The Federation: Chapter 6

I wake up, feeling more refreshed than I've felt in years. I've woken up with sore lungs every day for as long as I can remember. But they pump oxygen into the air vents in the HQ. I am not sore, for once in my life. And, my wrists aren't sore anymore— the handcuffs were tight, but they're off now.

After waking up for a little bit, I notice Wheeler's awake. Lars and Wes are still asleep. "What are you doing, Wheeler?" I ask. 

Wheeler looks at me. He's attempting to reach through the bars to scan his card to get us out. "I can't get my hand through. It's too big. Barely."

I force myself to stand up and walk over there. "Let me try." He hands me the card and I reach through and scan it with ease. The door opens. "Wes, Lars, wake up, we're getting out of here!" I say. Wheeler and I shake them awake and they get up. 

"This way," Wheeler says. We walk toward the door. Other prisoners shout at us, trying to get us to let them out, but we don't listen. As guilty as I feel, I ignore them. We get to the door and Wheeler scans his card again to open it. When it opens, he pokes his head out to check and make sure the coast is clear. "All right, let's go." Wheeler, Larson, Wes, and I walk into the hallway, then up so many flights of stairs that I lose count. All I know is that I'm really exhausted from it. When we reach the top of the staircase, there is a short hallway, then it T's. "You three go right. I have to go left." Wheeler hands me his card. "You'll need this."

"Why are you giving this to me?" I ask him. 

He takes a deep breath and let's it out slowly. "This—" He stops, fighting his emotions. "This is where we part, boys."

"What are you talking about, Wheeler?" Larson questions. "You're coming with us, aren't you?"

"Well, no."

"How do we get in without you?!" Wes half-whispers. 

"It's all part of the plan, okay? Trust me, guys. I know, I'm not an extremely trustworthy person, being an ex-Fed, but I promise that this was the plan the whole time. Go through the second door on the right, then take out everyone in there; probably no more than eight people. There're two doors on the right. One has an ID scanner, the other doesn't. Go through the one with the ID scanner."

"All right, fine, where do we meet you after?" Larson asks. 

Wheeler looks down. He's avoiding the question. 

"Wheeler?"

When Wheeler looks up, he has tears in his eyes. "See, the thing is..." He sniffs. I force myself not to get emotional. I always cry when I see someone else crying. "The thing is, the only way we can defeat the Federation without hundreds of people dying is for me to die. I have to allow myself to get caught, and I need to try to fight them. Soon, all the guards and everyone on duty will be trying to get me and you won't have to worry about them catching you...so, this is goodbye."

Larson takes a step closer to Wheeler. "You never mentioned that you'd have to die."

"Yeah, because that's a totally normal thing to throw into a conversation; 'Just so ya know, I'm gonna die tomorrow, 'kay?' And besides...you wouldn't have let me do it, would you?"

"No, I wouldn't have." Larson takes a deep breath and sighs. "Wheeler, there has to be another—"

"There isn't, Lars. I wish there were, but the only other way would kill lots of people. None of us want that."

"You're right, we don't," I say. I realize that Wes hasn't said anything in awhile. "Wes, you're sure quiet over there."

"Yeah, well, yesterday was kind of the worst day ever, so..." He mutters.

"Anything else on your mind?"

"Well..." He looks up at us. "I'm not gonna miss Wheeler all too much." I look at Wheeler. He's taken aback and very hurt by Wes' comment. 

"Weston!" Larson snaps. 

"He let Naomi die, got us locked up in jail, he's an ex-Fed, I don't know that I trust him."

I start to defend Wheeler. "Wes—"

"No, no, Wes is right, Damien." Wheeler looks at Wes. "I'm not a very trustworthy guy. I'm obnoxious, arrogant, snotty sometimes, an ex-Fed, I'm pretty oblivious, I'm a mess. But I hate the fed. Hate. That doesn't even begin to explain it, in all honesty. I need you guys to trust me, please. I know I haven't done much to prove trustworthy, but I need you to trust me." We all look at Wes. He looks down, clearly refusing to trust Wheeler. "Wes," Wheeler begins. "I'm about to walk out of here and die. Would I do that if I wasn't on your side?"

"No."

"Do you understand?"

Silence. 

"Please tell me you do, 'cause I'm running out of good stuff to say about myself..."

"Okay, all right, I trust you."

We don't quite believe him, but we continue our earlier conversation. 

"Wheeler," Larson begins. "I haven't truly realized until now...You're one of the best friends I have ever had." He pulls him into a hug. "Thank you for sacrificing yourself, but I wish it were me, not you."

"I know you do. But no one needs me. So many need you."

"You know that's not true, Wheeler!"

"It is." Wheeler changes the subject, "If you guys happen to find Charlene, Jeremiah, or Lucille Hawkins, or TJ Kelley—" He chokes on his words. "—Tell them I love them."

Larson loses it and starts crying. He pulls Wheeler into a hug and says, "I will. Thank you for doing this, Wheeler." When Wheeler pulls away, he looks at me and hugs me. 

"You can do this."

I nod. "Thanks, man." He pulls away and hugs Wes.

"I'm sorry I didn't trust you, Wheeler," Wes whispers.

"It's all right." Wheeler pulls away and starts downstairs. 

"Wheeler!" Larson shouts. "That's the wrong way!"

"I know, but it was a lot more dramatic!" Wheeler answers. He comes back upstairs, walks past us, and down the hall, then to the left, at the T. Larson allows a smile to creep across his face. 

Larson clears his throat and says, "Come on, boys." He walks down the hall and turns right, with Wes and I following. I ready my gun, hesitate for a moment, then scan the card. A few heads turn to look at us. 

"Intruders!" One shouts, pointing at us. I aim my gun at his shin, close my eyes, and fire, instantly hearing him shriek in pain. When I open my eyes again, three guys are running towards us. As if we had planned it, Wes, Lars, and I each take on one. I run forward and slam my elbow into the side of his head, and he returns the attack by shoving me to the ground, falling on top of me, and letting his elbow slam into my ribs, knocking the wind out of me. I gasp for air and Larson, who had finished his guy off already, grabs the back of my guy's shirt, pulls him off of me, and tosses him backward a few feet, then punches him square in the nose. 

The rest of the group, three more people, come at Larson, and he takes all of them on at once. I struggle to stand up so I can help, but hear the click of a pistol cocking behind me. I spin around, and see Wes' Fed sitting on him and holding a gun to his throat. I'm five feet away, so I lunge towards him, knock him off of Wes, rip the gun from his hands, and shoot his shoulder. Wes sighs with relief, and the two of us struggle to stand up.

"You two okay?" Larson asks, three unconscious Fed members at his feet. 

I smile and answer, "Yeah, I think so." He walks over to us and helps us up. 

"Dean O'Connor is through that door. You ready?" Larson sighs. 

I nod. "Yeah." I look over at Wes. He looks nervous. I put an arm around him and say, "You ready, man?"

He grins and answers, "As I'll ever be." I take my arm off his shoulders, pull out the ID card, and scan it. 

Larson walks in and shouts, "Hands where I can see them!" Dean's back is to us, so he slowly turns around. 

"I don't want to hurt you guys," he says as he turns around. He stops when he sees me. "Damien?"

I'm shocked. I never thought I'd see him again. "Dad?"

Larson looks at me with a face of surprise. "'Dad?!' This is your dad?!"

"Yeah, dad, what-what are you doing here? Where's Dean?"

"That's an alias." Dean walks towards us. "Damien, it's been ten years! What's happened since then?!"

I fire him a confused look. "I break into your office to kill you, and you ask me what's going on in my life?"

"Damien," he steps right in front of me. "You're still my son—"

"No I am not!" In one swift move, I grab his collar to pull him closer, and hold my pistol to his neck. "You are not my father."

"Damien," Larson grabs my wrist. "Don't do something you'll regret."

I look at Larson angrily. "Regret?! I would never regret this! All the pain he caused our family when he left. My mother died because of him!" Tears spring to my eyes and I turn my focus back to Dean. "She's dead! All because of you!"

He looks hurt. "How did she die?"

"Does it matter?! She's gone." I put my gun down and throw Dean backward as I release his collar. "Give me one good reason not to shoot you right now."

"I'm your father, Damien."

Hearing that sentence come out of his mouth again makes me snap. "You are not my father!" I scream at the top of my lungs. I slam the heels of my hands into his chest and knock him over. I look over at Larson. "I need to do what we came here to do." I pull out my rifle and Larson runs over to me.

"Damien, don't—"

I fire the gun. My heart feels hollow. I remind myself how much grief he caused. I know now that he made all those laws— the trackers, the law against having kids, and all the other problems the Federation caused. But, even after reminding myself of all the pain he's caused, I still burst into tears and fall to my knees next to Dean. My dad.

"Damien," Larson and Wes come over next to me. "I'm proud of you."

"You're proud of me?"

"You did what you had to do. Killing your—"

"He's not my dad...not anymore. I don't have one anymore." I stand up. "We need to get out of here."

"Right. Let's go. C'mon Wes." Larson leads the way out. We keep our guns ready, but walk imprudently through the halls. Soon, I'm in front. We walk down two flights of stairs and reach the bottom of the staircase, the whole time not seeing the Fed members who were just out of our peripheral vision until now. Six of them. All with guns. I hear a bang, and, suddenly, my shoulder is in an excruciating amount of pain. I scream and drop to the floor, falling down a couple steps in the process. I hear someone scream my name. 

I can't make out what's going on. My mind slowly registers everything. I'm terrified and confused, but I can't move so I lie there. There are gunshots, screams. I don't know whose, my brain isn't working well enough. I notice the gunshots quiet and Larson is in my sight, barely. My vision is a little fuzzy, but I can see him as he kneels next to me. 

He's talking to me, but I can't understand him. "We—" I cough for a couple seconds. "We need to go."

For the first time, I understand him. "You're right, Wes help me." Larson and Wes start to pick me up, but the pain in my arm flares and I scream.

"Stop," I cough. "Put me down." They lay me back on the ground. I squeeze my eyes shut. "Go."

"Damien, we are not leaving you," Weston says. 

"That's the only—" More coughing. "—The only way you can get out." Coughing. "I'll slow you down."

"I don't care." Larson sits me up and drapes my left arm over his shoulders, then helps me stand up and walk, my shoulder throbbing the whole time. "Wes, cover us." Wes walks in front of us and keeps an eye out, as we walk down staircase after staircase. I make it down three flights before I let myself drop from Larson's grasp and fall to my knees. 

"No, Larson, I can't—" I swallow and attempt to catch my breath. "—I can't go any further."

"No, no, Damien, c'mon, we gotta—"

"Lars, I can't." I have a quick, but painful, coughing fit.

"Damien, I am not leaving you here." Larson very carefully scoops me up in his arms. "Wes, find a bandage, or use your shirt, or something."

I hear ripping. I'm blacking out. The next thing I know, Wes is wrapping some cloth around my wound. It hurts, and I think I'm screaming, but I've bled a lot, so it's all a little hazy. Maybe groaning. I can't really tell, but I can tell that Larson starts moving. 

My eyes blink open slowly. It's not quite as bright as it was at the HQ, but it still hurts my eyes. I'm still in Larson's arms. I let my eyes flutter closed again and vaguely pay attention to what's going on. It takes me a second to realize that I'm outside.

"Get the door, Wes, quick," I hear Lars say. I pay better attention for a minute, and notice the heavy safe house doors opening and the chatter and clambering of our fighter coming to see us. 

"Larson!" It's Piper. I eps ant to see her but I can't get my eyes open. "What—oh my gosh." I feel her gentle touch. One hand on my cheek and the other carefully studying my injured shoulder. 

"Where's your mom, Piper?" Wes asks, panicked.

"I don't know," Piper answers. She's clearly distracted. She continues caressing my cheek and I want to reach up and grab her hand, but my good arm is wedged between my side and Larson's ribs. 

"Weston, Piper hasn't seen Damien since yesterday morning. She's worried about him. Why don't you go find her, 'kay?"

I don't hear Wes leave, but I assume he does. Soon, Larson sets me down on an operating table. I'm dizzy and trying hard not to black out. 

"So, Wanda, what's the verdict?" Larson asks. 

After some poking and prodding, Wanda lifts my shoulder off the table and feels the back. "It didn't go through. That means he'll need surgery, most likely. The bullet grazed his collarbone just right to shatter it." I finally notice that I don't have a shirt on, because starts feeling down by my ribs. I grunt and groan in pain; that's where the Fed member slammed me with his elbow. "He has a broken rib, and, as you can see, he is extremely bruised. He's going to  need a lot of recovery time."

Larson sighs. "He'll be okay, though...right?"

"Probably. But I can't be certain. He's lost a lot of blood, the bullet is still in him—I don't know for sure, I'm sorry."

Piper starts sobbing, and Larson begins to soothe her, though emotional as well.

"Wait, where's Wheeler?!" Piper exclaims. 

"He...he didn't make it." 

Piper continues sobbing. I open my eyes. All I see is a bright light, until Wanda's face comes into my vision. I use my left arm to try to sit myself up, but the pain in my shoulder and my chest is too much, so I scream and lower myself onto the table. 

"Relax, Damien, don't try to sit up." Wanda soothes. "You'll hurt yourself more. You have a broken—"

"Yeah—" More coughing; this time, bringing much more pain than the other times. "I heard. I've been awake since we got here."

"Damien! Damien!" I hear my name shouted repeatedly as it moves closer; it's Ritchie. "Ah, freak—" He's studies me for a second, then turns to Wanda. "What are you doing?! Why aren't you saving my little brother?!" He crouches next to the operation table and looks at me. "You're gonna be okay, Damien. Don't worry, Wanda's gonna save you—"

"Ritchie, I don't know, for sure, that I can."

Ritchie stands up straight and faces her. "What?! You have to! He can't die! I already lost one brother today!" Brody. He died today. Today sucks. "You can't let him die." He tries to keep yelling, but he starts crying too hard. 

"Piper, honey, I need you out for the operation, please," Wanda orders. 

"C'mon, Piper," Lars starts leading her out, but she stops and turns to face Wanda. 

"No, wait. Mom, can I have a minute with him, real quick?"

"Quick," Wanda states. Everyone leaves, and Piper and I are alone. 

Piper places a hand on my cheek, the way she did when I first got back. Tears run down her cheeks, dropping off her face and onto my chest.

I muster up enough strength and energy to reach up and put my left hand on her cheek, brushing hair out of her face. "I love you," I manage to say. 

After a quick sob, she says, "I love you, too, Damien."

Wanda walks in. "Come on, hon." Wand places her hands on Piper's shoulders and starts to walk her out, but Piper wriggles from her grip and comes over to me. 

"You'll be okay." She leans down and kisses me, then walks out. Wes, Ritchie, and Larson return.

"We don't have sedative or anesthesia, so he has to be awake for the operation. You three need to hold him down."  I feel hands clamp over my ankles and wrists, and a hand on my left shoulder. Over to my right is Ritchie, tear-stained and puffy-eyed, by my feet is Wes, melancholy as usual, and Larson to my left. He looks nervous. Wanda appears, pulling blue rubber gloves over her hands, and holding a scalpel. I squeeze my eyes shut, then feel the scalpel break through skin, and scream, jumping, and wanting to move. The pain is so much, that I finally stop fighting the impending unconsciousness, and allow myself to black out.   

The Federation: Chapter 5 (Finally!)

Wes, Naomi, and I end up in a group together. We figure no matter who got hurt, we would be able to carry them back. Hopefully, that issue won't come into play, but I have a feeling it probably will. Piper decided to stay back to be a nurse when one of the teenage girls decided to be a warrior instead of a nurse. Everyone has a group and we are saying our goodbyes. I find Brody, Ritchie, and their friend, Carson Mandell, their third group member. Brody is sitting on a bottom bunk, crying, while Ritch and Carson laugh their heads off. I sit next to Brody. I'd much rather talk to him right now. "I just got you back, Damien, I can't lose you." He looks at me, his eyes red and puffy, and his face tear stained. 

"I know. I'm..." I fight hard the urge to get choked up. "I didn't remember you, but I can still agree." We sit in silence for awhile. Ritchie stops laughing and turns to face me and Brody.

"Come on, guys, loosen up, it's okay. None of us are going to die today. We are all incredible warriors, we will be fine!" He laughs.

"I sure hope you're right, Ritch," Brody says. 

Ritchie rolls his eyes and says, "Of course I am, you idiot! I'm always right!" Brody fakes a smile as he nails Ritchie in the shin with his steel-toe boot. Brody and I laugh hard as Ritch yelps and drops to his knees. "Jerk."

I allow a sneaky smirk cross my lips. Larson comes up behind me, Wheeler off to the side of him.

"Can we talk, kiddo?" He asks me. I nod and follow him to an area that is mostly empty, while Wheeler distracts himself with a pocketknife. Lars takes a deep breath and let's it out slowly. "Be careful out there, Damien. I don't need anything holding me back through the rest of this fight." He smiles a bit. 

I laugh and say, "Okay, I'll try not to get killed." I look him dead in the eye and continue, "Children weren't built for war. We can't bring the younger kids into this."

Lars shakes his head. "I tried to talk them out of it, but they wouldn't hear of it. It's inevitable."

My mouth works for a second. "Okay, I guess." Larson nods. I catch a glimpse of Piper, who's saying goodbye to her siblings. There are lots of overly-emotional escapees between us, so, to get to her, I walk through the crowds of people hugging and crying and laughing. 

When I reach her, she throws herself at me and wraps her arms around me. I wrap my arms around her and she says, "You come back to me, Damien Harris. You'd better come back to me." Tears are pouring down her cheeks. 

I start crying again. I don't even try to stop, I just allow myself to. "I will, Piper. I'll be back soon." I pull away and look at her. "I'll be back soon, sweetie."

She nods. "Okay. Promise?"

"I promise. I will be back, Miss Piper Dunn. I will." I lean in and kiss her. "I promise." I see Larson as walks to the front door. "Everyone, listen up!" I leave Piper and pay attention. Soon, everyone is gathered around him, and Wheeler is right by his side. "We go out there in ten minutes. Everyone has a group- two partners- and loaded guns etc., right?" The room is filled with nodding people. "All right! Everyone needs to find camp as soon as they can get away from a fight, any time after seven thirty, if you can. Got it?!"

Wheeler steps forward "Stay with your groups! You are in three times as much danger alone as with your group. If someone is injured, take them back here and we'll give you your instructions. Gather your weapons, and wait up here with your group." The crowd separates and I see Naomi. She joins me and Wes, as we head for the door, standing directly behind Larson. I can see Larson clenching and unclenching his jaw, nervously. 

I lean forward so my head is by Larson's shoulder, grab his other shoulder, then whisper to him, "Good luck out there, Lars."  

He turns his head to try to look at me, and says, "You too, kid." He faces forward again and regains his composure. Two of the escapees open the thick doors and sunlight enters the safe house. A nervous rush flows through my body, and adrenaline pumps through my veins. We are in a triple-file line, group by group. Wanting to be by Larson, I chose to be second from the front, right behind him. 

"Forward, everyone!" Wheeler shouts. Everyone walks forward. We aren't in unison, I'm sure we look nothing like an actual army, but we are determined. We all follow Larson, and walk toward the HQ. 

"Lars!" Someone shouts from further back. 

"What?!" He shouts back at them, as he turns around and walks backward. 

"How far is the Headquarters?"

"It's a bit of a walk, but not too far." He turns back around. I start getting bored after about ten minutes of walking. I open my mouth to ask Larson how much further, when a huge black building comes into my view. There are multiple chimneys coming out of the top, with smoke rising from them. There are no doors. I expect us to stop, and Lars and Wheeler to instruct us, but we keep walking, and Larson tenses a bit. We keep walking until we are no more than twenty yards away from the building, which I've now discovered is the back of the building. 

When we stop, I can see the Fed symbol on the back of the building and on the sides of all of the off-road vehicles. Larson and Wheeler take the head and face us. Larson begins instructing us, "If there is a compound escapee in your group, you stay out of the Headquarters." Larson put the younger kids with escapees, that's why they have to stay out. "If you don't, stick with at least one other group, because you're heading inside the building with me and Wheeler, as soon as we can make our way in there. Compound escapees, take your groups to the head of the building, and stay there the whole time.

"This has been a long hard journey, everyone. I wish you all the best of luck today. Compound escapees, take the head." I begin to ready my gun, and Larson says to me, "Stay with me. All right? Stay with me and Wheeler."

I nod and finish getting ready. "Naomi, Wes," I begin. "Larson wants us to stay with him and Wheeler." They nod and we all get into position.

Larson turns around and looks me dead in the eye. "You're sure about this?" I nod. "It's not too late to back down, Damien. Okay?" 

"Yeah. We've come too far. I'm not backing out."

"All right. Just making sure." He faces forward again. "Fall out!" The escapees and their groups start for the building. Brody and Ritchie look back at me as they walk by. I salute them, and they salute back at me. When all the escapees are ahead of us, we follow. The building begins to look scarier as we near the front. As we're walking, I see Wes catch a glimpse of Naomi, who's on the other side of me. I switch places with Wes so he can be next to her. 

"Naomi?" He says, to get her attention. 

"Yes?" She looks at him and I fight back tears, thinking of when Piper and I said our goodbyes. 

I can tell it takes everything Wes has to keep from choking on his words, but he manages, and squeezes out the words, "I love you." 

She smiles, and opens her mouth, hopefully, to say, "I love you, too," but there's an explosion up ahead. Larson and Wheeler start running, so Naomi, Wes, and I start running, as well. We look, and there are at least fifty warriors from the compound. An area no more than ten feet ahead of us is blown out, a hole in the ground, with a compound escapee lying next to it. He's dead. I swallow hard. Our first casualty. I don't know him, but I'm sure somebody does. Tucker and a 14-year-old girl named Heather are knelt next to him. Tucker has his gun cocked and aimed for the compound warrior who undoubtedly threw the grenade. Heather caresses the side of his face before lifting her gun to the same warrior. I think if they hadn't been so young, the warriors would have open fire at them. The first shot is released, and I see it barrel through Heather's shoulder, by her collarbone. I glance at the warrior who shot him. His gun is aimed for Tucker, so I shove Wheeler out of the way and shoot the warrior. 

This is it. I've started a war. And there's no going back now. 

Tucker breathes heavily with relief and scoops Heather up in his arms. He runs for the safe house, as fast as a ten-year-old boy carrying a 14-year-old girl can run. A couple warriors chase after, but some of the other escapees take them out. Larson leads my group and Wheeler to a spot right behind a huge block of concrete from the interstate. The warriors are opening fire at all of us. We all begin fighting back. "Lars!" Wes shouts over the sounds of hundreds of guns firing at once. 

"What?!"

"How are we planning on getting in?!"

"Very carefully!" Larson laughs. "Wheeler has a plan!"

"That's comforting!" Naomi winks at Wheeler. Wheeler rolls his eyes and puts his gun down. I watch him for a second or two but hear a gun cock behind me. Panicked, I swivel around and fire, then watch the grown man crumple to the ground. 

Horrified, I begin hyperventilating. "I just killed him. I just killed him." I repeat the sentence over again at least three more times while Larson makes his way over to me and soothes me, "Damien, he's not the last one we're gonna have to kill, I'm afraid."

"I-I know...That was just my first. I'll get used to it." I force myself to calm down and refocus. 

"All right, everyone ready?" Wheeler asks us. We all nod and he continues, "You guys are gonna pretend to be my prisoners. We're gonna pretend that you three have the knowledge that the Fed wants about the rebellion. All right?"

"Is that it?" Larson asks.

"Just keep your guns hidden while we walk to the door of the HQ. I'm a Fed so if anyone fires at us, another Fed member can shoot them. Or I can. And I probably will." He smiles and then becomes serious again. "Act your part. If something happens out there that you don't like and you don't act your part, you could die. And we don't want that. So be careful."

"Okay, got it, you three?" Larson asks Wes, Naomi, and I. We all nod and Wheeler starts putting Fed handcuffs on us. They're impossible to escape from. After they close on your wrist, they only open in the cells inside the prison in the HQ. After we're all handcuffed, Wheeler stands up and we follow him out into the middle chaos.

"What's this, Wheeler?!" Mr. Stokes screams from by the entrance. "We were told specifically to kill them, not arrest them!"

"These four are in charge of the rebellion, Stokes! They know everything we want to know!"

"Fine then." Stokes looks out into the chaos and shouts, "If anyone shoots any of these five, they will die immediately!"

Wheeler flashes us a sly smile and continues a little faster. We make it the the entrance without any more problems. While Wheeler digs his Fed ID out of his pocket and tries to get the door open, I hear Naomi scream behind me. I turn around and see her lying on the ground. It went through her head. Stokes shoots a compound member and Wes is on his knees begging her to stay. 

"Get up!" Wheeler yells at Wes. I can tell it pains Wheeler to do that. He liked Naomi as much as Larson and I did, but no one loved her the way Wes did. Wheeler grabs the back of Wes' collar and lifts him to his feet, then leads us all inside. The second the heavy door shuts behind us, Wheeler puts his arm around Wes. "I am so sorry, Wes. I'm really sorry." He takes his arm away and the five of us walk up two flights of stairs. The inside of the fed HQ is so different from the outside. It's bright white, with lights everywhere. It reminds me of hospitals from before the wars.

We walk down a long hallway and I see a black door at the end of it. When we get closer, I see that it says "PRISON" across it, in big, red, sloppily painted letters. We walk straight to it and, right as Wheeler uses his card to get us in, we hear multiple guns cock behind us. Wheeler raises his hands in surrender and turns around. Larson, Wes, and I turn around as well.

"Wheeler Hawkins," One of the men with their guns cocked and aimed at us says. "I should've known you'd betray us."

Wheeler slides between Larson, Wes, and I, and says, "Collier, you're kidding right? C'mon, we've been partners since I joined. Except when I leveled up and you didn't. But we're buddies, right? Look, these guys are prisoners. I arrested them and I'm putting them in their cells."

"O'Conner says you haven't been to work in a couple months."

"He checks up on that?"

"Yeah. Which means, you're under arrest too. I'll even do you a favor and put the four of you in a cell together. We're almost full." Collier turns Wheeler around, holds a gun to his back, and grasps the back of his collar. The other guys lead us in. Collier throws Wheeler into a cell and we are forced to repeat the action. 

After they leave, Larson turns to Wheeler. "Wheeler, please tell me this is part of the plan."

Wheeler smiles innocently and says, "It isn't but it'll still be fine. We were supposed to make it to the main office without a hitch but no worries. I still have my ID. I can get us out of here."

"You'd better."

"Can...can we wait awhile?" Wes asks. He's sitting in the corner of the cell, hugging his knees. 

I forgot all about Naomi. I let out a heavy sigh and scoot over to him, then put an arm around him. He fights the emotions for a few seconds, then lets it all out. He and I wrap our arms around each other and he just cries into my shoulder. I can't help but shed a few tears, myself. Naomi was a brat, but she definitely was one of my best friends. "Wes, I'm so sorry."

He pulls away from me. "She wasn't supposed to die!" He screams at the top of his lungs. "She was supposed to live! Like us! She wasn't—" He stops screaming starts crying again, then returns to his former position, hugging his knees. He rests his head on his knees and says, "She wasn't supposed to die."

"Wes," Wheeler kneels down in front of him. "That's was all my fault. I should've been paying better attention. I'm sorry."

Wes shakes his head. "It's the Fed's fault. It always it and it always will be." He's really not wrong. It always is. 

Larson kneels down, too, and says, "We're gonna stop them. We'll make them pay for what they've done. To Naomi, to everyone."

"I know so much about them, Wes." Wheeler smiles and laughs. "I know all their weaknesses. I know everything we need to know to get out. And we will. Then...we can kill them."

"How are we gonna do that, Wheeler?" Larson asks. "You haven't been very clear on that."

"Would you relax?! Look at who you're talking to! I've got it all under control!"

"Wheeler..." Larson warns. "I'd better be able to trust you."

"Come on, you can trust me! Tell him, Damien!"

I just nod. 

"Thanks, I can tell you guys trust me." Wheeler rolls his eyes. 

"No offense," I begin. "But you worked with the Fed for four years. It's a little difficult to trust Fed members."

"Excuse you, I'm an ex-Fed. Fed members can't lock other Fed members up in prison." He puts his arms out and shrugs slightly. "Do you not see where I am?! I'm in prison! Did you not see who locked me up? A Fed member! Hence, I am an ex-Fed!!"

"Wheeler, calm down," Larson says. 

"Okay, I'm all right. Look, guys, these are your options: trust me, and, if it turns out I was lying to you, possibly die; or don't trust me, and die no matter what. I'd choose the first one if I were you."

"Okay, Wheeler, we trust you," I say. 

He smiles. "Good. Then you actually have a chance at surviving this, don't ya?"

Five Game Tag

So I was tagged to do this game called the "Five Game" about two months ago and I'm finally doing it! Basically, I take the main character in my current WIP and describe them in five words. Then tag five other authors to play, but since I only know one, Olivia C., who tagged me in the first place, I probably won't tag anyone. ;)

My character is a main character but the main character from The Federation; I'm doing Weston Lake. 

Loud, opinionated, driven, independent, attractive. 

Well there ya go! I think I'm going to try to post chapters from another book of mine once a week as well as my posts for The Federation. Thanks for reading!

Character Interview: Wheeler Hawkins

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. July was INSANELY busy. But I'm back now and since I've yet to finish my latest chapter in The Federation, I decided to do a character interview!

So I'm doing my first Character Interview today! I have, with me, Wheeler Hawkins, ex-Federation member and part if the rebellion against the Fed. 

W: *smiles proudly* It's great to be here! I'm glad you asked me!

I'm very glad to have you! So tell me a little about yourself real quick, Wheeler!

W: Well, I'm Wheeler Hawkins, I'm 24 years old, I am an ex-Fed, I was raised in what used to be Kansas City, Missouri, and I moved here to what used to be Green Bay, Wisconsin, ten years ago, when I was fourteen. 

Did your family come with you, or did you come by yourself?

W: *shifts nervously in his seat* I came with my parents, and my little sister, Charlene, and my best friend, TJ. 

Do you happen to know where they are now?

W: Um, my mom and dad got taken by the Fed, TJ too. Charlene...*sighs* I wish I knew. Last I saw of her was four years ago. She was 15.

I'm terribly sorry, Wheeler. May I ask, what happened four years ago?

W: That's when I got the job with the Fed. I hated them them, I always have, so I've been waiting for the rebellion for four years. *chuckles* Took everyone long enough to work up the guts!

Yeah, it sure did! What role do you play in the rebellion?

W: I'm 2nd in command. After Larson Hanks. 

Who's that?

W: He's the trainer of all the kids. Him and Damien Harris, an 18-year-old who isn't tracked, are the brains of the rebellion. 

So, if you hate the Federation so much, why did you join them?

W: I joined, knowing that someday I could use my knowledge and authority against the Fed. I knew that if someone decided they were brave enough to try to stop  the Fed, I could be there to help. 

Did it ever occur to you that they wouldn't trust you?

W: *chuckles* About that...it never did occur to me, really, until it happened to me. When I tried to join the rebellion, I think half the people hated me and the other half didn't trust a word I said. And some of them were both. But I hope by the time the war is over...*clears throat*...everyone will know that I never meant harm. I only hoped to help them defeat the Fed. 

I think, as tricky and sneaky as it was, your plan was brilliant. You seem like a very clever guy, to have come up with that! Tell me, is there a Mrs. Wheeler Hawkins?

W: *laughs out loud* No, no there is not. 

What?! Come on, you're good-looking, smart, funny- there's no way could possibly sit there and honestly say there's not a girl waiting for you to come home. Not even a possible future Mrs. Wheeler Hawkins?

W: There, was one. When I was 17, I really liked this girl, her name was, uh, Sasha. I liked her a lot! *laughs* A lot. But she turned out to be a Fed-lover. Brainwashed by their idiocy. 

That's terrible. I'm so sorry. You refer to it as 'brainwashed'. Do you think every person that doesn't hate the Fed is brainwashed?

W: Yes. The Fed is the worst thing that has ever happened to me. All they have ever done is make me miserable. 

I'm sorry to hear that.

W: I am grateful for my job with them, though. This whole rebellion would be a whole lot hard without it. 

You must have put on quite the act to have fooled them for four years!

W: I'll be honest, it was never easy. I had to do a lot of things that I didn't approve of. I'd rather not say what kinds of things, but, take my word for it, it was hard. 

Who gives the orders in the Fed?

W: Dean O'Connor. He's in charge of every Fed member and everyone in the Compound and everyone in our province. No one tells him what do to. Nobody.

How high were you ranked, while in the Fed?

W: Third-level. There's Dean, first-level; three guys on second-level; five guys on third; ten on fourth; 26 other Fed members, guards and such. 45 in all. 

So you're pretty high and mighty in the Fed!

W: *laughs* Yeah, I guess so. I can only take orders from about seven people. I can give orders to the rest. Makes me feel pretty powerful. 

I can see why! Now, I want to change subjects and ask you about your life before you moved to Green Bay. How much do you remember?

W: Quite a lot, actually. One thing I need to make clear is that TJ was practically my brother. He lived with us from the time I was three. So we sorta just adopted him. So, when we lived in Kansas City, it was my family, including TJ, and another family with three kids. The fathers and the other family's 19-year-old son worked together to find food and water, then brought it back to our families. Charlene was so tough. She was always assuring us that everything was gonna be okay. *laughs* she was nine! She knew so much more than we did. 

Do you think she was right?

W: Thus far, I'm not so sure. If the Fed is stopped, she was definitely right. 

How close were you, Charlene, and TJ?

W: Charlene, TJ, and I were best friends. Charlene may have been our kid sister, but there was no one else for us to hang out with and we grew to love her above anyone else. 

If the Federation has your parents and TJ, why haven't you gone after them?

W: I've always been afraid to find them dead. If they're dead, I don't wanna know about it. I'd be overjoyed if I found them alive, but I wouldn't be able to carry on if I found them dead. 

I can understand that. I have one more question before you go: what's your favorite color?

W: *laughs* Um...red? Nah...probably...turquoise. Just because I love the turquoise skies, the ones we see in pictures. 

Thank you so much for your time!

W: Thank you for having me! I love getting asked questions about myself! *winks*

Thanks for reading! I hope to finish up the next chapter by Saturday and will do my best to keep it up and continue posting every Saturday:) 

The Federation: Chapter 4

Thursday night, everyone, no matter how dangerous and risky it is, has to meet at the training center, so Lars can lead us to the Compound and the Fed HQ. In my house, I gather a small backpack of clothes and any food and water I have, which isn't much, but I pack it anyways. A knock at the door makes me jump, and I nervously approach, hoping, with everything I've got, that it's not the Fed. I open the door, relieved to see Naomi, Piper, and Wes.

I sigh hard, with relief, and say, "Thank goodness, it's just you guys."

"Did we scare you a little?" Naomi laughs, as they let themselves in. 

"Why don't you guys come in?" I laugh as I shut the door. 

"Don't mind if we do!" Wes smirks. "You ready to go to the training center?"

"Yeah." I said as I swing my backpack onto my back. "Shall we go?" The four of us walk to the training center together. 

when we get here, everyone is nervous, including me and certainly Piper. We all are ready though; each one of us has a rifle with over 50 rounds of ammo, a pistol with about ten rounds of ammo, and a dagger. 

Lars hasn't told us exactly where we're going tonight, but he said we are forming a safe house somewhere by the Fed HQ. I've never been that far. The training center is as far as I've been. 

"Gather 'round, everyone!" Larson stands up on a table from the classroom. "We attack first thing tomorrow morning. Now, there are about 115 of us; we can't all go to the safe house together. It's much too close to the Fed HQ, and will draw too much attention. I have us split into five groups. The first group leaves at-" He glances at his watch. "-Five o'clock, sharp. The next group leaves at five thirty. Then, six. And so on. Check the chalkboard to see who your group leader is and what time you're leaving." He hops down and the whole room floods around the chalkboard. It's a good couple minutes before I get to see who's in my group. When I finally do, I only recognize two names; Harvey Leroy, the group leader, and a friend that Larson has mentioned, and Brody. And we leave at seven, the last group to go. 

We gather and sit around, all bored to death. By six, Brody and I are sitting next to each other, and I'm leaning on his arm, half asleep. All the nurses, younger kids, and some Compound escapees left first with Larson's group. 

Seven o'clock comes faster than I expected, and we all know it's a pretty long walk to the Fed HQ, but we're ready. Brody and I walk together and, after about five minutes of walking, he says, "Are you ready for tomorrow?"

"I thought I was, until now. I haven't been this nervous about it before," I admit. 

He looks down, then at me. We hold each others' gaze for a few seconds, then he looks away. We walk for what seems to be about 20 minutes, then reach an old army base, a pretty large concrete building, with walls as thick as I am tall, and a two-inch layer of graphene on the outside of the building, and a thin lining on the insides of the walls and ceiling. The doors are three inches thick, and made of pure graphene, and the whole building is still intact, even after the wars. It was built to outlast them. The outside of the building is a little banged up, but the inside is still standing strong. 

We walk in, and almost the entire inside of the large building is filled with bunk beds. Most of the group has settled into their beds, and most of the beds are filled. Ritchie is on a top bunk, with Tucker on the bottom. Brody walks ahead of me and takes the top of the bunk in the very back corner of the room. I decide to take the one underneath, and follow him. My heart races a little when I see that a girl has the bed next to mine. I don't know who, but the backpack sure doesn't belong to a boy. 

"Damien!" Ritchie shouts from his bunk. I look up at him and start towards him and Tucker. "Come here," He tells me, when I get to his bed. I climb up on top and situate myself next to him. "You ready for tomorrow?"

"As I'll ever be."

Ritchie looks at me for awhile. It's weird, but I don't stop him. After about thirty seconds, he pulls me into a hug. I hug back immediately. I know I didn't know him for very long, but he's my brother. And I missed him nonetheless. 

Later that night, to my pleasure, I discover that Piper has the bunk next to mine, rather than some married woman or something. Larson tells us all to go to bed at eight thirty, after we've all settled and found a bunk. We need the rest. 

I can't sleep. I know I need to, but I can't. It feels like it's almost morning, but I know it isn't. I wish it were. It's probably not even ten o'clock yet. I look over at Piper. She doesn't look asleep. "Piper?" I whisper.

Her head turns to face me. "Hm?"

"Are you nervous?" I ask as I sit up. 

She sits up, too, and replies, "No...I'm terrified." Tears spring to her eyes. I put my arms out, hating that she needs me because we might lose each other tomorrow. I hate that we need each other. I don't know what's going to happen. She drops to her knees, in front of me, wraps her arms around me, and cries, with her head in my lap. 

It hurts. How much I love her hurts. I know there's nothing I can do about it though, I know that. Not without hurting her. 

She catches her breath and gets up to sit next to me on the bed. I put an arm around her and rub her shoulder, as she leans against me. 

"Damien..." She starts, pulling away and looking at me. "Are you nervous?"

"Yeah, I guess so." Our faces are no more than two inches away from each other. I could kiss her. I want to. But it would hurt more than not kissing her. I look away nervously.

"You okay?"

"Yeah!" I lie. I smile a little and try to make her believe me. She looks distraught. "No, I'm not okay; Piper, this hurts!" I stand up and rub the back of my neck. "It hurts..." I choke on the words and drop to my knees, then look up at her and grab her hands. 

"What hurts?"

"This. The fact that I love you so much that the thing that terrifies me the most about tomorrow is losing you." She looks at me for a second, with tears in her eyes, then, in one swift movement, releases my hands, takes my face in her hands, and kisses me. It hurts, but feels wonderful at the same time. The kiss lasts longer than I expected it to, but I'm okay with it, because I don't know how much longer the two of us will be alive. 

With my face still in her hands, Piper looks me dead in the eye, with tears rolling down her cheeks, and says, "I love you. And I know that we might not live to see the end of this war. But I'm fighting this war for you. And you, Damien, are worth dying for." She smiles at me. "You're worth dying for because you're all I've got. And because I know you'd die for me in a heartbeat," She finishes. She's right. I would die for her, and without a second thought. I get back up and sit on the bed, next to her, my stamina regained, and look at her. 

"Heavens, I love you..." She whispers under her breath. With a sneaky smirk on her face, she says, "Why must you be so amazing and alluring?" 

"I don't know. Why must you be so amazing and alluring?"

She rolls her eyes and gets up, then gets back in her own bed. I decide to lay back down and try to get some sleep, so the two of us get in bed and try to get some rest. After a couple minutes, I look over at Piper, who has successfully fallen asleep. Her chest rises and fall with each breath. I'm not used to seeing her so peaceful, but it's wonderful. 

I finally decide to let myself begin to drift off, my last thought of the day being our kiss.

"All right, all right! Everyone get up!" Larson's shouting wakes us all up, aside from a few deep sleepers that he's shaking. "We attack in just a few hours, I would love it if everyone was actually somewhat awake for the attack! That would be so helpful." He grabs a wooden spoon from the kitchen area, that I hadn't noticed before, and bangs it against one of the metal-frame bunk beds. Everyone that wasn't awake already jumps up and starts prepping themselves for the day. There is little chatter between everyone, considering the most of us are still half asleep. 

"Come on, everyone!" Wheeler climbs on top of the very center bunk bed, sits on top, cross-legged, and continues, "We have a war to fight! We are not six-year-old little girls! We are men!" He finishes toughly, then realizes his mistake and says, "And women!" After a short pause, he starts again. "And boys, and girls, but, you get the point! We are awesome!"

Larson approaches the bed and rests an elbow on the top bunk and says, "Hey, Wheeler?"

"Yeah?" Wheeler smiles wide.

"Get off my bed."

Wheeler nods and hops down, accidentally nailing Larson's nose with his elbow, on the way down.

We are all ready within a few minutes, considering we didn't have to do much more than wake up and comb out our hair with our fingers. Larson gathers up all the food that we brought, including the food that the Compound escapees brought, which is more food than I've ever seen at one time, and starts rationing it out. He gives the kids in his class more food than the escapees because they aren't malnourished, like us. They've been getting plenty of food for awhile. 

After everyone finishes eating, we get our gear and sit on our beds, but the people with top bunks just sit next to the person who had the bottom, so Brody and I sit next to one another. 

"All right..." Larson and Wheeler are at the head of the room, and Larson steps forward, to talk to us before we go. "We attack today, everyone. We haven't been training long, so I know this is a bit..." He clears his throat. "Nerve wracking...but, we can do it. Now; we can't go out there on our own, and I counted everyone- there are 93 warriors. Groups of three! Everyone should be in groups of three. Why? Because, if someone gets injured, there is someone to run and get help and someone to watch the injured person. If you can, carry them back here, it isn't a very far walk, and they can get better care here than out there."

Wheeler steps forward and says, "Hopefully, we won't need to worry about that much...but, I promise, we will...at least a little..."

"Wheeler's right," Larson starts up again. "But we can do this. I'm not saying it won't be hard, it will be, but it will also be worth it. I wish you all the best of luck out there today." 

The Federation: Chapter 3

It's Tuesday. We attack on Friday. No one is fully prepared. I'm scared out of my wits, but I have to go through with this. I can't back down now. 

"Damien, I have some good news." Larson approaches me with Weston behind him.

"Wes!" I shout excitedly as I walk up to him and pull him into a hug. "What made you change your mind, Lars?"

"We need warriors. He was the only one that came to mind." Larson says plainly. 

"Well, then, thanks." I shoot a smile at Piper, who sees Wes and comes over to us. 

"Piper!" Wes smiles. He pulls her into a hug, and a pang of jealousy shoots through me. "Where's Naomi?"

"Oh," I begin. "I'm sure she's around here somewhere." I smile as Naomi runs up to us and hugs Weston. 

"Look, this is nice, and adorable, but we have a lot of work to do," Larson interrupts. Wes and Naomi separate. Lars walks to the front of the room. "We attack in three days, everyone! Does anyone feel ready!?"

No one says yes. Not for a few seconds, anyway. After the few seconds of silence, a hand shoots up from the middle of the group. "I do!" He starts making his way forward, as he lifts his other hand, which has his rifle in it. "I am pumped, I want to smash the crap out of the Fed! They are as bad as dying- worse than dying, I should say." Finally he makes it to the front. He's young, I feel like I should recognize him, but I don't. He's old enough, though, that Larson wouldn't know him from teaching.

Larson looks at him skeptically, and approaches him. "What's your name, son?"

"Wheeler Hawkins," He says with a huge, arrogant smirk.

"How old are you?" Larson asks, looking noticeably less skeptical. "I don't recognize you."

"I'm 23. I work with the Fed."

"How did you-"

"I told them I was taking a break. They actually believed me." Wheeler smiles. 

"Wheeler, how did you find us?" Larson asks, nervously.

"I-I don't know, I walked to the towns, and found this place- I've been training with you guys for the past four days."

Lars' mouth works for a moment. "We have a lot of work to do, but I want to talk to you after training."

"All right." Wheeler smirks again, and head to the other side of the building to train. He goes to knife throwing, and everyone else follows and goes to their stations. I return to dodging, and Weston follows me, only because he doesn't know what to do. 

"What do you think of Wheeler?" Wes asks me. 

"He seems..." I glance at the tall, blonde, mystery person. "A bit sketchy."

"I can agree with that."

I notice Wheeler talking to Piper. "Hold that thought, Wes." I turn around and head straight for Wheeler. Piper looks a bit uncomfortable, which makes me feel much less guilty for doing what I am about to do. I punch him. It knocks him into the wall he was standing by. He towers over me, and is much stronger and broader than I am, but he doesn't rebound the punch. He just gawks at me, along with everyone who was nearby.  Soon, everyone is staring at the scene. I see Brody and Ritch; Brody looks highly disappointed in me, but Ritch Ritch gives me a pleased look. 

"What was that for!?" Wheeler screeches. 

I feel a stab of guilt. Wheeler's cheekbone is already bruising. I look at Larson, expecting a look of disapproval, but, instead, I notice that he's stifling a laugh. Through a half-smile, he shouts, "As you were! All of you! Go on!" Everyone clears out, and he approaches Wheeler, Piper, and I. He puts his hand out to help Wheeler up. "You all right, there, kiddo?"

"I guess so. This one's got an arm on him, though." He smiles at me, instead of glaring.

"Sorry..." My face turns red.

He looks at me, confused. "Why are you sorry?" Piper's gone, so he continues, "I'm guessing she's your girlfriend, eh?"

"I suppose you could say that."

"I can imagine how bad that looked. No problems. I honestly respect you for that. You sure put me in my place!" He smiles wide, and gently slaps my shoulder, as he walks off. I walk back to Wes, who is trying hard not to laugh.

"Shut up, you halfwit!" I chuckle. 

"Larson, what really changed your mind about getting Wes?" I ask Lars on the way home.

"I told you already." 

"You don't think I'm going to believe that, do you?"

"Why wouldn't you? It's the truth!"

"Uh-huh...Sure."

Larson laughs and rolls his eyes. "We needed another warrior!" 

"And Wes was the only one you could get?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact." 

"I'm not convinced."

"I can tell!" He chuckles. He sighs and a more serious look crosses his face. "I didn't get him back."

I don't even know what to say.

"His brother did. He told me to take credit for it, but I don't feel right about that. He's only 20, and was willing to cut Wes' tracker off." He looks at me softly, and with a hint of tears in his eyes. "I cut off over a hundred of those, and it's still just as gut-wrenching as it was the first time."  I notice my house coming up. "Don't tell him I told you. He wouldn't be very pleased with me."

I nod. It's hard to see Larson this emotional. His emotions have become stronger since he cut his tracker off, and I think it has affected everyone who knew him. 

As I come up on my house, I turn and head straight for my porch, but I don't go in. I sit and watch everyone else. "Lars!" I shout. He stops and looks at me. "Come back after everyone is home. I'm not done talking to you." I flash him a smile, and he nods and keeps going. 

He's back within five minutes. 

"What did you need, kid?" He sits next to me, on my porch. 

"What is it like..." I pause and look at him solemnly. "What is it like, having strong emotions, now that you cut your tracker off?"

"It's...hard. It's painful- all my painful and sad memories are coming back to me, and it hurts." He says it strongly, fighting the emotions. He's used to fighting them.

"You don't have to fight the emotions."

"Yeah, I know," He chuckles. "It's just-" He stops and his face takes on a more nervous look. a

"What is it?" I ask.

"Get inside."

I don't listen, confused at his orders. 

"Damien Harris! Get inside now!" He stands and lifts me to my feet. "Come on, Damien!" I finally see the problem; the Fed. Their off-road vehicles are racing down the street. I start to follow Larson inside, but we're too late. They saw us already. 

"Stop!" One of them shouts, hopping out of the vehicle, with a gun aimed at me. "Stop right there." He slowly enunciates the words. "Who are you?" He nods his head at Larson. 

"Larson Hanks."

The Fed worker eyes Larson's wrist, where he has a bandage tied over his wound. "What happened to your wrist?"

"Training injury, no big deal. What do you want here, sir?"

"I'm not done. I have a few more questions. What are you doing at the kid's house?"

Before Lars even gets the chance to answer, another Fed worker shouts from the vehicle, "Hey, there's only one tracker on the chart at this location."

The other worker looks at us again, and, in one swift movement, Larson knocks the gun from his hands and restrains both of his wrists. No sooner, five, or more, Fed workers are surrounding us, aiming their pistols straight at us. 

"Let go of him." The workers inch closer and Larson lets go. He puts his hands behind his head, and, suspecting that I'm endangered as well, I copy the action. The worker picks his gun up and joins the circle. Almost simultaneously, they all cock their guns. Larson steps in front of me. I see each of their fingers go to the trigger, but before they pull. I hear someone down the road shouting, "Stop! Stop! It's okay!" A few seconds pass before I can see who it is. 

It's Wheeler. Never did I think I would actually appreciate a Fed worker. 

"Wheeler!?" A worker huffs. 

"Guys, come on, I know this looks bad, but it's really just a misunderstanding." 

"Uh-huh..." He walks over to Wheeler. This morning, I thought Wheeler was big, and tough. He looks like a shrimp next to this guy. "Do you want to explain it, then?"

"It's a long story, Mr. Stokes, and I know you are a busy, busy man."

Mr. Stokes isn't buying it. 

"I'll take care of these two."

"Wheeler," Mr. Stokes lowers his voice. "If you weren't part of the Fed, I would kill you right now. But since I have no authority, I'll at least say this: I can't wait to attend your funeral." He clenches his teeth and continues, "And since I don't any authority over you, since we were equals, I have to listen to you. But I swear, if I ever get the chance...you're so dead." He puts his gun in his sheath and starts for the vehicles. "Break it up! Get back in the trucks!" Everyone listens and piles into the trucks, and, soon after, they drive off.

Larson slowly lowers his arms, and walks up to Wheeler. "Thanks for saving our skins, Wheeler."

"Heck, it was fun! I finally got to put Stokes in his place." Wheeler smiles wide and continues, "You were about to get tracked, Damien!" He laughs hard, and says, "I saved you from a life of freaking misery!"

"Wheeler, cool it," Larson orders.

"Thanks, Wheeler," I say. 

"You owe me, big time." He laughs, waves, and heads back for the training center. 

"I guess I should get home," Lars states, as he starts back home. 

"See you tomorrow."

"They almost tracked you!?" Piper asks me on the way to training, after I told her what happened yesterday. 

"Yeah. But, they didn't, thanks to Wheeler."

"'Thanks to Wheeler?' Yesterday morning, I never would have thought you'd say that."

I chuckle. "Me neither." 

We reach the training center. Wheeler is outside, doing jumping jacks, and counting each one. As I near him, I hear, "205, 206, 207..."

"Morning, Wheeler," Larson says. 

"Morning. 210, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215..."

"You gonna come in for training?"

"Yep." He stops and walks inside, barely breathing harder than normal. This is next to last day of training before the attack. Inside, all the Compound escapees are waiting for us, just like every day. Larson talks to us, like every day, but the difference today is the emotion in his voice. Rage. He sounds completely, horrendously angry. His emotions are everywhere right now. I sure hope they stabilize before Friday, but I'm not getting my hopes up. 

Training is just like it always is. We train our weaknesses. A couple people polish up on their strengths. Brody and Ritchie work together on knives today. Piper is still at the rifles. Wes is at the pistols, one of his strongpoints. I continue my dodging. It could be much better, but I'm good enough. 

Wheeler is straddling a classroom chair, sharpening a pocketknife. I decide not to question it. He saved me. I don't so much care what he does to me or anyone at this point. Larson looks tired. I stop dodging and watch him for a minute. He has circles under his eyes and he keeps yawning while he teaches the pistols. I have to ask him about that later.

"Lars!" Wheeler shouts as he nears Larson. He says something to him, but they're too far away for me to hear. Larson nods and straddles the same chair that Wheeler had been straddling, and Wheeler starts teaching the pistols. Lars fights sleep for the rest of class. I can tell something's wrong. After about an hour of watching him like this, I decide to confront him about it. 

"Larson, are you all right?"

He looks up at me. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"You look a little...tired."

He clears his throat and sits up. "I'm fine. You need to be training, Damien."

I shake my head. "Not until you tell me what's up."

"Not here, and not now. But maybe later. Go on, kid."

I turn and walk off without a word. Worried about him, I decide to brush up on my rifles, because I'm a little off focus right now. I can't think of what could be bothering him. The air and his emotions are the only logical explanations, but I want more details. I need to know what's wrong, because it's a little scary seeing your only father figure so weak. I can't help but wonder if all the other escapees are suffering so much. I could always ask Brody or Ritchie. 

"Hey, short stack!" Speaking of Ritchie. He comes up behind me and I turn to face him. 

"What do you want?" I ask, probably a little meaner than I meant to.

He laughs. "What's wrong with you?"

"I'm worried about Larson." I pause and look him in the eyes. "He's my only father figure, I don't want him to be..." I look at Larson, who was rubbing his eyes to keep awake. "I don't want  him to be in so much pain."

"Oh, come on, Damien, you're such a little wimp! I mean, seriously, he's okay."

"Ritchie!" I snap. "Look at him!" Ritchie's head turns to look at him. "See? He's exhausted, he's a mess."

"Do you know why?"

"No, but I need to find out. He can't be like this on Friday."

"You're right, he can't." Ritchie crouches next to me. "Don't go about this the wrong way, kid. Don't...don't offend him. All right?"

I nod. "I won't. I hope." I watch Larson for awhile. He rubs his eyes again, and clearly struggles to keep himself awake. I don't know how the heck he's going to last through the attack. He looks miserable, which isn't good. I need him- we all need him to be our rock. He's the toughest of us all, and it's hard to see him like this. It actually kinda scares me. 

No...it really scares me.

The Federation: Chapter 2

Training is different than usual, which is nice. "All right, guys, we have a lot to talk about," Larson says at the beginning of training.

"What happened to your wrist?" Naomi asks. 

"I...I cut my tracker off." Larson changes the subject, "Damien and I-"

"How!?" Okay, Naomi needs to shut up, now. 

"With a knife."

"If it was so easy, why don't other people do it?"

"Because it was risky." Larson nears Naomi, and leans in, leaving no more than an inch between their faces. She gets herself into trouble a lot. "If I had so much as barely slit the tracker, the Fed would have killed me. And there are veins and arteries right underneath the tracker; if I had cut too deep, I could've killed myself." He takes a breath and finishes, "Got it?" He steps back and continues, "Damien and I have devised a plan to stop the Fed. After training, I'm going to the Compound to recruit some of the warriors. I have to be careful though."

I step forward and stand next to Larson. "We need you guys' help. But it's dangerous. We might not make it out alive." Piper looks at me with tears in her eyes, then walks over to me. 

"I'm in." Tucker steps forward.

"Me too."

"Count me in!" Everyone agrees, except Naomi, who stands, leaning to one side, arms folded, behind everyone who's agreed. 

"I don't wanna die. I want to live freely."

"Naomi," I walk up to her and lean over just enough to match her height. "You have- we all have two options; live in slavery, or die freely, with a slight chance of living freely."

Her mouth works for a moment, then she nods. 

"Thank you." I guide her to the rest of the group, and glance at Piper. When I get over to her and notice her look of jealousy, I whisper to her, "You have nothing to worry about."

"We haven't finished the whole plan yet, but we will when we know how many people I can get from the Compound." Larson heads for the training area, and we all follow him. "You think you trained hard before? You ain't seen nothing, yet." He cracks down, he gets us to work. He trains us hard. We need to be ready for the attack. Training lasts nine hours; from five in the morning, to two in the afternoon. 

"All right, we gotta get home, then I have to head to the Compound to recruit some people," Larson announces. The walk home is the same as usual, but Larson and I are ahead of everyone else, because I have something important to discuss with him.

"Lars..." I begin hesitantly.

"Yeah?"

"What about Wes?"

Larson sighs and looks down a little. "What about him?"

"Well, we need to take him, don't we? We can use all the help we can get, and he was a great warrior!"

"Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no. We can't. Absolutely not!"

"Why not?!" At this point, we're at his house already, so we sit down on his porch. 

"Do you have any idea how dangerous it would be to remove the tracker of someone who isn't in the Compound yet?"

"No, I guess not."

"We'll make do without him. I'll take it off after we win, if we do."

"Fine," I mutter. I cough for a second, then turn back to Larson. "I should get home, in case they come for me tonight."

"All right," He agrees. I say goodbye and start home. 

"Good news, Damien!" Larson nears me as he picks me up, on the way to training. "Guess how many people I got yesterday."

"How many?" I ask, excitedly awaiting an answer. 

Larson takes a deep breath, a smile spread across his face, and says "94."

My face lights up and I smile wide. "That's incredible! Thank you!"

He laughs softly. "You're welcome. We have about 115 warriors, against their 101!"

I allow myself to laugh a little. "That's amazing." I pause. "Did...did you find my family?" I ask nervously. 

"Some of it..."

"Like who?"

"Your brothers, Ritchie and Brody."

"I have brothers? I mean, I knew that...but I wasn't sure if they were still...alive." 

"They're alive. Each one of the Compound escapees are at the training center."

"Did you have to cut off all of their trackers?"

"Yeah...it wasn't too terrible, I guess."

"Thanks...for doing that." I speed up to get next to Piper. "Hey, Piper!" 

"Hi!" She starts. "You're awful happy today, Damien!"

"Something wrong with that?"

"No, but I'm not exactly used to it."

"To be fair, I'm not the only happy person." I open my mouth to continue, but Lars steps in front of the group to stop us and make an announcement. 

"All right, everyone, listen up!" He says, clapping his hands once and then rubbing them together. "There are about 100 compound escapees in there. Some of them may be family, go ahead and go crazy, reunite with them. It's been ten years, or so." Everyone starts chatting and getting excited. "Hey wait, there are rules, okay? Don't harass them. If you don't recognize anyone, there may not be anyone you know in there. Lastly, ask me before assuming that. I tried hard to get your families, if I could. I know all of them. Go on in, orderly." We walk in as a group, each one of us buzzing with excitement. A couple kids see their families immediately, others walk off to the side, knowing their family is dead already, and most of us stand on our tiptoes trying to see over everyone.

"How am I supposed to find mine?" Piper asks, looking at me nervously. "I only remember my sister Hattie and my parents-" She stops. She's staring off at the crowd and I follow her gaze. A lady, blonde hair and blue eyes, just like Piper, is staring back at her. "Mom?" Her eyes fill with tears and she runs for her mother. I watch with a smile on my face. I only remember my brother, but I doubt he's here. He didn't seem like the "warrior" type when we were growing up.

Everyone is either asking Larson, sitting by the wall looking depressed, or with their family. I look around for Ritchie. I look to the left side of the large group and hear a voice from my right call my name. I turn to see who it was. I think it's Ritchie, but I haven't seen him much since he was 13 so I'm not positive. "Ritchie, is that you?" I ask him. He comes closer, slightly tearing up, and nods as he pulls me into a hug. I don't remember us being very close, but neither of us cares anyway. 

He pulls away and wipes a tear away as he gestures to a man, slightly older than Ritchie, who was standing behind him. "Do you remember Brody at all?"

I frown a little and shake my head. "Not his name. Just that I had another brother. Larson reminded me earlier when he told me that he got you guys."

"I don't blame you for forgetting me, dude," Brody starts, smiling, and ruffling my hair like I'm five. "I wasn't all that memorable!"

"Yeah, he was, and still is, a square!" Ritchie laughs. Brody bumps into the side of Ritchie, teasingly. 

"Damien," Piper comes up behind me.

"Ooh, Damien! You have good taste in women!" Ritchie teases me. "I'm his brother, Ritchie."

"Nice to meet you," She states, acting as uninterested as possible so he gets the idea. "Damien, you've gotta meet my family." She grabs my arm and drags me behind her. I wave to my brothers, and smile at Piper's excitement. She seems like a little girl, which is nice. Not many people get to see that around her. "Damien, these are my siblings; Tate, Emerson, Holden, and Hattie. Then my mother, Wanda."

Piper's family and I exchange handshakes and hellos. "Please tell me you did not remember them..."

"Only my mom and Hattie, I said that earlier."

"Oh yeah." I smack my hand to my forehead and laugh. I shake my head, and as I'm doing so, I notice Naomi off to the side, on the verge of tears. "Excuse me, everyone." I walk over to her and crouch down in front if her. "Whatcha doing?"

"My family's dead, it's hopeless," She pouts. 

"Are you sure they're dead?"

"No, but I'm pretty sure."

"Ask Lars, Naomi! Maybe you're wrong! C'mon," I stand up and put my hand out to help her up, but she glances at it and ignores it, then stands up on her own. She walks off towards Lars, and I drop my arm to side and roll my eyes, following after her. "Lars," I start as we near him. "Did you get Naomi's family back, perhaps?"

"Yeah, I did," He answers.

Naomi's face takes on a look of shock. "You did? But, I thought they were...Where are they?"

"Um," Lars scans the room for a moment, then points at a couple, apparently Naomi's parents. "Right there."

Naomi smiles wide and tears flood her eyes. Her hand covers her mouth as the tears pour down her cheeks. I've never seen her like this, she never smiles, I never would have thought she knew how to cry, and she just seemed downright angry, all the time. But this- this is different side of her. She excitedly runs over to them, looking like a little girl, just like Piper. This is a weird day...but it's a great one. "You know," I hear someone say behind me. I turn and see Ritchie. "You never introduced me to your girlfriend."

I laugh and say, "Her name is Piper. Piper Dunn."

"I see," He laughs. More solemnly, he continues, "How old are you, now?"

"17."

"You never got tracked?"

"Nope. I...I got lucky, I guess."

"Damien!" Lars shouts from the other side of the training center.

"I gotta go, Ritch." I walk over to Lars and he says, "We have to get ready. We have to attack the Fed next week."

"Okay. But, why?"

"Don't ask questions, just trust me. All right?"

"Okay."

"All right, everyone, listen up!" Larson shouts over the noise. "I know this is a moment most of us never thought would happen, but we need to focus on the matter at hand; defeating the Fed."

Mutters and questions fill the room. 

"Quiet, everyone!" Larson snaps. "I need your attention. If you were a warrior, go to the training side. If you were a nurse or doctor, go to the classroom side. If you were still in my class, come up front." Everyone obeys. I join the class and Larson continues. "Some of our girls wished they were nurses, rather than warriors. Now's your chance. Go to the classroom side. The rest of you, training side." After everyone is in their place, Larson continues, "Nurses, I need you to teach these girls. All right?"

They all nod.

"Warriors, all of us will be training and practicing. We all need it, everyone can be better." We all group together, of course Brody and Ritchie are already by my side, and Larson begins, "Exercise your weakest point. Find the station with it, and practice. All day. Got it?" We nod and everyone scrambles to their station. For me, my weak point is dodging, because I have slow reflexes and I'm tall. Wes and I both had a hard time with it. Piper is a pro at it though, she has quick reflexes, she's small, and she is very agile, so she goes to the shooting range, my strong point. I spot Brody over by the knives, and Ritch over by Piper, though I think he's just over there to flirt with her, rather than to exercise his skills. 

I am exhausted after the whole day of dodging fake, cardboard bullets. When we have to go home, we say goodbye to everyone and Lars takes all the students home. I glance at Wes" house as we walk by and decide to inquire Larson about it more. I hate that he's already had to cut off about 100 of them, but we need Wes. He's too big of a help. "Lars, about Weston-"

"No. I already told you that, Damien." He states clearly. If I was smart, I'd get the idea and move on. But I'm not. 

"You know how good of a fighter he is, you know how much better we'd do if he was fighting with us!"

"Yes, you and I both know that. But what you don't know, is that the Fed knows what they're doing, and it is much too dangerous to get him. I can't just waltz into his house and cut off his tracker, it isn't that easy." He stops, the other students keep walking, and he places a hand on my shoulder as he leans down the my height. "I would love to get Wes. He is a wonderful warrior. But it puts him and all of us at too much risk."

"How so?"

"If you ever get taken, you'll understand. But it isn't quite so simple. I just need you to trust me."

"Okay, fine."

"Thanks." He retracts his arm and stands up straight again. He starts walking again, and I sigh and follow behind him. 

A thought enters my mind and I speed up to Larson's side. "What if I were to get tracked today? Would you leave me?"

"I'd have to. It's too dangerous."

I give him a sad, and somewhat disappointed look. 

"As much as I'd hate to, I would have no other option." He grins a little. "Sorry, kid, but that's how it is, that's how our life is. And it sucks. But it's life, this is life as we know it, and maybe, somewhere out there, there's an another life that's better, but we just need to find it. And we aren't searching hard enough."

"Do you think we'll ever find it?"

"Someday, maybe. I sure hope so."

"Me too. What do you think it'd take to get Africa or Europe to donate us some trees?"

Larson laughs, "Probably not a lot, but we don't exactly have means of communication with them. Only the Fed does."

"Dang it." I chuckle and we catch up with the group. Tucker is slowing, and breathing hard. He gets to his house and goes inside. The older brother, the one who almost lost his brother who had asthma, I recently learned his name; Miles. Miles Lansford, and his little brother's name is Jaden. I catch up to Miles. He's really and particularly sad person, but he's nice, and needs a friend. Jaden is cradled in his arms, and Miles looks at him nervously. "Hey, Miles."

"Hi, Damien, right?"

"Yeah. How's Jaden doing?"

"Fine. I guess. We need oxygen, or we won't live long enough to attack the Federation."

He's right. The oxygen is terrible, and getting worse. I didn't realize how fast we're all breathing. It's not getting any better, for sure. And I need it to, or Jaden isn't gonna make it. And we need each and every warrior.