The Armageddon Over Earth

Part Fifteen

The other prisoners were starting to become scared and some even angry with Nathan. “What is he hiding from us?” One of them yelled, his voice strong with accusation.
“He’s a traitor to humanity; he’s working with the Vector!” Another shrieked, her piercing voice attacking Nathan’s ears.  He noticed that there was movement within the crowd and started to feel intimidated as they were slowly closing in on him. He was worried that someone might attack however what worried him more was how he would retaliate. He was still just as confused as the rest of them, he looked over at Kasia longingly for her to step in and defend him, but when he saw her, he realised she looked just like the rest of them, eyes filled with accusation.

“What exactly were you doing on this ship anyway?” Her words tore into him like a dagger through flesh. Nathan was hurt, he thought that she trusted him and believed that they were on the same side. “I-I” He stuttered, becoming nervous from all the hostility. He took a deep breath before he elaborated. “I was sent here by the Militia to destroy the shield generators.” He said, for some reason seeming embarrassed and ashamed. Kasia stared at him sceptically.
“By yourself? Who would do something like that by himself?” She wasn’t buying his story “What were you really here for?” She asked seeming frustrated and growing more suspicious of him. Nathan had had enough of the accusations which he was receiving “I just told you what I was here for!” He snapped back at the crowd, the ones closest to him took a quick step back. Nathan looked around and calmed down a bit. “I was denied to have a crew with me for some reason. And for the record, I managed to disable the shields all by myself. But as I was returning to the docking bay to get the hell off this ship, that’s when I blacked out.”

The crowd still looked suspicious, one angry looking small old man who Nathan had seen complaining before started yelling. “Well whatever you did, ever since you disabled the shields, both ships have been constantly firing missiles. At this rate, we’ll all die!” Nathan didn’t bother answering; he was too focussed on what the man had just said. His prediction about the Quicksilver firing on the Armageddon was confirmed. But why? He thought.

Nathan stared into the crowd still deeply thinking until he noticed a shuffle within the crowd. Someone was trying to get to the front.  Then he saw who it was, it was Emilio, the young boy gently pushing people aside to reach the front. Emilio was fairly tall however very skinny, his scruffy dark hair came over his ears and he was constantly brushing it out of his eyes. He had dark skin and looked like he came from South America however spoke with a clear American accent. He nervously spoke “I... I think the Vector did something to him, changed him, brainwashed him somehow. It’s... it’s not his fault” He quickly glanced around worried people would turn on him too; he did not want to become vilified for defending this unknown man. Nathan saw that Emilio was shaking and looked frightened, whether of being a prisoner on the Armageddon, or the intimidating mob crowding around him, maybe both. Nathan wondered how this boy could possibly be a threat to the Vector.

There was silence; people were either too confused or too shocked to say anything. A few moments passed before Kasia spoke “Emilio’s right.” The angry crowd moved their gaze to Kasia awaiting her to justify herself “It makes sense why the Vector took him away to do something to him and then the next Vector that walks in, Nathan starts shaking and can’t move. It also makes sense why he wasn’t killed straight away. The Vector must be planning something”
“Like what?” Someone asked.
“I have no idea but whatever it is, Nathan doesn’t have a clue.” Nathan hated how Kasia was speaking about him as if he wasn’t here. Murmurs came from the crowd all seeming to accept Kasia’s theory. Everyone then seemed to start examining Nathan.

Nathan was sick of this interrogation and stormed away. Seeming content for now, the group returned to their state before the outbreak of panic occurred. Kasia and Emilio followed Nathan to where he had sat down. Kasia sat next to him and Emilio did the same.
“Listen, I’m sorry for accusing you, I shouldn’t have made assumptions.” Kasia seemed guilty and ashamed at her behaviour, her apology was definitely sincere. Nathan had calmed down too and was thinking more empathetically now. “There’s no need to apologize, anyone would have done the same, and thanks Emilio for defending me. I wouldn’t like to think what they would have done with me without you two there. There’s still the fact of the matter that the Vector have done something to me and I have no idea what.” Nathan hated the Vector with a passion, there was no doubt about that but whatever they did to him conflicted with his emotions, he could no longer even imagine killing a Vector, whenever he tried he started shaking and sweating and he felt his brain pulsing and throbbing.

Nathan’s mind was still spinning from all this information and decided to change to subject. “Have ever you tried escaping?” He asked still seemingly distracted by his thoughts.
“It’s easier said than done Nathan” Kasia replied sounding slightly offended that he assumed they hadn’t thought of it.
“There was one woman.” Emilio interrupted sounding sad, like all hope was lost. “Who managed to escape this place” Both Kasia and Nathan stared at Emilio, listening to his tale; Kasia assumed this must have been before she arrived. Emilio continued, “She was a Militia Captain who was leading a team of scientists to work on a Bio-Weapon that would be able infect and kill every Vector on Earth while leaving the humans unharmed. She was on her way to give the prototype to the Militia scientists to mass produce but she was caught. Then one day, when one of the Vector guards came in to supply us with water, she killed it with a piece of metal she had carved. She started running down the hallway, the rest of us were about to follow her when we saw that there was a group of Vector waiting for her just a few seconds after she escaped, they... they killed her.”
“How could they know she had escaped so quickly?” Nathan asked seeming a bit disheartened.
“I have a theory. I believe that the Vector share a hive mind and are aware of where other Vector are and their states of mind and health, therefore if one dies, the others know about it.” Emilio stated his theory sounding quite proud of it.
“Emilio, how do you know this, is this why you were captured?” Nathan started to understand how this boy could be a threat to the Vector.
“Yes I was captured in California while doing research on the Vector”
“Emilio is the youngest Professor to research Vector anatomy” Kasia added
“They... they destroyed all my research, everything in my lab!” He yelled obviously infuriated, then he looked down at his feet solemnly “And now I’m trapped here, I just want to go home, I miss my family.” Emilio looked like he was about to cry but then stood up “I think I’m going to go to bed” As he walked away Nathan realized that even though Emilio was clearly a genius and could help destroy the Vector, he was still just an innocent kid.

“Everyone here is just like him Nathan, scared, innocent and desperate to get back home” Kasia remarked looking very depressed as well. “Do you have a family Kasia?” Nathan asked afraid by what he might hear.
“No, my parents died when I was young and I was raised in a care home. So if you were wondering if anyone misses me down there, they don’t.” She said bluntly and pragmatically. “I suppose that’s better than having loved ones down there that you’ll never see again. How about you Nathan? Do you have any loved ones?”
“No...Not anymore” Nathan said gloomily.
“I’m sorry” Kasia said sympathetically. Nathan and Kasia talked for awhile getting to know each other and trading stories of the world below and their lives before the war, reminiscing about when they didn’t have a care in the world. They returned to speak about being imprisoned in this metal abyss. “I’m not naive, I know that I’m probably going to die here, whether it will be from old age or execution who knows, but if I can still save lives like I saved yours, my life is still worth living.” Kasia spoke with pessimism although also happiness in her voice too.  Anyone could tell that she loved helping people and saving lives and would continue on doing so until her last breath. Nathan greatly admired this about her and he found himself caring about her more and more. “Don’t worry Kasia, one way or another I’ll get you out of here. I’ll save all these prisoners and I’ll stop the Vector, even if it kills me.” Kasia looked at Nathan not sure what to say, she knew that it was near to impossible to escape, nevertheless what he said, whether it was blind optimism or extreme confidence, it reassured her and gave her hope that not all is lost in the world. “I’ll get you out of here Kasia, I promise”