Alienation by Jon S. Lewis

He figured that might make him one of them, and if that happened then he would become the Betrayer.”
    â€œThat’s ridiculous.”
    Grandpa shrugged. “He raided a medical supply tent, and before we knew it, a dozen of us were rolling up our sleeves to inject ourselves with the blood.”
    â€œYou did it too?”
    â€œWe were desperate,” Grandpa said. “But it didn’t work. In fact, a couple of the men died, and the rest of us ended up in bed for a month. It wasn’t too long before the U.S. Army assigned some of their top scientists to what they called Project Armageddon, a top secret program where they injected a few thousand GIs with a kind of serum that had alien DNA.”
    â€œAnd when that didn’t work, they started shooting up a bunch a kids? How many died thanks to your little stunt?”
    â€œMore than I care to admit.” Grandpa looked up at Colt, his lip quivering. “You don’t know how much it hurt your folks to put you through those tests.”
    â€œIt didn’t bother them enough to stop it from happening,” Colt said. “Why didn’t you tell me? I mean, how could you keep a secret like that for all these years? Don’t you think I had the right to know?”
    â€œIt wasn’t my place. Your mom didn’t want us to mention it until there was no longer a choice.” Grandpa sighed. “Look, Colt, you may not want to hear this, but a lot of people are placing their hope in you.”
    â€œWhy? Because they think I’m the one in the prophecy? Are you kidding me?”
    â€œThey’ve tested thousands of people over the years, and you’re the only one who didn’t reject the serum,” Grandpa said, his voice heavy with emotion. “Like it or not, you’re the one . . . the Betrayer.”
    â€œYeah, right. That doesn’t make me a hero, it makes me a freak!” He punched the refrigerator and stormed out the back door.

:: CHAPTER 12 ::
    W ith nowhere to go, Colt ended up walking to Danielle’s house. It was only a couple of blocks away, and her mother insisted on warming up a leftover chile relleno and some rice.
    â€œAre you going to tell me what you saw in your memories today, or do I have to guess?” Danielle asked once they were alone in the backyard. “It must have been bad, because I’ve never seen you like this—not even after what happened with your parents. I seriously thought we were going to have to call a suicide prevention hotline.”
    â€œI’m going to ask you something, and I want you to be honest with me,” Colt said.
    â€œI’ll try.”
    â€œI’m serious,” Colt said. “You’re the only person who tells me the truth anymore.”
    â€œWhat’s going on?”
    â€œDo you think I’m insane?”
    Danielle started to laugh, but she stopped when she saw that he was serious. “You’re not joking, are you?”
    â€œYou know something? I wouldn’t be surprised if all of this came from my imagination—you know, what happened to my parents . . . the aliens . . . all of it. I could be lying in some mental ward in a medically induced coma right now while my subconscious makes everything up.”
    â€œOkay, now you really are scaring me.”
    Colt sat down on a patio chair near the pool and told her about the memories he had seen—how the government was running an experimental program on little kids, and how he was pretty sure some of them had died thanks to the injections.
    â€œDo you want to know the crazy part?” he asked. “I’m the only one whose body didn’t reject the serum. They think it means I’m some kind of chosen one. It just makes me a freak.”
    Danielle stood there staring at him.
    â€œSay something already.”
    â€œLike what?”
    â€œI don’t know,” he said, shaking his head. “Just tell me what you’re