The Last Day On Earth (Book 1 of The Galaxy Series)

Chapter 10

I had so many questions when I heard first, Anti-Wasp Coalition, then more still when I heard, Human Preservation Team. The way it sounded, the implication of what this group was and had done was just...impossible. For the briefest of moments, I nearly forgot about the dread and hopelessness I had felt only moments before. It was actually replaced with hope itself, and a curiosity I had not felt since I was a child.

"How...? What that all means..." I couldn't even properly ask my questions, as absolutely stunned as I was by the simple titles this group held.

Darren chuckled. "You have questions. I, myself, don't have the time to answer them. That would have to fall to our leader, John." He looked to Oliver. "Is he free?"

Oliver shook his head. "Not right now. He's in a meeting with the other leaders."

What? I looked at Oliver, confused once again. How was he close enough to the leader of this group already?

As if reading my mind, Oliver smiled at me. "Turns out that programming comes natural to me. Crazy, right? I spent almost twenty five years of my life building up part of The Tower, now I'm learning to make software for a resistance!" He was practically giddy by the time he finished speaking, and I couldn't help smiling for him.

"That's great, Oliver," I chuckled.

Whitney was smiling too, happy for our friend. "Well, since John is busy right now, do you mind if I show Tiff to the sleeping area?"

Darren gestured toward a door toward the back of the room, the opposite side from where we came in. "Go ahead. Those leader meetings can last a while sometimes." Before he went, he held out his hand to me, which I took. "Once again, welcome. Any help is appreciated."

I nodded. "Yeah. Um, thank you for letting me stay." As soon as I was done speaking, Whitney whisked me away toward the door Darren had gestured to.

As she pulled me into another large, mostly empty room with cots and a few sick people resting, Whitney continued talking my ear off with only slight interjections from Oliver to add to the conversation. She went on about how great the people were here, how supportive they have been to the two of them, the training and help they have received to become even better.

"How long have you two been here?" I asked finally. It seemed like a lot to have learned and gained in a short time.

When Whitney admitted that she didn't know for sure, Oliver said, "Since a few days after we left Indianapolis. She wanted to explore and try to find a place elsewhere. I was surprised she didn't."

"I wanted to at least see you off," she admitted as we stopped at an empty cot. "This is yours. Sorry it's not closer to our cots, but you're just kind of placed wherever there's a free cot when you arrived."

I shrugged. "This is still better than sleeping on the ground." They both smiled and agreed; when I set my bag down on the cot, I asked them, "This...team, does 'Anti-Wasp' mean what I think it does?"

Still smiling, they once again nodded. "Many of the people here that we've met," Oliver started, "actually grew up within the Coalition. They grew up fighting the Wasps and freeing people where they could."

Whitney nodded excitedly. "They were never slaves! How amazing is that? To know freedom and aspire to give it to others..." She sighed dreamily.

Oliver chuckled. "John and Darren are actually brothers, too, and they inherited the responsibilities of leading this group from their parents. The Coalition, well, now, Team, has an amazing history you'll learn all about."

I nodded and looked from my friends to my bag. "This will be safe here?"

"Oh, yeah."

"Theft amongst fellow members is severely punished," Whitney added.

That threw up a red flag for a moment, but I wasn't going to say anything. It wasn't my place to question the workings of a group that I just came into, and certain rules were probably there for a reason. Besides, whatever rules were in place had to be better than the alternative.

After talking a bit more, and feeling the glares of those sick who were attempting to sleep, they lead me out of the sleeping area and back to, what I assumed was, the common area. Even more people were here now, some carrying chairs or helping others carry benches in organized rows in front of a wall off to the side. I asked my friends what was going on when Oliver commented that we needed to help too.

"A meeting," Whitney explained as our friend ran ahead to help with a bench. "Probably to introduce you, and to explain where we are at as far as stopping the ships from leaving."

We weren't stopping the ship that was leaving here soon? I felt like that that was a betrayal to those that were already gearing up to leave for, what they believed to be, a better life. When I told Whitney this, she just gave me a sympathetic look.

"Hey, I get it," she was soft voiced, and actually serious for the first time since we had reunited, "I do. We have to follow what John and Darren say, though. They know what's best right now, and, unfortunately, what's best is to save those that we can and worry about the others later."

"But--"

"Tiffany, trust me, just listen during the meeting. It will make sense, I promise." She gave me a quick hug when I finally just nodded, acknowledging that I would at least try for her. "Come on, let's help set up."