Chapter 3 Hank & Frank Briggs
1276 Words
”Come on little brother, she's cute don't you think? Red hair, green eyes, little freckles here and there.”
“Frank she's one of the top scientist around here, and i'm just-”
“One of the best soldiers here? You're a f*****g captain, no doubt you’ll make it to general one of these days. Plus I know you like her so you might as well give it a shot.”
“Maybe later.”
My brother shook his head in disappointment.
“You're killing me little hanky. All i'm saying is you should go talk to her, that way when i'm not around you’ll have someone to talk to.”
“You say that as if you’re going away for a long time or something. Are you going somewhere?”
He chuckled
“No no little brother, I just want you to find someone to be happy with. Anyway i gotta go promise you’ll talk to her before you leave.”
“Where are you going, we just got here?”
“Business little brother, business.”
He walked out of the bar that night, but i had i known he was going to do something stupid as he usually did i would have tried to change his mind.
“Excuse me, can i sit here?”
Amanda Hardley was talking to me, best scientist here but i was such a goof infront of her and it showed.
“S-s-sure.”
We sat quietly for a moment and before I could say anything she introduced herself to me.
“I’m Amanda by the way.”
“I know….i mean, i know who you are. Well who doesn’t?”
She giggled
“I could say the same about you Captain Briggs, fastest to excel in his company, basically the top of his class, well you and your brother Frank who just left, where’d he go by the way?”
When she asked about Frank I kind of thought maybe she was more interested in him, well he is normally the one who gets all the girls and I'm just the shy guy who girls kind of overlook. We’re both the same rank though and he pretty much has his own company,I guess I just have more of a hard time connecting.
“Oh I'm pretty sure Frank isn’t coming back, some things to take care of i guess.”
“Hmmm, that's too bad we could have had fun tonight.”
I felt uncomfortable for a bit.
“I guess, i'll get going then, if i see him i'll tell him you wanted to talk to him.”
She looked at me confused, but I had already begun walking out of the bar. When I made it out to the fresh air and the starry sky, I inhaled deeply. As I started walking again I was stopped by her voice.
“Hey wait!”
“Amanda what are you-”
“I think you misunderstood me, my friend thought it would be a good idea for us to all hang out together, well she mostly wanted to hang out with your brother but i just wanted to get to know you a little better.”
I can tell I was smiling like an i***t. We walked and talked around the base all night. She mostly told me about her mom and dad, how they were regular civilians and she was an only child. Then her dreams of being a scientist to try and help the world get back to a better state. I couldn’t wait to tell Frank except he was nowhere to be found.
For a couple days I hadn't seen him and it concerned me. We don’t go very long without at least checking in on the walkies mom gave us as kids, old walkies but they’ve lasted us this long. At first I thought the battery must’ve finally gone bad, that wasn’t the case though.
One day while I was walking back to my apartment complex I noticed my door was cracked a little. “Who’s there?” I shouted from the outside but when I walked fully in Frank was raiding my fridge.
“Frank what the hell man, where have you been? I thought you were dead or something.”
He chuckled.
“Me? Frank Briggs? dead? Who could have balls enough to try and kill me.”
Those words were chilling enough to make me go and hug him. It felt as if i wouldn’t see him again but i tried to shrug it off.
“Easy little brother, I'm ok. s**t, I guess I should tell you where I was huh, swear you wont get mad?”
“Swear.”
“I was investigating the council members.”
I looked at him funny
“What could the council members possibly be hiding, for you to investigate them?”
“Just hear me out ok? Don’t you find it a little odd that in what they teach the kids here that in a time of crisis the bases were here to protect us? Don’t you ever wonder who exactly built them?”
“I mean they protect us, why does it matter where they came from or who built them?"
“Yea but it’s almost like they weren’t here and then all of a sudden they were just in the nick of time, as if they were being built because someone knew chaos was going to happen and people would need places to go. Not to mention as far as our radio communication goes there are bases across the seas too. Then there’s the military, we train but train for what besides rebels who only raid our bases every now and then? Don’t you think maybe there’s way more to it than that?”
I thought about what he was saying, but what did it matter? People were happy and everything was peaceful for the most part. I wasn’t sure how everything in the past happened but i didn’t really care, because in the present time I saw a future with Amanda and i didn’t want to ruin it.
“Look Frank, maybe you're just overthinking things, the bases protect us and keep everyone safe from the rebels who are full of backstabbing ways. Why don’t you just forget all of this and-”
“Do the bases really keep us safe, or do they give people the illusion of happiness?
Here watch this when you get a chance.”
He handed me a CD
It’s not much but-”
Suddenly there was a hard knock at the door with an unfamiliar voice on the other side.
“Hank Briggs? The council members are requesting an audience with you.”
I looked at Frank and he was mouthing “i'm not here.”
“Just a second.”
I waved for him to hide in the restroom and went to answer the door.
“The council members would like to see you sir.”
“Now?”
The guy nodded. I grabbed my jacket that I had thrown on the couch and headed off without question. I looked back at my door hoping Frank could sneak out if he needed to. What could the council members possibly want with me though?
- Writer
