Sentinel

Linnea set her satchel down and looked out the window. It was getting dark as the sun disappeared over the dunes in the distance. A pang of sorrow ran through her again. She knew how Seven felt. They all felt it sometimes. She did not want to go tomorrow. She knew what waited for them in the city: mistrustful eyes and closed doors, the same thing that waited for them at home. Violence. Hatred. She watched the sun disappear and imagined what it would be like to run to it across the dunes: free, to fall to her knees and bury her hands in the hot sand and fall asleep in the embrace of the earth with the stars twinkling their love above her.

She blinked. The sun was going fast. “Come on!” She said, and ran out the door. The others followed close behind. They ran fast, the wind howling in their ears as they flew. They smiled madly, flashing past humans in white coats, other Sentinels, and locked doors. They skidded around a corner, each of them knowing where they were headed. They banged through a door at the end of a hallway and took the dim, metal stairs behind it two at a time. At the top they stopped to catch their breath in a small landing with one door.

Linnea exchanged looks with her friends and reached for the door handle beside her. As she pushed it open fresh air hit their face and blew their hair back. They walked out onto the roof of the building. High chain link fences stretched into the air above them. The tops were covered in razor wire, but this grim sight did little to quench the feeling of happiness that swept over them as the last light of the setting sun shone upon their faces.

They leaned against the fence and took deep breaths of fresh air.

“Tomorrow we fight.” Linnea began

“Tomorrow we win.” Allen added,

“May the desert be kind.” Kai recited looking to the sliver of sun.

“And may the winds bring us home again.” Seven finished.

At that moment, the sun set on the desert and the twilight glowed purple. From far beneath them came the cry to light the lamps. A beam of light shot up into the sky, then the whole base came alive with lights. They lit up the faces of the team on the roof with blue light, spreading out across the ground from a central point like a wildfire. They twinkled like the sky above and Linnea smiled. Some things were good about living here despite all the walls and locks and fences. She felt uplifted as she watched them light the lamps, as if she could step off the roof and fly over the base like a bird. She wanted to, and she pressed herself against the fence with closed eyes, feeling the wind on her face. The wind changed and she opened her eyes to see a helicopter circling above waiting to land.

“That’ll be for us.” Kai said, looking up.

They nodded at each other and walked back to the door, descending into the base to be trapped once more.