Her teammates paused, turning to face the direction of the noise.
The air glitched, like out of place pixels on an electroglass screen. Then men and women in brown military uniforms with orange symbols painted on their chests suddenly appeared, sprinting toward them.
Gemma recognized the design immediately. It was the letter “D” from old American sign language.
It was the mark of the Dissent.
Bile churned in her stomach. This was Rami stirring up hatred for his enemy. He wanted his soldiers to hate the Dissent, to eliminate the Dissent. But if Gemma wasn’t here right now, she’d be on that side. The side that ran in her direction, brandishing weapons and fighting for freedom.
Those were her people.
Her eyes burned.This is a simulation, Gemma. Just get through it.
“There’s cover behind us,” Christian yelled. “Move!”
Imara, Hawk, and Colton were quick to obey, but Alfie stood motionless, staring straight at the Dissent soldiers.
Gemma sprinted to him, grabbing his arm. “Alfie, let’s go. Now!”
Alfie didn’t move. His dark face paled as he stared wide-eyed at the small army barreling toward them.
Gemma smacked Alfie hard across the face.
He toppled sideways, yelping, and pressed a hand against his cheek. He gawked at Gemma.
“Run!” she yelled, and this time, he nodded. They bolted to where their teammates had crouched behind the stone wall of the village.
“What do we do now?” Imara asked.
There was a short pause before Christian and Hawk were on their feet, hurrying through the few small, single-roomed buildings that remained. Loud bangs sounded every time they kicked open a door, and with every strike of their foot, Gemma’s breath caught.
Please, please, please find a clue.
“In here!” Christian shouted from a short distance away.
Gemma and all but Alfie hurried to where Christian stood in the middle of a decimated dwelling. He unzipped two large, black bags and pulled out several supplies, including firearms.
“Praise the stars,” Hawk sighed, reaching into one of the bags and loading himself up with weapons like he’d been in battle one hundred times. “Guess all that VR training will come in handy, after all.”
Gemma raised an eyebrow.Glad he’s on our side.
Christian pushed long, black guns at Gemma, Imara, and Colton.
The three of them stared at him, delicately holding their weapons like they would explode. His jaw flexed, but he handed each of them a pair of metal tubes full of bullets.
“I take it none of you have used a rifle before,” Christian said.
They shook their heads.
He lifted his and pointed it away from them to demonstrate how to use it. “This is your safety, your trigger, your magazine. You saw how I put this in. When it’s empty, you hit this to pop out the magazine, then you take a fresh one and stick it in. Pull this to cock it. Aim and squeeze thetrigger to fire. Got it?”
“Not really,” Imara replied.
Christian strapped a dagger to his leg. “Good enough. Just don’t point them at each other. And make sure your safety is off when you step out to shoot. Ready?”
“Let’s go,” Hawk said, leading the charge.
The Dissent members had already started leaping over the stone wall.
