Reprisal

/rəˈprīzəl/

noun

an act of retaliation

Luke's POV

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When I heard the alarm, my body went into autopilot mode. I ran through the corridors to Riley's room, remembering what happened only a week ago when one of these happened. The crowd was going the complete opposite way to get to the nearest staircase, making me have to push some of the civilians out of the way to get through. They probably thought I was being rude, but my priority wasn't on their opinion of me, it was on Riley.

The hallway of child painted doors was nearly empty when I arrived there, all the older siblings probably already running with their young brother or sister to the bunker. I was starting to hate the idea of having the children live here more and more as my lungs felt like they were going to collapse, but I knew why we had voted to keep kids with no adult family here. If there were to be a ground attack on the colony, the older siblings, who were probably in their late teens/early twenties, would be helping defend the colony so they would be left defenseless if that were to happen. The best idea was to keep them out of danger, so keep them as far back as we can, out of harms way, and families with children would be in front of them, followed by the elderly, then all the others. It was our way of protecting the young and old.

I opened the door covered in princess paintings to find it empty. A breathe of relief was released from my mouth as I realized Ashton must have gotten her before heading down. Despite him not getting her last time, he was always a responsible big brother, and you can't blame the last time on him. He did as he was told.

When I left Melissa in their care, that meant that they needed to get her in the bomb shelter before themselves. Ashton just went to the shelter to check for Melissa and when she didn't show up, he didn't have enough time to grab Riley, therefore, trapping her outside the bunker.

My legs led me to the stairwell at the end of the hallway as I began to descend to the shelter. I stopped in the middle of speeding down the stairs to look back, remembering a certain someone possibly still out in the colony. Melissa.

My heart told me to look for her, but my brain told me that she was smart enough to follow everyone and get down to the bunker. I followed my brains instruction and continued down the stairs, reaching the cement wall just before it closed to seal everyone in it's walls.

Children were huddled close to their parents, scared of the incoming attack. Mothers desperately cradled them close whispering assurance over and over in their ears. Fathers, likewise, were comforting their frazzled wives and children when the first bomb hit and the whole vault we were secured in shook. I stopped mid step, regaining my balance before continuing down the line of bunk beds with families cramped together.

It wasn't much space, but it was the best we could do considering that we had to be a certain level below the surface and it was hard to drill through stone and dig out dirt in a short amount of time. Especially without being noticed.

All heads turned to me when I found the rest of the core huddled together in a corner, getting briefed by Bob as to what this was and the reasoning behind it. But I think we all knew who and why we were getting bombed.

"It's the White Coats," Bob began before looking up at me, making sure no civilian heard the details to the bombing. He visibly relaxed when he saw me, probably out of both relief I was here and a colonist didn't hear what he said. "They are....unhappy," he stated, finding the rightful adjective for their current attitudes, "that we stormed their information center."

I rolled my eyes at this, receiving a glare back from Bob. But who would be happy after they were robbed of a considerable amount of intel, much less by a rival that wanted to sabotage their way of life. I would be 'unhappy' as well.

"So what are they going to-" Calum's question was cut off by another tremble created by a bomb above ground.

"I'm guessing their trying to destroy the files?" I wearily asked when we all regain balance.

"That would be my guess Luke," Bob confirmed. "Thankfully the headcount is only off by one, and I'm assuming that would be you?" he asked, directing the question to me.

"I came through the main gate, I've been accounted for," I told him, uneasiness falling over me. My mind felt cloudy suddenly as I asked the question I had been dreading. "Where's Melissa?"

All eyes turned to me, Bob's flooding with recognition as he put the pieces together, Michael's filled with worry, Calum's lost the hint of amusement they almost always carried, Ashton's turned serious at a moments notice. They all locked eyes with me as we realized what happened and who that missing person was. Riley, who had been standing near me since I arrived tugged on my shirt. Overlooking the amount of distress I was in, I leant down to her level as she whispered something with her hands cupped to my ear.

"I know where she is," her tiny voice came out.

My eyes widened as I looked her straight in the eyes to detect if she was lying; she wasn't.

"Where is she?" I asked her quietly, but everyone in our group heard and I could tell that they were listening in to what she is about to say.

"She's in the meeting room."

Realization dawned on me as to why she was there. She was risking her life again for the same damn files as last time. Fury built up inside of me, yet in the same way pride does too as I realized she was doing it for the colony's well being.

Bob signaled me over not two seconds later to show me something on his tablet.

"She's a smart one," he muttered as his eyes continued to stare at the screen.

At first I'm confused, then I saw what is happening. The files were disappearing one by one off of his screen. Bob gave me a proud look as if I taught her everything she knew, but it was obvious that he was simply proud of her knowing the importance of those files.

She was ripping the files off the database before they can get to them.

"Now we know why they are bombing us," his gruff voice said as he turns to walk away.

I ran my hand through my hair, anxiety setting as I realized the importance of this situation. On one hand, she was getting some of the most important files off of our data base, keeping them safe from hackers. But on the other, she was putting herself in the position that she is a sitting duck, waiting for them to come and take her life as she tried to save the information.

"I'm going back for her," I daringly spoke, turning to face the door as someone's hand pulled me back, tearing me out of my mind so I can no longer think of saving her.

"Lucas Robert Hemmings," Bob began in a menacing voice I had heard so often as a child. I had to roll my eyes at his attempt to scare me. "Your mother left me to take care of you, and-"

I cut him off before he could finish his sentence. "You call leaving me with a bunch of strangers taking care of me?" I spat in his face as he turns pale in the face. "You let the only person I cared about, your own daughter to be exact, die and you have the audacity to stand here and tell me that you want to keep me safe?!" I practically yelled in his face.

Heads of children and adults turned toward us as they noticed the scene I was creating. Bob's face had gone from white with surprise to red with anger. His eyes were burning into mine, challenging me to go on with my accusations.

"She was dangerous," he growled lowly, trying to keep our dispute as quiet as possible.

"So am I," I retaliated. "Why didn't you kill me?"

His eyes fell, mostly in defeat, but partially in sadness. "Loving someone is a weakness Luke," he began, looking up at me once again. "You cared about her, so she had to die. Don't make me kill Melissa."

My eyes burned with rage. All I could see was red as I charged toward him, fisting my hands into his shirt and lifting from the ground to pin him on the wall.

"You'll die if she gets hurt," I stated through gritted teeth in anger, trying to hold back the words I was dying to scream in his face.

"Who would kill me? After all, I am your father Luke."

I pulled him slightly off the wall before banging his whole body back against it, hearing a crack sound from his back as he groaned in pain. I did it again, relieving the anger built up in my body. Everyone knew to stay out of it at this point. To say I was angry would be an understatement. I was livid at his confidence to threaten Melissa and the stupid smile he wore as I smashed his body against the wall, bones cracking with each blow, only increasing my anger.

Someone finally stepped in, pulling my fist off of my father's shirt collar. Red hair came into view as they drug me to the other side of the bunker.

I caught a glimpse of Calum pushing my father toward a bunk, obviously mad at his and my behavior. He was always a peaceful guy and only fought when it was necessary, so seeing me slam my father's body into the concrete mercilessly was probably terrible for him.

"I get why you did it," Michael finally said when I am sitting next to him on our assigned bunk. "Lissa means a lot to me too though."

I looked over at him, my gaze holding confusion and jealousy.

He laughed slightly at the miscommunication. "Not like that," he assured me, making the tension I had felt die down. "She's like a sister."

I immediately tensed at his analogy. He seemed to notice, but continues, knowing I'm not in the mood for apologies.

"I just don't want to see her hurt," he explained in further detail.

I nodded my head understandingly. I knew what it was like to not want someone to get hurt, but when they did, because getting hurt was inevitable, it stung like a knife to your chest because you knew that you failed to protect them.

"Please.....just," he took a deep breath, his head falling into his hands as he rubbed his eyes tired from the stress. "Just don't hurt her," he breathed out, looking back up at me.

I nodded my head in conformation, and he smiled at me when I did this.

"Well, I'm going to go check on the old man," he said, getting up from his seat.

I laughed at this, keeping my eyes focused on the floor in front of me. I heard his steps take him toward the other side of the bunker before stopping.

"Luke?" he asked, probably turning back to look at me.

I lifted my head up, letting him know I was listening to what he is telling me.

"We'll find her," he assured me one last time before turning his heel and resuming his stride.

Edited: 18 October 2016