I sit down on my sofa and take a sip of my coffee. It's been harder and harder to get a hold of this stuff. I turn on the T.V. and turn to the news. The voice from the woman on the broadcast echoes through my empty flat. I've just moved in and not everything is unpacked yet. When I think about it, I guess I'm pretty lucky to get such a nice place all to myself. Although, I will admit, it is pretty lonely. I was built to be alone, so I guess I should just get used to it. Ever since Manticore went down, I realized that's the way it's going to be.
Right after Manticore going down, I headed off by myself, I mean, I knew I could make it okay off my good looks. I don't want to sound stuck up or anything, but they made me with beauty so I could more easily persuade people. I headed to the road; I knew I could find a ride quickly. See, as soon as those doors were unlocked, I started running. I knew exactly what was happening. They wanted us dead. They always told us to regroup and stuff, if this type of situation were to occur, but I was free, and I wanted to stay that way. Plus, they were totally trying to kill us, so I just hoped my comrades had enough sense to get as far away from Manticore as possible.
So there I was on the road, the night was dark but I could see pretty fine. I saw some lights up ahead but they didn't seem to be going anywhere. It was obviously a Murdercore… er, a Manticore campsite. I decided to go for it, maybe convince some kiddos to go the other way and hopefully appropriate a vehicle while I'm there.
As I was walking to the site, I heard some voices behind me, all of whom sounding pretty young. I glanced over my shoulder and saw some little ones marching behind me. When they noticed me, I stopped and turned around. They all stood in formation at attention. I laughed because none of them were over the age of 9 and they were all just so cute. There were 5 of them and the oldest, who appeared to be about 9, spoke up. He said "X7-749 ready for duty."
I looked at them all and I could feel a frown start to form on my face. My only thoughts were of these little ones getting lined up and shot. I cleared my throat as I prepared to break the news to them.
"At ease little soldiers." I said with a smile as they all repositioned themselves. "Where are you going? X7-749, are you in charge of them?
The little guy spoke up once more, "Yes ma'am, I am in charge. We saw the signal to rendezvous up ahead. Back when we were at Manticore, one of the standing orders was that if a situation of this type were to occur that we should always look for the signal to regroup."
His sincerity was scary. So young, and yet so much information was pounded into that little skull of mush. I looked at him and smiled with pride as I thought about him. "Good, I'm glad you paid attention. But did they ever tell you what you would do when you got there?"
"No ma'am, they only told us to regroup there." He said confused.
"It's okay little ones. But I need you to follow me. Because these people want to kill us, they don't want to regroup. They were already trying to kill us when they set the building on fire. Do you think that they want us to regroup? No they just want to kill us. So do you know what that means?" I said in a weary tone.
They all shook their heads. I could see the fear and confusion in their little eyes. "It means that Manticore is now the enemy. So we need to get out of here, and we need to get out of here fast. So listen and listen close, okay?"
"Yes ma'am!" They shouted a little less worried.
"Okay so here's the plan. You four stay together and wait by the gate. Try your best not to be seen. If they see you they WILL shoot at you. Okay?" I said to the four who didn't give me their designation. "And you," I pointed to X7-749. "You distract the guards, while I sneak in to grab a vehicle. You'll only have to wait for about 2 minutes. Once I get one, I'll jet. I'll go through the gates and stop, you'll all have 30 seconds to get in before I fly," I said in a low tone.
They all nodded, but the oldest still looked uncertain. "Permission to speak?" He asked.
"Granted." I said looking at him.
"How do we know you're not the enemy? Show us your barcode! How you do so much about what is happening ma'am?" He said.
I sighed and looked at him. "My designation is X5-638, I go by Ivy." I turned around and lifted my long black hair away from my neck, exposing my barcode. "I am part of the more specialized X5's - Strategy and Logistics. I was built and trained to plan out a battle and to be very observant. I'm a strategist. So trust me, okay?"
The little ones looked more convinced and, I guess, more up for it. We all went to our positions. I was hiding with the little ones as X7-749 walked up to the guards. They all paid attention to him as I slipped in behind them. I looked around and lucky for me there was a Humvee right near the front. However, it was guarded by 2 guys.
Good thing I'm designed not to be noticed. I thought to myself. Their backs were turned, so I grabbed what looked to be that vehicle's keys off of one of the guard's key loop. I snuck in and started the vehicle. They all looked at me, shocked as hell, even the ones from the gate looked at me. I could hear them shout something at me. I really didn't care. I just drove past the ones guarding the Humvee, and- of course as a way to say 'Godspeed and good travels', they started shooting at me. I drove straight through the gates and stopped next to X7-749.
He climbed in as the others ran from their hiding spot and climbed into the vehicle. The littlest one, looking to be about 4, was waddling over on his own, at top speed. But I guess it wasn't fast enough, because he got shot multiple times in his tiny little chest. And that's when things got weird.
I don't even know what I was thinking. All I remember was yelling back at the kids to get into the Humvee, and I could barely see through the tears in my eyes, I could hear them protesting, something about me getting out of the vehicle and something about the little one. The guards were still shooting at us, but I had to get the poor little one. I remember getting out and getting grazed by a bullet in my right arm. I ran to the little one and picked him up, and turned my back to the guards and ran back into the vehicle, but not without getting shot on my side.
Next thing I know I was in the Humvee driving away with the little one in the arms of the eldest boy sitting next to me in the passenger's seat. One of my hands was on the steering wheel and the other on my bleeding side. I drove like that for a good hour, hour and half. Until I turned onto a side-road and careened down that bumpy road until we got to what looked to be a motel. As soon as I put the vehicle in park, I blacked out.
All of a sudden I'm jarred out of my memories at hearing the Newscaster lady reporting something from Seattle. Some genetically enhanced idiots are holding up some messenger service there in Seattle.
Wow… I think to myself. People these days. Shit's getting real. I hope they know White's men will be all over this. I hope Alec and Max and the others are okay. Hmm… Actually I wonder how Alec is doing… Max too…. I haven't seen them since we were all back at the torch site. But if things are going the way they are…Then…
I get up and walk over to the map I have sitting on the table. I look at a map of Seattle. I see a section where some bio-chemical accident happened…
I bet that's where the Manticorians are hiding. I better go quickly to Seattle, because there won't be another entrance into there until this entire thing is over. This also isn't good, because we'll run out of food and ammo so quickly… Okay this isn't good. How much longer do I have to get everything together and drive to Seattle?
I look at my watch, it says 4 p.m.
It takes 30 minutes to get from here to Seattle, and I need to get there before at least 9p.m. So that leaves me 4 hours and a half to get everything ready. And once I get there I won't be getting out for a long time. So I better kiss my new flat goodbye. I have to go, if I want to be with him. He's there. I know, saw him on the news. He's in there for with them, he's helping Max… So he'll be okay. But I need to go…
I walked back into my living room.
I need a game plan. I'll talk to Joe. He's wanted to go to Seattle for a while, wanted to go hang out with some of his old friends. I know he wouldn't go without me. Okay. So he and I can get a lot done in 4 hours.
I put a timer on my pager for 4 hours.I take my cell phone out of my pocket and dial up Joe's phone rings and rings, and finally Joe picks up.
"Hey Ivy! What's up?" He asks.
"Hey Joe, have you seen the news?" I ask him.
"Yeah, why? Are you thinking about finally moving to Seattle now that it's more exciting?" He says sarcastically with a chuckle.
"Actually, yeah. I am. Are you still up for it?" I asked impatiently.
I could hear the shock in his voice as he replied. "Well sure, but what changed your mind? I thought you wanted to stay out of this entire warfare thing."
"It's too late, just by being alive I'm involved. Plus, our family needs some help. We need to get a bunch of supplies, and fast. We only have 4 hours, and so you know, we'd be living there for a good amount of time. Getting out won't exactly be a piece of cake." I say.
"That's alright; I've wanted to see my old buddy Mole. I heard he's pretty much in charge there. But seriously, you really don't care about your 'family', I know, you only want to go because he might be in danger…" He chuckles as I hear him pour something into a glass.
"Haha, okay you're right. I am pretty worried about him. But that doesn't matter our clock is ticking and we need to get things together, and fast!" I say to him.
"Okay what do we need?" He asks while chugging down some water.
"Okay, don't forget that you need to take your truck, because we'll be carrying a bunch of supplies for them." I say trying to keep it together, because inside I'm starting to freak out. I'm not built for going into the field.
"Okay, that's fine with me." He says to me, "But what kind of supplies?"
"Well, we'll be needing lots of food and blankets, as well as medical supplies and guns and ammunition." I say to him worriedly. "We are about to go into a combative situation."
"Okay." He says like it's no big deal. "But you got to get me some money for the food, and I'll go rob a hospital. You get the weapons and blankets."
"Okay." I say. "Be careful. Stealing from hospitals is no walk in the park." I hang up and sit down really quickly.
I take a deep breath and try to get my act together. My adrenaline is pumping and I need to stay calm. I look down at my pager; the countdown is at 3:51:07. That's not a lot of time, but I need to get to business.
I get up once more and unplug my television and put it back inside the box. It could come in handy to watch the news and see what's happening outside. I put that box on top of 3 boxes full of blankets. I'm glad I kept these, even though I don't use them much. I throw some canned foods I have into a box with some sheets and books. When that's full, I have about 5 boxes piled up at the door.
I better tell my new landlady that I need to move out… I think as I walk out my door. I walk over to the front office, and my luck, she's in.
"Hello" I say to her.
"Oh hello, do you want to rent one of our lovely flats?" She asks me with a smile.
"Umm, Ms. Forden I just got one." I say to her with an embarrassed smile. "But, I need to pay you the rent and move out tonight."
"Oh, okay Dearie; just leave the key here on the counter when you're all moved out." She says without even looking at me.
"Okay, thanks Ms. Forden!" I say while running out into the parking garage.
I get onto my motorcycle and get out of there as fast as possible. Lucky for me, today is shipping day for Armor Weapons.
I'll just sneak in there and put on a uniform, load a truck and drive it away… But what about my motorcycle… I'll tie it to the top and come back at my apartment and meet Joe… Fun, I haven't done a break-in in a while.
Luckily for me Newcastle, unlike Seattle, doesn't have any sectors. So I don't have to worry about any I.D. But I do have to worry about getting into Armor Weapons… I think I'll stop by my friend Lucy's photo-shop for a bit.
When I finally get there, I park right out-front of the shop. I walk straight through to the back of the building as through the beaded doorway.
I smile as I see Lucy applying some lipstick in a mirror. "Hey ya, stranger," I say to her.
She sees me and smiles and runs over to me and hugs me with the lipstick still in her hands. "Long time no see, Ivy!" She says with excitement.
I guess the look on my face tells her I'm not here for a casual talk. "How many I.D.'s do you need?" She asks.
I sigh, "Two, one for me and our friend Joe. We'll need sector passes too." I hand her the pictures of Joe and me.
"Going to Seattle then?" She says while taking the pictures from my hands.
"Yeah, it's not safe for us anymore really. I'm going to the promise land" I say with a chuckle. "Anyways, I'm in a bit of a hurry, can you get these done in the next…"
I check my pager and the countdown is already at 3:09:48.
"2 hours and a half?" I say with a weak smile. "I know that isn't much time to get it done but we have to get them and get out of here."
She sighs. "How long will you be gone?"
"Maybe a couple months, maybe a couple years- it all really depends on how the police work. This isn't just a battle anymore, this is a war." I sigh.
"Okay." She says with a frown. "I'll hurry and try my best to get these done. Good luck."
"Thanks, bye." I say while walking out.
I walk back out to my motorcycle and get on it.
Time to get to business… I think to myself.