all god's orphans

“Hey, fellas.” Wallace started, begging the three-foot thick door to hurry up. “Take it easy.” He stepped innocently backwards and pressed his back against the wall. “We’re all on the same team.” A thin but growing column of light erupted from inside.

“Step away from the door!” The soldier shouted, but as soon as the space was wide enough, Wallace slipped through, followed closely by the others plus a shitload of bullets as the Mormons opened fire. He ducked through into the next room and the second, equally massive door was still in the process of opening. Beside it stood a weapons rack, full of M4 rifles. Wallace snatched one, racked a round into the chamber and squeezed off several rounds into the narrow gap of the first door, hitting the loud Mormon in the leg and sending him to the ground. Outside, the battle was getting closer and in the few seconds it took the secondary door to open wide enough for them to pass, it was clear that the general’s men would be inside soon.

Wallace and crew slipped through the door as soon as they could with the Mormons close behind. Beyond was a cavernous space with ceilings that vaulted up thirty or forty feet. At the other end of a short walk sat a boring, run-of-the-mill, three-story office buildings, like some old video game level with blocky, lo-res graphics. At its base was an awning and two double doors. “Welcome to Cheyenne Mountain Complex” was emblazoned on the white wall along with the insignias for various military units.

The strangeness of it all, this simple building sitting underground in a cave, was enough to stun Millie momentarily. She stopped in her tracks to allow her brain the few seconds it needed to comprehend what she was seeing. All around her, bullets were hitting the rock faces and the walls of the building, but she couldn’t hear them. Grey ran past her as the bullets flew and yanked her arm.

“Millie! Run!” She sprinted after him as she saw Wallace slamming the butt of his rifle into the door, breaking the lock and finally tearing open the door. Rounds were now peppering the office building, bullet holes blossomed on its white surface like tiny black and grey flowers. Just inside the door was a large trophy case filled with plaques and awards. Millie grabbed one side of it and pushed with all the strength available to her small frame. It barely budged. Looking back through the door, she could see them getting closer as she summoned her adrenaline glands to do their fucking job! She gathered the strands of her muscles and heaved again, causing the giant case to tip slightly forward. Putting her foot against the wall, she gave it everything she had and the large wood and glass cabinet came crashing down, blocking the doors slightly. Millie stopped, long enough to look back through the pane of the door. As she did, the window shattered and something hit her in the right side of her chest sending her to the ground.

“Millie!” Screamed Kite and ran to where she lay bleeding. She gathered Millie in her arms trying to surmise the damage. Millie looked up into her face, her brow scrunching up in an expression of surprise and pain.

“Ow.” She said, tears beginning to form in her eyes. Her voice was small and fragile, almost like a child’s, and it cracked with the effort of saying a single word after so long in silence. Kite put a hand to Millie’s cheek and Millie turned her face into Kite’s chest. Grey ran back to them forcing Wallace to turn back. He might still need Grey, he thought. At the door, several Mormon soldiers were looking in to see what was blocking it and they scattered as Wallace opened up on them, sending a volley of shots through the small window. Before they could counterattack, however, their rear guard began to take heavy fire from the general’s forces. Wallace grabbed Grey by his collar and hauled him to his feet.

“We have to move!” He shouted over the din of battle. “Now!” Grey tried to shake him off, but Wallace dragged him away. Kite sat on the floor, weeping as Millie’s eyes closed and her chest stopped moving.

“Kite!” Called Grey as Wallace pulled him further into the complex. In her heartbreak, Kite suddenly realized that she didn’t expect to escape this situation alive and all she wanted was to die by Grey’s side. She lay Millie’s head gently on the ground and stumbled away just as the Mormons broke down the door and began pouring through the opening, desperately trying to escape the attack coming from behind them.