Recrimination

/rəˌkriməˈnāSH(ə)n/
noun

an accusation in response to one from someone else

I stayed leaned back in my chair throughout their speech on how they were a noble cause. It wasn't that I didn't agree with; I knew they were a noble cause, but to die for this. That was more than they can ask of me.

I tried to make myself look calm despite my frantic mind going through all the possibilities that could happen if I joined. Get caught, killed, tortured nearly to death, or turned into a Guinea pig for their non trialled serums. My hands were shaking violently under the table, rubbing against the rough fabric of my jeans as I silently prayed I didn't look as nervous as I felt.

"We can't ensure your safety," Bob repeated this comment for an unnecessary twentieth time.

I rolled my eyes at him. Of course you can't ensure my safety, especially when you can't ensure your own.

"But what if this was the beginning of something; a revolution. What if this was the start of freedom that I had never experienced? What if the odds were stacked high but we overcame them like George Washington did when America when fighting for independence?"

'Then we all get controlled by yet another  apocalypse 500 years,' I smartly remarked to myself.

Even if these 'what if's' did pay off, there would be no point. We would just be under another tyranny. Maybe a robust, or an immaculate one. But here the Raiders were, willing to give their lives for an endless war they would win or lose a minute battle for. They were psychotic and demented, in my humble opinion. But in the same way, they were audacious and valiant.

"And who's to say that this plan would be a flop?" I asked, interrupting their meaningless talk of statistics.

"What?" their 'fearless' leader looked up from the papers in front of him, shocked at my blunt approach.

"Who is to say that you will not just give up?" I repeated, pronouncing every single syllable passing through my lips.

His muscles visibly tensed as he shot daggers at me, finding my comment probably profoundly demeaning to him.

"I assure you Ms. Jennings, we will not be pulling away from our duties to our respectful countries," he stated, head held high and practically glaring at me as if he wanted to take my soul and rip it to shreds.

"The countries that are no longer actively reigning, Sir?" I asked him, batting my eyelashes in fake innocence. His eyes blazed with fury as he fought to restrain himself from strangling me. Veins popped out of his neck one by one, showing that his facade of being calm and cool was ripping apart at the seams, like an outfit a child had fell in as the knees tear slowly apart.

When I looked to my side, Luke and Calum were stone cold, trying to contain any emotion and doing a splendid job at it. Ashton and Michael, however, were engaging in laughter silently, trying to keep any and all noises to a minimal, attracting nearly no attention from Bob.

"I suggest you shut your mouth Ms. Jennings before I kindly shut it for you," he growled, his voice low and menacing as he leaned over the table.

All of the boys' faces shot up with fear and apprehension as they begin raising from their seats, but come to halt when I begin speaking again.

"I would like to see you try," I snarled back at him, glowering my gaze but still keeping my eyes trained on his.

His face was stone cold one second, and the next glowing with a face splitting smile. Is he bipolar or something?

"This is why we need you on the team Melissa," he addressed me by my first name for the first time since the meeting started. "You're not scared, even when you're obviously the weaker opponent."

I slipped further into my chair, not realizing his antagonizing and goading all had a real reason behind it. The nerves I had felt previously had melted away at what he said, and my self esteem went through the roof as I swelled with pride on the inside. But was this just flattery? Flattery to get me to give my life to their infinite cause?

"You never answered my question," I deadpanned back to my previous question. He was avoiding it which was a sure sign he is hiding something.

"We won't back away once you join the resolution," he assured me, looking me straight in the eye as he said those words.

My emotions were frazzled as I thought what could happen in this plan. He could be lying right now, or he could be telling me the truth.

"How am I sure you won't?" I asked him, leaning forward with my elbows on the table.

"Have you ever heard of an insignia?"

I scrunched my eyebrows together. Of course I knew what that was, but what did a symbol have to do with this. I unsurely nod my head for him to continue.

"We need an insignia. A sponsor, if you will. Someone no one realizes this effects," he explained with a smile on his face.

"Why me though?" I asked, confused by why he would want a nobody to campaign this. "Why not a model or someone of importance? I'm just a Brain."

"That's just it. How many people know a person involved in the Brain portion of this tyranny?" he asked.

It was a rehtorrical question. Everyone knew their twin, but they never saw them. Something that must have killed them from the inside out. He saw the look on my face of realization and spread his smile more befor continuing.

"You can tug at their hapeartstrings more than any other actress," he filled me in on the plan slightly by saying this. "You represent their son or daughter, brother or sister in the lab. And that's a better weapon than those White Coat's serum any day."

It hit me fully then. They were going to use me as reassurance that these people would get their children and siblings back after this.

Despite the obvious dangers against them, the Raiders knew what they were getting into and what they were up against. They were prepared for full on war, but I was the missing piece. However, this seemed to be a bit unbelievable as if my true purpose was being hidden by a thick layer of lies.

So the question remained: did I join and campaign for them, or only decode the Code they hopefully found? That's when the words slipped out of my mouth before I could stop them.

"I'll do it," I said with confidence, looking Bob straight in the eye, holding out my hand to shake.

His hand extended to shake mine. When they connected, we firmly shook before pulling them back. A smile exploded on his face as he sat back down. As I returned back in my seat, he decided to speak again.

"Next order of business. How do we retaliate?" He asked, looking up and down the table for ideas, only to be empty handed when no one raised their hand to offer up a plan. Michael finally spoke up from his spot next to me.

"We can bomb them," he suggested.

Calum shook his head as soon as this left Michael's mouth. "If we do that then we basically welcome them to start a full on explosive blitz. We can't fight their forces with that kind of technology," he said, leaning back in his seat and hanging his shoulders in defeat as he thought of another solution.

"How many sylunes can they possibly have?" Michael asked, throwing his arms up in frustration.

"They have a total of ten with five hundred in each just on this continent," Luke spoke up for the first time. "We have spies in their working with them Michael. If we were to detonate them, which we could, we would wipe out everyone on this continent including ourselves and the White Coats."

"We could get out of here," Ashton spoke up from beside him. Luke looked over his shoulder to him, shooting penetrating daggers to his head.

"Don't you think I would have thought of that by now?" he spat at Ashton, stressed out from all this planning. "If we try that, air travel would go up 20%, and the White Coats watch the air travel stats like hawks. There is no way we are getting the whole colony out of here."

"What if we detonate one?" Bob asked, jumping into the conversation.

A sigh came from Luke's mouth as he pulled up a continental map with ten red dots spread throughout it. I recognized them immediately as the sylunes. On one side of the map was a purple dot and about fifteen inches from it was a blue one. I had been silent the entire time after I had agreed to join this elite group, but now the battle tactics we were discussing were getting more and more serious. These were civilians' lives at stake right now.

"Which one are we?" I asked, standing up from my chair as everyone else had already done, and looming over the table.

"What?" Luke responded incredulously, shocked to hear me speaking and putting my input in this.

"I'm part of the team now," I stated, looking him in the eyes. "I need to know the bomb's location we would be detonating and find out how far we are away from there and how far the White Coats are."

He looked at me for a second, leaning his head slightly forward as if he was nodding, before turning back to the table. "This is us," he pointed to the blue dot, which is farther than the purple dot from the sylune. "We are farther than the White Coats," he pauses, pointing to the purple one before continuing. "But we are still in range for debris and radiation."

"How much?" I asked, immediately following his statement.

"We can't go outside for a year. Period. Too much debris in the area," he looked down, feeling defeated that the idea of detonating the bombs was too tricky.

"We can try it," Bob offered from the other side his hand on his chin, stroking it thoughtfully.

"Your willing to possibly kill your colony for an act of revenge?" I yelled over to him, suddenly feeling protective over the people I barely knew.

"What do you suggest Ms. Brain," he asked sarcastically, snarling at me while doing so. "They are already living in fear of getting caught!"

"The answer isn't killing them off and burying the city like Pompeii!" I shouted at him.

To my surprise Michael, Calum, Ashton, and even Luke nodded in agreement. Detonating that bomb at such a close range to us would be committing suicide.

"We are seeking freedom," he fought back fiercely, slamming his fist on the table harshly.

"But we aren't Japanese suicide bombers that you can just send out whenever you like!" My mind was blown at the thought that he would be willing to sacrifice the people of this colony that he 'cared' for in such an immense amount.

"Then what do you suggests we do Melissa?" he narrowed his eyes at me in a challenge.

All eyes turned to me, the boys' with the exception of Luke's, were filled with curiosity and fear. Luke's were filled with wonder but, at the same time, hatefulness. It was like he was biting his tongue and doing everything in his power to restrain himself from strangling me.

"A foot attack," I said in confidence as they look at me with unsure faces.

Edited: 17 October 2016