The Future is Ours

Thirteen

At 8:30am a knock at the door awoke the couple. Holly looked up around the dark room, confused for a moment, before shouting "Come in!"

A woman in a maids uniform poked her head around the door. "Just to let you know, breakfast is served at 9am sharp in the dining room. I hope you had a good nights sleep." And she was gone again.

Ernesto rolled over in the bed, bringing Holly into his bare chest. "Oh yea, great nights sleep. Only woken up half a dozen times....But still one of the best sleeps I've had in years." He whispered, voice husky.

"First time actually sharing a bed together." Holly whispered back.

"First time sleeping in a proper bed since the disappearance." Ernesto chuckled, stretching before getting out of bed.

Holly crawled out after him, picking up Kimmy to change her nappy before dressing her in a fresh baby grow whilst Ernesto went through the wardrobe, seeing what clothes had been gifted to them.

"I've spent 5 years wearing nothing but an army uniform. I can't imagine wearing anything else." He mused aloud.

Holly came up, picking out a polo top and some jeans. "I think these would look nice. Will be strange seeing you in something that's not green!"

The pair got changed before making their way downstairs to the rest of their tribe. The dining room was a large, with a grand oak table in the centre. There were 12 seats around the table, but only 10 were set. Maids ran back and forth as they set about placing plates of food in the centre. Eggs, toast, cereal, sausages, fresh fruit. Their mouths watered at the sight.

"Oh, my little baby!" Kim exclaimed, rushing over.

Holly laughed. "I'm not little or a baby anymore, mum."

"I wasn't talking to you!" Kim joked back warmly before taking Kimmy out of her arms, rocking her back and forth.

"Have you seen the newspaper headlines?" Serena asked as they took their seats, handing them a stack.

'FAMILIES REUNITE ALL OVER THE WORLD!'

'V DAY - CHILDREN HELP REUNITE OUR DIMENSIONS'

'TROUBLE IN PARADISE AS SPARTICLE STORMS OUT'

'SLEEPING ROUGH, DICTATORSHIPS, AND WAR: HOW OUR KIDS SURVIVED WITHOUT US'

'EXCLUSIVE: THE TRUTH BEHIND SPARTICLE SADIQ'S STORM OUT'

"Well they started off good." Aris replied awkwardly.

Sadiq scoffed as he came into the room, slamming down a magazine with the headline 'WORLD IN TATTERS AS FAMILIES REUNITE.' "Notice how now of them talk about how we've helped the environment since the adults have been gone? How there were less wars? How we taught ourselves skills to survive?"

"It's not like that, Sadiq, I promise." Kim reassured him. "We know how hard you all worked. Us adults, we all just want to help."

Reese ran frantically into the room, a letter in hand. "Guys, guys, look at this! It's from Fizzy and Brian!" She began reading aloud.

'Sparticles,

After some consideration, Dad and I have decided to leave. It won't be long until the government find out about the Fizzy-era, and I fear they won't be so accepting. Don't come looking for us, you won't find us.

Thanks for giving me a great few years. They've truly been some of the best. You kept me on my toes, and half the fun of being in power was trying to chase you all down.

Maybe see you all again one day.

Fizzy (& Brian)

P.S. Don't let those adults walk all over you. You done a good thing, don't let them dismiss that.'

"Well, can't say I'm shocked by that..." Holly trailed off as she took a bite out of a crumpet. The rest of the group looked at each other in confusion. Holly rolled her eyes. "He's basically going to be a wanted criminal. Or have you all forgotten about his dictatorship where he made it his mission to make everyone's life a misery?"

It was Sadiq's turn to roll his eyes. "What, you mean those two years where you stabbed us in the back and tried to stop us bringing back the adults?"

The atmosphere in the dining room became tense from his outburst, everyone staring at him in disbelief.

Tears pricked to Holly's eyes. "Thanks, Sadiq. Really, thanks." She got up from her seat, taking Kimmy and storming off to her bedroom.

Serena got up to chase after her friend. "You're a prick, you know that?" She spat at him before she left.

Ernesto was shooting daggers at his mate. "What's gotten into you?"

"I don't know." Sadiq put his head in his hands, running his fingers through his hair in frustration. "It was uncalled for, I know-"

"-Yea, it was." Frankie interrupted.

"It's just, this whole situation. This isn't how I expected it to go. This isn't how it was meant to be."

Ernesto shook his head. "If you're going to lay into Holly, you'll have to lay into me and Reese too. Wasn't just Holly who turned her back on the Sparticles." He looked down sheepishly, remembering how he had double crossed his friends. "But we had our reasons. We really did think that the world was a better place then. When I was leader of the Resistance, all we wanted was to fight for the little man. To keep the peace. To give everyone a fair chance. To have everything we didn't have when the adults were here. It's all I still want. I don't want my little girl growing up in a world that thinks less of her just because her parents had her young, or because she's a girl, or because she might not be as smart as the next person. Everyone deserves to be equal."

He could see Kim smiling at him from her spot across the table. "Ernesto, that was beautiful. Holly and Kimmy are lucky to have you. I can see why she likes you."

He blushed a little, before taking a plate of food back to his room for Holly. She needed to eat - today was going to be a long day.