The Perfect World (The Perfect World Series Book 1) (45 page)

“Cyrus.”

Cyrus felt a panic grip his heart, and he gripped Julian’s shoulder tightly. His friend looked at him with something like fear, but Cyrus ignored it. With his green eyes alight, Cyrus said, “We have to do something about this. Now.”

Cyrus left Julian’s security office with a feeling of determination in his chest. The moment he had trained for since the beginning of the year had come. All his doubts had vanished the moment he saw Melody and the other students being marched out of their rooms to be slaughtered. He was going to save Melody. No, he was going to save all of them. It was time for him to lead the raiding party.

Cyrus adjusted a device that Julian had strapped on his wrist before he left. It was a holographic map, one that Julian could feed the location of the students to from the security building. Julian was going to stay behind and open a hole in the dome for them to get out.

Cyrus went straight to the meeting point, hoping to meet his team and get his equipment prepared. To his great relief, everyone had already gathered when he had arrived. The weapons and armor had all been gathered. His raiding team was arming themselves when they saw him.              

“Cyrus,” Scott called as he rushed over. “What’s the word?”

“The perfect world is running an early elimination run on several student dormitories.” He looked into the eyes of every person in the room and said in a clear voice. “We’re going in tonight.”

“Roger,” they all said back to him, and everyone frantically started equipping themselves for the raid. Cyrus took in the sight for a moment, realizing the moment had finally come. They were finally leaving the dome to go on the raid they had trained so hard for. He just hoped that everything they had done so far would be enough.

Cyrus tore his gaze away from his comrades and started putting on his raiding equipment. Bulletproof vest, knee guards, arm guards, helmet, a knife in his belt and finally his gun. He loaded it and made sure to have plenty of extra ammunition stored on his belt. Soon, he was ready to go.

He waited as the last couple members got their gear together and then he signaled for quiet. “As you’ve heard, there will be an elimination run done on four dorms tonight. The buildings are all in close proximity.” Cyrus turned on his wrist holographic device and showed them the map. Four points glowed on the map to show the different dormitory buildings. “The four groups of students are likely to converge around here.” Cyrus pointed to a large open street that would be the easiest place for them to maneuver. “This is where  we’ll intercept them. We need to kill all the guards and then rush the students to safety. Is the objective understood?”             

“Yes, sir,” came the unanimous answer.

“Good. Let’s move out!”

Cyrus and his team commandeered some cars from the military base and drove until they were at the edge of the dome. As they abandoned the cars, Cyrus realized that this was the side of the dome he used to be able to view from the bedroom window of his old room. This was the point that Julian said he would hack into so that they could get outside. Their raiding team waited outside the barrier, hoping that it would open. They waited and waited, but nothing happened. Cyrus could feel the tension growing in the air, and he closed his eyes in frustration.

“Come on, Julian,” Cyrus whispered, hoping the other boy would pull through.

Just then, there was a ripple in the dome shield. Then, slowly, a small hole appeared in front of them. It slowly expanded, becoming rectangular in shape and big enough for all of them to walk through.

Cyrus turned back to his team and waved his hand forward. “Let’s go!”

With that, he walked straight through the opening into the perfect world. Scott followed behind him, with Xavier and Priscilla coming in close behind. The others followed in a single file line until they were all outside the barrier. They huddled in a giant group just outside of the barrier as the hole closed back up.

As Cyrus turned around, he noticed a lot of his team was looking back and forth in the darkness. It seemed like they were waiting for something to jump out at them. It suddenly occurred to Cyrus that none of them had ever been outside the dome in their lives. The entire thing was completely foreign to them, and they might have trouble adjusting.

He noisily cleared his throat and said, “This is no time to be frightened. There’s a group of young people around our age who are going to be killed tonight. We are their only chance of survival. If we don’t get it together, then all of them will die. Understood?”

His company’s faces immediately hardened, and they nodded. Cyrus saw Sahane take Scott’s hand as they stood close together on his left. On his right, he saw Xavier checking his gun and then slinging it over his shoulder. Priscilla and Victor stood calmly beside him, waiting for instructions. Cyrus activated the map grid on his wrist and showed it to the others.

“Right now, we’re at this location.” He pointed to the glowing red dot indicating their current location. His finger moved to a big black x that marked their destination. “This is where we need to go. We’re going to intercept the guards as they take their victims to be disposed of. Understood?”

Everyone nodded once more and Cyrus pointed to the road to his right. “That will be the fastest way to our destination. Be alert and walk in a single file formation. Do not make more noise than  necessary.” Taking his gun from his shoulder and readying it, Cyrus put his finger on the trigger and said, “Let’s go.”

Cyrus took point and slowly moved forward down the street. He kept a slow pace, constantly checking for spots where guards could be hiding. His team was as quiet and diligent as he was, but thankfully they encountered no gunfire.

After several long, silent bouts of walking, the team finally found their destination. Cyrus signaled for the others to stay back while he scouted the perimeter. He couldn’t see anyone, but he could hear loud footsteps coming from two different alleyways in between the buildings.

Quietly, Cyrus crept back to his teammates and signaled them to gather round him. Scott, Priscilla, Xavier and the others were quick to follow his instructions, leaning in to hear his plan.

“The guards are coming this way with the students,” Cyrus spoke softly, looking around to make sure everyone could hear him. “We need to split into three teams. One team will attack the guards from the side and will stay in the spot we’re in now. Another team will take this alleyway,” he pointed to the street to the left, “and fire upon the guards from behind. The third team will take this street,” he pointed to the street down to his right, “and fire on the guards in the front. We need to take out the guards, but we also have to be careful. Only shoot when you have a clear shot. Is everyone clear?”

They all nodded, and Cyrus looked around at the group. He was trying to decide the best person to complete each mission. Finally, his eyes locked onto Priscilla and he said, “Priscilla, you will lead the third team and shoot from the front. Take any six people you want to go with you. Xavier, you’ll be leading the second team and attack from the rear. Again, pick six people that you wish to go with you. Scott, Sahane, you’re with me.”

The three of them divided the teams into two teams of six lead by Priscilla and Xavier, and one team of eight led by Cyrus. When everyone knew who was going where, the teams started to move. Just then, the heavy footsteps of the guards became louder and Cyrus could hear the muffled cries of both frightened young men and women.

“Quickly!” he said to Xavier and Priscilla. They both rushed off, trying not to make too much noise as they traveled swiftly to their destinations. Cyrus signaled to his team, and they moved into position. Their team was lucky in that there were many abandoned black vans nearby, and they could easily be used for cover for the upcoming battle. Cyrus squatted down behind one and waited.

Soon enough, the guards came into view, along with a large group of students. Cyrus counted thirty at least. He tried to find Melody, but he couldn’t see her in the dim light. The young man waited patiently until the group had passed midway by. He signaled to the others in his squad, and they took aim at the guards. When he saw a guard’s head turn slightly in his direction, he took the opportunity to fire.

Cyrus’s aim was true and the bullet broke straight through the  glass of the helmet. The guard staggered a minute, then collapsed to the ground. Beside him, Sahane fired a shot, and one of the guards put a hand to his exposed neck before he dropped dead. As Sahane reloaded, Scott fired and hit one of the guards in the kneecap, causing him to stumble. Sahane finished the guard off before he could recover. 

The guards stationed behind the students ordered them to crouch down and began firing back towards Cyrus and his team. Cyrus, Scott and the others retreated back behind the vans, simultaneously taking cover and drawing the guards away from the students. Just as the guards began approaching the vehicles, more shots rang out. Bullets began firing from the left side of the guards. When several of them pivoted in the direction of those shots, another guard fell prey to bullets from behind.

The black armored guards started to scatter, lost in confusion at the sudden spray of bullets. Cyrus came out of hiding and started firing at the remaining guards, keeping an eye on the students. The students themselves were either crouching with their heads covered or lying flat on their stomachs with their heads covered. Many of them were screaming in terror. Cyrus pushed that aside for now and focused on his work.

The guards had been reduced down to only three. One was facing gunfire from the front, the other was facing gunfire from behind, and the third was firing from behind the cover of the students. The one facing the rear jerked, then fell to the ground and lay still. The one to the front soon jerked and swayed, but continued to fire until a few more bullets pierced his chest. He collapsed and didn’t get up. The final guard suddenly pulled a small canister from his belt and tossed it just in front of the students. Suddenly a white fog enveloped them all, and Cyrus could no longer see his target.

“Hold fire!” he shouted to his team, not wanting to injure the students still lying on the ground. He hoped that Xavier and Priscilla would do the same. When the smoke finally cleared, they saw that the guard was gone. Seeing no other immediate threats, Cyrus came out from behind the car and approached the students.

“Is everyone alright?” he asked, and some of the students raised their heads. A few of them looked curious at his presence, but most just looked scared witless.

“I-I think so,” a small voice spoke up. Cyrus saw a short, but well-built young man stand up. He brushed himself off, and though his hands were still shaking a little, he seemed a great deal calmer than the others. “Who are you guys anyway?”

It was then that Cyrus noticed that the rest of his team had revealed themselves. Scott strode up beside Cyrus and said, “We’re from the Pittsburgh Dome.” He pointed backwards to the glowing colored dome directly behind them. “Don’t worry, we’re not going to hurt you. We’re here to help you.”

“Help us do what?” the same boy asked of them. Cyrus noticed that more of the students were on their feet and nodded along with the question.

“Help you escape the perfect world,” Cyrus explained. “We’re going to take you to a place where you can be free.” He saw that another person was going to ask another question, but he waved it off. “Listen, we don’t have time to answer questions right now. We need to get all of you to safety. Please follow—”

“Everybody down!” Scott cried out and pushed Cyrus down to the ground before falling to the ground himself. That’s when he heard gunfire burst out from behind the students. They screamed and hit the ground once more. Cyrus looked up from his position on the ground and saw that more guards had appeared leading another group of about fifteen students.

Luckily, the rearguard led by Xavier was close enough to their original location to be able to draw back into the alleyways. Once they were out of the line of fire, they started working to cut off the gunfire from the armored guards.

While this was going on, Cyrus got into a crouch and started firing his weapon to provide cover for both the students and his fellow raiders. He saw Scott on the ground beside him crawl up to one the students and say, “Come on, you have to crawl. You have to start moving! Come on, go!”

To Cyrus’s relief, the students listened and started crawling away from the fight. Their progress was slow, but the farther away they got, the better chance they would have of survival. Cyrus raised his weapon to fire once more when he saw something incredible. The students behind the guards started fighting back. Several of them stood up and started pushing the guards from behind. Others wrapped their arms around the guards’ bodies and tried to steal their weapons. With the help of their efforts, the remainder of the guards was quickly dealt with.

Cyrus breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that they might just get out of this one after all. He started to approach the new students and for a split-second his eyes caught a hint of red. Then, gunfire burst in upon them again. Cyrus, to his horror, saw that another group of guards with ten students in tow had come up in front of them and was now being taken on by their front guard. To add to the chaos, Cyrus could see large green vehicles coming up behind  where his team once stood. He could see at least twenty or so guards on each vehicle.

“Regroup!” Cyrus shouted, loading his gun. “Protect the students! Get them out of here!”

His team moved to cover the retreating students, trying to hold off the gunfire. Just as some of the students were getting to their feet, more gunfire rang out from behind them. Cyrus turned to see a new set of guards coming out of a nearby alleyway. Fortunately, Xavier’s unit was able to intercept them and hold them off, but the fact remained that they were horribly outnumbered. Once the vans arrived and unloaded their people, they would be completely overwhelmed.