After Aidan left I decided to look around this bunker. I was curious about how he knew about it and why it was so special that it had been kept hidden. When I got up to explore the first thing I saw was the wall covered in names that had been carved into it. I walked over and scanned the names, realizing I recognized some, there were a few names of people I had known were Phantoms that were no longer around for one reason or another. Others I remembered reading reports on when I was on report organization duty… they had been targets that Aidan was sent after on jobs… people he had been ordered to kill.
“Xander… maybe we shouldn’t be getting into Aidan’s personal business… I’m curious too, but if he wanted people to know about it then he would tell them.”
“Maybe you’re right, but… I can’t just keep my curiosity at bay, this is way too good an opportunity to learn more about him.”
He sighed in response and came over to join me, clearly his curiosity was getting the better of him as well.
“Why are you so interested in him anyway?”
“Because he’s the oldest living Phantom, he’s been part of all of this since he was seven… that’s ten years, Ryker,” I replied as I looked at all the names, suddenly settling on what appeared to be the first four ever carved based on their location, “oh, shit… those are… I think those are his family member’s names… I mean, it’s the same last name as him.”
“Ok, I was gonna let this snooping slide, but we really should stop now.”
“You can if you want, but I can’t.”
I walked away from the wall and into one of the other rooms. It looked like it had been a bedroom of some sort a really long time ago. There were a bunch of cots lining the walls, but only one of them looked like it had ever been used. There were a few pictures on the wall next to it as well as a small box overflowing with random items of clothing. I went over and looked at the pictures and almost did a double take. The first one had five people in it, all smiling and happy, three kids and two adults.
“Woah… is that,” I muttered as I gently touched the picture, “I think it is.”
The oldest of the three kids was in the middle, and it was clearly a much younger version of Aidan. This was a picture of his family from before he was taken into the Phantom Program.
“Xander… if Aidan finds out you’ve been looking at all his stuff he might get angry, and I’m sure he is not someone you want to be on the bad side of.”
“If this is bothering you so much and you’re so worried about how he’ll react,” I started as I turned around and came face to face with Ryker, he had a frown on his face, “then why are you still snooping with me?”
He opened his mouth to answer then stopped and closed it, looking away awkwardly.
“You’re just as curious to know more as I am, and I don’t think he’d do anything to us even if he found out about this, otherwise what would have been the point of saving us?”
He sighed in response then looked past me and at the pictures. I rolled my eyes and looked back at them as well. The one right next to the first was a picture of four kids, they all looked to be around… ten or so. Aidan was on the far left, he now had a scar under his right eye, as well as a more… broken look in his eyes, but he still smiled for the picture. He was also the tallest of the group which made sense since he was so tall now. Next to him stood a girl, only a little shorter than Aidan, with dark skin that had patches of much lighter skin sporadically, she had dark eyes that looked almost black in the picture and long black hair. Next to her was a boy who looked like the youngest of the four kids, he looked eerily similar to Aidan in every way except his hair and eyes. If not for the height difference and the fact that the shorter boy had strawberry-blond hair and green eyes instead of black hair and amber eyes he could have been Aidan’s twin… it must be his brother, they look way too similar not to be related. The last boy in the picture looked like the oldest of the group. He wasn’t tall but he wasn’t short either, and he was very well built. He had light tan skin, dark brown eyes, and very short, dark brown hair. I gently removed the picture from the wall and turned it over and found writing.
Omega Squad: Aidan Colt, Jayda Morison, Callam Colt, Alejandro Suarez. May 13, 2336.
“So Aidan would have been… eleven. The others are probably all around the same age too,” I muttered as I flipped the picture back over to look at the group, “this is back when Phantoms would go on much more elaborate missions, we had small groups that would train and go on missions together… this must’ve been Aidan’s squad from before things changed and Phantoms started acting alone on missions.”
Ryker just nodded in acknowledgment as he looked at the next picture on the wall. I glanced over as I hung the picture I was holding back up. This one only had Aidan and Jayda in it, both looked a little older than in the previous picture. I looked at the back of it and saw the date was a little less than a year after the other one. February 12, 2337.
“I wonder what happened to the others?” Ryker asked as he frowned at the picture. “And what happened to her since she’s not around anymore either.”
“Well… when I was looking at the names on the wall I’m pretty sure I saw all three of their names… so I don’t know how but my guess is they’re all dead like I’m sure all the others on that list are.”
I stepped away from the pictures and looked at them all together. Aidan went from being a happy, innocent little kid with what looked like a good family to being a lone survivor of his family in a matter of years. He lost his entire squad of Phantoms, the people who he likely thought of as a second family, shortly after.
“How many people do you think are on that list?” Ryker asked as we walked out of the room and back into the main space, “and do you think… well… do you think he killed them all?”
“Hundreds… maybe even a thousand… honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised,” I responded, “my guess is that he probably killed them all… after being here ten years he’s definitely racked up quite the count.”
“But… even his family? And those kids in the pictures with him?”
“If Maria made him, yeah.”
“Fuck.”
“Yeah… that’s a very appropriate reaction.”
“And you… admire him?” Ryker asked as he looked at me with a look of disbelief, “I mean… I know he’s helping us now… but… that’s a lot of murder that he’s committed… not to mention all the other things he’s probably done.”
“I guess it’s different for you. You weren’t made into an assassin,” I responded as we sat back at the table, “I can see past all of that and see him because all Phantoms are just like that, he’s just been around longer so he’s done more. I can see that he’s not just what he got forced to do here. Plus he’s really hot.”
“Wait… do you… do you have a crush on him?”
I looked away and chose not to answer that, which was probably more revealing than if I had said no.
“Wow… ok that’s… I wasn’t expecting that,” I heard him say in surprise, “I guess you’re right… it’s different for me… I can’t see past the idea that he’s killed so many people… that you’ve all killed so many people… I just can’t even imagine liking one of you that way.”
“I’m… not sure how to take that information,” I responded as I looked over at him, “I mean… like I said, it’s not like we’ve ever been given a choice. The choice we get is to do everything Maria tells us to or die. We don’t enjoy doing the things we’ve been forced to do… most of us don’t at least.”
“I guess… but it still feels weird to me,” he said as he shrugged slightly, “maybe I just don’t know any of you well enough… I shouldn’t judge you guys until I really know you.
We sat in silence for a short time before he spoke again.
“I’m gonna see if I can find some medical supplies so we can get you in a little better shape, ok?”
“I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not, let me help you,” he said as he got up and began searching for medical supplies.
“Do you even know what to do about any of these injuries? I thought you were a tech person and a barista.”
He chuckled from the other side of the room.
“Well yes, I’m a tech person and a barista, but I’ve watched plenty of medical dramas to pick up a couple things.”
“Oh my god. You’re basing what you’re about to do… on medical dramas?”
“That’s correct,” he stated matter-of-factly, “now come on, I found a first aid kit. Come lay down and take your shirt and pants off.”
“At least buy me a drink first, sheesh,” I said jokingly as I entered the room, he rolled his eyes, “seriously though,” I continued sarcastically as I winked at him and took my clothes off, “you sure you’re not just trying to get a nice long look at me?”
“In your dreams maybe,” he said with another eye roll, “earlier you said your ribs were hurt, I need to look at them. Plus I realized that that blood has been seeping through your pants all day so there’s definitely something there that needs to be taken care of.”
I laid down on the cot and he started working on my wounds. He cleaned and bandaged most of them but he found a gash in my leg that had been bleeding since Maria left the cell earlier and I saw him wince as he wiped away some of the blood.
“I’m gonna need to stitch this one,” he said as he pulled some thread and a curved needle out of the first aid kit.
“Go for it, doc.”
I winced in pain and clenched my jaw as he started stabbing the needle through my skin, slowly pulling the wound closed with the thread. Once he was done he clipped the thread from the spool and tied it off, wiped the wound clean one more time, and started wrapping a bandage around it. After the leg wound was dealt with he let me put my pants back on and started looking at my chest.
“I can’t tell how bad your ribs are, for that I’d need an x-ray… but seeing as you’re not unconscious from pain I’m gonna take that as a sign that they’re not broken. I’ll wrap a bandage around your chest nice and tight and hopefully that’ll give it good compression so they can start to heal.”
I nodded and let him start wrapping my chest up. Soon he was finished and he helped me get my shirt back on since moving caused me pain.
“Ok, hopefully that’s everything all sorted out,” he said as he backed away from the cot, “I’m gonna go grab you something to eat and a bottle of water, you’ll eat and drink and then you’ll sleep. Rest helps things heal faster.”
Before I could respond he was already out of the room. He came back pretty quickly with two bottles of water and a couple protein bars, handed me one of each, then sat on the next cot over and opened his protein bar. I opened mine as well and we ate and drank in silence. Once we were finished Ryker collected all of the trash and took it back to the other room. I laid down and realized just how tired I felt and let sleep take me over.
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