Agent 11

When the hill came into the distance, my heart sank in my chest. We were all exhausted from running so far, only pausing for short breaks. I smelled the smoke before I saw it. My eyes slowly took in the horror before me. I sank to my knees, unable to look away from my worst nightmare.

The once beautiful city was in ruins, the lake view covered by a halo of smoke. White marble walls crumbled as I watched. Tears fell from my eyes, and for once I didn't care about showing weakness. With tear fractured vision, I scanned the field. Everyone was okay, huddled in a group at the outskirts of the valley. No one had died, but that thought did only a little to make me feel better.

Our home was gone.

"Agent 11!" I looked around, and focused on Ryan running up the hill, dragging along a teary-faced Ash. "Agent 11, you have to stop them!" She half-sobbed. Stop who? The Counterattack soldiers? A little late for that. My confusion must have shown, because Ryan started talking really fast. "They took her. She helped us, and she didn't even fight. They captured her!" Now I was even more confused. "Ryan, stop. Breath. Who captured who?" He took a deep breath, and spoke slowly. "Jen. Allegiance captured Jen." I blinked as I remembered the girl Ash kept talking about on the walk over. "The one who aided your escape? I'll speak to the A-Team on her behalf." I wasn't focused on that right now. With that problem somewhat solved, the conversation turned back to the burning town. Ryan faced me. "You know, they came out of nowhere. Some people were shouting to call the A-Team, but you were already gone. We realized that you were tricked, that we were tricked." He was silent for a moment, most likely thinking about how much has changed so quickly. Just a few days ago, Allegiance was his enemy, and he was going to be executed. Now he was alive, well, and on the side of the team he had been taught to fear his whole life. His world and mine had been flipped upside down. But we had to deal with it because it was our job. He had to be strong for Ash, and I had to be strong for the hundreds of agents under my command. I took a breath, bracing myself, and started walking. The non-injured agents escorted us to the main building, which was also in tatters. I saw the ruins, some still ablaze. It rekindled my anger at Counterattack all over again.

* * * * * * * * *

After realizing that barely anything could be salvaged, we all set off to find a new home. There was no way to contact any other bases, so we were on our own. Our transportation was destroyed too, so everyone walked. The A-Team members were paired up and positioned around the fleet to guard it. I took the back, along with Blake. I found out pretty quick that he was even more upset than I was. Unlike me, he had been born and raised in Allegiance, until he rose to the top. I, on the other hand, had lived outside at some point, and had less years to grow attached. It was the strangest thing, how I got here. Somehow I got amnesia, and wound up wandering the hills until they took me in. As they trained me, they found that I had a knack for weapons. Suddenly, I was embarrassingly jolted out of the past by tripping. After assessing that the damage is no more than a minor bruise, I started to stand up, but Ryan reached out a hand to help me up. He was placed in the back with other newbies. Blake and I, the most skilled of the lot, protect the least trained. Just for a second, when I looked at Ryan, my mind flashed with memory. Deja vu, I think it's called. But it was gone before I could see anything. I shrugged it off, though slightly unsettled. "You okay?" I smiled. "Nothing hurt but my pride. And my arm." Everyone started laughing. Because of all the stress and tension in the air, the humorous comment shone like a ray of hope. Then I heard a shout from Michel, all the way at the front. I couldn't hear what he said, but all the soldiers started running forward. I turned to Blake, only to see that he was long gone. I spotted him entering the crowd. I rushed over to help, before realizing that assistance was not needed. It was a hill about five yards in diameter, perfect for a temporary camp. We hiked up to the top, greatly cheered up. This was a great place for camp. We set up a series of small tents, perfect for defending in case Counterattack decided to pursue us.