A New Era

A few weeks had passed since Joe and the others left to go help back home. They still hadn't sent any word on what was happening. Which meant it could be extremely bad or extremely good, no in between. The rest of us however, we got back into training mode.

I've used a gun plenty of times since the first infiltration of the White House. Never actually killed anyone, just hurt them badly enough so we can get away. Kyle and I had a lot of work to do before we move on to the next phase of this plan, whatever it may be.

The five of us headed out into a remote area, surrounded by nothing but trees. Our grandparents had target practices stored up so they let us borrow it for our practice for the day.

Noah and Ben set up the targets on some of the trees. Some farther than others.

"Alright Kyle, you're up first." Ben said as he placed a few guns in front of him. Kyle looked them over before picking up the rifle. He loaded up the bullets before making his stance and aimed at the targets.

"You got this." I said, with as much encouragement in my voice. He smiled and gave me a nod before firing his shots. Each bullet easily hitting the center of the targets.

"Well shit dude." Ben chuckled as he patted his back. Kyle just shrugged as he walked back over next to Krista.

"Alright Sam, you're up." Noah said, a small smirk on his lips. I walked over to the guns and looked at each one before picking up a handgun and examined it for a second. I filled up the chamber with bullets and aimed at the new targets Ben put up. Taking in a deep breath I stared long and hard at the targets, the face of president Martin now showing up. My eyebrows furrowed as I fired at the targets, hitting the middle each time.

A small smirk formed on my lips as I glanced over at the others. Noah smiled at me and gave a nod. "That was fucking awesome." He chuckled as he wrapped his arms around me and picked me up, spinning me around.

"Yeah I know I'm amazing." I replied as he set me back down rolling his eyes. He leaned down and placed a kiss on my lips before pulling away.

My eyes flickered over to see William hobble over, Oliver right behind him.

"Well, how's training going?" William asked with a smile.

"It's going well grandpa." Kyle replied, the same smile on his face.

"Honestly I don't think your grandkids need the practice. They're naturals." Ben commented.

"Doesn't hurt to practice." Oliver spoke.

"How'd you find us here?" I asked gesturing to where we were.

"I figured you'd be somewhere closed off, trees surrounding you. Also, this was our spot for practicing too." William explained.

"small world." Krista said with a chuckle.

"So what's up? You didn't come here to watch us practice." I crossed my arms over my chest and looked between my two grandfathers. The two of them exchanged looks before Oliver spoke up.

"The others sent word. The president gathered more troops. A lot more than we anticipated." He exclaimed. The five of us just stared at him in disbelief.

"So...what's he planning? Did they figure that out?" Noah asked taking a step forward.

"Bombs."

***

We all made it back to the bunker and gathered at the table to discuss what my grandfathers mentioned, the plan the president conjured up. Bombs. That one word gave me shivers. It brought back memories when we bombed their trucks, some survivors came out, while others didn't make it. It was also the day I got shot and then a few days later found out my parents were killed.

A hand on my shoulder interrupted my thoughts and I turned to see Noah looking at me, searching my eyes, a worried expression on his face. I gave him a reassuring smile and took his hand in mine, our fingers interlocking.

"I'm fine. I promise."

Noah just gave a nod and lifted my hand to his lips, placing a kiss on my knuckles.

"So they're gonna use bombs?" Krista questioned. William gave a nod before speaking, he leaned forward and placed his hands on the table, folding his hands together.

"The information we know at the moment is limited. We know the President is planning to use his troops to attack homes, neighborhoods-"

"He's gonna kill innocent people!" Ben shouted slamming his hands on the table.

"Yes, we know. Which is why, we need to find a way to stop them before it happens."

"And how are we going to do that?" Noah asked with a raised eyebrow.

We all sat there silently, quietly thinking. My thoughts wandered back to the day we rescued Noah and his mom. If we got in then, we can do it again. But this time they'll be expecting us.

"I know it's a long shot...but we've done it before." I spoke up as they all turned to look at me. "We have the upper hand now. We know their plan and we have people on the inside to help us. This time, we gotta be quieter and stealthier."

"Like a sneak attack." William said with a small smirk. I smiled and gave him a nod.

"Something like that."

***

The next morning, we all finished packing so we can head back to the capital and to the bunker with everyone else. While Noah, Krista and Ben prepped the boat. Kyle and I went to say our goodbyes to our grandparents.

"I guess this is it." I said adjusting the bag on my shoulder as I stared my four grandparents. I still couldn't believe they were alive after all this time. William took a step closer placing a hand on my shoulder and on Kyles.

"You kids are the future. We've spent years, hiding, adapting, trying our best to keep ourselves hidden and safe. Back then we didn't have the numbers, we don't have much now, but it's more than enough. You guys have something the President doesn't have..."

I furrowed my eyebrows as I glanced at Kyle who was just as confused as us.

"Family." Oliver spoke up this time.

"And Courage." Abigail added with a smile.

"Oh I can't believe you kids are leaving so soon." Charlotte said through her tears as she pulled the two of us into a hug.

"We'll be back Grandma." I said hugging her tightly. We soon pulled away from the embrace and I hugged the others. Kyle waved goodbye as he headed to the boat.

"Sam!" I turned around to see William hobble over. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a gun, nothing like I've ever seen before.

"This...this gun. The Civil War Starr Arms. It's a single action army percussion revolver handgun. Made in 1863." He explained. My eyes widened at the year. That was over 300 years ago

"How'd you get it?" I asked raising an eyebrow.

"It was found amongst other artifacts in the White House. I found it, and took it myself." He said as he inspected it for a moment.

"I was gonna use this to kill the president then. But I never got the chance. Things would have been completely different now...If I killed him." He said to me. Tears brimmed his eyes but he quickly wiped them away.

"It's not your fault..." I said to him. He gave me a nod before handing me the gun and a box full of bullets.

"I want you to do what I wasn't able to do all those years ago."

I gave a nod as I slipped the box in my bag and held onto the gun. We embraced once more before I headed down to the dock where the others were waiting. Noah helped me on the boat and I turned to look at my grandparents, the four of them waving goodbye.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked over to see Kyle standing next to me, waving goodbye to them, a saddened smile on his face.

"We'll see them again soon. Let's get this done." I said as he gave me a nod. My eyes flickered down to the gun in my hand that my grandfather handed me.

You can do this Sam. I thought to myself as I looked up once more to see the figures of my grandparents getting smaller and smaller.