ATPnovel Chapter 55: A trio of Captains
Chapter 55: A trio of Captains
Chapter 55: A trio of CaptainsThe Captain took the two of them to the basement level below the lobby, where Hill had pulled in when Kellen moved in. There, taking Kellen’s hand, he led him around the large garage until he got to a row labeled Captain Thatcher. It was full of luxury cars, and quite a few Kellen recognised at least the type of car because his Dad owned the same one, but in a different colour. It was actually a fleet of cars, and Kellen felt his head swim. He hadn’t thought that his Dad had a lot of cars before, since he had a garage he rotated them out of when he wanted to use them. The Captain kept them all in one place, obviously showing them off. Oh god, I really do come from money.
The Captain stopped at a sleek black car that Kellen recognised because he was pretty sure his Dad had it in red. The Captain took him all the way around, even opening the door for him. His smile was soft, and his eyes were a warm, yellow shade. "Hop in." He told him, and Kellen nodded and got in. The Captain then reached across him and buckled him in, much to Kellen’s surprise, before he closed the door and got into the driver’s seat. He spared Kellen one more glance before he zipped out from under the Guild. Kellen found the handle, grabbed it, and held on. A sinking feeling accompanied by a deep sense of worry filled him. Maybe the Captain and my Dad have the same need for speed.
Leaving the Guild building, the Captain brought the two of them rather quickly to the front of the D.E.C. and the Center. Even with the roadblocks still in place since reconstruction and
"Exactly. Why should we get extra rewarded for just doing our job? In fact, I feel like we failed our job because we didn’t catch it. We all knew that there were extremist groups, so why did we think we wouldn’t get hit by them?" Captain Sergei’s harsh face got even harsher.
"We grew arrogant. We saw how everyone else was getting attacked and assumed that we would be fine because we have so many Guild’s here." Captain Sergei seemed to really be beating himself up over this. Uncle Tom sighed.
"I think you are being too harsh on yourselves. They must have chosen this time because it’s chaotic with the new gate, not because we grew arrogant. The D.E.C. always has feet on the ground trying to get a pulse of the city. We were only alerted seconds before Captain Thatcher noticed something. Without the quick response from the two of you, who knows what could have happened?" Kellen spoke up.
"The Guiding Centers would have been attacked and we would have lost dozens of important Guides and civilians." The three Espers turned to the Guide. "So you should be proud of what you’ve done. Without your actions, the whole system would have been decimated. Forget the gate, the city might have crumbled since most Guides are irreplaceable. It’s well known, but not often spoken about, but there are more Espers than there are Guides. If we had lost even 20 Guides that could have impacted the whole city. Especially if they were some of the well balanced ones." Kellen glanced around at the Captains who shouldered quite a bit of responsibility. "So don’t beat yourself up over this. As much as this attack was planned, I don’t really think it was. It felt too random to me, more like a guerilla attack." Kellen glanced at Captain Sergei, who still seemed upset. "Uncle Tom, how many people were injured and killed?" He asked. His Uncle sighed, before pulling out his phone and scrolling through the report.
"Well, we have quite a few minor injuries, as for serious...about 50, and we’ve had five deaths. Four civilians and one Guide." Everyone took a moment to process the news. Kellen was the only one who seemed optimistic when hearing the facts.
"That could have ended quite differently. Was the Guide killed in the original attack?" He asked and it took Uncle Tom a few seconds to find the answer.
"It appears so. What a tragedy." Uncle Tom murmured and Kellen sighed.
"It is. It’s very upsetting that the group of people who want me dead on principle have attacked the city I live in, but I am not going to let them ruin the city either. Don’t let them get to you. If you let them get power over you, they’ve won, whether you’ve joined their side or not." Kellen easily offered up the words he’d received from his therapist on the front lines. They helped, and they had forced Kellen to rethink how he had sorted everything when dealing with his own problems. The Captain chuckled.
"Are you saying you don’t like to lose, Mr. Woods?" He asked and Kellen pressed his face into the Captain’s neck so that no one could see his expression.
"Sure, we can say it’s about winning or losing. For the most part, I just hate the fact that they think that they can get away with this. I also hate that they are going to influence the city for the worst. I do not like when others think they can ruin the things I work to protect."