Short Story Excerpt: The Hero's Journey - Ch11-12

Overview: https://kaylinrosealexande.wixsite.com/kaylinalexanderbooks/post/short-story-the-hero-s-journey-the-others-pt-2

Previous: https://kaylinrosealexande.wixsite.com/kaylinalexanderbooks/post/short-story-excerpt-the-hero-s-journey-ch10

Content warning: multiple deadly uses of firearms

This is the last of the short story! Please enjoy!

Chapter Eleven: The Resurrection

Jason crouched beside Sadie as she messed with the control panel on the side of the Others’ mothership. She messed with some of the circuitry, pressing some buttons. “This…is…easier…now that I…have some…of their inf-information.” She gestured to her head. Jason fiddled with the trigger on his weapon—the safety was on. “Got it!” The violent vibration rang through the ship again, and the doors began to open. Before the runway had even fully extended, Jason was up on his feet, clicking the safety off, and covering Sadie. Jason felt weird and exposed without a squad around him, and his brain, nerves, and gut were screaming this is suicide!!! at him, but he ignored them. He couldn’t let anyone know what he and Sadie were doing. If Starling truly was an Other, Jason couldn’t reveal that he knew.

Sadie and Jason snuck inside the mothership. Jason scanned each hallway, making sure that there was no one around. “Hurry,” he whispered to Sadie, and the two of them briskly tip-toed their way down the corridor and to the room with the pulsing beam and the computers. Sadie got to work immediately, her fingers flying at the keys. Jason knew most of the hackers in the Rebellion had taught themselves’ the Others’ language, and Sadie appeared to be no different. Jason himself had learned a bit as a kid, but he wasn’t as fluent as the hackers, since he stopped studying when he joined the field squad.

“Mr. Grayson,” a voice said from above. Jason looked up at the balcony, aiming his weapon at the man standing there: Mr. Starling.

“So you are one of them,” Jason said. “One of the Others.”

“Oh, Mr. Grayson,” Starling drawled. “I’m not one of them. I am them.”

Jason’s grip tightened on the weapon in his hands. “What do you mean?”

Starling sighed and began walking along the balcony. “You see, Mr. Grayson, the people you know as ‘the Others’ are nothing more than people from different dimensions who were altered to share the same collective mind, to be One. But didn’t you ever wonder who started it?”

“You’re their leader,” Jason realized following his aim as Starling began to move. “Their head. The mind all of them are connected to. The only one with individual thought. Who can blend into society.”

Starling chuckled as he began to walk down a staircase to the level Jason and Sadie were on. “You are a smart one, Grayson. Such a pity you wasted your mind and traded it for muscle.” Starling was now on the same floor, begin to slowly pace toward Jason. “But then again, we wouldn’t want the same thing that happened to your sister to happen to you.”

Jason’s grip tightened. “Not another step! I will shoot. You know I will.”

Starling did stop. “I know you will, Grayson. But that won’t help. You see, if you shoot me, what will become of Miss Miller?”

Jason’s blood chilled. He stepped back and turned, so he could now see both Starling and Sadie in his field of vision, and Sadie was no longer at the console. An Other had its hand over Sadie’s mouth and its weapon against Sadie’s temple. The girl fought and struggled, but the Other held tight.

“If you shoot me, my drone will kill Miss Miller,” said Starling. “And there won’t be hesitation. Every part of us is connected. I can hear her thoughts, feel her body, sense her senses. I am her. And you could try shooting her, but you won’t.”

“What makes you say that?” Jason asked, his weapon pointed at the Others’ head.

“Take a closer look at her,” said Starling.

Jason squinted at the Other. Now that he looked at it, he could tell it was indeed a “her”. She looked exactly like the rest of the Others: sickly skin, chapped lips, a shaved head with a metallic implant, and bloodshot eyes. But it was the eyes that sparked recognition in Jason. He squinted at the features of the Other, and his heart began to pound in his ears. “Jessie?”

Her bright blue eyes were locked with Jason’s. “Hello, Jace,” she said. Jason had never heard an Other speak before; he hadn’t thought it possible. But that was unmistakably his sister’s voice coming out of that body. “You’ve grown up so much.” Jessie smiled. “I’ve missed you.”

Jason’s grip tightened, but his aim was faltering. His whole body was shaking. “You’re not my sister.”

“Oh, Jace. I am your sister. I’m the one who tucked you in for nine years. The only one who loved you for three of those. I sang to you every night. I rocked you to sleep. I read you stories.” She laughed softly. “Remember when Lincoln took us in? Remember when he gave you those old action figures? Remember the games we played in our free time? Remember what we did for your eighth birthday?”

Jason began to lower his weapon, his eyes began to water. “Where’s Lincoln?”

“He and his team are still alive,” Jessie said. “They’re here. I promise.”

“Jason?” a voice whispered. Jason managed to break eye contact with his sister. Sadie was still shaking, the weapon was still pressed against her temple. Her mouth was no longer being covered, but Jessie was still gripping Sadie tight. Sadie’s dark eyes were wide in fear, pleading toward Jason. Her cheeks were streaked with tears, and her entire body was shaking.

“Jason,” said Starling. “You’ve always wanted to see your sister again. You’ve never gotten over her death. But Jason, Jessie is alive. And you can be with her forever. We’ll let Sadie Miller go. She’ll live. Just lower your weapon, and come with us.”

Jason looked at Starling, at Jessie, at Sadie. He raised his gaze back up to the bright blue irises that he knew he shared. “Jace,” she said softly. “You know how much your sister loves you.”

A tear rolled down Jason’s left cheek. “No,” he said. “I know how much she did.” He raised his weapon and fired.

Chapter Twelve: Return with the Elixir

A blue blast hit the female Other in the face, and she fell to the floor. Starling screeched in pain as he grabbed his head, bending over in agony. Jason took the opportunity to shoot the Other leader. The older man went flying backward into the wall, dead.

Jason turned to Sadie, who was shaking in fear. “Can you finish uploading the virus?” Jason asked. Sadie nodded and turned back to the console to work. After a moment, Sadie stepped back. “It’s done. The virus…it will go throughout…the ship...and to the smaller…ships across the world.”

Jason dropped his weapon to the ground, grabbing Sadie and pulling her to him, embracing the girl. They stood there for a moment, hearing the anguished cries of Others throughout the mothership. “Killing their leader must have killed them,” Jason noted. “I supposed that’s one of the downsides to being connected to the same mind.”

“Lincoln,” Sadie said, pulling away from Jason and racing down one of the corridors. Without hesitation, Jason ran down the hall after her. As if she knew exactly where to go, Sadie turned down the halls, and Jason ended up losing track of how many lefts and rights they took. Eventually, they made it to a room, where there were about a dozen bodies in cylindrical tubes. Instantly, Jason recognized the hacker team.

Sadie ran to a console and instantly began working. “I can…shut these infor-information chambers…down…properly…so what happened…to me doesn’t…happen to them.” The pods all opened, and the hackers all woke up, dazed.

Sadie and Jason began to help all of the men and women out of the pods one by one. When he got to Lincoln, the older man smiled at him. “Well done, my son.”

I feel like it was wrapped up quickly, but I had to keep it within a certain length for the assignment. I much prefer this wrap-up to the last draft. Pulls at the emotions, I hope.

Ahh I want to adapt this so badly!! But alas, I must work on TSP and SOTL.

Tomorrow, I will begin post excerpts of the romance short story I wrote for this class!