Our World Of Stars And Fireflies

Introduction

Her green piercing eyes stared out of the musty cracked window, her clothes, a simple dark t shirt and ragged black leggings, were tattered and worn from many weeks wear. She and her clothes had been dragged through many rivers and muddy swamps, the water half washing her but muddying the clothes and her skin once again. Her pale skin was covered in scratches and bruises, mud trails streaked across her randomly where she had fallen. The pounding in her head and chest refused to stop, so she sat, slightly hunched. Her blood stained lips and chin held a firm grimace, her jaw locked, her eyes a venomous fury. 

Sadie had never been captured let alone had she ever been on a mission before. She sat, guns trained on her, waiting for her to move just an inch to give them a reason to shoot. Blood hungry eyes glared from underneath helmets and taunted her with ragged smiles. Shell craters in the road jostled and threw the truck, whilst silent passengers inside tried desperately to not smack into walls. Men confided amongst themselves and whispered things that were difficult to make out.
One lowly soldier sat across from Sadie. He kept glancing at her, like he was confused but intrigued by the small British girl. His smooth, slim American face was crusted with dirt but he didn't seem to care. He looked at her with interest and almost something friendly behind the hard veil of his steely blue eyes. Sadie looked into them, not letting go of this connection, the lock they had. His dark hair swept over his forehead, sometimes into his eyes, plastered down by sweat and pressed down by his helmet. His dishevelled look almost made Sadie feel bad for him. His uniform reminded her to not feel bad. 

She had brown hair, but more of a dark mahogany streaked with small lighter bits. Sadies face was small, as well as crusted with dirt. Any light was reflected by her pale skin that was dotted with cuts and bruises, dark purple ones, like the one that caressed her jawline. Her small body but quick flying movements had made her difficult to capture but somehow they managed to corner her. The new addition to her bruises had been a gift from one of the bigger, burlier soldiers, who caught her in the jaw with the butt of his rifle. Part of the inside of her cheek was bitten out and had bled a lot. Yet she had received no attention or care for the dark liquid oozing from her mouth. She had in fact been gagged by the men to shut her up. 

Sadie had been trained how to not be captured but now more than ever she needed escape.

The village she had been hiding in was small, and the people there had tried their best to hide her from the invading soldiers but had been unsuccessful. When they had found her she screamed at them. Cautiously, she he had stated how she had forced the people to hide her. She rose her voice at the soldier when she felt they weren't listening resulting in her being bludgeoned in the face. She screamed as many were threatened, spraying blood in front of her as she did so, receiving pitiful glances from the onlookers who had desperately tried to help her. The men left the dozen villagers alone, before hauling Sadie away to the truck that had been driving for a day or so to get to their destination. As she had been tossed in, she had watched one nod to another. The shrill screams of her helpers alerted Sadie of what they had done. In her agonsing attempt to do something she had been smacked backwards. She had been relentless until a needle was placed firmly in her neck, subduing her. She had woken up in the back of the truck, sore and hopeless. Her heart broken for all those innocent people. 
Slowly the truck came to a grinding halt, and the men shifted uneasily in their seats. The big solid doors at the back of the truck opened and the men began to trundle out. Sadie knew this was her chance. She followed them slowly, aiming to not be grabbed. These men liked to grab at her. She had had it many times in the truck, particularly when they had heaved into a pothole. Apparently nearly falling out of her seat equated to her trying to escape. 

Trying to be calm, Sadie glanced in different directions for an escape. It was difficult to see with all the men around her. She didn't want to lose the chance of being loose. She was just going to have to make a break for it. 

Weaselling her way through the crowd, carefully dodging men to not be grabbed, she managed to see an exit point where. If she was quick, she could get away. For a second she stood listening, her back turned to the men, then, without hesitation, she started running. Few gunshots followed her along, whizzing past her ears, one of them gently clipping her leg, leaving a callous trail across the side of her calf. The gunshots carried on briefly but shortly stopped after intense yelling. She felt it wasn't right. There had been mention of her being 'precious cargo', so it made no sense for them to just let her get away. She sensed something was off that they should just let her go. Her head twisted around to see if something had happened before hearing the screeching of tires in front of her. 

Sadie whipped her head back around only to feel a hand grab her shoulder close to her neck, partially choking her. The rough hands twisted her around as she struggled. Seeing an opportunity, Sadie contorted her neck and bit the man on the hand. Hard. With a short, sharp yelp he let go, flinging Sadie to the floor. With this open window, Sadie got up as fast as she could. Unfortunately for her, the soldier had recomposed himself too quickly. His hand shot out, hitting her harshly in the face. Before she could even fall over the soldier snatched her face and twisted it sharply to the right, pausing briefly before injecting something into the left side of the neck. Burning pain went down Sadie's side, she held her breath for a moment. Her vision resembled something of fog as she felt her senses numb. Before she was able to do anything, she collapsed, unconscious, on the floor. 

The blue eyed soldier from the truck stood over her and bent down to feel her pulse. She was fine, heart rate up a bit but fine. He stared at her, sadly and whispered, "You should've just done what you were told."