pale chubby face. Beside him, Maria looked wary, her hands still clutched on her friend’s clothes. But that wasn’t scared Cam. It was the fact that unnatural winds seemed to swirl around Charlie, ruffling the little children’s hair and lifting Maria’s skirts to dance around her knees.
“Charlie?”
The young boy didn’t answer her and instead he asked Maria, “where else.” Cam wanted to ask what he meant, but Maria answered the boy after scrunching her little eyes close, her nose twitching in concentration. Maria whimpered out coordinates. Or Cam assumed the numbers were coordinates. Charlie raised his hands in response and slowly, the sounds of fighting died away. More and more Mirage members arrived at the front grounds staring in fascination at the two kids who were most definitely not normal.
“They’re all secured, Charlie. You can let go now.”
EJ spoke quietly, keeping a safe distance from the two children and slowly, the eerie winds died down, settling their hair down in soft tangles Cam wanted to brush down. Maybe later after they explained what the actual fuck just happened.
“What are you? Are you human?” She didn’t know who asked, but she wanted to plant her fist on the idiot’s face when she saw the two flinch at the question.
“They’re blessed with talents you wouldn’t understand. Don’t be rude.”
As usual, EJ—who grew up with parents who imparted knowledge and wisdom from the old Earth—diffused what could possibly a dangerous situation.
Charlie looked from face to face warily, ending up with a pleading expression as he rested his eyes on Cam’s.
“We’re not harmful, promise! They wanted us to learn how to fight using our skills, but I don’t want to hurt anyone!”
Cam shook her head and ran to the two. Enfolding them in her embrace, she assured them that they wouldn’t have to. “Are you two alright?”
They nodded and burrowed their tiny heads into her chest. She glared around her daring anyone else to hurt the feelings of the two young miracles.
“Are there anyone else like you?”
Charlie nodded and said that all the children in the white place have different “skills” that the people there experimented on. Maria whispered brokenly that they took away some of her friends and the others were dead.
“Why?”
Boomer, being raised in a house that fully believed that children were to be protected and cherished at all costs looked devastated at the news. Charlie looked at him and saw someone who wanted to understand. Maybe he wouldn’t think the same as the evil man who looked at the kids in the facility with greed in his eyes.
“There was a man. He said he would evolve the humans to become more powerful. That one day, he could have everything we can do.”
He shook his head because he never understood why. His mother always told him that their “gift” was from his Grandfather and given to his mother and when he was born, to him. If the man can’t do anything the way they can, then he probably never will.
Memories of the broken bodies of his friends that the people in the facility didn’t know he saw reminded him that the man seemed very willing to try. He was jarred out of his memories when Cam suddenly hugged her head back to her chest, Maria sighing in relief beside him.
“Don’t worry. You got us now. They won’t take you back. And we will save the others. When we can find them, we’ll try to help them, alright?”
He looked around and saw determined faces. He turned to Maria and smiled when she nodded at him. They found people who cared and didn’t think they’re supposed to be caged. He hoped one day, he and Maria can become one of them, belong with them, so he could go help the other kids in the other facilities too.
From the kind looks EJ and Boomer gave him and Maria, he thought they already have a place with these people. And he would do anything to help them. Even embrace powers that he feared to wield long ago.
__________Headline Transmission, global channel 07_______
New reports come in of further Mirage activity. Just recently, they attacked a transport convoy carrying Department weapons. Watch our video, sent to our channel exclusively from what we think is a Mirage member, as they showed some amazing footage of the attack.
Here you can see the convoy being broken by an unnatural landslide along the major thoroughfare MIR-09. Soon after the youth of Mirage swarmed over the convoy and engaged in battle with the defensive forces.
Strange was that they appear to not take damage from the return fire. Stranger still was that the Mirage members’ movements seemed perfectly choreographed as if they knew when and how the soldiers would move.
The—
“Hey hey hey! Did you like the footage.”
The broadcast was cut off by the sudden change in video and audio feed. The excited reporter disappeared from the screen and a young man with fiery red hair appeared. The footage of the ambush was minimized to the top left corner of the screen. The man looked ecstatic, but his green faded to a scowl.
“You know how we got everything down to the final seconds in this attack? I’ll tell you why. It’s because of our newest friends, young friends. Even younger than we are.”
“And why did they join us? They didn’t. We had to rescue them from a disgusting facility that treated tiny innocent children like lab rats. And when threatened, they left the kids in cages, meant to die of hunger and filth as they saved their own asses.”
“So, I suggest you guard your children well. The department seemed intent on taking talented children from their families and hiding them for their own greedy purposes. Are you going to let them do that? To the very future of our species?”
“I think not.” The young man smiled cockily. “After all, I think everyone, especially in the surface sectors that we take care of our own, and our families. I’m looking forward to the day that we are able to overcome the restrictions of a controlling, manipulative authority and rise to mind our own. We humans had a flourishing democracy once, why not again?”
“Thank you for watching. And as always, see you on our next broadcast. We are the Mirage and believe me when I tell you…”
“There shall be MORE TO COME…”
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