The Purge
Chapter 40: Halley

“It’s hard to plan for what comes next when what comes next is not something you planned for.”

The 5th Wave; Rick Yancey

The silence in the sky is enough to tell us something about the kind of intelligence that is out there in the universe. When I was a kid my dad would always tell me stories written in the stars. I thought it was weird because no one could actually read them—because, technically, they are in the stars. I would imagine scrolls dangling from the sky above and I would wonder how the scrolls would hang from up there. I have made myself believe that the astronauts did it. But then as I aged and was taught a great deal about the world, the scrolls seemed to be less important to me. And as I look up at the skies now, I could only come to think of the life that’s out there. The skies have kept a terrible amount of secrets. The silence has been so deafening. And when the noise finally came, it was ear shattering.

And I hear the noise again.

I woke up, startled from my bed. The burning red warning sign had blasted my clear vision. I got up and got my head a good wake call from the wall. Oh great. Another Inception Trial? We barely have a complete army. How would they expect us to fight like this when my body felt like wanton? But a sudden jolt inside my chest made my knees go down without a fight. It was making me feel nauseous and my heart… something inside of me felt like it was broken. And then it occurred to me, like a flick of a light bulb. All my fears had suddenly been realized. I hate to admit it to myself but the day that I have trained for all my life since they came has finally arrived.

The Dark Hour has started.

For the I-don’t-know-how-many-times time, I wished I was Bri. She kept her calm through the conundrum and the chaos around her. Not to mention she used a wrench to wake us all out of our peaceful slumber. Glad to be not the wall for once or the blow would have hurt so much to be hit such a classy… ah… weapon-thing-wake-up-call.

“Tell me we are not so screwed.” Athren told Bri once we assembled at the Dome with the others.

“Yet.” Bri deadpanned.

“Great. How relaxing.” Athren murmured to himself.

“You know if you’re so scared you can actually go out and pee. You can be excused.”

“Gee, Bri, I was just trying to lighten the mood. Everyone is so tensed.”

“Of course everyone is so tensed. The first Gate had just been opened. Where were you for the past hour? Having sex with Sigourney?”

That rendered him speechless and Sigourney turned bright red beside me.

“If it isn’t the Worm Army.” Chivas “complimented”.

Bri crossed her arms and faced him. “What do you want, Cantemir? Can’t you mind your business again?”

“Oh I just can’t, Bri.” He countered. “My, I wonder why you and your minions are still here with the fact you can barely operate as a team. Have you seen the footage of your pathetic scourge the last time?” he snickered. “That was completely cinematic! You should have seen your—”

Athren made a move to punch him in the face but Chivas was fast enough to evade him.

“Whoa. Hurt much, bro? Man, sorry to hurt your feelings.” He sneered at him. Sigourney pulled Athren back so he won’t have to throw himself at Chivas and start a brawl. There are far worse things to face than the commander of the Manticor Army.

“Chivas, what age were you when you first came here?” Bri asked him.

“Eight. Oh come on, Bri. You already forgot? We were almost cellmates.”

“Ah. So I guess you still remember our lessons about the Gates right?”

“Of course.”

“Good. Do you know how to count?”

“Absolutely.” He grunted. “Now, what is this about?”

“Nothing. I was just guessing if you really know how.”

He snorted. “That’s very funny and pathetic, Bri. You truly don’t know how to joke.”

“Yeah. I am very serious person. And to prove you that I am, may I ask you how many Gates were there again, Chivas?”

He almost snickered. “Three.” He answered proudly.

“Amazing.” Bri deadpanned. “Now, here’s a bit of logic to your amazeballs head: how many Gates do we have?”

He snorted again. “You just repeat the question.”

“Exactly. Since it proves that you are truly listening to me and there actually three Gates in total, may I ask how many armies of Addonexus does the Battle Camp still have?” Bri raised a challenging eyebrow at him.

Chivas wasn’t a stupid boy. He got Bri’s point right away and was wise enough to shut his gob.

“You got the message?” Bri exhaled. “Good to know. Now whether you fucking like it or not, you’ll just have to accept to fucking fact that me and my army are gonna keep our asses in Battle Camp until the fucking Gates are fucking sealed and fucking closed. Do we have an understanding, commander?”

Chivas narrowed his eyes at her and he turned his back and walked away without another insulting word.

“Wow. It all takes with a lot of the “f” word and viola! he is off to community service.” Sigourney said.

“Way to go to scare a crow, Bri.” Athren complimented.

“You’re welcome. No one treats my army like crap except me.” Bri said.

“I wasn’t really thanking you.”

“I don’t really care, Athren.”

“Okay.” He deadpanned.

“Officer on deck.” One of the soldiers shouted and everyone stood on their ground and saluted.

Towering among the others is Colonel Black in his combat uniform. I don’t know about him, but I feel like if I’ve known better I’d say that he looked so horrifyingly excited that humanity is almost at the state of panic. On our part—the Addonexus—I feel a little bit nauseous about the situation that if I could possibly turn around now, I’d wish I wasn’t Addonexus born. That thing implanted in our heads makes us feel the Gates and now that the first Gate has opened, I feel so undeniably sick. Whoa, so many things to feel right now. I just think that it felt so wrong to feel unbelievably exuberant right now.

“At ease.” He said with a bit of excitement in his voice. In unison, everyone dropped their hands on their sides. “All of us have been waiting for this day to come. Today, finally, the first Gate has been opened and we have never been so vulnerable. I have assembled as great number of our Sentinels to stand watch for alien invasion outside the Barriers. But still, it isn’t enough.” He started to walk in a straight line and everyone parted to give him some space. “We all know what the aliens can do. Their Predators can kill us with one slash of their claws. So today, we stand up and fight not as individuals, nor not as man and woman. We stand up and fight as humans of this new world. We will fight side by side we our honorable heroes.” He turned and looked at us; Addonexus. “We all believe in you. We have waited long enough to be slaughtered. It is our time to fight! It is our time to rule! So are you with me, Addonexus?”

A great roar of agreement shook the Dome not only from the Addonexus but also from the soldiers. I suddenly felt so small. I felt like a child at the center of the universe. Maybe that’s who we really are. Kids with powers. Freaks but soon to be heroes: if we survive.

The Purge. I couldn’t think of anything else more or less. I was scared to be honest. I don’t know what kind of devil the Initiators had prepared for us to face but we have a duty to make. Save humanity. Close the Gates. And then we can live in peace.

“Isn’t it ironic that we need to protect the Gates when one has already been opened?” Imogen yawned in front of me. Behati just rolled her eyes skyward. “Now we are to be blamed if the operations will screw up.”

“As we all know, we have three Gates.” Colonel Black turned his attention back at us. “We have three Addonexus armies left. So each army will be assigned one Gate to protect. Make sure no alien gets through.” I look at him and all I wanted to do is between barfing and laughing. I have no idea which I actually want to do first. He talks like my teacher in grade school. “We are counting on you.”

“So, how will we know which Gate are we to protect?” Imogen raised her hand. Now I’m really feeling the school vibe again even if I shouldn’t we are going to war not to school; I try to remind myself of that.

“Excellent question, commander Morgenstern!” Colonel Black exclaimed. He snapped his fingers and one of the officers presented him a cylinder container which he pulled out three twisted pieces of paper. He held the ends to hide away from curious eyes.

“I have thought of it ahead of time. The tales of the papers have three colors equivalent for each Gate. Red for vanguard, Blue for Middle guard, and Green for rearguard.” He showed us the blank white heads of the paper. We all looked at it like naïve little children of Mother Goose. “Well, go ahead. Time is gold. You know exactly what you’re going to do.” On cue, the commanders of the remaining armied stepped forward in unison and pulled out one piece.

Imogen gasped and exhaled when she realized she got a safe one: Green. I turned to Chivas who smiled smugly at himself. He got the color blue. I felt dread wash over me as I turned to Bri to held the piece of paper like it was her death sentence. Red. Vanguard. How terribly awful it is. We’ll be the first to die then—

“The safety of humanity lies in your hands—” Colonel Black started to say until Conleth cut him off.

“I would like to request for immediate transfer to Wyvern Army, sir.” Con stepped forward; chest out and chin held high like a true soldier. Behind him, he did not see his commander gaping in shock at him.

Colonel Black gave a tight smile. “I am all ears, soldier. Speak.”

“My name is Conleth Argent, sir. I have been with the Wyvern Army since the very beginning and I believe I can help them guard the first Gate. So I wish humbly for your approval, sir.”

Imogen huffed. “That is hardly necessary, sir.”

“I insist, sir.” Con pressed. “I learned everything I knew from the Wyverns. As you can see, they lack one soldier due to…an accident. It would give me a great honor to be at Commander Tyranica’s service once again.”

Colonel Black turned to Bri. “Commander Tyranica, may I hear your word to this?”

Bri stepped forward and raised her chin, ignoring Con. “My army is strong. We can manage without him, sir.”

“This is not only a war, sir. This is invasion. They need the help that they can get.” Con snapped. If he lose control he might even stomp his foot.

“We don’t need. My army can and will manage.” Bri countered. Con looked hardly back at her but Bri didn’t even glance at him.

“Reconsider, sir.” Con pressed.

“I am considering it soldier. But the thing is have you considered the voice of your own commander?” Colonel Black asked and that was the time that Con actually turned to Imogen who was by now red with fury.

“Morgenstern?” Colonel Black turned to Imogen.

“Thank you, sir.” Imogen plastered a fake smile at him and glared at Con. “I do have something to say. Actually, I have a lot to say.” Con matched her glare. “I apologize for the misbehavior of my soldier, sir. He seemed a bit confused until now of where he belongs. As we all know, his commander traded him to me which is a complete proof that he is unwelcomed in his old army.” she turned back to Con. “No hard feelings, babe.”

“None taken.” Con prompted mockingly.

“Moving on.” Imogen cleared her throat. “It seem unfair on my part if you allow such shallow request. As you can see, if you allow my soldier back to his old army then the situation will back fire at my own army. We may be the rearguard but my army will be incomplete without him. I am not saying that my army is weak but I won’t take that risk of losing him, sir.”

“How romantic.” Behati crooned in disgust beside Imogen but she ignored her.

“Tyranica?” Colonel Black turned to Bri.

“I agree with Imogen, sir.” Bri answered. “It is but unfair to take one’s soldier for an army. I am not in favor with this arrangement. I will not be responsible for any army’s loss because I lack one soldier of mine. I am responsible of my army and as commander in charge; I will do whatever it takes to protect my soldiers. As I have said: my army can and will manage.”

“But he’s right. We need him, Bri.” I suddenly found my voice and I wanted the ground to swallow me whole. “Conleth has always been a Wyvern and you know we’re a better team with him.”

“I think you’re not just an idiot little girl, Halley, you’re also deaf.” Bri turned her anger at me. “We can and we will manage without him.”

I gritted my teeth in frustration. “Maybe you’re the fool. For once could you set away your pride and look at the situation? Don’t let your love life intervene with the invasion!”

“I am looking at the situation!” Bri retorted. “And the way I see it, Conleth will just mess up our formation!”

I scoffed at her. “Bri, we don’t even have a formation.”

Bri could only glare at me as she turned red. “Thanks a lot, Hal.”

“Well, whatever. I’m not giving up my soldier.” Imogen stepped forward and grabbed Con’s arm. She held on to it tightly.

“Good. I’m not taking him back anyway.” Bri added and Imogen fake smiled at her.

“So it’s settled then.” Colonel Black announced. “Take back your soldier, Morgenstern and get ready.”

Imogen smiled. “Thank you, sir.”

Bri turned around and headed for the door. “Come on, team. We have Gates to protect.”

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