Marcus and Lily
Marcus kept his eyes fixed on his father who was struggling to free himself from the Sec officers who held him down.
His mother was screaming somewhere to the side and was just out of his sight. He could hear her begging and pleading but it didn't seem to matter.
Marcus and his little sister Lily were being taken away from them. He didn't know where to or why. Just that they were.
Lily was screaming now, almost deafening Marcus's right ear as she roared for their parents to save her.
But he was cold. He could see something in his father's face that made him realize that crying wouldn't help even if he wanted to sob like Lily.
The children were shoved roughly in the back of the truck, taking seats with a number of other frightened kids who were already inside.
Lily clung to her brother as her sobbing grew more desperate while their parents still struggled.
His father was shouting something to them but he couldn't hear all of it as the truck started up and began to drive away.
"... out, Marcus! Take care... Lily!"
He stared blankly as his home and the small crowd milling around it became a distant speck. Lily had stopped sobbing but clung to his side tightly.
"Lily?" he finally asked quietly.
Her small face peered up at her older brother.
"You gotta stick with me, okay? Until Mom and Dad come and get us anyway."
She nodded before bursting into tears once more.
They made them strip off.
He didn't like it. The stares and gawks. He didn't want them to touch Lily so he helped her remove her clothes and kept her shielded behind him as they were marched to the group decontamination unit.
Freezing cold water gushed out forcefully from the walls, shocking and even hurting with the power of it.
Marcus grabbed Lily tightly and curled up around her, desperate to keep her safe even if he couldn't soothe her screams.
Once it was over, they were marched still naked through the long open corridor with the many vacant faces of other children staring out from the cells on either side of what was now their new home according to the mocking guards.
Marcus shivered with the cold but kept Lily in his arms, trying to get her warm at least. He had to. His dad told him. Told him to take care of Lily and that's what he was gonna do.
They reached an open cell where the guards attempted to take his sister from him.
"Don't you touch her!" he roared, hearing Lily's desperate scream as the first guard grabbed her arm and attempted to pull her away from her brother.
He was shoved backwards and lost his grip on Lily. He'd barely registered the pain, only knew the loss of her and snapped.
His body tingled and shivered with rage before something happened. He didn't know what exactly.
Only that the tingling left his body and seemed to become real, shoving guards and furniture away.
In the chaos, Marcus grabbed Lily and quickly shielded her once more.
They all stared at him oddly once they got back on their feet.
Marcus waited. Waited for the attack he knew would come but... it didn't. Instead they moved the pair into the nearest cell and set off with the other children.
"Hey."
Marcus snapped his head around and realized the cell wasn't as empty as he thought. Another boy sat on the bed wearily with torn clothes that barely covered him.
"Hey. My... My name's Marcus. This is Lily."
The boy gave a tight smile. "Gaius. Ahem... do you need some clothes? I got some here to spare."
Marcus gratefully took what Gaius had to offer, clothing himself in items not too dissimilar while Lily had to make do with a woolen jumper several times too big for her and was more like a dress.
"First day is the worst," Gaius said with a strange tone. "Here. You should eat. My mom always said that you should make sure to."
He handed over some battered foil wrapped rations which Marcus immediately scoffed down and helped Lily to break hers into smaller pieces so she could eat too.
"Where's your mom and dad?" Marcus asked.
"My mom died. My dad didn't want me."
"... sorry."
Gaius shrugged. "Your mom and dad?"
"Outside. My dad's coming to get us."
Lily poked her head up at that, gazing up at Marcus from where she had sat quietly munching on the bland ration.
"He will. Dad's gonna save us," he said to her while attempting a comforting smile.
"Come on! Get up on your feet!"
Marcus shook off the blow that Mira managed to land on him and readied his fists for the next onslaught.
It had been months since they'd arrived to this place. Mondala they called it. Hell was what he and Gaius named it.
His opponent seemed to love it here however. Mira was practically dancing, her footwork light and blindingly fast. But Marcus was stronger. He just needed one lucky hit while she needed to wear him down. Marcus quickly wiped the trickle of blood that started to dribble from one nostril before dodging a flurry of strikes from Mira who danced in and then out with lightning speed.
Just as they both geared up for the next stage of this fight, the entire facility shook violently and the horrible sirens that the guards liked to set off late at night to wake everyone from their sleep now sounded.
Marcus took advantage of the confusion of the guards to bolt out the door leading from the fighting pits back into the facility. It was filled with noise – from screams and shouts to distant gunfire.
The place was under attack. All Marcus could think of was Lily. He had to get to Lily.
He tore through the hallways and soon picked up quite a following as the cells unexpectedly opened.
Marcus glanced around at the sea of confused faces of children from his own age to far younger than even Lily.
"Stick with me!" he shouted over the din and led them towards where he hoped Lily was.
"Hey!" he greeted as Lily flung herself at him, leaving the embrace of Gaius who had comforted her in Marcus's absence. His friend and cellmate glanced at the sea of kids with Marcus.
"We need to get out of here."
"Yeah," Marcus replied eagerly. "I'll take half and you take half? Split up?"
Gaius nodded. "Okay. I'll try the canteens. See if we can get out that way."
"I'll go to that door near the guards office. Gaius?"
His friend who was busy dividing the group into two turned around. "Yeah?"
"Be careful. You can't die. We got all those plans to do first."
Gaius grinned, the smile unsettling considering how thin he'd become. How thin they'd all become.
"You got it. See ya later."
Marcus's heart had lept in his chest when he realized who it was that was attacking the facility.
As he led his group along the upper floors aiming for what he and Gaius had suspected for a long time was a way out, he finally saw among the invaders battling it out with guards on the main lobby floor his father.
"Dad?" he whispered before it became a roar. "DAD!"
Marcus lost all thought of being sneaky and started hammering on the glass viewing port.
Far below, his father was using an upturned table as cover while exchanging fire with the few remaining guards in position.
Finally he looked up and saw Marcus who was still roaring and hammering in an almost delirium at seeing his dad at long last.
He could see his father desperately glance around before spotting something. He waved at Marcus to go forward before he shouted at his own team and took off back the way he had clearly entered the lobby.
"Lily! Come on!" Marcus shouted as he grabbed her small hand. "All of you, come on! It's my dad!"
They all scurried after Marcus who was desperately running with Lily being almost dragged off her feet in his haste.
He bolted past where he had thought to escape when he spotted what his father had seen. A stairs leading down. And just as he arrived to it, so did his father emerge up onto their floor with a number of other fighters with him.
"Marcus! Lily!"
Marcus ran to him before promptly collapsing in his father's arms. The world turn black for him.
He felt warm. Warmer than he had in ages. He'd gotten so used to being cold that this heat was almost unbearable.
He opened his eyes carefully and found himself in a small room with an small porthole that showed only stars. A ship going somewhere he realized from the rattles and hums.
He could hear mumbling voices from just beyond the only door. And laughter. "Lily," he breathed when he realized it was her giggles he was hearing.
Marcus sat up slowly and placed his feet on the cold floor. He was in pajamas. His favorite ones before... everything.
The books he had in his room were there too, piled up on the locker beside the bunk-bed he was in. He just managed to find enough strength to stand when the door slid open.
"Marcus..."
His father beamed at him before rushing forward and hugging him tight.
"Dad!" Marcus started sobbing. "I took care of Lily like you told me to!"
"I know. I know you did." Proteus hummed soothingly. "I'm so proud of you."
He pulled back a little and pressed his forehead to his son's. "Come on, hero. Your mom has been waiting for you to wake up."
"Where are we?"
"On a transport to our new home. Some of your friends are with us too. One of them has been around several times to see if you were awake. Gaius is his name."
Marcus broke into a grin. "Heh!"
Proteus led him out to small living area where Alice sat playing with the clean and warmly clothed Lily.
His mother shrieked with joy when she spotted him and practically bounced out of the chair before swallowing him up in her arms.
Marcus didn't really hear what she was saying. He just was taken up with the feeling of finally being home.
He ate until he was full to bursting and even then his mother was trying to get him to eat more. He could see her wiping away tears when she thought he wasn't looking.
A glance in a mirror told him why. He was like a skeleton.
His father on the other hand broached the subject of what life had been like for him since they were taken but Marcus didn't want to say anything.
He just sat with Lily and played games. She went to bed early with their mother who would now take the place that Marcus had of being Lily's comforter until they had the time to deal with the nightmares that had plagued her since they were taken.
Marcus sat and stared out the small porthole of the room he woke in with his father seated beside him.
"I'm sorry, Marcus."
"Why?"
"I failed you. I should have gotten you both off world before... spirits."
Proteus rubbed his face wearily before he opened his arms to let Marcus hug him.
His son buried his face in his tunic in order to soak up the tears that flooded out from him.