The Modified (The Biotics Trilogy, #1) (3 page)

As I go to leave the room, my dad grabs me in a hug. I can only remember him hugging me like this one other time. It was right after my brother’s funeral. He’s holding on to me so tight, it seems like he’s afraid that if he lets me go I might disappear.

I hug him back and whisper, “Don’t worry, Dad. I’ll be fine.”

“I know you will. Be safe, and I’ll see you soon, okay?” he chokes out.

The drive home with Joey is somewhat quiet. Not because we don’t have things to say, we have plenty to talk about, but we just kind of keep to ourselves. We both begin to talk to each other several times, but the conversations kind of just drop off.

 Drumming my fingers on the armrest of the car door, I watch the scenery outside fly by. I’ve always enjoyed gazing into a forest as you drive by it. The blurry pattern the trees make as you look in between them has always fascinated me.

Ahead of us I see a large section of the forest full of charred trees. As we get closer to them, I notice several rows have been leveled, leaving a pathway that leads deep into the woods. A thick smoky haze fills the area.

“Joey, stop the car,” I yell out, seeming to startle him. “Do you see that?”

“Yeah, what did that?” he asks, and then pulls the car onto the shoulder of the road.

“I don’t know, but it definitely did a number on those trees,” I reply while opening the car door. My mouth hangs open with shock as I stand there, scanning the destruction. A path has been cut straight through the trees, ending in a circular section. It looks as if someone took a precision laser and cut them down by hand. 

“Are you sure we should just go investigating?” I hear Joey ask through my open car door.

“What if someone needs our help?”

“Out here? In the middle of nowhere?” he asks dryly. “What if it’s the Bringers? What would you do then, huh?”

“That’s why I have you here to protect me,” I joke, but inside a twinge of fear bubbles up at the thought of a Bringer being in the forest.

Joey groans in protest as I move away from the car and close the door. He finally opens his door and glares at me over the top of the car before reluctantly joining me at the edge of the forest. “Just so you know, if we die…I’m going to be really pissed at you,” Joey whispers.

I laugh off his comment. “Aren’t you the least bit curious about what caused this?”

“Sure, but I can’t help thinking of all the movies that have taught me
not
to do this,” he replies wryly.

“News flash, this isn’t a movie. It’s real life, and if it was the Bringers, don’t you think we’d already have run into them by now?”

“Fine, we’ll go check it out. But I’m definitely still on team ‘this is a bad idea,’” Joeys states huffily.  

As we make our way down the path, the smell of burnt wood and melted metal assaults our senses. The remnants of the trees crunch under our feet with every step we take. I jump when I see a tree in the distance smash into several others around it, sending them crashing to the ground in front of us.

“Whoa, that was close,” I say breathlessly.

“Uh, you think?” Joey replies sarcastically.

Reaching the end of the path, we come upon a crater in the ground with some kind of large shiny object at the center of it. It’s still on fire, and black smoke billows from it into the air. 

“Is that a wingtip from a spaceship?” Joey points to it.

“Possibly. I think it might be one of ours. It has the logo of the Federation on it,” I reply.

“Whatever it is, it definitely did some damage when it crashed here.”

“Yeah, you can say that again.”

The trees around the edge of the crash site were barely there anymore. Most of them were shadows of their previous selves. I reach out to touch a branch and it crumbles into a pile of ash onto the ground. A gust of wind blows through the area and sweeps the pile of ash up into the air, swirling it around in front of me. It’s oddly beautiful.

“Could you imagine the whole world ending up like this?” I ask Joey as he stands there continuing to examine the object in the deep craterous hole.

“No, no I can’t. These bastards need to be stopped, and we’re going to be the ones to do it.”

“Agreed.”

I grab Joey’s hand and pull him in the direction of the car. He pulls me to a stop in order to take one last look at the destruction behind us.

Our attention is drawn to the sound of sirens in the distance. “We better get going. I knew it’d be only a matter of time before the Federation showed up,” I say and then tug on Joey’s hand.

Standing in front of my house, I hesitate putting the key into the lock on the front door. It feels heavy in my hand as it hovers there just in front of the lock. I know that the moment I open this door, I’ll have to lie to my mom, to my little brother, and I dread doing that.

When I finally decide to place the key into the lock, the door suddenly flies open and I see my little brother Gavin standing there, biting his lip. He flings his arms around me and grips me tight in a hug. I’ve never been happier to see him. Maybe it’s because of the finality of my current situation, or the fear that these next couple of days might be the last I get to spend with him.

He backs away and looks up at me with sadness in his eyes. I push back his dirty blond hair that hangs in front of his face to see him more clearly. “Hey, Little Bit,” I say with a half-smile, hoping that I sound cheerful.

“Mom’s out back if you want to talk to her.”

“Thanks. How was school today?”

“It was okay.”

“Only okay?” I ask as I put my arm around his shoulder and begin walking with him toward the kitchen. Over the past year he has grown so much, and soon, "Little Bit" will be taller than me.

“You know just as well as I do it’s not school anymore. They’re training us for the war,” he replies, taking a seat at the kitchen table. “I mean, look at these uniforms we have to wear now. They’re black and gold. They even say Allied Federation on them.”

“It won’t be that way for long, we’re going to change that,” I reply while rubbing his head and messing up his hair.

He pushes my hand away, and his boyish face with his bluish-green eyes that match Dylan’s, turns serious. “I don’t see how.”

“Don’t talk like that. This war will end, and things will be back to normal before you know it.” I try to reassure him, even though I’m not sure of my own words.

“I hope so,” he replies.

I see my mom out in the garden through the kitchen window. She has her light blonde hair pulled up into a ponytail, and her usual navy blue headband is resting atop her head. “Hey, I’m going to go talk to Mom real quick, and let her know I’m home. When I get back we’ll play some video games, okay?” My brother nods with a strained smile and leaves the kitchen.

My mom turns to look at me when she hears the back door open and close. At first she smiles at me, but it fades quickly as she goes back to watering her flowers.

“Please tell me they gave you a nice cushy desk job to work at for the next two years,” she says as she wipes the sweat from her brow with her gardening glove.

I hesitate to answer. This is a lot harder than I was expecting it to be. I hate that I can’t be honest with her. Somewhere, though, I find the strength and reply. “Yep, a real nice cushy one.”

“I’m so torn up by this, Kenley. You have no idea. I’ve been losing sleep for months now, anticipating this very moment…when you’d return with your assignment. I hate the Federation for taking my baby girl away from me,” she explains as tears come to her eyes.

I grab her in a hug and she wraps her arms around me tighter than she ever has. I have to do everything in my power not to break down. “Mom, I’m going to be all right. You have nothing to worry about.” That lie resonates deep within me and my heart breaks at the thought of possibly never being able to see her again.