Chapter 10: Chapter 10: The Brother

Edith ran through the hallway and spotted Edna.

“There you are. Get your report done as fast as possible, now. We have to get it to Randordam, tonight. Go.”

Edna had many questions, but she decided against expressing them as she ran to her room and brought the typewriter. She spent the next fifteen minutes typing out a detailed report with regard to everything she had seen. The Barbonian conspiracy, her capture, child trafficking (without mentioning Aries), the army’s lack of support from the government, the origins of the Civil War, the fact that Buckhoff had attempted to push the blame on the General, who had been innocent all along and was now pushing back against the Barbonians with Operation Red Thunderbolt. Edith brought the pictures of the camp that they had taken, along with the signed orders and papers of the initiation of Project Dominus. She allowed all of her emotions, her anger at the plight of Aries and what many other children had faced, and this entire issue, which was putting her sister’s life at risk.

She knew that Edith would fight, and there was no telling her to back down. Her sister considered it the coward’s way, to refuse to fight. And she would rather die than ever bow down to someone in her life, no matter the amount of pain she had to endure. And she also knew that as long as Edith was here, as long as Aries was still in danger and the men that had inflicted pain on her were still out there, she would be here.

Taking out the paper, she signed it and placed it in the suitcase with Edith’s pictorial evidence. Edith lifted the suitcase, and they walked to the helipad at the base, where she boarded the helicopter there. Riley was already sitting inside, and one of Howard’s pilots was to drive it. Edith climbed in and looked back at her sister. “Don’t worry, I’ll be back soon. This won’t take a very long time.”

Edna nodded. “Just be safe, okay? Don’t make any stops. You go straight to Lucas, give him the report and everything, and return. The copter is armed properly in event of any kind of attack, right?”

“Yes, it is. I’ll be fine, honest. You stay safe here. If there’s an attack, you stay inside and escape through the underground passage. You don’t engage. Understand?”

“Okay. Bye, Edith.”

“See you soon.” She sat inside and shut the door. The helicopter began to whirr and soon took off, and Edna watched as it went farther and farther until it disappeared. Once it was gone, she went back into the building.

Going to the room where she had left Aries, she opened the door. The girl was curled up and her face was puckered as she turned and tossed, clearly having bad dreams. Her heart went out to her as she walked to her bed. She got in beside her and gently stroked her cheek, whispering soothingly.

“It’s okay. I’m here. You’re safe. You’re fine.”

Slowly, she relaxed, and her face became normal. She began to sleep normally. Satisfied, Edna lay down beside her and closed her eyes as well, her hand placed on the child’s head. She went to sleep, exhausted from the recent events.

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Seven-year-old Aries was in the corner, huddled to herself. The other kids were sleeping, but she couldn’t, so she simply sat there.

Someone tapped her shoulder. She jerked, before looking at the person. She smiled. “You frightened me.”

“I know. I am sorry, I should not have scared you. I just got done. Why are you not sleeping?”

It was Antares. She had known him since her birth. He had taken her under his wing, protected her from some of the other children, and had shown kindness to her.

“I could not. I am hungry. I did not get food today, because I was not able to jump over the wall. So I am being punished.”

“Then you’ll like what I’ve brought today.” He took out a piece of bread from his pocket and held it out to her. She took it, but then looked at him questioningly. “What about you?”

“It’s alright, I am not hungry.”

She broke the piece into two halves and handed one to him. “Eat,” she said, in a small yet commanding voice. Antares smiled and took the half. He put his arm around her shoulder and hugged her to him. His body was warm, and he made her feel safe. She hugged him as well while eating.

“You know, we learned the meaning of brother and sister today.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means two people, who are related to each other. They care about each other, feed each other, and have fun and talk.”

“Like us?” “Yes, in a way. Like us.”

He scrunched up his face in deep thought. Then his face lit up. “Hey, maybe we can be brother and sister?”

“Us? But we are not related.”

“That does not matter. It is just one thing. But we have everything else. We care, we joke, we feed. So technically, we are brother and sister.”

“That is nice. But who will be brother, and who will be sister?”

“I’m the boy, so I will be the brother. You are the girl, so you will be my sister. And since I am bigger, I am the older brother. You are my younger sister.”

Aries smiled. She did not very well understand the meaning of the words, but she liked the idea of it, and she trusted him. She held out her hand. “Forever?”

He took it and hugged her closer. “Forever.”

The boy gazed at the room, as memories played in his head. It was now empty, devoid of any human presence. He was not really a boy anymore, as he was an adult and he was ahead of his years. He was thin but strong, leanly muscular. He was wearing a shirt, and he had a lot of facial hair.

The facility had been where he’d grown up, where he had spent almost his entire life, before his recent escape. His hand subconsciously went and felt the scar of the bullet hole on his chest. He remembered the look on his sister’s face as he had fallen, in order to spare her the punishment. All his fury and emotions had taken over, and he had made a run for it. Naturally, he had been shot. The guards had dragged him away.

But the injections and the torture of the camp had had some good effects. He had enough strength to endure a bullet shot to the side of his chest, not quite hitting his heart. They dragged him away and threw him into the pile of bodies. But before they could burn him, he grabbed the hand of the guard with the torch. He twisted it, and taking advantage of the moment of weakness, threw him into the pile along with the torch. He knocked out the other man. Taking his gun, he ran away, as fast as his injured and bloody feet could take him, before anyone could see him. The gate was open for a moment, with a white truck exiting. He ran to the truck and climbed on top of it, escaping without anyone noticing.

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Once he was at a safe distance, he jumped off the truck. His chest was still bleeding, but he knew that he still had a while before he would succumb to the wound.

Luckily, walking nearby, he spotted a doctor’s clinic. Approaching it, he stumbled through the door. The doctor rushed to his aid. “What happened, boy?” He asked, putting him onto a stretcher. “B-bullet,” he responded, before ultimately fainting due to the pain.

Later, he woke up, blinking his eyes. He looked around. His chest had been bandaged, as had his feet. The doctor stood there. “Hey, boy. You’re awake, finally.”

“How long have I been unconscious?”

“Five days. Those bandages have probably healed, you can take them off. You have better healing abilities, and I believe I know why.”

He ripped off the bandages. His chest was healed, except for a hole-shaped scar. His feet had many scars. The doctor came and spoke to him.

“Look, boy. I believe I have an idea where you’re from. You’re from the facility here. So you know, it isn’t safe for you to be here. I have some food for you. Once you eat it, you’ll be back to a certain energy level, and then you’ll be able to fend for yourself. I can give you some money too. I don’t want to turn you out like this, but I can’t risk myself and my family, you know.”

Antares nodded. “It is alright. I cannot stay myself. I must go and find my sister. Are there any shops of arms nearby?”

“Yeah, there’s one. You go straight on this road, it’ll be on your right.”

“Alright.” He took the money and the food and looked at the man one last time. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, kid. Go ahead and free your sister.”

He nodded, and left, with the money and the gun he had brought. The kind doctor had given him a shirt and a pair of trousers as well, in order to not be conspicuous. He ran along the road and arrived at the arms shop, from where he purchased some more guns. It had been five days since he had escaped, and his worry for Aries made his heart heavy. After purchasing the arms and equipping himself, he walked toward the facility. By night, he had reached the place, but even from a distance, he could tell that something was not right. The place was broken and shattered, the buildings had holes in them, and the gate was open. There was not a soul in the place.

He entered the facility nevertheless, going to the room where the children always slept. And that had brought him where he was, gazing at the empty place. As he saw the bodies lying on the floor and blood splattered on the walls, his heart sank, imagining the worst. Leaving the room, he walked through the hallways, his fears only worsening as he saw more bodies. He felt no sympathy for the dead men, they had done nothing but harm to him. His only concern was his sister and her fate.

After walking through the entire facility and finding no signs of life, he fell to his knees near the gate, leaning against it and sitting. Tears came to his eyes as his mind jumped to the obvious conclusion despite the protests of his heart. Aries could not be dead. Yet there was no sign of her in the area. No sign of everyone. His heart felt like it would burst open, and his chest felt like it would be ripped apart.

He was broken out of his thoughts when he heard the sound of a car driving up. Quickly standing, he ran behind the gate, hiding out of sight.

It was a jeep. It came and entered the facility, stopping right ahead of the gate. The door opened, and Bancroft stepped out, gun in hand. Ross stepped out from the other side. They came and stood together, looking at the facility.

“You did tell them to come over, right?”

“Yes, I did. They should be over in a while. Till then, we’re here.”

Bancroft frowned. She looked around. “What is it?” Ross asked her.

“I don’t know, I feel like something isn’t right.” She walked to the gate and looked at the ground. “Feet tracks.” Ross looked worried as well as he looked around. “There is someone else here.”

She cocked her gun and slowly walked along the track of the footsteps. Going to the gates, she looked behind one. Nobody.

Suddenly, she heard a yelp from behind and swerved around, gun raised. Before she could fire, however, she felt a sharp force in her stomach, knocking her gun out of her hand and causing her to fall down. Two hands pinned her to the ground. As she looked up, she could see the silhouette of a man over her, his hands on her shoulders, keeping her down.

“What did you do? Where is everyone? Where is she?”

She responded by lifting her leg and kicking him in the stomach. Taking advantage of the moment of weakness, she raised her hand and pushed the side of his head, banging it on the ground. Grabbing his gun which had fallen nearby, she wasted no time in bringing the butt down on his head, knocking him out cold.

She got up and looked around. Ross lay on the floor. She immediately kneeled by him, shaking him awake. He blinked and groaned, his hand going to the back of his head. He looked at her. “What happened? We were attacked.”

“I knocked him out. Are you alright?”

“Yeah. I’m fine.” She helped him stand, and they both looked at the young man.

“Who do you think he is?”

“I don’t know,” she replied as she disarmed the boy, taking all the guns off his body. “He asked me three questions. What did I do, where is everyone, where is she? No, I don’t know who this ‘she’ is.”

“Well, then why don’t we take him back to base? We can ask him. He might be useful.”

“Yeah, we’ll do that. You take him, I’ll stay here and wait for the rest of the troops to arrive.”

“You’re sure you will be fine?”

Bancroft raised an eyebrow incredulously. Ross shrugged. “I guess you will.” They both dragged Antares into the jeep. She picked up the guns that he had. Taking a handgun, she handed it to Ross. “Keep it.” He nodded and took it. She kept the rest. Sitting in the jeep, he drove off. She watched him leave and then began to pace the area, her senses on alert.

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