SPRING - THREE YEARS AGO

The bell rang throughout the halls to indicate that classes were over. The hallways flooded with chattering students, all falling within a spectrum of personalities, backgrounds, and appearances. The time came for most of the students to either call it a day, visit the mess hall, followed by study hall, and do what they pleased before it was time to get settled into their dorms. Caleb wasn't interested in what anyone else would normally do, but Caleb would go into the library, find himself a good book to read, and read it during his alone time in the cafeteria.

He had just finished military drills and absolutely despised it. He despised it even more since he didn't know anyone else in the class. He knew Ariel, but Ariel would never show up because skipping class just seemed more promising for some unknown reason. Most of the lessons required using guns, which Caleb detested mainly because Caleb had a terrible aim. He was even told by his instructors that he would shoot his own eye out before shooting someone else. A gun just simply didn't belong in his hands.

He was the last one in the locker room, putting away his combat uniform and elbow and knee pads. Standing on the side of his locker was an old photograph—a family picture. In the center of the picture was Caleb's mother who had both of her arms wrapped around Caleb (who was on the left) and his older brother, Ariel (who was on the right). On her face, was the brightest of smiles that was genuine enough to overpower your mightiest burdens—which in Caleb's case, was this stupid class. Caleb stood around in the locker room in a white undershirt, bizarrely staring at the picture for the longest time before he could sit down on a bench and stare at it even longer. He often found himself smiling so much he had to teach himself to stop doing it in public or else he would get strange looks from other students. Suddenly, a hand swooped in from above his head like an eagle's talon and snatched the picture from his fingertips,

"Aw does, momma's boy miss his mommy?" A dark haired boy with glasses said after examining the picture.

"Yeeeah!" his brainless comrade said with a goofy laugh, "Momma's boy?"

Caleb didn't know either of their names, but they had been picking on him for the last couple of months now and he was slowly growing fed up. It wasn't as bad as before. It was until he reported it to his instructors, things began to escalate. His teachers either excused it with the "boys will be boys" talk, or the "If you can't defend yourself from a bully, how can you defend yourself from an Infected? Maybe this school isn't for you." Right—because they're totally in the same category, but Caleb got the gist of the latter.

Caleb stood up and was around the same height of the kid, it's just their build that varied. When the dark haired kid moved closer to Caleb, so did his comrade. If there was anything Caleb knew, it was to not pick a fight alone in the middle of a locker room. Something like that recently happened, and one of the kids ended up getting stabbed by a group that jumped him. Instead, Caleb took two subtle steps back and put out his hand,

"Just give it back. Please?"

The dark haired boy nodded quite impressed, mocking Caleb for making the right choice. As he looked over at his minion, he was also doing the very same,

"You know what? Sure," he held the edge of the picture with both fingers and lifted it between both of their faces. Quickly, he proceeded to tear photograph down the center.

"What the fuck!" Caleb cried, frozen.

The tearing of the picture was like the tearing of his soul. The pain was so unimaginable that it was the only way to describe it. Before Caleb could reach out and snatch the separate pictures from his hands, each piece fluttered to the ground like dead petals. Meanwhile, the bully had a smirk on his face, his minion felt somewhat different,

"Yo…" his minion said timidly.

"What?!" the dark haired kid elbowed roughly, continuously showcasing his crooked smile.

Caleb stood in the same spot, holding his head down and balling up his fists. He breathed heavily to himself and kept his eyes tightly shut to prevent the bullies from seeing his weakened exterior. Soon afterward, he could hear their footsteps depart on the hard floor tiles and exit the locker room. Caleb forced opened his eyes and looked at each separate piece of the photograph before picking them up and tediously sitting back on the bench. He sniffled to himself and wiped his eyes as he saw a jagged tear down the middle of his mother's shoulder. However, he was thankful that the damage wasn't done to her smile.

A couple of minutes later, the minion randomly returned to the locker room with his hands deep in his hoodie's pockets. The minion was a ginger with a fiery orange jewfro and freckles. He was pretty small and was undoubtedly a military freshman. Caleb understood he was just trying to fit in, but he there were plenty of other ways to do that. He stood by the end of the lockers and speechlessly watched Caleb,

"What?" Caleb said, glaring up at the kid he knew he could easily beat down without his overseer present. The ginger didn't answer which only promoted Caleb to react more angrily, "WHAT!?" Caleb roared, kicking the locker in front of him in the process.

The minion remained silent and looked away,

"Yo, KJ!" they both heard the bully shout from outside the locker room.

"Your master calls," Caleb commented.

Quickly, the kid pulled some scotch tape from his pocket and placed it on the bench beside him. Caleb's evil eye followed the ginger's every move until he disappeared. The second ringing of the bell was sounded, signaling that everyone should already in the cafeteria. With his eyes still red and having a tear roll down his cheek, he looked back at the tape and threw it into his pocket. He pulled himself together and continued to get his clothes out of the locker. After locking up, he walked out with a navy v neck and pale grey colored sweatpants.

As he exited, he ran into a pretty girl just outside the locker room who was accompanied by three others. She had dark skin and dreadlocks that reached her shoulders, having a couple of them tucked behind her right ear. She held a number of textbooks to her chest,

"Hey, there you are!" she said, reaching forward and embracing his side with one arm.

Noticing something seemed a little standoffish about him, she awkwardly pulled away while Caleb stood immobile with his eyes widened. He tilted his head in confusion and scratched his head as a nervous reaction. She watched with anticipation and raised eyebrows,

"Um, d-do I know you?" Caleb replied.

"Nice to see you too, jackass," she chuckled with concealed offense, "Are we still sneaking out with the rest of the guys tonight?" She casually continued.

"Tonight…?"

Caleb turned around and looked back at the group of three friends that the young girl was socializing with. They all waved at him, referring to him by the name of 'Ariel'. Ignoring them with ease, he turned away. He knew exactly what was going on.

"We all made plans to go out tonight don't you remember…? You weren't that drunk last time we hung out, were you?"

"Um," Caleb shook his head as a reaction of trying to clear his head, "When was the last time you saw me?" Caleb asked with sudden interest.

"Yesterday. Oh my God," she paused and her jaw dropped, "You really weren't that drunk were you?"

"No..." Caleb said with a grimace. He adjusted his backpack onto his lone shoulder, "Look, uh, next time you see me, tell me that I'm an asshole who takes his brother for granted. Alright? Thanks," Caleb patted her shoulder and walked past her, and continued down the hall without ever looking back.

Caleb sat in the mess hall, sitting at the end of the table: far away from some ill-mannered teens at his lunch table. His lunch tray had nothing but a red apple; which were rumored to be cloned by the government, but it didn't matter to him because he was starving since he last ate breakfast. As for the library books, it turned out that he already read all of them. He typically liked non-fiction stories and there was only a selected amount since it was a military school after all. They only held books that were essentially military propaganda—history books, autobiographies, and novels about war. Caleb didn't take interest in those, but there was one book titled Red Army that was based on the concept of a World War III, and Caleb only knew there were two of those in the past. However, his pride would probably never let him get around to reading it.

While doodling in his notebook with one hand, and holding his bitten apple in the other, he felt someone randomly grab the apple and heard a sudden crunch come from their mouth. Caleb rolled his eyes and looked behind him, having his eyes chase the figure that circled around from the back of him and sit in front of him. It was Ariel, Caleb's twin brother. The only thing that differentiated him from Caleb was his two french braids, a few more pounds, and two beauty marks: one on the right of his chin and the other at the end of the right eyebrow. He was also wearing a grey top with camouflage bottoms. Although they were identical, Ariel cockily thought he was the more attractive twin. Caleb didn't really care about that since the only thing he had over Ariel was being four minutes older and clearly making wiser decisions.

Caleb tried to maintain his composure considering that he hadn't seen his brother in over two weeks. Naturally he would exclaim his name and greet him with with a dead hug, but Caleb was upset at his brother for vanishing for so long. His runaways were becoming more careless and extensive. This wasn't the freaking era where industrialization was booming; Caleb couldn't just use a cellular phone to check if his brother was okay. Products like that still existed, but still, only the privileged had them. Just as Ariel gave a smirk and giggle he brought the apple back to his mouth for another bite. Caleb stretched forward and yanked it from him,

"Thank you," Caleb said, taking the bite for him.

Ariel's mouth stood ajar while, continuing to raise both of his hands in defense,

"Give me a freaking break, I'm hungry!" Caleb ignored him and kept doodling and eating. The avoiding of eye contact and the persistent raise of his right eyebrow was always a red flag, "What did I do now?" Ariel sighed, "Is it a crime for me to have fun?"

"Yes. Actually, it is a crime for you to have fun," Caleb calmly said without looking up from his paper, "Or whatever your definition of fun is. We're in a military school now. If they knew you were sneaking out after hours, you get us fucking expelled, Ariel," he slammed his notebook shut and looked up at him, "Do you want that?"

Ariel fell silent and shrugged,

"Look, that doesn't matter..."

"And why not…?" Caleb asked, playing with a curl.

"Remember what I was telling you about the Fireflies? My friends and I are a step closer to finding them. And when we find them, I won't have to worry about this sad excuse of a military school."

Caleb kicked Ariel from under the table. He instantly winced and rubbed his leg,

"Stop talking about the Fireflies all the time! You're going to get us in trouble," Caleb whispered, "And those 'friends' of yours are going to get you killed if you keep hanging around them."

"No, they won't!" Ariel said, swatting the air dismissively, "Imagine the perks of your brother being a Firefly."

"You're impossible," Caleb scoffed, shaking his head.

When Ariel might have gone a little too far with his statement, he noticed Caleb beginning to grab his belongings to leave. Ariel reached forward and clenched his wrist,

"Wait! Wait! Wait! No! I'm sorry. Where are you going?"

"You don't care," Caleb said continuing to grab his stuff.

As Ariel reached out with his other arm and tugged Caleb's backpack, the opening of his backpack unzipped even more. In the midst of their quiet conflict, the old photograph fell out from inside Caleb's backpack and fluttered to the ground beside Ariel's foot. Before Caleb could catch it, Ariel jumped down to pick it up. A sly smile appeared on Ariel's face as he reached for it but it vanished after he noticed something about the photograph was off,

"You tried to tear me out of it?" Ariel asked after realizing it. He was incredibly offended, "I mean, fuck, Caleb—I know you're mad at me but this is extreme."

"Relax," he calmly rested his palm on the table, "It wasn't even me. Some dickhead took it from me in the locker room and tore it in half."

Ariel stood up, slapping his fist in an open palm.

"What dickhead? I'll tear him up just like this picture."

Ariel paid close attention to Caleb's reluctance to snitch. However, when he looked at him, Caleb was already shooting someone a glare with the potential willpower to set them ablaze with hellfire. When Ariel followed his gaze to a loud, dark-haired kid that looked ridiculously obnoxious, Ariel looked back at Caleb to confirm. When Caleb took notice, he anxiously looked back down and resumed grabbing his belongings, including the photograph from Ariel's digits.

"What? Is that him?" Ariel asked, aggressively pointing across the cafeteria.

"Look, mess hall is almost over and classes start in like…" he looked across the cafeteria and examined the clock, "15 minutes."

"That's plenty of time," Ariel smiled mischievously.

Before Caleb could stop his erratic clone, Ariel was practically skipping across the mess hall to begin a quarrel and kick some ass. As he passed a quiet table of teens, he grabbed a small carton of milk from one the teens while they were drinking it. Caleb grabbed his backpack and followed after Ariel as quickly as he could,

"Ariel, no!" Caleb screamed out as he reached forward.

Within that moment, Ariel had already approached the table and turned over the carton of milk above the dark haired guy's head. His comrades, sharing the same lunch table, jumped backwards in fear that droplets of milk would leap on their clothes after dousing the bully's cranium. Just as the entire mess hall roared simultaneously, the bully gasped and slammed his fists on the table. He stood up and came face to face with Ariel, nearly having their noses touch. His dark hair was now laced with white liquid and he ran his fingers through it to get some of the strands out of his face,

"You wanna go again, momma's boy? I should fuck you up right now!"

Caleb pulled Ariel back a little too late—however, the bully was given a full chance to see the identical beings standing together in front of him. A look of contempt appeared across his face and he chuckled to himself,

"So there's two of you? Looks like I get to kick both of your asses," He asked, practically opening both arms out as if he was offering himself. A couple of chuckles were heard in the cafeteria, majority coming from his table.

"Listen, punk," Ariel spat, using his pointer finger like a demanding elder, "You might be able to push my pussy brother around, but not me," Caleb scowled at him from the side and Ariel apologetically shrugged after noticing.

As he looked back at the bully, the bully didn't bother wasting any time and tackled into Ariel. Caleb cried out Ariel's name as a fearful reaction and watched him get slammed into a painted, brick column. Immediately, the entire cafeteria began chanting and slowly transitioned into scattered yells and cheering. Scraps of food were being thrown from all angles and a fight eventually formed in the back of the crowd somewhere. Caleb's attention was too focused on his own sibling to give a damn about other unruly teenagers.

Ariel delivered a blow with his elbow into the bent over bully's back and proceeded to repel the the bully back with a professional box to the face. He covered his face as he teetered backwards. Strangely, Caleb was pushed out of the sidelines by the hectic mob of students and took it as a sign of officially being in the fight. Caleb exchanged looks with Ariel that only they would understand. Caleb walked in from behind and stuck his leg out behind the bully, causing him to plummet to the floor with a loud thud. Everyone in the cafeteria laughed and reacted wholeheartedly like it was their form of live entertainment. Caleb backed away from the bully and playfully fist-bumped his brother, finally giving a smirk that had rarely been showing itself recently.

The bully sat on his hindquarters and turned around to face his comrades who were all instantly put on the spot for not helping their dictator, especially the curly redhead—concealing his laughter at the perfect moment,

"Are you all just gonna stand there?!"

Two random boys hesitantly came to his aid and helped him up. One charged at Caleb with a punch right afterward, but Caleb dodged it and snuck his leg out once again, causing the teenager to stumble and trip into a lunch table. Again, the crowd shouted and groaned at the sight of his painful collision, but Caleb showed no remorse by grabbing the kid by the hoodie and swooping it over his head. He pulled the drawstrings of the boy's hoodie so hard that the hood tightened in around his nose. Giving a final pull downward, Caleb kneed the kid in the face and pushed him over as a result of being dazed. Looking over, Ariel was taking on both the bully and his second ally at once. Pushing them both away from him to the point where they slid back on the hard surface of the floors, their eyes were filled with fright that Ariel didn't even think he could evoke. Caleb walked beside Ariel, both having extremely different looks to their demeanor—Ariel, confidently straightening his stance, wiping blood from his lip and awaiting for another fight; Caleb, with an unsure look on his face and a slightly turned posture, facing his brother and preparing to avoid the bully for his entire existence. Caleb was thinking that he would never see the end of what Ariel started, especially since he would barely be around.

"HOOOOOOOOO!" A thunderous battle cry echoed throughout the cafeteria.

Surprised, the twins looked behind them at the exact same time. Ariel stumbled back, shocked, while Caleb covered his ears. Everyone froze in their places and the crowd of students quickly began to disperse at the sight of their principal.

"Well...what else was I supposed to say?" Ariel curiously asked.

"Anything's better than calling me a pussy," Caleb slouched, crossing his arms, "Talk about humiliating."

"Well...only I can humiliate you. That's what brother's do." Ariel nudged his knee with his own, "Plus, you gotta admit that was fun…"

Caleb looked over at Ariel who was fully grinning at him at the thought of it all. A soft chuckle escaped Caleb's mouth and he turned away, sort of annoyed by the fact that he could never truly stay pissed at his troublemaker of a brother.

"It was," Caleb admitted.

The principal's door opened and spat out the bully and his two loyal henchmen. Caleb imagined that standing up for himself had some sort of effect, because the bully didn't bother looking their way both upon his exit. If anything, his eyes were filled with tears and his skin was flushed red.

In slacks and an unmatching tie, a husky principal that towered over six feet stood just outside her office. She was heavyset and looked like your typical US veteran. She possessed a short flat top with raven-black dyed hair. Her gray roots were beginning to grow in and Caleb stared at it the entire time they sat in her office—which was surprisingly sterile, properly organized and decorated with everything imaginable to be patriotic.

"Mind telling me how this fight ensued..." she started off right away. She looked through the paperwork on her desk, "...Ariel and Caleb?" her eyes evaluated each of them at a time behind her spectacles. Just as Ariel was going to open his mouth, she spoke one last time, "I'm sorry, which one of you is Ariel?"

"I am..." Ariel said, slightly raising his hand, "...ma'am."

"Are you aware that your brother's attendance have been sort of off…?"

Ariel looked over at Caleb, who already saw where this lecture was going and nervously fiddled with his hands as a reaction. He looked straight into his lap.

"Yes...bu-but that's only because my brother's been covering for me," Ariel confessed. Caleb looked over at Ariel in shock. He was usually selfish and stuff, but there may be hope for Ariel yet after what he just pulled. Ariel continued, "I've been missing some classes and my brother has been covering for me…saying he's me and stuff. He thought he could do both but..." he looked over at Caleb, "I guess not."

"Figured that…" she replied, closing a folder, "It's impossible for any human being to be two places at once."

"Is he in trouble?" Ariel asked, "Please, he shouldn't be punished just because I was just being stupid."

"Look, this is how this is gonna work," She folded her hands and gave a stern, looking at the both of them with her unbreakable green eyes, "I'll give you both a wager. If your story adds up enough to explain how that fight started—and I'm sure it will, because Bucky is one helluva problem...then I'll give you both one more chance. Understand?" They both nodded vigorously, "One chance."

Ariel nudged Caleb's elbow off the arm of the chair and Caleb looked up at him with a look of withheld irritation. Once Ariel nudged his head and pointed his chin in the direction of Caleb's backpack, Caleb jumped to a realization,

"Oh!" Caleb softly exclaimed, reaching down to his backpack beside him. He pulled out the old photograph of his mother and presented it to the principal, "I don't know why, but he's been bugging me for the past couple of days. He tore this. It's the only picture we have."

Resting the glasses on the top of her head like a crown. She sharply exhaled and took the photograph for herself, evaluating it like she did everything,

"Is this your mother?" She asked

The twins nodded in sync.

"Pretty lady. You guys look like her. Is she…?"

The feeling of asking whether someone was alive or not was asked so often that you just knew when it was coming. As a strange way of respect, it was implied instead of being asked directly. Naturally, feeling it arrive, the twins shook their heads in sync again and Ariel laughed as a nervous reaction. The principal handed the photograph back to them and Ariel grabbed it, looking at it one last time before passing it over to Caleb.

"Well, I'm sorry about that. I hope suspending him until further notice is enough?" Crickets might as well have started, because the twins believed otherwise—a pit of fire would've been fair, "Like I said, I'm willing to give you both one more chance to do well in those classes. Besides I can tell your mother raised you well…" She said looking directly at Caleb. She then steered her gaze to Ariel, "I'm not really sure about you."

Caleb laughed by giving an ugly snort feeling slightly euphoric at the fact that someone agreed with him. Ariel, fairly insulted, darted a glare at him. Quickly, Caleb fell silent.

After their meeting with the principal, it was like something in Ariel instantly clicked. He called off meetups with the bad crowd of people he use to call friends, he attended all of his courses, and attempted reassembling the brotherly relationship with Caleb. If there was anything Caleb knew he had over Ariel, it was intelligence (with a side of common sense). He knew the principal played some reverse psychology on Ariel by mentioning their mom—like some jedi mind trick.

Being a twin had its perks, and one of them as being able to understand and empathize with what the other twin was mentally experiencing. No, it wasn't 'twin telepathy' or crap like that; it was something completely different and beyond explanation. It was a weird feeling Caleb got in his gut when he would see Ariel walking to class and actually talking to him about responsibilities and future goals. It was evident that the supposed 'bad' twin was trying his hardest to redeem himself to his mother. Even if she was no longer around, he was supposed to be an example of something she left in the world…an embodiment of something pleasant, not rotten. Caleb just knew.

But bad habits are hard to break, especially when you've been doing them for nearly three semesters. It wasn't exactly the definition of relapsing to Ariel, but Caleb could beg to differ for what their future held. Caleb use to have a difficult time waking up as a result of having worrisome nights, constantly thinking about the whereabouts and well-being of his lawless brother. Since Ariel got his act together, those nights halted.

It was approximately 0500 hours, and military prep began in the next hour or so. Until the reveille began to sound throughout the hallway speakers, the twins lifelessly laid on their beds with their usual attire,

"Hey," Ariel said, suddenly turning his head over to look at Caleb, "Wanna see something cool?"

Caleb turned away from the wall as well. He was hoping to at least catch up on an hour nap,

"What?" Caleb muttered, face slightly buried in his pillow

"I snuck out and found this really cool place yesterday. I think you'll like it."

Caleb laid silent, and slowly opened his eyes to a full alert. He delivered Ariel a glare so empty, even he didn't know how he was feeling,

"What?" Ariel said.

"You're sneaking out again."

"No! No!" He calmly said, "It's not like that. I did this for you."

"How the hell—that makes no sense!"

"Look, shut up and just follow me okay?" He said, sitting up at getting out of bed.

"Ariel!" Caleb sharply whispered while sitting up, "Remember what the principal said! If you walk out that damn door, I am never speaking to you again!"

Ariel scoffed so carelessly, that it brought Caleb to question the loyalty he had with his brother; and right after the effortless exchange, Ariel grabbed his backpack and exited the dorm. Caleb quickly tossed on his sneakers, grabbed his belongings and walked to the opened door. He poked his head out into the hallway. Looking up and down the hall, he saw Ariel's figure disappear at one end of the hall, and a soldier patrolling the other. Caleb was so well concealed that the soldier at the other end didn't noticed him. When Caleb saw the opportunity to enter the halls, he silently closed the door behind him and beamed in Ariel's direction.

Turning a corner just before he could be spotted by any of the instructors, he was spooked by an identical face,

"Bah!" Ariel roared, following up with an ugly snort.

Caleb playfully slapped his brother on the head and peered around the corner of the hall: The soldier patrolling the hall turned on his flashlight and shined down the end of the hall and immediately began walking towards the twins direction,

"Shit!" Caleb pushed Ariel from behind.

Ariel began giggling as he transitioned into a full out sprint, having Caleb follow him to a sectioned off doorway that led to the back staircases.