Ascension

Elijah

I needed to tell Lorelei something about the ultimatum my mom gave me. It is killing me inside. I need to tell someone. Lorelei is trustworthy, right? I decided I would tell her or else I would probably explode. I pulled her aside to the corner of the large room that is bustling with people.

It is the most private we will probably ever get. She is confused when I start talking. I'm not very surprised because I probably sound like I'm blurting out nonsense right now.

"Alexandra reached out to me." I finally got to the point.

"Your mom? What did she want from you?" Lorelei asks me.

What do I tell her. Oh don't worry Lorelei it's just that I've been given a week to decide to go back to my mom or not. And my decision will affect the entire colony as a whole.

I didn't tell Lorelei about the whole week thing. She can't know. I wouldn't have even been worried however this Atomic bomb is cutting it really close and I'm not ready for that. When Lorelei walked off I didn't follow her. She was right, I did need to sleep. I haven't slept a whole night in over a week.

I was about to fall asleep when my Com started going off. For a second I thought it was one of my friends calling me but when I answered I could tell that it definitely wasn't one of them.

"Elijah. We need to talk." The cold voice told me.

I regret ever picking up my Com device. Honestly that thing has only brought me pain.

"What do you want Alexandra. You gave me a week. It hasn't been a week yet." I remind her.

"I know but I got the feeling you were thinking that I was giving you empty threats. And by the way, I'm not giving you empty threats. If you don't answer me soon your whole colony will perish at my hands." She growls into the device.

"I still want to remind you that I still have four more days." I point out.

"No doubt you do but just know that as my army marches your death becomes inevitable unless you come back to me son." She reminds me.

As if I needed to be reminded that I could possibly die in a few days.

"Go away Alexandra." I roll my eyes.

"No, son, I am your mother. You will address me as your mother and nothing more and nothing less."

"Goodbye."

I slumped back down on my bed. I can't believe that Alexandra is really making me choose. How dare she do this to me. It's like she wants to kill our relationship. I wonder who put it in her head that threatening to kill everyone her son cares about was the best way to reconnect.

Whoever told her that was an idiot. I laid back on my bed knowing that I couldn't fall asleep again. Stupid mom interrupting my sleeping wouldn't help it either.

Then I realized something. Something she said. just know that as my army marches your death becomes inevitable unless you come back to me son. She had told me exactly how she planned to kill us. Death by army.

They don't have the element of surprise anymore. And now we do. I sit up so fast I was surprised I didn't get whiplash. I did get dizzy however. I almost fell out of the bunk bed.

I scrambled to the floor and took off for America. I maneuvered myself through people and living areas. I probably knocked a few things over but that didn't matter. All that mattered was getting to America.

As I ran through people and things my mind seemed to race a mile a minute. How big of an army did the Brights send? Can we take them down even with our number disadvantage?

When I got into the control room it was less busy than it was earlier today. I ran into America, literally.

We both fell on the floor and I hit my head on a desk. I rubbed it as I stood back up. When I got up I helped America stand too.

"America I'm so sorry." I apologized quickly.

"It's fine Elijah." She muttered.

"I needed to talk to you right away." I inform her.

"What did you need to tell me?" She asked.

"You need to check the location of the nearest Bright army." I tell her.

"Elijah, what is this for?" She asked me a little worried.

"Please just do it." I plead with her.

She pulls up the maps on the screens and nothing shows up.

"Elijah I'm sorry but there is nothing here." She apologizes.

Is it possible I heard Alexandra wrong? I don't think so. I wasn't distracted. But how are they not showing up on the maps? Then I got an idea.

"Refresh the page." I tell America.

America glances warily back at me but does what she is told. When the page finished loading a big red dot appeared on the screen. America stared agaped.

"Is that?" She asked.

"The Bright Army. Yes, it is." I tell her.

I smile at the screen because it proves that my mom had messed up and told us exactly what we wanted to know.

"Wait Elijah, how did you know the Bright army was going to be here?" She puzzled.

"I got a tip." I walked off.

I silently thank my mom for being an idiot sometimes because it definitely pays off in the human's favor.

All Soldiers, Privateers, Enlisted, and reserves report to the stairwell.

America's voice filled the room. All the soldiers scrambled to get their uniforms on and get their guns in time to get to the stairwell. I casually walked over to my stuff grabbed my gun and was the first one at the stairwell.

Things are just about to get interesting.