War

99AE
Lucerana
Prevailia
Alexander Bloodworth

War

 

                My phone is ringing.  I’m surprised it’s still intact after all this.  I stand up and set Marcia down.  “Are you okay?” I ask her.  She nods.  I reach for my phone and look at the caller.  It’s Murphy.  I flip open the phone and answer, “Hello?”

                “Alex?  What the hell’s going on there?” Murphy demands, “I’m getting reports that the Decorian Embassy just burned down.”

                “It did,” I answer, “I’m staring at it right now.  I’d say the Lucerana Fire Department will be here shortly.”

                “The Decorians are claiming it was the work of Makaroy Taylor!” shouts Murphy, “I thought he was dead!”

                “I did too,” I reply, “I tend not to expect people to survive twenty-seven story drops.  But he is dead this time.  I impaled him on a sword.  He’s not coming back.”

                “Alex, there aren’t any reported survivors,” Murphy says, “Alex, Rexrode’s daughter was in there.  His eight year old daughter!  He just declared war because of this!”

                “Well the report is wrong!” I yell back, “I have his daughter.  She’s fine, Makaroy’s dead!  You have to explain that to them!”  Murphy doesn’t respond.  All I get is a dial tone.  The call dropped.  This is the worst possible time for crappy service.  I look at my signal.  Dead.  No bars and a notification saying, no service.  This isn’t good.

                “Did I cause trouble for everyone?” Marcia asks looking up. 

                I look down to her.  Her green eyes show a great amount of fear.  “No,” I reply, “But it’s clear that your daddy loves you very much.”

                “I want him,” she cries, “I want daddy.”

                I pick her up again.  “That’s where we’re going,” I tell her, “We need to get you back to your dad.”  I carry her back to where Tamara should be, back where Makaroy crashed.  This is painful.  Every inch of my body hurts.  Big falls, car chases, this could be an action movie. 

                I find Tamara standing by the totaled car.  She sees me and runs over.  “Oh my god!  Are you okay?” she asks, “Who is that you have there?”

                “This is Marcia Rexrode,” I explain, “Christian Rexrode’s daughter.  I pulled her from the fire.”

                “Oh my,” proclaims Tamara, “What was she doing there?”

                “The last I remember,” I begin, “Rexrode said he left her here as a reason not to go to war.”

                “Does he know she’s okay?” Tamara asks.

                “No, he thinks she’s dead,” I explain, “So we are at war.”

                “That’s not good.  She’s fine Alex, untouched even,” says Tamara, “You have to tell them she’s still alive somehow.”

                “My phone just lost all signal,” I reply, “So we need to get to the front and stop this war before it gets out of control.  I just hope Alicia shows up soon.  We need to get to the airport.”  I reassess Marcia’s weight in my arms.  I could use a rest now.  “Marcia,” I ask, “Would you mind walking now?”

                “I don’t want to,” complains Marcia, “I want you to hold me.  You make me feel safe.”

                “Marcia,” I begin, “I’m really tired.  You’re safe right now, no need to worry.”

                “No!” she pleads, digging her face into my arms.  This is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.  I just wish I was seeing it when I’m not so battle-scared. 

                “I’ll take her,” offers Tamara.

                “Marcia, this is Tamara,” I tell her, “She’s a nice girl.  She can keep you safe.”

                “Is she your girlfriend?” Marcia asks.  Tamara and I look at each other with a look of surprise and disbelief that that question was just asked.  We both forget to answer.  “Because I want to be your girlfriend,” Marcia adds.  That was direct. Um �" awkward…..

                “Alex?” shouts Alicia.  It appears she just showed up in our old squad car.  She gets out with Seamus who was sitting shotgun.  That was expert timing.  “I tried to call you but my phone lost all signal.  Alex?  What did you do to yourself?  It looks like you went through a meat grinder.”

                I walk over to the car.  “We need to get to the airport,” I say, “I can explain on the way.”  I pass Alicia and Seamus and reach the car.  I open the back door and plop Marcia down on the seat.

                “Who is that?” Alicia asks, walking back to the car taking the keys out of her pocket.

                “This is Marcia Rexrode,” I explain, “The Decorians think she’s dead, which is why it’s imperative to get to the border before this war gets out of hand.”

                “War?” asks Alicia, making sure she heard me.

                “Yes, now we need to move,” I urge, “And I’m driving.”  I walk over and try to take the keys away from Alicia.

                “Not looking like that you aren’t,” Alicia snaps holding the keys out of my reach.

                “Oh please anyone but you behind the wheel,” pleads Seamus, his wounded arm bandaged up and in a sling.

                “Shut up you!” shouts Alicia, “You should be grateful that I did such a good job bandaging you up.”

                “Yeah well with what I’ve seen of your driving, I’m lucky I don’t need more first aid,” Seamus pleads gesturing to me, “It’s a miracle I don’t look like that right now.”

                As Seamus' criticism distracts Alicia, I snatch the keys out of her hand.  “We don’t have time to argue,” I explain, “And I’ve already had enough scary drives today.”

                “But…” pleads Alicia, but I’ve already to made it to the driver’s seat and have the keys in the ignition.  Alicia throws her arms up in the air in frustration but realizes it’s useless to argue the point anymore.  She goes to open the passenger door, but finds that Tamara has already claimed the seat for herself.  She ends up in the back next to Marcia who is now between Alicia and Seamus.  “Just drive,” she blurts out in frustration. 

                I pull out, being careful to maneuver around the mess of cars and the just now arriving fire trucks. 

                “Who are all these people?” asks Marcia.

                “That’s Seamus and Alicia,” I answer, “Alicia is my sister, and Seamus �" Seamus is in time out.”

                “Oh is that what you’re calling it?” Seamus asks in protest.

                “Hi, I’m Marcia,” says Marcia turning to Alicia.

                “Oh, I don’t get an introduction,” complains Seamus.

                “Shut up!” shouts Marcia, “You’re in time out!”  All noise in the car stops for a moment, as we are all stunned by Marcia’s sudden burst of aggression. 

                “So…. You’ve met my brother,” says Alicia, choosing to break the silence.

                “Alex? Yeah, he’s my boyfriend,” answers Marcia. 

                “Oh god, I do not remember agreeing to this,” I mutter under my breath, though loud enough that Tamara hears what I said.

                “Oh my, Marcia, you are just the cutest thing I ever did see,” says Alicia, perking up to this whole slew of torture she can now unleash on me. 

                “But don’t you think Alex is a little too old for you?” Tamara asks, turning around.

                “Nah he’s only like sixteen, right?” answers Marcia.

                “He’s twenty-five,” Tamara corrects her.

                “Same difference,” Marcia says.

                “HA! This whole system is corrupt,” laughs Seamus, “The last Arkhe starts a war and this one dates eight-year-olds.”

                “Hey!  Did anyone say you were out of time out yet?” scolds Marcia, “No! So shut up!”

                “I think Alex and Marcia make a great couple,” states Alicia, enjoying this situation way too much, “I approve Alex.”

                “Oh look at that, great timing we’re at the airport,” I announce, trying to find a way to change the topic.  I pull the car up to the gate onto the runway.  I flash my Arkhe badge to the security officer at the gate.

                “You’re finally here,” says the officer, “There’s been a chopper waiting for you, it’s ready to go.”

                “Just point in the right direction,” I tell him.  He opens the gate for us and points to a helicopter only about a hundred yards away.  It’s a military helicopter.  Nothing super fancy, just transport material.  I drive the car over and stop.  We all get out.

                “We get to ride in a helicopter!” shrieks Tamara with excitement, “I’ve always wanted to ride in a helicopter!”

                “It’s not that fun,” says Marcia, “It’s too loud and you can’t hear much of anything.  I don’t like them.”

                The pilot walks forward and shakes my hand.  “It’s a pleasure to be your pilot sir,” he says, “I lost communication with the border about fifteen minutes ago.  The Decorians took out our communication satellites, so we can’t get the message out that we’re coming.  I’m going to get you to the front lines though, don’t worry.”

                “Thanks,” I say, and jump in the bed of the chopper with everyone else.

                “Do you think Max is doing a good job holding them off?” Alicia asks as the helicopter blades begin to spin.

                “Max will do everything he can,” I reply, “If worse comes to worse, he’ll fall back to Lucerana.  This city is the easiest city to hold, considering it’s an island.”

                “I hope so,” says Alicia.  The blades spin faster and faster and soon the chopper is lifting up into the air heading south.  The ground gets further and further away and soon we are out of the city and over water now.  The Emerald Sea is below. 

                “Oh god, we’re really high up,” shouts Seamus above the noise of the blades spinning.

                “What did you expect?” yells Alicia, “We’re in a helicopter!”

                “I don’t like heights,” Seamus shouts back, “I’d rather be in the car with you driving right now.”

                “Wait did you hear that?” yells Tamara, “It sounded like it was heading towards the city.”

                I look out back towards Lucerana, “Hear what?” I ask.

                My question gets answered as the landscape of the city disappears behind a blinding light.  I look away to shield my eyes for a second but look back to see a mushroom cloud forming where the city should be. 

                “Is that a nuke?” I ask, concerned that the Decorians would have the balls to blow up the capital.  No, that’s the whole city!  Gone!

                “No, I think that was an antimatter bomb!” shouts Tamara, “Hold on, a blast wave is coming!”  I see it coming, a visible distortion along the surface of the water.  It hits us with a wall of sound so loud that nothing is audible.  The helicopter shakes sideways.  Lights start flashing, but we can’t hear anything.  We’re all holding on for our lives.  We’re losing altitude.  The water of the Emerald Sea is approaching fast.  This is going to be a �"SPLASH!