Activity

I’m deciding to share some of my story. It’s not quite complete. The first paragraph will get some work done, but right now, I’m just getting everything down.
<p style=”text-align: center;”>Alyce</p>
Unseen, I crept through the darkest of shadows. Unheard above the cries of women for their children, men for their family, children in pain, shouts from the poor subjects of the horrible gunshots, soldiers beating the people, fires crackling, buildings collapsing. I swept by, not making a sound. I had a destination. Aye, a gruesome one at that.

I passed a soldier dragging a girl from her home. Anna! They couldn’t do this. It wasn’t fair! I felt like walking up to the soldier, taking his gun and his life. Then I remembered my mission. I wanted to turn and run. I couldn’t do it. Why couldn’t Mark have done it? I already knew the answer. He gave his life for me. Only to make me take it from others. What about Luke? I knew the answer to that as well. He had blocked the door to my room, giving me more time to escape. It had only ended in his death as well. Fighting back the tears stinging my eyes, I headed towards the blue brick building. It’s color was chosen for the rebellion the people still had left. In it held a secret. One that I would have to let out on the soldiers. But not only them. It was to be also let out on the proud, courageous, and rebellious people. My people.

As I headed toward the building, I thought back to just a few days before. We knew the soldiers were coming and we had to do something about it. The people of Kalklyna were known for their rebellion, there would be many soldiers sent to capture them. So many that it was decided that this was when we would give our lives to stop a rising emperor.

Mr. Ranwick was our leader. A wise one too. No one ever questioned him. No one ever had to. We all knew he could be trusted. Because of the soldiers coming, he called an emergency meeting on April 4. People crowded the meeting hall. They all knew the reason of the meeting. Our fate was sealed. We had always known we would have to give up the most valuable thing we held dear. So valuable that you could never purchase it. That one thing was our lives. We all had known since the day we were born that we would have to die for our victory. It was our destiny.

“Thank you for coming.” Mr. Ranwick quieted the nervous murmuring. “I know I don’t have to explain much. We will go on as planned. Mark, Luke and Alyce know the secret. They were given both the code and special instructions. They know how to run it. We will defeat Cavensburg’s biggest army.” At the last sentence people cheered. For even though they would lose their lives, a victory would be won. I remember looking at Ranwick. His eyes were tired. I know he had spent sleepless hours making sure the Robin was complete. He saw me looking and smiled at me. Even though I was an orphan, Ranwick had treated me, Mark and Luke like we were his own children.

But now? None of that mattered. I was the only one left that could win this fight. Me, the weakest person that could be chosen. I had to kill everyone. I reached the building and headed to the back door. Then, shakily reaching out my hand I punched in the code to the door. It opened and I quickly walked in. A calming click of the lock let me know that I was safe here. Only four other people knew the code to this door. As far as I knew, I was probably the only one left. I shook the dismal thoughts out of my head and crept towards The Bird Room.

For things to be kept a secret, sometimes they had a secret name. Our secret had a name. The Robin. The Robin was in The Bird Room. It had nothing to do with real birds. Only a name we had come up with to keep this secret safe. Now, I headed to The Bird Room knowing after I had done my job and left I would be the only survivor from this beautiful city. If I made it out in time.

Sitting down at the desk, I stared at the computer screen. I wished this was all just one of the many nightmares I got. I would wake up in the morning laughing at my fright over such a silly dream. Only this wasn’t a dream. This was real. The people of Kalklyna were depending on me. They could only keep the soldiers here so long. I deftly reached forward and started typing in the many codes needed to win this fight.

A beep startled be back into reality. I only needed one more code. Then I would have six and a half minutes to get away and the terrible fight would be over. Slowly I typed it in. I remember Ranwick carefully making sure we knew the password by heart. Tears threatened to come back again. I fought another fight trying to keep them back. I was about to kill all that I had learned to love. Was this really worth it? Surely there were other ways to defeat Cavensburg. I was sure of it.

I heard a scream coming from below. The large window in front of me gave me a panoramic view of what was happening. It was Charlie. Charlie was like a little brother to me. I loved him dearly. I focused on the little boy struggling to get free from the soldier. The boy would be of no value to the man and so deciding the boy’s fate, he pulled out his gun and raised it to Charlie’s head. Fire burned inside of me. They could not do this. I knew what I had to do. Desperately wishing for a different option, I slumped back into the chair. I typed in the last code needed to end this bloody fight.

My hand hovered above the mouse. One click and I could end this. Why did I always end up having to do the worst things. I felt like vomiting. Nothing would ever be able to erase the horrible guilt I was already feeling. Nothing. I shut my eyes and clicked. I paused for a moment the I quickly bolted up. I still had one more mission. I couldn’t lose my life. I had to carry secret messages to the other people who wanted Cavensburg dead. Hurrying to the file cabinet I fumbled with the lock. A mental countdown was going off in my head. 6.50, 6.49, 6.48, 6.47, 6.46, 6.45, 6.44 Why couldn’t I get the code in. Desperately I tried one last time. It unlocked. I grabbed the papers and stuffed them in my bag. Then I ran for the exit. Only to get a surprise I most definitely wasn’t expecting.