Defiance.

Start (Rewritten)

Fear.

I had a stone in my stomach.
A heavy stone weighing me down with nerves.
The wind was cool, blowing through my loose blonde locks, making it whip gently against my pale skin.
Looking at my nail bed, I looked for a good nail to bite as I felt anxiety creep into my soul.
Bringing my chosen nail to my teeth, I gnawed at skin around my nails whilst I examined the surroundings around me.

This was the last place I wanted to be right now. In a thick, dense forest with nothing but trees, lakes for miles on end.

———

Times had changed in the last few decades, civilisation was changed, there were no governments to rule, no police force that served to protect. It was all corrupt nowadays.
One way to get through life was to stay alert and learn self defence.

Gun were freely sold on the black market, females sold for prostitution, entertainment, money, some forced to be gang members. They were lower than animals. Third class citizens.

Drugs sold freely in the streets as if it were the daily newspaper.
The streets. Once thriving with families, pets, businesses, trade, were now desolate and the world of men took over.
Dominating over the females.

Then on top of this, a virus had broken out six years ago due to air pollution, striking the female population, the elderly and the long term sick.
It attacked the lungs, killing you very slowly.
The new age Black Death.

How was I here in this current situation you ask?
Well, I guess... it was bad luck, real bad timing too. My closest friend Marcy and I were caught together.
Till now we had stuck together after losing our families.
We had been together for the past three years, making it on the streets, keeping ourselves out of trouble.
But the world just kept getting more dangerous.
The men formed gangs and each owned a sector of the city.
It was a modern day war over territory, weapons and power.

Hours previous, we were in the old city mall, searching through what was left of the ransacked shops for any supplies. Our base, our home or whatever you'd want to call it wasn't too far. Only problem was we'd crossed into the territory of Eli.
A renowned man of danger. Death followed him. Ruthless.

They had been in the mall themselves, their eyes had spotted us before we had them.
We had tried to make a run but little old me had to trip over and crashed forward.
I couldn't run far with a limp, plus, they had guns. No one could outrun a bullet.
We both froze at the sound of the click, knowing that sound too well.
Our breathing so fast, it was heavy as we dared not look at them behind us. I could see two shadows on the floor giving me the number of men behind us. Meaning two guns.
"Don't move an inch Indie" she breathed over in a whisper.

"Well, well. Eli is going to be delighted too see you two" spoke a deep rugged voice.

                                        ———

Forward time, from us being forced into a car and walked deep into the forest too a campsite.
We sat here and awaited our fate.

Late was the hour now, my nail bed starting to bleed from where I had chewed so much. They had set up a camp in the woods. I had no idea why and I didn't want to know why.

They sat around a low crackling fire, the flames creating shadows on their faces as I studied them. There were four of them altogether, I hadn't caught there names, I just listened into them as they spoke -

"How much longer do we have too wait?"

"I don't know. Eli should be back soon. The warehouse was only a few miles up north."