Opposed (Under Construction)

December

Beep, beep, beep!

I groaned when I awoke to my alarm clock having a seizure. I looked over at the clock, and realized how sore all my muscles were from my training day yesterday. Surprisingly, ropes courses are not always as fun as one may imagine. The face read 05:45. That meant my briefing was in half an hour. I hopped out of bed and glanced at the small mirror next to my night stand, sighing at the sight of myself. Shower it was.

After I got out, I got dressed in my casual uniform of jeans, combat boots, utility belt, and black t-shirt. I violently brushed my knotted hair and picked up my ribbon. It was red, for my Special Operations rank. I braided it into a section of my hair and pulled it all up in a messy ponytail. I glanced at the mirror again. Good enough.

Ribbons are worn to signify not only our rank, but our involvement with the Opposers altogether. I never took mine off on the rare chance I went above ground. Instead, I'd wear an old beanie to cover all my hair. The males in our group would usually knot it around their wrists, for obvious reasons. Many people outside the Opposers did not understand the ribbons and thought nothing of it, however, trained Order soldiers knew. That was how some of us were caught. Caught and swiftly executed, that is. In theory, the decision to be openly rebellious may seem like sheer stupidity, but it was symbolic towards the devotion our members had. The principle that one would die for a cause they believed in was hope-giving.

I opened the door to the hallway and stepped out into the cool, stone corridor. It was still silent, meaning the Trainees were not required at today's briefing. I sighed with relief. I was not in the mood for their excessive energy today. The flickering lights shined overhead as I padded down the hall. I hopped in the elevator and flashed my watch towards the scanner. Upon reading it, it opened the panel with floors flashing up on the screen. Most people had access, but we used the security system to keep any important files of the lower levels safe in case we were raided. I pushed the "Meeting room" button on the panel and waited as the elevator began to whir. It lowered quickly, and soon enough I was 7 floors below where I just started.

When the doors opened I was greeted by sound of polite chatter and the smell of coffee. I stepped out and strode of towards the table at the back, the source of the smell. I nodded "hellos" to the other people as they did. When I reached the back I poured myself a cup and added in milk. No sugar because we couldn't grow it. Everything we consume we must grow or make ourselves because the Order keeps track of purchases. I would seem the slightest bit suspicious if one person bought 20 bags of sugar.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats." the voice echoed across the room. I turned around, cup in hand, and made my way towards my seat. When everyone was seated, A.C, Rez, and Halloway stood up. The three leaders of our division of Opposers. A.C was the man that saved me, Rez was a man of about 20, with a buzz cut and glinting green eyes. He was big and muscular, but also one of the nicest people I had met. Halloway was the only female leader of our division, and she was definitely the most professional of all the leaders. She was 17 years old, and had blond hair and big brown eyes. She also had zero personality. People say she was just like me when she joined, but some emotionally crippling event had changed that. I didn't quite understand. Everyone here had experience tragedy. It's what unites us, however sick or depressing that may be.

"As you probably know, we have only called a few of you here today." Halloway began, glancing around. "The reason for this, is that we will only be sending a few of you on a mission today, for fear of the dangers that we have not yet determined." The clinking of cups and spoons begun to die down, as the leaders gained more attention. In general, we knew what we were up against. Lack of informants was never a problem, so this was a rare circumstance. I waited.

"This morning, at about 04:00, the Order dropped firebombs on the subdivision of Bradley." A.C cut in, getting to the point.

Gasps echoed around the room.

Firebombs? That was a primitive move. With all their experimentation and whatnot, one would expect something more advanced than some pre-WWII weaponry. Odd.

Thankfully someone voiced my questions.

"Why the hell would they use firebombs?" a Special Ops woman commented.

"Well, as far as we know, they're firebombs. Few people could really identify them on sight, and those that could are most likely dead. We really know little about what we are up against. Our apologies for the lack of info," he coughed briefly and looked down.

Finally it hit me; Bradley was the biggest command center of the Opposers. There mere knowledge was an issue. As inhumane as it may sound, while the impact on civilians was harsh, it would most likely hardly affect us at all.

"We feel it is our duty to help those affected by the bombing." Rez shouted above the loud whispers. This made sense. We did our best to benefit the civilians instead of harming them. I glanced around at the wide-eyed crowd. Few seemed to be paying close attention as they gossiped to themselves about the bombing.

"We are sending some of you mostly to load up the trucks full of any survivors you can find, civilian or Opposers. Civilians will be taken to the holding rooms about 30 miles from Bradley. Opposers will be taken back to this location for medical treatment and regrouping purposes." A.C continued. I looked around the room to see people nodding. Finally they were paying attention.

Halloway piped up again, gesturing to the spandex suit in her hand. "Those sent out to help will wear these lovely camo suits. They are for your safety as well- should resist extreme heat from areas hit the hardest."

I groaned inwardly. The suits were a hassle. They were for situations exactly like these. Everything was sealed in. No skin was exposed, and of course they were tight. Despite their "magical heat resisting properties", I sweat like a pig in those things. I silently prayed I wouldn't have to go.

"Here's whos going: Felix, Dice, Jamey, Laur, you will be transporting the people, trucks as usual." A.C stated. They nodded.

"And those in the rescue crew are A.C, Hope, Mitch, Skylar, Kai, Lee, myself and December." Rez read the rest of the list. A.C smiled apologetically and I nodded in response. It's all good.

Great. I shuffled towards the line of people receiving their suits, reluctantly grabbing one as I passed by.

Hurray for sweaty me.