Trained for Sin - Ellie Williams

Prologue

PROLOGUE

Juliette's POV:

Everything hurt, my skin burned, and my sore muscles didn't do me any good. I fought against the aching of my body, lifting myself off the ground and onto my knees. I didn't mean for this to happen; I looked around at the flames surrounding me. Trees were on fire, screams of innocent people who had nothing to do with this, and countless bodies covering the ground like blankets.

I tried my hardest to prevent this from being possible, but I could do only so much.

I stand on my aching feet, my head spinning, and my sight fading. My walking turned into running until I didn't know where I was anymore. Trees surrounded me, blocking the sunlight. I felt like I was running for days until eventually, my body collapsed.

I felt like I couldn't breathe, like there was a hand around my neck, squeezing until I finally gave up and collapsed. There was nothing left for me anymore.

My shaky hands reached for my bow, holding it close to me as I slumped against a tree, staring at nothing in particular. It would only be a matter of time before the infected found me and tore me apart.

I grab my arrow, feeling the sharp point with the tip of my finger. I didn't want it to end this way. I was alone. My skin started to bruise, and I could feel the blisters on my feet, ready to burst.

I take a deep breath, closing my eyes as I hold the arrow to my neck. At this point I was useless. I couldn't survive out here by myself. Most people didn't even survive when they were with other people.

I was ready to give up, to leave this messed up earth behind. But I snap my eyes open when I hear the rustling of leaves. I didn't think infected came out here. I look around, trying to find the source of the noise. Maybe I was just overthinking things. I sigh as I lean my head back, keeping the arrow pinned at my neck.

Fuck. Was I really about to kill myself? There was more out there that I hadn't seen, more that I wanted to explore. But I would rather die from my own hands than be eaten alive by infected.

I feel the arrow pierce my skin, shoving every thought out of my head as I go to plunge the arrow into my neck. I felt like I could hear voices, screaming at me to stop, but I forced them out of my head, but they wouldn't leave.

"Hey!" A muffled voice says somewhere inside my brain.

"Don't do it!" Another says.

But they didn't sound like me, they sounded different. Like somewhere inside my brain someone was there, screaming at me to stop. But I didn't, I couldn't.

A sudden pain somewhere in my shoulder caused me to snap my eyes open, unfamiliar faces greeted me. Did they find me? I thought I outran them. I didn't know how far I went but I was sure I was far from them. But... I don't recognize these.

One of them squeezed my shoulder tightly, explaining the sudden shock of pain. The other one stood behind the one in front of me, staring at me with a look of, I don't know, sadness?

"I'm Tommy, this is my brother Joel..." The one in front of me said as he slowly took the arrow from my hand, and I just... let him. I was too worn out to fight it. He had a beard with some grey hairs poking out, same as the other one.