Freedom Is for the Young
last part
Icarus was so close to figuring out how the disease worked. 5 years had passed and he and his colleagues were hard at work. The radiation was causing the discoloration of the skin and eyes but it wasn’t deadly. The darkness was causing the dilation of the eyes. Even Icarus and Magnus’ eyes were dilation. That was just adaptation; an element of nature. So was the increased sensitivity of the 5 senses. It was easier to cope with the darkness and cave like underground. The lengthened canines and the strange way of communications were still a mystery to them. They just couldn’t figure out the cause. Even with all the tests they did. However they were able to decrease the length of the sickness for the survivors and even lessen the ratio to 1/5 the population getting the sickness and only 1/3 of the sick died. It was getting there. No one had seen the outside world for 105 years and the kids were getting anxious. No new side effects had come up, but Sara and Alex, as well as the other survivors of the disease were pushing to go to the surface. Icarus kept denying the requests, thinking that it was still too dangerous.
“Alex come on” Sara said.
“You have the others?” Alex asked.
“Yeah” Sara said. “All 50 of us”
These two teenagers had organized 500 others under the age of 25 that wanted to go to the surface. This was all under Icarus’ and the other scientists’ noses. They had called themselves Hetero. It was the scientific name for different. They put together some survival packs and planned to go out that night. That way, Icarus and the others wouldn’t notice. Alex and Sara had taken 5 years to gather the people and come up with a plan. Groups similar to this one were all around the world at the other underground camps. Alex and Sara had been able to communicate and each camp would send up a flare 2 hours after being outside.
Alex explained the plan to the group and they broke the meeting with a prayer. They planned to meet in the same room at sunset and then carry out the plan. Alex looked at Sara and nodded as the others left. He had a secret.
“Alex, what’s going on?” Sara asked.
“We’re going to be the only ones left.” Alex said. “It’s coming.”
“What is?” Sara asked.
“Use your mind.” Alex said. “Focus on its energy. I don’t know what it is, but it’s going to kill everyone that’s underground.”
Sara closed her eyes and let her mind take control. It was there; the heavy sense of doom. “What is it?”
Alex shrugged. “I’m not sure, I think the tunnels are collapsing”
Sara’s eyes went wide. “What?”
Alex hushed her. “We can tell the others, we’ll lose them”
Sara nodded. “I know. Can we at least take our fathers?”
Alex smiled. “I was going to anyway. We’ll have to take them by force.”
So the pair stayed up that night, coming up with a plan to take the 3 scientists to the surface.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That night as Icarus lay sleeping, Sara slipped a cloth over his mouth and nose. It had a chemical that made an instant knockout drug. She picked him up and carried him to the room. Alex had already grabbed Magnus and Isacar. The others started asking why they were here.
“We need them” Alex said.
“We need someone to help us get started” Sara explained.
“Alright.” Alex said. “Remember, once outside, immediately run for the nearest landmark.”
They broke the meeting and started off. An alarm sounded as soon the quarantine wall that kept the underground separated from the surface was broken down. The scientists that filtered the air at the door were brought down by the force and Sara led the group outside. The first people out stopped in staring wonder but were pushed further by the crowd behind. The groups advances were soon taken advantage of and the next ones out ran as far as they could. They went for the first landmark they recognized… a tree that was a few miles away.
Alex sunk his teeth into the shoulder of a scientist as the man tried to keep the crowd under the earth. The man fell in pain as Alex ran out into the open air. He followed the crowd and the earth started to shake. As he stepped down the earth collapsed. He was right. The tunnels were giving way. The thundering of the crowd brought the earth down onto the people in the underground. They were finally free. Free to breathe the air after 100 years of earth healing from the war.
2 hours later, they released a flair into the sky, 1000 meters up. As it burst, Sara smiled at Alex. “Were free.”
Alex laughed as looked around at the 98 other people. Most were kids but that was perfectly ok. This was the time for a new era.
As the sun came up, everyone stared in wonder. Before them was a green field; behind them was the ruble of the collapsed tunnels. All that was left was to go forward and rebuild. Find the others that choose freedom and risk over darkness and security.
“Alex come on” Sara said.
“You have the others?” Alex asked.
“Yeah” Sara said. “All 50 of us”
These two teenagers had organized 500 others under the age of 25 that wanted to go to the surface. This was all under Icarus’ and the other scientists’ noses. They had called themselves Hetero. It was the scientific name for different. They put together some survival packs and planned to go out that night. That way, Icarus and the others wouldn’t notice. Alex and Sara had taken 5 years to gather the people and come up with a plan. Groups similar to this one were all around the world at the other underground camps. Alex and Sara had been able to communicate and each camp would send up a flare 2 hours after being outside.
Alex explained the plan to the group and they broke the meeting with a prayer. They planned to meet in the same room at sunset and then carry out the plan. Alex looked at Sara and nodded as the others left. He had a secret.
“Alex, what’s going on?” Sara asked.
“We’re going to be the only ones left.” Alex said. “It’s coming.”
“What is?” Sara asked.
“Use your mind.” Alex said. “Focus on its energy. I don’t know what it is, but it’s going to kill everyone that’s underground.”
Sara closed her eyes and let her mind take control. It was there; the heavy sense of doom. “What is it?”
Alex shrugged. “I’m not sure, I think the tunnels are collapsing”
Sara’s eyes went wide. “What?”
Alex hushed her. “We can tell the others, we’ll lose them”
Sara nodded. “I know. Can we at least take our fathers?”
Alex smiled. “I was going to anyway. We’ll have to take them by force.”
So the pair stayed up that night, coming up with a plan to take the 3 scientists to the surface.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That night as Icarus lay sleeping, Sara slipped a cloth over his mouth and nose. It had a chemical that made an instant knockout drug. She picked him up and carried him to the room. Alex had already grabbed Magnus and Isacar. The others started asking why they were here.
“We need them” Alex said.
“We need someone to help us get started” Sara explained.
“Alright.” Alex said. “Remember, once outside, immediately run for the nearest landmark.”
They broke the meeting and started off. An alarm sounded as soon the quarantine wall that kept the underground separated from the surface was broken down. The scientists that filtered the air at the door were brought down by the force and Sara led the group outside. The first people out stopped in staring wonder but were pushed further by the crowd behind. The groups advances were soon taken advantage of and the next ones out ran as far as they could. They went for the first landmark they recognized… a tree that was a few miles away.
Alex sunk his teeth into the shoulder of a scientist as the man tried to keep the crowd under the earth. The man fell in pain as Alex ran out into the open air. He followed the crowd and the earth started to shake. As he stepped down the earth collapsed. He was right. The tunnels were giving way. The thundering of the crowd brought the earth down onto the people in the underground. They were finally free. Free to breathe the air after 100 years of earth healing from the war.
2 hours later, they released a flair into the sky, 1000 meters up. As it burst, Sara smiled at Alex. “Were free.”
Alex laughed as looked around at the 98 other people. Most were kids but that was perfectly ok. This was the time for a new era.
As the sun came up, everyone stared in wonder. Before them was a green field; behind them was the ruble of the collapsed tunnels. All that was left was to go forward and rebuild. Find the others that choose freedom and risk over darkness and security.