A New Era

I woke up slowly, my head pounding, as I placed a hand on my head. My eyes finally opened as I blinked a few times trying to adjust to the bright lights. I tried to get myself up, but a sharp pain shot through my arm and I winced out collapsing back on the bed. My eyes gazed around the area and realized I was back at the hide out in the capital. I finally rested my head back down on the pillow as my thoughts wandered back to the night before.

It was still a shock to me that Joe and the others never mentioned the idea of using bombs. Why didn’t they tell us about it? If they did, things would have gone a lot more smoothly if we knew. My thoughts were interrupted when the curtains opened revealing Noah.

“Thank god! You’re awake!” A wide smile appeared on his face as he rushed over to the side of my bed placing a kiss on my lips. He soon pulled away and sat down in the chair next to the bed.

“How are you feeling?” He asked as he reached over taking my hand in his, our fingers interlocking. I gave him a shrug, not knowing what to say. I mean I was shot and almost blown up at the same time.

“I’m okay, I guess, I don’t know.”

The curtain opened once again, Dr. Gordon stepped in, a smile on his face.

“Sam! Good to see you finally awake!” He chirped. I gave him a nod as I glanced over at Noah, a worried look on his face. I then turned my attention over to Dr. Gordon.

“Uh, how long was I out for?” I asked.

“Just a few days.” He answered as he looked through some papers and the monitor. “But everything seems to be okay.” He said with a smile before leaving me and Noah. He was staring at the floor, his knee bouncing up and down from nervousness.

“Noah, what’s going on?” I asked as I shifted slightly and sat up a bit. He just shook his head quickly.

“It’s...uh...something happened...” He stammered out, his voice shaking.

“What do you mean something happened? What happened? Is Kyle okay? Krista?? Ben??”

“They’re all fine, they’re okay.” He reassured me as he scooted his chair closer to me. He placed his hands on mine. It got silent between us once again. I was now getting nervous, my heart beating heavily.

“Noah, what happened?” I asked once more, motioning for him to speak up. He took in a deep breath before letting it out slowly.

“It’s your parents...”

***

What could have possibly have happened with my parents? I blinked a few times as I stared blankly into the unknown. I felt my breathing increase by the second and I turned to look at him.

“What about my parents? Noah, what happened?”

He opened his mouth to speak when the curtains opened, Kyle standing there his eyes all puffed up and red. Krista and Ben standing behind him. Kyle looked between me and Noah.

“You didn’t tell her?!” Kyle snapped at him. I jumped slightly at the tone in his voice.

“I was just about to.” Noah calmly replied as he stood up from his seat. Kyle rushed over to my side replacing Noah’s seat. I glanced up at him and he forced a smile before motioning for Ben and Krista to leave, and give us some privacy. I turned my attention back to Kyle, his hands shaking as he rocked back and forth.

“Kyle, what happened? Please, tell me.” I whispered. He finally lifted his head to look at me. Tears brimmed his eyes.

“The night you were shot. There were still more of the troops out there. After we ran off, they called in more. When they got to our neighborhood, they didn’t question anyone...they just...started shooting everyone.” His voice trembled as he spoke.

“Mom..dad...they’re gone...” He whispered and my eyes widened at the words that came out of his mouth. I shook my head, no words coming out.

“H-how do you know?” I stuttered out. I could feel my breathing becoming heavier by the second.

“Joe and Dave. They went back to find any survivors...there were none.” He sniffled as he wiped the tears off his face.

“I gave them our address, when they got there, mom was found gunshot to the head. Dad...he was barely alive, and the last words he said, ‘Take good care of my kids.’”

I blinked a few times before wiping my tear stained cheeks. I shook my head in disbelief. No. No. There was no way that they were dead, gone, just like that.

The two of us just sat there silently not saying a word to each other, just taking in on the sudden death of our parents. We couldn’t even have a proper funeral for them. Joe and Dave had to get out of there as quick as they could so they wouldn’t be caught, not being able to take my parents with them.

The curtains opened and Noah came back with Krista and Ben.

“Hey...” Krista said softly as she walked over to the other side of my bed and placed a hand on my shoulder. No one said anything until Ben spoke up.

“I’m really sorry you guys, for the loss of your parents.”

“They were good people...and they did nothing wrong..” Kyles words muffled through his hands, as his head was buried in them.

“Yeah, but if we hadn’t...done what we did...”

“Sam. Stop. It’s not your fault. It’s not Kyles fault.” Noah said to us. “It’s the worlds fault, president Martin, the government and this fucked up world. They did this. Not you two.”

I glanced over at Kyle and he lifted his head slightly.

“Yeah. I know.” Was all he said and stood up from his chair and walked off. Ben and Krista quickly following after him. Noah walked over beside me and took my hand in his.

“I’m so sorry..” He lifted my hand and placed a kiss on my knuckles. I could feel my chest start tightening up and the tears forming in my eyes before I broke down into a crying fit. Noah’s arms wrapped around me immediately holding my body close to his, my face buried in his chest.

Heavy tears streamed down my cheeks, as I let myself have this breakdown. Almost a year ago, I saw my parents happy and healthy, even though Kyle and I disappointed them, but we wanted to have a better future than what we had before. Eventually we would have even gone back to rescue them, hoping to change their minds and fight beside us.

Once my tears slowed down, I took in a few shaky breaths, hoping to calm myself down. I felt Noah’s hand on my head, lightly stroking my hair, which definitely soothed me in the process. I sniffled a few times and lifted my head to look at him.

“Thanks...” I whispered and he just smiled before placing a kiss on my forehead.

“Sam...”

I turned my head to see Joe and Dave standing at the foot of my bed.

“There’s something we need to show you.” Joe said and I raised my eyebrow slightly as I sat up a bit. He walked over and handed my a piece of paper, the size of a post it. I looked at it with confusion and took the paper from his hands. I glanced down, and the only thing on it were numbers, like coordinates.

24.6699° N, 81.3540° W

I shook my head slightly and turned to look at him.

“I honestly have no idea what this is, or what it means.” I looked between the two of them and they glanced at each other before Joe spoke up.

“Your father slipped this into my pocket, right before he passed.” He explained.

“How much do you know about your family’s history, their past.” Dave asked. My eyebrows were furrowed as I thought for a moment before shaking my head slightly.

“Not much. My parents never really talked about it.” I replied.

“Well, I think that they knew some things.” Joe said crossing his arms over his chest. “And that,” he pointed to the paper in my hand, “could lead us to it.”

I glanced at Noah and he nodded his head slowly.

“It’s possible Sam, I mean this could be a lot bigger than we thought.”

“Yeah but your aunt and mom started the Rebellion.” I said looking at him and then at Joe and Dave.

“And before that?” He asked, which confused me even more. I let out a small sigh as I glanced down at the piece of paper in my hand.

What did my parents keep from me and Kyle?