Precious Cargo

chapter 1

     "Stop it, Ellie," I said as she pretended to shoot a busted gun she picked up.

     She groaned and rolled her eyes "You're no fun." with that, she dropped the gun. A loud clunk hit the floor.

     I continued rummaging through the broken-down storage boxes and crates. It had been twenty years since the outbreak. I grew to understand our world since I was born during it. The old school buildings with no windows, the rusty gyms they made us run laps around every day, the shitty beds we had to sleep on.. Anyway, I was glad to get out of that hellhole. Unfortunately, Ellie Williams had the privilege of joining me.

     In grade ten, I escaped my dorm one night to explore the city and see if I can get my way over those damn walls. Flying over walls and jumping roofs throughout the city. I cornered an ally and was stopped by a stranger in a long sleeve with a weird symbol on it. It almost looked like a moth blasting off from the ground like a rocket. He approached me slowly but began to speak.

     "You alone out here kid?" He asked raspily.

     I hesitated on whether I should've ran or engaged in conversation with the creep.

     "Yes... I'm alone," I regretted saying that second part, as if telling him yes wasn't enough.
"I've been watching you. Jumping over the walls, sliding down the rusty polls... avoiding walkers," He said.
  I stood there. Frozen. Not sure what to say to the unknown figure. After a minute, he asked me to follow him. I knew it was stupid but I had nothing else to do and I'd rather be with an armed person in this fungi-infested cesspool. We approached a broken-down apartment building away from town.

     "Up here," The man said, walking up a set of rotted stairs. I continued to follow till we got to a door. Light gleaming underneath revealed that there were others inside.

     He gave a weird knock on the door, almost like a code knock, and the door slowly creaked open. A long, curly-haired woman crossed her arms and stared at the man.

     "Lukas, who the hell is this," The woman asked angrily.

     He pushed me forward "Saw her in the ally all alone, figured she could be fresh meat."

     The woman shook her head and rubbed her forehead.

     "She's a child!" She grunted.

     "I'm 15 years old you old wrench," I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms back at her.

     She scoffed, lowering her arms and grabbing a knife from her pocket. She stepped closer and raised the blade so it rested underneath my chin.

     "If you wanna be with us, you better respect your goddamn leader," She whispered.

     "Sorry, but I don't follow anyone's rules," I sneered back. She lowered the blade and stepped back again.

     "Well honey, don't you know who we are?" She asked.

     I furrowed my brows and shrugged my shoulders.

     She raised her right arm, revealing a tattoo of the same symbol I saw on the man's shirt.

     "Well, I'm Marlene.." She lowered her arm and put it out "...are the fireflies, and we fight those bastards up there" She pointed out of a nearby window to a steel building with guards standing out front.

     "Y/n," I shook her hand and stared at the overwhelming tyranny spilling out from that building.

FEDRA...

***

     And that is how I threw myself into becoming a firefly. For the next four years, I fought with the fireflies and continued to recruit anyone who seemed fit. I learned new skills and eventually became Marlene's right-hand man. I went on every supply run and every hunting trip with her and gained respect from others in the group.