A New Era

Morning couldn't come quick enough. Around five in the morning, almost everyone was up and ready for the day. There was no time to waste now. We asked Carla yesterday to get in touch with some people, and luckily for us, she did. Since of course we have no phones, except for pagers and walkie talkies, Carla got her hands on a few morse code machines and fax machines. There weren't many in the world, but the ones they had, they collected over the years after the riots. When the riots began, it was the end of most technology, and Joe and his group had to make sure to get their hands on as much as they could and store them before they were all burned and destroyed. Who knew how much we were going to need during this time, without phones and computers and whatnot.

Kyle, Krista, Ben and I were sitting at the table while Noah was at the door talking to a few people that had come in with a small black van. Two guys stepped out, carrying some boxes and Noah called us over.

The three of us made our way over as the guys opened up one of the boxes, which revealed some uniforms and bullet proof vests. The other box included ammo for the guns we needed.

Ben was helping Krista with her vest, and Kyle did the same for himself. Noah walked over to me holding up a bullet proof vest.

"I'll help you." He said to me as I gave a nod and helped me put it on, making sure it was secured.

Once the four of us were ready and dressed like part of the army, Noah looked at all of us.

"I still think that I should be there, but I know you guys can do this."

Ben took a step closer to Noah and placed a hand on his shoulder. He then pulled him into a hug, the two of them patting each other's backs.

"We're gonna be fine." Kyle spoke up and Krista gave a nod in agreement. Ben motioned for them to follow him to the Van, as Noah gave Kyle a pat on the shoulder. He walked over to me and I took in a deep breath.

"You be careful, okay?" He said to me as he placed a hand on my shoulder. I just nodded my head as the two of us just stared into each other's eyes. I dropped everything in my hand and wrapped my arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. Noah hugged me back as he buried his face in the crook of my neck. We stood there for a few minutes just embracing eachother. The last time we were separated, was when Noah was taken by the president and tortured. That entire time, my heart felt shattered and broken into a million pieces, like I had lost a piece of me. Now that I had him back, I didn't want to lose him again. But here we are again, heading into the lions den.

We finally pulled away from the hug and I lifted my head to get a better look. I hadn't realized I was crying when Noah reached over to wipe my cheeks.

"It's going to be okay." He whispered as he leaned down to place a kiss on my forehead.

"I know, and I'm going to come back, I promise." I replied as I sniffled. He gave me a reassuring smile before leaning down and placing a soft kiss on my lips.

"Sam, we gotta go!" Kyle called out to me. I pulled away from our kiss and Noah gave me a nod. I picked up my gun from the floor and quickly got into the van. One of the guys leaned into the drivers side and handed us some papers and ID's.

"We got an inside man, look for Steve Daniels, that's his undercover name, stick with him and you can find a way to stop them from getting to the rest of our people." He explained. Ben gave him a nod and took the papers. He turned to look at us and we all nodded. I glanced out the window to see Noah standing with the rest of the group. He smiled at me and gave me a nod before Ben drove off, Noahs figure in the distance getting smaller and smaller.

"We got this." Kyle spoke up and we all nodded in agreemant.

***

It didn't take long for us to get to the army base, which of course was located outside of the capitals walls. I mean where else would the President keep them. Ben then drove down a road that lead to a large grassy area. Once we got there, we noticed the tents and groups of people training in certain areas. One of the men stopped us and walked over to the drivers side and Ben immediately opened the window before handing him the papers. The man skimmed through them, a focused look on his face. He looked up to examine us before looking back down at the papers.

"Okay, you kids are clear to go." He said as Ben continued to drive through.

Ben parked the van along with the other vehicles in the base. And the four of us got out. Kyle scanned the area and he turned to us.

"Alright, where do we find this Daniels guy?" He asked and Krista shrugged her shoulders.

"Ask around I guess." I answered.

The four of us then proceeded to make our way through the camp, hoping not to draw attention to ourselves. I mean, we were pretty much the youngest ones here but that didn't matter. My eyes scanned the area as we continued on our way passed some tents. A few army men turned their heads in our direction but they continued on with their conversation. Other groups were exercising and training and they paid no mind to the four of us.

A few guys and a woman were standing in front of a tent and I separated myself to go speak to them.

"Excuse me." I said to grab their attention. They all turned to look at me as they stopped their conversation.

"Do you know where I can find Steve Daniels?" I asked. They all looked at each other, confusion written all over their faces.

"Lieutenant Daniels?" One man with blonde hair and dark blue eyes asked. He was tall and had a tattoo of a snake on his right arm.

I slowly gave a nod and glanced over my shoulder, the others standing there waiting.

"Who are you kids?" Another man asked, a darker complexion compared to the other man.

"Uh, we were assigned here.." Ben spoke up this time.

"You kids look pretty young to be here." He added and this time the woman spoke up.

"I can take you guys to him." She replied, a kind smile on her face. She motioned for us to follow her and I looked over my shoulder to see the two men just shrug it off and continue on with their conversation. I let out a long breath not realizing I was holding it in so long.

Thank goodness they didn't question us even more, these guys didn't seem that they were apart of the rebellion. Then again, it was getting harder to recognize who's with us and who's against us, especially after finding out that we have undercover everywhere.

The woman then opened up one of the tents and stepped inside before she spoke.

"Daniels, they're here."

A man with salt and pepper hair, dark tan skin and a goatee was sitting on the floor, along with a few others, turned their attention to us.

"Welcome." He beamed as he gave the woman a nod and she stepped out, closing the tent.

"I'm glad you kids made it safe." He said

"Yeah, we were pretty lucky, or they're pretty stupid." Ben replied and we all chuckled.

"Well Carla is good at what she does, and got everything in order for all of you."

"Listen, we don't have a lot of time, do you guys have a plan of your own? Cause what we decided was to come here and find a way to stop this but no idea how to stop this." Kyle spoke up this time.

"Well, you guys did good by deciding to coming here." Daniels said as the others nodded in agreement.

"Everything the President has decided is already set in motion. The troops are leaving tomorrow. They'll be going door to door, asking questions and trying to find the rebels. It won't be easy to stop them, but we can slow them down as Joe and the others gather everyone out of there." He added. Kyle and I then looked at each other, a concerned and worried look on both our faces.

"What is it?" He asked the two of us.

"Our parents." I spoke up this time.

"Are they apart of the rebellion?" He asked and we shook our heads.

"No, but Sam ran away, our mom called the authorities and we've been in hiding ever since." Kyle said as I gave a nod.

Daniels looked over at the others before turning their attention back to us.

"Well, the mission now is we need to go with the troops. We can't do anything here now anyways. But, you two can't come with us."

My eyes widened at what he said.

"What?! Why not?!" Kyle exclaimed as he took a step forward. I placed an arm on his shoulder but he shrugged it away.

"If your parents see the two of you, it'll ruin this entire mission." Daniels explained.

Kyle let out a frustrated and turned to look at me. I just gave a nod.

"Alright, so I guess it's just me and Krista going now." Ben spoke up this time.

"No, I'm going with you guys." I spoke up.

"Me too." Kyle said with a nod. Daniels looked between the two of us, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Look, it's up to us to help stop this." I said to him. "We want to help, we'll stay out of our parents neighborhood, would that be easier?" I asked. I looked at him as his eye brows furrowed, thinking about what I said.

"Alright, BUT, if things start going south, the four of you get the hell out of there, you understand me?" Daniels said and we quickly gave a nod.

"Let's start packing up, we leave today." He added and we all followed him out of the tent.