|This is how we rise up

|Song: The Resistance, Skillet

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Dawn's P.O.V

We moved as fast as we could through the hallways. Brenda led the way but when I concentrated I remembered the halls as if I walked here yesterday. The feeling was strange, almost like I had come home after a long vacation or woken up after a long sleep. I couldn't quite grasp the situation, all I could really do was follow Brenda and try to keep my head clear of distractions. Daydreaming about my past life could be done later.

Brenda gestured for us to stop and then nodded towards a blue door. Janson his office was behind it. 'There may be guards inside,' she whispered, 'so be ready.'
The boys behind me raised their stolen Launchers as I tightened my grip on the gun I had taken from the guard.
As one man we moved towards the door. We shared a quick glare before Brenda took the door handle and threw it open with one movement. Immediately we all ran inside, our weapons raised. But there were no guards, just Ratman behind his desk. He looked up, startled and shocked. 'What is-'
'Shut up,' Minho said, his voice as cold as ice and it sounded way more threatening than any other voice he had ever used.

Brenda stayed by the door as we moved inside the unnatural clean office. There were no windows, almost every inch of the walls was covered with books and computer screens.
Janson was still sitting behind his desk, his hands folded before him and an almost curious frown on his face. And when his gaze fell on me he looked downright confused. 'Dawn? Why the resistance? That was your only chance to cure Newt.'
'I know,' I responded, my heart beating faster in my chest, 'but I will never sacrifice someone else to safe another. I'm nothing like you.'
Janson slowly stood up but Thomas pointed his Launcher at him and my father raised his hands while sitting back down.

'We're not here to chit chat,' Minho spit and he pushed Lisa forwards. 'How do we get her back?' He demanded, anger painted on his features.
Janson took a long look at his daughter before slowly saying: 'You can't.'
'What do you mean we can't?' Thomas snapped.
'She has to shut it off herself,' Janson stated calmly.
'Don't lie to us, if you can trigger it you can get her out of it too,' I yelled.
My father his gaze felt heavy on me. 'Not this time. She has voluntarily entered the Red State and so only she can get herself out of it.'

Shaking my head I sat down on the ground. 'This is ridiclious.'
'Dawn, you must understand-' I jumped up, clicked off the safety of the gun and pointed it at my father his head. 'Don't tell me what to do. I've stopped listening to you a long time ago.'
A frown appeared on his face.
'Tell us how to get her out of it,' I screamed.
'I just did,' Janson replied.
'Stop lying!' I yelled while taking a step forwards.
'Dawn, calm down,' Thomas interrupted. 'Maybe we're asking the wrong question.'
I turned to him, tears staining my cheeks. 'What do you mean?'
He lowered the Launcher and took a more relaxed stance. 'If she voluntarily entered the Red State, or whatever, shouldn't we be asking why?'
I opened my mouth to protest but then closed it again and nodded. He was right.
'Think Dawn, what could make her do this?' Thomas slowly asked.

Pushing my hair out of my face I looked around the room until my eyes landed on Minho. He frowned at me and I gave him a small nod. If there was one person besides me that Lisa cared for it was him, whether she liked to admit that or not.
Suddenly all colour drained from Minho his face as he slowly turned to Janson.
'Minho?' Thomas questioned.
'Is that why you did it?' The Asian boy suddenly yelled at Janson. 'You son of a-'
'Minho what are you talkin' about?' Newt interrupted him.
The anger was visible like a tattoo on Minho his face as he stared at my father. 'He tortured me, injected me with something that made me-' he stopped and shivered.
My eyes widened and I turned to Janson whose face remained emotionless. 'Please don't tell me you actually threatened my sister by torturing Minho!' I screamed.
He remained silent, only looked at me and that was all the confirmation I needed. Taking a shaky breath I turned away from him, staring at the ground while trying to make my breathing steady. 'You know ater mom died, I thought you would be better,' I whispered, not truly knowing why I was bringing this up. All I knew was that I had to get this off my chest. 'But instead you disappeared. You just left us!' I screamed those last words, frustration rising inside of me as I turned back to my father. 'You gave us up to Wicked only for your own safety! And now you're so far gone that you're threatening your daughter by torturing her friend.' I yelled and felt all the frustration I had bottled up for weeks, maybe even years, leave my body. 'You don't even deserve to live,' I whispered, my chest aching. Hot tears streamed down my face but I didn't blink.

A hand landed on my shoulder and I turned around to see Newt standing there. He was keeping his distance but he was there and I gave him a thankful nod.

'Dawn, you have to understand that my only goal has been to find a cure, no matter the cost,' my father responded.
I shook my head. 'I'm done hearing that excuse.' Then I turned to Minho. 'Talk to her, tell her you're safe, maybe that will bring her back.'
Minho gave me a long stare before nodding. He turned to Lisa, placing both of his hands on her cheeks.
She groaned and struggled against his grib but he didn't let go.
'Lisa, do you hear me?' He asked.
'Go away!' She screamed.
'Try harder,' I said, my heart aching by seeing my sister used like a weapon in someone else their war.
'Incase you haven't noticed, words aren't exactly my strength,' Minho yelled in frustration.
'Just tell her you're safe, try it,' Thomas yelled back. We all knew the longer we stayed here the more guards were closing in on us.
Minho took a deep breath before turning back to Lisa. 'Listen, I'm right here and I'm safe. I need you to come out now, okay?'
Lisa shook her head, closing her eyes, suddenly her whole body shaking. 'I can't-I can't,' she whimpered, stumbling on her feet.
Minho leaned forward, whispering something in her ear that was too soft for me to hear.
Her body was trembling as she suddenly let out a small scream and then her eyes flew open. They were normal, all the red gone. She looked around, disorientated before her eyes landed on Minho his face and without doubting she pulled him into a hug. 'I'm sorry, I'm so sorry,' she whispered into his shoulder. Then she let him go and ran to me, hugging me tightly. 'What is happening?' She asked, her voice back to its steady self, once she let me go.

'We're escaping,' Newt replied.

'And we've waited long enough,' Thomas said, pointing his Launcher back at Ratman, his finger on the trigger.
I had barely time to look surprised.
'Give me your key card, then get on the ground, hands on your head,' he ordered.
'This is complete lunacy,' Janson spoke.

'Do it!' Lisa yelled, her voice a terrifying hurricane of anger.
His eyes widened and he handed his card to Thomas. Then he spoke, his voice surprisingly calm under the circumstances. 'You have zero chance of getting out of this complex. More guards are already on their way.'
'After what we've been through, this is nothing. Thanks for the training. Now, another word and you'll get to experience...how did you put it? The worst five minutes of your life?' Thomas spoke angrily.
'How can-' But Thomas pulled the trigger. A high-pitched sound filled the room, followed by the launch of a grenade. It hit Janson right in his chest and exploded in a brilliant display of electricity. Wires of electricity were wrapped around his body. He screamed as he fell to the ground, convulsing, smoke streaming off his hair and clothing. The room filled with an awful smell.

I stared at the man, my father and was surprised to feel no remorse. No remorse at all.
'It supposedly won't kill him,' Brenda said. 

'That's a shame,' Minho replied. 'The world would've been better off.'

Thomas turned away from Ratman, looking at us. And in that moment I realised I would follow him to the end of the world. Wicked may have marked Minho as our leader but Thomas he was our real leader. 'We're leaving. Now,' he spoke.
'I'll bloody drink to that,' Newt said.
'That's exactly what I was thinking,' Minho added.
We all turned to look at Brenda. She lifted her Launcher and nodded. 'I hate these people just as much as you, I'm in.'
Lisa nodded. 'Well, that's good enough for me. Let's go.'

We left the room in a hurry, without once looking back at what we were leaving behind.
'So, what's the plan?' Newt asked as we ran after Brenda.
'Jorge's a pilot,' she replied, taking us through a hallway and down a couple of stairs. 'If we can somehow make it to the hangar, to his Berg...'
'Sounds like a plan,' Thomas responded.
'Yeah, except the hanger isn't this way,' I interrupted.
The boys stopped running and I almost ran into Minho his back.
'Then where are you taking us?' Thomas asked.
Brenda rolled her eyes. 'The weapon room of course. Did you honestly think we could get out of this mess without weapons, let alone out there? Besides the ones we stole are all empty now so we at least need ammo.'
'Great thinking, let's move,' Lisa said from behind me.
Brenda nodded curtly and we continued our way. She led us through turn after turn. We saw no one, and I never felt more like a lost lab rat in the game of a sick scientist.

After a good ten minutes of jogging we finally reached the weapon storage.
A frown appeared on my face as I saw the door being swung wide open.
We all stared at it in shocked silence. Before anyone could react Newt walked into the weapon room. 'Look at this!' He called from inside after a moment of silence.
We all shared a glare before entering.
I frowned at a few empty shells Newt was pointing at. 'Look at the dust patterns. It's pretty obvious that a bunch of stuff was taken recently. Maybe even within the last hour or so.'
I looked around and noticed he was right. There was a thick layer of dust over the weapons but the empty spots were clear. 'Why is that so important?' Minho asked from behind me.
Newt turned around sharply. 'Can't you figure something out yourself for once, you bloody shank!'
Minho winced at his words, looking more shocked than angry.
I stared in disbelief at the blond boy.
'Whoa, Newt,' Thomas said. 'Things shuck, yeah, but slim it. What's wrong?'
'I'll tell ya what's bloody wrong. You go all tough-guy without a plan, leading us around like a bunch of chickens lookin' for feed. And Minho can't take a bloody step without askin' which foot he should use.'
Minho had finally recovered enough to get angry. I could only stare. 'Look, shuck-face, you're the one acting like a genius because you figured out some guards took weapons from the weapon room. I thought I'd give you the benefit of the doubt, act like maybe you'd discovered something deeper than that. Next time I'll pat you on the freaking back for stating the obvious.'
I stared at Newt who looked shocked, almost teary, as if he only realised now what he'd done. 'I'm sorry,' he murmured, then he turned and walked out of the room.
I watched him go with the feeling of my heart sinking into a void. Knowing I was the last person he'd want to see right now.

'What was that?' Minho whispered.
I bit on my lip, I didn't want to be the one to point out that Newt his sickness was spreading faster than I first thought.
'You guys were missing his point,' Lisa said. 

'Which was?' Minho said, turning to her. 

'There had to have been two or three dozen guns and Launchers in this section and now they're all gone. Very recently. In the last hour or so, like Newt said.'

'Yeah?' Minho asked. 

Lisa threw her hands up as if it were obvious and then I realised what she was talking about. Brenda gave Lisa some back-up. 'Guards only come here when they need a replacement or want to use something besides a Launcher. Why would they all need to do that at the same time? Today? And Launchers are so heavy, you can't fire them if you're carrying another weapon, too. Where are the weapons they would have left behind?'

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Hi guys,

I'm so sorry I didn't update wednesday but my midterms are coming up and I needed more time to study than I first thought. The coming days were gonna be tough but wednesday I'm finally done so you all can expect an update then. :)

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, please leave a comment or a vote, I'd appreciate it a lot!

Bye for now, have a great week.

xXx

UYM