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77: Eyes on Me

Never had I seen the Capital in such chaos. Normally, the threat of pissing off Telvian Enforcement was more than enough to keep cooperation, but not today. And a huge part of that might be the fact that somebody had set fire to the Academy.

Students were running wild, the little ones screamed or cried, looking for direction from the few adults trying to manage the situation. Some of the older students tried to guide the younger ones, while others cheered as windows blew out and flames came rushing out of the building in raging plumes. Enforcement was trying to corral them all while others were trying to direct firefighters to the blaze.

“Remain calm,” an officer shouted. “You’ll be reunited with your parents at the evacuation site.” He might as well just have spoken to the wind because no one was paying attention.

The scene caused something inside of me to grow cold. They were only children, young adults…people. Raúl and his TelvianCouncil were the enemy, not them. They were victims. In fact, every Telvian citizen was a victim, even the nobility. They were just trying to survive a society that groomed them to live a certain way, believe a certain truth. It was their reality, and they didn’t know any better.

Just like me.

Just like Jacob.

We didn’t know any better. We didn’t know the truth beyond our walls. All we knew were the lies we were fed from day one.

Jacob swooped in close, whispering in my ear and snapping my attention back to the task at hand. “Keep your head down, and just keep moving.”

I didn’t reply, I just did as he said and followed his lead, weaving my way among the chaos. REG Command was on the other side, several blocks away.

Suddenly, people around us screamed and dropped to the floor as a Northern F-18 fighter jet flew over the sky, close to the ground, being pursued by three Telvian jets, firing away.

“Oh shit,” Jacob cried out as he dropped to the floor and took cover. Bullets sprayed the ground, debris flying into the air as the rounds struck the concrete. I dropped down by a parked car, trying my best to get low and small to avoid being shot. The wind whipped around me as the jets flew over, stealing my hat. Several people screamed out as they were gunned down.

“Stay down!” Jacob screamed. He didn’t have to tell me twice.

The Northern jet somersaulted in the air, and came back around, firing at Telvian Enforcement on the ground, just as a fourth Telvian jet showed up out of nowhere and gunned down the Northern plane. The thing exploded, falling through the sky right at me.

“Mara!” Jacob yelled just as I let out a slew of profanities.

I jumped up and ran, pumping my legs as hard as I could as the jet hit the ground and combusted, sending chunks ofrock and debris everywhere. The shockwave threw me forward, sending me flying. I didn’t think. The moment my body hit the ground, I curled up, protecting my face just as shrapnel, bits of concrete, and burning ash rained over me.

My ears rang, drowning out all other sounds as I opened my eyes to see Jacob by me, his sunglasses gone as he grabbed my arm and pulled me up frantically. I scrambled to my feet and started running, letting him lead me through the panic as people lost their minds. I didn’t look back. I didn’t look to see the disaster that was the Academy, or the barrage of dead Telvians I knew had to be behind me. I just kept running. I stayed focused on REG Command ahead of me, seeing people pour out of the building, Telvian Enforcement losing all control of an orderly evacuation.

Suddenly…

Pow, pow, pow, pow, pow, pow!

The sound came in loud and in quick succession.

“Get down!” someone screamed just as a Northern Apache helicopter swooped in, firing its 30mm machine gun into the crowd of children.

“No!” I shouted, waving my hands at the aircraft. “They’re kids! They’re just kids!”

“Mara, get down!”

In one heartbeat, I was pulled off my feet, flying through the air as my brother grabbed me by my jacket collar and yanked me hard under the cover of a building just as the Apache zoomed by, laying waste to everything in its path. It destroyed the very spot I had just been standing and left a bloodbath of children along the ground.

I screamed.

Because it was one thing seeing buildings burn to the ground.

Because it was one thing watching soldiers fight each other to the death.

Because it was one thing killing monstrous creatures like hellhounds.

But it was another thing murdering children.

“This is madness!” I cried. “They’re going to kill everyone!”