The switch

The desolate streets of rundown Portland were scattered with dirt, grime, and decaying bodies. Nothing could be heard, not even the wind dared to make a sound in this disaster. I was silent as I travelled through the darkness surrounding the destroyed city, careful to watch where I walked. My brother-Nicolas-and I were on the verge of starving and I needed to take a big risk in order to feed the two of us-I had to sneak into Control's headquarters. Control was a terrorist organization that originated in the middle east and quickly grew to large numbers with members who are radicals who hated the US and all allies too them. Control grew in the shadows, underneath the US leaders confident eyes and then struck when we least expected it. Now, the great land of the free is nothing but the place the last of the patriots die. Control hasn't stopped with the US either. Next it was our allies, Israel, canada, japan, and  the British isles. They're faring better than us though, they were prepared for a fight while we weren't. Still, Control's numbers and weapondry is great and our once most trusted allies are losing a great war.

I took a sharp turn down another ally until I saw the only building with artificial light coming from it-the headquarters. Control had several bases where Control officers resided when they weren't out on patrol killing off any scavenging survivors. I walked up to the front door and took a good look. The building was small but probably had an underground area and there were two windows on either side of the door. Above the door was a window with a perch-the window was covered with dust and grime, so much so that it was impossible to see in and out through it. The perch would be perfect though. I knocked on the door lightly and then stepped back and took a running start and jumped up, foot landing on the wall and I quickly grabbed onto the edge of the perch and swung myself up with the strength I'd gained from my years of cruel and at times unbearable operative training. There, I waited. It didn't take long for a man, grumbling too himself in farsi to open the door and yell out into the night, ordering for the perpetrator to come out. When he took another step out from the door I jumped down, landing so that I sat on his shoulder and before he could even get a squeak out I wrapped my hands around his head and twisted. 

His body crumpled to the ground and I kneeled, checking his pockets. No food, which makes this more difficult, but I did hit the jackpot in the gun department. A semi-auto, a new kind of design it seemed, and when I checked the magazine there were still five shots left. Hello new best friend. I kept the gun in my hand and walked inside the headquarters, checking the main entryway and then continuing on down the hallways. I had no map of this building, but it was blocky and seemed easy enough to memorize. I found a staircase and walked quietly down the concrete steps and stopped at the base to listen. They were speaking in Farsi in whispered voices. Huh, good thing I had superior hearing and Farsi was one of the languages I'd been forced to learn in training. 

"I heard forces from Germany almost reached the switch!" 

"No way, true fiction, all power is shut down in Germany and there's no way they could've made it past the barriers secured around the switch in the homeland. It's too heavily guarded."

"Possibly, but they are stubborn and refuse to surrendor. If only they would give up like the American's did." Irritation ran through my veins at that comment but I tried my best to ignore it. For the record, we hadn't given up. We're just...in need of a little sign there's hope. If we're known for anything, it's taking a little hope and super sizing it and beating an army ten times bigger than our own. However I was curious about this switch. Why did the Germans want it? Germany was one of our greatest allies back when the US was still functioning and if they're going after this switch then that means it's something that can give us an advantage in this war. 

I stepped out from behind the wall and tiptoed across the room, hoping to sneak up on them. That didn't happen the way I wanted it too. They turned around when I was halfway across the rooms and guns were pulled. Lucky for me, I knew my way around a gun better than the creator. It took one bullet to kill one of the two men and another to graze the others shoulder to shock him. I took him down, pinning him and holding the gun too his forehead.