Screams pierced his eardrums like needles. Sobs. The clatter of machinegun fire. Thick, black smoke drifted into a graying sky. Soldiers pushed through the crowd in an effort to reach the outer wall.
Hector caught a glimpse of his mother, but someone jostled him and he lost sight of her. Tears clouded his eyes. He blinked. There. Making her way toward him. His father was at her side, shielding her. He rose to his feet and wiped the tears away.
BBBBGGGG!!!
An explosion ripped a hole in the outer wall. Hector fell back. Scrambling to his feet, he saw XLS soldiers storming into the compound, their black uniforms starkly contrasted against sand-colored walls. Hector’s head snapped back and forth. He needed his family.
Hector spotted his father, Javier, pulling Hector’s mother and sister off the ground. Hector’s mother, Maria, held her daughter close. Hector cried out. Screamed until his throat burned, but the sounds of battle squashed his weak pleas.
Javier squared his shoulders and faced off against the incoming forces. He held up his hand and stepped in front of his wife and daughter. Hector watched as orange flames erupted from the XLS soldiers’ guns. Javier stumbled. Maria screamed, but her cries were cut short. The soldiers engulfed them. Tears streamed from Hector’s eyes. He ran toward his family. A pair of strong hands swept him off his feet. A Union soldier carried Hector off under his arm.
Hector watched as his baby sister, Alexandra, was torn from her mother’s outstretched arms.
* * *
Hector threw the covers off. His eyes darted around the Subdivision’s barracks.
“She’s alive,” he whispered. “I have to do something.”
