Modern Rebels

Sweet Syrup

The sun, now very much known against the clouds, shone into Ed's bedroom like a golden beam of...hope, he wished. Rolling over to check his clock, the radio station was gearing up to play its one hour of non-stop classic rock. Ed slowly sat up, and the sounds of the non-stop music covered the sound of his aging bones cracking as he stretched and started his day. 

Back at the bunker, James and Alice had been awake for a couple of hours, talking about anything and everything-not related to the current manhunt that was underway. Telling stories about their teenage years, James was overtaken with nostalgia. 

"Hey Als, do you remember the first time we met? We were paired up in English class for some kind of project.."

"Vaguely, yeah. I think we were supposed to learn a poem?"

"Yes! I remember now--it was The Raven," Joe excitedly said.

"That class was so boring, do you remember Mr. Avery's saving grace?"

In unison, they both shouted, "VHS tapes!"

Alice continued, "Oh my goodness, he would turn on an old VHS tape and pass out at his desk. He had to start putting a towel down for the drool. He called it his pillow though, to 'rest his head'...

The room went silent for a few seconds. Alice got up from the mattress and walked over towards James. 

"Things were a lot more simple then, even for me," Alice whispered behind him. 

James held out his arms and pulled Alice in. He paused around her neck, almost longingly. To which he whispered, as softly as possible, "Alice, I will never let anything happen to you. I swear."

James cradled her body now, their eyes locked into one another's. 

"James," Alice's voice was also very calm and relaxed, "I love you. I think some part of me always has. I've just been too afraid to ever love someone. I'm sorry if that is hurtful but its just who I am. I'm a mess. My life is just one big question mark and I don't know where we go from here. But I just wanted you to know that--."

"Ali, you didn't have to tell me. That first day we partnered up in Mr. Avery's class, I knew you were different. Not in a bad way, just different. And I liked that. I appreciated that someone wasn't just a cookie cutter average teenage girl. There's no individuality in that. You are everything I want to be. Independent. Strong. You have no idea."

The two of them were now just centimeters away from each other when the door to the bunker flung open, beams of light raining into the darkest corners of the hideout. "Come on up, guys, breakfast is gonna get cold."

"Even during a manhunt, in a dank bunker, my dad knows how to ruin a moment," Alice chuckled, racing James up to the ladder and onto the ground level. 

The house smelled like a breakfast buffet. Hash browns, pancakes, bacon and sausage lined the kitchen counter. All sitting in the dining room now, Ed peered over at his daughter curiously picking up on the body language of the two of them. 

"So what exactly is going on here, between the two of you I mean...are you guys...what do they call it now, 'going out'?" Ed's fingers were held high making air quotations. 

James, averting his eyes from Ed, began to blush. 

"Well we have been best friends since we were in high school." Alice's explanation wasn't quite enough to soothe Ed's curiosity but he left it alone anyways.

"So what's the plan, dad?" Alice asked, finishing her plate of scrambled eggs.

"Well, girl, we have to do something you are really not going to like, but it has to be done. Now eat up, we are leaving for Memphis General Hospital in 15 minutes." 

Confused, Alice and James began to walk down the driveway to her car. 

"I'm going to need you to put this sticker on the back of your neck. I'll answer your questions soon. Just meet me at the hospital."

Together, they drove to Memphis General where they met a doctor dressed in surgical gear. James was starting to feel very uneasy trying to figure out what was about to happen. 

"This is going to sound crazy, but we have intel that Sully may have hired someone to plant a tracking device in the back of your neck. We're here to see if you do, and if so, cut the sucker out. That sticker I gave you helps lessen the abilities of the chip, but only temporarily. We need to act quickly."

Alice, now dressed in a hospital gown, was wheeled into an XRAY machine and was told to lie completely still. The next thing she knew, she was drifting off into a deep sleep, leaving her body on the hospital bed while her mind hovered above. 

She looked up from her hospital bed to see a door open, as well as a shadow of a tall man. Glass bottles rattled against the cold hard floor. The man grew closer and closer until Alice sprang up, looking for another exit.

"There is only one way this ends, my darling."

She grabbed onto a brass doorknob, so cold that the sensation shot down to her knees. 

"You don't belong here. You never have."

Ali swung the door open, running down the hallway, hoping to be graced with a neon sign displaying EXIT.

But there weren't any. Any door she opened just led to black. Void. Shrill screams. Wait. Her mother's screams? Ali found an exit, finally. Rushing to the sign, she threw her arms open to accept the release of the exit door. Pushing it open at full force, she stood face to face with her enemy.

But it wasn't Sully. Not in the slightest. It wasn't one of the men in black suits. It wasn't her mother who had hurt her beyond reproach. The figure behind the door was a medium height girl, dark hair, green eyes. 

Alice? Is that you?

The next thing Alice felt was warmth. Why does it smell like James? And then she awoke, fresh from her medically induced slumber, to be met in the arms of her safe place. 

"Do you remember where you are? And you kept saying your name, almost screaming it. You said Alice is out to get you..."

Alice, taking in a deep breath, felt the world open back up around her. The pressure surrounding her like a boa constrictor was relieved, she felt release. Looking over at James, tears filled her eyes. She couldn't help but think that she herself would be the cause of her own demise.