Twelve

 

The operation started about an hour before the eclipse. Everyone said their goodbyes at Dr. Lee’s house as Jongin, Sehun, Baekhyun, Joonmyun, Chanyeol, Kungsoo and my brother prepared to depart for District 4 while the rest of us prepared to cause some chaos the Capitol. I hugged the others, knowing full well that there was a possibility of never being able to see one or more of us returning alive. It was a grim thought, because I had grown to adore these boys in the past months, loving them as if they were family. I even managed to give Jongin a short, one armed, twitchy hug, which was more like an awkward pat on his back, if anything. His muscles felt about as tense as mine.   “Be careful, okay, Min?” Moonkyu whispered into my ear as he hugged me. “Do what you have to do. If there is ever a time when you can throw your morals out of the window and be excused for it, this is it. If you have to kill a bad guy to keep your own life, please do it.”   I nodded, but avoided his gaze.    “Min, promise me,” Moonkyu snapped, pulling me back as I tried to move away. “Promise, or I’m not letting you go.”   “Okay, okay!” I groaned, shoving him away. “I promise, okay?”   Moonkyu turned to Kris and gave him a pat on the shoulder. “Take care of her, man,” he muttered.    Kris just nodded stoically.   “We’ll meet you guys in the Capitol in two hours,” Joonmyun says, waving for Jongin to grab the rest of his team. “Don’t try to take down the High Chancellor without us; we go into the Nest together.”    A gust of black smoke later, and half of us were gone.    “Ready?” Kris asked, breaking the silence.    “Ready,” Tao answered, springing to his feet.    Kris tugged at his coat, straightening it as he stood up from the couch. “Now let’s get this show on the road.”           Dr. Lee had been in contact with all sorts of people deemed “shady” by the government in the past weeks, mostly rebels, revolutionaries, and democratic thinkers. Those leaders had reached out to more rebels, and together, had created some sort of an underground army.    Walking out onto the Capitol streets in the middle of an eclipse with the six boys felt exhilarating as well as intimidating. We waited for Kris to give us the signal; then, all hell broke loose.    Lu Han’s hands went up into the air and windows smashed as cars lifted from the streets and slammed into sides of buildings. Although it was the middle of autumn and previously quite warm, Minseok started up a small snowstorm just as panicked city officials and guards stormed into the street. A moment later, Minseok had them swallowed up by his blizzard.    For a moment, we were afraid that all of Dr. Lee’s previous planning had failed and that no, we were not about to get any help from the people. However, the next thing we knew, a loud chant had started as people emerged from buildings and corners, chanting “Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!” and they marched towards the guards.    “They’re calling for back-up,” I muttered, reading one of the guard’s thoughts. “Kris, the National Army is on it’s way.”   Kris shrugged with a determined look on his face even as he watched Tao roundhouse kick an advancing guard in the chest. “Look around,” he said, gesturing to the large crowd forming around us. “Half of these people are just normal citizens, who didn’t even know about the plan. This is the people, Min. The people want freedom and we’ll simply overwhelm them in numbers.”   With a loud warcry, Kris took his position at the front of the rebel militia, and the fight started. An hour later, we were right on schedule. The National Army had been dispersed, scattered so much that their presence could barely be sensed. The National Party had gone into a state of panic, shutting down all government offices, as well as water and electrical services to the whole district. However, almost as soon as the eclipse had ended, leaving the seven of us feeling stronger than ever, it started to rain, complete with rough gusts of wind and hard raindrops that were not controlled by any of our powers.    “Why didn’t Dr. Lee check the weather forecast and tell us to bring a rain coat?” Jongdae yelled, shaking wet hoodie out of his face even as the wind picked up.     “Min, how much longer?” Minseok screamed at me as the howling wind blew more rain in his face. “It feels as if Sehun’s right here with us right now and I can’t feel my face anymore.”   I tried to move very subtly towards the edge of the roof where we were waiting, peering over the edge towards the very large clock in the city square.   “Roughly five or so minutes left?” I ye