Rebirth

A "Sequel" to the Task force Chapters. It features Eli during the summer in between Sixth and Seventh Grade and sets up the sequel

Eli walked out onto the sidewalk outside the Middle School. Summer, it was finally here. This past year had been hell for him he thought as he brushed a strand of his black hair out of his face. It had been hell, he lost friends, fought in a war, and risked his life on multiple occasions. But it sucked even more for Kate, his friend and only surviving squad mate. She was still in the
hospital recovering. A whole school year hadn't been enough for her to heal, but she was on her way. She'd be alright soon.
"So what do we do now?" Zeta, Eli's Artificial Intelligence unit asked. Eli looked over at the purple figure. For a second he thought about how Zeta looked. He had never really thought about it before. He looked like a human. He was wearing a lab coat and had pens in a shirt pocket. He was amazed by the
attention to detail in the A.I's figure. He could see little ruffles in the coat
as if it had never been ironed.
"I don't know." Eli said truthfully. He really didn't. He and all his friends
weren't normal twelve year olds anymore. The brain-washing, training, fighting
had all insured that. Hell some of his friends now were Aliens.
"Are we going to go home?" Zeta asked.
Eli didn't respond. He felt too... different at home. His family treated him
different. When he first returned home from The Great Battle at the Middle
School, a battle that had robbed him of three months of his life and had taken
the lives of two of his close friends, he was different. His parents were upset
with his decision. They didn't like the idea of Eli fighting and no longer felt
comfortable when he was around. It was almost like they were afraid whenever he
was near by. As if they would be attacked in seconds. His younger brother,
Michael, didn't understand what was going on. He didn't get that Eli was in
danger. He didn't get that his older brother was a killer, a child with a
different mindset. He was an ideal expendable. That what the media called him.
That's what the media called all of Operation School. They had been trained to
be pure bred heroes. They had saved the world! Yet no one cared, all that
mattered was they were children who were using weapons to fight battles for
other people. When it came to that, not even Aliens mattered. All that mattered
was that a Child Soldier was bad, no matter what they had accomplished. The only
person Eli liked spending any time with was his baby sister, Caroline. Caroline
couldn't understand anything. Unlike everyone else all she saw in Eli was an
older brother who she loved, something that made Eli happy. It gave him a reason
to fight. To make the world safe for her.
"So, are we going home?" Zeta asked again. Unlike Eli, Zeta liked the Holoum
family. He felt like having other people to talk too was a good thing. That was
one of the only things Eli didn't like about Zeta.
"Yeah, we can go home." Eli said, he began to walk down the street. Assault
rifle on his back, pistol at his side.

Eli was walking down his street. His friend Andrew came walking down another
street and the two intercepted. "Eli where are you going?" Andrew asked. Andrew
was a hero. Eli meant it when he thought that. Andrew was the best soldier
Operation School had ever trained. Eli watched as Andrews features almost
gleamed in the sunlight. His dirty blonde hair and his hazel eyes. Eli could see
the look of a hero in Andrew. He wasn't sure what it was. It wasn't his physical
looks. Maybe the way he walked, maybe the way Eli pictured him, maybe the way
the media portrayed him. The only good aspect of Operation School. Something
about him made him a hero.
"I'm going home why?"
"Pick-up game. We are gonna try and teach Slosheey, Brutus, and Payay to play
football. You wanna come?" Andrew said.
"Nah, it's alright. Maybe later."
"Alright man." Andrew walked off. Mere months ago he had almost lost his life
Saving the world. Stabbed with his own sword. Thank god Anthony, another member
of Operation School, and Slosheey had been there. If they hadn't Andrew probably
would have died. If not from his wounds, from the explosion.
"Your jealous of him." Zeta said.
"I am not!" Eli said as he continued to walk home.
"Andrew accomplished great things during the Great Battle. He took down the
ship, made an alliance with The Arc, confronted the Patriarch twice, and never
lost a close friend. You on the other hand only managed to attempt to kill the
Special Operations leader. But failed and lost two, almost three, of your
friends in the process."
Despite Eli's anger it was true. He and his squad had attempted to kill the
Special Operations, a organization that was attempting to, and succeeding at,
overthrow the American Government through force, leader. The attack failed, the
police got involved, and Eli lost two of his friends, got a third critically
injured, and nearly lost his own life.
"Your just lucky Lee was so nice as to give me back to you." Zeta continued. Lee
was the name of the Special Operations leader. He had taken Zeta from Eli, but
gave him to Andrew when Andrew proved himself worthy through an honorable act.
He couldn't kill Lee because Lee was unarmed and not threatening him.
"Yeah, I'm so lucky." Eli said.

Returning home, Eli walked wordlessly through the house. He walked through the
kitchen, where his mother glared at him as if to say "Don't talk just walk." Eli
ignored this, it had become a common household ritual.

Eli continued towards the staircase. He began to walk up the staircase and saw
his brothers rooms door open at the top. Michael appeared in the doorway and
shut his door. Making sure it was closed so that his brother couldn't see him.
Eli ignored this too. Michael did it every day, but unlike his mother, seemed
like he didn't want too. It was as if someone was making him close the door.

Eli walked past Michaels room and into Caroline’s room. She was standing up in
her crib, she knew he was home.
"Hey Caroline!" Eli said. He picked her up out of her crib and held her in his
arms. He ran his fingers through her curly brown hair. Caroline giggled.
"How are you today?" Eli asked.
Caroline didn't say anything, she just smiled.
"That’s good." Eli said. He played with her for a little bit longer than put her
back in her crib.

Eli finally arrived at his room and collapsed on his bed. He hung up his Assault
rifle on the rack, and placed his pistol into a holder on the rack. He then
undressed from his Operation School attire, an all black armored suit, and
placed it in his closet. He put on casual clothes and then collapsed into bed.

Eli began to feel extremely tired. The year had worn him out and he wanted
nothing more than to just sleep and forget the whole year had even happened. He
wanted to go back to fifth grade. He wanted to not be wrapped up in Operation
School, he wanted his friends to be alive again, he wanted to run around and
have fun like a normal child. He wanted his family to love him again. Eli began
to cry, he missed it all so much. He wept in his bed, and cried himself to
sleep.

Eli slept for the better part of the afternoon and night. He woke up at about
one in the morning to use the bathroom.
Eli dragged himself out of bed, he placed his barefeet on the ground and began
to walk to the bathroom. In the bathroom, he looked at himself in the mirror. He
brushed his hair out of his eyes, looked at his reflection and asked himself the
question. The same question he asked himself every night. What had he become.
However this night, he didn't get to think of an answer because the second he
asked the question, he heard gunfire.