I held tight onto Alex. I didn’t want to close my eyes and let sleep take me. It had been nearly two days since we sent the reply to the governor, and it could be any moment now he might show up, most likely with an attack. As much as I wanted him to be reasonable, I sincerely doubted it would be that easy. I tossed and turned under the sheets, my body completely unable to relax as I waited for the inevitable. At some point during the night my mind gave into exhaustion, and I finally faded off to sleep.

My eyes flew open early the next morning. The sky was still dark and the birds weren’t chirping yet. A nightmare had awoken me and I struggled to recall the details as my heart raced. All I remembered was screaming as my wings were chained to a wall, and everyone I knew from the facility was being loaded into steel cages. I got up and got dressed, too worked up to go back to sleep. I took my time to put on all of the military gear. Most of us opted to wear it the last two days, expecting a battle at a moment's notice. I tucked the holster into its place on my belt and adjusted the gun to sit nicely out of view under my jacket. Doing so brought me some amount of peace, like I would be more prepared.

I tip-toed downstairs, careful not to wake Alex or anyone else in the hall at such an early hour. I wandered around the main floor aimlessly, and eventually settled by a window near the front of the building. I stared out at the dark sky and watched the rain come down. Spring had passed us by, and it was early summer at this point. The storms on days like today were the only relief from the heat, and I welcomed the break. The wind howled and whipped against the building as the rain fell, and I found it oddly soothing to just watch and listen to. I took a deep breath, still trying to calm myself from the nightmare that had woken me. I heard something behind me and snapped my head around, startled from the sudden noise. Jake was standing there with a sleepy smile on his face.

“Morning. Jumpy much?” he laughed.

I rolled my eyes. “Morning. At this hour, yes I’m a little jumpy. What are you doing up, anyway? I thought someone else had the night shift.”

He shrugged and ran his fingers through his messy hair. “Couldn’t sleep. I’m usually awake enough by now to hear outside and it helps me relax, but all I can hear is the damned storm. It’s loud for me ya know?” he huffed.

Poor Jake didn’t have the luxury of choosing when to use his Oddity. It was always on, always heightened, so loud noises that the rest of us could tune out could grow to be overwhelming for him. He looked stressed and uneasy. I felt bad for him for a moment, and clearly I didn’t do a great job of hiding it.

“Come on don’t make that face at me,” he scolded, “if you could hear everything coming from a mile away and it got replaced by the roar of a storm you’d be uncomfortable too. I’m fine though, really. Besides, why are you up?” he asked as an afterthought as he joined me by the window.

“Bad dream I guess. Or I’m just on edge. I don’t know really,” I mumbled, glancing back out towards the rain.

“I get it. With the-” Jake stopped in the middle of his sentence, and squinted out into the distance, past the guard rail at the gate. He rubbed his eyes, and then looked at it harder.

“Do you see a light?” he asked softly, a faint tremble in his voice.

“Headlights. Jake, it's headlights!” I yelled as I ripped my eyes from the window and bolted from my spot.

I ran to the wall and flipped on the emergency alarm that hadn’t sounded since we first arrived at the facility. The alarm stirred to life causing Jake to wince in pain, and it stopped him in his tracks for a moment. He regained his composure and continued his path towards the basement, to brief everyone there on the reason for the alarm. I went to the second floor with a similar purpose in mind. Slowly, fully dressed people started funneling into the halls and rushing towards the armory to gear up with weapons and ammo.

From my position in the hall I repeated to each group that passed me, “Stationary headlights in the distance. They’re preparing to enter. At least six vehicles. Be prepared for combat!”

Lucas and Alex were in the next group of people to funnel through the hall, they both paused to listen to my brief before continuing towards the armory. Lucas gave me an affirmative nod before continuing on his way, and Alex stopped in front of me.

“We just finished checking rooms. Everyone is up and following our plan. They’re getting into position now. You can kill the alarm,” he said urgently.

I nodded and turned to go back to the alarm, but he caught my arm before I could leave. He looked into my eyes for a moment. “Be safe. I love you. I better see you on the other side of this,” he said sternly.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“I love you too, and you will, we’ll be okay,” I smiled, giving him a quick peck on the cheek before turning back towards the stairs.

I killed the alarm now that everyone was awake and informed. It had served its purpose. I just hoped the storms had masked the sounds from the vehicles waiting in the distance. It would be advantageous if they didn’t know we were ready for them. If they truly planned to attack us then they may let their guards down if they think they have us by surprise.

I glanced down, ensuring yet again that I had my gun, and went to retrieve one of the bulletproof vests from the armory. There weren’t enough for everyone so they were reserved for the close combat fighters that were more likely to be hit, and leaders like Alex and Lucas. There was enough space next to the straps on the back of my vest for my wings to unfurl without ripping it, but I couldn’t say the same for the jacket. Thankfully a few members knew how to sew, and had already repaired a few of the damaged articles of clothing from my wings and a few of the others abilities. I suspected a lot more damage would be done today.

Once I got word from Lucas that all of our soldiers were in place and awaiting our signal to begin fighting it was time to move. Alex, Lucas, and I headed out front alone, except for Isabelle, who was near us but already invisible with a gun and a knife at her disposal. She’d told us in advance the general area she’d stick to in this situation, and I tried my hardest not to look in that direction and give her away.

The three of us walked in step with each other towards the guard’s stand. We stood tall and proud, showing no signs of fear. We stopped a few feet from the break in the barrier, facing the small rail that was to be raised for visitors. Now it was all that stood between us and the governor’s forces. We stood there, waiting, as the rain poured down on us. I could just make out the sound of car doors opening and closing in the distance, and the headlights finally turned off.

The silhouettes of the men came into view, and the rain seemed to part around them as they took shape in front of us. A tall bald man in an official looking suit was front and center of the group. The two men on either side of him wore cheaper looking suits and carried guns at the ready. The rest of them donned a soldier's attire like we did, and they all had their guns out. There were maybe fourty men in total in front of us. My wings itched at my back, begging for freedom. Hatred swelled inside of me as I looked at the seemingly unbothered governor in front of me. He looked cold and indifferent. I recognized him from political ads this past voting season. He’d worn a smile then, as he promised peace and prosperity for all Texans. A blatant lie.

“What’s this?” Governor Barrett smiled cruelly as he stopped in front of us. “After all that bravado in your email you’re just surrendering at the gates like this? To think I brought all these men for no reason. What a waste of resources,” he mocked with a gloating tone.

“You think we’d surrender to this pathetic number of men?” Alex laughed sharply. “For a man behind the project that created us, you’d think you would know better than to underestimate us so drastically.”

Barrett crossed his arms, unimpressed. “Come now. There’s three of you and probably some scared kids hiding in my prison downstairs. You can’t really hope to win here. Just surrender and come quietly. My men are under strict orders not to kill you. You make valuable test subjects after all,” he said, letting his hatred seep into his words.

Lucas chuckled and mumbled under his breath, “Idiot.”

Alex shot him a look, warning Lucas to let him do the talking. “My men are under no such orders. You have no value to us. Unless of course, you can meet the demands we set for you,” Alex replied calmly, warning the governor that we weren’t backing down.

The men on either side of Governor Barrett raised their guns. Barrett swiftly raised his hand, silently ordering them to hold off. The guns returned to the waiting position and the Governor smiled. He wasn’t threatened by us in the slightest. He seemed amused that we dared to oppose him. It was as if he were a parent, looking down at his young child who declared he could take his dad in their play fight. Utter disregard for our skill.

“Will you talk terms with us, or not?” Alex said impatiently.

“I think not. I see no reason to bend to your will,” Barrett replied coldly.

“Last chance. You should know there’s not just three of us before you decide. I have a small army backing me, and they would jump at the chance to kill you. I’m all that’s holding them back right now, and if you refuse to cooperate I’ll let them,” Alex replied, clearly losing his patience.

Governor Barrett laughed sharply, his booming voice slicing through the blanket of the rain that had otherwise made the interaction relatively quiet. “Do you think this is all of my men? You’d think me a fool that would just reveal my full force to you like sitting ducks? Get real. I have power. Enough power to have made your kind. This is bigger than you. This is the future of the American power balance with the rest of the world. You can’t stop it, and I damn sure won’t be authorizing a release of top-secret military information for the rest of the world to see. So this is your last chance. Surrender now and cooperate as test subjects. Or condemn your forces to death.”

Alex sighed, “I know you aren’t a fool, Governor Barrett, but I thought you would at least act like a person. We’ve done nothing to deserve this. I urge you to stop before it’s too late. We deserve freedom and we will have it. I just thought you’d like the opportunity to be on the right side of history.”

“You’ve made your choice then. Die here, and those that survive will be taken as lab rats. That won’t include you three though, obviously,” Governor Barrett said as he began to raise his hand again to signal his troops to begin their assault.

“Now!” Alex barked.

On command Lucas threw up a large shield of ice. The rain enabled him to act on a scale I hadn’t seen before, the wall was impressively tall and thick. It seemed nearly impenetrable, but I wasn’t foolish enough to think it would last. Within seconds a thick wall of fog bloomed up around us, masking us further. Alex swiftly retrieved the flare gun from his pocket and fired into the air, signaling the rest of our group to attack. Peace talks had failed.