RED: Valor In Flight

The Finale

Hummmmmm. What is that? Maybe I should open my eyes. Bright light hits them and I squint. That’s what the humming is? It’s a light. And that’s when the memory floods back. Where is she? I feel pressure on my back.

"Riley?" I yell.

"I'm here.” she says from behind me. We're back to back. And we're in chairs, tied up. I start taking in things about the room. Small room. White paint. No fixtures. Just one door to the right.

"Are you okay?" I ask.

"I'm fine."

Suddenly the door flys open, and a man in tattered jeans and oil stained shirt stands there. He smells awful. He cuts me loose and pulls me up and out of the room without a word. When we're in the hallway, I see the key on his belt.

"I'm not sure if you're aware, but you're armpit smells like a garbage dump on a hot day." He doesn't even flinch. "But I guess if I had your face, I wouldn't care either." Nothing. It’s not my style to do this, since his mother is dead. But my mom is dead too, and I'm in a bind. "Your mom probably would've taught you how to wash better, but you know, she's dead." There we go, he's mad. He stops and does the wind up. He grabs my shoulder, punches me in the stomach, I slip the key off his belt without notice, and put it in my pocket. Good. Working on the escape plan. He takes me down the hall, and to an office where someone in a clean flightsuit with jet black hair waits behind a desk. Behind him is a window, where I can see lines of planes. With the insignia of both governments on the tails. So they steal planes, huh? On the

desk are flight maps. With X's all over it. I notice one X over where the dogfight took place. Pirates.

"Sit down Kent. Let’s talk." He gestures toward a chair facing his desk. I stand arms crossed. Resolute. "Or don't. It’s cool. I'm bill. I'm sorry for the way this had to go down, but we're running short on pilots."

"You want us to fly for you? Why would we join a pirate?" I say calmly, hoping my calmness would throw him off balance.

"Let me ask you something. Why do you do, what YOU do? Do you honestly think that the governments can take care of you? They can't do anything." He looks at me waiting for a response. When he sees nothing, he continues. "The attacks may have seemed to be pirates. But now everyone thinks we are another nation trying to take over. But nothing is quite what it seems."

"Skip to the end, please." I say.

"We aren't pirates. And we aren't another government either. Yet. Once these two nations have destroyed one another, then we will rise. I saw you noticed our planes. That's no accident. One side thinks it’s the opposite, eventually, the fight against one another."

"You're killing people to get what you want, huh? And you want me to fly for you?"

"Think of it this way. I'm giving you solid reasons. They can't help you, we can. But if you won't accept them, then plan B will have to work." He walks around the desk and leans on it using his arms for balance. That's when I see it. The light reflects off of it and catches my attention. It’s a watch. I've seen it before. It’s Leroy’s. With that, I lunge at him, punching him over the desk. I jump over it and attack, and then I'm ripped off by the stink guy.

"You killed him! I know where you got that watch! I scream.

"You knew him? Well, I'm sorry..." he responds holding back his anger.

"He was my family. The only family I had left!"

"He was just collateral damage. We needed supplies. It’s not personal. I like the fight in you, so I'll still let you take advantage of plan B. You have 6 hours to think about your decision. Or we'll kill you both." He gestures for stink guy to take us away, and begins cleaning the blood from his face.