After Joe told me about Trent a year ago, I was hurt, more hurt that he didn’t tell me himself. I did my best to let go, but I couldn’t, because half of me felt like he didn’t mean it. I don’t think he even did. Before he left,  Diana told me he talked to her about me, he did want to talk to me, but Joe got in the way. I just stopped trying.
         Joe wanted me, I know he would’ve stopped picking on Trent if Joe got what he wanted, so I dated him. After I heard Trent dropped out, I should’ve broke up with Joe, he was a total troublemaker anyway. Half of me still knows, I never gave up on Trent, but it may have changed things at the matter at hand.
   “Dude,what’s your deal?” Peter asked. “Do you realize we have police out there waiting to pounce on you and your friends?”
  “We have already taken care of the police, they won’t even come by this place.”
     “How?” I asked. I should have known that was a stupid question, but I wanted answers!
     “They were outnumbered. Tex, you’ll have most of your questions answered tomorrow, so don’t worry.”
     “Don’t worry?! If you weren’t a terrorist I’d kick you in the…” All of  a sudden, the ground began to shake, I could hear faint crashes of buildings. What was it?
       Then Alsi and his officers came into the gym, then turned on the big TV that was on our stage. “This ,teachers and students, is the day of a new era. The day everything will be as everything should be. Now pay attention to the screen,” Alsi said. An officer turned on the TV to show us something that to me was a nightmare. It was the Golden Gate Bridge, they blew it up! I saw the images of cars falling in the ocean, I saw people get out of there cars and attempt to hold onto dear life. My parents told me about what happened on September 11, but I never expected something like it to happen in my generation. It was such a devastating site, the buildings close to the bridge fell down too , I saw images of people jumping out of windows. I wanted to just disappear, right there and then. “Is this what you support Trent?” I asked.
  “I believe in world domination, the same thing that Alsi believes.” I knew only half of him believed that when he said it , he sounded unsure of himself, almost like he didn’t know.
    “You don’t really believe that do you?”
    “I have been trained to believe that.” After the video was over , Alsi went on the stage and began to make an announcement.
     “Everyone, like I said before , do not be alarmed. I would like to point out some facts, tomorrow afternoon at 3 I will make a speech declaring the new law and order at City Hall . Everyone is demanded to go, or there will be devastating consequences. Every student, teacher, and parent will attend this speech from this school. Everyone else will be listening on the television. We have all your addresses, so don’t think of running away, we know where you live. This school is permanently closed, I have decided to make this school into a military academy. Each of my officers will escort 2 or 3 of you to your homes. One of my men will come to your homes 20 minutes before 3 tomorrow , for we will use all of your vehicles for our own use. Now please go home, for this is a new beginning.”
   More like the beginning of the end.
       After he said this the officers organized us in groups, Diana finally woke up, so I decided to tell her all the news when we got to my house, since Diana already lives with me and my family. “So, who takes us home?” Diana asked.
  “I do.” It was Trent, apparently he talked to Alsi to just take us 3 home. “I have a Jeep outside, we can leave as soon as you 3 go through inspection.”
  Inspection?
    We followed Trent to the lobby of the gym, which had been set up like security in an airport. “You first Peter,” Trent said.
    “All electronic devices please,” said the man.
   They want our phones! How could they, I needed to call my mom!
     So Peter handed his phone to the man, then Diana handed hers, then it was my turn. “All electronic devices.”
   “Sorry mister, I don’t have a cell phone, my parents took it away.” He didn’t believe me, so he searched through my backpack, but to find nothing. What he didn’t know , was that I always kept my phone in a secret compartment in my backpack; me, Diana, and Peter were the only ones who knew.
      “Your clean, next.” We all got out of the gym, we followed Trent to his Jeep.
      “I know you were lying. Do you realize that if anyone else beside me found out about that, you would get in so much trouble?”
      “I know and I don’t care. Besides, how is one phone going to hurt em?”
          “Do what you  want. Now climb in the Jeep.” Diana got in first, Peter got in second, and then me. For some reason, I am the last person to do anything. “Wait a minute, you're going to sit up front with me.
   My old boyfriend(now a terrorist), wants me to sit next to him in front. What is he thinking about?
   “Trent, I object to that. My sister doesn’t want anything to do with you,” said Peter.
      “It’s alright Peter. I don’t trust him, but I can handle him.” So I got in front , next to Trent , and we were on our back home.
                                   
   
     Now I know I wanted to cry,  I thought.
       The ride home was awful, there were guards on all sides of the streets with machine guns, since Trent didn’t know how to get to my house, I told him to take a quiet street home. I didn’t want to see anything else, but there was more waiting for me on the way.
       Apparently, when they bombed Golden Gate Bridge, they bombed other things at the same time. They bombed some businesses, they bombed Peter's favorite coffee shop, and the library, my favorite place to hang. When we got 10 minutes to our house, I noticed something that I expected would happen sooner or later.
They bombed the church. The one that me and my family went  to.
  “Trent, would you please explain that?!?!”
   “Alsi wants all the churches turned into mosques, and warehouses to keep our artillery.”
    “You better pray no one was in there,” Peter said.
    “I’m surprised about something. You're nicer than some terrorists,” said Diana. Peter told Diana about everything that had happened while she was unconscious. She didn’t cry, but deep down I knew her heart broke.
      “Tex, you should probably tell me your address.”
        “I thought Alsi knew all of our addresses,” said Peter.
        “He does, and so do the other officers. Alsi trusts me , but not completely. You have to something big for Alsi to trust you, that’s why they don’t let me carry a gun.” When Peter heard that, he lunged at Trent , almost getting us  in  a wreck.
        “Peter stop it!” I yelled. Peter let go of Trent, and stayed in the back seat, looking so pale, and angry. “My address is 1342 Greenleaf road.”
          “Greenleaf road?”
      “Yea, I’ve only lived there since I was 10.” Trent started to look uneasy, his head was hung low, I’ve never seen him so nervous and scared. “What’s the matter with you? I thought terrorists were supposed to be strong and fearless.”
           “I guess you're right on that. I just didn’t think any of the kids from school lived there.”
         “It’s mostly old people, but there are a few kids,” I told him.
      Trent was quiet for the rest of the ride. I never knew Trent to get uneasy, about anything. When we got to my road, I noticed the gate was gone. I live in a gated community, no guard, no gate, and no house.
          All the houses were destroyed.
        “That’s why I started to feel uneasy,” said Trent.
       “You knew about this?” Peter asked.
         “I didn’t know you lived here.”
          “Well, we do . Come on you guys, we’re getting out of here,” I said. Without Trents permission, I got out of the car and slammed the door. Diana and Peter did the same.
         We were about halfway to where the door used to be, then Trent ran after us . He grabbed my arm and looked into my eyes, I could tell he felt just as bad about this as I did.
   What am I thinking?!?! He’s a damn terrorist, he’s not the same kid I used to know.
        “Tex please,” said Trent. “I really am sorry about this. Please believe me.”
              “Why would I believe anything you say?” I asked. “You are a liar, killer, and a coward!” I pushed him away, knocking him to the ground on his butt. Peter pulled me away, Diana was already at the remains of the house.
             “I’ll be here in the morning to check on you.”
        “Do you have to?” Peter asked. “We certainly don’t need you for a babysitter.” Trent ignored the remark, then drove off, he waved at me, but I don’t know why. I’ll never forgive him for what he’s done.
       Who does he think he is? He just shows up like this whole occupation is perfectly normal and acts nonchalant. The nerve of that guy.
        “He definitely is different,” Diana said.
          “Really? You just noticed?” Peter said.
             “Oh come on you guys. Let’s go, Mom and Dad will be somewhere.” So we headed in to see everything demolished.
                My mother's chandeliers were taken out from the ceiling because there were no remains of them whatsoever , probably one of Trent's pals took it out. There was hardly any roof anymore, the sofa was destroyed. Pieces of broken glass were laying around everywhere and the TV was nowhere to be seen. “Where’s Mom?” I asked.
       “You look by the kitchen. Me and Diana will look where the bedrooms used to be.”
        “Ok.” So I went towards the kitchen to see nothing but rubble. Apparently, before the bomb hit, people looted the place. Probably to see if there was anything valuable inside. Some of Mom's good dishes were in shards, and it was weird, the fridge surprisingly was still in one piece. As I got closer to the back door to our yard, I noticed I stepped on something that really felt odd. So I knelt down and kept moving junk because I knew in my gut that there was something under it. I dug deeper into it and I saw a hand.
  It was my Mom.
                                                                   *
     “AHHHHHHH!” I fell to the ground , I saw parts of my mother's face. She was covered in dust, I also noticed that Dad was right next to her. The way his body was positioned, he was trying to protect her from the crash.
    “Tex! What is it?” Peter and Diana came in, Peter had the same expression on his face, and Diana , as usual, fainted. “I’ll bury them outside in a couple minutes.”
    “Peter! How can you be so calm about this? Mom and Dad are dead.  They killed them! I’m gonna go see if Dad's gun cabinet is still in one piece.”
     “Tex, they looted the place. They probably took the guns.”
      “Well I’m going to check anyway. They won’t get away with this Peter, you mark my words.” Peter tried to stop me from going into Dad's room, but I went anyway. I saw Peter lay Diana down on a soft space. Even before this Diana fainted all the time and we had to lay her down on a cot or something.
        I got into Dads room to see that the gun cabinet was there! It didn’t look damaged, thank God. I knew where Dad kept the key, under a loose plank on his floor.
   If I could only remember which one.
   “Here , let me help you,” said Peter. So Peter showed me where it was, the floor wasn’t damaged at all, so it made the situation easier. “Tex, you’ve got to promise me not to do anything drastic with the guns.”
  “Ohhh…..ok , I promise.” I said that with my fingers crossed behind my back. I did open the gun cabinet to find all the guns, I took the one that was the lightest for me. The little pistol, I took the shotgun for Peter. Peter had more of a temper than I did, so I couldn’t understand why he acted so calm about all this.
  Terrorists took over the town.
   Trent came back.
    Joe died.
   Our house is rubble.
  And our parents are gone.
   Why wouldn’t he be freaking out?!?!?!
       “Tex, can you come here for a sec?” Peter asked. I had the pistol in my hand, but Peter's voice sounded like he was in no mood for revenge, so I put the shotgun back in the cabinet.
    “What is it?” I went to where Peter was, he was talking with some of our neighbors. At least I thought they were our neighbors. I never saw these people before. There was one woman and 3 men, none of them  looked like a terrorist to me, but they didn’t look friendly at all.
      “Tex, this is Ms. Stephens, and her co-leaders of the San Jose Underground.”
    “The San Jose what?”
     “The San Jose Underground kid. Goodness,can’t you hear? Did the bomb damage your ears?” Said one of the men behind Ms. Stephens.
    “My ears are just fine. However, something seems to be wrong with you. You need some help with your personality.” The man stepped towards me, like he was about to hit, but then he noticed I had the pistol in hand. “Don’t think I won’t use this. Peter, why are you talking to these boneheads?”
         “We will have time to discuss this in the cellar. Peter , grab Diana and Tex , you can follow me,” Ms. Stephens.
        “Why would I follow you? Peter, I don’t even  know her, why would you let me go with her?”
         “Well I do, if you trust me, you will come.”
           So I followed Ms. Stephens down to the cellar, while Peter picked up Diana and headed for the cellar too.
       For one thing, how did that lady know we have a cellar?
       We haven’t even been in the cellar, we didn’t have any use for it. Mom and Dad never let me and Peter go in it, at least I never did.
          I went down the  stairs after Ms.Stephens did, the three goons were behind me. “Keep moving,” said one of them.
           “I’m sorry, but do you want me to run down this narrow stairway?” I asked.
        “The teen is right man, give her a break,” said one of the other men.
             We got down to the bottom of the cellar, there were seven chairs all in a circle, and a desk on the right side of the wall , which had tons of papers on them.
      This place has been used, I thought
       Peter came down after the three men, Diana was awake now. I felt so sure he was gonna fall with her in hand, probably would’ve.
      “Alright everyone, sit in your usual seats. Tex, you and Diana can sit next to Peter,” Ms. Stephens said. So I sat next to Peter , and Diana sat next to me.
       “Peter? What is going on?” I asked. Again, his face looked blank, looked like all the blood was drained from his face.
      “You’ll find out Tex.”
        “Well I might as well cut to the chase,” Ms. Stephens said. “The TALIHAD has taken over the United States of America.”
     “Yeah lady, we kinda noticed,” said Diana.
      “If you’ll let me finish,” she said, with her eyes narrowed down at Diana. “Now that they have taken over, we need help to bring them down. That is why you’re down here Tex.”  I didn’t know what to think, this lady shows up, saying she’s part of the San Jose Underground, and somehow my brother is mixed up in this. Knows my name, and says she needs my help?
   She’s gotta be nuts!
   “Excuse me?” I said.
    “ I know what I am about to tell you Tex is going to be quite a shock,” said Peter.
    “Going to be?” So Peter took a deep breath, and started to talk.
     “Tex, I am an officer in the Underground, and Ms. Stephens is the commander and chief.”
     “The President doesn’t know about the Underground. There are undergrounds in each state, in certain towns to make sure nothing happens. We set this up after noticing very clearly that the President has no intention of protecting this country. So many citizens all got together to form all the undergrounds,” said Ms. Stephens.
        “I joined the underground a year ago,” Peter said, “ After a few beheadings in Syria, Ms. Stephens thought it was about time to get a few new trainees, because she predicted the worst was to come. She came to our school, and she notified me.”
       “Oh so she just said hi there I need you to work for me against terrorists and save the world?!?” Diana yelled.
      “That’s putting it mildly,” I said, looking at Diana.
       “Tex, I know you have been through alot today, and what you are going to be trained to do will be quite a change. But you must try to get used to things the way they are now, for your own sake,” Ms. Stephens.
      “TRAINED!?!?! GET USED TO THINGS?”
        Trained? As in teaching me how to kill people with a machine gun?
       Peter kept this secret from me for a whole year, we told each other everything.
At least we used to.
   I hated everything that came out of that lady’s mouth, but I started to think.  An underground has guns, if I got my hands on some of those guns…
    “Tex don’t even think about it,” said Peter.
    How did he even know I was thinking that?
      “ Well why not? They fight with hate for all infidels, so I should too.”
      “Tex that is not wise,” Ms. Stephens said,  “The TALIHAD fights like this because they fight with hate. Imagine what hate can do to you.”
             “Well I’m no angel right now. Fight fire with fire, that’s what I’ve always heard. You act like good overcomes evil.”
       “It does.”
     “Well this isn’t a fairytale lady, so wake up, back into reality. Because this reality is gonna be a hell of a nightmare,” I said, looking straight into her eyes.
    “Peter , your sister has spunk, I’ll give her that. But hate will get her nowhere,  hate makes the nicest of people turn into monsters. Tex, you have to begin training early in the morning, you , Diana, and Peter, will sleep in the underground from now on.”
    “Literally?” Diana asked.
   “Yeah Diana, literally,” Peter said.
     “We heard Jonathan Alsi will make a speech tomorrow, Tex. We want you and Diana to be there, gather up info for us,” said Ms. Stephens.
     “You know there are going to be people with guns there right?” I said.
       “Everyone is taking a risk ,Tex. Would you rather be sitting around and doing nothing about this nightmare?” Peter asked me. He did have a point, a lot of other people won’t do anything about Alsi.  Ms. Stephens and Peter were trying to help the U.S , I guess I might as well help, even though I could get beheaded.
  Just like Joe.
     “What do I need to do?”
    “I was hoping you’d say that,” Ms. Stephens said. “Tomorrow you and Diana will go to the speech and get all the info about the changes he plans to make, then you will come back here and tell me. We will decide what will happen from there.”
    “Wait a minute, Peter, what about Trent? He’ll be coming tomorrow,” I said.
     “Who is Trent?” One of the men asked.
    “Just one of Alsi’s soldiers that used to be my boyfriend, I am ashamed to say.” Ms. Stephens didn’t say anything for a minute , she looked like she was planning some evil plot in her head.
   “That could be an advantage,” she finally said.
   “How?” Diana asked.
     “Tex, you think you could learn to like a soldier?”
    “You mean, pretend to like Trent? That’s crazy, I didn’t stoop to that before, and I won’t do it now.”
    “I know what she means, Tex. You get close to Trent, so you can get info for us. Right Commander?” Peter said.
    “Exactly.  You will  see him tomorrow, so talk to him , be nice, and above all, act casual.”
     “Well, he’ll be coming to take us to the speech, but you said we’re gonna spend the night in the underground. He won’t see us, then he’ll send people out to find us, then we’re screwed.”
    “You’ve got a point Tex. Commander, the whole neighborhood is destroyed , and there are guards where the gates used to be, they will be guarding everyone tonight,” Peter said.
    “ I heard curfew is at 11 , then they will leave. Tex, Diana, and Peter will sleep above, but I will need Tex and Diana to see what the Underground looks like.” Ms. Stephens got up from her seat and went towards the wall, there was a small , red button , and she pressed it. The wall opened to reveal a hallway. She stepped through and stopped, “Tex, I need your phone.”
       “Excuse me?” I don’t know how she knew, but I took my phone out of my bag and gave it to her.
     “We always have a need for technology,” Peter said.
  “Right this way.” Diana went in after Peter and Ms. Stephens, then I went with Ms. Stephens men behind me.  I didn’t know that the moment I went through that hallway, I was soon to become a different person.

We got to the end of the hallway, at the end of it, was a big, iron door. Ms. Stephens opened the door, the men had to help her get it open. Beyond the door, there were many people running around, with things in their hands. “Peter knows his way around here,” Ms. Stephens said. “Peter, I want you to go to the training room, I’ll take care of Diana and Tex.” So Peter did what she said and went further down the hall to the training room. “Tex, you will need to go to the artillery room sometimes from now on, it’s at the end of this hall, straight. So follow me.” We went to the end of the hall, and we stopped, there were arrows on the walls pointing where everything was. “If you make a left, there is the TV room, and the sleeping room. If you make a right, there are the  two training rooms, which you both will see tomorrow.”
       “Ok, now that we know where everything is, what happens now?” Diana asked.
      “You both will come with me to the TV room. It's more like a video camera that we put in the White House, to see what the president is planning.” So we followed her… again.
      We got to the TV room. Surprisingly, there were bean bag chairs all around, and a big TV on the middle of the wall. People were sitting down, one man was trying to get the TV on. “Commander, it seems that you are the only one that can  work this TV,” said the man.
        “I guess I am. Come on Burt, you have been with the Underground for 3 years , and we have had this TV for 2, why can’t you understand it?” Then Ms. Stephens turned to me, “ Burt is from Long Beach, and his family was very poor, so he had never used a TV until he joined. He still can’t get it.”
   “Maybe I can help him?” Diana asked.
      “Thank you Diana, but I can handle this. Just sit down, because we will have to turn this TV on shortly to hear the President's speech.”
       “Will Peter come?” I asked.
     “No. He is working in the training room. I know teaching people how to do good fist punches  is a little  old fashioned,  but it’s a useful technique, and Peter is teaching it to some new recruits ” Ms. Stephens left us alone with strangers, mostly men. Me and Diana sat next to each other, men kept staring at us, and Diana kept smiling and giggling.
  I think I’m gonna be sick, I thought.
   “Diana? What is wrong with you? Most of these men aren’t even are age.”
     “A man is a man. Maybe if you tried being nice to men, you would actually get someone. Your relationship with Joe wasn’t very promising.”
     “I know that Di, but we didn’t really hang out much.”
    “You led him on. Everyone knew Tex, Joe actually liked you.”
       “He was a nice kid, but he drove Trent away, I never forgave him for that.”
        “So you still carry a torch for Trent. I bet you're gonna have fun pretending to like him.”
     “Shut up.”
       After about ten minutes, Ms. Stephens came back, with a lot of other people behind her, “Tex, Diana, these people are in charge of our communicators to other undergrounds in the states. They’re here to gather important info that the other states might have missed. Now I will turn on the TV, the president is about to speak.”
     “Sweet,” Diana said.  I didn’t think  anything was sweet about all this. It's been a long day, all I wanted to do was sleep, and forget about everything, especially Trent.
     Then Ms. Stephens turned on the TV.
      “Now everyone, please pay attention,” she said. The TV showed the president at the podium about to speak.
     “My fellow Americans,” he said. “As you have heard, the TALIHAD has taken over 48 of the states, leaving Hawaii and Alaska be, believing they are not profitable states.”
   Lucky them, I thought.
   “ TALIHAD members have visited me, and have told what they plan to do and threaten to do. So I have decided for our country… to… surrender.”
   “WHAT?!?!?!?!?”
     He’s crazy, insane, I knew he was a coward, but to surrender?
        “Please everyone, be calm,” said Ms. Stephens. How can people be calm at a time like this, the leader of our country, who promised  to protect us, has surrendered, and left us for death!
         “ I have resigned as President, and moving out of the White House. Jonathan Alsi  will make a speech tomorrow in California. So goodbye fellow Americans, good luck.” Then the TV shut off.
      I could hear voices from all over the room, people cursing about the president, saying that the U.S. is doomed. These people are supposed to be Americans, they certainly don’t have what it takes to be one in my category.
      “Everyone, please settle down. We knew our leader was a coward, this is somewhat what I expected of him. Now we have to fend for ourselves, and we will do whatever it takes to save the United States of America from falling apart,”Ms. Stephens said.
     “Ok Commander, now that that guy pretty much is feeding us to the wolves, what are we gonna do?” Diana asked.
       “First of all, you two have to calm down. Now that the President has surrendered, we have to work through this ourselves. Tex, Diana, you two will learn how to fight now , follow me now to the artillery room to choose your weapons,” she said.
    So we followed her, I don’t why I did, but I did. Diana wasn’t that gung ho on getting weapons, in her opinion,the only weapon she ever touched was a butter knife. My whole life was changing right before my eyes. Why would a woman, make 2 teenagers kill people for “the sake of the country”?
    me and Diana are too young. And Peter lying to me about all this? I wanted to break his neck!
     We got to the artillery room, it was unlike anything I’ve ever seen. The room had weapons all around the walls, most looked ancient. “ Now you two need to listen to me. Both of you will learn to use a few types of weapons, but you need to choose a key one. One that you could not part with,” Ms. Stephens said. “Diana, you may go first.”
      “Do I have to?”
   “Di, don’t be a ninny, just pick a damn weapon.” So Diana went over each wall, there were swords, knives, and guns, but Diana saw something in the corner and grabbed it. “A staff, really?”
       “Well it doesn’t have any pointed edges, that part I’m glad about.”
     “Ok Diana, now that you choose your weapon, you need to go to the training room, one of my men will escort you.” Diana took her staff and walked out the door, with a young soldier right next to her.
      “ She’ll sure be taking advantage of this,” I said quietly.
    “What did you say Tex?”
     “Oh nothing Commander.” 
       “Choose your weapon.” I walked around, but didn’t find much that appealed to me, until I saw a glass case in the middle of the room, in it, were a pair of sais.
     “I’ll take those sais.” Ms. Stephens seemed to be glad I chose those, I could tell because she had a small grin on her face.
      “Good choice.” She reached into her pocket and took out a button, pressed it, and the glass shattered. “Pick it up. ” So I did, the moment I touched it, I felt something. Like I was meant to use these, like they were waiting for me.
    “How come only these were in the glass case?” I asked.
     “They’re very special. I don’t know if you believe in legends, but I do.”
     “What are you talking about?”
       “I guess I’ll tell you now. About a year after 9/11,a woman from the middle east came to America. She was severely punished for assaulting her husband there, so she came.  It was said that she was a witch.”
    “You lost me.”
    “She could predict the future, and I know she could because I met her. She brought the sais with her, and told me that one day, a cowardly man would become president and lead the country into doom. She also said that these sais choose who their owner would be , and the owner would save the U.S.”
     “You think I’m a hero?”
     “Tex, you’re not even ready to understand, but you will in time.”  She walked out the door, leaving me to my precious sais . I gripped them hard, all the anger I felt today was ready to explode.
     “WHY?!?!?!?!?” I threw the sais at the door, not knowing that Peter was standing there. They both landed between his legs.
      “Having an attitude problem?” He asked.
    “Don’t try to be funny, we’ve been through hell today, jokes aren’t gonna help. Especially from you.” Peter got closer to me, I could tell he felt bad about keeping this from me, and I felt sorry too.
    “Tex, I should have told you about the Underground sooner, I was just trying to protect you.”
    “You could have protected me from the TALIHAD Peter. We both knew this would happen sooner or later to the U.S.”
     “It wasn’t just the TALIHAD I was trying to protect you from. When I first joined, Ms. Stephens showed me the sais, told me the legend, said that the owner of the sais would be a woman who would be forced into a new way of life. At that second, I knew it would be you. I didn’t want you even to pick up a gun.”
       “Thanks for trying to protect me Peter.”
      “Don’t mention it, but now we gotta get in bed and get prepared for tomorrow.”    
     “What bed?”
      “Oh that’s right. We’ll just figure it out.”
        “Ok, let’s go see the Commander.” Me and Peter headed out, he showed me where Commander’s office was, and we went in. Diana was already in there.
        “Good,” Ms. Stephens said. “You two are here, I was filling Diana in on some of the things to go on tomorrow. Peter, at five in the morning, you will come down here, and stay here.  Tex and Diana will work above , we need you to help with strategy.”
      “But if he’s not at the speech tomorrow, they’ll question me and Diana.”
     “I already thought that out, I know the way Alsi thinks. He won’t  spend most of his time looking for Peter, he’ll be too busy enjoying his dictatorship.”
     “Don’t worry Tex , soon everything will be fine,” said Peter.
         “So the three of you go and sleep above, it’s almost 10:30, you better get up there.” Ms. Stephens excused us and we walked back up to where our home used to be.
                                     
                                                                             *
      Curfew already past, but everyone wasn’t asleep, Peter managed to rustle up some fruit from the tree’s nearby, and we got some blankets. Diana was snoring, and me and Peter were just thinking.
     “Peter?” I said.
     “Yeah.”
    “What do you think is gonna happen?”
    “It’s gonna take some time to defeat the TALIHAD, but we’ll get through it.”
        “I hope you’re right.”
    
         Morning came, Diana was sleeping, but I had to walk around, people were already leaving to go to the speech, guess they didn’t want a terrorist for a chaperone. It was almost twelve-thirty, so Trent would come soon, but sooner than I expected actually.
      “Hey Tex!” Trent yelled.
     “What is it?” I said, restraining the urge to slap him.
      “Look, I know I came a little early, but I wanted to talk to you for a bit. We have a lot to catch up on.”
       “If you  think we’re gonna get back together, think again.”
       “I’m not thinking about that, I just wanted to talk to you like we used to. Forget about this crap for awhile.”
   “Might be easy for you, but not easy for me. And I can’t leave Diana, I just wanted to walk  a little ways.”
        “She’ll be fine, I’m sending Jason to take her around.”
     “Jason?”
     “Yeah, he’s a great guy. A year older than me, but he’s like a big brother.”
      “Uh ok,   I don’t trust you or that Jason dude with Diana, but let’s just get this little get together over with.” I felt uncomfortable leaving Diana, knowing some random terrorist is going to take her around what used to be San Jose. What could I do?
        Trent got me past the guards, then he took me down to a small, little, picnic area down by the river nearby. I couldn’t believe what I saw.
        The place was like a market, a bazaar. The picnic benches had all kinds of supplies on them. Food, scarves, jewelry, and long length dresses. It’s amazing of how so much can change overnight. I saw men holding women by the arm, buying things for them. I saw one man and a woman having the most oddest conversation.
    “Dear, you gotta buy this scarf, you need to cover your head!”
    “No I won’t !  I’m not ashamed of being a woman, and I’m sure as hell not going to listen to those terrorists!”
     “ They’ll kill you if you don’t. These terrorists only like women for pleasure. That’s all they think you're good for!” I had to commend that man for at least trying to protect his wife.  But apparently, their bickering caught a TALIHAD soldier’s  attention.
       “ Please people, save your bickering until after Alsi’s speech. There will be a lot more things to bicker about then,” said the soldier. The couple stopped arguing and left, without the headscarf.
         “Those people are  overreacting about all this. Alsi knows what is best,” said Trent.
       “You know what Trent,  those people are reacting in the most sane way I can think of.. I bet those people were trying to restrain themselves.”
        “Tex, please calm down. We should probably get to city hall. It’s  amazing how fast time goes by.” Me and Trent started to walk towards the direction of city hall, but Trent’s phone rang. “Hello---oh hi Jason---You got Diana, but Peter isn’t there?  Well thanks for letting me know---Goodbye.” 
  We’re screwed, I thought.
    “Tex, do you know where Peter might be?” I had to think of something fast, but had to act casual.
     “No I don’t. Peter likes to be alone sometimes. Who knows where he goes.”
     “He did know about the speech, and he should know what would happen if he didn’t show up, and his name is called.”
    “His name called? What are you talking about?”
     “You’ll see, but if he doesn’t show, I’ll do my best to make sure Alsi doesn’t give you any trouble.”
     “How sweet of you,” I said sarcastically. I did remember though, Ms. Stephens wanted me to warm up to Trent. It won’t only  benefit Ms. Stephens, it will probably help keep Peter safe from Alsi. “ But Trent, I am grateful for you taking care of me and Diana. To be honest, at first I had you all wrong,  I thought you became one of those bloodthirsty terrorists. Your not so bad.”  I could tell the flirting was working,  his eyes looked like they were about to fall out of the sockets.
           “Well uh… thanks for the compliment,” he said. “I’m happy you changed your point of view of me, it means alot.”
        Yeah right.
    “Look, I might have changed my point of view on you, but I still don’t terrorism.”
      “Oh of course, but let’s go to the speech, then we can talk afterwards.” So me and Trent were on our way to City Hall, arm in arm.

Me and Trent got there about ten minutes early, but the place was packed with people!  I looked up at the City Hall building, Alsi was on the balcony, making sure his hair and beard looked alright.
     “Isn’t he taking this a little extreme?” I asked Trent.
     “ Well Alsi is a little vain, he is all about image.”
     “A little vain ? I asked ,  with a little giggle.  Trent laughed a bit too, but he turned around and saw  Diana,  standing alone in a corner.
        “Hey, there’s your friend. Jason must be around somewhere, “ said Trent. So he motioned me to follow him towards Diana, but someone bumped into me.
       “ Ms. Burns?” The man asked.
        “Yes. Who are you?”
     “I don’t have time to explain without looking suspicious.  So put this on.” He handed me a necklace, but I was cautious.
     “But wait…” He was already gone.
     “Hello? Hello Tex?”
      Who was that?
           Then I realized, the voice was coming from the charm on the necklace!
      “Hello?”  I said into it.
        “Tex, it’s Ms. Stephens. Me and Peter thought that you might have some trouble getting all the info together. So we made one of our soldiers give one to you so we can hear it ourselves.”
       “Oh okay, well I’ll let you listen then.” The good part was, was that I didn’t have to speak right into the charm, Ms. Stephens could hear me . It also wouldn’t arouse suspicion .
      “ Tex! Come on, Diana’s waiting for you,” Trent said. So I went to see Diana, in a corner. Next to her, was that Jason I suppose, was not good looking at all! Hideous, as a matter of fact.  He was young, but full-blooded Syrian! “Tex, this is Jason.”
     “I gathered that.” But I didn’t want to pay attention to Jason, I wanted to talk to Diana. “Are you okay Diana?”
      “Oh sure,” she said. Then she got closer to me, she looked petrified. “Get me away from that guy,” she whispered.
       “I don’t blame you, but we must humor them.”
         “Whatever you say Tex.”
                Like most occasions, men only talked with men , and women only talked with women. Apparently in this dark time, families looked divided. Each area was a section, Muslims were specially taken care of, and other men and women; including children were divided.   But the soldiers didn’t seem to have much trouble dividing them, the families separated willingly. Everyone was giving stern looks at each other, even the nicest of friends turned against each other.
       I saw a couple girls from school, a Jewish girl named Anneke, and a Muslim girl Celene. At school they were besties , they loved each other. Some people thought they were lesbians .  The only thing I noticed, was that they were fighting to get close to each other.  Anneke's parents were restraining her from trying to get to Celene, and Celene's parents were doing exactly the same.
        “Anneke please! You can’t be friends with Celene anymore!” Yelled Anneke's mother.
      “We’re best friends! I can’t leave her!” Anneke  yelled.
       “We wouldn’t want you even speaking to Celene anymore!” Yelled Celene's father. “She is to be married, she has no business with you-- INFIDEL!!”
      “Father please. Anneke, for your own sake, stay away!” I could tell Celene didn’t want to say that,  they were like sisters.
     Last month Celene's parents finally found out about her friendship with Anneke. They kept it secret for 3 years, but Celene's younger brother blabbed about it.  Celenes parents beat her with a belt, until she promised to marry Abdul ( a junior in high school). They planned on moving to Egypt to get married, Abdul wanted Celene to learn discipline. Celene and her family finally turned another direction, while Anneke stripped away from her parents and cried.
     “I need to go to her , Diana,” I told her.
       “Fine by me, but don’t you need-- his permission?” Diana asked, pointing at Trent.
   “I don’t need any man’s permission, I’m still  a free teenager.”  Trent was talking to Jason,  so  I just walked casually past him to Anneke, but Trent noticed me.
       “Tex! Where are you going?” He asked.
     “ I’m gonna go see Anneke.”
        “ Tex, I think it would be better if you stayed with me.”
    “Anneke is going through a rough time; you saw what happened with her and Celene.”
    “They had no business being friends. Anneke is a Jew, Celene is a Muslim,  they couldn’t be together.”
   “Well that’s  their business. That girl needs some comfort,” I said, walking away from Trent.
      Anneke was  curled up in a ball, on a bench, sobbing. I went to her, and did my best to comfort her.
    “ Anneke?” I said.
    “ What do you want , Tex?” She asked.
     “ I saw what happened with you and Celene; I just wanted  to see if you were ok.”
    “Oh I’m fine.” She said sarcastically. “It’s just that my best friend is going to be married, and not be able to show a lock of hair.  She’ll probably  have to cook for these jerks.”
      “That’s men for you. They love to use women, men from the east  take advantage of women.”
      “Just so you know Tex, you’re not helping the situation.”
      Well sorry for just telling the truth, I thought.
      “I just thought you would like someone to talk to.”
        Then Anneke stood straight up, and looked me straight in the eye.
        “I don’t need to talk to anybody! I bet you were in on this!”
     “Excuse me?”
      “Everybody remembered Trent.  You two were boyfriend and girlfriend,  and he left.  He joined the TALIHAD!”
     Ok, I was upset , but I handled the situation like any normal teenager would.
   I slapped her.
   “Anneke, I came over here thinking you needed a friend, and this is the thanks I get? I didn’t know Trent was a terrorist in training, I had nothing to do with it.”
   She was so stunned she didn’t even blink.
     I walked away from her, she went back to crying again. I went back to Trent and Diana, both of them watched the whole thing.
     “Tex--,” Diana was trying to say.
     “Don’t say it.”
       “Tex,” Trent said. “Alsi is going to begin speaking at any moment, so we might as well get ready.”
       There were a benches by one of the fountains , so we sat there. Unfortunately, Trent insisted sitting next to me, while Lucky Diana got to sit by herself. Like many people at this crappy speech, I only had one thing on my mind;
    HELP!
       Suddenly, everyone was quiet, and the TV cameras were starting up. Terrorists  with machine guns guarded every possible exit, and Alsi finally was ready to speak.
       “Ladies and gentlemen,” he started out with. “ Most of you probably know me from yesterday, I am Jonathan Alsi.”
      Just cut the crap and get to the point, I thought.
   “ Today I tell all of you the new law and order, starting with a  a few rules.  First of all ,  all schools will be converted into Islamic and Military  Schools throughout the nation, except Hawaii and Alaska. Those two  states aren’t really that profitable, in my opinion. Boys aging seven to sixteen  are required to go to the Islamic and Military Schools.  After that, they will go into combat. Until they go into school, they will stay in one of the mens boarding houses.”
   Boarding houses?
    “ Throughout the country, most hotels and apartment buildings will be boarding houses from now on. Other houses will be prepared for TALIHAD soldiers and their families, and  American Muslim families. It is up to  me to keep my favorite people happy.” He said, smiling at the thought. “ There will be special houses for pregnant and unmarried women. After a woman gives birth she can keep the child for a year if it is a boy. If it is a girl, she can keep it.”
   Trent seemed to like Alsi’s ideas, because he was nodding his head constantly in agreement. “He is very smart, isn’t he?” He said to me.
    “Get a life; a decent life,” I said.
      “Now I will read the names of the men that will start training. I will read in order from the first letter of the first name. As I read the names, I want all the men I call to stand. Now I will begin, Abe Vander-  Able Woude-”
      As he was saying, I kept thinking; Trent said there might be a chance Peter’s name would be called. I couldn’t cause any trouble, so I looked around, noticing where the white cards Alsi was reading were  coming from. They were coming from a tube, that started from the back of the building, and the tube went all the way up to the balcony. They kept shooting right into Alsi’s hands. So I thought, If I just followed the tube, I could probably get to the P’s to see if Peter’s name was in there.
  I just had to think of a good excuse to leave Trent.
“Uh Trent,” I whispered. “ Where is the restroom? Yesterday, my bathroom got blown up.” He could tell something was up, he looked at me very suspiciously.
  “Behind the building, just walk on the left side and make a right.”  I walked away, and made my way to “save the day”.
                                                         
                                                           *
    Guards of course were everywhere, and everywhere I went , I was pushed and shoved.  I have never seen so many people so anxious to hear a man speak. Alsi was down to the  C’s now, and I was about halfway to where I needed to be, hoping to not cause any suspicion. A few guards stopped me along the way, but I told my little white lie, and batted my eyelashes while saying it.
    Beauty helps a little bit in every situation.
    I kept watching the tube, Alsi was beginning to go fast, so I started to walk  faster. I saw the restroom,  and right by it was the filters that had the names.
   I sure am lucky, I thought.
     I looked behind me, there were a lot of trees around , and nobody was looking at me. In case anyone was watching me, I stepped into the restroom, waited a few minutes, and came out to look at the filters.
      The filters had slots, and one by one, each name card was heading through the tube.
   All the G’s were going now.
    I sorted through all the letters until I did get to the P’s. Peter was in there, so I quickly  got his card, crumbled it up, and through it in the trash. I started to walk back, until I saw another filter.
    The filter said, “Names of women for auction”.
    I couldn’t take any chances, I quickly sorted through the names until I found my card and Diana’s . Just think, I could have been sold as a sex slave if I didn’t take  the card. I was too worried about these cards being found , so I went back to the bathroom, and flushed them down the toilet.
          I went back to Trent and Diana, Trent was talking to Jason, and Alsi was almost done with the names. “Well I’m back,” I said.
      “Bout time,” said Diana.
     “You weren’t sick were you?” Trent asked. “You were gone for 15 minutes.”
        What does he do, time me at everything I do?
     “ Well I guess I had to go pretty bad.”
         “Whatever, Alsi is almost done with the names. I guess you're happy your brother wasn’t called,” Trent said, and winked at me.
       Did he know?
      “Peter was never into military.”
      “Tex, where is your brother anyway?” Jason asked me.
        “I dunno, Peter is very unpredictable.”
            “Well that takes care of the boys, and now for the next name calls,” Alsi said over the speaker. “ Some of my men are stationed in different states at the moment and will speak of the boys in the other states tomorrow. I will now tell you of the women of San Jose that will be auctioned today.”
     Every woman in the crowd seemed to yelp at the thought of being auctioned like a piece of property.
        Alsi didn’t waste any time calling out the names of the women. Celene didn’t get called because she was a Muslim , and she was already betrothed to a creep. Unfortunately ,  Janey got called. When she got called she didn’t stand up like the others, she ran!  A couple  guards had to grab her and hold her down, but Janey acted wild. She kept biting  them, and scratching them ; I wanted to say, “Come on Janey, beat up those jackasses”. If I did, I wouldn’t have lived another second.
    Janey  finally had to been given Chloroform.
     Now Alsi finally was coming to the T’s. “Tina Lark-- Tanga Lang-- Tory Fey-- Vera Charles.” He was done with the T’s and Trent didn’t look happy.
     “What’s the matter Trent?  You wanted me to get auctioned?” I asked.
     “No of course not--well yes--no--uhhhh!”
       He seemed to be having a meltdown!
       “I need to talk to you-- in private.” I didn’t know what he was up to, but he literally dragged me by the arm and into a dark corner.
    “Well Trent, what is it?” I asked.
     “Oh it’s nothing,” he said sarcastically. “Just that I know you took your name card out, and Peter’s too.”
    There was no use denying him, I was licked.
      “Alright I did. So what? I’m not a piece of property Trent, I’m a human being.”
     “You don’t understand Tex. I was gonna bid for you.”
     What?!?!!  I was screaming in my head.
      “What were you gonna do Trent? Buy me, then sell me for money?”
     “No Tex!  Let me explain, please.”
     “ You have two minutes.”
     “Ok. I knew you were gonna be auctioned, so I planned on to bid for you, then give you your freedom. I was trying to help you.”
       “ Well I can take care of myself Trent. I can’t believe you were planning to do this.”
      “Let me make it up to you. I’ll do anything for you Tex.”
     Anything?
      Then a sly smile appeared on my face.
    “Ok, I want work with the weaponry, Diana too.” Trent looked like he was about to faint at the thought of me making weapons.
    “You want to make weapons?”
   “Why not? Men do it, I can too. Just show me how and I can make some damn good ones.”
     “Alright, I’ll talk to Alsi about it. Am I forgiven?”
     “I suppose.” Then we walked back to Diana and Jason. “Diana, Trent is going to be really nice to us from now on. If he wants to live to be 17.” 
    “Ok,” Diana said , she still didn’t have a clue what was going on. I intend to explain everything to her.
Only if she can keep her mouth shut!
    “Now that I have finished all the names for military and auction, “ Alsi said , “I will now have my men to escort all women and female child to the reformed boarding houses. Every woman will be provided with one shawl, 4 shirts, 5 jeans, one bra, and 2 pairs of shoes when they get to the boarding houses .”
        The a few soldiers came and separated the men from the women. Four buses pulled up, and all the women were pushed into them, including me and Diana.
     “I suppose this is goodbye Trent?” I asked him, as I was getting into the bus.
      “I’ll see you tomorrow, and I promise that I will talk to Alsi about you and Diana working in the weaponry.”
     “I hope you do, since your promises mean nothing to me anymore.” Then the bus door shut behind and Trent was gone. I noticed Diana saved a seat for me. I sat down and looked out the window, all the boys and their fathers were still outside. While  the girls and the mothers were in the buses.
      “You ok?” Diana asked me.
      “Yeah, but why does all this have to happen to me?”
     “We all knew something like this was gonna happen sooner or later. But thanks to our president, it’s  sooner!”
     “Tell me about it.”
        Everybody was beginning to get settled on the bus, but most of the wives and mothers were crying about being stripped away from their families. A few gunmen came on the bus, to make sure everybody was quiet .  They all threatened to shoot us if we weren’t quiet. Unfortunately,  one baby in the whole bus  would not stop crying.
     A soldier came towards the baby, took it out of the grasp of her mother , stepped outside the bus, and all of us heard a gun go off. The mother fell to the floor, but didn’t utter a sound. Me and Diana didn’t like children as much as the next girl,  but we went over to comfort her anyway.
        “You alright?” I asked the woman.
        “They just shot my daughter. How would you be?” She asked me and Diana.
      “I wouldn’t feel good about it either,” Diana said. “ If we’re going to get through this , we’re gonna have to do it together.” Everybody in the bus were beginning to listen to our conversation, the men weren’t even paying attention. Some were still outside trying to get the bus started.
     “What could we do?” An old woman in the back of the bus asked. “We’re just women.”
       Now that made me mad!
         Now, for being a very independent girl on women's rights, you would have no idea on how angry that remark  made me. And again, I was very calm and did the one thing that any sensible person would.
   I slapped the b****.
        “You seem to be hitting a lot of people lately,” said Diana.
          “Well I’ve been in a bad mood.”  All the men were done , so they came back on the bus and we began to leave. I could still see Trent out the window, he saw the little girl get shot. He didn’t seem ok with it either.
     “Alright you worthless wenches!” Yelled a soldier that just came on the bus. “I want everyone to keep their mouths shut on the way to the boarding houses. Let that little kid that just died be an example of what will happen if you don’t listen.”
    Everybody heeded his words, and sat down quietly.
   I couldn’t even talk to Di, and she couldn’t even talk to me.
   I don’t know how she could stand it.
   The scenery on the way wasn’t pleasant, all what was left of San Jose  was buildings that were half gone from  a bomb. Soldiers were everywhere, patrolling the streets ,and holding machine guns.
Making sure everyone obeyed them.
        I really had nothing to do, just looking out the window kept me amused. I saw some of my friends from school getting on  a different bus, they were the girls that were going to be sold.
    I even saw Janey.
         All I could think about was Peter, I even forgot about the necklace/ microphone around my neck. I hoped they still weren’t trying to listen,  it made me feel awkward.
        The  boarding house was 30 minutes away from the ruins of my old house, and it wasn’t a pretty sight to look at. 
        It was a huge warehouse where small airplanes were stored a few years ago, but it’s been abandoned. There were a few holes in the roof, and everyone knew that birds and rats lived in the place.
      “Alright, everyone out!” Yelled one of the soldiers.
      We all got out and were rushed inside.
      “So is this our forever home now?” Diana asked me.
      “For now it is,” I said.
        We were rushed inside to see many cots, and small wooden chests by each of them. But there was a lot of light coming in from the holes in the roof, and there were remains of dead animals all over the place.
Doesn’t anyone know how to clean? I mean , the place looked like a junkyard, I thought.
“Now everyone pick a cot, and head upstairs,” said a soldier. So me and Diana picked 2 cots at the far end of the warehouse, there were only a few cots in the back so at least we could  have some privacy.
    We eventually headed upstairs with the rest of the women. The entire top floor looked like a homeless shelter!
      Everyone went in a line and each person got one cardboard box. Each box contained all the necessities that Alsi promised us. Me and Diana were the last girls in the line to get our supplies. Diana immediately opened her box and almost screamed.
    “This is my worst nightmare,” she said.
     “What? Having to wear clothes from Goodwill?” I asked her.
    “No, having to wear a dull sports bra from Target  instead of a Victoria Secret bra.”
    “Boy do you worry about the most awkward stuff.”
      After we got all our boxes we headed back down to the sleeping area and laid down on our cots.
    We just wanted to die right there and then.
       
                                                       

Our first night in the warehouse was even worse than my first night at science camp!
          The food we were forced to eat were week old Lean Cuisines, and the soldiers gave us muddy water to drink. Half of the women kept having to go to the bathroom to puke.
But who could blame them?
        Me and Diana did feel bad for them, but we felt bad for ourselves though. We picked the two cots right by the only bathroom in the entire warehouse. And it only had 3 stalls.
Definitely not a pretty picture.
      “Are you sure it was a good idea to pick these cots?” I asked Diana.
    “Well I thought you wanted to be away from the other women.”
    “I do , but I can smell the stench from the bathroom already.”
     “You’d think they’d give us stale bread and water instead of expired Lean Cuisines.”
     “Guess they hate us more than we think.” Diana was really tired, so she just threw herself on the cot and fell asleep, while I just sit, looking at the holes in the ceiling. “Why did this have to happen to me?” I asked myself quietly .    All of a sudden, I heard a vibration around neck.
It was the necklace.
   I moved quickly into a corner so the guards out front wouldn’t see me. I don’t even think they would’ve noticed me, they were busy smoking pot together.
   “Hello?” I asked into the necklace.
      “Hey Tex, it’s Ms. Stephens. You ok?” She asked me.
   “Well let me see, I almost got sold as a sex slave and I saw a little baby get shot. Yeah I’m great,” I said sarcastically.
     “Well thanks to the little necklace microphone you’re wearing, we got all the info we needed to plan our next move.”
     “Sounds good. How’s Peter?”
      “He’s fine . He’s gonna come see you tonight.”
  “How? There are guards everywhere.”
“Leave that to him, he can take care of himself.”
“Well whatever. When can I get out of here?”
“ Peter will tell you what’s gonna happen from now. But you still need to get closer to Trent.”
  “ Yeah well wish me luck on that.”
     “I could hear him talking back when Alsi was making his speech. He does seem to like you.”
    “Ok , I have started to flirt with him, and it’s working a little bit.”
    “Good, but I’m gonna let you rest, then we’ll talk tomorrow.” Ms. Stephens stopped talking and the microphone was turned off. Now I could finally rest.
     But I couldn’t rest, I kept tossing and turning half the night. Diana kept snoring , other people in the warehouse kept crying , and I kept worrying about Peter. Millions of questions kept racing through my mind. When is Peter gonna come? Will I ever find Trent likeable again? Will things ever go back to normal?
    Eventually I did doze off, but I woke up when I heard a familiar voice.
    Peter.
        “Tex, where are you?” He whispered. Apparently, he got in through a hidden basement door in the floor.
    “Over here, by the bathroom,” I said. The guards were asleep so I didn’t really have to worry about it much. Peter finally saw me and was walking very fast towards me. I was so happy to see him, we hugged for at least a minute.
  You're the craziest brother anyone ever had, I thought.
   “I couldn’t wait to see you,” he said. “Are you ok?”
   “I’m a little bit better now.”
   “Well we have a lot to talk about.” We both sat down on the cot, no one even noticed he was there. “I heard that you told Trent that you wanted to work in the weaponry.”
    “Oh that, I thought I could hear some valuable information working there.”
   “Or did you just want to get your hands on a weapon? To kill Alsi or Trent?”
   “Why would I kill Trent?”
   “Why wouldn’t you?”
     “Oh come on, I’m still pissed at him. Mostly for wanting to buy me at an auction.”
    “And then give you your freedom?”
    “The fact is, I didn’t like the idea of someone bidding for me.”
    “Well I’m sure everything will work out for the best.”
   “Ok , Ms. Stephens said you were gonna give me the rest of the facts. What are they?”
    “Well we didn’t expect the idea of boarding houses, but we still need you to begin training tomorrow.” All of this stuff seemed impossible. Half of me was eager to begin training, the other half was terrified of getting caught.
    “How is that gonna be possible?”
     “What time is roll call in the morning?”
      “8:55. Why?”
      “Well, if you can get Diana now, we can start training tonight.”
      “Okay. At least they already did night check.”
       “Alright, now wake her up.” I went to Diana’s cot, attempting to wake her up, but she was out like a light.
   “Diana wake up,” I whispered. That didn’t seem to work, so I decided to pinch her leg.
  That would wake up anybody.
   “Ouch!” I quickly put my hand over her mouth to keep her quiet, her screams could wake up an entire city if she screamed long enough.
    “Diana, you have got to keep quiet. Peter is here and he’s gonna take us back to the Underground to begin training.” She slowly got up and put on her jacket, then we went to Peter. “ So how do we get out of here?”
     “Tex, don’t you know that the first thing to a successful underground , is  its tunnels?”
     “Oh yeah, forgot about that.”
             The three of us moved slowly towards the basement door, the door was covered by a large rug on the floor . Peter opened the basement door, it didn’t make a sound. Lucky for us, all the women were sacked out, and the only guards that were there were so loopy and tired from smoking pot they didn’t even notice. Peter went in first, me and Diana quickly followed . The tunnels were very dark and dusty; we were very close to the main headquarters though. There were small signs on the wall, pointing in many directions.
     “ We’ll stop by the artillery room to pick up your weapons first, then we’ll go to the training  room,” Peter told us.
        “Is Ms. Stephens gonna be there?” Diana asked him.
    “Yes, she’ll be in the training room.”
       We stopped in front of a steel door, like the one I saw the day before at the remains of my house.  Peter pressed a big red button and the door opened. We immediately went towards the artillery room.
     “Alright. You two girls grab your key weapons , then we’ll go,” Peter said.
      “Oh there’s my staff,” Diana told me.
       “Why didn’t you pick a weapon more lethal?” I asked her.
       “I don’t like the idea of hurting someone.” She picked up her staff and walked out, and I went to pick up my sais. The sais were hanging on the wall now, I never thought I would see them again. I wanted to forget them when Ms. Stephens told me about that little prophecy, it seemed to weird to be true.
     “When do I have to kill someone?” I asked Peter.
      “ Tex, you fight for your life. When someone tries to kill you, you attack in self defense.”I liked that idea, but I still had to learn how to fight. I grabbed the sais off the wall very quickly and walked out the door.
  Now I’m ready.
                                                                        *
           Ms. Stephens was in the training room, setting everything up for me and Diana’s arrival. She was bossing everyone around, telling them where to go and what to do.  Burt and some other man came in and began talking to her.
    “Commander,” said Burt. “ This is Lt. Craig from the Miami Underground. You wanted to see him?”
     “Yes I did,” she said. Burt left Ms. Stephens and Lt. Craig alone, and went straight to the TV room.
     “Commander Stephens,” Lt. Craig said. “You said you wanted special training for one of your new recruits?”
    “Yes. Texas Burns, Peter’s sister.”
    “And she’s the one that you believe will fulfill the prophecy?”
   “Well she has to be. But beside from the prophecy, you need to train her harder.”
    “Harder, how do you mean?”
    “Harder than any other recruit you have ever trained. Make her work . She is very important, we must harden her up for the sake of the country.”
      “You sound like a true commander.”
     “Why do you think I’m so good?”
                                                                           
 
            “Oh I forgot to tell you,” Peter said. “Ms. Stephens brought in a special trainer for you Tex.”
         “Do we both get the special trainer?” Diana asked him.
        “No, I’ll be training you.”
        “Oh… perfect.”
                 The three of us walked into the training room, and I was completely surprised. The entire room was the size of my school gym! Each side of the room seemed to have different stations. On the left side of the room were two stations; it was target shooting and archery. On the right side of the room were three stations; self-defense teaching, obstacle course, and knife throwing.
    It’s like a regular coed army school! I thought.
          Ms. Stephens came right towards us , and there was a very old, tall man right behind her .  “Tex, it’s good to see you,” she said.
       “Hi Ms. Stephens,” Diana said.
      “Oh hello… Diana.”
      “Well thanks for remembering,” she said sarcastically.
      “Tex, this is Lt.Craig,” she said, pointing to him. “He is from the Miami Underground and would personally like to train you.”
     I thought that was very odd. Why would a Lieutenant from an underground want to train me? There were many other equipped recruits in the room he could train.
     “ Why does he just want to train me?” I asked her.
     “ … Because all of the other recruits are muscular young men. Your a girl that needs to gain more strength.”
      “Your saying she isn’t strong?” Peter asked her. Lt. Craig then walked towards me, lifting up my arms as if he were observing a lab experiment.
    “Well look at her arms boy,” he said. “ She’s just skin and bones. No muscle at all.”
    “Whatever,” I said. “ When can I start?”
    “Right now,” Ms. Stephens told me. “ Follow Lt. Craig to the loft.”
   What loft?
     I looked up and right above was a battle practice section. Lt. Craig was already ahead of me so I began to sprint until I caught up with him.
   “Ladies first,” he said, motioning me to climb up the ladder.
   “I’m not a lady I’m a teenager. Guess some people have forgotten.” I walked up to see group of people fighting. They were seriously kicking each others asses!
   I’m dead!
     How could I do this? These people were fighting like pros, and I was not looking forward to fight with Lt. Craig. He picked up two small daggers off a table and pointed them at me.
      “Ok point your sais at me now.” I did what he said, but did a little more.
       I drew out my sais, pushed him towards the wall, then put the sais at his throat. He formed a sly smile, I first thought he would do something sneaky, but he didn’t.
    “Sneak attack,” he said. “Good plan.”
     “Guess it’ll be really useful when I get to kill Alsi right?” Craig quickly got out of the way of my said and made me sit down in a chair.
      “Is that what you want to do? Kill Alsi and be done with all of this?”
      “Well I have every right to kill him! He killed my parents, beheaded my boyfriend, and sent some of my friends to get auctioned!”
        “Well you're not here to just kill one person. You’re here to wipe out the terrorists from the U.S and protect the country. You might as well stop moping about the things you lost. You're a soldier now, get over it!”
            The words he said got me pissed! I drew out my sais again and attacked him. I jumped on him, trying to pull him down to the floor. Then he tried to get me on the ground, then he twisted my arm. I thought he broke my arm the way it felt. It was throbbing!
    “Hey you can’t do that!” I yelled at him.
    “The TALIHAD won’t follow any rule book when they come to attack you, so I won’t either.”
       He had a point. The TALIHAD didn’t look at a rule book when they took over, not when they bombed the Golden Gate, and not when they killed my parents! I got up from the ground , and got into  a fighting position.
  “Let’s go again,” I told him.
    “Now you're talking!”
       For about thirty minutes he showed me how to fight with sais, and he had two hand knives. He got me on the ground twice, and I got him against the wall three times. Not bad for my first training day. Once in  while i was able to look down and watch Peter teaching  Diana to shoot a gun. Diana wasn’t even that bad, decent even. Craig didn’t even bother going easy on me, I must have got so many bruises on my arms and legs, but I actually enjoyed myself.
       The thought of actually knowing how to kick someone else's ass gave me a boost of confidence and power. I was able to defend myself, and I felt like a pro with the sais in my hands. I had the feeling I could even be better than Peter when it came to fighting, but I knew that would be impossible.
   Peters good at everything!

We must have been up there for hours practicing when Ms. Stephens came up and told me it was time to leave. I didn’t like the idea of leaving my sais with her, I wanted to keep them with me.
       “You have 5 hours until roll call starts. You still have some time to get some sleep,” Ms. Stephens said.
       “When do I come back?” I  asked her.
        “You can try to come back tomorrow night. I’ll send Peter if it’s safe.”
          “Well what am I supposed to do in the meantime, sit in the warehouse?”
          “No you talked to Trent earlier, you should try to talk to him later about working in the weaponry.”
           I didn’t want keep asking her questions, since Peter and Diana were waiting for me by the door. When I finally caught up to Peter and Diana, we walked out of the training room and headed back to the warehouse
    “Lt. Craig told me you did very well for your first training session,” Peter said to me.
     “Oh I know I did well, you should’ve seen me!” I was actually very excited and proud of myself from what I accomplished that night. I felt like a stronger person.
      “You should’ve seen me shoot a gun Tex,” said Diana. “I shot the gun around 20 times and only once I almost shot Peter.”
   Well won’t you do nicely with a machine gun, I thought about Diana.
       “Oh Diana tell her about the staff incident,” Peter told her. Apparently it was something very funny, because Peter couldn’t even keep a straight face.
       “Oh that,” she laughed. “Peter was trying to show me some sneaky moves I could use against someone. And when I tried it, I accidentally let go of the staff, and it hit Ms.Stephens in the head!” I stopped for a second, thinking again why Ms.Stephens didn’t really like Diana. It seemed like that little incident added fuel to the fire.
      “So that’s why she gave you a dirty look as we walked out the door,” I said.
        “Yeah but I don’t really give a damn about what she thinks of me.”
            We still had a long ways to go to get back to the warehouse, Diana just wanted to walk alone for awhile, so I talked to Peter.
    I still had some questions waiting to be answered.
        “Peter, what do you think about the prophecy?” I asked him.
        “You mean the one about the sais?”
          “Yeah, unless there's another prophecy I haven’t heard about.”
           “Well I’ve always believed it. When I realized it was you, I wanted to keep you away. I never thought Alsi would attack this soon. I never wanted you to kill.”
        “Have you killed anyone?”
          “I’ve killed two terrorists. Remember when I was gone for two weeks last summer?”
             “You said you were going camping with a friend!”
               “Yeah well I lied. Ms. Stephens sent me to Oman with Burt and some other recruits to take the wounded out of a Jewish town that had been attacked and ship them to the nearest hospital. Everyone thought there weren’t any survivors, but our resources proved there were.”
          I could see the pain of telling the story in his eyes. How he had to endure all that, and not have a mental breakdown was amazing. I knew I would have to endure the same thing when I have my first kill. My brother, a soldier beginning at 14, had to kill people to save lives. I felt sad and proud, but mostly proud.
       “We found 27 survivors, and we had to put them into two helicopters,” Peter continued. “By the time we got the last person in, 6 terrorists ambushed us. They killed 3 of our recruits, Bert killed 4 of them but got shot as a result.”
       “What happened?” I asked.
       “Well let me finish. I was so angry, and afraid that Bert would die. I pulled out my revolver and started to shoot at the last two terrorists. I learned how to shoot well, I’ve never missed a target. I shot both of them, I didn’t realize what i did until I saw them moaning in agony.”
         I made Peter stop walking, and I put my hand on his shoulder, trying to give him some comfort. “Peter, they were horrible people, they’ve killed women and children,” I told him.
        “But Tex that’s the point . They were people,  human beings that lived and breathed. And I killed them.” I could see the tears forming in his eyes, no teenager should have had to go through what he went through.
     While Peter was telling his story, i didn’t notice how close we were to the warehouse. We were only a few feet from the door. I had to say goodbye.
      “I’ll try to see you tomorrow, Tex.”
        “You just be careful. I’m a big girl, I can take care of myself.” With that, Peter gave me and Diana a hug, the left us by the basement door.
          “Well this has been one heck of a night,” Diana said to me.
            “You got that right, but let’s get some shut eye.” I opened the door, then the two of us headed back to our cots and tried to sleep. Diana didn’t think about anything, she just dozed off like she usually does. Me however, I couldn’t stop thinking about what the next days would hold for us.
                                                            *
    
                   “ALRIGHT EVERYONE GET UP! ROLL CALL!!” A guard yelled to all of us. The volume of his voice was so loud, it had everyone falling out of their cots and quickly getting to their feet. I was already awake, all it did to me was have my ears ache. Diana was still asleep, but I wasn’t surprised.
            “But sir,” a young woman called to him. “It’s not 8:55 yet, we still had another 35 minutes.” The guard walked over to the woman, took off his belt and began to hit her in the face with it. For 15 minutes we all stared in fright as he beat the woman's beauty away.
      “WHEN I SAY IT’S TIME FOR ROLL CALL, IT’S TIME FOR ROLL CALL!” When he was done, the woman's face was bloody and bruised. She couldn’t even see out of her eyes, it was too painful to open them.
        Each guard took up  different sections of the room. The very loud guard took mine.
      Now why wasn’t I surprised? I thought.
        He walked around calling everyone's names, every time a woman said  “here” , you could hear a small quiver in her voice. “MRS. RACHEL FLEMMING?”
      “Here.”
       “MS. OLIVIA GREEN?”
        “Here.”
         “MS. TEXAS BURNS?”
           “HERE!”
           “YOU DON’T HAVE TO YELL YOUNG LADY, I HAVE WONDERFUL HEARING!”
           “YEAH BUT YOU DO IT!” The guard stopped yelling at me, realizing I had a point, then went on to Diana, which was sleeping.
   “MS. DIANA KEANE?”
       All he got from her was a very loud sore.
    “WAKE UP AND GET OFF YOUR LAZY ASS!”
        Then suddenly, a very familiar woman came towards us, with smelling salts in her hand. I knew her immediately.
           “Excuse me sir,” she said. “I’m a teacher and I have to deal with snoring pupils all the time, let me handle this.”
       Mrs. Lockley!
            “BE MY GUEST!” Then the guard walked away, leaving all of us alone. I walked over to Diana's cot where Mrs. Lockley was giving her to smelling salts, Diana was very slowly coming to. At first, I couldn’t really grasp the fact that my teacher was here with us, but I was relieved to see her.
       “Mrs. Lockley?” I said to her. She looked up at me with comforting smile, but was still very sad.
          “Oh Tex, it’s wonderful to see you,” she said. “I just knew you and Diana would be alright.”
            “But Mrs. Lockley, I didn’t see you on the bus with us where were you?”
             “I came really late last night with some other women. You see, some of Alsi’s soldiers picked some of us to wait on them at their every night banquets. Their first one was yesterday, you couldn’t  believe what their entertainment consisted of.”
          “What’s this about entertainment?” Diana finally decided to join the living, she sat up in her bed as wide awake as ever. “Oh Mrs. Lockley, what are you doing here?” She asked.
        “Well that’s what she’s been telling me. Go ahead ma’am.”
       “Thank you Tex. Well girls, as I was pouring them some wine, they had a weird game of hot potato.” She immediately went quiet, not wanting to finish the story.
        “Well what did they do? Pass someone's head around?”  Diana said , just joking around. Mrs.Lockley looked up at both us , her expression on her face said it all.
       “Oh my gosh seriously?” I said.
         “Whose head?” Diana asked her.
           “Joe.” It didn’t really bother me much anymore, yes they beheaded him two days earlier. But I had more things to worry about than their taste of entertainment. “Would you like to me go any farther?”
            “No I think we’re good,” I said.
               The three of us talked for a long time. Mostly about the past experiences in Mrs. Lockleys class and how much fun it was. Thinking about the fact that I wouldn’t be able to finish High School sickened me.  Not being able to do class projects, not writing essays on global issue.
      My entire life is a global issue, I thought.
         “What saddens me most is that I won’t be able to teach you two girls again. You two were the highlight of my class. Oh Tex, what happened to Peter? Did he go with the other men?”
         “Actually no, I don’t know where Peter is. I just hope he’s ok.” My head went down and I looked at the floor, realizing I didn’t even know what Peter was doing. Soon our little conversation came to an end when 5 guards came in, but behind them was a person.
  Alsi.
      “Oh great,” I said. “Look who’s here.”
       “Hello ladies,” Alsi said. “ Hope you all had a pleasant sleep.” With that remark many of the women groaned, showing their annoyance with Alsi, me and Diana included. “Since you have already had roll call, you will begin all your daily chores.”
  Chores?
       “In exactly 15 minutes you will all board buses. As you walk out the door you will be given a sheet of paper, saying what your chores are. You will have two meals a day, at 12 you will have whatever my soldiers will give you, and at night you will be given the same food you were given last night.” So for now, you all get ready. Today is a new day after all.” Alsi had a huge grin on his face, the amount of power he had must have gotten to him. He already began to abuse his power, what more could he do?
     When the 15 minutes were up everyone was ready to go, but that loud guard had to make an announcement first.
    “DIANA KEANE AND TEXAS BURNS, PLEASE MEET JONATHAN ALSI OUT IN FRONT OF THE WAREHOUSE IMMEDIATELY!” All eyes turned to us, every woman was wondering why just the two of us were going to talk to Alsi. We didn’t know either. When we walked out the door, we didn’t receive a paper like the other women did. Instead, we were greeted with smiles from all the guards.
       Two guards escorted me and Diana to a limo, Alsi was leaning against it with the same smile the guards had given us.
       “So you must be the Diana and Tex young Trent was telling me about,” he said to us.
      Trent didn’t lie, he did talk to Alsi.
      “I suppose I don’t have to introduce myself, but can you tell me which one of you is Texas?” I stood out in front of Diana, and faced the leader of the TALIHAD.
       “I am, but I prefer Tex,” I said. Alsi reached for my hand and kissed it. Who knew a terrorist could actually have manners.
      “Of course, Tex. Trent has certainly told me a lot about you.”
     “All good I hope.”
     “Haha, of course all good miss. Now would you and your friend like to come to my home for some tea and cakes?” Before I could respond, Diana pulled me away.
     “Excuse us Mr. Alsi, me and Tex need a small little girl chat.” She pulled me to the opposite side of the limo, her eyes seemed wide with fear. “What were you gonna do? Say yes?”
      “I’m trying to listen to what Peter and Ms. Stephens said.”
      “Oh what did they say? ‘Oh Tex go ahead and play with fire. Go somewhere where death is certain’?”
       “Di we’ve been taking chances ever since the TALIHAD attacked , we have to keep taking them to survive.”
          “How do you know he won’t kill us?”
       “We’ll have to take that chance.”
       “Ok Tex I’ll go with you on this one, since you're usually right.”Me and Diana walked back to Alsi, he still had a big grin on his face, then opened the limo door for us. He was between me and Diana in the limo.
      “Oh driver,” he said. “Start the limo and head to Red Apple Grove.” The car started to move, and as I was looking out the window, I could see all the women giving me and Diana dirty looks. Seriously why would they be jealous?
      “Tex,” Diana whispered to me. “ Isn’t Red Apple Grove the big rich neighborhood where all the lawyers and doctors live?
       “It certainly is young lady,” Alsi said to Diana. “ And I picked out a wonderful house perfect for me, Jason, and Trent.” I immediately jump to the thought of Trent being with Alsi under the same roof!
       “Wait and minute hold the truck. Are you saying Trent lives with you?” I asked him.
       “Of course he does. He’s one of my youngest recruits, and he’s one of the brightest too.” Alsi smiled at the thought of Trent, like the kind of smile a father would give to his son. “ I have big plans for that boy.”
      “Why does Jason live with you?” Diana asked him.
     “Well what kind of son wouldn’t live with his father?”
      “JASON IS YOUR SON!?!?” Me and Diana yelled in unison.
       “Oh now that explains why Trent said Jason was like a brother,” I said.
      “Precisely,” Alsi said. “Trent and Jason should be back at the house when we get there. Why don’t you two just enjoy the view.”
   Enjoy the view of what? San Jose in a pile of rubble?

It took half an hour to get to the gates of Red Apple Grove. Me and Diana used to dream of living in the rich community, it was right by a golf course(my favorite sport), and the houses were breathtaking. The houses usually had 6 to 10 rooms and sometimes a tennis court. It was a dream community , similar to my old one but a lot better.
     As we drove through the neighborhood I could see that Red Apple Grove was untouched by any  bomb or fire. Everything looked normal… except that every flag pole had a TALIHAD flag on it instead of a USA flag.  Their flag was simple: it was all black with a red circle in the middle with an x through it .
         We passed a lot of houses until we got to a certain one: one of the oldest and largest houses in the neighborhood. The house was three stories and had so many balconies. No wonder Alsi chose this house, it was the best one.  “Alright girls, let’s go in shall we?” Alsi said.
         We both got out of the car, a guard was standing by the front door and took off our coats for us. Alsi opened the door to reveal the most beautiful interior of a house I have ever seen . A huge chandelier hanged in the entrance,it  consisted of rubies and diamonds. Below was a large circles table that had a sculpture of the White House with a TALIHAD flag on it.
    Oh who was your decorator, I thought.
     We were greeted by two maids that were dressed like genies in the living room. Alsi told them to take us upstairs to get washed up. The bathroom was the size my bedroom: two bathtubs , six mirrors,and all the walls were made of glass. I felt like I was in the sultan's palace! The maids undressed me and Diana and prepared bubble baths for us. Diana was having the time of her life, she was acting like the Queen of Sheba!
      “Oh not the tulip petals,”she said. “I would much prefer the red roses in my bath.”Me on the other hand just acted very plain.
        “Couldn’t I just take a shower instead?” I asked them. “ I hate bubbles.”
       “No can do miss,” one of the maids said. “Alsi insisted that you both had bubble baths. So a bubble bath is what it will be.”
        They let us soak in the bath for an hour, which was long enough. Then gave us clean tank tops and clean jeans.They let us dress ourselves this time, which was just fine by me.
      “Oh come on Tex,” Diana said. “ You had to enjoy even a little bit of being pampered.”
          “Ok … maybe I enjoyed a tiny bit.”
          “Well good, I hope we get pampered a little bit more.” The maids came in again, to announce that Alsi was ready for us to have tea with him. A guard escorted us down the stairs to the living room where a large table was set up.  Alsi was already sitting, including Jason and Trent. My heart jumped at the sight of Trent, I was honestly very glad to see him.
      “Presenting,” the guard announced. “Ms. Diana Keane and Texas Burns.” Trent immediately got up from his chair and ran to hug me.
  “Oh Tex!” He yelled. “ I’m so glad to see you!”
       “Yeah same buddie,” I said.
       “Hey,” Diana said to Trent. “ Don’t i get a hug?”
       “Oh yeah sorry Di.” He hugged her, the looked at both of us . “Come sit down with us you two, we’re having cinnamon tea this morning.” Trent ran ahead of us and we slowly followed. I sat next to Trent and Diana sat next to Jason, definitely not by her own choice. Alsi began to pass the teapot around to all of us. Jason didn’t drink any, he was busy looking at something on his IPad, Trent was just smiling at me as he sipped his tea. Diana kept devouring the tea sandwiches, and me; well I wanted to cut to the chase.
      “So Alsi,” I started out with. “ Did Trent tell you I wanted to work in the weaponry?” Alsi put his cup and nodded while he was still trying to swallow a sandwich.
     “Yes he did,” he said. “ That’s the main reason I invited you here to my house.”
      “Oh?”
       “Yeah Tex, I told you I would keep my promise,” Trent said to me.
        “Yeah and you also didn’t tell me that you lived with him.” Trent looked down at the ground, ashamed he didn’t tell me everything. At first I thought he deserved it, but I did feel bad though. Then I thought again, about what Ms. Stephens said to me a few days earlier:
Warm up to Trent.
Warm up to Trent
   “But,” I began to say. “I really am happy you did.” Trent looked back at me and we exchanged  smiles. It was  the same smile he had when he used to be in school with me, and it felt really good to see it again.
   “Anyway,” Alsi said. “I am a little cautious to have two girls who probably hate the TALIHAD and everything about it work in our weaponry, so I hope you two don’t mind answering a few questions.”   Diana looked at me, hoping I would know exactly what to say. She obviously didn’t.
       But I didn’t.
       “Alright Alsi , go for it,” I told him.
     “Very well. So why do you want to work in the weaponry? Is there something you’re after?”
      “There is nothing I’m after, and I don’t hate you. I admire the fact you just go for things, which our previously leader couldn’t do. And besides , I don’t want to do dirty work with the other women, me and Diana want to be ahead of them.” I could see by Alsis expression that he was thinking about my answer, and I could tell he wasn’t gonna say no.
Boy, am I good at lying or what, I thought.
  “It is true, your leader was weak to the bone, but me; i’m a little bit different. And I can’t blame you for not wanting to do dirty work, and I admire you wanting to get ahead of others. That is a good trait Ms. Burns, never lose it.”
     “Aren’t there any other questions?” Diana asked.
     “Oh yes, the most important one that I ask to all of my new recruits. If rebels invaded and attacked against us, whose side would you be on?”
      I thought for a moment, I needed an answer that didn’t sound so obvious and one that wouldn’t make me feel guilty---well hopefully .
      “I would choose you Alsi. I would choose the most sensible side that would win. You took over the USA in one day! Of course you would be the most sensible side that I would pick, anyone would be stupid to go up against you.” Alsi began to form a huge smile on his face, he was very pleased.
     “That is a very good answer Tex, you may work in the weaponry.”
     “YIPPEE!” Trent yelled, he almost knocked his chair over. “So, when can she start?”
       “Tomorrow. I don’t want her and Diana working with the guns just yet, so they can work with welding and making crossbows. Is that satisfactory for you two?”
       “Oh yes, thank you Alsi,” Diana said to him.
      “You won’t regret it,” I said.
     “ Good, now that we have all that settled, let us all enjoy some tea.” He lifted his tea cup up, congratulating me and Diana, then we all drank all that was left in the teapot.
                                                         
                                                             *
           After we all finished tea, Trent decided he wanted to take me on a tour of the grounds. I did want some time alone with him, not to warm up to him as I was ordered to, but actually talk to him. He showed me the tennis court, which wasn’t that interesting. The entire property was more gorgeous than the house! An outdoor swimming pool and an indoor swimming pool. And a 2 acre rose garden, with a stone pathway going through it.  The property was like a paradise, untouched by the worries of the world. Where someone can escape and do nothing but forget, I certainly wished I could.
       Trent and me stopped at a gazebo in the middle of the garden, he sat me down on one of the benches.
     “Tex,” he said. “Are you ok?”
      “Well, the thing is I don’t know. It’s the third day since  the TALIHAD came and took everything  from me. Now I have to live in a warehouse with a bunch of old cots and snoring women!” I began to burst into tears, I wanted to tell him about the Underground, about everything.
      I felt I could trust him.
     Trent put me  into his arms and he kissed me on the forehead, it felt so good for him to hold me. I never wanted him to let me go. “Everything is going to be ok Tex, I’m gonna take care of you.” I let him hold me for five more minutes, then I moved away.
       “Trent, why did you join  the TALIHAD?” He knew what the answer was, but he was thinking to find a way to tell me.
      “Remember when the boys were picking on me back when I was in school?”
       “Yeah they gave us a hard time about each other, that's why you broke up with me.”
        “Well when I told Joe to tell you for me, I felt like a coward.”
       “You certainly acted that way.”
       “Exactly!” He yelled. “ I felt weak that I couldn’t even tell you myself. That’s why I joined, so I wouldn’t feel weak!” I just stared at him for a moment, trying to wrap around my head that the reason he joined the terrorists was because of the breakup.
        “So you went all the way to the Middle East to join the TALIHAD because you didn’t want to be  a coward?”
      “I know it sounds silly, but many people were joining it.”
       “That doesn’t give you any excuse to.”
       “I had regrets at first, but Alsi started to like me, started to treat me like a son.”
      “I thought Alsi didn’t fully trust you? At least that’s what you said earlier.”
       “Well there's a reason for all of that, but I promised Alsi and Jason I wouldn’t tell anyone.”
         “Didn’t you say you had to do something really big for Alsi to trust you?”
         “Yeah but I haven’t done it yet.” I stopped asking him questions, knowing he didn’t want to answer anymore. We just stared off in the distance, I kept looking at the smoke coming  from the center.  The town still hadn’t recovered from the attacks, I didn’t think it ever would.
        “HEY TEX! IT’S TIME TO GO!”
           It was Diana yelling at us from the back door of the house, Jason was  next to her motioning to two of us to come back. Trent helped me up and we walked back to house, we were both wondering what was going to happen to the both of us.
                                                          
 
         Alsi told the soldiers to not assign me and Diana any work back at the warehouse before we left Red Apple Grove.The soldiers took us back in the limo, Diana was eating some of the snacks that were in it. I was just looking out the window, like I usually do. I never wanted to leave the rose garden back at the mansion, it was like leaving a dream world and driving back to reality.
          On the way back to the warehouse, I could that my school was being reopened.  There were a line of boys going inside me high school, guards were on each side of them holding shotguns.  After we passed the school, I saw Main Street and City Hall.
        Like the park I saw a day earlier with Trent , Main Street looked like a bazaar in Arabia.  Outside of the library, men were selling books, but not just any kind of books. I saw the titles of them on large signs. One sign said, “An TALIHAD Soldier Rule Book” and the other sign said, ‘The TALIHAD Life 101’.The men were all selling them for $15 each. Me and Diana's favorite cafe had a new sign on it, “Muhammad's Tea House”. I could see some of the women back from the warehouse were serving the men inside through the window.
    How things can change in such a short amount of time, I thought
          City Hall changed a little bit too. The building had a TALIHAD flag hanging from the balcony, and I could see women pulling all the old garden plants out and replacing them with plants native to the Middle East. I saw a small little boy on the front steps of City Hall trying to sell newspapers.
      “USA SURRENDERS READ ALL ABOUT IT! The TALIHAD TAKES OVER READ ALL ABOUT IT! ONLY 10 CENTS A COPY!” Anyone could see the boy hadn’t sold any of the copies, everyone was living through it they didn’t want to read about it.
      The driver apparently decided to take a shortcut to the warehouse,  a shortcut that went right past my old neighborhood. There were a few bulldozers that were moving all the remains of the houses away. I don’t know why, but the driver slowed down. I looked out the window again, and saw some men digging something out of the ground:
    My parents graves!
       I quickly jumped  out of the limo and ran to the men that were digging them up, Diana followed.
      “TEX WAIT!” Diana yelled, she got closer to me and grabbed me by the arm. “Tex, I know they’re your parents but we can’t get involved in anything that will jeopardize our chance working in the weaponry.”
     “I want to find out what they’re gonna do with their bodies,  I won’t let them disturb their graves!” I got out of Diana's grasp and ran even faster to the men. “HEY!!” I yelled. The men didn’t even seem  to notice, they just kept digging  which made me even angrier.
        When I got right to them, I grabbed one by the shirt and pulled him aside. “What in the hell do you think your doing with those bodies?” I asked him.
        “Alsi ordered that all the dead bodies from the attacks get cremated ma’am. This is no concern of yours.”
      “Well it certainly is my concern ! They’re my parents!” I pushed the man away and grabbed a shovel and started to put the dirt back in the grave. They had no right!  If they were gonna give them a proper burial it would have been different. But to cremate them? My parents didn’t even want to be cremated, and  I wasn’t gonna stand for it.
       The men tried to get me away but i wouldn’t budge, I was too full of anger to care about anything else.
        Then suddenly I hear gunshots. I looked around and saw that two  terrorists were on the ground shot. Then I see 10 masked people come into view and start shooting at the soldiers. The limo driver quickly grabbed Diana and put her back in, then runs to grab me, but someone else did.
          A masked man covered my mouth and dragged me into a corner and took off his mask.
         It was Peter.  
       “DUDE WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!” i yelled .
      “ I’m not gonna let these monsters burn our parents,” he said. He then handed me a bag  that contained a black wig , a leather blouse, and my sais. “Just hurry up and put these on. We can’t risk anyone recognizing you.” He then put his mask back and headed back to the fight.
     “PETER WAIT! I’VE ONLY HAD ONE TRAINING LESSON!” I quickly put the black wig on over my red hair, my hands trembled because I was nervous and wanted to get out there and help.
    I wish I had a mirror, I thought.
     The wig was longer than my natural hair , it went all the way down to my waist. The blouse however, was a little bit weird. The blouse was made of leather and there was a zipper in the middle of it,  I assumed that it was that way so I could get it on in a hurry. It didn’t have any shoulders, the sleeves started a little bit past them. I had no idea what I looked like, but I had a feeling no one could recognize me. I grabbed the sais out from my bag and got into a fighting position.
My first battle, hope I don’t die in the middle of it.

I ran out from the corner in my new disguise, to help Peter and the others.  The limo driver and Diana must have thought that I was kidnapped, Diana probably didn’t even know it  was the Underground behind the masks. I didn’t recognize much of the Underground soldiers, but I did recognize Ms. Stephens. She was  doing incredible moves! One minute she gave someone a dirty punch and the next minute she somersaulted in the air! She had a gun in her hand and she was pretty good with it too. She must have shot at least 3 people in 15 minutes!
          Peter wasn’t doing bad at all, he didn’t shoot anyone yet, but he already gave a few people some nasty bruises and black eyes. He mostly used his fist for fighting, and he only brought out his dagger when he had to. I noticed that he was amazing at dodging bullets! Whenever someone shot at him from the left , he would duck down and roll to the right.
    Yep , that’s my brother.
        I was so busy watching in awe as my brother and the others were fighting, I didn’t even notice the soldier that snuck up behind me.
      “BEHIND YOU!” Peter yelled to me. I quickly ducked down on the ground and the soldier tripped over me. He had to knives in his hand, but no gun. I had no idea  what to do, he was right there in front of me but I didn’t charge . Ms. Stephens seemed to have fought her way toward me  ,  but a soldier was still fighting her.
      “Well do something!” She said to me. Before I could make a move, the soldier already got to his feet and charged towards me. I jumped over him , then kicked his back, making him almost fall forward. He ran towards me again, when he got really close I used my sais and cut his throat! I only nicked him, but there was still a lot of blood coming out.
     I must have fought with that one soldier for half an hour when some reinforcements came and began to fight.
     But they weren’t  the reinforcements from the Underground.
     Seven army trucks pulled up and soldiers came out of each one. Alsi, Trent, and Jason came out of one and began to fight.  Ms. Stephens ran toward Alsi and began to fight with him, Peter ran toward Jason and fought with him, and Trent ran toward me and began to fight me!
    Trent why are you fighting with me...Wait a minute, you don’t even know who I am,  I thought.
    Like some of the other soldiers, Trent had two knives and kept trying to stab me. I kept ducking and moving to the side, refusing to fight him. He then caught me off guard and pushed me to the ground and I landed on a pile of rubble.
“You rebels should know not to mess with Alsi!” Trent yelled at me and put his knives to my throat. He was about to cut it, but he stopped. I looked into his soft brown eyes, and he looked into my green eyes, he then drew his knives away. “Have we met?”
     I knew then that  that  was my chance.
        I got up to my feet and then punched  Trent in the face! Blood was coming out of his nose, it made him even more mad.  I started to fight more aggressive with him,  knocking him to the ground and giving him bruises on numerous parts of his body. However,  I was getting a beating as well.  He hit me in the face twice, and kept kicking me whenever I didn’t get out of the way. I had to admit , he was a good fighter.
        We fought for a long time, I didn’t he suspected it was me at all. I knew he didn’t when he made a terrible move. One time I knocked him against the wall, and he fell to the ground looking unconscious.  I walked away , wanted to help the others, and I didn’t notice at all that he got up behind me.
    He stabbed me in the shoulder from behind!
     “AHHHHHHHH!” I fell to the ground in agony, he didn’t hit a bone but it hurt like hell. Trent  stood over me , as if to say, ‘I won and you lost, Also will be very proud of me’. For a minute I didn’t even know Trent at all, all I could see was a terrorist in front of me.
         I was slowly beginning to fall unconscious, and my vision began blur. The only thing I could remember was seeing Peter push Trent to the ground, then I blacked out.
                                                                          
       
        “The stitches in her shoulder should dissolve in  a few days.”
         “How bad is her wound?”
               My eyes slowly began to open and I could hear people talking over me. My left shoulder was very sore and I couldn’t move my arm. I was laying on a cot in a very small room and there were some familiar faces. I could see Peter and Ms. Stephens talking to a woman that was dressed like a nurse.   
          “The knife did go deep,” the nurse said. “ But it won’t cause any severe damage.”
          “When will she be able to fight?” Ms. Stephens asked.
         “Commander,  she won’t be able to put any strain on her left arm. You can’t expect her to fight with only one arm.”
           “She’s right Commander,” Peter said. “ This was Tex’s first fight, it was pretty rough.”    
                 “Wait a minute!” The nurse yelled. “ She’s coming to.” The three of them went closer to me. My eyes were half open,  but the sight of three faces close up to mine was a little horrifying.
         “GUYS I’M AWAKE!” I yelled, the volume of my voice was so surprising to them it made them jump back.
          “Tex, how are you feeling?” The nurse asked me.
             “Oh I’m fine but my  shoulder is killing me.”
       “ I’ll go get you some pain meds.” The nurse went to the the other side of the room and Ms. Stephens and Peter got closer to me again.
         “So what happened after I blacked out Peter?”
           “Well, when I saw you fall to the ground I filled with rage and lunged toward Trent. How could he hurt you like that?”
        “He didn’t know it was me Peter, he wouldn’t have done if he knew.”
          “You should’ve stabbed him back!” Ms.Stephens snapped back at me. It felt uncomfortable, she never yelled at me before.
         “Hey lady, don’t yell at me like that! I got stabbed, I really wasn’t in fighting condition. Would  you be in fighting condition if someone just stabbed you in the shoulder? “ Ms.  Stephens didn’t say anything back, she just walked away without making a sound.
          “Well you got her mad,” Peter said.
          “ She deserved it,” I told him. “Anyway, what else happened?”
            “Well we didn’t win the fight and we didn’t lose it either. We didn’t have any casualties,  we killed 12 terrorists.”
               “That’s great, but you guys risked a lot just for getting our parents bodies. Speaking of which, what happened to them?”
               “When me and Ms. Stephens were picking you up and went back to the Underground, Burt and a few other soldiers and got their bodies and followed us back.”
          “So you retreated?”
         “No , I wanted to get you out of there. You needed medical attention quick.” He then hugged me so tight I couldn’t breath, he really was concerned that I got hurt. “We might be the same age, but your like my little sister and I would do anything to protect you.”       
        “Yeah same dude, now stop hugging me before you suffocate me.” He then stopped and sat beside me , his expression on his face looked sad but relieved. But I didn’t know why.  “So what happens from here?”
          “Well Ms. Stephens said we're gonna have the funeral for Mom and Dad in a few weeks.  She wants to get some attacks done with Alsi before the funeral.”
             “Why does she want to wait so long?”
            “ Beats me, I’m sure she has her reasons. Anyway, you should probably get back to the warehouse. I’ll come back later for training and also to help with your battle disguise.”
           “Oh yeah, where is the wig and the corset looking blouse?”
            “I put them in the artillery room, you can get them tonight.”
                 Peter left me in the nurse's room, he told me Burt would take me through the tunnels back to the warehouse.’  
             About an hour later Burt was taking me through the tunnels back to my so-called home. “ Peter told me you and him went to Oman together,” I said to him, hoping to break the ice since he  hardly talked.
       “Oh uh, yeah we did,” he said.
        “He said you got shot, how did you recover?”
          “It’s not exactly a story that I like talking about. Can you please change the subject?” he began to walk faster, but I stopped deadfoot in my tracks. I wanted to know the rest of the story.
            “Look Burt!” I yelled at him, it made him stop walking and turned around to look at me. “I know you don’t want to talk about it, but I need to  hear the story. That story was about Peter's first kill and I need to know what to expect.” Burt got closer to me and sat me down on the floor and he sat next to me .
            “I wish I can forget that day but I can’t. When Peter saw me get shot, it took a toll on him.”
            “Well seeing your friend get shot would change a lot.”
             “No it wasn’t just that. Taking a life darkens someone's soul, but it did something to Peter.”
             “Well tell me then.”
               “ When we came back from Oman, Peter wanted to be discharged from the Underground.  Ms. Stephens told him he had to stay but he wouldn’t listen. We gave him a few months alone, to cool off, he said he never wanted to kill someone ever again. He didn’t come back to the Underground until the attack in France.”
            “Why did that make him come back?”
                “When they counted the number of deaths, Peter came back and said to all of us, ‘ look at what happened to all those people. All the TALIHAD knows how to do is destroy everything they touch, and I’m not gonna let this happen to my sister’.  From then on he did his best to help all of us, just to protect you.” Hearing this I was speechless, that the only reason that Peter came back to the Underground was for me. “He hates having to take lives, but he’s doing it all to save some.”
          “Take a few, save a few I guess.”
             “I guess you can put it that way.”
               “So any advice for my first kill?”
               “Just remember that everyone has something to fight for, Peter has someone that means the world to him. The question that you need to answer, is what do you have worth fighting for.” We finished the conversation, then Burt led me  to a tunnel that led to the entrance of the warehouse. When I finally got to the warehouse, Diana ran to hug me like she hadn’t seen me in ages.
      “Tex what happened to you?!?! You’ve been gone for hours!”
         “Well you better sit down, because it’s a long story.”
                                                            *

               When I got back to the warehouse, everyone was in shock to see me, even the guards. They all thought I was taken against my will  by the rebels, I lied and told them I managed to get away. I had to sit Diana down and tell her the entire story, which she thought very interesting and she was also mad because she felt left out.
         I told her, “Di there wasn’t enough time to grab you and help.”
         “The only reason they just grabbed you was because Ms. Stephens favored you more than me. You know she doesn’t like me,” Diana said.
           “Then talk about it with her, not me.”  Diana was my friend, but she was always used to getting her way (thanks to my parents spoiling her rotten), I didn’t even know why she wanted to fight. The way I always thought of Diana was  her being too much of a girly girl, and never wanted to get her hands dirty. 
( Ok, fast forward to the San Jose Underground).   Of course I had to go back to the Underground the same night, to add some accessories to my fighting costume. Ms. Stephens and Peter thought it would also be a good idea if I put on black lipstick along with the wig and blouse. Honestly I thought it would be too goth looking, but if it kept Trent from recognizing me when we’re in battle, then i was ok with it. Diana did go with me, she was still having trouble with shooting a gun. Burt and Peter even found a disguise for Diana, and it was a lot more weird than mine! Her disguise consisted of a silver wig ,purple lipstick (don’t ask), and the same type of blouse that I had. Only it was green.   Diana said that just by looking at herself in the mirror with that getup on would make her seasick, she thought she looked like a mermaid ( everyone else thought so too).
     (Another fast forward to the next morning). It was the morning me and Diana started to work in the weaponry .  Alsi let us take the limo to the weaponry, the limo was stocked with danish pastries , I guess he wanted us to have something in our stomachs since we didn’t have any breakfast. Diana kept eating and eating, and all I had was a jelly roll. Surprisingly,  as much as Diana ate, it never  looked like she gained a pound, but she was a pig when it came to sweets. 
         The ride to  the weaponry was longer than I thought. It was way on the other side of town, it took about an hour to get there. The limo driver drove us through the countryside . Like few places in the town, the countryside wasn’t ruined, it was still beautiful like it was before. When me and Peter were little, our parents took us on picnics out in the country. We used to stay out there for hours playing and laughing, just seeing the country reminded of what I lost.   I could see visions of me and my father playing tag in the field,  I could see Peter playing soccer with my mother.
     Those were the days,  I thought.
        But they were all gone now, four days into the TALIHAD takeover felt like a year had gone by! Everything went so slow I thought the day was never gonna end, but when the new day begins, something unexpected happens.
      “We’re here you two, get out of the car,” the limo driver said to us.I was so lost in my train of thought I didn’t even notice that we got to the weaponry.
       “Diana how long were we on the road?” I asked her.
      “About an hour,” she said. “You dozed off for a bit, and I didn’t want to wake you.”
          “I will pick you two up at 4, good luck  with your new line of work,” the limo driver said. With that, he got back in the limo and drove off.
       “So he’s just gonna leave us here?” Diana asked.
           “Guess so.”   We walked towards the weaponry,  the building was familiar.  It was an old storage warehouse for private airplanes, I knew that because my father used to own a plane, which he gave us a few rides in.
       We were at the front door and knocked on it, a man in black slowly opened the door and stared at us blankly. “Name please,” he said.
         “I am Tex, this is Diana. Alsi said we could work in the weaponry.”
        “Hold on, let me check with Mr. Dawson.” The man walked away and closed the door. Me and Diana looked at each other, thinking the same thing:
     Does he mean Trent?
         About five minutes later , the man came back and opened the door, and with him came out a familiar face. “Hey Tex,” Trent said. He had his usual smile on his face, but he changed his attire a little.
       “Trent,” I said. “Are you uh… wearing a suit?”
         “Yeah what gives?” Diana said.
           “Well I thought since I was showing you around your new line of work,” Trent said. “I might as well dress a little fancy. But the only thing is, is that this tie is killing me.” I couldn’t help but laugh, Joe had a sense of humor, but Trent had the best.
     “Didn’t you think about just wearing jeans?” Diana asked.
      “Well maybe I wanted to  show off.”
      “So if you're gonna show us around, show us.” I said to him. Trent motioned us to walk inside, so we did.  Trent began to hold my hand as we walked through, I thought I might as well let him. He used to hold my hand while we were together, and honestly, it felt so good to hold it again.
     “...Now you understand that you can’t just start working with machine guns… Tex are you even listening to me?”
    I was so sidetracked I didn’t even listen to the conversation. “I’m sorry,” I said. “ My mind must have drifted a little.”
     “Why can’t we make the guns Trent?” Diana asked him.
      “Well for two reasons:  Alsi still needs time to trust you guys and the other reason is because  I have seen people accidentally shoot themselves just by trying to construct one.”
       “Oh so you're worried about me, how sweet.” I said to him.
          “Whatever, me and Alsi both thought it was best that you two start by making crossbows.”
             “You want us  to make crossbows… for the TALIHAD? Shouldn’t we help out by making a guillotine?”
              “ You  guys know that we had a rebel attack yesterday, so Alsi won’t take any chances with anyone smuggling guns to the rebels.”
      Well that makes me uneasy, I thought.
         Trent made us go into a room that looked like a basement. It was full of equipment to make bows and arrows. Men were making tips of arrows , and doing target practice. “Well this is where you guys will work,” Trent said. “Alsi will speak with you in a few days about the money you’ll get in return. Diana, you will learn welding and Tex , you will experiment with the bows and arrows.” Diana  ran over to the welding, I was about to go over there with her, but Trent grabbed my arm. “I heard that the rebels took you, is that true?”
        “Yes they did, but I obviously got away.”
        Yeah but did you know what they're headquarters looked like? Or who their leader was?” His face said it all, he desperately wanted to know because he was worried about me and that he was ordered to find out.
        “Uh no… they blindfolded me.”
        “When Alsi hear about the attack in your old neighborhood, I had  to go fight.”
        “Well at least you made it out alive.”
        “Yeah I was weak!”
        “Why would you think that?”
        “Because when I got there, I was fighting a soldier...a woman.” I began to get tense, I was so worried he was gonna notice the similarities between me and the soldier. More questions ran through my mind, personal ones.
     How is he gonna react?
     Is he gonna kill me?
  Is he gonna go kill Peter?
  Where is it gonna leave us?
     “How would a woman make you weak?”
     “Because I  had a chance to kill her, but I didn’t.”
      “Well you spared  a life, that wasn’t so bad.”
     “No I couldn’t kill her! There was something about her eyes, something that stopped me.”
     “Well maybe better luck next time?”
        I cannot believe I just said that, I thought.
       “That woman was a knockout. Of course you're more beautiful, but this is the big thing I need to do for Alsi...I have to kill her.”
    WHAT!!! My head was screaming with fear and anger. He didn’t even know it was me that he was going to try and kill, and I didn’t even want to kill him (yes, after 3 days I did go soft). I could just imagine the numerous ways he was gonna try:
  -guillotine
  - machine gun
  - dagger
    - Poison gas? (No, the Germans already used that in the previous World War)
     “Anyway , I’ll talk to you soon. I have to go to  a meeting.” He was about to walk away until I stopped him.

       “ What meeting?”
        “Oh, Alsi is gonna tell us what our next move is with the rebels.”
         “Interesting...where is it at ?”
         “Muhammad's Tea House is letting us talk there. We’ll be the only people, only a few waitresses will be there.”
      This is my chance.
         “Well have fun with your meeting Trent,” I said, then kissed him on the cheek. The kiss made him turn bright red , make him skip out the door. I turned around and walked towards Diana,  who was attempting to weld. “Diana, tell the guards I have to go to the warehouse or go get some equipment.”
        “Wait a minute, where are you going?” Diana asked me.
         “Well I can’t tell you, at least not yet. There are too many  people around to hear.”
         “Well ok. You promise to tell me?”
         “Of course I will.” I walked  out of the basement and out of the old  warehouse, to find some evidence. Like I was ordered to.

With all the  chaos going on in my life ,(most of it personal), I told Burt and Ms. Stephens to put a on/off switch on my microphone necklace.With my  first mission assigned by myself, I had to break the news to Peter  and the others , but they were not going to be happy. I turned on the switch to talk to them once I was alone. “Hello?” I spoke into it. “Is anyone there?” it took  about 5 minutes for someone to respond, but  someone did.
       “Tex what’s up?” Someone asked me. 
           “Who is this?”
         “It’s Burt.”
        “Oh hi. Well I just wanted to tell you guys that Also is holding a meeting at Muhammad's Tea House so I’m gonna go get some info for you. Bye.”
          “Wait Tex----!” I  hung up on Burt before he could finish his sentence, and headed to town.
           I hitchhiked  with a soldier to town, he let me off  in front of the library   while he drove off somewhere else. I walked from there to the alley that was behind the tea house and tried to find a way in. The door seemed to only open from the inside, so I waited  until someone opened the door  so I could get in. When I did,  I went through a small, narrow hallway , hoping to find a hiding place close enough to hear the meeting. I found the steps that went up to the attic that were right by the kitchen, I walked up them and opened a small door. I walked through and went through the attic trying to find some kind of hole to look through. The floor wasn’t creaking as I walked, so I was thankful for that. It was full of storage boxes and I moved a few, under one, was a small hole I could peek through. From  what I could see, there was a long table in the middle of the room, Alsi was sat at the end of it. Trent and Jason were on each side of Alsi, Trent looked more annoyed than anyone  in  the room.
          “Everyone, let this meeting come to order,” i heard Alsi say. “As you all know, we lost many soldiers during the attack we had by the rebels.”
          “And what do you intend to do about it?!?!” A man yelled.
           “ Yeah, what happened to being the most fear terrorist leader?” Voices piled over voices that were aimed at Alsi. For the first time, Alsi looked unsure of himself, questioning the loyalty of his men. Jason even tensed up by hearing the men saying crap about his father, (all the crap was true). Even Trent wasn’t happy hearing it.
         “EVERYONE SHUT UP!” Trent yelled from the top of his lungs. Everyone was surprised to hear Trent raise his voice, even me. But everyone did quiet down, and sat. “Thank you,  now please pay attention to Alsi.”
        Alsi stood up from his chair. “ Thank you Trent. Now we must talk about each other's  opinions about the matter.”
          “Well I may  have a suggestion,” Trent said.
           “Save it bro, you couldn’t even kill that girl. Like your ideas would work,” Jason said. That remark made Trent sink low in his seat, and I honestly felt bad for him.  He wanted so badly for Alsi to be proud of him,  and this didn’t make it any better.
           “Everyone listen,” Alsi said . “ The rebels in the attack were all masked, so we don’t know who the leader is. We need to plan the attack on them.”
          “How do you expect we do that Father?” Jason said.
          “ Trent? Didn’t Tex get kidnapped by them?”
            “ Yeah but she said they blindfolded her,” Trent said. “ She doesn’t know.”
             “Are you sure about that?” Jason asked.
           “How do you mean?”
        “Meaning, she’s probably not loyal to Alsi...or you!” I gasped,  I felt that Jason was  getting Trent closer to the truth… whether he knew it or not. Trent then lunged  toward Jason,  putting him against the wall.
           “Tex is smart,” Trent said. “ She would never betray me!”
         “Well you’ve only been back with her for a few days, who knows how much she changed.” Jason pushed Trent away, but Trent came back and punched him in the eye.
         “Boys that’s enough!” Alsi yelled at them. They let go of each other and sat back in their seats. “Even if Tex did go against us, she wouldn’t live to see the next day.”
       I gulped.
          “ Here is what we’re gonna do,” Alsi said. “  We’re not gonna let anyone leave the warehouses without escort. They will leave with an escort and come back with an escort. And if anyone attempts to get away, we will shoot them on sight.”
        “What about  the Lioness?” Trent asked.
          Lioness?
        “ Trent , who is the Lioness?”
         “That is what I am calling the woman I met from battle. It suits her.”
         “Dude you tried to kill her...but you couldn’t do it. What a shame,” Jason said sarcastically.
               “Look everyone,” Alsi said. “All our plans will begin to take place at midnight. And tomorrow night I will remind you, that we have a special guest at the City Hall Banquet .”
            “Oh yes he will enjoy that,”  Trent said.
             “ Especially when we all play hot potato with his head,” Jason told him, with an evil smile.
          “Wait a minute.” Trent has a shocked expression on his face. “ I thought we were gonna make peace with him, after all that has happened.” Before anyone could answer, Alsi adjourned the meeting and everyone got out of their seats.
     I  very quickly moved out  of the attic, but  i almost knocked a box over, but it did make a noise. I don’t believe anyone took notice of it, so I just casually walked down.
        “Tex?”  I turned around to see Trent behind me. He didn’t look mad at me, but happy to see me.
      Typical teenage reaction.
          “Hi there.”
          “What are you doing here?”
         “Uh… well I just wanted to see you.”
      “That’s really nice of you but it’s not really good idea for you to be here.”
     “Yeah but I’m here. So who’s the banquet for tomorrow? You didn’t seem happy.” He looked down at the floor and got very quiet.
      “It’s for the President.”
       “You mean the coward? You're gonna behead him!”
      “Shhh.” He took me outside so we can talk alone. “I didn’t know Alsi is gonna do this.”
    “You don’t want it to happen, do you?”
     “Not really.”
      “Well…”
      “There is nothing else to say about it! Let me just take you back to the warehouse.”
He put me in his Jeep and we headed back, he didn’t  say anything. He just paid attention to the road.
      Trent I know you don’t believe in this.
                                                                      *
        
         “ARE YOU INSANE?!? YOU COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED!” Ms. Stephens yelled at me.   When me and Diana got to the Underground, Ms. Stephens and Peter sat me down and started giving me a talking to.
           “Well I got you some  good info , didn’t I? You should be grateful.” I told her.
           “Trent caught you Tex,” Peter said.
            “He didn’t think anything of it, nothing bad happened.”
         “She got info, about the assassination that’s going to happen tonight,” Diana said.
       “She’s right Commander. The former President might have let us down, but it would be inhuman to let this take place without a fight,” Peter said.
     “I suppose, but we only have a few hours to prepare,” Ms. Stephens said. “ Peter, get everyone in the TV room. Diana and Tex, you put your disguises on, then go.”  Ms. Stephens left the room in  a fast pace, Peter stayed with us for a little bit though.
    “ You know, I don’t think she’s liking me very much after all,” I told Peter.
     “ I think people are beginning to like you more than they like her,” Diana said.
    “Well Ms. Stephens  is used to being in charge and making all the decisions,” Peter said. “I’m gonna  have to go to the TV room, your disguises are  in the drawers.” Peter then walked out of the room, and Diana went right to her disguise and began putting it on.
       “ I don’t even look good with silver hair,” she said. “ Why couldn’t it have been red or brown.”
         I stood up, walking over to get mine. “ At least you don’t have to wear black lipstick like I do.”
       “ i honestly do like the leather blouses, but I feel like  this isn’t what you want to do.”
       “What?”
      “ Trent almost killed you, but he stopped. He still has feelings for you…”
       “Di stop it!”
     “  No you need to hear it! You never stopped loving him, you're not even pretending anymore!”
      “Yes I am! Why would you even think that? He’s only been back for a week!”
     “You know what,” she said, putting her hands in the air. “ I’m gonna change in another room, i don't want to argue with you.” Diana grabbed her stuff and walked out the room, like all the others, and I was left alone. I put on my leather blouse, then my wig and lipstick. I  found my sais too, I just sat down on the floor and held  the sais.
     “What’s happening to everyone,”  I whispered to myself.  This is what war does to people, it brings out the worst in them, it makes people turn against each other.
        “You know  she was right.” I turned around to see Lt. Craig standing behind me. “  I can’t help but think that that Trent makes you weak.”
       “What are you doing here?”
      “ I came to escort you to the meeting, and also talk to you.”
     “Save your breath, Diana already gave me a pep talk.”
       “You're a good fighter Tex, but you didn’t kill him when you first fought with him.”
      “  I would never let him be my first kill!”
       “Why?”
       “Because…” I couldn’t tell him the truth, I didn’t want to hurt Trent. “ Because it would be a waste. I’d rather my first kill  be someone more valuable.”
      “Hmmm,  well  you better get ready for tonight. Because you  might not be able to avoid killing someone.”
      “ Well I’ll make sure I won’t.”
      “ Whatever you say.” He walked me out of the room and we headed to the meeting. I knew most of of what Lt. Craig was true, I just didn’t want to admit it. My first  battle, I was lucky that I didn’t kill anyone.
        When we got to the TV room, everyone was in a panic. People were yelling at Ms. Stephens and Peter.  Burt was just sitting quietly in a corner by the TV with Diana. “Oh good,” Ms. Stephens said. “Now we can start.” Everyone sat down, still bickering, but they were listening. “Burt, if you will please turn on the TV. And don’t mess it up again.”
       “Yes Commander,” Burt said, then he turned the switch on.
      “Everyone , please look at the screen. Now the banquet is at City Hall, City Hall has 4 exits. They will all be guarded. However, if we were to just throw in  a small stink bomb, just to distract the guards, we could all run in  and attack. Does everyone like that idea?” No one questioned the Commanders word, it seemed like everyone was afraid to. “Since everyone seems to  agree, we need volunteers. Peter, Tex, and Diana , will be part of the ambush squad. You will distract everyone from me and Burt getting the President to safety. We will be the victors of this attack, no matter the cost,” she said, looking right at me. “Kill if you must, just remember what your all fighting for.”
     I don’t even know what I’m fighting for,  I thought.
     “How will we get there?” Peter asked.
      “ We will take the tunnels that end by the library, it’s only a ten minute walk to the banquet.”
      “I can still use my staff right?” Diana asked.
      “Of course you can still use your staff, but I still feel like you should’ve picked daggers or something,” Ms. Stephens said.
       “Well,” I said. “Shouldn’t we all go then?”  Ms. Stephens gave me a dirty look… again. Ms. Stephens wanted to be the one to say , “let’s go”, but she didn’t. She got mad when I talked back to her, whatever she says goes is the way the Underground acted.
     “Yes I was just about to say that Tex, move people.” People stood up, grabbed their weapons and walked out the door.

“Cheers everyone.” Alsi said , holding up his glass. “ To our very honored guest who was so kind as to surrendering to us.” He pointed to the President, that was on the opposite side of the table. “ Please former Mr. President, stand .” The President stood up and smiled at the men around the table, then immediately sat down.
      “Thank you Alsi,” he said. “ Thank you for inviting me to this banquet that I do so enjoy.”
      “Ahh  Mr. President, you are the guest of honor. And in a few minutes we will show you how much we do appreciate you.” Trent tensed up,  his face began to turn light green, like he was gonna be sick. But who could blame him?
     “But first,” Trent said. “We should  tell the President about the accomplishments we have all achieved since we took over.” Everyone looked at him, they could all tell he was trying to stall the beheading, but Alsi liked his idea.
     “You are so right,” Alsi said, being a person that loves to brag about his victories. “ Would you care to hear them sir?”
      “Why uh...yes.”
       “Very good then . The first thing we did was close the High Schools and turned them into military academies, and warehouses for men. The women in the states now  live in warehouses and do some dirty work. Some of them got auctioned and sent overseas, while others are working for my soldiers families.”
     “Sounds like you made everyone  happy,” the President muttered. “Alsi may I ask you a question?”
       “Yes.”
        “Out of all  the places in the USA you could live in, why did you choose in San Jose?” Alsi grew quiet, he  didn’t say anything for a bit.
        “That is my business not yours. Well now may we begin the festivities?” Some of the soldiers got  up and went towards the President, with knives.
     “What is the meaning of this?” The President ran out of his chair and ran to the closest door he could find, but the soldiers were faster. They made him kneel on the ground, Alsi went towards him with a large knife, he was gonna be the one to behead him.
       “We  must do this sir,  we need to wipe out all the history of America, including the presidents. And you are the only living president.”
         “Why do you want to wipe out the history?!?!”
       “Because the next generation needs to learn to respect the TALIHAD ; they mustn’t know how we came to power.”
      “But to kill me?”
      “That was one reason, and the other is… I just want to pleasure seeing you die.”  The soldiers held his arms, while Alsi got closer to him. He put the knife against  his throat, he was about to cut, but something went through the window.   “IT’S A STINK BOMB!”  The bomb exploded,  everyone in the room couldn’t see a thing. They were all running into each  other!  
    It took a few minutes for some of the smoke to clear up , but people still weren’t taking it well.   This was our chance. Me , Peter, Diana, and a few others from the Underground bursted through the window and began fighting.   “Ok,” I said. “I’ll go after Alsi and the others. You guys go get the soldiers.” While I went to fight with  Alsi, Peter and Diana went to fight with the others. After 2.5  training sessions, I was pretty confident in fighting, I had my sais and my disguise on. I felt ok. I went towards Alsi, but he saw me coming.  He turned around and pushed me to the ground, he kept holding me down.
      “Oh so you're  the Lioness that Trent told me about ,” he said. “ You don’t look much like one.”
       Well I can sure fight like one, I thought.
        I bit his wrist so he could let me go,  I then got up and punched Alsi with the handle of my sais. Blood was coming out of his lip, and 2 of his teeth fell out. When he felt his mouth, his face turned red, then lunged at me. I moved away to the side, then I went behind him and kicked him. For an adult , he was surprisingly easy to knock down. He got back up really quick though, and punched me in the eye. Now, I am a vain person, so I did not approve of him ruining my face. So I came back with a lot more firepower. When he came towards me with a gun, I somersaulted over him, The shock of it didn’t set in until  it was over. “HEY!” Diana yelled at me. “I DIDN’T KNOW YOU COULD DO THAT!”
       “NEITHER DID I!”  I yelled back. Alsi and me fought for a while, and for my second fight,  I was doing good, (Except my black eye).
       I saw Ms. Stephens and Burt grab the President, he was so stunned and kept moving  they had to sedate him. Peter was doing pretty good too, he was fighting with Trent .   Every Time that Trent tried to shoot Peter, Peter moved out of the way  before the bullet could even get close. Peter was  using his  daggers and kept throwing them at Trent. The weird thing was, when Peter was throwing them at Trent, they seemed to miss. They were warning  shots. “YOUR AIM IS TERRIBLE!” Trent yelled at Peter.  That’s all I could hear , then suddenly Alsi nicked my neck. When Alsi tried the second time, I blocked him with my sais.
       Diana was just on the defense. Every Time a soldier went towards her, she just dodge out of the way .  Her only attempt at defending herself was by swinging her staff in front of her. It hit the soldiers in the face a few times but that was all.
      Time passed and everyone was still at each other's throats. It was like a battle that would never end, everything went in slow motion. All I could think of was how much I wanted it over, I was in enough pain already. My shoulder from the previous attack still was sore, and I had to fight. I knew in my head that this was the right thing to do, but my heart was telling me this wasn’t what I needed. My mind kept drifting, but I had to keep focusing on Alsi, mostly so I would lose my life. When I  knocked Alsi down, I saw that Peter pushed Trent so hard, he stumbled over. Peter didn’t notice that Trent was coming at him with a brick. “PETER!” Trent's eyes looked over to me only for a second, then hit Peter with the brick. Peter didn’t have anytime to react. He fell unconscious to the floor, Trent held Peter  by the hair and put a knife against his throat, the same way he did with me.
     I had to get there,  I knocked Alsi down again and ran at Trent. I grabbed him and we both rolled over. He punched me in the face, but of course I punched him back.   “ Hello Lioness,” he said.
     “Well hello… Jackass.” I got up and dmy traditional fighting moves, which were a match for Trent.
      I’ve only had a few lessons, but look at what I can do,  I thought.  My sais were against his daggers almost every minute, we kept blocking each other.
     “WHO ARE YOU?” Trent yelled to me. I didn’t say anything, I didn’t speak to him unless i really had to.  I couldn’t risk him recognizing my voice. I was about to lunge at him again, until I caught something at the corner of my eye.
      Jason was standing over Diana, with a crossbow in his hands.
      Diana’s leg was hurt, she kept squirming to get away from him, but it was no use.  When Diana got against the wall, Jason seemed to think it was to opportune moment to kill her. He got his crossbow  positioned , and got ready to shoot.
     “NOOOOO!”  i had an amazing reflex, I threw one of my sais in Jason's direction. I didn’t know what to think until the sai landed in Jason's chest.
     “JASON!”  Trent ran to Jason's side, so did Alsi and  they kept hugging him. But they stopped when Jason's chest fell for the last time.
     My first kill was Jason, Trent's closest friend.
                                                       
                                                                                              *  
       Weeks past since the attack at the City Hall Banquet, it even  hurt to think about it.  I kept having nightmares about it every time I slept, I would wake up screaming and Diana and Mrs. Lockley would have to calm me down. I knew I was being a nuisance to everyone in the warehouse, even the guards.  Peter would come by once in a while to take me and Diana to the Underground for practice, but when i did go , I usually wanted to be alone. I put my sais back in the artillery room the day after I killed Jason, I didn’t even clean the blood off of it. I wanted it to be a reminder of what i had done.
  How could I have done such a thing? Why would I do that to Trent? Burt and the others said I did the right thing, I saved Diana's life. I might’ve made peace with myself if Trent wasn’t taking it so bad. The guards at the warehouse told me that Trent and Alsi just stayed  in their mansion in Apple Grove, wanting to be secluded from the world. Trent didn’t even come  by to see me,  he wanted to be alone. I couldn’t blame him.
      The people in the warehouse  thought I was just having a mental breakdown, though they were all concerned the night I came back with  a black eye. I told them I just got into a fight with Diana,   they actually believed it. While they were all thinking I was having a mental breakdown, there were still constant battles going on. The Underground was having great success against the terrorists. In only 2 weeks, adding all the battles together, ISIS lost 127 soldiers! Peter wanted me to come fight with them, but I refused. Diana went in my place to fight, and she always came back with bruises, but at least she came back alive. Diana still worked in the weaponry a few times a week. She even moved up from making crossbows to help make guns. Diana might not have been the brightest person in school, but she was always handy with tools.
      One day Diana kept arguing with me to get out of the warehouse and go to the Underground to practice. “ Tex you have to come, Lt. Craig said he needs to help you practice,” Diana told me.
         “I don’t to go train, you guys have been doing well without me.”
            “But we need you, we would’ve killed more soldiers if you came.”
           “Yeah, it’d be great to have more blood on my hands,” I said sarcastically. Dian sat down beside me on my cot, and her hand on my shoulder. “Ouch! Di you know it still hurts.”
      “Sorry. But please listen to me. The guards are at lunch outside,  and there are so many people here they won’t know we’re gone.  And Peter misses you.”
      “Stephens will want me to fight again. What if I have to kill Trent this time?”
             “It won’t come to that… Tex ,I owe you my life.”
           “If I had to do it again, I still would’ve done it. But i hate that I took a life, I didn’t know I’d feel so horrible.”
       “Tex, look at the people around you. They are all suffering, their homes got taken away from them. Couples got seperated and they may never see them again. People have been beat just for entertainment, and they die in the process. We can’t even go to school, and i can’t believe I miss it.”
       “I know but…”
         “You still want to kill Alsi, I know you do. He deserves to die, they all do. I have something to fight for, so I’m fighting.”
            “And what are you fighting for?”
             “Our freedom. You see, I don’t want my head to be a trophy for Alsi. I want things to go back to normal. So if you want your life back, get off your ass and get going.” Usually I was the one the one that gave the advice, but this time Diana was the one that got my head straight.
          Before we left for the Underground, we put pillows under our sheets so we would look like we were there, the guards were so stupid we didn’t think they’d notice the difference.   Diana  and me went to the artillery room to  pick up our weapons, then we went to  the training room.
      “Tex you finally came,” Ms.Stephens said. “Ready to kick butt?”
       “Yeah whatever,” I said.
      “Lt. Craig  is waiting for you in the loft, go there.”
         “Well I’ll see you later Tex,” Diana said. Diana began to walk out the door but I stopped her.
          “Wait a minute where are you going?” I asked.
           “Back to the warehouse, good luck.” Then she was gone. I walked up to the loft where Peter and Lt. Craig were waiting. Peter was sharpening some knives in the corner and Lt/ Craig was punching a dummy.
             “Hey guys,” I said.
           “Tex you're here!” Yelled Peter. He put down what he was doing and  ran to hug me. “I’m so happy to see you! How are you doing?”
        “As good as can be I guess.”
         “Well let’s get to work then. Craig, practice combat with her.” Lt. Craig walked over, grabbed me and we both got onto a mat.
              “It’s like all the other training sessions we’ve had, but this time I’m gonna be a lot more aggressive,” Lt. Craig said. I came at him with my said , but he knocked me down face flat!  Before I could get up, Peter came from behind me and held me down. “ You have to know how to fight against more than one person at once. Try to get out of our grip.” I did my best to get out, but they were very strong. I had to get motivated, like a lot of people do. I thought , if I could get angry enough, I could get out of. 
     Think about Alsi , Tex. Think about him ruining your life, making you live in  a warehouse  full of strangers and forced to never go back to school. He ordered the attack at your home, he killed your parents!
     “AHHHHH!”  I got out of their grasp, then I grabbed Peter, then dropped him. I did the same thing to Lt. Craig, but I cut  him with my sais.  I then threw my sais into the wall, jumped over Peter, and grabbed four daggers. I put two in each of my boots, and the others stayed gripped in my hands. For awhile my vision changed, it looked like I was on a battlefield, and I was fighting Alsi.  For some reason, Alsi wasn’t trying to fight with me , but I wanted to fight with him. I wanted to kill him. I fought hard with him, I put him against a wall, with the two daggers at his throat, ready to slit it.
       “Tex please.” I immediately came to my senses, I wasn’t fighting Alsi, I was fighting Peter. I dropped my sais on the ground, I didn’t realize how bad I hurt him. He cuts on his arm, his nose was bleeding, and his lip was cut too.
     “Peter I…”  I was stopped when I heard clapping.
  “You did very well,” Lt. Craig said. “ It’s amazing of what anger can do to a person.”
    “Are you kidding me,” I said. “ I almost killed my own brother.”
    “ Show that anger to the terrorists, they’ll fear you.”
     “Tex I’m fine,” said Peter. “ Let’s go again.”
     “No! I’m not gonna hurt you again.” I grabbed my sais and climbed down from the loft, Ms. Stephens was waiting for me.
      “I heard and saw everything.”   She said.
     “Did you enjoy seeing it?”
     “ I liked seeing that fire in your eyes, your anger made you fight better.”
      “I thought you said don’t fight with hate, at  least that’s what you told me the first time I met you.”
     “Well things might have changed since then. Come with me.” She went out the door and I followed her. We went through a different tunnel, to a dark room that seemed to be full of shrines.
      “What is this place?”
        “It is a shrine room for all our warriors that died in battle. This is where we’re going to  put your parents ashes.”
        “I thought we were going to bury them.”
       “Me and Peter talked  about that , and we came to the conclusion that it would be best to to cremate them.”
     “All right. When is their memorial?”
      “In a few hours actually. It was one of the reasons I wanted Diana to bring you down here.” Ms.  Stephens left me in the room alone, thinking I needed to clear my head. I looked at all  the shrines in the room. A Lot of them were dedicated  to warriors,  but some were dedicated to parents. I could just think of our parents, if they were proud of me and Peter. I was there for a few minutes when Diana came rushing in.
     “Boy do I have news for you!” She said.
    “Well spill it.”
      “There is a memorial...for Jason, tonight.”
      “That’s just great, now I have two memorials to go to.”
     “It’s the same time as your parents memorial. What are you gonna do?”
      “I hate having to miss the memorial for my parents, but I need to be there for Trent.” I put my sais on the ground, and went out the door to get to the funeral.

“Trent you sit in the front and give the speech. I can’t be here,” Alsi said.
     “Alsi you need to be here,  it’s for Jason.” Alsi was all teary eyed, so was Trent. All the soldiers and generals were seated outside at the cemetery. Alsi didn’t even want the memorial to be public, until one of his generals talked him into the idea.
      “  It was my son that got killed. I now lost 3 of my children, you're all  I have left.”  Alsi left the scene, and fled into the darkness.   Trent began lighting the candles that were next to a picture of Jason, flowers were everywhere for the memorial.
       “Trent?”   He slowly turned around to see me behind him. He tried to smile for me but he couldn’t, his eyes began to water.
     “Oh Tex,” he said with tears. “ It’s good to see you. Are you here for the memorial?” I walked towards him, and hugged him. For the first time, it felt like he really needed me, and it was good.
   “I’m here to keep you company. But why did you never come to see me?”
     “... I didn’t think you would want to hear about my troubles.”
     “ Well  you always want to hear about mine.” Then a soldier walked to Trent and put a hand on his soldier.
      “Mr. Dawson,” he said. “ It’s time for the speech.” Trent grabbed my hand and looked into my eyes, his expression looked confused, and also seemed like a longing.
     “Wish me luck?” He said.
    “Don’t worry you’ll do fine.” He stepped up onto the podium, and I sat in the front row. He was shuffling through papers, trying to get them in order. I felt like I didn’t deserve to be at the memorial.  Half of me thought I should be at the memorial  for my parents, and the other half knew I needed to be here.  I also felt guilty, for obvious reasons,  I knew Trent could never know about what I did, he couldn’t .
      “Greetings uh...everyone,” he started out with. “I wrote an entire speech for this, I guess it wasn’t what I really wanted to say…” He really didn’t even know what to say, I gave him a thumbs up and he smiled. “But now I know what to say. Jason was… a great warrior, he would’ve done great things.  When I first joined this group, Jason was the first person to reach out to me, and we became brothers. Alsi was very proud of him, he was role model to all of us.  People think we’re bad people, maybe some of us take our purpose to extremes, but when we lose a member of our family…  like everyone else, we mourn.” Everyone began to cry, and it made me feel even worse. But I started to cry just by hearing Trent's words. “ A few weeks ago, at City Hall, was when Jason lost his life… to the Lioness.  Jason loved me  as a brother, despite not being related. If I died, he would’ve have avenged my death, and I will do the same thing for him. I’m going to kill the Lioness.” I could feel my eyes widen, he wanted to kill me! I could hear some soldiers agreeing to Trent's statement.
    Get me out of here.
    “I would like to thank everyone coming to this memorial. Maybe Jason is watching us from another place, I sure hope he knows how much we love him.”  With that, the speech was over, and the soldiers began to depart. “Well how did I do?”
      “You did fine. Do you think I’m  gonna get in trouble because I didn’t come with an escort?”
      “Leave that to me. I’ll drive you back.” He began to put his arm around my shoulder, but just by the touch, I jumped back from the pain. “What’s wrong?”
   “Uh… it’s nothing. My  shoulder is just sore.”
      “Sore shoulder?” He looked down for a moment, as if trying to figure something out, then looked back at me. “Let me see.” Before I could object, he took off my sweater, to reveal my scarred shoulder. I knew when I first got stabbed it would leave a scar, but I never wanted Trent to see it. He just kept staring at it, probably thinking, ‘wait a minute, that’s the exact spot I stabbed the Lioness’.  “How did you get this injury?”
     “Well it’s pretty simple… I accidentally jabbed it into something sharp.”
     “It’s doesn’t look like it’s been treated very well. Who put the stitches in?” Now I stayed quiet for a moment, think of a good lie. “Oh come on, don’t tell you didn’t put in stitches.”
     “Diana did.”
     “What,” he said blankly. “ Why her?”
      “Because I wouldn’t want the warehouse guards to touch me.”
      “Ok that’s it , I’m not taking you to the warehouse tonight. You're coming with me to the mansion.”
      “Why do you want to take me there?”
        “Because Alsi has a wonderful remedy for scarring , if I put it on you, it would heal instantly.”
      “Ok.”
     “Great.”
                                                         

    
                                                              *
  The next morning , I woke up  feeling great, except a bad headache! I was in the most comfortable bed I had ever been in, and the sun was shining right in my face. I looked around the room I was in, there were books all over the place, (just like my old room), and big radio. I  began to think the room belonged to a boy. And then I saw a TALIHAD flag.
     S***, I’m in Trent's room! I thought.
    “Hello beautiful.” I turned around to see Trent laying down right beside me with a huge grin on his face. “Did you sleep well?”
    “OMG!” I yelled. I ran right out of the bed, ran to Trent's side of the bed, and looked him in the eye. “WHAT DID YOU DO?!!”
      “What do you mean?”
     “I wake up to find myself in your  bed, and have no memory of last night. So explain before I blow your head off with one of your guns!”
      “Ok Tex, calm down before you make me freak.”
     “Did we…?”
    “ Make out?”
    “No stupid! The other thing that goes after making out!”
    “No, Tex. I swear we didn’t do it. Besides, the only time I would like to do it is when you're sober.”
     “I’m gonna forget you ever said that. So tell me what happened. Did you drug me?”
     “No of course not! When we got here last night, we went right to the living room, and I only left for a few seconds. When I came back, you were sampling Alsis  homemade liquor. I didn’t know you had so much until you began to act crazy, and saying the most ridiculous stuff.”
     “Oh like what?”
      “Some things like, ‘San Jose Underground’, and , ‘going to kill Alsi’. You had it pretty bad.”
    Must have if I almost blew my cover.
    “What else happened ?”
     “ Well… you kissed me… please don’t look at me like that.  Finally, you went to sleep. I would’ve put you in Jason's room, but Alsi locked it up.”
      “Oh I bet you enjoyed that.”
        “You being in my bed? Honestly...yes.”
        “Well you could’ve put me on the couch, but I’d rather be in the bed.”
       “So… what do you want to do? I got everything squared away with the warehouse, you’ll be fine.”
         “Thank you, for doing all this for me.” I stopped talking to feel my shoulder, it wasn’t hurting anymore, and some of the scarring was gone.
        “I told you it would work,” he said.
         “...I need to talk to Alsi. Where is he?”
         “I don’t think that’s a good idea. He’s pretty shaken up, he’s not good to be around when he’s mad.”
     “Well I don’t care, I’m gonna find him and talk to him.” Before Trent could say anything, I put on my boots and walked out the door.
      Alsi was in the rose garden on the property. He was sitting on  a bench by the koi pond and just staring into the water. I couldn’t imagine what he could’ve been going through, a father losing his son in a battle. I felt bad for Alsi,  I felt like a destroyed a family. Trent was still in the house , he wanted to be close if Alsi lost it. But he didn’t lose it when I got close to him. “Oh hi Ms. Burns,” he said to me.
      “Hi. I was just wondering how you were doing.” I don’t think he even heard what I said, because he seemed to be just talking to himself.
       “Strange, isn’t it. No matter how hard I try to be good, everything gets taken away from me. First my older children get killed by an attack of US soldiers, now Jason gets killed by a goth woman.
     “8 years ago I think, was when the attack happened. Me and my kids were all outside together, all running around being happy. For one minute I went in the house to grab something to drink, when I came back out, the soldiers were there.  The kids all went to the basement to grab some things to give to the soldiers, but the soldiers thought they were weapons. Before they got all the way out,  they shot them to death.
    “I joined the terrorists for that reason, I wanted revenge. I worked my ass off to get where I am today, now I’m the most feared man in the world. I’m glad I got revenge on the men that massacred my family.
     “ The man that killed my oldest son was from San Jose. Honestly, Ali, my older son, was shot a lot worse than the others and he was my favorite. This is why I took residence here in San Jose, I wanted people to feel the pain I did when I lost everything.
     “I was almost done mourning, then Jason gets killed.  The Lioness will pay for all of this...she will die.” 
     I couldn’t believe what I was hearing… Alsi did all of this because US troops killed his family. Now a lot of things made sense, and I even pitied him. But I didn't want to stay with him, I had to tell Trent something really quick.
     Hearing Alsi tell his story, it made me realize, terrorists were cowards, they felt they needed to prove themselves to the world. Trent joined the group because he felt he was a coward, and he wanted to prove everyone wrong. Alsi joined out of sorrow and grief, his heart was hardened beyond healing. He wanted revenge, some people couldn’t blame him. It still didn’t  give them any excuse to kill people, but everyone had a reason to fight. I saw what all of this did to Alsi, I didn’t want it to happen to Trent.  Even the terrorists had something to fight for…
      And I found my reason to fight.
       The first day when i saw Trent again, the feelings came back. But ever since the feeling seemed to be getting stronger. My heart kept jumping whenever I thought of him, now the thumping was even harder.  The feeling I first got when I had a crush on him was nothing compared to what I felt now, this felt amazing! Then I realized why it was so easy to go from pretending to like him to actually liking him!
     I ran as fast as I could back to the mansion, Trent was outside on the porch reading a book. “Hey! How’d it go?” He asked.
      “I have something to tell you.” He tried to hide a smile of hopefulness, but he couldn’t.
      “What is it?”
      “...I love you.” He then smiled wide, and I leaned in and kissed him. I forgot how good he was at kissing, it felt unreal… and right.  He moved his fingers through my hair and my hand moved up his back. He then picked me up and we went back to his room.  
     “I love you too. Always have, always will.”

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Diana asked Stephens.  Diana, Stephens, Burt, and Peter were at a large, round circle in the middle of a room negotiating an attack.
         “It’s pure genius...well of course it is because I thought of it,” Ms. Stephens said. “ Throwing grenades and invading Alsis mansion on Trents birthday is perfect.”
         “How many people should we intend to kill Commander?” Peter asked.
         “As many as you can, the more we kill the better.”
      “What’s Tex gonna say to all of this?” Diana asked.
       “Well she certainly isn’t gonna be happy.”
         “Not happy about what?” I heard most of their conversation when I walked in, sometimes I didn’t even mind being left out of them. But I was in a good mood and no one was going to ruin in. “Can’t I join the party?”   They seemed to notice that I looked a lot more happier than usual, because they were all staring at me wide eyed. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
           “ Because you look happy… too happy,” Peter said.
          “ Tex.”
           “Yeah Di?”
           “You might want to button up your shirt,” she told me. I looked down to see my blouse not even buttoned at all. I was in such a rush to get from Trent's place to the Underground, but I also wanted to enjoy my time with him. I quickly buttoned it up, but Peter grabbed my wrist.
        “You lost your virginity, didn’t you?”
         No  stupid.
        “Nope, I made out.”
        “Let me guess,” Stephens said. “To Trent?” I tried to tell them otherwise, but my expression said it all.
       “ Tex, why?”
        “How could you do this?”
       “Are you crazy?”
       “How was it though?”
    “EVERYONE SHUT UP!” I yelled off the top of my lungs. “Yes, I made out with Trent , but you guys  shouldn’t be mad.”
     “Guess  you're not pretending to like him, are you?” Ms. Stephens asked.
     “I don’t think I ever was,” I turned to Peter. “Peter, I told him I loved him.”
    “YOU WHAT?!?!” They all yelled in unison.
     “It was the truth.”
     “Well this makes everything harder,” Ms. Stephens said.
      “Why?” I asked.
      “Because…  Trent's birthday is next week at the mansion. So we were planning on attacking that day and throwing some grenades inside. Everyone is going to be enjoying the activities outside, so Burt and the President will be able to tap into Alsis computer.”
     “The President?”
     “Yeah,” said Diana. “ Once he finally calmed down from the night he was almost executed, he told us he was very handy with technology, and he would be able to hack into his computer.”
   “What’s this about Alsis computer?”
    “Let me explain,” Peter said. “ Alsi has info we need, and once we get that, we’ll be able to defeat the terrorists once and for all.”
     “And you're gonna help us attack Tex,” said Stephens.
     “No… please, any other day. Just don’t hurt him.”
      “You seem to be going soft. I guess that proves the theory that love is weakness.”
        “  No it’s not! Burt told me that everyone needs something to fight for.”
       “Your something is Trent?” Ms. Stephens asked.
         “Yes. I still want to defeat Alsi, that hasn’t changed, but Trent can be good again. If he decides to change his ways, I’ll tell him about the Underground and he can work here.” Ms. Stephens walked closer to me, and slapped me in the face.
      But of course I slapped her back.
       “You have no right to hit me!” I yelled.
         “And if you tell him anything,” she said. “You’ll die.”
         “I’ll help you defeat the terrorists, but I won’t  let you hurt Trent!”
          “Or what?”
        “I’ll blow you freaking head off!” Ms. Stephens stepped back, and looked at me with a face of disappointment.
      “ I guess I was wrong, you’re not the one that fulfills prophecy. The woman that the prophecy foretold would never let a boy get in her way.” She stormed out the door, along with Burt, and Peter. Me and Diana were the only ones left in the room.
        “I feel like I just turned everyone against me.” Diana put her hand on my shoulder and hugged me.
        “You can’t help loving someone,” said Diana. “It’s like a disease you can’t heal.”
         “Why did you stick around? To give me a pep talk?”
        “No, I’m here to make sure you don’t let those boneheads get in the way of your heart.”
        “Oh?”
       “Your first fight, Trent was so close to killing you , but he didn’t. He doesn’t have it in him to be a killer, he has a heart of gold. He might want to avenge Jason, but that’s only normal for someone who just lost a loved one.”
      “Do you think he could leave Alsi?”
        “If he had a good reason to he would, and you're his reason.”
       “But I can’t tell him everything now. If he knows it was me who killed Jason, he’d never forgive me.”
      “Just give him time… so, you want to go to the training room? I want to kick your but  in combat practice.”
     “Oh,” i laughed. “You're on.” So me and her left to the training room. I never knew how much of a good friend Diana was, she had more wisdom than anyone could ever know.
 

                                                            *
     
      Everything was looking up for me and Trent, of course I dreaded the day of his birthday, but I didn’t want it to interfere with my time with him . Ever since we confessed our feelings for each other, we’ve spent more time together. He even let me move into his house, he offered Diana a room at the mansion too, but she wanted to stay in the warehouse. At least he gave me and her a key to the mansion, and I could come and go as I pleased. I slept in Trent's room with him, but he had to get rid of the terrorist flag before I moved in, and he did.
      Alsi thought it was a grand idea of me moving in with Trent, he thought we made a lovely couple. I honestly thought so too. Everyday , me and Trent would either walk into town and hang at the Tea House, swim in his olympic size swimming pool, spend a few hours in the mansion library, or just have some alone time in his room.
      When I wasn’t with him, I was with Diana at the warehouse or the Underground. Peter, Lt. Craig, and Ms. Stephens wouldn’t even look at me. They all agreed that they needed all the help they could get, so Stephens didn’t discharge me for my irrational behavior towards her. I still got to use my sais, and whenever I practiced with them, I could feel myself getting better and better.
     I did start to rebel a little bit. The microphone necklace that Stephens gave me, I gave it to Diana, I didn’t want that thing around my neck. I didn’t want to be some little pawn in Ms. Stephens’s game, I would never let her tell me what to do. She didn’t care who lived or died as long as we won the war, but I happen to care about lives.
        One day, me and Trent were swimming in his pool trying to beat each other in a relay race. “Haha,” I said. “I win… for the fifth time!”
     “Ahh,” he said . “Beginners luck.”
     “Or maybe I was on  a swim team for 2 years .” We got out of the pool and dried ourselves off, Trent kept staring at me though. “What is it?”
     “Oh uh… I just never noticed how good your figure was.”
        “Aww thanks. You don’t look so bad yourself.” He actually looked hot! Shirtless and his black hair dripping wet,  he was a hunk.
       “Tex, I was wondering if you heard from Peter.” I stopped moving, he hasn’t even mentioned Peter since Alsis speech at City Hall.
        “No why?”
        “Well, remember the night Jason died?”
         “I heard about it.”
        “Well when I was fighting a guy, I was about to hit him with a brick. Until I heard someone yell , ‘Peter’, so it might be  your brother.”
           “I’m not worried about Peter, he’s probably with a  band of gypsies. Who knows. Can we please change the subject?”He began to smile, and grabbed me close. My head was resting on his shoulder while he was kissing my neck. “Now this is a better subject.”
       “You're telling me.” We laid down on the lounge chair by the pool and just kissed and kissed. “Can you keep a secret?”
      “ Believe me, that is one thing I am good at.”
        “Well, I’ve been thinking of leaving the terrorists.”
         “Trent that’s great!”
           “After I avenge Jason's death.”
        “Ok, not so great.”
         “The  Lioness has to die. After she dies , a clean slate for me. I’ll sail around the world, but I’ll only do it if you go with me.”
       “How about, you just leave as soon as you can and forget about vengeance,” I said hopefully.
            “... A real man wouldn’t just sit around and do nothing, I owe  it to him.”
            “Being a man has nothing to do with killing a young girl!”
            “Why are you taking her side?!?!”  I wasn’t taking anybody's side, I just wanted Trent to be done with all this. And by killing the, “Lioness”, it would only encourage him to stay in. You can never go back from killing.
      “... I’m not on anyone's side. I just don’t want you to do something you’ll regret.” He hugged me close, and kissed my forehead.
       “I’m not going to turn into a monster if that’s what you think.”
         “You could never be a monster.” We laid down on the grass and just looked lovingly at one another, I couldn’t believe I loved him so much. But we were interrupted when a soldier came running towards us.
      “MR. DAWSON! THE REBELS ARE OUT IN FRONT! COME QUICKLY!” Trent sprung up and began to run.
      “Stay here, if anyone comes near you, just find something to kill them.”
        “But Trent..”
             “JUST STAY! ...Please.”  He ran off, but I knew I couldn’t just wait  for him to come back. I reached into my bag and pulled out my disguise.
       Showtime.
  
           I changed as  quickly as I could so I could go and join the Underground, I wasn’t gonna let Diana do it alone. I jumped over the fence and headed to the driveway, where everyone else was. The people of the Underground were just standing there, and Ms. Stephens didn’t have a mask on. Alsi was facing her, with Trent and all the soldiers ready to fire on his word. Peter and Diana had their guns ready to fire too, and by the time I came , the conversation between Stephens and Alsi were pretty heated. “Leave now Rebel S,” he said. “And I may spare your miserable life for a month.”
      “Rebel S?” She asked. “What a cute nickname, but I won’t leave just yet.”
        “What do you want?”
        “I came to warn you… that when we win World War 3 , we may not show you any mercy.”
         “ when you win World War 3?” Alsi laughed. “  I guess you’ve been underground too long, but we already won World War 3.”
       “That’s what you think!” It was Peter, he pointed the gun at Alsi and shot, but he missed.
       “Soldiers! Kill him!” Two soldiers got their guns ready, but I  intercepted.  I jumped right in front of them, twisted their wrists , and made them lose grip of their weapons. I held the two guns in my hands , and began shooting, killing one soldier.
      “Haven’t you people heard to play nice?” I asked, then drew my sais, but Trent shot one out of my hand.
      “HAVEN’T YOU?!” He yelled. “ YOU SHOWED NO MERCY FOR MY FRIEND!” I jumped out of the way as he kept shooting. Diana and the others began to fight, Trent headed straight toward me. I thought if I could keep up acting like a b****, Trent wouldn’t notice it was me,and it looked like it was working. Trent just kept shooting at me, I knew my sais wouldn’t even work, so I grabbed the nearest pistol I could find. He didn’t notice it, but I was purposely missing him. He did punch me a few times in the gut, but he got it back 10x worse.  “ Your good at what you do.. But not as good as me.”  he grabbed a small pocket knife and nicked my throat, I then jumped over him , and literally kicked him in the ass. I didn’t realize I hurt  Trent so badly until he was groaning in agony, and just kept gasping. “Go ahead… kill me like you did Jason, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.” I knelt down, and stroked his face.
      “You spared me once, I’ll do the same for you.” I let him get up, and he stared at me in amazement.
       “Who knew a killer had honor.”
        “ Who knew a terrorist could have a soft spot for girls.” We went back to fighting other people, I knew he saw something familiar about me, I just didn’t want him to find out yet. I ran to help Peter fight off three soldiers. “Why did you guys attack today?”  I asked him while fighting.
         “Because I knew you didn’t want to attack on his birthday.”
        “ Oh well thanks.” We stopped fighting altogether when we heard someone yell , “Diana”. We turned around to see Alsi grab Diana by the hair… and she wasn’t wearing her wig. Everyone could clearly see who she was.
        “TRAITOR!” He slapped her in the face again and again. No one dared to try and get her, knowing Alsi would kill her as soon as we moved. “I actually began to like you, but now you’ll surely die. Take her away, her execution will be seen nationwide. It will be such an amusing death.” He knocked her out and took her away, while me and the rest of the Underground ran.
                                                                   *
                   “What do you suppose we do about her Alsi?” One soldier asked.  Alsi and some of the most high ranked soldiers were in a conference meeting in his study.
               “  Her execution will be tonight, and it will surely be entertaining,” Alsi said.
               “What are you gonna do? Behead her?” A soldier asked him.
               “You will find out in a few hours, be patient gentlemen.”
                “Does Mr. Dawson know what you’re planning?”
                “Trent will find out when the execution starts. I know Diana is his girlfriends BFF,  and I was worried he may fight the idea.”
                   “ Oh yes, what about Ms. Burns?”
                    “I’m sure Trent will ask her if she knew. But my honest opinion, is that she had nothing to do with it.”
                    “But didn’t Trent say she didn’t come back to the mansion till late? He told her to stay put , but she didn’t.”
                  “ Tex cares for Trent, she would not do anything to jeopardize it. Now I believe this conversation is over, the party is outside . Please go and enjoy the activities.” The soldiers left to enjoy the party, and Alsi stayed behind. He walked toward one of the shelves in the room, and grabbed a picture. It was a picture of him and his children: Jason, another older boy, and two young girls.  Alsi wanted the world to pay for what happened to his family, the image of them being shot in his mind made him cry. He thought the only way to find peace, was for others to understand his pain, feel the pain.  While all the fun was going outside, Alsi just sat in despair, staring at his dead family.
          The party for Trent was extravagant, buffet tables all around the pool,  people dancing to music on the tennis court, and people playing gin rummy. Trent was just sitting by a buffet table  eating a hamburger. He just wanted to be alone for a bit, people were saying, “Happy Birthday”, to him all evening. The only reason they came to his party was because of the free food . He only wanted to talk to one person, and of course that was me.
        I didn’t want to make a grand entrance at the party, I was already dressed up enough. I wore a leather jacket, sequin belt, and  black jeans.  I honestly hated  wearing it, but it was either all black, or a dress. So I just came in through the side fence and went to Trent. Ever since they took Diana away I’ve been distant from Trent, Alsi wouldn’t even tell  me where they were keeping her. I begged Stephens to attack so we could get her back, but she wouldn’t.  Peter and Burt wanted to get her as much I did, even if we had to go against Stephens to do it. “Hey Trent,” I said.
      “Tex!” He yelled. “ I didn’t think you’d come. How are you?”
      “I came to tell you to let Diana go.”
     “If I could I would, but Alsi didn’t even tell me where they're keeping her.”
    “You can’t  let her die Trent. She’s your friend too.”
      “She was against us ,  I cannot condone that she betrayed Alsi.”
    “Trent, if you let them kill her, it would be just like killing her yourself.” I walked away towards the tennis courts but Trent followed me and grabbed my hand.
        “I’m sorry this is causing  you so much pain, if I could make everything better I would.”
       “I know.”
    “... Did you know about her?”
   “Working against Alsi… no, she never told me.”
   “ She never mentioned the Lioness to you?”
     “Why would she mention the Lioness to me since she didn’t mention being a rebel?” Trent sighed with relief and formed a smile, he then hugged me and began to stroke my hair like he usually did.
     “Do you still love me?” I looked him in the eye and I gave him a sly smile.
      “What do you think?” I then kissed him , and played with his hair for a bit, but we were interrupted … again.
    Why does something happen right when things are going great?
           Alsi came out of the mansion and stood at a podium by the pool , but he was having some trouble getting others attention ; so he took his gun and shot it in the air. “EVERYONE!” He yelled. “ I thank you all for coming here to celebrate Trent's birthday, it is a combination of a celebration...and justice.”
     While he was talking crap, I whispered to Trent, “What is he talking about?”
        “I don’t know,” he whispered back.
         “Justice for the betrayer that we caught in the act, Diana Keane.” Two soldiers then dragged Diana out in front of everyone, she looked like she endured tons of torture. As they were dragging her, people were throwing bits of food and wine in her face. Alsi was showing her off as a prize. “Of course this will be the beginning of many more deaths for the rebels, but this one is a horrible death for anyone...drowning.” I could feel my eyes widen, Trent looked like he was about to faint at the idea. I ran to the pool to grab Diana away from the soldiers, I started to punch them to get them away from.  I was not going to let them hurt her, me and Diana have been through so much together, and we were going to end it. “Trent, grab your girlfriend.”
      “But Alsi…”
      “DO IT!”  Trent did as he was told and pulled me away from Diana, I kept fighting  him , but it was no use.  “Please Tex, he’ll hurt you if you try to free her.”  Trent noticed I was in shock, so  he let me go inside to  be alone, I told him I couldn’t bear to watch it. I walked into the study when no one noticed me, and picked up the charm I had on my neck, the microphone necklace.
     “Now,” I whispered into it. The next thing I know I hear people shouting outside and see grenades going through the window. Peter and Burt came in through one of the broken windows, and Burt threw me my disguise and I began to put it on.
      “Where’s Diana?” Peter asked me.
      “They're about to drown her in the pool. Get out there now.” Burt then walked towards us.
        “ You know Commander is going to kill us when she finds out we went behind her back, right,” he said.
       “If she thinks I’m gonna let them kill Diana, she’s dead wrong. Peter, get out there, I’ll meet you.” Peter ran out to fight with the other soldiers, and Burt was helping the President in the room, but they were distracted by me zipping up my corset blouse.  “Seriously guys, less looking, and more working. Burt and the President ran up to Alsis computer and began to work in it. When I was done adding on my lipstick, I ran out to join Peter.
      When I got out there Peter was fighting his way to Diana, by now Diana was chained up and Alsi was about ready to  push her in. Trent ran at me , I drew my sais ready to to fight, but he didn’t lunge. He looked at me as if to say, ‘ it’s alright’.  He let me run right past towards Diana,  just then  Alsi pushed Diana over the edge of the pool… in the deep end. I didn’t have time to even think, I dive right into the pool. As I jumped in,  Peter began to fight with Alsi to distract him from Diana. I swam down to Diana . She was still alive, I tried  to unchain her but it was no use, I wasn’t strong enough to do it. I  began to drag her to the shallow end, then I was able to pull her up the steps. When I did get  her out of the pool, she wasn’t even moving, so I started pushing on her chest.  She began to cough out water , then suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder. “Tex, I’ll put her in the truck,” said the President. He helped me carry her out, and laid her in the back seat. We started the car and began to drive, Peter and the Burt ran behind us and jumped in the trunk.
      “Hows Diana?” Peter asked.
        “Her wounds are horrible, we have to get her to the Underground.” We were almost out  of Apple Grove when we heard gunshots behind us. Alsi was chasing us in one of his hummers, he was the one shooting. We all thought we were too far away from them to actually hit us until we heard Burt scream in the back. I turned around to see Burt's chest covered in blood.
      “Tell him to step on it!” Peter yelled. We sped up, now we had two people close to dying  . Peter looked green, he looked devastated that Burt got shot … again. I felt horrible about Diana, it was the second time she was close to death, the first time I managed to save her. This time I wasn’t even around to stop them beating her.
        We lost Alsi when we went on a dirt path to an abandoned building. It was foggy and raining so they didn’t have a chance to get us.  Diana was beginning to lose consciousness, and blood was dripping from her lip.
      “Don’t worry Di,” I said. “You’re gonna be ok.”

To avoid giving any clue to where the Underground was, we pushed the truck off a cliff, we walked the rest of the way to the tunnels.  Peter  and Prez, (what I call the president) were carrying Diana and Burt. As we were walking through, people were offering to help us with our wounded.  Soldiers escorted all of us to the infirmary through secret tunnels, (even secret to the Commander), they said they didn’t want  to risk Ms. Stephens seeing us just yet.
      Unlike the small nurse room I was in when I got my shoulder wound, the infirmary was huge! Cots all around and nurses running around with medications in their hands. Peter and Prez placed Diana and Burt on two cots. Diana was kept drifting off to sleep, but Burt wasn’t even moving. I layed by Diana's side, and Peter did the same thing with Burt, we were both worried about our friends.  Diana had to get stitches  and was given some medication,  but that wasn’t enough for  Burt.
       “If we leave the bullet in, he will surely die,” one of the nurses said. “ But if we try to take it out, he may live.”
        “So he might die either way?” Peter asked her.
         “Yes, you may make the decision Peter. You were his closest friend.” I walked to Peter, trying to comfort him.
        “ It’s worth a shot,” i told him.
         “Leave the bullet in!”  Ms. Stephens stormed into the infirmary like an angry bull, she also had a bottle of alcohol in her hand. “ I’m Commander around here, I make the decisions.”
        “  Commander please,” Peter said. “Your drunk, let  us do what is best.”
      “ I am perfectly capable of making decisions. You four didn’t seem to wait for my decision when you went after Diana!” We all froze, I’m sure Peter saw Stephens made hundred of times, but he looked like he never saw her like this.
      “We weren’t gonna let her die!” I yelled.  Peter stood next to me, admitting that he was on my side and not hers, so  did Prez.
         “Commander,” Prez said. “ I wouldn’t never let an innocent die.”
        “Really?” Stephens asked. “ You didn’t seem to care who died or not when you were President.”
       “... I admit that I wasn’t the best president, but I doubt that your a good commander either.” Stephens chucked her bottle towards Prez, hitting him in the face.  When I first met Stephens she seemed committed  to protect the United States, to save everyone from the clutches of terrorism. Now, all she seemed to care about was power over the Underground.
      “He’s  right,” Diana said. She was finally able to sit up. “You're just as bad as Alsi!”
       “ If you don’t shut up Diana, I’ll shut you up!”  Stephens yelled. “Alright, everyone in this room, if you think I’m more capable of running the Underground, side with me. If anyone thinks Tex is more capable of running things around here, side with her.” Everyone was quiet, no one wanted to go against the Commander. Who would with her temper? But slowly, all the soldiers and nurses in the room went to my side. They thought I was  a better leader!  “ Excuse me? You’re going to choose a 16 year old over a woman who's had years of training?”
     “ She is better.” Lt. Craig walked into the infirmary and walked  to me. “I side with you Tex.”
       “Lt. Craig I’m surprised at you. Tex is only a child, yet everyone seems to agree with her point of view.”
        “Well you liked her very well when she did what you told her. For years , people looked up to the Commander of the San Jose Underground, now all I see is a spoiled woman that loves to be in control!  I even looked up to you, I wonder where my head was then!” Ms. Stephens was fed up with people going against her, especially Lt. Craig. Ms. Stephens drew her gun from her side and began to shoot at Lt. Craig. But before she could pull the trigger, I drew one of my sais from my boot and threw it towards her arm. I cut her wrist, making her drop the gun.
         “ If you want to fight someone, fight me,” I told her.
          “No, I won’t fight you… not right now. I’m  a much better fighter when I’m sober, so I’ll wait. Soon Peter will bring you a message, then  me and you will fight. If I win, you will be discharged from the Underground. If you win, you may stay.”
      “Fine. But we still have to figure out what to do about Burt.”
         “Yes,” Peter said. “Nurse, take the bullet out.” Ms. Stephens didn’t  say anything, guess she thought she didn’t need more trouble. So the nurse rolled Burt out of the room to prep him for surgery. Then me and Peter left, he was going to escort me back out.  The tunnels we went through led right to the gates of Apple Grove. It was about an 45 min walk. I put my disguise in  my bag and my sais back in my boots, so no one would suspect anything when I came back.  I was glad being able to leave, I didn’t even want to see Stephens again. In the beginning she seemed excited for me joining the Underground, now she thought of me as a threat.  “You ok?”
      “Well I’ve never been in a situation like that before. Do you think she’ll act better when the alcohol wears off?”
       “ She’ll fight you that’s for sure. I just hope you’ll survive it.”
        “What do you think I’m made of, glass? I’ve fought terrorists, I can fight her.  I am pretty fearless.”
       “Yeah… that’s what scares me.” I couldn’t help but laugh, we both couldn’t . It was the first time in days we had something to laugh about.
        “Oh listen to you Mr. Overprotective Brother! You seem to take care of yourself pretty well.”
        That’s true. Well now that we’ve had some laughs. Let’s talk relationships shall we?” I could tell he was very anxious to bring up the subject,  he started to form a large grin on his face.
   “Specifically?”
   “You and Trent. You know you missed Mom and Dad's memorial to go to Jason's, I couldn’t understand why you did it.”
     “The guilt of killing Jason weighed on me horrible, I wanted to comfort Trent.”
     “After tonight, I learned let he’s not as mean as the others. Maybe you just saw something in him that I didn’t.”
      “When did you notice that?”
       “When he just let you pass him to get to Diana.  Trents a softy, he just doesn’t want to admit it.”
     “So you like him?”
      “I don’t wish him dead. Liking him is gonna take some time, especially when we have to fight each other.” We got to the end of the tunnel, there was a step ladder leading to Apple Grove. I then hugged Peter and began to go up the ladder.
     “He’s a good person Peter, and we love each other.” Peter waved to me as I was going up, I ran right to the mansion. I had no idea what time it was, so kept running faster and faster.
    Trent please be asleep.
                                                           *
     The alarm didn’t sound when I opened the door to the mansion, thank goodness. The door wasn’t even locked. Before I went to bed, I looked around the house. There was glass everywhere I stepped, and bullet shells  laying all around. The first time I went inside the mansion it was glamorous, and not a speck of dust. Now it was just a place where a previous battle was fought. I walked inside the study, the broken windows brought in a cool drift, some soldiers were even sleeping with three blankets on the floor.
        I walked up the stairs to Trent's room, unfortunately the stairs creaked every time I took a step. It made some of the soldiers  wake up and draw their guns.
    “Relax guys,” I whispered. “It’s just me.” I walked the rest of the way up to the room, the bedroom door wasn’t locked, so I just walked right in. The desk lamp was the only light on in the room, the window was broken, and Trent in the bed , snoring.  I put my bag under the bed, took off my jacket and boots, and slowly went into the bed.
       “ You’re back late,” I heard Trent say. I turned over my shoulder, and saw Trent looking at his phone.
     “Yeah… I just wanted to get away for awhile. I didn’t want to see Diana die.”
     “Actually, Diana didn’t die.” I did my best to act like I didn’t know much, so I acted surprised.
        “Wait really? I heard some yelling from the back as i was walking away. Did Alsi change his mind?”
     “No… the rebels came to attack. They threw grenades everywhere, and the Lioness dived in the pool to get her.”
      “And no one tried to stop her?”
     “I didn’t… I let her go.”
        “Whaaat?” I knew everything that happened, I just wanted to hear his version of it. I thought he might sugarcoat the facts, but he told it like it was, and it was nice that he didn’t. I didn’t see him as a person who brought fear into everyone's hearts like the other terrorists,  I saw him as a  lost and confused teenager, that needed a lot of guidance from the right person.The fact that he didn’t stop me when I rescued Diana, it proved just that.
     “I know I should, but I don’t regret it at all. I’m glad she got away...don’t tell Alsi I said that.”
      “Oh you can trust me. So is that all that happened tonight?”
         “Yeah pretty much. Why, did you want some action?” He said, raising his eyebrows.
         “Well I wouldn’t have minded some,” I said, in  a flirtatious way.
           “Well you’ll get plenty tomorrow.”
             “Oh why? Did the teahouse get converted into a mosque?” I tried to add some levity into the conversation, but Trent wasn’t laughing at all.
            “No, Alsi has decided to check out the remains of San Francisco, to see if there is anything we need over there.  I told him you’d like to come.”
        “Oh course , I’d love to go. But, how are we going to get across? If you’ve forgotten, you guys bombed the bridge.”
          “Don’t worry, I didn’t forget. We’re gonna go in a helicopter.”
            “Sweet, please tell me you're not gonna fly it.”
            “Haha, I wish. But maybe we should both get some sleep tonight.” He gave me a small peck on the lips and turned over to his side. “Love ya.”
     
       I kept tossing and turning all night. For a while the nightmares of killing Jason were going away, now they were slowly coming back! Being in the same bed as Trent didn’t even help, I just felt alone in my dreams. The images were horrifying! I could see Jason's corpse walking toward me like a zombie, and all the corpses of the soldiers that the Underground killed walking behind him. I was running through the fog, I could even hear whispers of the dead, saying, “killer”, “liar”, and “betrayer”. Soon I came to a wall, there was nowhere for me to go. Jason and the soldiers stood a few feet in front of me, then another corpse came out of the mist. Trent.  He looked like he had been shot and stabbed to death, and from the way he was looking at me, I was the one that killed him.
      “You should’ve told me, he said. “But you killed me instead.”   I wanted to wake up desperate, I tried pinching myself but I couldn’t wake up.
         “Trent, you know how I feel about you…”
          “Everything began to make sense. Why you always ran off when there was a fight, and the moment I looked into the Lionesses eyes I knew something was familiar.”
       “I was waiting for the right time to tell you, I thought you might…”
        “Change?” He laughed. “ Well hate to break it to you, I’m just as heartless and bloodthirsty as these men your people killed.”
       “What about your people huh? How many innocent lives did you guys take away?  How many suicide bombers did you know who thought they were dying for something meaningful but really not? How many terrorists attacks  ruined people's lives?  How many more massacres and hijacked planes are there gonna be?  How many would you support? These people that you call friends only think they have a  good reason to kill people...to kill children and make  videos of it! If this is what you think is right,  if you think it justifies the killing of innocent people, then you belong in a mental institute!” If only  I could say that to him in real life.
          “I joined to prove I’m not a coward.”
            “Fine. I get that you don’t want to be a coward, you want to be a man. So if you want to be a man… be one!”
               “You don’t  seem to understand what we’re trying to accomplish...so , I’m afraid i’ll have to kill you.”  He had my sais in his hand and the next thing  I know...he stabbed me!
     “AHHHHHHHHH!” I stood up in the bed, my scream made the maids come in immediately  and Trent fall out of the bed. Trent ran over to me and tried to hold me.
        “Tex, it’s ok. You just had a bad dream,” Trent said. He then pointed to the maids by the foot of the bed. “You maids, go get something for her . Get her something to eat and to drink.”
            “Yes sir,” the maids said in unison. They walked out of the room, leaving me and Trent alone. 
          “It was horrible! Worse than any other nightmare I ever had.”
               “Hey, it’s over now. You're gonna be ok.”
               “No,” I said under my breath. “It’s not over yet.”

A few hours later, me and Trent were on our way to see San Francisco with Alsi. It was the first time leaving San Jose since Alsi took over, and I was a little nervous to see the rest of the destruction around my home. The freeway we took was completely empty. The three of us were in a  limo, and there were 5 other cars with us. We were the only ones on the road. On each side  of the road I could see  smoke from the  destroyed buildings, it just made me think about how bad the city probably looked.
        After the limo ride, we all got on the helicopter.  From what I could see,  the entire city was destroyed.  The  remains of the Golden Gate were sticking out of the water, and I could see some dead bodies  stuck on them. The only place that looked untouched was Alcatraz.
      That prison sure is lucky,  I thought.  
         Alsi was looking out the window, he was smiling at the damage he caused. Trent however,  looked devastated.  I was in shock at how  much damage one bomb could  cause. We soon landed at Union Square, Trent helped me out of the helicopter.  “What do you think of this mess?” i asked Trent.
        “It’ll certainly take a long time to fix,” he said. We  just stared in silence as we looked at the city, I had a feeling we were both thinking the same thing. Seeing the city brought back memories for both of us, when we went to the city together. When we were still a couple,  our parents let us spend a day in the city. We had coffee while people were ice skating at Union Square, we were having fun shopping at Neiman Marcus, and  also kissing each other at the Ghirardelli place. Those were the good old days, when all  we had to worry about was staying together. Meanwhile, while we were going down memory lane, Alsi was beaming with pride.
       “Isn’t it great?” Alsi said. “ This indeed was the best plan I had. This certainly grabbed people's attention.”
       “Oh yes,” I said sarcastically. “Sure is.”
         “ Well you two kids walk around and feel free to take anything you want. I’m gonna see if there are any people hiding from us.” He left with a few other men and walked up the street, me and Trent went the opposite way.
     For a while, neither of us said much. We were mostly just looking at remains of buildings. Just thinking of how the city used to be, it used to be so full of people, now it probably looked the same way it did when the 1906 earthquake happened. We made a few turns and came across a familiar building. “Hey Trent,” I said to him. “Isn’t that the Neiman Marcus building?”
       “Yeah,” he said. “I think it is.”  He looked up at it in amazement, surprised that it hardly looked damaged.  “You loved that store.”
      “Mostly the jewelry inside it.”
         “I remember… there was one ring you desperately wanted. I think it was a 15 carat emerald ring, right?”
              “Yeah, but it cost over $75,000. I couldn’t afford it.”
               “Maybe it’ll be inside. Want to go?”
              “Ha,” I chuckled. “I thought you’d never ask.” The doors weren’t anywhere to be seen, so we just walked right in. The place did look ransacked, most of the clothes and shoes were missing. Broken perfume bottles were everywhere, making the place smell of numerous fragrances. We walked down to the jewelry department, it looked about the same as the rest. “I should’ve known  the place wouldn’t be full of stuff.”
          “ Let’s just look around, we might find something others missed.” So we looked on the floor, in the drawers, and even in the safe, but nothing to be found. Until, I tripped over a large wooden box.
     “Well look at what I found.” i picked up the box and opened it. It wasn’t the emerald I was wanting, but it was a very large topaz  ring. “Whoa, that’s  big.” Trent came over to look at it, and had to take a double take. He never saw a fancy rock as big as that!
     “You certainly like bulky jewelry, take it home with you.”
       “Of course I’m gonna take it home with me.” I put the box in my bag and began to walk out.
      “Let the ring be a symbol of our friendship huh? Promise me you’ll never take it off.”
           “I promise, I’ll never take it off. And we’re always gonna be together, don’t worry.” As we were both walking out, Trent grabbed my arm.
           “Tex, you would tell me anything right? You wouldn’t keep any secrets from me?”
          Of course I wouldn’t, I thought. Except one little one, that I’m a fighter in a rebel group!
           “I can honestly say, that I’ll tell you everything you have to know.” We both walked out  of the building and walked up into one of the fancy apartment buildings.  The apartment building was worse off than the other ones surrounding it. No roof, barely any walls, and the  stairs looked like they were about to fall apart. While Trent was looking around the first floor, I tried to go up to the second. I had to be very careful everywhere I stepped so I wouldn’t fall through. When I was walking into one of the rooms, i  almost fainted at the sight I saw. It was a dead family  of three. The husband and wife seemed to be covered their little girl from the explosion. “TRENT!!!!!!” Trent ran up the room and saw the family . “What are we gonna do with them?”
      “Leave them,” Trent shrugged. “Alsi would never let us take them back to bury them.”
       “Why?”
        “Because he would prefer to bring back people alive.”
        “Oh so he can personally kill them?” 
          “Well you’ll see. Either way we should probably leave them in peace.” We left the room and went back down the stairs.
       “Trent do you still believe Alsi is doing a good thing?” I was dying to ask him that question ever since me and him decided to be a couple, and I wanted an answer.
         “To be honest… I don’t know. Things have changed a lot lately.”
        “ Because of me?”
         “   Actually yes. Tex, I never got over you, I’ve always had feelings for you. You made me realize that maybe being a soldier in the TALIHAD may not be for me.”
      “You think?”
        “And I have decided, that after I avenge Jason, I’m gonna resign from the TALIHAD. I want to go to Hawaii, and I want you to go with me.” I was so hoping that he’d given up the idea of vengeance,  mostly because I was the one he wanted to kill.
      “Well when it’s all over, you can finally have a normal life again.”  I kissed him on the cheek,  then we walked out.
       We walked around the city for hours, I was enjoying myself so much I didn’t even care that my feet were hurting. We walked in and out of buildings, took a few things out of the stores, and we even took selfies together. At first i almost laughed because going around the ruins of San Francisco, and taking selfies was an odd idea for a date. Instead of talking about  dreadful things, we talked about the fun memories we had together.  I thought, once it was all over, we could both have a life together. Nothing like marriage or anything, all we wanted was to be together. As I looked at the destruction, I realized that Trent didn’t do this. He was a follower of Alsi, Alsi made decision to bomb everything. Just thinking about made me almost go to the angry feeling I got when I was fighting with Peter, I never wanted to feel that way again.
      We got back to Union square early in the evening, and the rest of the troops were already there. We could also see some people sitting on the ground, obviously they were the people that Alsi found hiding. There were about twelve people, including two little children.  Alsi  seemed to be  inspecting them, by going up and down the row. “Well,” he said. “Are you going to come with me willingly or not?”
       “I’m not sure,” and old man said. “You’re just gonna kill us either way. It’s what you guys are good at.”
          “You seem to think your remarks to me are sign of bravery, but really it is a sign of foolishness.” Alsi then pointed to one of his soldiers, “You there, get me one of the clubs from the truck.” The soldier did what he was told, got the club, and handed it to Alsi. “I’m gonna show this old geezer who’s boss now.” He began to hit the old man with club, the poor man was begging with Alsi to stop, and the people next to him were shielding their eyes from. Trent backed away, but I just froze. I couldn’t stand to see an innocent person being beat by a monster of a man. I had to do something.
        I ran toward them, no one tried to stop me. I couldn’t tolerate it any longer, I had to help that poor man.  I yanker the club out of Alsis hand and threw in on the ground. “Why are you doing this?” I asked him. “He didn’t do anything to you.”
       “ I need to show these pathetic people who has authority over their country...oh excuse me, my country. So just stay out of this.” Clearly he’d beaten the man to a pulp, so he moved on to  a young woman that was beside him. “And do you have anything to say missy?” The woman looked too afraid to even look at Alsi, so she just kept her head down.
       “No sir,” the woman said. Alsi bent down and pulled the woman's face upward, to reveal a decent looking woman.
      “Hmmmm, well you don’t look ugly at all. I shall make you one of my wives, I only have 17. You will do nicely in my collection.”  The woman now looked petrified! She tried to fight the guards that were attempting to put her in one of the trucks, but she fought like a wildcat. Alsi looked over the others. The rest of the women  were put into his collection of wives, the men were beaten to death in front of everyone, and Alsi decided to keep the two children for himself. “Don’t you think they will do nicely in our family Trent? They remind of my own children, how sweet.”
      “Oh yes, certainly,” said Trent. Anyone could obviously see that Trent wasn’t happy about the two new editions to the family, but everyone else thought they were adorable. The kids looked scared to death of Alsi, they couldn't even stand being near him from the looks of it. I hated the thought that those kids might actually learn to like that horrid man.  So I made a decision.. If I could save Diana from an execution, I could save those kids from a lifetime with Alsi.
                                                                   *
        Later that evening, when we got back from San Francisco, I took one of the secret entrances to the Underground. I had to talk to Peter about another rescue mission. I saw what Jason had become from living with Alsi, And I saw how influenced Trent was, I couldn’t let that happen to those kids. I made my way to the TV room, hoping Peter would be there.  People were indeed happy to see me, but the way they looked they were worried for my protection. I didn’t care if I ran into Stephens, I would gladly take her on any day of the week!
           When I got to the TV room, I saw Peter on the floor trying to fix a remote. Burt was next to him in a hospital bed, and i was so happy to see him alive. “Hey boys,” I said. Peter dropped everything he was doing and hugged me. Burt couldn’t do much, so he just clapped, happy to see my arrival also.
         “Tex where have you been?” Peter asked.
          “Yeah,” Burt said . “We haven’t heard from you all day.”
          “I’ve been in San Francisco and --- please shut your mouths, it’s true! Alsi took me and Trent on a helicopter there to look around.”
           “Did Trent consider it a date?” Asked Peter.
          “Ummm, I don’t know. But I did, and I need to talk to you guys about something.”
          “ What is it?” Burt asked.
            “When we were in the city, Alsi was looking for any survivors, and he found about twelve. He put all of the women into his collection of wives, he beat the men to death, and he kinda adopted two little kids.”
            “Let me guess,” Peter said. “You want to get them away from him?”
             “Peter, he’ll train them to become monsters. You’ve seen what Jason turned into, and you’ve seen how influenced Trent is because of him. Do you really want those kids to be with him?” They both had to think about it, I didn’t see anything to think about. They just had to get off their asses and go!
     “I obviously can’t go,” Burt said. “I’m still healing and can hardly move.”
      “ The Underground is supposed to help people and protect them,” Peter said. “I’m in. If we can save Diana and Prez from executions, we can save those kids.”
       “Count me in to.” It was Ms. Stephens, she was eavesdropping the entire time. For my protection, Peter got in front of me and out his hand on his gun. “Oh relax, I’m not gonna kill her. But I do agree with saving the little kids.” She was obviously sober again, at least she
wasn’t as mean as she was drunk.
       “Great, then let’s go,” I said. I made my way for the door, but Stephens got in front of me.
         “If you’ve forgotten Ms. Burns, that we have a fight, and it’s going to be today.”
         “WHAT!” Everyone said in unison.
               “Oh yes, since Tex is already here ,we might as well have the fight. Tex, meet me in the training room in precisely fifteen minutes.”
            “Sounds good to me.”
            “Are you scared?”
               “Not at all, because I know I’m gonna win.”  Before Stephens could open the door to leave,  Peter stopped her.
                “Wait a minute, I thought you said you weren’t gonna kill her.”
                “Oh I’m not gonna purposely kill her. The rules of the fight is that whoever is on the ground for more than 10 seconds, loses.”
               “Like a wrestling match?” I asked.
               “Yes, but much more aggressive.” With that, Stephens walked out of the room, hoping I was scared of her.
               “Well that went well,” said Burt.
                  “Are you nervous tex?” Peter asked me.
                   “Of course not. Just get me my corset blouse and I’ll be ready.”
                      “You’re gonna fight her in that?”
                     “Yeah,  I’d like to look good when I win.” 
             
                                                            

The three of us made our way to the training room, Peter had to wheel Burt in. I wasn’t worried at all, I just kept thinking about how Stephens acted when I  first met her and the way she acted now. Diana was right, she was just as bad as Alsi.    Maybe the way she acted in the beginning was just a front, now she decided to show her true colors. I never trusted her completely , perhaps this was the reason.
           When we got in the training room, everyone was working away. People were setting up a small arena, and it indeed looked like a ring for wrestlers. Ms. Stephens was practicing with her daggers with Lt. Craig, and all the other people of the underground were cheering me on as I walked by them. I did see Diana, she looked alot better. She was being wheeled around in a wheelchair by one of the head nurses, I saw her motion  the nurse to come towards me. “Everyone is on the edge of their seats because of this fight,” Diana told me.
          “Their not the only ones,” I said, pointing to Peter and Burt.
    “Are you ready for it?”
    “Why does everyone keep asking me that? I’m okay,  I’m ready to fight… uh by the way, how are you doing?” I asked, forgetting she was in a wheelchair for a second.
      “I’m okay,  a little sore, but ok.”
          “Alsi sure beat you up, what did they use ? A whip?”   
        “ Once in awhile they did. They mostly used their fists to hurt me.”
          “Don’t worry they’ll never do it again.” I hugged Diana, then went towards the arena. Peter was begging Stephens to stop the fight, but of course she refused. I was looking forward to it, I had my said all ready to go. “So when does it start?” I asked Stephens.
        “In a few minutes, you better get on the other side of the arena,” she said. When we were on opposite  sides of it, Lt. Craig got in the middle of the arena and began to speak.
         “ Ladies and gents,” he began. “This is the fight you have all been waiting for. The fight which will determine Texas Burns’s place in the Underground. The fight will go on until someone is on the ground for more than ten seconds. The fight will start the moment I clap my hands.”
      CLAP! The fight had begun. 
       Ms. Stephens ran toward me, but i jumped over her and kicked her back. My usual move. I didn’t have the points of my said pointing at Stephens, I just had the handles pointing. I lunged toward her and hit her in the face, it made her bleed out of her nose. She took one of her daggers and threw it at me, thank goodness it only grazed me arm. I ran at her , making her fall  to the ground. I kept holding her down, but it was difficult . Lt. Craig began to count, but when he reached seven, Stephens kicked me in the gut, and me go on the ground. I could hear everyone cheering for me, not her. I could hear them say, “Come on Tex”, and , “you can do it”.  I couldn’t get over how strong she was! I could hardly move, she was holding my arms so hard, I could feel her breaking my wrist. When Lt. Craig got to five, I bit her wrist, making her let me go. I kicked her with my boot in the face, got up, and brought back more fire power.
       When  she moved toward me, I moved away and hit her in the back  with my sais.  Now she only had one dagger in her hand, and she was ready to use it whenever. I was determined to win, I had so much to do, I even thought that the country needed me. Another part of me kept telling me it would be so much easier to just leave the Underground, that I would be a lot happier without it.  My brain was telling me to leave the Underground, but my heart was telling me to stay. I fought harder, and harder with her, knocking her down multiple times. We just kept fight with our fists and our weapons, I even lost track on how long we’ve been fighting.  Stephens was beginning to get as mad and tired as I was, she was slowing down. When her back was turned , I pushed her, and I held her down with all the strength I had. Once she was tired of fighting my grip, I used a pressure point on her neck. I had no idea it would work, but it did. She stopped moving, she was barely breathing, and blood was coming out of her nose. “What did you do to her?” Lt. Craig asked me.
       “I think I cut off the blood flow to her brain,” I said, being petrified myself.
          “She’s been on the ground for over 10 seconds. Undo it.”  I didn’t even know why I decided to do it in the first place, but I had to think of something fast. I put my two fingers on her neck, and  pressed hard. I was shocked and glad that it actually worked! She began to breathe again and she was moving. “Now that she’s better , I’ll announce the winner.”
      “No!” Stephen's yelled. “I demand a rematch!” At first , she was just acting like a jerk, but now she was acting like a spoiled brat!
     “Sorry Stephens,” I said. “Looks like I’m  stayin.”  I jumped out of the arena and stood on a podium, facing all the soldiers in the room. “Listen up everyone, we have a mission: to save two kids adopted by Alsi. He’ll train them to be just like the other terrorists. We don’t want that , do we?” A Lot of people were nodding in agreement, even Lt. Craig was. But Stephens clearly wasn’t .
         “Do you really want to waste your time with two useless little kids? We have better things to do.”
         “Actually Commander,” Lt. Craig said. “ I think it is a grand idea. I just pity those children being in the clutches of that horrible man, we must do it as soon as we can. The day after tomorrow we will rescue them.”
           “Wait!” I yelled. “ I do agree we must do it as soon as possible, so what if we just move up the date? Maybe tonight around midnight? If they stay with Alsi any longer, he’ll become too attached, he really loves these kids.”
       “How do you know he’ll get too attached?” Peter asked me.
       “Because… something happened to his own children a while back.” I never told anyone of what I heard from Alsi, the tragic story from his children was heartbreaking. But for these people to understand where I was coming from, I had to start from the very beginning.
       I told everyone what I heard from Alsi. From his family being shot by US soldiers to wanting vengeance on all Americans. I was getting close to tears just by telling the story, even Lt. Craig and Peter were tearing up. People were holding their hands to their hearts, they actually felt bad for Alsi. Everyone did...except Ms. Stephens. All she had was an evil looking glare on her face. 
     “... And so that’s about it,” I said. “ That’s the reason Alsi is the way he is. He loved his family sooo much that he would even kill for them.”
       “What a horrible story,” Peter said.
          “How heartbreaking,” said Burt.
            “I’m all teared up,” Diana said. “Someone get me a tissue.”
              “I think I’m gonna be sick with all this crap,” said Stephens. “Seriously people, the man is a terrorist. Why do you even feel bad for him?”
      “ I know it doesn’t give him any excuse to kill,” said Lt. Craig. “But is certainly explains a lot of things.”
       “Yes, so that’s why we must get the kids before he’ll decide to kill for them,” I said. “Agreed Lt. Craig?”
           “Agreed,” he said. “We leave immediately. People, grab your weapons, and get ready for another rescue.” Everyone followed him out the door, I dragged along with Diana, and Ms. Stephens dragged way behind.
           “Maybe I should go with you tonight,” Diana told me. “I could help.”
           “ Sorry Di, the nurses say your not up to to fighting yet. Another day or two and you’ll be just fine.” I let the nurse wheel her back to the infirmary, and I went to join the others for our rescue mission.
                                                                 *
                 None of us really had a plan on how to get the kids without being noticed. Our usual rescue missions always attracted attention, more than enough every time. This mission was different . With Alsi being attached to those kids, the less attention we attracted the better.
          We took the secret tunnels to get to the mansion. We traveled in four groups, so if we did get caught, Alsi wouldn’t get all of us. In my group, it was just me, Peter , Lt. Craig, and seven more soldiers.  Stephens insisted on coming with us  just to annoy us no doubt. No one wanted her in their group, so she just stayed behind mine. I even felt bad for her, that she lost all respect in her soldiers. It was nice for them to believe I was a good leader, but they were abandoning their old leader in the process.
                 When we did get to the mansion, we immediately went into the bushes. By then we all figured out a plan: me, Peter, and Lt. Craig grab the kids while the others create a diversion and fight.  The three of us walked all the way around the house, to look for a way in, and we eventually found one. Peter used a grappling hook and tossed it towards a second floor window, I went up first and they both followed. Now I never used a grappling hook in my life, so it was very difficult. I almost fell off a few times, but I eventually did get the hang of it.
          I went through the window into a dark room and began to walk around. I didn’t realize where I was until something grabbed me from behind.
       Trent.
          I drew my sais and started fighting him.  He wasn’t at his best, he looked like he just got out of bed, but he still managed to hurt me a little.  Peter and Lt. Craig soon followed, and began to fight with Trent to.
     “You two go find the kids,” Lt. Craig said to us. “I’ll take care of him.” We left him fighting my boyfriend, and went to find the kids.
     Everyone besides Trent were outside fighting the rest of the soldiers, so the house was empty. We went to the end of the hall, but had no idea where the kids were.
     “How old are the kids?” Peter asked me.
      “The girl is about seven,” I said. “And the boy is a little bit older.”
        “Where do you think Alsi put them?” Of course I had no idea where they could be, until I heard someone singing a lullaby above us.
           “I  don’t think, I know where they are. They must be in the attic.” We looked everywhere for a way up, there was no ladder, stairs, nothing. “Try to break  a hole in the ceiling.”
       “Love to, but with what?” I wasn’t gonna wait for him to figure something out, so I began to glide my hand over the ceiling, trying figuring out how I could get up there.  For a few minutes I didn’t think there was any way, until I felt a latch that was blended in with the ceiling.
       “Peter , you’re taller than me. Open the latch , then boost me up.”
      “But what about Alsi?”
      “Just wait here, I’ll throw the kids down when I  get em.” Peter stood under the latch, jumped up, and opened the attic door. He then gave me a boost up, and I landed on the attic floor.
    When I finally got up, I could see the two kids huddled in a corner. The room was dark, full of storage boxes, I couldn’t see anything else. “Hey,” I said to the kids. “I’m gonna get you outta here.”
     “Not if I have anything to say about it.” I heard a gun click behind me, and I turned around to see Alsi behind me. “No one is taking my children away from me, not again.”
     “They’re not your children Alsi,” I said. “You took them .” He put his gun away and walked closer to me, with a confused look on his face.
      “Now how would the Lioness know about that, if she wasn’t there?”
      “...my people have ways of finding out stuff.”
       “I doubt they would find something like that out so fast, I only got the kids today. But you would already know that , wouldn’t you...Tex.”
    Crap!
     “I don’t know what your talking about. My name is not Tex, you guys call me the Lioness.”
      “Come on Tex, who else would know ? I didn’t figure it out until just now, but I always knew something was off. The disguise is very deceiving, the black lipstick is a very nice touch.” I should’ve known that the secret would eventually come out, but not like this. I didn’t even think that Alsi would even notice , the facts that i knew, the Underground knew to. I didn’t have anything to hide from Alsi anymore, I stopped keeping up the act.
       “Ok Alsi, i don’t care what you know and what you don’t know. I’m taking those kids and that’s that.” I ran towards the kids and told them to get out of the room. But Alsi ran toward me with his gun  pointing straight at my head. I was dodging his bullets when I saw Peter grab Alsi from behind, making  him drop the gun.
     Peter ran toward me and the kids, and drew his pistol out. “ You get the kids out of here,” he said. “ I’ll cover you.” Alsi then ran to Peter  and  took his mask off.
      “Aha,” Alsi said. “You must be Peter Burns, this young girl's brother.” Peter kept his gun pointed at Alsi, but he looked at me like I just told a big secret.
        “Hey I didn’t tell him, he found out!”
        “Whatever , just go!” I made my way with the kids to the exit, Alsi tried to fight his way toward me , but Peter kept stopping him.
          I got the kids out safely, I led them to the secret tunnel and told them to just keep going straight and they’ll find someone to help them. Once I did that, i went back to the mansion to help the others.
        I couldn’t help but the play that moment over and over again in my head, the moment that Alsi found out who I was.     I wasn’t so upset that he knew, I was more worried of what he would tell Trent. I began to think about what he would do if he did find out, I didn’t want him to find out from Alsi.
      I went to the back of the mansion to see all the Underground soldiers fighting with the terrorists. Lt. Craig was fighting with one of the generals, but i couldn’t see Trent anywhere. I dove into the fight with my sais, I fought every soldier that was in my way.  For a long time I was just fighting whenever someone went near me,  whenever I was done fighting with one person, another person would come fight me . I could see Peter and Alsi fight through the window, Alsi was beating him pretty bad. I needed to get up there and help him, I had to get away from the soldiers. When a path was open for me, I headed to the door, but I was stopped when I felt a graze on my neck. “AHH!” I yelled . I turned around and saw Trent standing behind me. It was the second time he made me have pain. He wouldn’t do it if he knew it was me, he wouldn’t.
     “Well well well,” he said. “ Look who’s here, the Lioness. Now what brings you here with the rest of your homicide squad?”
       “Trent I don’t have time for this,” I told him. I tried to walk past him peacefully, but he stopped me. “What the hell is wrong with you? You let me save Diana from an execution, why do you want me dead now?”
      “I only let you live that time, because Diana happened to be my girlfriends best friend. This time however, is gonna be different… this time I’m gonna kill you.” He threw his gun away and pulled out his daggers, then I got my sais ready to go. I  nicked him as  many times as I could, and he tried to stab me multiple times. I wouldn’t even let him get that close to me, i would’ve have wounded him before he could have the chance. It felt like forever fighting with him, it always felt that way when I fought him. I just wanted it to end, I hoped there could be a way of me telling him who I was without him exploding! I doubt there wasn’t.
     I did my usual somersaults, trying to get away, but Trent was much faster than me. He blocked my hands from reaching him, it felt like he was breaking them he was so strong. He never fought like this before, he had more motivation this time.  When he finally got me cornered , he grabbed my wrists, making me drop my sais. They began to feel numb I couldn’t even move them. “You’re gonna pay for what you did to Jason,” he said. He grabbed one of his sharpest daggers, and put it against my throat. “I have been waiting for this moment for so long.”
     “KILL HER TRENT!” Alsi yelled from the attic. “MAKE ME PROUD OF YOU! MAKE JASON PROUD OF YOU!” He got ready to slit my throat, he got so close i could feel blood dripping from my neck.
    “Trent don’t listen to him,” I said in my most softest voice. I always pretended to be the tough lioness that Trent thought I was, I tried to make myself feel heartless so he wouldn’t see the emotion in my eyes. But this time I let  my  soft side come out,I looked at him with  the loving eyes I’ve always had. “You are not a killer, you’re not like him.”  That statement made him  soften his grip on his dagger just a  little bit, but Alsi kept getting into his head.
    “SHE KILLED JASON, SHE DESERVES TO DIE!”   
     “ He’s right,” I told him. “I felt horrible after I killed him. Sometimes I wish I was dead because of it,  I feel like I deserve to die. But I know you, I know you miss him so much and you think that killing me is going to make you feel better.”
   “... It has to , Jason would’ve done the same for me.”
       “Revenge won’t make you happy. You think by killing me you’re gonna be happy? You want to prove you’re not a coward,  but by doing this you will be  .”   It made him drop the dagger on the ground, and he looked like he was going to be in shock.
      “How did you…?” Before he could finish, Peter came and pushed him out of the way.
      “Don’t even think about it,” Peter said. “Are you crazy?” He was right, I was crazy to actually consider telling Trent who I was, I was leaving a lot of obvious clues. Trent even noticed a really big one, Peter didn’t have a mask on.
      “PETER!” Trent yelled. He was in so much shock, he wouldn’t even move. “If you are… you, then does that mean that she…” I felt like I was about to cry, I finally realized I couldn’t keep the secret any longer.
   I rubbed my lipstick off, and I took my wig off.
    It felt like time froze, for a moment it was like it was just me and Trent in the world. I looked at him with an expression saying, ‘please don’t be angry, I never wanted to hurt you’. His expression said something else, ‘who are you, I don’t even know you’.
      “Trent let me explain…”
      “DON’T TALK, just listen,” he said. “Ever since I left to join Alsi I couldn’t stop thinking about you, I never stopped caring about you.  When I came back, I was always honest with you, I thought you were honest with me.”
      “I told you everything I had to…”
         “It all makes sense now. The shoulder scar, that was exactly where I stabbed the Lioness. When you got drunk you were talking about an underground, and that you wanted to kill Alsi. The stuff that I told you that was going to happen, the rebels showed  up, knowing exactly what was going on.”
      “I was going to tell you…”
        “When we figured out that Diana was a rebel, I should've known you were in on it. Whenever there was a fight, you would run off and I wouldn’t see you for hours. You went to Jason's funeral because you were sorry you killed him.”
        “I really regret it…” By now I was crying, I broke his trust and it felt like I broke my own heart.
       “... And numerous times I tried to kill you, and you’ve tried to kill me. I thought you loved me.”
     “I do love you! I never stopped! I knew you weren’t like them, you’re not. You are a kind person, who has a heart , unlike the rest of them.” I thought I got through to him the way he was looking at me, he began to understand.
       “Why do I doubt that? We’re supposed to be honest with each other!”    
         “We’re not adults Trent, we’re not a married couple. We’re teenagers! There are some things that shouldn’t be told until the right moment, I was going to tell you everything. But you just kept talking about killing me and I was afraid. You couldn’t blame me for---AHHHH!” I felt Aldi's cold,  rough hands wrap around my neck like a snake crushing the bones of its victim.
        “Here’s your chance Trent,” Alsi said. “Kill her.”
        “Excuse me?” Trent said.
        “This is your chance to prove your loyalty to me Trent, kill the rebel.”
         “But…”
         “She lied to you about everything, even her feelings for you.”
          NO I DIDN’T!” i yelled, but it only made Alsi hold my neck tighter.
        “Are you gonna kill her, or shall I?” trent didn’t say anything, he just stood there, not knowing what to do. “Fine, I will gladly crush her pipes.” He began strangle  me  , wrapping his hands tighter and tighter around me. Trent ran toward me to stop him, but two soldiers held him down. Alsi then whispered softly into my ear, “this is for killing son”. I felt like I really was dying, I stopped resisting completely. Alsi was so close to killing me when I saw Lt. Craig aim with his gun toward Alsi and shot him. Alsi was shot in the knee, his pain made him let go of my neck and I fell to the ground. Trent was finally able to run toward me, but Peter blocked him away from me while Lt. Craig carried me away from the scene.

"TEX!"

“Tex please eat something,” Diana told me. “Your gonna die of starvation if you don’t.” For days Diana was shoving all kinds of food in my face, insisting I eat. But I didn’t feel like eating, I didn’t feel like living.  Many days past since Trent found out the truth, I didn’t even hear from him.
       The Underground was in a cheerful mood though. They were happy that I was going to be down there permanently, but I was upset about not being able to go outside except for battle. Peter was in the nurse's room most of the time getting stitches for his wounds from fighting with Alsi. Stephens was completely cut off from the liquor, the entire Underground was clear of alcohol. So no one would go near it. Diana was finally better, she got more and more training from Lt. Craig every day. She even stopped using her staff, and got a new kind of weapon, a tomahawk. She was better at using them than she was using a staff, she never missed a target.
    I put my sais away, for the time being. I felt just as bad as I did when I killed Jason, I was very depressed. I would hardly come out of the room, I just stared at the wall all day. I knew I was acting like a lovesick girl, I knew shouldn’t be. People told me all my life that love was a poison, never give into it. I seemed to make the biggest mistake of my life: I fell in love with a junior terrorist.
   How did I even let myself do such a thing? How could I lose control over my heart? I was always able to control my emotions, until Trent came back. I did my best not to love him, I never wanted to love any guy. I might have had a few puppy love crushes when I was younger, but never loved someone. I didn’t even think that Trent would fall in love with me, he was trying to play the part of a heartless terrorist. The plan started out as pretending to love Trent, not actually love him. It was pretending  for a few weeks, until I let my heart speak for itself.  I didn’t want Trent to be angry at me, I wasn’t angry at him for being a terrorist.
    “Tex, are you even listening to me?” Diana asked me. I was so distracted with my thoughts I wasn’t even paying attention to her.
        “Uh sorry,” I said. “ What were you saying?”
       “I was saying, that  you shouldn’t get yourself down because trent found out the truth. If he hates you because of that, then he isn’t worth it.”
      “ It still hurts. He wasn’t lying about his feelings for me,  he might still have them.”
       “He’d be stupid not to love you. But you should help us out.”
         “I don’t feel like helping out  anyone. If I go out and fight, Trent will be there, I don’t want to see him.”
        “Tex, you’re a fighter, in more ways than one. Be a fighter now, don’t let your love problem get you down. You always told me to fight, and now I’m telling you.”
       “But…”
     “Don’t say anything, just suck it up and get off your ass. You need to work, we’re this close to defeating Alsi. Prez finally was able to get the info he needed from Aldi's computer, things can go back to the way they  were.” My heart was agreeing with Diana, I didn’t even know why I was so bummed out. I had to get my act together.
        I stood up and looked Diana in the eye.
       “I’ll help,” I said. “And I won’t let anything stop me.”
         “Even Trent?”
         “Not even Trent. Over these past few months I lost sight of who I was and what I was fighting for,” I said in a confidant voice. “I don’t know who I am anymore, but I know who I’m not… I’m not someone who will let her country down!”
         Me and Diana made our way to the TV room, where everyone else was. Prez was working on his laptop while Stephens, Peter, Lt. Craig, and Burt towered over him to see what he was doing. They didn’t even notice us until we slammed the door.
      “Looks like someone finally stopped moping around,” Stephens said to me.
      “I never mope,” I said. “I just get emotional.” Lt. Craig pushed Stephens out of the way, and came towards me.
     “I’m so glad you’re here Text, now we can finally get things settled,” he said. “Prez found out key facts that can end Alsis dictatorship over the United States once and for all.”
      “Just tell me what it is.”
        “Well…”
        “Hey,” Prez spoke out. “I was the one that discovered it, let me tell it.”
        “Fire away,” said Peter.
       “Thank you. Well, I was able to find Alsi’s online computer calendar, and he had it filled to the brim! Anyway, his calendar said that one week from tomorrow he will be leaving for an important mission in Washington DC, but I haven’t been able to find out what the mission is yet, but this gives us a deadline. We need to somehow stop him before he gets  there. Maybe explode his house? Kill the majority of his soldiers?”
      “Well I’m down for anything that gets him out of our hair,” Stephens said.
      “I’m down, I just want a chance to kill Alsi,” I said.
       “Don’t worry,” said Stephens. “You will.”
        “So what do we do in the meantime?” Peter asked.
         “ We get all of the recruits ready, get them to prepare,” I said. “For the battle they’ve all been waiting for.”
     “Excuse me,” said Stephens. “Who promoted you to Commander?”
      “Doesn’t sound like a bad idea does it?” I said, with a sly grin on my face. It seemed that Stephens couldn’t stand when even just one person acted better than her.  She stormed out of the room faster than a bolt of lightning .My remark to her made me begin to think though, I would be a good commander if given the chance. I have good qualifications for it: tough, nice, good fighter, strategist, clever, and many other  things.
      Everyone  left the TV room a little bit later. Diana and Lt. Craig went off to the training loft, Peter went to the weaponry to check the stock of weapons, and I stayed around to help Burt with the TV. “Prez put a microphone and camera in Alsis office,” Burt said. “I should be able to hear the sounds and see the action on the screen, but it’s not working.” I walked all around the TV, realizing that nothing was wrong with the TV exactly.
     “Burt,” I said. “Ever thought of plugging the TV in?” I said to him, showed him the plug.
      “Oh,” he chuckled, and plugged the TV in. “Like what Commander told you, I was never good at TVs.” Burt was a wonderful guy. Sometimes I thought if Stephens gave him enough credit for the work he does around the Underground. He might not be good at electronics, but he’s all heart for the country. With my father dead, I began to look at Burt as a very old brother , and a father. With him, I feel like I could tell him anything, and he would never tell a soul. “You obviously have something to say Texas. What is it?”
    “I don’t have anything to say. What made you think that?”
     “Because Peter told me, that whenever you have something on the tip of your tongue, you keep playing with your hair,” he said, raising his eyebrows.
   “Ok fine, you’re probably gonna think it’s stupid.”
      “Try me.”
     “Ok here goes. I want to go talk to Trent… tomorrow.”
      Dead silence from Burt.
      “The thing that’s bothering me is that, everyone wants me to act like I don’t have any feelings, pretty much be a b**** to every person I see. I am tough, but I’m also compassionate. I miss Trent, and I’m afraid if I show that, everyone is gonna think of me as a lovesick little girl. Do you understand any of this?”
        “What you said is true, everyone expects you to be tough. I saw the way you were earlier,  you’re a good actor, but you can’t hide your feelings from me. You are lovesick… because you’re in love with him.”
      “I never thought I would be in love at 16, it felt ridiculous.”
      “Well love works in mysterious ways, it can hit you at any age. And complications do get in the way of things, but that’s just a fact of life.”
     I rolled my eyes. “Why do I think that my relationship with Trent is somehow going to turn into a Romeo & Juliet story?”
    “I doubt very much that you would commit suicide like those idiotic teenagers.”
       “But what do I do? I want to see him…”
       “Then go see him. Bring your sais in case you need them, just talk to him. But remember, don’t apologize for anything, because you didn’t do anything wrong. Neither of you did… well, he did join a terrorist group but that’s beside the point.  Just get him to understand, and if he doesn’t, he isn’t worth it.” I never had such good advice in my life,  I got up and hugged Burt very tight.
       “Thank you so much! I’m gonna go see him right now, cover for me.”
       “Don’t worry, Commander will have to pry my lips open for me to tell her where you are.” I hugged him again and walked out the door.
                                                               *
          First I went to Apple Grove to look for Trent, but he wasn’t there. I threw rocks by his bedroom window, but no one answered. The place was crawling with soldiers, they were guarding all the entrances to the house. Then I went to Muhammad's Tea House, but he wasn’t there either. I knew he wasn’t avoiding me, he probably thought I wouldn’t have the guts to come above ground, but obviously I did. I was running out of options of where he could possibly be,  I doubted very much that Alsi would hide Trent somewhere. I looked all around town, I looked at the weaponry, I looked at every possible place.
    Wait a minute, I thought.  I didn’t check the warehouse!
     I didn’t know what urged me to go there, or why Trent would even be there, but it was hunch. I took the tunnels again to the outside of the warehouse, and saw that loads of army trucks were in front.
     The warehouse looked the same as it did before, worn down and dirty. The same useless guards were at the front door , while some other soldiers were taking boxes out of the warehouse. “Are these all of her belongings?” A soldier carrying a box asked one of the guards.
       “I BELIEVE SO,” the guard said. “SHE DIDN’T HAVE THAT MUCH STUFF.”
      Oh yes, the loudmouth guard.
       I put the puzzle together pretty well, the soldiers were going through my stuff to see if I had any evidence to where I could be. I could also see a soldier questioning Mrs. Lockley inside, she kept using her handkerchief to wipe away the tears dripping down her cheek. Was she crying because I was in trouble? Or that they were questioning her? I didn’t know.
      I made my way behind warehouse, as far as I knew, nothing was back there except the trash cans. The farther I went, I actually did find something. I saw Trent sitting on a log talking on a phone. “I did what you asked Alsi…” I heard Trent say. “... No she’s not at the warehouse… yes I checked in town… and a witness confirmed that she was at the mansion earlier? Ok if you still want to look for her go ahead… just do not hurt her in any way… fine, goodbye.” He ran his fingers through his hair, obviously stressed out of his mind. I was hiding behind one of the tool sheds so he wouldn’t see me. I slowly began to come out, his face was down , looking at the ground so he didn’t see me at first.
     “Hi,” I said quietly. He slowly looked up, I didn’t notice at first, but his eyes were really red from crying.
      “Hiii, are you okay?”
               “Okay isn’t the right word for it. You don’t look okay.”
          “ Well I’ve been busy  and stressed. Alsis been driving me nuts about a search party for you.”
        “Good to know,” I said sarcastically.      
      Trent slapped the palm of his hand on his forehead. “Oh my gosh , I’m so sorry, I can’t believe I said that.”
      “Relax, slip of the tongue I suppose.” We both began to act very awkward, I just kept pulling my hair and Trent kept putting his hands in an out of his pockets. “It didn’t really use to be this awkward between us.”
     “ Well I didn’t know you were the person I thought of killing before.”
      “You didn’t know. I just tried to survive.”
         “Is it bad to say I’m still in shock? I was so close to killing you every time I saw you, I even did that to your shoulder.”
        “The scar remedy worked a little, and I guess it’s normal you’re still a little freaked out.”
              “I still can’t believe it.”
         “Trent it’s still me . I’m still the girl that you say you love, I just happen to be working for the Underground.”
           “How long have you been a rebel?”
          “ Don’t call me a rebel. A rebel is someone that goes against their country like Benedict Arnold, I’m fighting for my country.”
         “It’s Alsis country, not yours.”
          “America is the home of the people, it doesn’t belong to one person. America was doing fine until Alsi showed up, all this crap never would’ve happened if Alsi didn’t take over.”
        “We never would’ve had a second chance either.”
        “I didn’t come to talk about our relationship, I came to make you understand why I’m doing this, and why you should join.’
     “Me? Join the Underground?”
         “You’re not heartless like the others, you’re a good person.”
       “...You have no idea how hard this is for me! I want to leave, I want to be with you. I understand why you did it, and I forgive you. I just don’t know what to do.”
          “Forgive? Trent I don’t need forgiveness, I didn’t do anything wrong. Do you consider standing up for something you believe in a crime?”
         “ No of course not.If I could leave I would, but I can’t. I signed on for this, I have to stick with it.”
         “You don’t have to do this anymore, don’t stick  with it anymore. What are you gonna support if you stick around? Are you gonna support an attack that kills tons of people like 9/11? Suicide bombers? Massacres? Beheadings? Beatings? Have I said enough?”
        “No.. you pretty much summed up what I’ve had to watch ever since I joined.”
                “Then leave, why would you…” Before I could finish, Trent's lips touched mine, it felt right again for him to kiss me.
       “I'll leave,” he whispered into my ear quietly. “I’ll fight alongside you.”
           “You have no idea how happy I am to  hear you say that!”
        “Then let’s get out of here.”
          We held our hands on the way to the tunnels. I couldn’t believe I actually convinced Trent to come to the Underground with me. But when we were one mile away from the warehouse, we were attacked. Alsi and some soldiers came running towards us. Trent threw me behind him, ready to protect me. Alsi can toward Trent and with one punch, he knocked Trent out. The next thing I know is that I get a cloth covering my mouth, and I can feel myself slowly going to sleep. With my eyes half open, I could see Alsi throw me in the bag of a van with Trent. As he was closing the van shut, I saw him smiling at me, thinking that he’d had a victory.
     But it wouldn’t last for long. With my mind slowly drifting off, I knew in my heart  that no matter what he did, the Americans would come out as the victors.

I woke up in what looked like a basement. I was tied up to a wooden pillar with my hands behind my back, and my ankles were tied up also. I struggled to get free, but the more I struggled, the more blood I could feel coming out of my wrist. I then realized that my hands weren’t tied up by rope, they were tied up by wire! 
    “This is literally a painful situation,” I said to myself.
        From where I was , I could see puddles all over the floor, and occasional rats that would scurry across my feet. No light in the room at all, and the door that led out had 5 locks on it. My instinct was to reach for my sais, but I was tied up, and the sais weren’t in my boots. I knew I was somehow going to get out of this, somehow and someway.
      I soon noticed that I was the only person in the room. What did they do with Trent?!?! Since Trent said he was going to fight with us, he must’ve been tied up somewhere else.  If Alsi really did care about Trent, he might not have hurt him, but on the other hand he was a terrorist. He might not have cared at all for Trent.
       After what felt like hours,  I could hear voices outside the door, and then Alsi came in.
    Alone.
     “Hello Ms. Burns,” Alsi said to me. “How are you feeling?”
     “Besides from being tied up by wire to a pillar… I guess I’m okay,” I said.
     “ Do you have any idea why you are here?”
    “ Because you hate me?” I knew he was on the better end of everything at the moment, but I wanted so badly to get under his skin.
       “I do hate you, but that is not the reason. The reason is so I can prove to your people that if you mess with me, there will be serious consequences.”
     “So what are you gonna do? Behead me?”
      “No,” he snickered. “Beheading are interesting to watch, but for the victim the pain only lasts for a second. I have something special in mind for you… how does torture sound to you?”
   I had no words to describe what I was feeling. The idea of being tortured, to even picture it in my head was terrifying. I’ve seen movies with torture scenes, but I bet the movies were nothing compared to real life torture.
     “No matter what you do Alsi,” I said confidently. “My friends will still beat you, and you will be an embarrassment to your people.” I swore steam was coming out of his ears, and his eyes widen with anger. I knew the next few minutes were not going to be good.
      “GUARD!” He yelled towards the door. “Bring in the camera man… and the other prisoner and the torture tools.” A few minutes later , a short and fat man with a moustache came in with a video camera, a fairly young an ugly soldier came in carrying a tray of torture tools, and a soldier dragged Trent in by the arms. Trent was in no better condition than I was, his hands and ankles  were tied with rope,  but looked seriously beaten, because he was bleeding from his chin and nose, and bruises all around his face. He looked like he was having trouble opening his left eye, because every time he tried opening it, he immediately shut it.
     “Why did you do that to him?” I asked Alsi.
     “I thought Trent being injured would prevent him from interfering with my fun,” he said. “Speaking of which, we should probably get on with it.” He motioned the ugly soldier to hand him an odd looking weapon. The weapon looked very old, it had three medium size balls tied to three pieces of string. I had no idea what it was, but I knew it was gonna hurt. “This my young women, are bolas. Originally they were used to capture animals, and I have never had a chance to use it. So I believe I should try it now…”
     “NO ALSI!” Trent yelled. “IF YOU HURT HER I’LL KILL YOU!”
       “Trent,” Alsi boasted. “ You couldn’t get close enough to kill me, you’re too weak.” Alsi then motioned to the camera man. “Start rolling.” The camera man began to count down from five with his fingers, and once he hit one, Alsi was ready.
     The first blow from the bolas went right across my face. The little balls were quite deceiving, they felt like cinder blocks on my face, I knew it would hurt, I didn’t think it would hurt this bad. For a few more blows Alsi threw them across my face, and more blood I could feel drip from my nose and onto my lips. One ball hit me so hard in the eye, I couldn’t even open it. I could see Trent struggle to get to me, but the soldiers kept holding him. I just wanted the torture to end, though I knew that the torture was far from over.
       After many blows from the bolas, Alsi decided it would be very amusing if he hung me upside  down by wire, it was no treat. Like my wrists, I could feel the blood dripping from the ankles. The way I was feeling, I thought being nailed to a cross by the Romans would less torture. Alsi was clearly enjoying himself, every once in awhile he would face the camera and smile.  I knew when I first met him he was big on publicity, the way he was checking his hair every ten minutes and combing his eyebrows whenever he could, but I never thought he would want this kind of publicity. He used the bolas this time to hit me right in the gut! This man had no morals, no sympathy, well only for himself. Come to think of it, he didn’t have much of anything.
      After the bolas, he thought it would be more fun if he used his fists to hurt me. They tied me up against the pole again with the wire,  and Alsi started hitting away. I didn’t have a mirror, but I had a feeling I looked like crap. His first couple punched went right to my eye, the second he was done with my eye I could already feel it swelling up. Then he aimed for the nose, then my eye again, then my nose. He seemed to be saving my mouth for last, he punched me in the mouth so hard, two good chewing teeth came out. I could taste all the blood in my mouth, the way Trent was looking at me I knew I was covered in blood.
     My vision started to blur, I felt so weak I couldn’t even cry or keep my head up. I could  still hear what the soldiers were saying. Alsi was discussing the good parts of the video with the camera man, a soldier was cleaning the blood of the bolas, and another soldier was holding Trent together. “Why don’t we leave Trent here,” Alsi said. “It might be very amusing to him to watch his girlfriend die right before his eyes.”  A soldier tied Trent up against a pole, Alsi untied me, thinking I was gonna die anyway, then everyone, except for me and Trent walked out of the room.
         I laid on my side on the dirty floor, wanting to die just right then. I couldn’t get over how a human being would take pleasure in beating an innocent person to death, it was inhuman. Thinking I was going to die, I thought about the things  I did and should’ve done.
       The advice I always gave Trent, about how revenge wouldn’t solve anything, I wasn’t even applying it to me. I wanted to kill Alsi for so long, desperately wanting justice for my parents,  but that was the same things that Trent wanted for Jason. Maybe I acted differently because it was me he wanted to kill. I heard people say that others deserved a second chance, but Alsi. He killed thousands of people, my parents blood was on his hands, he deserved to die. How could I forgive him? Thought I was facing  certain death, I made a promise to myself that I would kill Alsi unless I absolutely had to.
      I was just about to close my eyes , when I heard footsteps behind me. I thought it was Alsi coming to finish the job, but it was really Trent. He seemed to have untied himself and was trying to help me. “I’m gonna get you out of here,” he said to me. He picked me up, tossed me over his shoulder, and opened the door .
         There weren’t any guards around, we could hear them all drinking and laughing in the study. We snuck right by them, and into the garage to get a car. Trent laid me down in the back of a jeep,  the started the car and began to back out.
    I was unconscious for most of the ride, I didn’t start to come to, until I realized that we were back at the warehouse. Trent parked the car in the back, then lifted me out. As we were walking inside , he was greeted by Mrs. Lockley. “Well Mr. Dawson,” I heard her say. “It’s certainly a surprise to see you here, after everythings that has happened,” she said in a suspicious tone.
    “Mrs. Lockley,” Trent said. “ I need to get Tex to the Underground, please show me the entrance to it.”
  Mrs. Lockley put her hands on her hips, like she wasn’t gonna tell him anything. “Why should I tell you? For all I know you’re the one that beat her.”
    “I swear I didn’t, Alsi tied her up with wire and beat her nonstop.”
   “And you didn’t stop it?”
   “They kept holding me down, I couldn’t do anything.”
    She shook her head back and forth, wanting to believe him. “How could I trust you? You’re the adopted son of a terrorist, you have killed so many innocent people.”
     “I was one of your students remember? No one could ever lie to you, I know I couldn’t. I am telling the truth.”
     “ And what will you do, when you get to the Underground?”
      “I’ll get Tex to her brother, so he can help her. I don’t think they can win against Alsi without her.”
     “... Fine, I’ll show you the Underground.” She motioned him to follow her inside. I felt like I could finally relax, now that I knew I was with two people I trusted.
     We were unseen by the guards, we were walking in the dark so they wouldn’t see us. We walked by my old cot, closer to the entrance to the Underground. I didn’t understand how Mrs. Lockley even know about the Underground, let alone the entrance.
   We eventually got to the entrance, it was covered up with a large rug just the way I left it. “When Tex and diana were here in the warehouse, they were always gone for most of the night, so I began to wonder where they were,” Mrs. Lockley told him. “One night I found the entrance, I assumed Tex found a way to escape, but when they kept coming and going I knew they were up to something.”
     “Thank you Mrs. Lockley,” said Trent. “I’ll just go through that little door?” He asked, pointing to the rug.
      “Yes, and be careful. I might not know much about the Underground, but I don’t think they’ll be welcoming you with open arms.”
      “I can handle them,” he said, walking through the entrance. “And thank you.”
        “Good luck.”

                                                                *
 
       “She’s waking up Peter! I saw her eyelids open a little!”
     I slowly opened my eyes a tiny bit, I could see a blurred version of Diana at the edge of the bed I was laying in. From what I could feel, I had bandages all over my legs and arms. I could feel a wet cloth on my left eye, and my stomach was wrapped up in cloth.
    I saw Peter come rushing in along with Lt. Craig to my bed. Both of them looked frantic. Lt. Craig looked like he hadn’t had any sleep, and Peter’s face looked red , possibly from crying.
    “Where is the nurse?” I heard Peter ask. “She’s still bleeding. Look at her stomach, it hasn’t stopped.”
    “She went to get some clean cloths,” said Diana. “She’ll be back soon.” Peter knelt down next to me and started to massage my head.
     “How are you feeling?” He asked me.
     “ Like I’ve been beaten, which I have.”
     “The important thing is that you’re alive,” Lt. Craig said. “ If you hadn’t got here when you did, your condition would’ve been way worse.”
     “Ms. Stephens hasn’t even heard about this yet,” said Diana. “ She took a trip to the Las Vegas Underground, she won’t be back till tonight.”
       “How long have I been here?” I asked them.
      “Two days,” Peter said.
        “Seriously? The last things I remember was…” Then it finally hit me, I hadn’t even seen Trent . “Where is he?” All three of their reactions to my question looked very suspicious. They began to tense up and were muttering random stuff.
       “Where is who?” Lt. Craig asked me with a pitiful excuse of an innocent voice.
      “Haha,” Diana said with a suspicious laugh. “What are you talking about?”
      “Tex, you’re probably under a lot of meds,” said Peter.
        “No I’m not. You all know who I’m talking about. Trent brought me here and I haven’t seen him, and you guys must know. So where is he?”
         “Well,” Diana sighed. “We should probably tell her.”
            “Tell me what? Where he is?”
           “You might wanna sit down for this,” said Peter.
             “I’m already sitting down. Now tell me what’s going on.”
            “Ok , just promise not to kill us,” Burt said.
            “I make no promises. Now spill it.”
            “Trent is in custody,” Diana told me. “He’s going to be executed tomorrow morning.” Like usual, I froze. Not by fear, but by anger, and I was more than angry.
      I was furious!
     “By whose orders?!?!” I yelled, resulting in extra pain in my body.
   “I did it Tex,” Peter said. “Trent is a terrorist, he cannot be trusted.”
   “If you guys didn’t notice, he brought me here. He saved me from dying, and that’s the way you repay him?”
    “Peter had every right to,” said Lt. Craig. “Trent and Peter were in a fight.”
    “What about?” I asked them. 
     “When Trent brought you here, he wanted to bring you into the infirmary,”  Diana said. “But Peter took you out of his arms and kicked him away. Trent got mad, and started fighting off the other guards to get to him. And once Peter set you down on a bed, he went right in and tried to get Trent away, but he wouldn’t leave. So after a few punches, Peter knocked him out and threw him into the execution room.” Although I was in a lot of pain, I still had the strength to sit up, and yell at my so-called friends.
   “How could you do that!” I yelled. “He brought me here, you get ready to execute him, and you think that’s a good thing?”
      “How are we gonna get it into your head?!?” Peter yelled at me. “He’s a terrorist, he kills people. This is what he deserves!”
      “No it’s not. He wants to help us, now let him go.”
       “We can’t do that, but we can allow you to see him,” Lt. Craig said to me. “He is going to die, and there is no way to prevent it.” Then, Diana nudged Lt. Craig, trying to remind him of something else.
     “You forget to tell her the other detail,” she said.
     “Oh what is it  Di? Is the other detail that I have to kill him myself?” I only meant it as a harmless joke, but the three of their faces didn’t exactly have a joking expression. “Oh geez, was I right? Do I have to do it?”
        “It’s the rule. Since you and him kinda had a relationship, you have to do it so you won’t be considered a traitor also,” Peter said.
     “Well I won’t do it. I won’t kill Trent.”
      “If you don’t then you’ll be executed yourself,” said Diana. “I wish it didn’t have to be like this Tex, but it is. It’s either him or you.”
         “How do I have to kill him? A gun?”
         “Any weapon of your choice,” Lt. Craig said. “Even though a gun would get the job done though.”
      There was no chance in the world I wanted to do this. If I ended up killing him, It would be like putting a knife through my own heart. That would be a wound that would never heal. I had to kill my boyfriend, and it was the hardest decision I had to make. Diana and them  probably thought that since I killed his best friend, it should be easy for me, but it would only make it worse. “Fine,” I said. “I’ll do it, but I want an hour to talk to him before. He needs to know.”
      “That’s fine with me, you can see him right after he finishes his last meal,”  Lt. Craig said in a joyful tone. “Oh I forgot for a minute that this was a painful conversation, pardon me.” Then he walked out of the infirmary.
     “You know,” Diana started out. “Sometimes he’s a great guy, but other times he could be a jerk without realizing it.”
     “Apparently,” Peter said. “ Diana , you stay with Tex until it’s time to see him. I have to go take care of some technical stuff with Prez.” Peter kissed me on the forehead, and waved goodbye as he walked out.
    “I can’t believe he thinks this is what is best,” I blurted out.
     “He’s just trying to protect you, you can’t blame him for that.”
       “I should be able to make my own decisions around here. Di, at first you encouraged me about Trent.”
      “I did, but now your life's on the line, and I’d honestly rather have him die than you.”
      “Oh but he’s not gonna die, and neither am I.”
      “What do you mean by that I’m afraid to ask?”
      “Let’s just say I have a little plan up my sleeve.”
                                                                           

    A few hours later,  some of the bandages on me were ready to come off. I still was very sore, but I was able to walk down to the execution room with Lt. Craig. It either him or Peter walk me down, and me and Peter were not on speaking terms; so Lt. Craig was all I got.
       The execution room was a part of the underground I had never seen before, the rest of the Underground had light bulbs on the side of the walls; farther down it was just candles used for lighting. Lt. Craig kept insisting on leading me around, thinking I’d fall the minute he’d let go. I was still angry at him for actually being okay with all of this , and he knew it.    If he thought being nice to me would make me forgive him, then he was dead wrong. “I could’ve walked down here myself you know,” I said to him.
     “True, but we had to take extra precautions because of your feelings for him,” he said. “We don’t want you letting him out.”
   “Yeah like I’d even get away with it,” I said in a smart alec way.
    “I’m starting to think Commander Stephens was right about you.”
     “Right about what?”
      “When she first told me about you, about how you tied in with the prophecy; I was excited to train you. Now, after your love life getting in the way, I  believe she was wrong. I don’t think you are the one that fulfills the prophecy.”
    “Well I don’t care about that prophecy, or her for the matter . I might be good with my fist and sais, but none of this is me. I’m just a teenager, I’m supposed to have fun; not kill people for a living.”
    “Is Trent the only thing that you care about now? What about you country and Peter? You’re just gonna abandon them for some guy?”
    “Of course not! I will fight against Alsi with all of you, because I want him gone just as much as you do. I haven’t forgotten who caused all of this, and I never will. You and the others just need to stop expecting so much of me, this entire war has nearly broke me over all these months. Trent was one of the only things that actually put a smile on my face.”
    “And you forgive him after all he has done?”
     “He joined the TALI HAD to prove himself, he now knows that was a mistake.”
      “Interesting, but I’m still gonna look forward to his execution.”
   He didn’t say anything else for the rest of the way, I made it very clear that I was not going to forgive him or Peter for a very long time.
      We got to a steel door, that Trent was obviously in there because I could hear him yelling, “let me out”, multiple times. I ran to the door and tried to open it but it wouldn’t budge.
      “Let me in there,” I told the guards right by the door. They both looked at  Lt. Craig for permission,the Lt. Craig nodded his head. “Now that you got permission to open it , open the darn thing.” they slowly opened the door and I walked in. The room was much bigger than I expected, it was as big as my old classroom. It was dark though, it took awhile for my eyes to adjust to the darkness. As I walked further into it , I saw Trent huddled up in a corner. “Trent?”
       He immediately looked up, his face looking half surprised and relieved.  Peter was right, they did get in a fight. He had a really bad black eye, and bruises all over his arms. He tried to get up, but he couldn’t. He was too weak.
      I walked toward him, and knelt beside him. “You look terrible,” he said.
      “You don’t look so good yourself,” I told him.
       “What did the nurses say? Are you gonna be okay?”
     “If I wasn’t okay, I wouldn’t be here. All I know is that i feel like a mummy with all these bandages on me.”
       “I didn’t mean it that way. I meant are you gonna be okay? Feeling wise?” Then he grabbed my hand and began to go over my fingers.
         “I don’t know, I feel like I’m broke. Physically and mentally..”
       “That’s war. It changes you and plays tricks on your mind. I know it did on mine; whenever I heard lightning I freak out.”
         “Now everything is getting worse. They’ve asked me to do a horrid thing.”
         “To execute me?”
          “To execute------wait what?”
            “Alsi always did the same thing to prove loyalty. I knew they were gonna tell you to do it .”
      “Well I’m not going to. I have a plan, we’re both gonna get out of here alive.”
      “And how do you plan on doing that?”
     “When everyone is watching, and when Stephens and Lt. Craig least expect it...I’m gonna kill them. It’ll buy us time to get out of there, grab a car, and head up to Canada.” Trent's eyes widened, for a minute he looked like he didn’t even know me.
   “No.”
     “What?”
     “No. I’m not gonna let you doing something you’ll regret, that will make everyone hate you. You can’t take that risk.”
         “I don’t care. They can stop Alsi without me, they’ll be fine.”
            “No they can’t stop him without you and I know it. Tex, you have to do this.” I could feel tears forming in my eyes, Trent wanted me to do this.  I buried me head in his shoulder and began to cry.
       “I don’t want to lose you,” I cried. “No again.”
        “Hey, you won’t lose me. When you’re out there fighting against Alsi, I’ll always be there… I’ll always love you.” Then he reached into his pants pocket, and pulled out a very familiar ring. “Remember this?”
          “The ring I got in San Francisco. I thought I lost it.”
           “You left it at my house.  I was gonna give it to you sooner, but Alsi ambushed us.”
           “Well I certainly remember that.”
            “I want you to wear it when the execution starts. It’s something to remember me by.”
       “But…”
       “No buts, I’m not gonna let you ruin your life for me. I’m just glad we were able to get back together.”
         “So much has changed you know. In the beginning all I cared about was getting info and working at the weaponry for the Underground. The next thing I know I killed a person for the first time in my entire life. I also helped save the President, save two homeless kids that are now being trained for the Underground, and save my best friend from drowning.”
     “You’ve helped a lot of people, including me. You helped me get back on track, and I wouldn’t trade our time together for anything.”
         “Neither would I. I just can’t believe this is the end.”
         “ It’s not the end, just remember I’ll always be here.” We then kissed, it just felt so horrible to say goodbye.

The morning of the execution came, almost everyone was excited .   Some of the new recruits wanted to make a little extra money, so they were selling popcorn for all the viewers. Why did everyone  think that this was like an entertaining circus?  
       Diana had to force me to get out of bed, but before that Peter dumped a bucket of water over my head so I would wake up. I didn’t even want see the light of day. I was dreading what was going to happen in a few hours.
      For thirty minutes straight Diana was helping me with my clothes and makeup while Stephens was telling me what to say. “ I will announce the crimes that  Trent has committed,” she said. “Then after I’m done, you will draw your weapon out and kill him in the name of justice. Do I make myself clear?”
      “Yeah sure,” I said sarcastically.
       “You’re not even listening to me are you?”
        “I’m sorry did you say something?” I said with a grin.
       “Now listen here Text. In two hours we will all be in the execution room waiting for you to kill Trent. Once that is over we will begin our last attack against Alsi...and we will kill him.”
        “And you listen. This isn’t fun for me, I never wanted to do this, and it’s gonna be hard enough. So don’t piss me off more than you already have.” Stephens threw her hands up in annoyance and stormed out of the room. On the other side I could hear her yell to someone , “ she is the most ignorant teenager I have known in my entire life”.
       “I know you’re upset Tex,” said Diana. “But you shouldn’t snap at everybody.”
       “Well I have every right. Everyone is making me do something I don’t want to do… including Trent.” Diana stopped what she was doing and sat down beside me and put her hand on my shoulder.
        “You never told me what Trent and you talked about. What did he say?”
         “ I told him I wanted to get away from here and kill Stephens so we wouldn’t have to worry about anything. We could be alone. But he said he wouldn’t want me to do that, he’d rather me kill him.”
        “He doesn’t want you to ruin your life.”
        “That’s exactly what he said.”
         “I don’t think I can do it Di,” I cried into her shoulder. “How can I kill someone I love?”
         “In a few years you’ll look back on this and it may hurt. But after Alsi is dead, many things we have done will be worth it.”
           “Maybe you’re right, but it still hurts.”
         “It’ll be over soon.”
           I turned to face the mirror, and took a good look at myself. It was hard to believe that all the changes in my life only took place for a few  months. It was obvious that I was a different person. In the beginning, I wanted someone dead; I wanted someone to feel the pain that I had when I saw my parents  dead and under a bunch of rubble. We'll Alsi definitely felt pain, my pain. When Jason died I was sure that Alsi would go on a killing spree, but all he wanted was to see the Lioness dead.
          I remember that I couldn’t forgive myself for killing Jason. I kept telling myself   he deserved to die, but it still didn’t feel right. The truth is, is that no one has to die.  Yeah Jason was a killer, but did he really have to die? I killed him to save Diana, but it sucked to have to choose whether to take a life, or let someone lose it. Trent didn’t have to die,  but everyone thought that killing him would be justice. Yes, he did some horrible things; but haven’t we all? Everyone has done things that they regret, and they want to be forgiven. Second chances is what the United States was all about, people seemed to have forgotten that. What kind of country would we be if we didn’t hold to our values?
        My mind was already made up. I would go in the execution room, grab a weapon… then improvise. In my heart I knew there was a way to avoid bloodshed, it just wasn’t a very smart idea.
    Ok, more like a dumb idea.
     But the more I thought about, it began to make a little more sense. How could I change the world if I acted exactly the way it did or wanted me to act? The only reason our country even existed was because a few men went on a limb,  saying that they wanted to be there own country and not be like everyone else. Who expected them to do that? So I thought, if the most famous men our country has ever known took a chance for liberty, I could take  a chance too.
    “Diana.” I said, coming out of the zone. “I’m ready to do this.”
    “ Ok, and I’ll be there with you,” she said to me. “I’m gonna help you get through this.”
    “You better.”
    “So you wanna wear your corset blouse?”
     “The  corset blouse.”
      Of course I had to look my best… for maybe one of the most craziest stunts I ever pulled in my life!
                                                                 *
     The execution room had people pouring in from all sides. Fold up chairs were lined up facing the stage where the execution was supposed to take place. On the left side of the stage was a pole where Trent was supposed to be tied up, and on the right side had a table covered in all kinds of weapons for me.
     Peter and Diana came in together to find a front row seat. Unlike everyone else in the room, they were not looking forward to the execution, mostly because I was giving them such a hard time about it.
      “When is Stephens and Lt. Craig gonna come in?” Diana asked Peter.
        “In a few minutes,” he said. “I think she’s just going over her speech with Lt. Craig.”
   “She sure wants everything to be picture perfect doesn’t she?”
    “Well her last execution didn’t go well, so I can understand her wanting to be a success this time.”
      “What happened the last time?”
       “ We had an enemy spy in the Underground. Stephens decided she wanted to be the one to kill him. She picked out a gun, pulled the trigger…. And missed. She hates it when she messes something up.”
      “Well someone ended up killing the guy right?”
       “Yeah, Burt was the one that shot him. But ever since then, some people of the underground lost faith in Stephens. They thought she was too nervous. She thinks that by making Tex kill Trent will strengthen the undergrounds view of her.”
        “Possibly.” The Diana looked down toward the ground, obviously worried about something. “Do you think she’ll be ok after this?” Peter obviously didn’t want to talk about it, so he got up from his chair; but Diana pulled him back down. “Peter, we’re gonna have to talk about it sooner or later. I know you worried about Tex just as much as I am.”
       “She’s still angry at me, I don’t know how she’s going to act towards me after the execution.”
             “She’s been mad at you before, she’s not one to hold a grudge.”
              “Diana , those were just little fights. This is about her being forced to kill her boyfriend. I don’t think she’ll ever look at me the same.”
          “Tex loves you. That’s never gonna change.”
          “That love can very easily turn into hate.”  Peter didn’t know if that was true or not, he wanted to believe that nothing was going to change between me and him. He just wasn’t sure.
        A few minutes later , Burt and Prez walked in and sat next to Diana and Peter. The two men didn’t seem happy about the upcoming activity either, more like gloomy. Prez didn’t even shave; he was so scruffy looking. Burt on the other hand did shave, he just didn’t put on any day clothes. All he had on was his long pajamas, and no shoes.
        “So how are you kids doing?” Prez asked Diana and Peter.
        “Stressed,” they answered in unison.
        “That’s how we feel right now too,” said Burt. “And not just about the execution about that young boy.”
       “What else?” Peter asked.
        “ Well did Stephens tell about the attack we’re gonna make against Alsi really soon?” Prez asked.
      “  Yeah, right after the execution,” said Diana.
       Burt and Prez leaned in closer so no one else could hear them except Diana and Peter. “We’re not supposed to tell anyone yet,” whispered Prez. “ But Alsi is doing a dedication in City Hall in honor of himself. It’s going to be a plaque… I have a picture of it if you want to see it.”  Prez pulled his phone out of his pocket and showed them the picture.
       Diana and Peter gasped at the sight of the picture: it was a golden plaque  in the shape of a square, with the United States in the middle of it. But the TALIHAD flag was covering every bit of the US like a dark shadow. For once the US looked evil. “ How horrible.” Diana said to herself.
       “So we’re gonna stop him from putting that up?” Peter asked.
            “And possibly stop him for good,” said Burt.
            “What about the other states?”  Asked Diana. “They’re controlled by his captains .”
             “ We’re figuring that Alsi is like a ringleader in a circus , once he is stopped… they will all stop,” Prez shrugged.
       Before they could all finish the conversation, a drum roll rang out in the room.
        Commander Stephens was coming in.
     Everyone was cheering her name as she was walking through the room.   She stepped onto the stage, wearing a very classy brown blazer and pants to match. For once, her hair was actually neat; all in a bun. Lt. Craig stayed way in the back, being a  part of the cheering audience.
        Stephens put her hands in the air, trying to settle the audience down. And once they were all done, she began to speak.  “Good morning everyone,” she began. “ As many of you know, we have done executions in the past. Only because there were traitors in our midst at the time, and thank heavens we disposed of them. Today we execute the adopted son of our main enemy… Trent Dawson!”
      Lt. Craig then came onto the stage with two other soldiers, carrying Trent by the arms. The majority of the audience was booing at Trent and cussing him out as the soldiers were tying him up to the pole, but Diana and the others just had guilty looks on their faces.  Trent didn’t look in good shape at all.  His face was all blackened and bruised, obviously some people wanted to have a little fun beating him up. He was wandering his eyes around the room, possibly looking for me.
       Stephens knelt down and took a good look at Trent, then stood up facing the audience. “This young man here,” she spoke out. “Is guilty of murder and treason against the  United States of America.And today he will pay the price.” She then knelt down again and whispered into Trent's ear.
        “Tex can’t get out of killing you this time,” she said. “So you better say your prayers.”
         “I know she’ll do what she has to do. You don’t have to remind me .”
      “Oh I’m not reminding you, I’m just showing you how much falling in love can pay off. Oh and guess what, it doesn’t pay off!” She slapped him clear across the face. “The time has come to show those terrorists that they can’t break us! And we are not weak! With the death of Trent Dawson, we will show that we will kill anyone who stands in our way!”
   With that cue, Lt. Craig motioned me to come in.
         As I walked up to the stage, people were gaping a me because of my look. I had my corset blouse on, red lipstick plus green eyeshadow, ripped black jeans, and leather boots that went all the way up to my knees.
  It might have been my boyfriends execution, but that’s no excuse for not wearing anything fashionable.
      I held my head high, doing my best to act cool and collected. I knew I looked great, but I was shakin all inside.
     Ok pull it together Tex! This isn’t your first rodeo---ok it is , but that’s beside the point.
    As I got closer to the stage, I could see Peter having to do a double take; Burt and Prez did the same thing. Diana just smiled; basically saying, “you go girl”. When the majority of the people in the room were looking at me in amazement, Stephens was looking at me with a demanding expression.
       Trent  didn’t seem to have much strength to keep his head help up, but he managed. When he heard the oohs and ahhs in the crowd, he slowly lifted his head up and looked at me. I did my best to avoid eye contact, looking at him would make me lose my nerve. But I couldn’t help looking at him only for a second.
   I stepped onto the stage , and  Stephens shook my hand. “You should be happy that you're the one to do this,” she said to me. “I know I would.”
     “I guess that’s because you don’t have a heart...Commander.” I walked away from her and went towards the table with all the weapons.
  There was quite a selection.
    Daggers, guns, bows and arrows, staffs, and even swords were laid out all over the table. It looked like the clearance table at Bass Pro.
    “You will choose one weapon Ms. Burns,” Stephens said. “Then you may fire whenever you’re ready.” I stroked my hands over each weapon very slowly, wanting to be sure I picked the right one. I was kinda glad they didn’t have any sais laid out; I honestly didn’t want to see any again. Close to two minutes of looking at the choices, I picked up a bow and one arrow.
      “I choose the bow and arrow.” I could see some people nodding their heads in agreement with my weapon of choice.
     “Good , now get ready.”
    I took my place on the opposite side of the stage from Trent. I got the bow and arrow ready to go and aimed. I was trying so hard to steady my breathing, I was panting like I just did a nonstop mile run. I could feel all the eyes on the audience on me. Everyone expected me to do this, but did I want to do this? All I could see was love in Trent's eyes for me. He wasn’t afraid to die, but I didn’t want him to. Would we really be proving something to Alsi and his little band of maniacs if we killed Trent. No we wouldn’t , we wouldn’t be any better than Alsi.

   We do not kill good people.
  It was time to put my plan into play.
I aimed straight at Trent and pulled the bow back.
Everyone was on the edge of their seats, contemplating where I was gonna hit him.
But at the last second, I changed my aim and fired.
The arrow landed only a few inches above Trent's head.

Clamor started throughout the whole room; they were either shocked or angry I didn’t hit him.  Peters and Diana's expressions were the same: relief.  However, Stephens Lt. Craig weren’t that happy about it either. They started to come toward me, but before they could I grabbed two daggers out of my boots and threw them toward Trent. The daggers landed on the rope that tied Trent,  and they fell off.
    Trent had the same expression as everyone else: shock. He ran toward me, grabbed a gun off the table, and got behind me. “Are you crazy?” He asked me. “Or do you have a death wish?”
      “You really thought I was gonna kill you? If you haven’t noticed already, I don’t let anyone tell me what to do.”
     “CAPTURE HIM!” Stephens yelled at LT. Craig. He lunged toward Trent, but I stepped in his path and used another dagger to slash his leg. I then punched Lt. Craig and kicked him off the stage .  Stephens ran toward me , with a dagger in her hand.
  She wasn’t trying to hurt me, she was trying to hurt Trent.
  I got in front of her and pointed a gun at her which I had hidden in my bra. “Stand back,” I told her.
    “If you don’t finish the job I will,” said Stephens.
    “If you come any closer I’ll blow your head off.” Then I held my gun up in the air, and shot it toward the ceiling. The room then silenced. I whispered to Trent, “Let me do all the talking.”
    “But…”
    “Zip it.” He bit his lip and  stepped back behind me. I walked to the edge of the stage  to face the people in the room. “Let me make it perfectly clear: if anyone hurts Trent in any way, I will kick there ass. And if anyone wants to keep one of their hands, they’ll listen to what I have to say.”
      I could see people whispering to each other in protest, but Peter stood up. “Hey!” He yelled. “Listen to my sister, or you’re gonna get something from me.” I nodded at him; his little stunt certainly earned him a couple pointers.
      “Thank you. Now look everybody, despite the evidence; Trent is not a horrible person.”
     Stephens was on the side of the stage against and coughed, “Beg to differ”.
     “Sorry lady but know one asked for your opinion,” Trent said to Stephens.
    I leaned back and whispered to Trent, “This is not helping your case”.
    “Sorry,” he said. “I’ll just...watch.”
     “Everyone, I know you have your reasons to judge Trent harshly; but I tell you there are more pros than cons. Some of you don’t know this but, Trent and me knew each other before Alsi took over.”
  “Wow. Shocker.”  Stephens rolled her eyes.
“Anyway,” I said, ignoring her. “ We were a thing for a long time. And we cared about each other; we had a lot of bumps in the road, but we  cared about each other… and still do. The year he left I was angry. I was upset that he didn’t have the guts to break things off with me personally. This year I finally realized, that he was upset at himself too. He felt like a coward, that’s why he joined the TALIHAD--maybe he went a little too far.  The majority of the people that joined the terrorist group wanted to prove that they were strong; it was a bad idea. I’m sure many of you wanted to prove something when you joined the Underground.  Wanted to prove you were strong? Courageous, clever?”
    I could see some people nodding their heads in agreement.     
“ I admit, Trent has done some bad things; but haven’t we all?  We have all done things we regret; some worse than others. I’m sure Stephens and Lt. Craig did some things in the past that they regret.”  I turned around and saw Lt. Craig agreeing to my speech; he was smiling at me in proudness. The only one that wasn’t happy was Stephens. “ I’m not saying all this stuff because I happen to love Trent. I’m saying this because he is just a 16 year old boy who got caught up in a mess  and  was brainwashed  by horrible people. So please , don’t kill him or me; just  try to understand.”
      I grabbed two more dagger off the table , grabbed Trent and headed for the exit. Everyone was so quiet as we walked out, I was beginning to think that I hadn’t  got through to them. Trent didn’t really say anything either,  he was just following my lead.
    But the second I turned to door knob, an outrageous applause broke out.
   I turned around and saw everyone standing up clapping their hands.
  “Am I hallucinating or are they clapping for us?”  Trent whispered to me.
   “No it’s real.” I said, barely breathing. 
    Burt and Prez ran toward me and Trent , and Burt shook Trent's hand. “My boy,” Burt started out with. “I knew with all my heart she wasn’t going to kill you. Tex is too smart to listen  to  Commander Diva .”
   “I am deeply sorry for all the trouble---.”
   “Save it bud,” Prez said. “Saving Tex from Alsi certainly earned you a few pointers.”
    “Thanks for not being on Stephen's’ side guys,” I said. “It means alot.”
    Diana and Peter then ran to all of us from the front of the room. “Tex that was amazing,” Diana said. “That speech...truly an inspiration.”
     “Guess those practice debate speeches paid off,” I laughed.
      “You were really brave Tex,” Peter said to me sheepishly.
I hugged him. “Thank you for sticking up for me.”
“Hey, anything for my little sister.”
“So what happens now?” Diana asked.
  “Well judging on the crowd's reaction to my little speech; I guess we’re all in the clear,” I said.
   As I turned around, I saw Stephens and Lt. Craig come toward the group of us. “Mr. Dawson,” Stephens said to Trent.
    “What do you want Stephens?” I asked her.
   “I came over here to tell Trent that what’s done is done. I don’t want my own underground to turn against me;  so I’m play the good cop when it comes to you.” Stephens said to him.
“ You are very mature for your age Tex,” Lt. Craig said. “ I’m sorry it took  a long time for me to realize it.”
    “So Trent if you want to officially be part of the Underground, you can be.”
    “Thank you Ms. Stephens.” Lt. Craig's phone rang; we were so distracted by his ringtone(it was an opera ringtone),  we all stopped talking.
     “He seriously has got to change that,” I whispered to Diana.
      “Hello?” Lt. Craig started talking on the phone. “ Yes, this is Lt. Craig...what happened...how big is it? There’s a timer on it? And a tape recorder? Yes, I’ll be there as soon as i can. Just do not touch it.” Then Lt. Craig hanged up.
     “Lt. Craig what is it?” Stephens asked him.
     “Something  is seriously wrong,” he said.
       “Well tell us man,” Peter said. Lt. Craig was beginning to have sweat drip down his face; and any minute it looked like he was about to hyperventilate.
       “ The entrance from the women's warehouse; apparently two of the guards found a… a bomb.”
     All of our eyes widened.
   “Well why didn’t they get rid of it?” Diana asked Lt. Craig.
      “ If they touch it , it will explode. And there is a timer that’s already begun; the timer has 45 minutes on it.”
       “Is there any way to detonate it?” I asked.
      “Unfortunately, we do not have a bomb expert; so we don’t even know,” said Stephens.
      “So what do we do?” Trent asked.
       “We must go and examine the bomb,” Lt. Craig said. He motioned to Burt, “Burt, go announce to everyone that we must evacuate the Underground immediately. Make sure everyone goes to the south  exit , and we will all leave together.”
     “Yes sir,” Burt said; and went to tell the others.
     “The rest of us will go look at the bomb.”
      All of us tried not to show it, but we were all terrified. I wondered what would happen if we left our Underground behind.   Where would we go? Would we be safe? I knew we couldn’t take everything we had there;  I honestly would miss the place. Honestly, it began to feel like home.
       
                                                                         *
           We all made our way to where the bomb was; we could see everyone running to the south exit with their belongings. And we were all running to the bomb; with the timer already ticking we had to hurry: we had to see the bomb, listen to the recording, and high tail it outta there.
        “Since we’re gonna have to leave.” Diana said to me. “ Where will we go?”
           “I have no idea,” I said. “Guess we’ll worry about it later.”
             “Sorry girls, but less talking, more running,” Stephens said to us.
              “The guards told me 10 minutes ago that the timer was already at 45 minutes;  so now it must be around 35  minutes,” Lt. Craig said.
        We hurried best we could,  then we finally got there. The two guards that notified Lt. Craig were  standing very far away from the bomb.
      Cowards, I thought.
       One of the guards shrugged. “You told us not to touch it,” he said to Lt. Craig.
       “You guys go to great lengths don’t you?” Prez said sarcastically. The bomb was in the middle of the floor; it seemed to be a big black, metal box with a timer with red numbers decreasing.
         “ Do you want to see the tape recorder Commander?” The other guard asked.
       “Why do you think we came here?” She said. The guard handed her the tape recorder and Stephens pressed play.
       “Hello San Jose Underground.” It was Alsi’s voice inside the tape recorder. “If you are listening to this, then that means the bomb has reached its target. Honestly, it did take a long time to figure out where an entrance was to your pitiful underground; but luckily one of the women from the warehouse told us...all it took was a little persuasion, if you know what I mean. By doing this, I can finally get rid of you. Even if some of you get out alive, I’ll kill you.... Oh, and tell Trent if he should die; good riddance. And as for Ms. Burns; she can go to hell as far as I’m concerned.”  The recording then stopped.
    “Well that was some goodbye,” Peter said.
      “Even if we do get out of here in time, Alsi is gonna be waiting outside for us,” I said. “What are we gonna do?”
          “There are four exits total in the Underground, and he only knows about the one in the warehouse. We’ll go through another exit and we’ll be fine,” said Stephens.
         “Guys, there are 20 minutes left on the timer we gotta go,” Trent said.
          “The hunk is right,” Prez said. We all rolled our eyes from that remark. “We have to get all that we can carry.”
       “Correct,” Lt. Craig said. “Tex, Diana, Peter, and Trent: head to the weaponry and grab as many weapons as possible. I’ll assign some other guards to grab some more. Hurry!”
    The four of us ran as fast as we could to the weaponry, knowing there was a timer on our lives.

             The weaponry was mostly picked over; it seemed some other people had the same idea as Lt. Craig. None of us had time to be picky; we had to get weapons and skedaddle. Peter tried to keep it simple: one pistol, one dagger, and one meschede in a bag on his back. Diana decided to use her staff again. She also grabbed two daggers and a modernized sword. Trent grabbed two pistols and put them in his holster around his waist. And I put one dagger in each of my boots, put a quiver full of arrows on my back, and grabbed a sturdy bow.
      “Well this should be enough,” I said.
      “More than enough to be honest,” said Diana.
      The speaker in the room began to chime; meaning that someone was about to speak. “Attention all Underground.” It was Burt's voice. “The bomb will go off in 13 minutes, we will evacuate in 5 minutes.”
        “We better go,” Trent said. The three of them ran out of the room like there was no tomorrow, but I stayed in a little bit longer. I remember when I first saw that room. Half of me was angry; half of me was scared.  The second I saw it, I wanted to grab a weapon and just lung at Alsi. He hurt my life so much; I just wanted him to feel the pain I felt. For months, being in the Underground made me feel so many kinds of emotions. Anger, pain, depression, and very rarely love.
    I just stood there, looking at the bare shelves.
      “Everything is gonna be ok Tex.” I turned around to see Trent standing behind me. “It’s ok to be scared; I’m scared too.”
         “You know for a few minutes I thought that this whole war was almost over; but it’s not even close.”
      “Some wars take a long time to finish; but it will be over eventually I promise.” We kissed, and it kinda made me feel a little bit better. Then we both headed out .
       He knew the direction that Diana and Peter headed, so I followed him down the long and narrow hallway.  We were running like crazy and it was really hard for me because my boots had really high heels.
       We got to a big steel door that was already open a little. We both assumed that most of the people were already out, so we just went on ahead.
          When we got outside, the sun shined brightly in our faces; it felt good to feel the heat of  sun on my skin. But the enjoyment was cut short when we had guns pointed right at us.
   We were surrounded by Alsis soldiers.
     There was no chance that we could fight against all of them; there were twelve guards surrounding us. We just stood there with a blank face. Alsi  walked through the circle of men and came toward.
    “Well Ms. Burns,” Alsi said. “How nice to see you again.”
      “Alsi-----” I began to say.
    “Aww you’re all choked up,” he said. “I guess you’re afraid I’ll give you another beating. Oh but I promise; the next beating you have you won’t recover from.”
       “Back off Alsi,” Trent said.
       “ Oh i’m sorry Trent; but now I don’t want to listen to a word you say.”
        “What are you gonna do to us?” I asked. Alsi walked closer to me; and brushed his rough hand down my cheek.
        “My dear girl; at least you won’t die alone.” He motioned me to look straight, and I did. I saw a black van with Peter and Diana inside of it.
         “Well apparently we went the wrong way,” I whispered to Trent.
        “No kidding,” Trent said.
        “Guards!” Alsi yelled. “Put these two in the van with the rest of their friends. And strip them of their weapons.” The guards took all our weapons away, and forcefully grabbed us and shoves us in the van.
      Peter waved his hand to me. “So how’s it going,” he said to me sarcastically.
     “Oh shut up.”
                                                            
         
           Alsi took us back to his house at Apple Grove so he could keep us locked up. Half of me was a little relieved however; because Alsi didn’t capture the entire Underground. There was a slight possibility that Stephens and the others would find out where we were and come and save us. But knowing how selfish Stephens was; she probably wouldn’t care what would happen to us.
     About half an hour later, we got to the house. Four guards came into the van once it stopped driving, and knocked us out one by one. When they were getting ready to knock me out, Peter tried with all his might to get to me; but a soldier got to him faster.
        Once they hit me on the back of the head with a rock; everything went black.

           I didn’t wake up until the next morning. I looked up and saw the sun shining through a sky roof above me. We were in a room I’ve never seen before. There was no window, no door; but for excuses for walls. The walls were just loose wooden boards that barely stood.
        I wasn’t tied up with wire this time; I was tied up with rope. So were the others. Our wrists were tied, our ankles were tied. All we could do was lay on the ground and squirm. Diana was slowly coming to; the boys were completely out of it.  “Di wake up,” I said to her.
            “Whaaaaaat?” She said. She was still half asleep. She did her best to sit up; tried to rub her eyes, but then remembered that her hands were tied. “Well this is certainly uncomfortable.”
           “We need to get out of here. I hate being tied up,” I said. Diana circled her head around the room; then looked at me.
         “Is this the room where Alsi beat you?”
          “No. He beat me in the basement, and I want to do my best to forget about it.”
          “What’s going on?” We both turned around to see Peter and Trent wide awake.
         “What did you say Trent?” Diana asked.
        “How long did you guys let us sleep?” Peter asked us.
     “...Barely five minutes,” I said. I saw Trent squirm his way to a loose board that you could barely see through. “Trent what can you see?”
         “Two guards smoking. But I don’t see anyone else.”
          “What about our weapons?” Peter said. “Can you see them out there?” Trent looked back out and back to us.
     “Yup, they’re on the table.”
        “We  need to untie ourselves,” Diana said.
       “Way to point out the obvious Diana,” Peter said sarcastically.
       “Guys wait a second,” I said. “ I just remembered that I have a pocket knife inside my bra. Diana if you just turn around and try to grab it.” I was able to get on my knees; to make it easier for Diana. She turned around and did her best to feel around for the knife.
        “I..I can’t reach it.”
         “Try harder,” I said. Suddenly, just when Diana was about to touch...Alsi came through the wooden loose plank. Diana immediately took her hand out of my top (yea, I know it sounds weird).
            “Trent ,” Alsi said. “I need you to come with me...now.”
           “I would Alsi, but my hands and feet are tied...literally.”
           “Oh yes of course,” he said. Alsi took out a dagger and sliced through the ropes surrounding Trent's ankles. “Now, you can come with me.” Trent was hesitant to follow him; he looked to me for advice.
      “I nodded to him, basically saying, ‘it’s ok, we will get out of here together’. He nodded back, and followed Alsi out of the room .
      “Do you think he’s gonna kill him?” I asked; for sure that Alsi was away.
     “Well let’s just say I don’t think Alsi just wants a little chat,” Peter said to me.

         Trent followed Alsi all the way to his study. He couldn’t believe he used to call this big, empty mansion home. Trent was beginning to see things in a brand new light: everything that he used to follow was evil.  He still couldn’t believe that he used to think of Jonathan Alsi as an adoptive father, who wanted to teach Trent how to get some real guts.
       Alsi opened the doors to his study and let Trent inside the room first, and then he went in. He motioned Trent to sit down in front of his desk, and Alsi sat behind it. “Sooooo….” Alsi wasn’t nervous to talk to Trent at all. He just wanted Trent to start the conversation.
       “What do you want me to say Alsi?” Trent asked.
      “ What do you want to say Trent?” Asked Alsi. “Heaven knows that you have a bundle to say to my face.”
      “How do I know that my words won’t get me killed?”
     “Oh I’m not gonna kill because you may bad mouth me. I’m going to kill you for treason.”
      “The only way I’m guilty for treason, is for betraying the USA. But if you want to kill me...get on with it!”
     “I wanted to talk to you first.  So like I said before; what do you want to say?”
     “Ok fine...There has been one question that i’ve been meaning to ask you for a long time.”
      “What is it?”
     “ I understand you were devastated that your family died, but that was a long time ago. You know that killing thousands of people and claiming territory won’t bring them back. So why do you keep on going with these countless massacres?”
     “Why,” he chuckled. “Because the world needs to feel the pain that I felt. For me, it feels like eternal suffering. So I want  everyones lives to be a living hell; like mine.”
          “That is no excuse to kill innocent people.”
         “No one is really innocent Trent. Some people are merely kinder than others.” Alsi got up from his desk and went to one of his book shelves. He picked up a picture frame; there was a picture of Jason inside of it. “Don’t you even miss him Trent? Don’t you remember seeing him die?”
        “Of course I remember Alsi. I do miss him; he was like a brother to me. I just wish he could’ve have seen how blindsided he was … by you.” Alsi shrugged; trying to let that remark slide.
           “Do you remember who killed him? The Lioness of course.”
         “Tex did to do what she had to do, to save Diana. I probably would’ve done the same thing.”
         “No matter how much you deny it, Tex is still the Lioness...and will always be.”
       “You know what Alsi,” Trent said; literally standing up to Alsi. “Tex is the Lioness, and that is nothing to be ashamed of. She is strong! She is a vision, a warrior,  a fighter, and my girlfriend!” Trent pushed Alsi so hard, he fell back on the bookshelves. Alsi lunged at Trent and  they both landed on top of his desk.
         “Tex needs to pay for what she’s done!” Alsi yelled in Trent's face.
          “Tex isn’t the one that killed your family!” For only a second, it looked like Alsis facial expression softened. He softened his grip on Trent. “I understand that what happened to your family was horrible. I would be angry too. Still , it is no excuse to do what you’re doing.”
     Alsi looked away. “Trent… if you had a family of your own you would understand. A person must do what they must do to help their family, and I plan to avenge my family!”
     Of course, they began fighting again. For a while, it was nothing but left hooks and jabs in the stomach. Either one of the guys were on the table, or against the bookshelf, or down on the floor.
        When Alsi pinned Trent down on the ground, he held Trent's head face down. He was holding Trent down so hard, you could even hear him gasping.
       And just when Trent was about to lose consciousness, Burt and Lt. Craig bursted through the door.
      “Get away from him Alsi!” Burt yelled and pointed his gun at Alsi. Alsi ducked under the  table, and Trent ran to Lt. Craig and Alsi.
       “How did you guys know we were here?” Trent asked.
      “Tex apparently didn’t know that that little microphone necklace she has, has a little tracker inside of it,” said Lt. Craig.
     “Lt. Craig,” Burt said. “You should stay and deal with Alsi.  Me and Trent will go outside and help the others.” Trent tried to talk , but Burt rushed him out of the room like there was no tomorrow. As they were running , Burt quickly handed Trent two pistols.
       “Burt we need to get Tex and the others!” Trent yelled. “They’re tied up upstairs.”
       “Don’t worry,” he said. “Stephens already got  them out. They’re out fighting with the rest of the underground.”
        “Why don’t we just leave? Now?”
         “We thought we should just fight against the terrorists now, and not wait for Alsi to show that pathetic plaque to everyone.”
         “Yeah I always hated that thing.”
        “Well now we’re gonna make sure no has to see it...ever.”

          Meanwhile, me, Diana, and Peter were out on the property fighting against the soldiers...again.
     Is this deja vu? I thought.
     We were fighting around the garden and tennis court; trying to get to the plaque. Diana and Peter informed me about the plaque on our way out. Alsi had it displayed at the very end of the rose garden; my guess , he was gonna keep it there until  he was gonna take it to City Hall.
     I could hear gunshots coming from left and right. Peter already gunned down three terrorists, and the Underground only lost one so far.  Stephens wouldn’t let anyone get past her, and she would run after every person that ran past her. Diana  was doing pretty good. Before she used to care if she hurt the person; that’s why she always used the staff. Now, she used the daggers and didn’t mind if she merely cut the person, ( she left the staff upstairs). As for me, about every few seconds I had to draw out an arrow and shoot at someone. I was the one that was trying to get to the plaque, and Prez was doing his  best  to be my cover.
      “You know,” Prez said to me. “Being in a battle is hard work.”
     I rolled my eyes. “Didn’t you ever understand the meaning of Commander & Chief?”
        I kept running and running towards the plaque; I had to destroy it.  Alsi wanted it displayed to show how great he was and to show that he ruled the US and no one else. First, I would get rid of that stupid plaque, and then we get rid of Alsi.
      As I was running through the garden to the plaque, I saw Diana fighting with a soldier close to the pool.  He got her pinned down to the ground, and he kept shoving her head under! I got as close as I could and drew an arrow. I released the arrow and it landed in the soldiers back.
    He was the only one to land in the pool.
      I ran to Diana and pulled her head out of the water. “You ok?” i asked her.
     “Yeah I’m fine now,” Diana said. “You know, I’m beginning to hate swimming pools.”
       “Well I can’t blame you for that,” i said.
       “TEX BEHIND YOU!” Stephen's yelled at me. I turned around and saw a soldier pointing a rifle at me. Me and Diana didn’t have time to react , and we just stood there. 
     But a gun did go off, but it wasn’t the soldiers. The soldier fell to ground because someone else had shot him. I looked across the  pool, and saw that Trent was the one that shot him.
      “What a gentleman,” Diana said in a daze. Me and Trent exchanged glances; acknowledging we saw each other.
      “He is,” I said. “His timing is almost always perfect.”  Diana finally got up and went off to help Peter fight. I went to help Trent fight.
         Being in a battle, one should not really relax for a few seconds. You have to be prepared every minute. As I was running toward Trent, I shot my arrows at anyone that went through my path. It didn’t matter if I killed the person, or merely injured him; I just needed to get to Trent.
     But apparently I wasn’t the only one who was running. I could see Trent running to the plaque too. We finally caught up with each other; I thought we might as well destroy it together.
      “Well nice to see you again,” I said to him.
      “ Happy I saved your life?” He said in a funny way.
       “Oh I could’ve handled it.”
        “Not from where I was standing… and I had a pretty good view of the situation.”  For only a second, there was a bit  of levity in the conversation, until I caught something in the corner of my eye.
       I saw Alsi running towards us with a shotgun in his hand, and Lt. Craig was running after him.   “TRENT!” Alsi was coming too fast we tried to run , but he began to use his rifle.  As we were running away, Trent pushed  me behind a tool shed. “What are you doing?”
      “I’ll distract while you get to the plaque. By breaking it, it will prove a point. And besides, he probably wants to kill me more than he does you.”
      “The feeling is probably equal.” Trent left me there, and he went to annoy and distract Alsi. I did what he said, and went towards the plaque. I was running and running as fast as I could. The majority of my mind was mostly filled  with worry about Trent. The way Alsi looked at us, he definitely wanted to kill us.
      I was running past everybody trying to get to the plaque, I just wanted all this crap to be over. And the sooner the better.
        I got to the plaque , picked it up, and was about to smash it...until I saw something.
     Alsi had Trent up against the wall with his hands up; Trent had no way to defend himself. I heard Alsi say, “now I’ve got you”, and started to cuss at Trent in Arabic I believe. 
       I was drawing one of my arrows out to prevent Alsi from even hurting Trent, but someone beat me to it.
    Peter.
     I saw Peter run right in front of Trent, and the bullet hit Peter instead.

“PETER!!!!!”
      Out of a reflex, I released my arrow, and it hit Alsi in the leg.   Alsi didn’t seem to care that I hit him; he even looked happy that it was Peter that got injured, and then he limped away from the scene,
     Everyone saw what happened. Besides me;  Stephens, Burt, Lt.Craig, Diana and Prez ran to Peter's side too.  Trent was already knelt down beside him.
      When I got to him I immediately  sat down next to him. I lifted up his shirt and saw the bullet wound.
      “Ughhhh,” Peter groaned.
     “Hey hey,” I said . “You’re gonna be ok.”
       “Peter why did you jump in front of me?” Trent asked Peter.
       “Because I knew  Tex would be devastated if anything happened to you...she loves you.”
       “I’d be devastated if anything happened to either of you.”
      “Hang in there Peter,” Diana said. “You’re gonna be ok.”
     Peter turned away. “No I’m not gonna be ok; I can already feel myself slipping away.”
       “Peter don’t say that,” Burt said. “We need you...Tex needs you.”
     “He’s right,” I said. “You’ll be ok; we just need to get you somewhere safe.”  Peter then gripped my hand really tight.
      “Tex, where the bullet hit me is fatal. I’m already facing it… i am gonna die.”
      “Peter no…” I sobbed.
       “Don’t talk like that Peter,” Stephens said. “We need you to stay strong.”
        “I just want to say a few things before I go...and i want you to listen.”
       “Go ahead Peter,” Prez said . “We’ll all listen.”
        “Tex,” Peter said softly. “You are such an amazing young woman, and I love you more than anything in the world. You are an amazing sister, and we’ve been through one hell of a ride together that’s for sure. I know I’ve been a little overprotective; I’m just the typical brother who would do anything for his sister.”
       Tears were streaming down my eyes.
     Then he turned to Diana. “ Diana, even though you aren’t related to us, you’re still family.When  you first moved in I admit it was a pain to have two teenage girls in the house; but it was still good.  I noticed how much you cared about Tex; you two are like sisters and no one can ever keep you apart.”
      “Peter,” Diana said. “That’s so sweet.” Diana turned around then, she didn’t want Peter to see her cry.
         Peter turned to Burt. “Burt, you’ve been like a father to me.  You’ve always given me advice, and I’ve always followed it.  When we had that mission in Oman, I was so afraid you were gonna die if I didn’t do something.  This time I was the one that got shot; but no one can do anything for me.”
       “You’ve been like a son to me Peter,” Burt said. “Never forget that.”
      And last but not least; he turned to Trent. “Trent,  in the beginning I never understood what my sister saw in you, I honestly still don’t understand it. But finally now I can see that you are a good guy. When you saved Tex from that horrible beating Alsi gave her… half of me was happy and upset . Upet mostly because I felt like you were taking  myplace. I was jealous. I was always used to being the guy that Tex was most closest to.  And when you came back into the picture, all I wanted was to get you out of the way. But from now on, you better stick by her and protect her no matter what.”
       “I promise Peter,” Trent said. “I’m always gonna be here.”
      Peter was beginning to slip away; I could tell because his grip on my hand was lessening. “Peter not yet!” I yelled at him.
      “Tex,” he said between breaths. “Just remember… I love.. You...and you… are an… an angel.” His hand then fell on the ground.
      Peter was dead.

                                                            *

                                         
 
    I wouldn’t let go of Peter's body. I kept hugging it and hugging it.  For 10 whole minutes I just stayed in the same position; Stephens got Trnet and Burt to move me to a safer area. Prez and Diana had to be there cover as they were leaving the property. We could tell that Alsi was looking for us ; mostly because he was walking around aimlessly with his head going back and forth. Running off on the sidelines was a problem at all. The underground soldiers were still fighting with the terrorists nonstop.
      Trent and Burt put us down inside the branches of a weeping willow tree next to the river. Peter was flat on his back and I rested my head on his chest. “I’m gonna go back and help,” Burt said to Trent. “Someone's got to smash that plaque.”
      “I’ll go with you,” Trent said. “I think Tex wants to be alone.” Trent knelt down next to me. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. Just don’t come out of the tree ok? Tex are you listening?”
      “Hmm? Yeah I heard you,” I told him.
       He simply nodded, and then kissed me on the cheek goodbye.
     I was just left alone.
     I don’t even think my mind fully processed that Peter died. When I looked down at his face, it looked like he was only sleeping. I couldn’t even tell whether I was angry or sad. I just laid there , motionless.
    “I love you Peter,” I whispered. I the kissed his cold forehead. Then I began to cry myself to sleep.

      “Aww how sweet.”
       I opened my eyes and saw Alsi with his terrifying grin resting on me. “What… how did you know we were here?” I asked him.
     “My dear young girl, I thought you would’ve learned by now  that I have eyes everywhere around this town.” he shrugged, “And country and I suppose.” I grabbed a dagger from my boot and pointed it at Alsi. But then, he took out his gun. “Tex, I think you made the mistake of bringing a dagger to a fight against a gun.” He ran towards me like a struck of lightning, held my hair up with one hand, and held the gun to my head with the other. “I have dreamt of  this moment for months. The time I finally get to kill you.”
       “Go ahead Alsi, and get it over with,” I said. “You think it’s going to make you feel any better , but trust me it won’t.”
       “Oh it will make me feel better.  You see Tex, I revel on other people's pain.”
      Alsi was about ready to shoot, and the Stephens ran in and pushed him out of the way. “You won’t revel in her pain today Alsi; not if I have anything to say about it.” She pushed him against the tree  and put the dagger I dropped against his throat. She was about to slit his throat when he used one of his legs to kick her away from him. Stephens fell on the ground, and I was trying to drag Peter out of the scene.
   
      “Now where do you think you’re going missy?” He asked me.
     “Getting away from you . What does it look like?” I asked. I looked and still saw Stephens struggling to get back up; and Alsi was coming straight toward me.
    “This time,” he said. “No more interferences.” He put the gun to my head again… but then another interference occurred.
      “FIRE!” I heard Stephens yell; and the next thing I know,  I see explosives  hitting the ground. I ran out from the tree, and some of the men from the Underground firing cannons!
    Wow. Talk about old fashion, I thought.
     I decided I would be much more useful fighting than just standing there watching, so I had to put my grief aside for  a few minutes.
     But before I could get any further away; Alsi jumped on me.  I squirmed the best I could but he held me down with every bit of his strength. “I don’t care if I get hit by an explosive by  killing you; My legacy will live on forever. And you can never get rid of terrorism. It is a dream than can never die,” said Alsi.
        “Actually Alsi,” I said. “It’s a disease that can never be cured!” I used what was left of my strength , and kicked him in between his legs. He fell to the ground screaming in pain. In the process, I noticed he dropped his gun; I immediately picked it up and pointed it right at him.
     The moment I thought about for months was finally mine. I wanted to kill Alsi for so long, and here was my chance. He was an easy target, he could barely move.  But for some reason, I couldn’t pull the trigger. Why? I still don’t even know. I could never forgive him for what he did to me, and what he did to my family.  Everything that happened was on his hands. So why couldn’t I kill him?!?!?
     I thought by maybe thinking that killing him was justice, and people would be relieved by his death. As I kept thinking, I still had the gun pointed right in front of him. I closed my eyes, and got ready to shoot him…
     “HEY ALSI!”
      I quickly opened my eyes, and saw that Alsi had gotten up and attempted to shoot me. But something blocked hi.
       Stephens jumped in front of me. She was the one that yelled; she was trying to draw his attention away from me.
       I looked down and saw that she was dead the minute the bullet hit her; no motion whatsoever.
     I drew my attention back to Alsi, and this time I pulled the trigger.
    It only injured him in his leg.
     Blood was gushing out of his leg, and I was about ready to fire again; but then I realized that there were no more bullets left in the gun.
    He wanted to charge at me again , but one of his soldiers dragged him away from me.
     “You’ll have another chance again Chief,” I heard the soldier say to Alsi. “We have to go ahead with our other plans.”
      “You want us to retreat?”
        “Not retreat Chief; no one won this battle. Both sides had major casualties.”
        “How many of us dead?”
         “178 Chief.”
        “That’s almost half!”
       “I'm Well aware sir, but we can get more reinforcements in the capitol. Please, let’s get on the helicopter and go.” ALsi simply nodded in  agreement with the soldiers idea and let the soldier drag him into the helicopter.
      As  the soldier was getting Alsi in the helicopter, Alsi mouthed to me, “This  isn’t over yet”.  Well he was right: it definitely was not over yet. The terrorists might have left for this battle, but I knew in my mind that there would be many more.

         The helicopter was jam packed with soldiers. There were only two helicopters, and each one could barely hold everyone in. Alsi was the only one that was relaxed; he was laying down on the only cot in the helicopter. There was a doctor working on his bullet wound; it wasn't that severe at all. “Doc, when can I walk again?” Alsi asked him.
        “Well sir, the bullet didn’t go that deep, but you will have to be on crutches for a few weeks.”
       “But I have the prepare… for the meeting… with the other officers in DC,” Alsi said to the doctor. “They cannot see their leader injured; especially  since the shooter was a teenage girl!”
         “You can talk the officers just a fine with crutches as you can without them,” a soldier said.
        “And what is your name soldier?” Asked Alsi.
       “I am Officer Drake,” said Drake. “I was one rank lower than Mr. Dawson.” The mention of Trent's name  made Alsis eyes widen with anger.
        “Let me make it perfectly clear to you Officer Drake, to never mention Trent's name again. For he is a traitor, and I won’t rest till every single person in that Underground is dead.”
          “Is there a chance that they will follow us the DC sir?” The doctor asked him.
         “They know we’re leaving , but they don’t know where we’re going. And when  they do find out , we will be far away . They won’t dare follow us.”
      “Well that is certainly good to hear. Once we get there , we should make sure that no one can get in or out of California,” Drake said.
     “I actually think that that’s a good idea.  We’ll still have 47 other states that we can benefit from. And if we hear of anyone that has a plan of rebelling against me, we can ship them to California! We can make the state of prison state!!” Alsi definitely looked amused with his own idea.
     “Then we have nothing to worry about. We can go to DC with nothing on our shoulders,” the doctor said.
     “But what about Ms. Burns?” Drake asked Alsi.
      “ Let’s just say if I ever see that girl again, I’ll see to it that she will regret the day she was born!”

         3 days after the battle at Alsis mansion, the weather turned for the worst. It rained nonstop everyday, all the streets in town were completely flooded. Some of us even had to use an inflatable raft to get around.
     What was left of the San Jose Underground, took refuge in the abandoned building of Muhammad's Tea House. After Alsi left on the helicopter, his followers got scared and left California to go to the other states. Of course they had to pass the border patrol.
   None of us seemed to have known it, but ever since Alsi came to power put soldiers on the state lines; to make sure no one left the state without authorization. And some of the soldiers from the Underground even fled with the civilians.
   They just too afraid, and who could blame them. We lost 58 people in the battle, including Stephens and Peter.  The two deaths devastated everyone in the Underground.  Stephens might have not been the best example of a leader, but she still cared about the Underground with all her heart. She did have a few faults: like drinking, being bossy, desire for control, and loyalty from everyone.
    Honestly , people were more devastated about Peter's death. Almost every hour people came by to me their condolences. I didn’t want people to pity me, I was upset enough about being so close to getting Alsi killed , and Peter  dying and all.  Every part of the day, I kept playing that battle over and over again in my head. I was grateful that she saved my life; I will never forget that she did.
    Burt and Prez completely demolished the plaque that Also planned on displaying.  Even when we all saw them destroy it, we weren’t in the mood for celebrating. We knew Alsi took off; he was still around causing trouble. Our battle with him was far from over, we all agreed to that.
       One day, we decided to have the burial of Stephens and Peter at the remains of the Underground. It was the first time we were there since the explosion. Apparently, the explosion was so strong, it even blew up the women's warehouse. Hopefully, the women had enough time to evacuate. As for the remains, there were bits and pieces of weapons  all over the place. The only bright side when it came to weapons was that we all found Alsis personal storeroom  full of weapons. The entire mansion was abandoned so we didn’t have to worry about getting caught.
     The funeral for Peter and Stephens took a very long time. We buried them alongside each other, and some people (including me), went  up to talk about each of them. I only gave a eulogy for Peter, and Lt. Craig only gave one for Stephens. We all had umbrellas because it was pouring down like crazy.
      The event lasted about two hours, and once it was over most of the soldiers went off back to the tea house while me, Trent, Diana, Lt. Craig, and Burt and Prez stayed at the grave site. “Is it bad to say that I’m glad the funeral is over?” I asked Diana.
      “I can’t blame you for that,” she said. “ I still can’t tell whether the drops of water on my face are tears, or if they’re from the rain.”
     “I did my best not to cry while I was talking. I try to act strong about this. I don’t know how people speak about a departed loved one without crying.”
      “I think the only time someone acts strong when someone died is in the movies.” Trent and Lt. Craig sooned joined us in the conversation.
      “You know,” Lt. Craig said to me. “I’m usually the one who knows what to do, but this time I have no idea.”
      “Without Stephen's around, we don’t have a leader,” said Diana.
      “You’re right, what are we gonna do?” I asked.
      “I might have a suggestion,” Trent said.
      “And what’s that Trent?” Lt. Craig asked him. Then  Trent pulled out a piece of paper from his pants pocket.
      “This is Stephens last wishes. That day that we all had to evacuate the underground; I found it in the weaponry under a loose plank. Tex, she has her next in line in the paper… it’s you.”
     What?
       “Let me see that young man,” Lt. Craig said. He read it through it over and over again. “Well… it looks legitimate. It has her signature at the bottom; take a look at it Tex.” He then handed the  paper to me. It said:
   

        To whom it may concern. I am Commander Faith Stephens of the San Jose Underground. For years, I have made it my duty to care for this country; but the way things are going now, I have thought that it is wise that I have someone take over for me in case something should happen. I have decided that Texas Burns should be the next leader of the San Jose Underground
                                                                                                     Commander Stephens.
      “It’s true,” I said breathlessly. “I’m now the Commander of the San Jose Underground.” There was a few minutes of silence; none of us knew what to say. Until Lt. Craig blurted something out.
     “Well Commander Burns, what will you have us do now?” Lt. Craig asked me. I thought for a moment, I honestly didn’t know.
    Then by  seeing Prez and Burt coming toward us, I got an idea. “What’s going on over here?” Burt asked me.
      “In a nutshell, Tex is not the Commander of the Underground,” Diana said to him.
     “Really… it’s about time,” Prez said. “I always wanted Tex to be the leader.”
         “Well as my first act as Commander,” I said. “I need some info , Prez.”
        “Fire away, Commander,” said Prez.
        “Awhile ago, you said Alsi planned on going somewhere. Where is he going?”
      “He’s going to Washington DC,” Prez said.
       “That’s where he probably headed when he got in that helicopter,” Trent said to me.
     “That’s what I’m thinking,” I said. “ Burt,   do you know a way to get past border patrol?”
        “Sure do Tex.”
       Trent looked down at me , and a smile grew across his face. “What are you thinking Tex?”
          “What am i thinking? Well I’ll tell you what I’m thinking,” I told him. Then I had a little smirk on my face. "Well... Washington D.C anyone?"