One to Won

Chapter 1: Rescue

Drifting through the air in the balloon alone, cold, hungry, and thirsty. Clinging on to her last bottle of water and can of beans, she curls up as she tries to keep herself warm, constantly looking at the gun in the distance that she used to end Kiln's life. Mei was traumatized because she watched every single one of her companions die, and now she's alone. She had been up in the air for at least a week now, struggling to keep her food and water supply up. This gave Mei a chance to look back at her life. Something needed to change. "I have to change..." Day by day, she hardens herself, almost unrecognizable from her in the beginning. The frail, innocent, and soft girl was no more. Only a cold, depressed, and merciless person, ready to face anything in her path. The cold breeze blows through the air while thunder and lightning can be seen and heard. As her last bite of food disappears and the last drop of water empties, she is left with nothing but herself, a gun, and a few bullets. "I'm not dying in a balloon." She loads one round and fires it to a random side, upwards. The bang echoes through the air, the night wind blows at her hair. She stares in the distance as the landscape slowly gets clearer. Although she isn't letting herself, she is still the cheerful and playful girl inside, crying to get out. All she can do is wait until she gets rescued or the fire in the balloon goes out. She spent two weeks sitting, crying, and looking for signs of any aircraft or flares, but still nothing. On a cloudy, dark morning, a hook pierces through the balloon's floor, startling Mei. She feels the balloon slowly descending as she grabs the gun, aiming it at the balloon's entrance door. She feels the balloon's change of pace as it's forced to descend, though it wasn't too forced as it already lost much of its lift from how long it's been in the air. As the balloon descends, more hooks start penetrating the balloon's basket, grabbing a better hold of it. Mei is filled with a mix of bravery, curiosity, and fear. As the balloon gets closer to the ground, shouting and talking of people can be heard while also hearing one loud voice repeating, "Steady! Steady! Reel it in!" At first, she thought of jumping and running away, but quickly changed the idea and stayed with keeping the gun aimed. Finger on the trigger, eyes on the sights, she was ready to fire if they do.

As the balloon hits the ground, she takes a deep breath as the people talk among themselves, some whispering, and some shouting. As they open the entrance to the balloon, Mei holds the gun up, loading a round, making sure her warning is heard. "Everybody, back off! She's armed!" A loud, male voice is heard, getting everyone back. They understand that she's frightened, but they are also unsure about the blood stains all around the balloon's basket. "Hey there... Are you hungry? We have food." The man slowly approaches her calmly, but she isn't ready to trust them just yet, so she keeps her aim at him. He slowly backs out again. "Everyone, please keep quiet. Someone fetch me some pieces of bread, please?" In just a minute, a bowl of bread is presented to her. Still, she is hesitant to trust them. No matter how much this guy tries to nudge the bread closer to her, it only made her more upset. Giving up, he slowly backs off. "Sir, we must get her to talk to us somehow. She might be from that group that contacted us several weeks ago." "I know, but she is clearly scared and had to do things she doesn't want to. Give her some space and she'll learn to trust us eventually." "Right, I'll inform the commander. Please, do everything you can. She may hold valuable intel." As the two men talk to each other, a woman, dressed simply in a blue shirt and long pants, hair is well tied in a ponytail, and her face as sweet as ever, approaches her. "Hey there little one. You've been through a long journey, I can tell. You're safe with us now." Still hesitant, Mei keeps her aim and doesn't move from her place. "Look! We even got food. I promise, it's not going to kill you." She breaks a small piece off and eats it. "See? All safe. You give a try." She backs off in a safe distance, hoping Mei would follow.

Mei slowly approaches the bowl but keeping her aim up. Grabbing a piece of bread, she eats it, slowly lowering her aim. "That's it, good right?" Without saying a word, Mei starts eating quickly, having not eaten for a while now. "My name is Aura. What's yours?" She puts a perfect smile on her face. It's not too aggressive, not too fake. "M-Mei2026" "That's a nice name... Do you have anyone with you?" "N-no..." "Nobody was with you?" "Not anymore..." "I see..." Silence fills the gap between them, but she slowly kept approaching her without startling her. Aura slowly puts her hand on Mei's head. Shocked, Mei flinches at the feeling, but lets her do it while she eats. Though, the sensation reminded her of her brother, making her come to tears slowly. Aura looks at Mei, concerned about her sudden crying, understanding that she must've been through a lot in the past, which she did. "Did you lose someone you love on the way here?" Mei wants to talk about it so she can express herself, but she didn't want to at the same time. "You can talk to us. We rescued you because we want to help." "Five of them. Dead. Gone..." Mei finally speaks but snuffled in her words. "I want them back... I was too weak..." Mei shivers as a cold breeze rush on her skin. "Let's get you some warm clothes, alright? Maybe a shower too?" Mei hesitates, but then nods, slowly standing up. Aura takes her hand and guides her through the base they were in. The base is filled with military vehicles, people, soldiers, weapons, aquaponics and farms, tents, houses, crates, and so much more. It wasn't the biggest base she'd seen, but it's an impressive sight, nonetheless. Aura tried her best to help Mei, but Mei didn't need much help with her own problems. She can shower and pick new clothes for herself since her old ones were torn up and almost falling apart. Mei puts on some dark military clothes that were available for her size, then ends up sitting with Aura with a cup of hot chocolate in her hand.

"So, tell me if you'd like, where'd you come from? What happened out there?" "Echolysis City. My brother and four friends lived together." "What made you flee all the way here?" "It was too dangerous to stay in the city. We blew up the reactor for good, faced several mean people, fought dangerous infected Zombies, lost friends..." "Could you... Tell me what happened?" "Well... The first loss was when a friend got infected... My brother was forced to pull the trigger... The second loss was by one of us, but we didn't know until the time we reached the balloon. My brother and friend were killed by her... I had to kill her myself." Immersed in the story, Aura listens carefully to process and understand Mei. "Because you thought your strength was little, having more strength would change the outcome?" Mei nodded, a little relieved Aura understood her, sipping some hot chocolate. "You've gone a long way, experienced so many things... Must be tough on you for your age." "Apparently, not tough enough." Mei finishes the hot chocolate, slamming the cup on a table nearby. "I'm not allowing any more losses." Surprised, Aura looks at Mei with a curious smile. "What do you mean by that?" "I'll lend my help with your community, but my safety and growth must be guaranteed if you want me to help keep this place safe." "How about we visit the commander?" "The commander?" "Don't worry, he has a big title, but he's just a big joker. He loves meeting new people, so get used to his active nature." "Huh... I used to be like that..."

As they walk, Mei grabs a sniper from a nearby crate that was being carried by a few people. "I need this, thanks." Mei starts speaking in a stern voice. "Hey, what the-" "Don't mind her, heh." As they got further from people, Aura is of course concerned. "You know that's not a toy, right? You can't just grab something-" "Something that is suited for around two thousand meters?" "I- uh..." Aura is speechless but smiles anyways. "Well, I guess you know what you're doing. Just keep that barrel away from people, alright?" "Safety feature exists for a reason, you know?" "I'm no gun expert, I've never held one in my life!" "Then just hold one, aim, and shoot. It's not that hard." "No, it's no- you know what, I'll just call you the master and consider this as my loss." They walk towards a small tower with antennas, satellite dishes, and bulletin boards everywhere. As they walk in, there sits a well-dressed, big person, laughing in his chair with another man. "Here he is, the commander. I told you he's a laughing machine." The so-called 'commander' turns to face Mei and Aura, smiling warmly. He has a mustache and a beard well-trimmed. "If it isn't my dear Aura! Looks like our new guest is now awake?" "Not a guest, I'm now a member." "Whoa, whoa, no need for haste! Please, take a seat!" "I mean it, I will offer my helping hand." "Anybody told you that you can really state business so casually? Only if we had more people that could do that here." "Commander, she's genuinely willing to help us. She has great skills in the range, has strength that we need, and survival skills must be good if she survived for so long! Her resourcefulness is a definite help!" The commander thinks for a bit, rubbing his beard while muttering to himself. "Strong spirit, high chance of survivability, and resourceful... Hmm..." He thinks for a hard minute, before finally slamming his hand on his table. "Got it! You will be in our A-Class ranks of scouters!" "A-Class?!" People from inside and outside the tower exclaim in surprise.

"A-Class I say! A-Class!" Mei looks around in confusion, not knowing what the ranks are for. "Excuse me?" "Do you have any idea how hard it is to get into just the C-Class?! Only the best of the best gets to be in an A-Class, let alone a scout! Those people are the coolest, always going out, looking for actions and resources! It's everybody's dream!" "Aura, enough now. *Ahem* As I said, you'll be in our A-Class scouting. I already set the mission for three groups, and you can go to group one. They should be in the blue corner, so find the blue area in the base. Everything is color-coded, so it should be easy for you to pick up!" "Thank you, sir. I won't disappoint." "Young lady, there are no disappointments in my base! If there are weak ducks out there, I will take them and make them as strong as rocks!" "Quite the vision you have, sir." "I'm practicing my quotes, bear with me here." Mei snorts, giggling for the first time ever since she arrived. Aura escorts Mei to the blue corner where several soldiers of men and women prepares to leave. "Be careful out there, it's dangerous." "I know, that's why I'm going out there to put out that dangerous thing." "Your quotes are just so much better than commander's... Don't tell him I said that alright?" Mei chuckles as she leaves for the blue corner, waving at people that don't look very happy to see her.