Ember (ATF)

Chapter one: The new man

NOT EDITED!

ENJOY!

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I walked down the street, holding onto my sleeves of my grey pullover, making sure I didn't run into trouble. Sand whisked around the ground, dancing away every time I stepped onto the old tar that resembled a street.

There was shouting as I moved closer and closer into the town. Children came rushing out, screaming. CDF came chasing after them and I started to doubt setting foot back into that town. Although, I could easily move since my home was a bunch of crates just stacked onto of each other.

The burly men grasped hold of the children, bringing them back into town. one of them grabbed hold of my arm, throwing me into a line. "It's time for Vaccinations!" I man called out to all the children in the line. Wait. Vaccinations?! That meant needles. I thought, cringing. Needles were the worst invention ever created on this face of the planet.

The boy a few spaces in front of me gave me a hopeful look, then turning back around. A low mumble could be heard from the CDF man, and the words were: "Hold out your hand, boy." There could be a snapping sound and a medium-loud scream. The boy ran with a bleeding hand out of the town. While the other children were getting the vaccines, a man came up to me.

He started up a conversation with me, about...needles. "What's your name?" I hesitated before answering. "Ember Anderson." I smiled at him kindly. The man called up another child. There was another loud scream and I cringed at the noise. "Ah, don't like needles, now do you?" He game me a slight smile. I nodded. "Neither do I." He said to me. "Hey, I'll give you a reward if you don't flip out on this, okay?" I nodded again.

I was called up, and I bit my lip. The man smirked as he took out the needle, squirting some of the fluid into the air, just to see it it worked. "Give me your hand, girl." He smirked as I held it out to him. "Ready?" The man said. I nodded slowly. He put the needle onto my skin, pushing down. I let out a scream of pain and yanked my hand away. This left my arm with a ruptured main blood vessel and a needle sticking out. The cut ran all along my fore-arm from my wrist to the elbow.

I yelped, crying. The kind man came up to me, looking at me with concern. I yanked out the needle, wanting to get it over with. I let out another cry and held my arm. The man told me to follow him to his home, where he could fix me up. I did so, following him. When we got to the door, he opened it and let me in. It was a nice cozy home- like any of the others, only it was connected to the bar. a small crib lay to the corner of the room and there was a cabinet, bed, bookshelf and lockers scattered among it as well.

I was left to stand next to the crib while the man got out his medical supplies. He turned around, kneeling to my height. He cleaned and bandaged the wound, leaving me painless. "Hey, Ember. We gotta do the shot again, but I'll do it. okay?" I nodded slowly as he got out the needle, he pressed it into my skin, on the other arm and injected the fluid. I gave out a small squeal and he took out the needle. "Great job, Ember!" He smiled at me. "Now, for that reward of yours..."

He dug around in his pocket until he came out with a little bar of chocolate. This was very, very rare. I gasped as he handed it to me. "My wife gave it to me, but you can have it." I looked at it in surprise. I handed it back to him. "Your wife gave it to you, so it's yours." He smiled at me. "Here-" he broke it in half, handing one piece to me. "Thanks." I said. "Now we both get a half." He remarked. "Ember, you are one special girl," He turned to the crib. There was a squeak that came out of it. He turned, lifting up the baby.

"Ember, this is my daughter Natalia. She has to take medicine every day, you know. An inhaler and a needle." I flinched when he said needle because I don't think anyone liked needles. "Now, I need to give her her medicine, you don't have to watch if you don't want to." I turned, covering my eyes. I could hear small inhaling sounds, probably from the inhaler, and then there was a squeak that came from the baby. She had gotten the shot. "Now, Ember. you have to understand that Natalia has to take this everyday." I looked at him, a bit confused. "Why?" He hesitated. "Because, if she doesn't, she could die."

I looked down at the ground. "Oh, I'm sorry..." I sighed slightly, feeling sorry because I, who was holder couldn't handle something that simple, while this newborn was suffering the pain ever single day.

"Hey." The man looked down at me. "Just come talk to me if you need anything, I'll be here." I nodded, giving a half-hearted smile, heading outside.

I turned my head, looking forward. I wasn't paying very much attention, because I rammed into a girl, a bit older than me, falling over.