Sapience (5 page)

When I got out of my car I saw something that really worried me and I instantly knew that something bad was happening. One of the Kingdom's military transportation trucks, used for moving soldiers, sat at the edge of the parking lot closest to the school. My mouth went dry. I knew there could only be two outcomes. One, we had been discovered. That didn’t seem quite so likely, being as there was only one transportation truck and not many. And two, the local armory had come to claim their perks.

The Kingdom tried to hide their wrong-doing from us back at the government buildings but we were much too smart and had hacked into their computers from time to time. I remember reading-up on a document about local armories. Every town had one. A base set somewhere inside the town’s limits. Each one was crawling with the Kingdom's over grown, steroid induced, soldiers. Not one of them was under seven foot tall. They had one job and that was to kill anyone that broke the law. The Kingdom offered these sick mutated men perks for their services. One of these perks was the right to rape beat or even murder the people of the town they watched over. It was preferred that the people be taken from the schools. I felt sick as I replayed the document in my head. It was another way for the Kingdom to hold fear over the people’s heads.

Barely composed, I popped open my trunk to try to find a weapon. I didn’t think it would help any to have one, the punishment for attacking a soldier would be a lot worse than what was going to happen to the victims. Yet I still felt satisfied when my eyes crossed the crowbar lying by itself in the back.

I slid the crowbar up my sleeve and turned for the school. I tried to look straight forward as I crossed the parking lot and wondered what the other students thought of the truck sitting in the parking lot. Curiosity got the best of me and I shot a glance around before I entered the school.

There were three other kids walking up to the school at the same time I was. All their faces read the same as mine, shock and despair, though they probably knew the routine from experience and not from reading a document like me. I felt sorry for them. Having to live this way their entire lives.

Once inside I was rerouted to the gym by a group of disgruntled teachers. The halls were empty leaving an eerie feeling in the pit of my stomach. I wondered how this was all going to work out. The cold steel of the crow bar felt like a million pounds against my skin. It grew heavier with every step toward the field house. It felt like I was walking to my own funeral when the building finally came into sight.

The gym was crowded. The whole school had been rounded up and shuffled into even lines across the open floor. I flinched as a fiery hot hand grabbed my shoulder and for the first time noticed another presence in the room. Fear gripped my body.

Walking the small aisles, in-between the students, were hulking over-grown men. Their arms were as thick as elephants and legs even thicker. They had huge round bellies that fought against the restraint of chain mail. All their faces were the same, long with large, over-grown features, blond hair and blue eyes. But they weren’t what frightened me.

The man that dragged me by my shoulder was smaller. No more than five feet tall with pale white skin. His blond hair and blue eyes were the same as the others but that was all that was the same. He was an agent from the Kingdom. I feared this man because he was smarter than the others. Not smarter than Adrian and Lillie but a lot smarter than the average person. He was stronger too, strong enough to rip one of the over-grown soldiers in half with his bare hands. Suddenly the crow bar felt useless in my hands.
 I could hurt a soldier with it… but not an agent.

The agent placed me in a row toward the center of the group then went to go get the next student. For the first time I was thankful my powers were gone. If that agent had seen my eyes before the blue glow had faded he would have struck me down and called President Mead. For that same reason I was glad physical users eyes didn’t glow as brightly as mental users.

That thought made me panic. The soldiers were sifting through the crowd searching for objects of their desire. Where was Brianna? My eyes glanced anxiously back and forth through the gym.

One by one the soldiers were leading the students of their choice away. I watched in horror as terrified student after terrified student was dragged kicking and screaming out the front door of the gym. How could the Kingdom ever be allowed to rule after such crimes were committed against its people?

The soldiers paced back and forth, savoring their prize to come. One stopped to look over the girl to my left.  I debated cracking him with the crow bar but decided that would help no one. He moved on before I could change my mind. Slowly the amount of soldiers pacing the aisles started to dwindle. Something inside of me felt relieved.

Then something happened. I could feel my own face mirror the terror in the chosen students, the terror that should have been on Brianna’s emotionless face. A large hairy hand squeezed her elbow as the soldier led her toward the door. I could barely breathe. My heart started to race.

The time to take action was now. I glanced around until I found what I was looking for. Two rows away one of the students was wearing a winter cap, the kind of cap that would hide one's hair and make it harder for that person to be recognized later.

I waited until none of the soldiers were looking and started sliding from row to row until I was next to the kid with the hat. A fresh wave of fear swept through my body. I waited for somebody to call me out. No one but the students had noticed and they ignored me to the best of their ability.

I was afraid to talk but wanted to get out of the gym as soon as possible. So without warning I ripped the hat off the lanky kid next to me and put it on. He flinched but otherwise ignored my actions. I would have to thank him or give him some money if I ever survived the coming hours.

As quiet as I could, I started hopping from row to row toward the back of the room, the whole way not one student made a sound. The only thing I was concerned about now was the agents. They could run twice as fast as any known person. If I was discovered too soon I would never make it out of the room.

I couldn’t see past the next row at any time. I was depending on sheer luck to not jump across right onto a soldier. I kept the crow bar ready to slide out at all times. Just in case.

When I reached the last row I caught a break. As I pondered on how to cross the twenty yards to the back door, one of the chosen students broke free from a soldier’s grasp and sprinted up the bleachers. All eyes were on the small dark haired boy as he dodged his pursuers. I feared what would happen when they caught him. If they would kill him here in front of the other students or take him back and torture him. I didn’t ponder his punishment too long. I was quickly sprinting across the open space to the door and before anyone had noticed, I silently slipped out.

I worried I was taking too long as I ever so quietly closed the door. Brianna might already be loaded up.

The bright sun stung my eyes making me squint. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. How could something so horrible happen on such a beautiful day?

It felt off, sneaking around the edge of the field house. There was no shrubbery to hide me. If anyone had been on this side of the building they would see me plain as day. When I reached the final corner of the building I peered around uneasily.

Ten soldiers gathered around the military truck standing lazily in an unorganized line, slowly dragging their chosen kids into the back with them. They didn’t seem like they were in too much of a hurry. Joking and shoving the kids to the ground. Second from the last in line I spotted Brianna. Her face was blank and she stood still unlike the other students who begged and pleaded to be let go. Seeing her in that over grown monsters grasp made my temper flare. I prepared to jump from hiding and sprint forward. The crow bar slid out of my sleeve and into the palm of my hand. How could she be so calm? I wondered just before I was about to spring.

The sound of a gun being cocked behind me drowned out my plan to attack. Someone had seen me. I calculated my chances of getting a swing in with my crow bar and figured it slim to none. So this was it. The crow bar in my hand was more than enough to figure out my intent. The only question was whether they would kill me now or bring me out in front of the others to do it. I half wished they would kill me now so no one would have to bear witness. Death was a sight nobody needed to see.

“And what the hell kind of crazy stunt do you think you’re doing?” Adrian’s angry voice came from behind me. I twirled around in surprised as I realized it was him, then froze in shock as I realized his pistol was aimed at my head.

“They have Brianna.” I said.

He started to laugh. “Good! Maybe that slut will learn a lesson.”

“She’s done nothing but try to protect herself from us.”  My anger rose. Was Adrian going to try and stop me? “And she has every right. She thinks we're still with the Kingdom.”

“You’re not going out there!”

“What are you going to do, shoot me?” I turned back toward the corner of the building. He wasn’t going to stop me no matter what he said. Brianna was still outside the truck. I couldn’t think of a good escape plan. There wasn’t much to work with. The best I had was to tell Brianna to run while I fought the rest of the soldiers, giving her a chance to escape. There wasn’t any time to think of something better. That is what I would do… No matter what it cost me.

“No. It would be too loud.” I heard Adrian say, then take off in a dead sprint in the opposite direction. I paid him no attention as I took my first step into the open.

I closed the distance in-between me and the truck in seconds. Adrenaline ran through my veins pushing my body to its limits. I was glad to see no one notice my approach until I was already close enough to swing. The soldiers were easily twice my size, each one strapped with a machine gun.

With a long stride I jumped into the air and smashed the crowbar into the back of the nearest soldiers head. The other soldiers heard the nasty thud and whirled in my direction. They glanced around at each other not quite sure what to do. Before anyone could decide to shoot I dove at the soldiers holding Brianna.

He didn’t defend himself very well.

His hand to hand combat skills were slow and unpracticed. His size made no difference. I swung the crowbar at his head and his defense was practically nonexistent. The bar struck him unopposed.

It felt wrong to strike down another human being. No matter how evil the enemy was, but this is what I was trained for and I didn’t hesitate.

For the first time today I saw horror in Brianna’s eyes. So she didn’t mind being taken by the soldiers but when I tried to rescue her it was wrong? What was with this girl?

Before I had time to turn to the next soldier a loud engine revved up just a few feet away. I turned to swing at the loud noise. Adrian held his hand out from his crotch rocket.

A bullet flew over my shoulder, missing me by inches and hitting the side of a parked car. It whistled as it passed my ear.

“Get on!” He yelled. I was surprised to see him. I was so caught up in my rampage that I hadn’t heard the crotch rocket pull up.

I grabbed Brianna by the arm and forced her onto the back of the bike. Adrian pulled out his hand gun and fired it into the air. It stung my ears. What was he doing?

When I looked back I could see the soldiers all diving for cover. That would buy us a few extra seconds. There was hardly any room on the crotch rocket but we managed to squeeze on. Before I even had time to realize it, we were going faster than I ever wanted to go on a crotch rocket. The sound of machine gun fire started as we tore out of the parking lot.

Adrian never slowed the whole way home. I was terrified. My eyes never came open once. I could feel Brianna’s warm back trembling under my body and wondered what could possibly be going through her head. Did she finally understand we were on the same side now?

Adrian pulled right into the yard and hopped off. I tried to think of the best way to calm him down. I tried hard but couldn’t remember a time when he was ever this mad. Before I could say one word his fist came flying into my jaw, knocking me off the bike, flat on my back.

“I’m sorry!-“ I started to say. My words broke off as he kicked me in the side. A sickening thud filled the air. How could he do this to me? No matter what I did.

“What is wrong with you?” I yelled through the pain.

“Do you know what you almost did?” He yelled back. I tried to speak but his foot came crashing down into my side again. I thought it hurt the first time but the pain of the second kick was unbelievable. I struggled to get back up to my hands and knees.

“You’re lucky we can fix this.” He was still yelling.

“We can?” I coughed out. Before I could wince he swung his fist into the side of my head. I fell to my stomach, this time not bothering to get back up. My ears were ringing and I had a headache that made me want to puke. He was going insane.

“No one saw who you were, and I don’t think those half brained soldiers could pick Brianna out of a line-up.” He said, finally starting to calm down. For a moment I wondered if he was ever really mad to begin with.  If this was all just a show, an excuse to beat the crap out of me... “Lillie is erasing all the schools surveillance tapes and marking you two as present in all your classes today. They’re not going to have any indication of who you are.” He pulled off his helmet and held it by the chin guard. I could see it in his eyes and the way he wound up. A knot formed in my stomach as I prepared for another attack. I didn’t want to see it coming so I closed my eyes.