Chapter 10
He awoke that Monday when he smelled eggs. Gabriel opened his eyes and saw that Michael was in his room eating some scrambled eggs, but his parents and Anna weren't in the room. "Tell me you got some eggs for me," Gabriel asked. "Sorry, I didn't think you'd wake up," Michael said, then tried to scratch under his cast a little. "Where are Mom and Dad, and Anna?" Gabriel asked his twin. Michael shoveled some more egg in his face and told him, "Anna's all healed, she only needed a few stitches and she didn't have any brain damage. Mom and Dad went to get some clothes for us," Michael answered. Gabriel nodded then told him, "Why haven't you healed yourself yet?" Michael stopped eating then put his plate aside on the side table he was eating from. He then looked in Gabriel's eyes and told him, "I don't want to leave." "What," Gabriel flatly said. "We were lucky Gabriel, more than we should have been, and look what happened, our school is gone, your friends are dead, it's a miracle that Alice, or Lisa or Cole weren't harmed. This whole thing is too big for us to deal with alone," Michael told him.
"That's it?" a smolderingly angry Gabriel asked. "You're scared? You think that that's a good answer?" Michael looked at him sadly and said, "No. It's the only one I can give you. I'm scared, Gabriel. For the last month since the Purifiers showed themselves I've had nightmares of this happening, of those maniacs coming after our friends and family, and they did! God only knows why they haven't tried it again, though I think they're trying to make themselves look better by not going after us while we're in a Hospital. They're not afraid to die! If it means that they can kill us they'll blow up a whole building, like the terrorists, Al-Qaeda, or ISIS, they're maniacs that think God is on their side and that justifies everything they do! No matter how low they sink, who they hurt, they just won't stop until they're dead, or we are! I can't do that!"
"So that's it!? It's getting hard, and you're giving up! They killed them! Lisa, Kory, Mike, Lucas, they killed them! And I won't let them get away with it; I won't let them think that they're safe after what they did!" Gabriel yelled. "What are you going to do? Kill them all?! Torture them!? You want to turn into just as much of a monster as them!?" Michael angrily yelled back at him. "No," Gabriel said quietly when he noticed a nurse approaching, "Not like them. Because I will actually be doing the right thing, I won't kill anyone who's innocent, just the ones that won't surrender. Anyone that helps them is my enemy now." They said no more after that.
About ten minutes later their parents came back. Jerry looked at Gabriel and said, "You forced your body to heal last night, didn't you?" Gabriel smiled and said, "I never did like Hospitals all that much. I figured if I can get out of here sooner, then alright." Jerry shook his head at this and told him, "You're getting X-rays then to make sure you healed properly. When Jack forced his body to heal, he actually messed up his muscles a lot and got them tangled up. He had to get a dozen surgeries to fix them up properly." Gabriel swallowed at this and didn't argue as he was sent to get his X-rays.
A not bad looking Asian female nurse took him via wheelchair to the X-ray room. As she took him she told him, "What's wrong?" "You know I'm a halfa right?" Gabriel told her. "Yeah," the nurse said in return. "Well, one of the things we can do is that we can make our bodies heal faster. I did that last night and now Dad thinks I messed up and that my bones will be all messed up now. I'm worried that he's right," Gabriel said. The nurse put her hand on his shoulder as they got to the elevator and told him, "It'll be alright, I know how someone looks when their bones don't heal right, and you look just fine to me." "If you say so," Gabriel said, hoping she was right.
Eventually they made it to the X-ray room and the nurse that brought him and a male nurse with dyed green hair helped him onto the table and put a lead gown and mask on. He looked up at the large light, took a deep breath as instructed, and closed his eyes. He heard the flash and was then rolled to his left side and repeated the same procedure a third time after the nurses turned him to his right side. Once it was done Gabriel was escorted back to his room and saw his family was watching a News Report. "What's going on?" he asked.
"Nothing good," Marie told him then said to the TV, "Rewind to beginning of program." The TV rewound and Gabriel caught the sight of a Purifier on the screen. You… he thought, glaring at the screen. Finally it stopped rewinding and started at the beginning. He saw a grey haired news reporter at his desk and he said, "Welcome ba-" that was as far as he got when the signal was interrupted to show a black background with the symbol of the Purifiers, hand holding a ghost in a white sheet. A figure stepped forward wearing the black armor with blue helmet of the Purifiers with the symbol on its chest, the same Halfa Suit armor that the designs of which they stole from Gabriel's Dad.
"The puppet government of the so-called halfas declares us terrorists. This is a lie that the so-called halfas have fed them to oppress those who would eliminate their evil. We are the only defense the human race has against them, and they know this. If the ghost that almost destroyed Amity Park, the one called 'Dark Danny' truly was from another reality, then that is all the proof we need that the halfas are not to be trusted. One of them could end Human Civilization in the span of ten years, then how quickly can the sixteen that now live, along with their human collaborators and ghost allies do the same? We will defend our homes no matter what. We grieve for the innocents who have died in the process, but we will not apologize for doing what must be done! This world is for Humans and Humanity alone! To our fellow humans, we give you this warning: join us or stay out of our way, all those who aid the halfas will share their fate." The transmission turned off.