Gold

The Dream Team

    “Kira, as you heard when Leo came bursting in, there are Rebels gathering at the Boundary. We believe they are planning another Uprising, one that would be worse than even the first one.” The Mayor spoke briskly but carefully when mentioning the uprising. “Now, you're probably wondering why I called on you. See the thing is, I know your secret.”

    My stomach fell when he spoke those words. My heart raced. I was never supposed to tell anyone that. I wasn’t worried about the Mayor throwing me into the middle of a battle but what if he didn't want to use my skills. What if he wanted to trap me and conduct experiments on me and potentially make more of me? That’s what I was scared of. The Mayor must have seen the panic in my eyes.

    “Don’t stress, you will be doing nothing against your will.” He spoke kindly but with conviction. 

    “Thank you, Mayor,” relieved, I gave him a genuine smile. I felt Leo’s eyes on me. I glanced at him and he seemed slightly hypnotized by my smile. When he saw me looking he shook his head as if to wipe off the smile and then he scowled at me. 

    “You don’t have to call me Mayor, you’re welcomed to call me by my birth name, Ward. We are after all about to become very close friends.” Ward grinned and finally stopped outside a large red door. We had been walking through the halls for a good ten minutes. The Estate was purposely made maze-like just in case any Rebels found their way in. Not only was the Estate the home of the Mayor but it was also the headquarters of all of Utopia. 

    Ward swung the door open and I was in awe as I looked in. There were flat-screened vividly colored computers lining the walls of the room. I had never seen computers like that. I didn’t even know we had technology like that after the Great War destroyed almost all of them. 

    There was one computer screen that made my heart drop. My stomach flipped and I thought for a moment I was going to puke. The computer had pictures of my parents, only they didn’t look how I remembered. They looked roughly ten years older. “What is that?” I barely managed to say through my clenched teeth. 

    “That, well that’s the picture of the two Rebel Leaders,” Ward said staring at the screen intently. His eyes seemed to linger on my mom but then he turned his attention to me. “Your parents are their Leaders.”

    I didn’t even know how to respond. I didn’t even know how I felt. How was I supposed to feel in this situation? Twelve years ago there had been an Uprising. My parents were killed and I was severely wounded. Or at least that's what I had thought. But now I found they were alive and leading the people who “killed them” and almost actually killed me. I felt Ward and Leo watching me, curious as to how I would respond.

    “What?” Was the only word that slipped through my lips. I was never speechless but this truly stole my words. Leo actually looked sorry for me and that pity made me pull myself together. I was not a weak person and I can’t start being weak now. “So they weren’t killed in the Uprising but how did they become the leaders?” 

    “We think that the Uprising may have been staged, we aren’t sure. Either way, we need to take the Rebels down and now that you're a Guard I have a plan. I am going to send you and Leo on a very important mission.” Ward and Leo were looking at me with a mixture of excitement and nervousness. 

    “And what will that mission be exactly,” I asked hesitantly. 

    “You and Leo are going to take down the Rebels once and for all.”