We walked through Base Liberty as Lance explained the program.

"And here we have the uniforms we are to wear," he told us as he pointed to dozens of light blue uniforms that hung in a large closet.

"Why blue?" Jayce asked as he reached for one.

Lance shrugged, "Why not? It doesn't really matter what color we wear, what matters is what is inside. What we do to help the world,". I reached for the blue fabric, it was thick but light at the same time. There was protection near the chest, elbows and knee areas, and it was all one piece. "You could try it on if you'd like," Lance offered as he pointed towards a room.

"Why do you think I want to wear it?" I questioned.

Lance laughed, "Oh I was just suggesting it! You don't have to, we can move on with the tour!"

Jayce grabbed a suit, "I'm trying it on!" He raced towards the room and locked it quickly, two minutes later he walked out dressed in the blue cloth.

"How is it?" Lance asked. "We're still working on improving it but I think it's pretty good so far, don't you?"

Jayce looked at himself in a mirror nearby, he made several different poses before answering. "It's amazing! So light weighted and comfortable! Frank you've got to try this!" I rolled my eyes, why was Jayce always so silly? But nonetheless I changed into the uniform and to my surprise loved it.

"So?" Lance asked.

"Meh, it's alright I guess," I lied.

Lance crossed his arms with a smile, "You know that uniform has more than fifty pockets that are large enough to fit a pear?"

I cocked an eyebrow, "Really?" Both Jayce and Lance looked at each other then began to laugh, I tried my best to hold back my smile. "What's so funny?" I asked.

Jayce held his stomach as he answered, "You are such a terrible liar Frank! Whenever you try to lie, your left eye twitches a little!" They both continued to laugh as I turned towards a mirror. Damn it they were right!

"So you do love the uniform!" Lance choked out from between his fits of laughter.

"Yeah, yeah! Whatever!" I said.

Suddenly a boy who looked to be around the age of twenty-five raced into the room. He looked up, wide-eyed, fear was shown on his face, "Sir, you've got to see this!" All three of us ran towards a large room filled with many other people, young and old. Everyone's eye's were glued to the television screen, I looked up to see the headline, 'Breaking News! Philadelphia hit by enormous super cell!'. Oh no.

A man walked towards us, he looked to be in his mid seventies, a halo of hair circled his head while the top held none. He wore a dress shirt and pant, and a tie. In one hand he held a cup of coffee and in the other a couple of papers. A pen hung behind his left ear and a pencil on the other. Where have I seen this man? He opened his mouth but then shut it when he saw Jayce and I. "It's alright Jeremy, they're with us," .

Jeremy nodded, "Lance what are we going to do?".

Lance's face grew serious as he began to think. "We have to start the program, now!" Jeremy nodded as he ran back into a different room.

A few seconds later his voice was heard over the speakers, "Begin operation 2031! I repeat, begin Operation 2031!" Everyone looked around in confusion.

"Well what are you waiting for people?! Go do your jobs!" Lance yelled. Everyone ran in different directions stumbling into each other now and then. "You are going to have to come with me," Lance told as. We walked back into the uniform room. "You are going to have to give us the code Mr. Hide," he said. I reached into my pocket but soon realized that I left it in my shorts. I raced to the room where I changed and searched for it , but it was nowhere in sight.

"Where is it? Where is it?!" I panicked.

Lance ran over to me, "What happened?" he asked.

I looked up at him, "My shorts, the papers were in it. I can't find my shorts! They were just here!" A wave of fear hit Lance, he began to search with me but it was nowhere.

I looked behind me but saw that Jayce was nowhere to be seen either. "Where is that boy?" Lance sneered.

As if answering, we heard Jayce's voice over the speakers, "Whoever took the plaid orange and navy blue shorts please report to the uniform room! I repeat, report to the uniform room!" We waited for thirty minutes but no one came. Everyone was too busy doing their own work.

"Why did I have to be so dumb!" I scolded myself.

Jayce ran over to me, "Calm down Frank, there has to be some other way we can start the operation! We don't need the code!".

"Yes we do," Lance said. "We need to code to begin our program, we need it or else we aren't allowed to start,".

I looked up, "Then how do we start?"

Lance looked at me, "We break the rules,".

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What?" I asked as we walked through the hallway. "What did you say?"

"We start the program anyway," he answered as he continued to walk.

"But that's not allowed! We can't break the rules!" Jayce yelled.

Lance stopped walking abruptly and turned around. "My dear boy, sometimes rules are meant to be broken,". He then turned around and continued to walk.

"Stop!" I yelled. Jayce and Lance turned to look at me, shocked. "Wouldn't we be in a lot of trouble if we break the rules?! Wouldn't we go to jail?!"

Lance sighed, "When billions of lives are resting in your hands, and you have the chance to save them, you do not hesitate to help. Even if that means you will get into trouble,".

I clenched my teeth, "Well I am not going to be a part of it!" I yelled. "Going to jail won't help me or my family!"

Lance's face grew red, "Boy I don't care if you help or not! If you want to leave, go ahead! See if I'll stop you! Go run home and hide! I don't care! Leave now! But I'm going to stay and try to save as many lives as possible!" He turned around and walked away. Then the ground shook, not enough to knock us off our feet, but enough for us to notice. Then it shook once more, this time more violently. I fell backwards and Jayce fell forwards, his nose began to bleed. The ground beneath us began to crack as a huge opening appeared. Many screams were heard and the building started to collapse.

"Help!" A deep voice yelled. It was Lance. We crawled towards the screams and found Lance holding onto the edge for dear life.

"Hold on Lance!" Jayce yelled. We grabbed his hands and began to pull him up. Finally after three tugs he was safe, or so we thought. The ground shook again, much more violently and Lance lost his balance. He stumbled over the edge and fell into the abyss, His hands flailing helplessly at his sides.

His eyes were wide in fear, he opened his mouth one last time, "Save Humanity!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We drove to Jayce's and my neighborhood to check on our families. There was a big crack on the road and my house was collapsed, flames surrounded the front yard. Of course, it was lunchtime everyone must have been cooking. I ran towards it, "Margaret! Tess! Aunt Eddy!!" I ran through the rubble, the ceiling had collapsed and it blocked off any opening. I pulled a large wooden piece out of my way and ran into the living room. The couch was aflame and the television was still running. I ran into the kitchen but they were not there. Where could they be? Where are they? I ran into every room but found no one. "Where are you?!" I yelled. Then I remembered the basement. Jayce ran into my house and helped me clear a path to the basement, I sprinted downstairs. There, under all the rubble lay three bodies. One old, one young, and one my age. Their eyes were closed, and there legs crushed. It was too late. I was too late. They were gone, forever.

Jayce put an arm around me, "I'm so sorry,".

I ran towards them and fell to my knees, "I'm sorry I couldn't save you! I'm sorry I wasn't with you! Please come back! Please don't die on me!" I held Margaret's hand and began to weep. "Come back!". I looked over to Tess, her face was calm. She was a peace. I put a stray strand of her hair behind her ear and kissed her forehead. Finally I looked at aunt Eddy, her lips were curled upwards, she was smiling. I held her hand, "What do I do?" I asked. A small breeze blew by, I shuddered and zipped up the uniform. She was telling me what to do. She was giving me advice, I looked at her and smiled. "As you wish aunt Eddy,".

I was joining Operation 2031.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We lay a cloth over their bodies, "I'll come back for you, I promise," I told them.

Jayce's family was gone as well. They were also burnt, in fact almost every house was burnt.

"We've got to go now Mr. Hide," the driver told me. I nodded and walked over to Jayce. His face were in his hands and his sobs were muffled.

"Come one, we have to go now," I told him.

He looked up with his puffy red eyes, "I never got to say good-bye," he said. I helped him up and walked to the car with him. "I'm joining the program," he said.

"I know," I answered.

The drive back was a long and quiet one, I stared at the building ruins. So much destruction in so little time. Why?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I walked into Base Liberty with Jayce.

"Who's in charge?" I asked to no one in particular. The man who I had seen earlier today walked towards us.

"I am," he said. "What can I do for you?"

"Who are you?" I asked.

He held out his hand, "Jeremy Oz, nice to meet you,". Jeremy Oz, the one who disappeared for years together, was here all along!

I shook his hand, "Hello Mr. Oz, my name is Franklin Hide, and this is Jayce Marco. We would liked to join Operation 2031,".

He nodded, "Of course! We need as many people as possible,".

I held up my hand, "But first I would like to request something,".

Jeremy tilted his head, "Oh? And what is that?"

"We make the uniforms gray," Jayce responded. "In honor of all those who were burnt to ashes,".

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks for reading chapter 12! Hope you enjoyed it!

Comment and vote below, feedback would be much appreciated!

I will try and update every weekend!

-chihiro_07