Accolade – Chapter Thirteen

Roland Dixon

West of Paradise, Galatia

            “Something’s up,” Roland declares as he stands up from where he had just driven a stake into the ground for his small shelter. He lightly leans against his a-frame tent as he looks toward the ridge where he and Haley had stashed the cannon not too long ago.

            “You know, the twins take longer than usual sometimes,” Haley reminds Roland as she stoops over the small fire that she had managed to start on her own. She adds a few pieces of kindling to the small flame with shaking hands and manages to knock over the small teepee that was currently burning. She lets out a discontent grunt before she continues to Roland, “They could have found something that they wanted to check out too. You know how they are, very easy to distract.”

            Roland frowns, knowing full well that Haley was right. She usually was right about things like this, but that didn’t make it any less stressful for Roland. He was responsible for his people. If anything happened to them, even if it was as small as a splinter, he was responsible. After a few still moments, Roland takes a deep breath to steady his nerves and he watches as Haley struggles to save her fire from the brink.

As was the case with most of the things Haley did, starting a fire was quite the challenge and it ate at her. But, despite the difficulty, she refused to surrender. She told Roland on countless occasions that every time she finished something on her own, she celebrated it as a victory over what the Coalition did to her. It gave her hope of a better life.

            After a solid five minutes, Haley’s fire finally comes back to life and Roland can see a slight smile tug at the corner of her mouth. Roland smiles in response to her victory and he then quickly does his best to look busy. There were times where it ate at Haley when he would just watch her struggle. She told Roland that his watching her made her feel like he didn’t trust her to do the task properly on her own, and Roland hated the idea of sowing seeds like that into her life.

“Fire’s lit,” Haley announces proudly as she rises from the small fire that is now going strong enough to be able to be left alone for more than a few seconds.

“Great, thanks,” Roland says affirmingly as he ties a knot on two sticks that he is using to create another a-frame tent with. Fortunately, he managed to find a task worth doing between when Haley saved the fire and now, so it didn’t look like he was scrambling to find something to do. He glances over his shoulder to face Haley before he requests, “Can you get me a ridge pole for this one?”

“Sure thing,” Haley nods as she briefly glances down to her fire. She quickly adds a few small sticks before slipping into the nearby foliage in search of a suitable branch.

Roland loses himself to the task of prepping the campsite for a long night in. He goes about building and setting up everything that he liked to have when he was camping and he takes special care of Haley’s fire as he does so. He wasn’t about to let it die, as he had done on a few occasions. As per the usual, Roland first sets up a few too many traps around the campsite in order to ensure the safety of his team. Once he left adequate markings to warn his friends of the traps, Roland shifts his attention back to the campsite itself. He quickly sets up a small clothesline that they would use once they had the time to wash their clothes and he even builds himself a nice structure that he would use if he managed to catch anything on the hunt he would go on soon enough in search of some game.

Once everything is set up, Roland takes a step back and he admires his handiwork. His father had taught him how to do a lot of things, and he had a special knack for building stuff. Especially when it came to building things out of seemingly nothing. Roland gloats to himself for a few beats when his eyes finally settle on the unfinished tent that he had sent Haley out to find the ridge pole for. She hadn’t returned yet.

“Rolls!” Astrid’s voice calls from up the hill a short way. Roland spins around and looks to her. When Astrid sees that she had Roland’s attention, she continues, “It looks like they’re sending out another group.”

“Of kids?” Roland asks, only partially interested in Astrid’s response. He starts walking toward where Haley had disappeared as he awaits Astrid’s response.

“Yeah,” Astrid affirms, “Looks like it’s thirty, as per the usual.”

“Any of them look friendly enough to contact this time around?” Roland asks. He still struggled to understand just what their intentions were since the kids that they sent out didn’t seem to do anything in particular.

The Coalition had been sending out Domer kids for about two years now. By and large, the various groups didn’t do half bad, when it came to survival, but they seldom stuck around the complex they left from. In fact, Roland and the Ki’etz twins had tracked one group to the deserts of Galatia. They were about to follow them in and warn them that they had best turn back when a massive sandstorm kicked up. Roland and the twins turned back at his request because he wasn’t about to risk their lives to save some strangers.

“Some of them do,” Warren replies, “But some look mighty mean too.”

“Think we should follow them from a distance?” Roland asks as he starts poking around in the underbrush. As per the usual, Haley didn’t seem to have left much of any tracks for him to follow. Shaking his head, Roland thinks, Man, that girl is always so light on her feet. I hope she never gets lost, we’d never find her.

Astrid drops from a nearby tree and she rolls toward Roland before she rises to her feet. Dusting off her pants, she recommends, “I think we should get as close to them as we can. This group seems… different.”

“What do you mean by that?” Roland asks as he continues searching for any sign of Haley.

“I mean some of them are pretty green behind the ears, if we don’t show up, they might not make it.”

“You know that I’ve here to protect you all first and foremost.”

“I can’t just stay out of sight and let people die, not again.”

“We can follow them and intervene if need be,”

“I think we should be a bit more proactive this time around. As I said, something’s different about this group, and I don’t want to see any of them die.”

“What’s so different about them?”

“Well, there are a few of them that just seem…” Astrid trails off as she tries to find the right words.

“They seem like they’re smarter than the others that we’ve seen sent out,” Warren finishes for his sister as he approaches from behind. He frowns for a brief moment before he admits, “But even that doesn’t seem like the right word.”

“No,” Astrid agrees as she makes a face that shows Roland that she’s deep in thought. After several beats, she finally says, “Rolls, I think you just need to see them for yourself. I think they might be just the people we need to get our ship fixed up so we can get out of here.”

“Can we check on them tomorrow?” Rolland asks as he finally finds a footprint that he can tell belonged to Haley. He starts down the direction that the print was going and the twins follow him as a distance.

The twins murmur between each other for a short while before Astrid finally replies, “I don’t think that’s the best plan this time. Warren and I think we saw some hybrid activity to the north, and they were heading more or less our way.”

“Don’t the Domers have weapons?” Roland asks as he momentarily looks up. He thought for sure that he heard something like a twig snapping ahead of him. Curious, Roland continues looking toward where he heard the sound as he walks along the small game trail that Haley had seemingly followed.

“Weapons can only do so much for people who don’t know what they’re doing,” Astrid points out, “You know how much we struggled on our first kill.”

Roland frowns, knowing full well that Astrid was right, but also wishing that he hadn’t wasted so much time setting up camp since they would now have to leave it. Sure, the Domers that left the military installation were well trained, especially for killing hybrids, but there was a large gap between reality and training. Roland is about to say something when he suddenly feels something grip around his ankle and the next thing he knew he is hanging upside down and is spinning slowly.

“What ever happened to being away of your surroundings?” Astrid asks with a laugh as she and Warren look up to Roland.

“You were distracting me,” Roland shrugs—something that is rather strange looking when you’re hanging upside down. He frowns as the twins rotate out of sight and then he sighs when he sees Haley beaming at him predicament.

“I got you again!” Haley exclaims joyously as she prods at him with a stick.

“Yeah, yeah,” Roland chuckles as he rolls his eyes. Haley had a thing for slipping away just to scare or surprise Roland when he came after her. After so many times, Roland knew he should expect as much from her, but his drive to keep her safe somehow overcame his ability to learn. Despite her many strengths, Roland knew that Haley was probably the least capable to survive out here on her own, and he couldn’t stand to lose her.

“Oh and I got your ridge pole,” Haley announces as she prods Roland once more with the stick. She stifles a giggle before she adds, “It only took you all of two hours to realize that I was missing this time, you’re improving.”

“Was it really that long?” Roland asks, admittedly surprised. When he got into the campsite building zone, he lost track of time.

Haley rotates out of view and Roland is once again facing the twins. They are no longer laughing and instead they are whispering amongst each other. Haley then replies from behind Roland, “Yep, I was thinking about screaming or something to get you to come sooner.”

“So, what’s the verdict, Rolls?” Astrid asks nonchalantly. She seemed to have lost all interest in the fact that Roland is hanging upside down and was once again thinking about the latest group of kids leaving the installation.

“Well, I know that you two will be heading out after them with or without my permission,” Roland replies as he continues spinning. By now the blood had rushed into his head and his nose was getting a little runny. He is about to continue when he sees Haley cut the rope that he is hanging from and he falls to the ground.

“Alright, so let’s break camp then,” Astrid announces, knowing full well that that was what Roland was going to say.

Roland removes the rope from his leg, and he hands it to Haley who seems all too proud of herself. Standing, he then reminds Astrid, “We just need to wait for Nick and Julius to return, and then we can leave.”

“Well, we’re here,” Nick’s voice sounds from not too far away. Roland and the others look over to him and Julius as Nick asks, “So, where are we going?”

Roland wipes his runny nose before he replies, “The twins want us to help the Domers that are leaving the fort down there, so we’re doing that.”

Nick smiles and he excitedly announces his support, “About time we got some firsthand info on what they’re doing, let’s go!”

•••••••••••••••

“How much closer do you want us to get?” Roland asks with a worried look on his face as he peeks through the small amount of foliage that is standing between him and the Domers that he was following. Sure, he and the rest of his people were a good forty meters away, but that just didn’t feel like enough to Roland. Not when he was looking at people he didn’t know. And especially not when said people had a lot of guns.

Astrid lets out an annoyed sigh before she fires back, “Well I said I wanted us to talk to them.”

Roland frowns as he continues watching the Domers who seems to be a lot more acclimated to the forest than the last few groups were. Most of their group is still outside of earshot, but the occasional bits of conversation can be heard if the wind blew just right. After a few seconds, Roland says, “Well we don’t know if we can trust them yet.”

“And how are they going to gain our trust from over here?” Astrid asks pointedly, “We can’t even hear what they’re saying most of the time.”

“Well, this isn’t the best place for us to draw close to them,” Roland points out. He scans the area between him and the Domers and shakes his head. They are currently in one of the sparser parts of the forest and there wasn’t much cover for anyone. The Domers definitely picked well when they decided which way to go because they would make some great time through these woods.

Astrid gives Roland a quizzical look before she says what was on her head, “Not if we were sneaking around, but it’s the best place for us to make ourselves known.”

“They have a lot more guns than we do,” Roland reminds Astrid. Shaking his head, he looks over to the rest of his people who are watching his argument from behind him. Seeing that no one else was going to help him, Roland eventually argues, “We can’t just give up our position like that. What would we do if they opened fire?”

“I think we should get closer,” Haley announces steadfastly as she shifts from where she is currently sitting. They had all been in the same position for a while now thanks to their keen vantage point where they had been all been watching the Domers from. Haley never liked stalking prey, but she never went as far as to tell anyone that. Instead, everyone knew how much she hated it because of the pain that you could see on her face. She couldn’t sit in one place too long anymore or else her joints would get all stiff. 

“And what would we do if they see us?” Roland asks the whole group pointedly. He can see that they had all grown tired of watching the Domers and they wanted to meet them.

“Then we can wave hello,” Astrid declares mischievously.

Roland can’t believe that his whole team would ignore his withholdings and he quickly starts to fire back, “Now hold on—”

“Nope, we’re doing this!” Astrid cuts him off with the same playful look in her eyes. She then gives Roland a hard shove and sends him careening through a bush and then down the small steep hill that they had been watching the Domers from.

“Six o’clock!” Roland hears one of the Domers call out as he slides to a stop at the foot of the hill. He instinctively rolls behind a nearby tree and he waits several beats for the Domers to open fire on him.

“We saw you, now come on out!” Roland hears another voice beckon. This voice belonged to the one that the others called Maverick.

“See? They’re friendly!” Astrid calls down to Roland just loud enough for him to hear.

“Well we could have figured that out without pushing me down a hill!” Roland fires back. He glances around the tree he is hiding behind and sees that the Domers are beginning to spread out.

Astrid laughs before she says, “Now what’s the fun in that?”

“Are you okay?” Haley asks as she sticks her head through the foliage the others are hiding behind.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Roland assures her, “It’s Astrid that I would be worrying about now though.”

“Oh yeah, because you’re so threatening down there,” Astrid mocks.

“Oh, I’m going to get you back good for this one,” Roland warns before he calls out to the Domers, “We just want to talk!”

“Sure you will,” Astrid teases before she and Haley both dip back out of sight in their natural blind.

“Who are you?” Maverick demands, this time a lot closer.

Roland looks up to the sky and shakes his head. He couldn’t believe that Astrid would do something so reckless. Fortunately, she seemed to be right and these Domers weren’t hostile, but that didn’t make things right. Sighing, Roland replies, “My name is Roland Dixon, I live out here.”

“You’re one of the Savages?” Maverick asks. His voice sounds like it came from the same place, which means that he stopped. Roland frowns, wondering if his response might have put up a red flag.

“I’m no ‘Savage,’”

“Then come on out. Slowly.”

“Not until you call off your team,” Roland retorts with a loud laugh. He glances around his tree far enough to see a few of the Domers that are trying to circle around him.

“Oh, nice call,” Astrid compliments from her bush, “We were wondering if you saw all of them.”

“Aren’t you all so helpful today,” Roland snaps, he didn’t know why, but it seemed that his team suddenly didn’t care if he was in danger.

“Alright, fine,” Maverick replies, much to Roland’s surprise.

Rolande then watches as most of the Domers withdraw, but he can’t help but note that several of them are still circling around him. Frowning, he calls out to Maverick, “I can still see the rest of your guys circling around,”

“Jason, get over here!” Maverick shouts toward the wayward Domers.

“You’ve got your team, I’ve got mine,” a guy’s voice calls from the other group.

“Our best bet of staying alive is by staying together, Jason!” Maverick reminds the one who must be the leader of the other group. There is some rustling near where Maverick before he starts shouting, “Get back here! You’ll die out there on your own!”

“I don’t care what you think,” the one called Jason retorts.

There is some more rustling before Maverick warns, “We won’t be able to save you when you get attacked by the hybrids.”

“We are more than capable of saving ourselves,” Jason snaps before a gunshot sounds from his group, “Now leave us alone!”

“Get down!” Maverick calls out and there is a lot of noise as all his people dive for cover. A moment passes before he yells, “You can’t possibly think this is a good idea!”

“Damn you!” a girl cries out before a long spurt of gunfire sounds from the other group.

“Danni, knock it off!” Maverick demands before he continues in a softer voice that Roland can just make out, “No, don’t shoot back. They’re not our enemies.”

“What’s going on out there?” Roland asks Astrid and the others as he presses himself against his tree.

“It looks like the Domers aren’t getting along,” Warren answers after a few beats.

“I can tell that much, what’s going on though?” Roland presses.

There is a rustling in the bushes and a rifle flies out toward Roland. Roland catches the rifle, which was surprisingly well thrown, and then Julius warns, “It’s not looking good, stay hidden.”

“Tyson’s hit, boss man,” Roland hears a voice report before another spurt of gunfire sounds from the other group.

There is a hushed whisper from someone before Maverick says, “I’m not shooting at them and neither are you.”

“I always knew Danni was going to snap,” a girl’s voice sounds in judgement, “Tyson says he’ll pull through, he says he isn’t hit bad.”

“Maverick, you and your people should just let them go,” Roland announces, “They clearly can’t be reasoned with.”

“You, shut it, I don’t need advice on how to run my team!” Maverick cautions Roland from continuing further. More gunfire sounds,

Roland shakes his head as he rolls his eyes. He initially thought that the one named Jason might have been the jerk, but now it seemed like the one named Maverick might be the egotistical tyrant. Sighing, Roland opts that his best bet would be if he pressed the matter, “My team can give you some cover fire if you need it. They won’t shoot to hit anyone.”

“It would be best if we fell back,” a girl offers in a voice that is barely loud enough for Roland to hear it over the cracking of gunfire.

“But we don’t know who we can trust, Sylvia,” Maverick argues.

The girl, Sylvia, laughs before she points out, “Well, that Roland guy and the friends he says he has aren’t shooting at us, so that’s a good start.”

“How can I know that I can trust you?” Maverick eventually calls out.

“I think you’re just going to have to trust me on this,” Roland answers as a few bullets tear into the tree he is still behind. Gritting his teeth, Roland demands, “So do you want our help or not?”

Accolade – Chapter Twelve

Gideon Lennox

Paradise, Galatia

Gideon chuckles awkwardly as he searches for the best response to Meghan’s forwardness. He makes a face before he hesitantly replies, “No, I haven’t even kissed a girl before.”

“So, you’re single then.” Meghan hypothesizes as she looks Gideon up and down once more.

Gideon had never been one to feel shy, but something about Meghan’s relentlessness is making him quite uncomfortable. He chuckles awkwardly before he replies, “Well, there’s this girl back home—”

“They probably told her you’re dead by now,” Meghan interrupts, “So that means you’re all mine!”

“Either that or they told her that you moved,” Jake adds with a sigh.

“Or they brainwashed her and removed her memories of you,” Tyson offers as he makes some vague motions around his head with his hands.

Danni scowls before she snaps, “Tyson, we already told you, they can’t do that!”

“And what’s stopping them?” Tyson shoots back casually, “They already admitted that they are the ones who made all the hybrids.”

“Gene splicing is one thing, controlling memories is entirely another,” Jake informs Tyson in a tone that tells Gideon that they had in fact told Tyson this several times now.

“That’s just what they want you to think!” Tyson loudly declares. He glances over to a nearby guard before turning and continuing to Gideon and the others in a whisper, “Besides, I’m pretty sure they already brainwashed Danni.”

The girl by the name of Anne joins the group that is crowded around Gideon and she agrees to Tyson’s theory with a laugh, “That would explain why she’s such a jerk!”

“I’m not brainwashed you idiot!” Danni growls at Tyson before she storms off.

“Umm, what just happened?” Gideon asks after several silent moments. Between his being brand new here and the fact that he was still getting used to the idea that everything he knew was a lie, he was very confused.

With a shrug, Tyson is the first to reply, “Danni has just about all of us on her hate list.”

“I think it’s more of a kill list,” Anne amends. Her words get the group laughing and Gideon can’t help but chuckle. Despite Meghan’s creepiness and Danni’s bad attitude, the Stalwarts he found himself among were very personable. He could definitely see himself enjoying himself as he spent the foreseeable le future with them.

Jake then adds, “And she’s done just about everything she can to get all of us to put her on our hate lists.”

“Alright, then what’s the story with those two?” Gideon asks as he points toward Maverick and Jason. Jason has several large bruises on his face and Gideon was told that Maverick had just beat him up within the last hour.

Anne quickly answers his question as she points to the two people in question, “Maverick is the one the Warden put in charge. Jason, on the other hand, thinks he is the one that should be calling the shots.”

“He’s mine,” Gideon hears Meghan mutter threateningly to Anne who promptly rolls her eyes in response.

“Will that be a problem when we’re on the outside?” Gideon asks as he does his best to not react to Meghan’s claim on him.

“It shouldn’t be too much of a problem,” Jake replies, “Most of us are going to stick with Maverick when we’re out, but I’ve heard that Jason is planning on going out on his own with a few of our people.”

“But isn’t it better to stick together?” Gideon asks with a worried expression. He hated the idea of someone’s ego getting anyone else killed. He is about to say something else when Meghan suddenly fishes her arm around his. He looks down to her in a state of shock and is greeted with her cute blue-eyed puppy dog expression that silently begs him to love her. He somehow keeps himself from acting too worried and he looks back to the rest of the group who all appear amused by Meghan’s actions.

Without mentioning Meghan’s move, Jake quickly responds, “Usually I’d say yes, but that isn’t the case with Jason. The guy is a bit of a tyrant, so we’ll be better off without him. Besides, the best of us are all sticking with Maverick.”

Tyson laughs openly before he explains, “More accurately, those of us who are like Danni are going to split off and stay with Jason.”

“Oh, I get it,” Gideon nods as he gently moves his arm in an effort to get away from Meghan. Much to his disappointment, Meghan is squeezing his arm too tightly and he casually pretends that he hadn’t tried to escape.

“Anything else?” Anne asks in a chipper tone.

“Yeah, what’s her story?” Gideon asks as he points with his free arm at Sylvia who is still speaking with Maverick.

“She’s none of your concern,” Meghan assures Gideon as she tenses up noticeably.

“Well, that doesn’t mean I can’t hear her story,” Gideon argues as Meghan’s arm tightens around his to the point that he starts worrying about his blood flow.

“Meghan, calm down, I don’t think Maverick is going to let anything happen between the two of them,” Anne cuts in as she chuckles and shakes her head. She glances over toward Maverick and Sylvia as Meghan loosens her grip. After a short beat, Anne turns back to Gideon and tells him, “Her mom is with the Coalition, she flies one of their gunships. She doesn’t talk to the rest of us much and she sticks around Maverick for some reason. We don’t know too much else about her besides that, so you’ll either have to ask Maverick or talk to her yourself.”

Meghan’s arm tightens once more at Anne’s closing statement and Gideon can’t help but sigh in irritation. It was one thing to have a girl like you, it was entirely another to have her clinging to your arm like her life depended on it. Gideon had opted to stay out of the dating scene for most of his life in an effort to keep himself focused on building a life for himself, he’d date when he had a stable job. When he was good and ready, he’d marry the girl and have a secret wedding with his underground church and have his father officiate it.

Gideon suppresses the urge to frown as he thinks, Or at least that had been the plan.

“Or you can just forget about it,” Meghan offers in a firm tone that somehow also had a hint of desperation to it.

Gideon and the others continue making small talk for quite some time as the soldiers and Director Stone make their final preparations to send them off. After a while, the questions directed toward Gideon become more probing and he finds himself telling more than he had done for quite some time. One thing led to another and the others ask why he had been pulled aside earlier and he explains how the guards were ordered to search his gear for any contraband items. Much to Gideon’s relief, they never went as far as to thoroughly search everything, so they failed to find the red flashlight that Commanded Hayes wanted him to pass on to her daughter when they were on the outside.

•••••••••••••••

“Stalwarts, it was my honor to train you up after all of this time,” Director Stone starts her speech after several eternal hours of Gideon and the other Stalwarts’ anxious waiting. She looks at Gideon and the other

“Lot of training she did,” Danni mutters angrily from somewhere behind Gideon.

“Shut up!” Anne whispers back. Gideon glances over to Anne who is standing on his right and he nods to her in support. It was oddly amusing how much everyone disliked Danni and her seemingly endless list of complaints.

Danni scoffs at Anne before she grumbles, “Just you wait until we’re on the outside…”

Gideon is about to butt into Danni and Anne’s arguments when Director Stone continues her speech, “You are some of the most promising individuals that I have had the pleasure to raise up, and for that I thank you. I am sure that many of you have so many questions still that you never got the chance to ask, and I am sorry for that. That being said, I have personally ensured that you learned everything you needed to know before you went out that you might have your best chance at survival.”

“It is unlikely that you will come across any of the prior Stalwart teams that have been sent out,” a man announces from beside Director Stone. He nods for a few seconds as he examines the Stalwarts.

“Think that’s because they’re all dead?” someone asks in a hushed whisper from behind Gideon.

“I’m sure at least a few of them are still kicking,” Anne assures the group, “I met a few of them before they were sent out and they seemed perfectly capable of staying alive.”

“The other Stalwart teams have likely ventured many kilometers from Paradise since they were first sent out,” the man next to Director Stone eventually continues, “We have found evidence that many of them are doing very well in their taming the wilds.”

“Note that he said many and not all,” Danni grumbles.

Director Stone sees that the man is done speaking and she takes the opportunity to finish her speech, “I’ve spent countless hours pouring over records of the wilds and I am sure that you will all flourish with the training you have received—even you, Mister Lennox. I’ve looked over all of your records and I’ve personally shaped much of your training to ensure that you will all fare very well on your own.”

“The suspense is killing me, are they gonna let us out or not?” Jake jokes from his spot on the other side of Anne.

Gideon lets his mind wander as Director Stone continues her speech. He was sure that the speech would have been a lot more meaningful if he had actually trained under her, but he hadn’t. Instead, here he was, perfectly unprepared for what laid ahead of him. All he had to draw on was his brief time with Commander Hayes and all of the dreams he had had over the years. Provided, Hayes had slipped a helpful little field guide, but he is beginning to wonder if he was going to be able to live long enough to read it.

“—and with that, it is my honor to send you off.” Director Stone finishes her speech as Gideon pushes down his concerns and tunes back in.

“Well, this is it then.” Jake gulps as he and the others watch the massive garage doors open in front of them.

Gideon stares expectantly through the ever-widening door in front of him. This was his second time seeing the outside world and his first time seeing it without a window between him and it. By all accounts this would be a day he wouldn’t forget as long as he lived. After staring for a few moments, Gideon’s eyes fall on the tall wall that is surrounding Paradise—it stands as a monolith between him and what seems to be his destiny. His eyes follow the massive wall to a large gate where he and the others would soon pass through and leave everything they once knew.

“First time?” Maverick asks with a chuckle on Gideon’s left.

Gideon involuntarily swallows a lump in his throat that he had been trying to ignore before he replies in a hallow voice, “You could say that.”

“Stick by me and I’ll keep you safe,” Maverick says with a smile and a reassuring nod.

“Will do,” Gideon nods as he stares through the open gate ahead of them into the dense forest beyond.

“We salute you,” Director Stone declares once the garage doors are completely open. Gideon looks over to where she is standing and sees that the Director, her soldiers, and all of the Stalwarts in training are all saluting him and those in his team.

“That’s our cue,” Maverick sounds, pulling Gideon away from the sight.

Gideon looks over to Maverick who promptly jerks his chin toward the open gate and starts walking. Unwilling to break rank—at least this early on—Gideon takes a deep breath and marches on in between Maverick and Anne. He isn’t sure if he is more excited or terrified, but he did know that he had quite the adventure in front of him.

“Wait, shouldn’t we have guns before we go out there?” Gideon asks as he steps out of the garage and onto the soft grass between the complex and the exterior wall.

“We’ll get our guns at the gate, don’t worry babe,” Meghan assures Gideon as she peeks around Maverick who is standing between them.

Gideon nods to Meghan who smiles at his acknowledgment before she faces forward once more. For the time being, he would ignore her odd advances. With time, Gideon hoped that Meghan might lose interest in him. Then again… Gideon thinks as he casts a sideways glance past Maverick to Meghan, Maybe this isn’t a bad thing after all. She is cute, and she does seem rather nice.

“Alright guys,” Maverick starts once they are several paces away from the garage. He is looking straight ahead, and he is doing his best to not move his mouth as he speaks, “I have some maps of the area surrounding Paradise and I’ve picked out a few places that I think might make for a good camp.”

“Right to business then, nice,” Anne nods slightly without turning to face Maverick.

Maverick continues after a few more steps, “I’ve also picked out what should be our best route there, but I’ll need Sylvia to look over things once we’re out of sight.”

“You got it,” Sylvia affirms from behind Maverick. Gideon fights the urge to look back to her and he tells himself that he would get to share his little secret soon enough.

“That’s all if we don’t get killed first,” Danni reminds the group of their impending peril.

“That’s not helping anyone,” Maverick shoots back.

Danni scoffs at Maverick’s response and she starts spitting out her angered rebuttal, “I’m just—”

“Shut up or I will shoot you myself,” Maverick silences her with a voice so stern that it sent goosebumps down Gideon’s spine. Startled, Gideon glances over to Maverick and he scans his face for several beats in search of any evil that may be hiding within his soul. Oddly enough, Maverick’s face remains nondescript, which Gideon finds just as reassuring as he found it unnerving.

“Damn you,” Danni seethes but otherwise remains silent.

“Alright, quiet down, we don’t want the guards overhearing anything,” Maverick stealthily instructs as they near the large gateway.

The massive gate’s doors are opened inwards toward the prison and several dozen lines of soldiers and guards stand at the ready in the event that any hostiles made a break for the only entrance into the complex. Gideon takes a sharp breath and he holds it as he steps through the gate into the outside world feeling like he could get shot just for doing so.

Gideon takes several more steps and he closes his eyes, knowing that he was about to get killed. One step follows another and there isn’t so much as a crack. Confused, but admittedly relieved, Gideon eases his eyes open and he slowly exhales. He is alive as are all of his friends. So far, none of this looked like a complex trap to cull kids like him.

“Pick your poison,” a guard sounds from a small table that is set up in the midst of the clearing immediately before the gate. Behind him the trees of the forest tower higher than every building from Gideon’s hometown.

Gideon winces slightly at the man’s choice of words but he lets his eyes fall to the table that the man is at. Laying before him is the widest array of weapons he had ever seen, and he nods approvingly at them. Gideon cracks a smile as he approaches the table and he is happy to know that he would have something to defend himself with if this did all end up being a trap.

“What’ll it be?” another man asks from behind the table once Gideon is close enough to take a hold of one of the weapons.

“You’ll want a sidearm in case things get nasty and your primary weapon gives out on you,” Anne advises as she takes a hold of a few odd weapons and some munitions.

“What do you think I should get?” Gideon asks her as he stares at the assortment in front of him. His initial pleasure had been replaced with trepidation as the thought that these weapons would remain with him forever started to set in.

Anne starts affixing her weapon to her belt as she looks Gideon over. Nodding, she inquires, “How good is your vision?”

“It’s alright,” Gideon shrugs, he knew his eyes weren’t perfect, but he could get by well enough.

“Well then I think you’ll be better off with this combo,” Anne tells him as she hands him a large, awkward rifle and a handgun. She tosses quite a bit of ammo into a few small pouches and then she grabs a string of grenades. Nodding at the selection, Anne then shoves everything into Gideon’s arms.

“All of this?” Gideon asks in alarm as he looks down to the cache of weapons in his arms.

“Yes, all of that,” Anne affirms with a chuckle. Stepping away, she directs, “Now follow me.”

“I don’t even know how to use most of this,” Gideon whimpers helplessly as he drops a few of his newest belongings in his struggle to find a good spot for everything.

“Don’t worry, we’ll teach you everything you need to know,” Anne assures Gideon with a warm smile as she helps him pick up what he had dropped. She then drapes the rifle’s sling over him and hooks one of the ammo pouches to his left hip. She takes several more items out of his hands and plops them into his pack as he slowly affixes his sidearm to his right hip. Once everything is situated, Anne points at Gideon’s rifle and explains, “Your rifle is just like any other rifle out there except the barrel on the bottom is your shotgun. The trigger nearest your shoulder works the shotgun, the other one works the rifle. I gave you a lot of extra ammo so you can do some target practice too. We don’t know if we’ll be getting any more ammo out there.”

“Mine,” Meghan snaps from behind Gideon before she slips an arm around him. She scowls at Anne who rolls her eyes once more as Gideon looks helplessly at her.

“You know, I am a person,” Gideon announces as he tries to pry himself out of Meghan’s possessive grip.

“I do,” Meghan nods as she tightens her hold on him, “You’re my person.”

“I don’t think this is how people normally get together,” Gideon maintains as Anne watches the exchange with an amused grin.

Meghan does a little half-shrug as she says, “I don’t care,”

“Well I do,” Gideon maintains as he pushes her away, “Now please stop! I’m sure you’re great and all, but this is all a bit much!”

“Fine,” Meghan pouts before she stalks away. Gideon isn’t sure, but part of him is convinced that Meghan is just putting on a show in an attempt to garner some sympathy out of him.

“Well done,” Anne laughs once Meghan had retreated out of earshot. Turning once more, Anne makes her way to another table in the clearing, Gideon in tow. Once they are at this table, Anne picks up a black vest and she explains, “Bulletproof vests. Most of these are a lot lighter than the military issue ones, but that’s because we aren’t going to get shot at very much. They’ll provide some protection from the hybrids, but I like them because of all the pockets.”

“Sure are a lot of color options,” Gideon jokes as he looks at the sea of black cloth. He pokes around for a few beats before he selects a vest and he sheds his backpack in order to put it on. He tightens a few straps on it and eventually sighs as the vest hugs him tight enough to provide him a sense of security while also being loose enough that he can breathe.

“And you’ll want one or two of these too,” Anne adds from the far side of the table. Gideon wanders over to her and is greeted with an array of blades.

“Any suggestions here?” Gideon asks as he picks up a machete and its sheath. He pulls the blade out a few centimeters and admires the cutting edge for a moment before he sheathes it and secures it to the side of his pack.

“You’ll want this for chopping wood and this for everything else,” Anne answers as he hands him a mid-sized fixed-blade knife and a small hatchet.

“That’s sure a lot of gear,” Gideon points out as he considers all of the extra weight he is now carrying.

“I’m sure you’ll manage,” Anne chuckles as she looks Gideon over once more.

“Oh great, now you too?” Gideon moans. Back at home he would have eaten up all the attention from the ladies, out here everything was so different.

“Oh, get over yourself,” Anne winks before she slips a few small knives into some of the pockets on her vest.

Gideon and Anne work their way over to an empty place in the clearing and they go through their supplies one last time before they would head out. Once they finish the two of them idly watch as the rest of the Stalwarts gear up and eventually join them. After a good hour or so, everyone had wrapped up and the soldiers begin retreating back into Paradise.

“This is it then,” Gideon says as he watches the gate close behind the last guard. It wasn’t that he had doubted what was happening, but the closing of the large gate really sent the fact home that his life was changed for good.

“This is it,” Maverick affirms as he turns toward the woods. He glances back to his team and orders, “Let’s get a move on, we don’t have time to just sit around.

Gideon and the rest of the Stalwarts form up behind Maverick and they start marching toward the forest before long. Gideon is doing the best to control his nerves, but he is still quivering in excitement. This was truly the end of one chapter in his life and the beginning of another. As soon as the thought passed through his head, Gideon steps through the first bit of the forest’s underbrush and he whispers mostly to himself, “We’re on our own now…”

“Welcome to the jungle boys,” Anne announces happily and so confidently that Gideon is sure that she rehearsed the line beforehand.

Accolade – Chapter Eleven

Maverick Gracian

Paradise, Galatia

“There has been a lot of movement in the forests beyond the walls,” Stone tells Maverick the moment the door gently slides shut behind her.

“So, we’re looking at a lot of hybrids then?” Maverick inquires. For the most part, the Warden had always been very straight with him so he knew he could trust what she would say next. The Warden generally said everything in front of all the Stalwarts, but there were quite a few occasions where she pulled him aside to tell him something in her office which is tucked away in the administrative wing of Paradise.

“Not quite,” Stone shakes her head. She disappears into a side room off of her office and emerges with a few maps. Laying the largest map on the table in front of Maverick she starts pointing at various locations, “This is Paradise and this is where you’ll have the best chance to survive. Between here and there we’ve been seeing a lot of activity from the Savages, they’re the ones who took a shot at the gunship today. They’ve already shot down quite a few ships, so expect them to be heavily armed.”

Stone’s brief discourse worries Maverick and he does his best to not bombard her with too many questions. He mulls over all of his most pressing questions before he finally inquires, “What are they using to shoot at the gunships?”

“We don’t know for sure, but we do know that it shoots a large explosive round and that it has some sort of targeting system—their shots are too well placed for it to be anything else.”

“Where’d they get the weapon in the first place? Perhaps there’s more where that came from that we can use.”

“We don’t know for sure, and I doubt that a large weapon like that will be of too much use against the hybrids. Weapons like that are usually too slow to hit the hybrids, and that’s even if you have enough time to set it up before they get to you.”

“So we’ll just stick with small arms then,” Maverick surmises with a resolute nod. He continues nodding for a few moments as he scans the map before him, committing everything he can to memory. He isn’t certain if he will be provided with a map before being sent out, so this was his best bet.

“That’s why we trained you with them,” Stone nods. She rolls up the large map before Maverick has the change to memorize some of the more minute details as she requests, “I need you to take their cannon offline.”

“Isn’t our mission survival?” Maverick asks skeptically. The Warden and all of her soldiers had the capacity to bomb a rebel enclave from above, so the request seemed strange to him.

“There’s a reward in it for you if you take it out,” Stone replies mysteriously.

“And what might that reward be?”

Stone purses her lips before she hands him one of the smaller maps and changes the subject, “Here is a map of the area surrounding Paradise. You will have to map things out from there and you cannot remain—”

“Can’t stay within thirty kilometers of Paradise, I know,” Maverick interrupts as he takes the map and nods his thanks. He unfolds the map and sees that it is a lot less detailed than the larger one the Warden had shown him moments before, and he makes a mental note to transfer over all the details he could recall later on.

“I don’t have to remind you of what will happen if you fail to do so,” Stone asks as she gives Maverick a concerned look.

“Nope, I got it,” Maverick nods as he tucks the map he had been given into his back pocket.

The Warden nods before she presses the matter further, “And I can’t stray from protocol even if your team is still within the kill zone.”

He had been told that he would have one day to get fifteen kilometers away from Paradise before the kintics were released. Kintics, a savage creature that reminded Maverick of a cross between a wolf and a rat, were not something he wanted to be around. The creatures had chips implanted somewhere in their body to keep them within their fifteen-kilometer perimeter around Paradise which meant Maverick and the others would be home free once they were outside of that. Or at least as free as we can be with those hybrids out and about, Maverick thinks as a pang of fear nips at the base of his heart.

“Director Stone, we are ready for you,” a voice sounds from the PA speaker nearest the door to Stone’s office.

“Stay safe, Maverick,” Stone requests helplessly from her spot behind her desk.

“No promises, Warden,” Maverick teases as he turns and glances at the bookshelf in her office.

Maverick had been given a long leash and granted special privileges in Paradise, one of these was the ability to read whichever book he wanted from the Warden’s private stash. After he had earned the Wardens trust, she disclosed that quite a few of the books on the shelf had been banned and every known copy was destroyed. She had stolen nearly every book on her shelves at the risk of her own career. She had jokingly told him that she had gone on to burn a few of the books she stole herself because they were so awful, but she kept every volume that really spoke to her. Maverick smiles to himself as memories of several of the books come flooding back to him.

“I mean it, stay safe,” Stone repeats, “I’d hate to lose you.”

“I’ll do everything I can to keep everyone alive,” Maverick pledges to the Director as he turns and offers her a reassuring smile.

“Then I guess there’s only one thing I can do now then,” Stone starts as she reaches behind her desk.

“What is it?” Maverick asks as he rises to his tiptoes to catch a glimpse of what she is grabbing.

Smiling, Stone places a small knapsack on her desk and she replies, “It’s a little something to remember me by.”

Curious, Maverick returns to the Warden’s desk and he peeks inside of the bag. He is greeted with a collection of books, some of which he had read, and other that he hadn’t he doesn’t have the chance to look at all of them before the PA crackles to life once more.

“All Stalwarts, report to the main garage,” the PA instructs.

“I hope you get every opportunity to read every book a few times,” Stone smiles before she snaps back to her usual military façade and orders, “Now report to the main garage, you have a job to do.”

“Yes, Warden,” Maverick nods in a mix of acknowledgment and thanks.

•••••••••••••••

“So…?” Sylvia prompts Maverick the moment she gets close enough to whisper and not be overheard by anyone else.

“So what?” Maverick asks curiously.

“What was so important?” Sylvia demands as she gives Maverick an exasperated look.

“The Warden just wanted to brief me on what we’re going to be heading into,” Maverick replies, doing his best to veil at least part of the truth from Sylvia.

Maverick didn’t want to worry her with reports of the ‘Savages’ that may be out to kill them, that seemed like a needless cause for worry to him. Their training had told them that their greatest threat was from the hybrids and from what he had heard so far, there were a lot more hybrids out there than there were people. With any luck, Maverick hoped he would never come across another living person outside of his team once they left Paradise. Sure, he yearned for some variety in his interactions with people but Maverick wasn’t convinced that anyone he met outside of Paradise would be someone he wanted to meet.

“Is it bad?” Sylvia queries.

“She says that there’s been a lot of movement around Paradise lately,” Maverick replies, admitting at least part of the truth. That was the thing with lies and cover stories, they were always more believable if there was at least a nugget of truth behind them. Sometimes the nugget was big, sometimes it was small, but it always had to be present. Not wanting Sylvia to ask any more probing questions that may rouse any more lies, Maverick continues, “So it’ll be best if we get out of the fifteen-kilometer radius sooner rather than later.”

“That would be a lot easier if they gave us a truck or two,” Sylvia mutters as she casts a longing gaze at some of the large armored vehicles that are parked nearby. There are so many vehicles in the garage they are in that Maverick found himself wondering if they would miss a few of them if he and his team did take one.

“Maybe we’ll be able to find some wheels when we get out of here,” Maverick offers in a weak attempt to appease his and Sylvia’s desire.

“They wouldn’t be of much use to us,” Anne cuts in, “The terrain is too rugged, and the foliage is too thick to get even the best of those trucks through. Our best bet is on our feet.”

“I’m sure we could find an old road we could follow,” Sylvia argues with a hopeful flame in her eye.

“If we find a good enough road and a car then I’ll give you every bit of food I got,” Anne declares her bet with a scoff.

“And if we don’t then I give you all of mine?” Sylvia quickly asks.

“Then I get all of yours,” Anne answers with a wink before she walks toward where the rest of the Stalwarts are gathered.

Accolade – Chapter Ten

Rolland Dixon

West of Paradise, Galatia

“Hey, do you guys see that?” Astrid calls down from her perch in one of her favorite trees. This particular tree was one of the largest in the forest, and it was situated perfectly on the crest of a hill that overlooked one of the Coalition’s main military installations on Galatia.

“No, Astrid, no one can see anything down here,” Roland replies as he shakes his head and laughs. Roland glances over in the direction Astrid had pointed out and is greeted with an impossibly thick canopy of trees and some very dense foliage. The Ki’etz twins had a propensity to ask if people could see things when they were the only ones that could.

“They’re doing something weird,” Warren informs Roland and the others as he joins his sister in the tree.

“Like?” Roland presses. The twins somehow convinced him to take a slight detour on their way to a new place to set up their gun and now he was regretting that decision.

Warren goes further out on one of the tree limbs to get into a better position to lay down. Once he’s laying on his stomach, Warren pulls out a rifle scope and stares through it for a few seconds before replying, “Like it’s something I’ve never seen before.”

“Just tell us what you see!” Roland pleads. Admittedly, his interest is now piqued, and he had to know what the twins were making such a fuss about.

“They’re opening the main gate…” Warren answers in a voice that’s barely loud enough to hear.

“Are they sending troops out?” Roland asks as he glances over to Haley who is busy fiddling with something in her pack.

Warren and Astrid exchange a few hushed words that Roland can’t make out before Astrid shouts, “Yes, but—”

“That’s it, we’re hiding the gun here,” Roland declares, interrupting Astrid. Sighing, he dismounts from his horse and then makes his way over to a freshly downed log that he ties his reins to.

“I don’t think we need to do that, Rolls,” Astrid presses, “It doesn’t look like they are coming out to find us. They’re just… Warren?”

Warren quickly finishes Astrid’s thought once she had prompted him to do so, “They’re just standing around like they’re waiting for something.”

“Maybe they’re waiting for us to set up and take another shot?” Haley offers as she pulls some rations out of her pack. She fumbles with the knot on the canvas bag for a moment before handing it to Roland.

Roland unties the bag as he considers what he had just been told. He had been keeping tabs on this particular outpost for a while now, and up until now, nothing of note had ever happened. Coalition ships came and went all the time, but other than that, nothing.

“Should we check it out?” Astrid offers, her excitement evident in her voice.

“Can you stay out of sight?” Roland asks, already knowing the answer was yes. He usually asked the twins if they could stay hidden as a workaround way of telling them to be safe.

Astrid’s laugh rings down from her perch before she teases Roland, “Yes, mom, we’ll be safe!”

“Be back before sundown!” Roland reminds the twins, finishing their usual exchange before they went off on their own somewhere.

“We will!” Warren promises as he and Astrid shimmy down their tree a ways. Once they get about halfway, the twins proceed to cross over some branches to another tree and they start making their way over to the compound. The twins were smart enough to stick to the trees when they went through areas that were more populated with the hybrids, which Roland always found reassuring.

“We’ll be setting up camp on the other side of this ridge,” Roland informs the twins as he helps Haley down from her horse. Once she is firmly on the ground, Roland hands her some of the food from the bag she had been struggling with.

Astrid pauses up in her tree for a few moments and Roland looks up to her. He is about to say something when he hears a flustered response, “Got it,”

“Alright, let’s hide our gun and cover our tracks,” Roland instructs as the others dismount. Nodding, Roland looks around the small clearing that they are in and announces, “This looks like as good of spot as any to hide it.”

“Julius and I got the tracks,” Nick volunteers as he and Julius start retracing their steps.

“And that leaves us to the camouflaging,” Roland nods as he looks over to Haley.

Haley chuckles once before correcting Roland, “You mean that leaves you to it.”

“Oh, stop it,” Roland frowns, “You’re a lot more helpful than you think you are.”

Haley frowns but doesn’t argue. Instead, she makes her way out into the brush and starts hacking away at some underbrush which she starts collecting. Sighing, Roland decides against pressing the matter any further and he starts collecting branched that he would use to hide the cannon with.

Accolade – Chapter Nine

Maverick Gracian

Paradise, Galatia

“He’s a lot cuter than I expected,” Anne mutters as loudly as she can without moving her lips. Several of the other Stalwarts chuckle silently, but the Warden doesn’t seem to notice her quip.

Maverick eyes the newcomer and he quickly takes a liking to him. The kid stood tall and proud and he seemed very observant as well. Maverick chuckles as he sees that the newcomer’s mental gears are rapidly turning as he takes everything in. About time we got ourselves someone else who is smart, Maverick thinks as he shoots a sideways glance at everyone one his team. By no means was he saying that anyone else on his team were dumb, they were all sharp as tacks. Everyone definitely was good at something. There simply was a lack in hyper-observant quick thinkers, a spot which Maverick is convinced the newcomer would fill.

After nearly a minute, Director Stone finally announces, “This is Gideon Lennox. He is the final addition to your team.”

“Does that mean that we’re finally heading out?” One of the Stalwarts asks excitedly. Maverick glances over and sees that the girl that had spoken up was the overweight and ever-hotheaded Dannielle Washburn, or Danni, as she tried to force everyone to call her. Despite her wishes, no one called her Danni. Maverick reasoned that this was because no one could stand the girl.

Frowning, Maverick hoped that this would not be the case. Very few people on his team were even remotely ready to survive a night outside of their barracks—much less out in the wild. Despite the facts, several of the other Stalwarts have been pushing for a chance to get out of their training early and get on with things. Maverick isn’t sure if they just want to end it all and die out there, or if they were dumb enough to think they were ready for the outside world, but he did know that he was going to make the most of every waning moment he had left in Paradise.

Director Stone looks over to Dannielle and cocks her head slightly before she regains her composure. She likely knew as well as Maverick did that Dannielle was probably the worst off out of all the Stalwarts. After a moment, Stone finally replies, “It means you will be mobilizing the moment young Gideon finishes his competence tests.”

“How long will that take?” Maverick asks, a hint of concern in his voice.

“Approximately an hour,” Director Stone replies as she allows a slight smile to show on her face. She had taken a liking to Maverick, likely because he was such a realist and knew what his team always needed. Sure, Maverick made things difficult for Stone, and he all but encouraged naughty behavior to make her job more difficult, but she somehow knew he was going to see to it that her students—the Stalwarts—would be given their best chance at survival. Her smile quickly disappears as she returns to her usual serious look and she instructs, “You had best begin packing your belongings for the other side.”

“Understood,” Maverick nods slowly. Frowning, Maverick’s extremities grow cold and his heart starts beating irregularly. His team was nowhere near ready for the wilds. Despite his ability to mask most of his concern outwardly, Maverick’s mind races, This is it. This is really it. We’re heading out for real. No more sims, no more hot meals in the cafeteria, no more soft beds. Well, I guess we never really had soft beds, per se, but at least they were beds.

As if she could read his mind, the Warden announces, “If there are any more questions or concerns, please voice them now.”

When no one speaks up, Maverick makes eye contact with Director Stone and he silently begs her to recant her order. She shakes her head ever so slightly, telling him that there was no going back now. Then, if Maverick isn’t mistaking, a few tears begin to form in the stoic Warden’s eyes. Likely unwilling to let anyone see her cry, Director Stone spins around on her heels and makes for the exit.

“Welcome to the family, Gideon,” Jake smiles warmly at the newcomer as everyone relaxes. The Warden always made everyone stand at attention when she was around, which made it even more difficult to like her. And yet, everyone still seemed to have a certain level of respect and admiration for her.

“Thanks,” the newcomer, Gideon smiles back before one of the guards whispers something into his ear. Gideon nods to them before closing the distance between him and the rest of the Stalwarts. Once he is a lot closer, he smiles apologetically and continues, “I’ll stall as much as I can while I take the test so all of you can get everything you’ll need.”

“We don’t need anything, we’ll be fine,” Dannielle snaps as she glowers at Gideon.

Maverick shoots Dannielle a confused look before cutting in, “Thanks, Gideon, that’ll be great.”

Gideon nods to him slowly, likely taken aback by Dannielle’s rudeness. After a beat, he scans all the other Stalwarts before his eyes seem to settle on Sylvia. Maverick is about to say something when he sees Sylvia shake her head slightly, as if telling Gideon to not say whatever he was about to. Confused, Maverick is about to say something when Sylvia cuts in.

“Let’s get geared up,” Sylvia announces dutifully, “Remember what I always say, it’s better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. Besides, we can always leave our extra supplies somewhere out there if we don’t want to lug it around.”

“And don’t forget to pack lots of food!” Tyson calls out urgently. He tries to keep a serious face before he starts laughing.

“He’s got a point,” Anne points out, “We don’t know what all there is to eat out there.”

“Eh, that’s not completely true,” Tyson argues, “I spent the last few months studying what all there was to eat out there. We should be able to eat like kings so long as we are willing to eat some strange things.”

“Is there anything you would like me to pack for you, Gideon?” Meghan asks before she levels a threatening stare at Anne. Anne quickly shies away from Meghan’s challenge, leaving Meghan to claim her prize.

“No, I should be alright, thanks,” Gideon responds before the guard that had whispered something into his ear earlier comes up behind him. The guard then ushers Gideon away before he has a chance to say any more.

“I wonder what the rush is,” Sylvia muses as she and Maverick watch Gideon disappear.

“Oh, you’re wondering? What about me?” Meghan demands weakly before she starts pouting, “I was supposed to be able to at least talk to him a little while!”

“I’m pretty sure we’ll have plenty of time to do that soon enough,” Maverick chuckles as he tries to keep a positive outlook on what was about to happen to them.

“That’s if you two survive the first night,” Jason points out pessimistically. He looks over to the Stalwarts that look up to him as a leader before he continues in a mocking tone, “I know my people will make it though.”

“We’ll be fine,” Maverick assures those around him confidently as he gives Jason an irritated look.

Maverick had done his best to shrug off Jason’s negativity and all of his attempts to steal the command of his Stalwarts for quite a while now, but suddenly he lost the urge to keep the peace. It was one thing to be a pessimist and Maverick could deal with someone trying to steal his command. But telling people that they were going to die crossed a line Maverick didn’t know he had. Before he knew what he was doing, Maverick is swinging at Jason.

Maverick’s first strike makes contact with Jason’s chin and he starts crumbling to the ground. But, despite Maverick’s best efforts, he continues punching the now unconscious form of his main enemy. It was like something finally snapped within him.

“—Stop it! You’re better than this!” Maverick hears Sylvia plea after what felt like an eternity.

Sylvia’s words somehow manage to help Maverick regain his control and he leaps away from Jason’s bloodied body. Shocked at what he had just done, Maverick stammers, trying to come up with something to say, as everyone stares at him in shock. Maverick’s heart is still pounding in his ears has he shudders.

The next thing Maverick knew, he is throwing up on the floor beside Jason. After a while, Maverick thinks that his stomach is empty and he tries to rise to his feet. As he tries to do so, Maverick catches a glimpse of his bloodied knuckles and he finds himself vomiting up sour bile instead of grotesque chucks of food.

“You alright?” Jake asks worriedly once Maverick slows down.

“No,” Maverick sputters.

“What was that?” Jake asks, likely suspecting that Maverick had lost control for a brief moment.

Before he had time to think, Maverick replies, “No one tells my people that they aren’t good enough to make it.”

“Alright, that’s touching and all, but what about Jason?” Meghan asks as she stoops beside Jason’s body. She and Maverick watch for a moment and they both let out sighs of relief when Jason takes a shallow breath.

“Leave him,” a guard instructs from nearby. Maverick and several other Stalwarts jump as they realize that someone else had watched everything unfold.

“But he won’t have a chance to pack,” Sylvia argues, “We need to wake him up!”

“That’s not your problem,” The guard maintains, “I’ll send him along if he wakes up in time.”

Clearly unsatisfied with the guard’s response, Sylvia presses, “But we—”

“Get a move on,” the guard interrupts, “You don’t have all day.”

“Let’s go, boss,” Jake prompts Maverick as he unsuccessfully tries to pull him to his feet.

Feeling light-headed, Maverick refuses to move. Everything within him was screaming that something is amiss, and he had no idea what it was. In a brief moment of clarity, Maverick chuckles and asks, “Did you just call me boss?”

“So what if I did?” Jake says dismissively as he tugs once more on Maverick’s shoulder. When Maverick fails to get up once more, he begs, “Please get up, I don’t want to see what the Warden will do to you for this stunt.”

“We have a lot of packing to do too,” Sylvia adds as she gingerly helps Jake. With the combined effort of the two of them, Maverick is lifted up to his unsteady feet.

“It was about time someone knocked that jerk’s lights out, Maverick,” Meghan offers, doing her best to lift his spirits. Everyone laughs at this, Maverick included. Once he finishes laughing, Maverick feels markedly better.

“I’m just mad it wasn’t me,” Jake grumbles, “But it’s probably better this way.”

Maverick chuckles at Jake’s words before he asks, “And why’s that?”

“Because I would have left him for the hybrids,” Jake replies simply. He remains silent as he and Sylvia help Maverick stagger along before he feels compelled by their cautious stares to explain himself, “I know it sounds extreme, but he really is a menace. I’m sure that he would do the same to any of us in a heartbeat.”

“That doesn’t mean it’s right,” Maverick groans as he regains full control over his legs.

“Says the guy who just beat him to a pulp!” Anne declares enthusiastically. Her gusto makes everyone laugh once more, and Maverick can’t help but feel safe in the company of his friends.

“Well, we all know he had it coming,” Maverick offers as he begins walking on his own.

“That doesn’t make it right,” Sylvia whispers, seemingly to herself. Maverick glances over to her and sees the worry on her face.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what happened to me,” Maverick apologizes as he looks down to the ground in shame. He had never lost control like that before, and that’s what terrified him more than anything.

“Your breath stinks,” Sylvia announces suddenly in what seems to be an attempt to change the subject.

“I’m glad I wasn’t the only one thinking that!” Jake chimes in.

Always keen to join in on every conversation, Anne adds, “And I think we all need a shower after today’s sim.”

“I’m not sure if showers are that important right now,” Maverick chuckles as he runs through a mental list of gear that he wanted to pack.

“They are if you smell like you then a shower is very important!” Anne counters with a playful wink.

Meghan cocks her head as she considers Anne’s argument before she finally pipes in, “It would be the only decent shower we’ll be having for quite some time.”

“You guys can wash up,” Maverick cedes. He takes a hold of Sylvia’s hand and continues toward the armory before he announces, “Sylvia and I have something to talk about.”

“Well, I know I won’t be saving any soap for Sylvia,” Meghan declares mischievously, “I’m using every last drop that they’ve got in there.”

“I didn’t even think about soap…” Tyson sounds as he makes a faraway look. After a moment, he shares a mastermind plot he just made up, “I’m going to grab all the soap I can from our locker room so we’ll be able to wash up when we’re out there.”

“Good idea,” Maverick nods as he and Sylvia walk past the men’s and women’s’ locker rooms. The others split off into their respective locker rooms as Maverick and Sylvia continue on ahead.

“So, what did you want to talk about?” Sylvia asks after an extended awkward silence.

Maverick nods once as he tries to remember what he had to say. He had gotten so absorbed in the list of supplies that he wanted to bring along that he had let it slip. After a beat, he remembers and he asks, “What was it between that Gideon guy and you?”

“What are you walking about?” Sylvia asks curiously. If he was talking to anyone else, Maverick would think that she was hiding something, but he and Sylvia didn’t keep any secrets.

“He seems to have recognized you, did you two know each other?” Maverick tries to fill in any blanks for her.

“I don’t know… no, we never met,” Sylvia shakes her head. She starts several sentences as she tries to continue before finally whispering, “We can’t talk about this in here. I’ll tell you more when we’re outside.”

Talk more when we’re outside? Maverick thinks in surprise, Either she’s keeping something from me, or something really weird is going on.

“Mister Gracian, a word please,” Director Stone requests from seemingly out of nowhere. Maverick slides to a stop and spins around. Now facing Director Stone, Maverick is greeted with the Warden’s expectant stare.

“Yes, ma’am,” Maverick nods as an impending sense of doom overwhelms him momentarily.

“Alone,” Director Stone clarifies as she looks over to Sylvia.

“I’ll see you in the armory,” Sylvia assures Maverick before making a swift retreat.

Wondering why this message had to be private, Maverick quickly asks, “What is it?”

Accolade – Chapter Eight

Gideon Lennox

Paradise, Galatia

Gideon looks around the large hangar he had been ushered out into. The black floor glistens against the overhead lights. The walls are lined with an array of Coalition hovercrafts, several of which are severely damaged. A few repair teams are piecing together one of the decrepit engines, while another team is putting out the fires on the ship Gideon had just arrived in. Under different circumstances, Gideon would be ecstatic. He was a big fan of everything mechanical, thanks to his father’s interest and work with all sorts of machinery.

“Wow,” Gideon whispers to himself after admiring his surroundings.

“Truly remarkable, isn’t it?” Hayes whispers to Gideon as she approaches him. Nodding to the soldier who had guided Gideon out, she continues in a louder voice, “If you’d follow me, Mister Lennox.”

“Alright,” Gideon nods. He looks around once again and takes in a slow breath. Despite the thrill of being in such a setting, he couldn’t shake a sense of intimidation.

“Gideon?” Hayes calls back after she takes several strides.

“Sorry,” Gideon apologizes shyly, realizing the Commander had started off without him. His head bowed sheepishly, Gideon closes the distance between him and Hayes.

“Gideon,” Hayes starts a few beats after they exit the hangar.

“Yes?” Gideon asks once he notices that she was awaiting his response.

“I won’t be able to accompany you too much longer,” Hayes continues with a perplexed look on her face. She guides him through another doorway before she mutters, “I need you to tell my daughter that I love her and that I miss her.”

“I’m sure she knows that,” Gideon remarks with a stifled chuckle. Why would she like me to tell her that, out of all things? Gideon thinks, bemused, Everyone knows their parents love them… right? And why is she telling me to tell her daughter that she loves her again? I got the message the first time.

“I mean it,” Hayes assures him with a flat voice as she gives Gideon a stern look.

“Alright?”

“And I need you to tell her something else,”

“What is it?”

“That I’m coming for her,”

“You’re coming for her?” Gideon asks, alarmed. If the Commander came after her daughter, she would undoubtedly be landing herself in a world of hurt.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Hayes smiles slightly, “Yes, that would put me on the Coalition’s hit list. But they came after my family first.”

“But what about the rest of your family?” Gideon asks, concerned.

Hayes doesn’t immediately reply, and she instead stares ahead down the long hallway they are still marching down. She purses her lips and makes the most textbook perplexed look Gideon had ever seen. Her jaw flexes slightly as she assumedly thinks through her response. After several moments, Hayes finally replies, “I can get them all out of harm’s way, all I need is for you to give Sylvia the red flashlight I put in your pack once you are on the other side of the wall. She’ll know what to do from there.”

“Flashlight, got it,” Gideon nods as he glances over to the Commander. She looks surprisingly calm for how strained her voice had sounded.

“I’m putting a lot of faith in you, Gideon,” Hayes reminds him. She stops him and searches his eyes in earnest before she adds, “The life of my daughter, and the rest of my family, is in your hands.”

“Not to mention your life too,” Gideon points out. Sighing, he chuckles before muttering, “No pressure.”

“If I die, I die,” Hayes sounds resolutely as she fixes her gaze ahead once more and resumes her march. Gideon races after her and has to speed walk to match her brisk pace.

Grimacing, Gideon asks, “Isn’t that a little morbid?”

“Those are the words of a brave woman who saved her people many centuries ago,” Hayes replies, “It may be morbid, but it’s fitting for the moment.”

Gideon is about to say something, but he can’t think of a good response to the Commander. The woman that the Commander had just referenced was from the Bible, and even the mention of the Good Book was enough to have you killed. In fact, the mere mentioning of just about every aspect of Christianity had been banned generations ago. But that didn’t stop Christians like Gideon and his family.

In lieu of large corporate gatherings that would be raided, small groups had been started in secret all over. Gideon’s family had been a part of one of these groups for just as many generations now. In fact, Gideon’s grandfather had been a pastor up until he died, and Gideon’s parents were quite active in their illegal congregation as well. Thanks to Hayes’s reference, Gideon feels like he is in good company. Nodding for his own sake, Gideon prays a quick prayer of thanks and sighs deeply as a feeling of peace washes over him.

Gideon and Hayes continue down the hall for a few more seconds before Hayes abruptly stops at a large set of doors. Gideon stumbles to a stop beside her and she nods to him reassuringly. Pursing her lips, Hayes taps on a small panel beside the doors and they open up revealing a very large room.

In a stunning moment of clarity, Matthew declares, “I’m sure everything will work out for us as it did for Esther.”

“I knew I read you right,” Hayes smiles at Gideon. She scans those inside the room and is about to say something else when two guards step in front of her.

Holding up a small device, one of the guards tells Hayes, “Director Stone has an urgent message that needs to be hand-delivered to the Governor of Providence.”

“You, come with me,” Another instructs Gideon with a wave.

Gideon glances over his shoulder and sees Hayes getting ushered away and he frowns. I just hope Sylvia is on the level too, Gideon thinks to himself as he turns to look at the congregation before him. Assembled directly in front of him there are a lot of teens that appear to be about Gideon’s age. Standing between Gideon and the others there is a small group of adults. One of them, a woman, is dressed in a grey uniform that makes her stick out against the sea of plain blue uniforms and green camouflage fatigues.

“Stalwarts,” The woman in grey sounds in a booming voice. The teens all seem to flinch, if only slightly, at her call.

Well, I have good news and bad news. The bad is that this is all I have right now. The good news is that you can pick up some of my books on Amazon and that I’ll have another chapter out soon!

Accolade – Chapter Seven

Maverick Gracian

Paradise, Galatia

“Stalwarts,” The loudspeaker outside of the sim building sounds, waking Maverick up with a start. The announcement continues as he looks around the courtyard they are in, “Gather in the cafeteria immediately.”

Content that everyone was still gathered around the sim complex, Maverick glances up to the sky. He has to squint slightly as the two suns bear down on he and his team. Judging by the suns’ positions, it was about noon, when meant they still were too early for lunch.

“Great, I’m starving,” Tyson exclaims as he quickly rises to his feet. Several others join him, encouraged by the prospect of food.

“It’s too early for that,” Maverick informs the others, “This must be about the newcomer.”

“You mean the meat shield?” Jason McCollum offers with a cruel chuckle. No matter the situation, Jason managed to find some way to tell a dark joke about someone dying. Most everyone ignored the jokes, but that wasn’t always easy to do.

“He’s not a meat shield,” Maverick assures the team as he shakes his head. He looks over to Sylvia, who is still sleeping, and whispers, “Time to get up,”

“Then what else will he be good for?” Jason presses, “He hasn’t had any training!”

“I’m sure he’ll manage,” Jake speaks up after, likely seeing that no one else was going to come to the defense of the newcomer.

“Why’s that?” Meghan challenges.

“I just have a feeling,” Jake offers, “Besides, they wouldn’t just send us out to die.”I think that’s exactly what they’re doing,” Jason counters. He begins marching toward the cafeteria on his own, when he turns around, as if an idea just came to mind, “Unless you all think it’s going to be totally safe out there. No monsters, no savages, no nothing.”“That’s not what I meant,” Jake shakes his head.

Jason doesn’t stay to hear Jake’s defense, and he stalks off. Several others follow Jason anxiously, as they usually did after he thought he won an argument. This never ceased to annoy Maverick, who was the better leader. He didn’t think he was the best leader, per se, but Maverick knew he was better than Jason ever would be. Jason was a hothead, who seemingly only cared for himself. Several others saw that he was vying for the leadership role.

“Why the others follow him, I will never know,” Sylvia mutters under her breath as she shakes her head. She rises to her feet and walks a few steps before stopping and turning back to Maverick, “What’s wrong?”

“The ship the new guy came on, Maverick starts as he points toward the hangar, “It was on fire.”

“On fire?” Sylvia asks as she tilts her head to the side.

“Yeah, it looked like they were hit, or something,” Maverick nods absently. He pauses, still off put by Jason’s words. Looking down, Maverick thinks to himself, I bet Jason just wants to be in charge so he can rub my nose in it. He doesn’t care about the others. At least not like I do.

“Maybe they just haven’t been keeping their ships maintained,” Sylvia offers, “I mean, just look at this place. They keep the grass cut, but the buildings aren’t doing too hot.”

“I don’t think so,” Maverick maintains, “It didn’t look like that.”

“Well, I’m sure the newbie will tell us all about it,” Sylvia announces with a smile, “Come on!”

Maverick stands and nods at Sylvia. As always, she was right. If Maverick had it his way, he’d have Sylvia in charge. The girl had a knack for it, the only issue was that she wouldn’t speak to anyone other than him. Sure, she’d say one or two things to the others every now and then, but that was rare.

“What do you think the new guy is like?” Meghan asks once she sees that Sylvia was done talking.

“I hope he’s cute,” Anne butts in with a wink.

“We don’t even know if it’s a guy yet,” Maverick chuckles as Meghan gives Anne a jealous look. Meghan had made it clear to the group on several occasions that the next guy who joined the team was hers. She repeated time and time again that she had dibs.

“Oh, it’s a guy alright,” Meghan announces, standing her ground. She continues as she sniffs the air, “I can smell him.”

Maverick laughs and the others within earshot at Meghan’s act. The girl had a way with catching you off-guard with the strangest jokes. Shaking his head, Maverick turns to look back at the hangar, which was still sealed off. Oddly enough, there had been no alarms, or much of anything else, when the gunship arrived. It was almost as if no one was worried about being attacked. No, the savages had never attacked a city, but that didn’t mean they never would. Their attacks had grown more bold, as of late. As far as Maverick could tell, they took a shot at least half of the ships that visited.

“Let’s get in there and find out,” Maverick instructs those who had remained after Jason left, “Maybe they’ll give us an early lunch as well.”

“If you don’t like him, can I have him?” Anne asks Meghan with a hopeful look.

“If I don’t like him, I’ll kill him myself,” Meghan replies flatly. Maverick gives her a sidelong glance in concern. After a few moments, he still can’t tell if Meghan was kidding.

“You could have just said lunch,” Tyson laughs, doing his best to ignore Meghan’s comment.

“I wish I had,” Maverick breathes back to Tyson with a chuckle.“Should we keep an eye on her?” Jake whispers once he and Maverick had started for the cafeteria.

“I heard that,” Meghan whispers as she brushes past Jake. She continues with a wink, “Welcome to my hit list.”

Jake stops dead in his tracks as Meghan continues on into the cafeteria. He looks over to Maverick with a look of fear in his eyes. Jake and Maverick were some of the few people who knew why Meghan was sent to Paradise. As the story went, Meghan killed somebody from her Dome. Of course, they didn’t know the whole story, but they knew just enough to be scared.

“You’re fine,” Maverick tells Jake after a beat, “She was kidding.”

“We don’t know that,” Jake counters after he ensures Meghan is out of earshot.

Maverick shakes his head with a chuckle and enters the cafeteria. Inside, he immediately notices that all of the tables are nearly buried in all sorts of gear. Everything from empty packs to notebooks are heaped into great piles, seemingly without any organization at all. At the front of the cafeteria stands the Warden, a few guards, and several officers. Standing in front of them is a kid about Maverick’s age, who he assumes is the newcomer.

“What have I gotten myself into?” Gideon asks himself as he lets his head drop. He absently rubs his face as he struggles to make sense of everything that had transpired since he had been arrested.

Accolade – Chapter Six

Gideon Lennox

Paradise, Galatia

“That wasn’t one of my best landings,” The pilot in front of Gideon mutters after a long, unsteady breath.

“You did fine,” Hayes assures the man as she releases her white-knuckled grip from a nearby rail. Looking to Gideon, she continues with a friendly smile, “Welcome to Paradise, Gideon.”

“Thanks,” Gideon manages as he tries to let go of a handle he had used to stay upright during the crash landing. His knees buckle slightly, and he resolves to continue hanging on to his handhold.

“Looks like we are ahead of schedule,” Hayes offers with a lighthearted chuckle.

“That’s got t be a record,” The pilot agrees with a laugh.

Evidentially, Hayes keeps her crew’s morale was always up, Gideon thinks to himself, Or, they are just crazy. Gideon looks over to the Commander and scans her face for several moments before he manages to add his own joke, “Best flight I’ve ever had,”

The pilot looks back to Gideon with a look of surprise. Judging by his expression, Gideon wasn’t supposed to be out and about, much less in the cockpit. The pilot quickly recovers and laughs. After a beat, he says, “I’m glad you liked it,”

“Follow me, Gideon,” Hayes instructs as she turns toward the rear of the cockpit. Gideon silently follows her, curious as to what she had to say.

“Commander,” A soldier acknowledges Hayes as she walks by. The soldier sounded a lot like the one named Clo that Gideon had overheard earlier. She looked like she had been caught in part of the explosion that had nearly brought the hovercraft down. Clo continues speaking after gently biting her lip, “If they don’t get us a new ship, we’ll be stuck here for several weeks. Our ship’s pretty banged up.”

“I’m fine staying here for a while,” Hayes smiles.

“Jackson’s gone,” Clo announces as she stares at the ground, “I saw him die.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry, Clo,” Hayes whispers as she draws Clo into a hug. She holds Clo for several beats before pulling away, “If there’s anything I can do—”

“No,” Clo cuts her off, “I don’t want you to be in any more hot water.”

Hayes looks like she is about to say something before she promptly walks off, continuing down the corridor. Gideon sheepishly looks away from Clo, who is still sulking as he scampers after Hayes.

“Those damn savages did this,” Hayes mutters once Gideon finally catches up to her.

“Savages?” Gideon inquires. He had heard of the mutants, but never of any savages. After a beat, Gideon presses, “What’s a ‘savage?’”

“They’re the people who live outside of our Domes,” Hayes replies with a bitter look on her face. Shaking her head, she continues, “They’re mostly rebels and terrorists. They’ve been attacking our ships for some time now…”

“What?” Gideon asks when Hayes trails off. She had stopped at a doorway and pressed her hand against the cool steel. Gideon shifts slightly to get a look at the Commander’s face, and he notes that a few tears are streaming down her face.

“They killed my husband,” She mutters before wiping her face and returning to her usual bolt-upright posture. Now that she had regained her composure, she continues, “When they informed us, Sylvia left home. I didn’t know she left until the local garrison contacted me. They sent her here without even asking me, I never got to say goodbye.”

“They did the same to me,” Gideon offers. He doubted his words helped, but he felt like they needed to be said. After a beat, Gideon asks, “Why can’t you talk to her yourself?”

“My superiors won’t allow it,” Hayes replies as she guides Gideon to another door. Opening it, she continues, “They threatened to take my other children if I spoke to her. I can’t risk losing anyone else.”

“Ah…” Gideon nods slowly, understanding the Commander’s predicament. He looks around as Hayes ushers him into a bleak-looking room. The walls are all grey, just like the floor and ceiling. The only color that graces the room is provided by a drab green pack that is sitting on a table in the middle of the room. Gideon takes a seat in a chair she is pointing to and looks over to her expectantly.

“This is all I can do for you now,” Hayes starts as she opens up the bag. She continues as she removes the bag’s content, piece by piece, “The others won’t have very much equipment. I ensured that you would have everything they might be missing. That includes a shovel, some knives, tarps, and several flashlights. As you can see, there’s a lot more too.”

“Thanks,” Gideon nods in appreciation of the large variety of gear.

“All I ask in return is that you keep my daughter safe,” Hayes whispers barely loud enough to be heard, her eyes pleading with Gideon, “My husband is dead, but you can save my daughter.”

Gideon offers a slight nod as he tries to push down his own anxiety. He stares blankly at the large backpack before him which represented his only chance of survival. If a career soldier like the Commander was afraid of the world beyond the protection of the Domes, then Gideon had even more reason to be terrified.

“Director Stone would like to see you, Commander,” A voice reports over the ship’s PA system.

“Gideon, there’s a lot you don’t know about,” Hayes says in a rushed whisper, “You saw what the Coalition does to people who they think know anything. But I need you to know that not everyone outside of the Domes are savages, some of them are friendly. However, don’t count on that. And don’t count on anyone’s loyalty either, that will get you killed faster than any hybrid could.”

“The Director is waiting, Commander,” The PA continues after a few beats.

“Tell my daughter I love her, and that I’m coming for her,” Hayes whimpers as her lips quiver slightly. She quickly repacks Gideon’s pack, and pauses as she pulls a small bag from her uniform, “And please make sure she gets this.”

Gideon nods dumbly, which appeases the Commander. She mouths the words ‘Thank You’ to Gideon before retreating back into the corridor they had come from. Evidentially, she was more afraid of what this Director would do to her and her family than anything else.

“What have I gotten myself into?” Gideon asks himself as he lets his head drop. He absently rubs his face as he struggles to make sense of everything that had transpired since he had been arrested.

Accolade – Chapter Five

Maverick Gracian

Paradise, Galatia

“Another hike down,” Maverick sputters after choking on some water. He leads the way as his team exits the sim complex. Maverick’s shirt clings to him because of how damp it is, and streams of sweat pour down his forehead conveniently into his eyes. He finds a nearby wall and slides himself down it into a sitting position as he catches his breath.

“Well, that weather was new,” Anne Fletcher moans as she sets herself down in the grassy area between Maverick and the building which houses the sims. Twenty-seven Stalwarts all collapse between Maverick and the sim, littering the ground. Countless small puddles of sweat form around each kid as they pant, desperate for more air. Sylvia lightly lowers herself near Maverick on the wall. Offering him a slight smile, she joins him in watching the others writhe on the ground.

“I always imagined the view would be so much nicer,” Sylvia starts, Maverick can tell she wants to talk about something other than the weather by the tone of her voice, and the fact that she had been frazzled all day.

“Me too. It’s too bad they made it rain on us like they did today though,” Maverick replies, deciding to let her lead the conversation where she wanted it to go. He knew that she would bring up whatever it was that was bothering her when she was good and ready. If you tried to force her into revealing anything, she was more apt to shut you out entirely.

“I’m tired,” Sylvia adds, scooting close enough that her shoulder brushes up against Maverick’s. Maverick stiffens for a moment, caught off-guard, but he quickly regains his composure. After a beat, Sylvia adds, “That rainstorm really put a hitch in things.”

“Yeah, almost lost Meghan in that mudslide,” Maverick points out as he lowers himself enough that Sylvia can rest her head on his shoulder comfortably. We finished several hours early, He reasons to himself, Might as well let everyone rest. Even if it’s just for a few minutes.

“That was scary, for sure,” Sylvia agrees with a nod. Seeing that Maverick had repositioned for her, she then rests her head on his shoulder. Maverick was the only person she had ever felt comfortable enough around to get this close to.

“Yeah,” Maverick lets out a comfortable sigh, happy the sim was over, and happy to have Sylvia by his side. This feels right, He catches himself thinking as he realizes he was pretty worn out as well. Now, if we weren’t slated to be thrown to the wolves, it would be even nicer.

“So…” Sylvia pauses, evidently unsure how to continue. Maverick waits and feels her temple and jaw flex on his shoulder as she thought. Sylvia’s thinking face is definitely one you couldn’t forget. Her lips would pucker as her eyes would just slightly squint and eyebrows furrow. After several seconds, she cautiously continues, “What do you think you’ll do when we are outside the walls?”

“Minus stay alive?” Maverick starts, chuckling at his remark. He pauses a moment, and when Sylvia doesn’t laugh, he continues in a more serious tone, “Well, I was thinking that since we wouldn’t have the Warden, out there, we might have some more freedoms, so I’d do some things I’d wish I could do in here.”

“Like what?” Sylvia asks with a yawn.

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe find a home, love, something corny like that. What about you?” Maverick hopes Sylvia didn’t catch his throwing ‘love’ into the list, since she would undoubtedly ask who he liked. Some days Maverick felt certain that Sylvia had feelings for him, like he did for her, but others he really couldn’t tell. Well, then again, being direct could be a solid way to tell her. Definitely more effective than skirting around it every day, Maverick thinks. He takes a steady breath and speaks up, “I was thinking I might, if you were up to it, I might—well… we might, you know… be a couple?”

Maverick waits several moments for a response, and then realizes Sylvia must have fallen asleep while he was talking. Awe, great, there goes that attempt, Maverick thinks discouraged, he continues to himself on a brighter note, At least she missed it. That was rough. Maverick scans the wall between the compound and the outside world for several moments, taking in its razor wire, various armaments, and cracking concrete structure.

This particular compound had been around since before the Inundation, it had been some type of maximum-security prison back then. Most of the prison buildings still stood, serving as who knew what. Maverick and the rest of the Stalwarts were never allowed into the old buildings, just their barracks, the mess hall, and sim building. Maverick had watched several additions get hastily thrown up on the old buildings in his short time here. The additions were truly beautiful, and they shine bright against the near noon sunlight. Their polished black exterior stands in stark contrast to the weathered and mossy concrete around it.

Maverick often caught himself staring at what he could only reason was a hangar, it looks like a hangar, the only issue was its massive scale. The mouth of the hangar is easily wide enough to accommodate twenty of the Coalition’s large gunships. Maverick didn’t understand why they made such a large facility when there were only a couple small transports that came in and out every week. That being said, he wasn’t about to ask the Warden any questions.

Suddenly, a hovercraft shoots over the compound wall, far too fast, and too close to the wall to be any routine flight. Maverick stiffens up as he takes in its smoking port side engine, which appears to be ready to burst into flames. Small debris falls to the ground from the gunship’s port fan and engine. Somehow the craft’s pilots manage to keep the gunship’s flight fairly silent. This is a feat since even under normal operating conditions, they are quite loud. Maverick tries not to turn his head too much, as to not disturb Sylvia. He watches the gunship streak into the hangar, and sees the hangar’s doors silently slide shut behind it. Concerned, Maverick whispers to himself as he looks back to his group of sound sleepers, “Something has to be up,”