Precedent

Chapter One

I throw the grenade at the line of R.A. C. O.'s. They begin to fire at me. I run as fast as I can, which is saying a lot. I'm a fast runner. That might not be enough this time. If the grenade explodes before I can get to shelter, I, along with the automatons, will be blasted to bits.

"Run Olivia! Run!" my fellow fighter, Ryan Jackson calls out to me. I'd give him a grateful smile, but that might get me killed. I can thank him later.

I'm almost there. I hear the ticking that the grenade makes before it explodes. I push myself.

Only a few feet. You can make it.

I dive behind the barricade just as everything behind me is engulfed in fire.

My comrades give me a minute to catch my breath before asking questions.

"You okay?" my friend, Sabrina Wolcott, asks. Sabrina is P-T (Purple Team) leader and the only African American on the team. She has black hair and hazel eyes, which are the shape of almonds.

I grin.

"Not a scratch, as usual," I brag.

"We'd better get back and tell Mission Leader it's done," Danny Emerson suggests, running his hands through his dark blonde hair. I nod.

On our way back, Sabrina catches me up on the schedule. Thinking obsessively about today's mission-blow up the battalion guarding the local grocery store-I zoned out of Mission Leader's orders.

"We've got training with A-M later," she tells me. Ryan, Danny, and I all groan.

"I get we're in a crap world," Ryan complains, "but why can't our side be more..."

"Friendly?" Sabrina asks.

"Yeah," he agrees. "I mean, Greycen's okay. He's a little gruff, but Mission Leader? A-M?

Mission Leader is the leader of the rebels (that's our side). My friends and I joke that she's exactly like the Originator, just fighting for the good side.

A-M is the twenty-seven year old trainer of the young fighters and intense enforcer of the rules. He might attractive if it weren't for the scar that runs from the edge of his forehead to the other end of his chin.

"We'd better get back to H.Q." I say. "If we're late, Mission Leader will have our heads." The others nod and we quicken our pace.

Glass and other rubble crunches beneath our boots as we march back to the headquarters of the R.A.O.F. (Rebellion Against Originator's Forces). I try not to look around at the decimated neighborhood. There had been a battle here a month ago, forcing everyone to flee. The battle itself was worthless; the Originator and his R.A.C.O.'s won. They had been controlling the area and R.A.O.F. had been trying to liberate the civilians in the area.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Sabrina asks quietly. I fake a smile.

"Perfect." I'm the youngest fighter in R.A.O.F. The only reason I'm allowed to fight is because I'm really good. A-M hadn't wanted to let me get in the fight, but Mission Leader herself gave me permission.

I was born a few months after the war started. My parents are probably dead (I've never met them). R.A.O.F. took me in per my parents' request. The only thing I know about my past is my first and last names.

For fifteen years, R.A.O.F. has fought the power hungry inventor calling himself the Originator. No one knows his motive, not even Franklin Greycen, R.A.O.F.'s resident genius.

"Olivia, head's up," Danny says suddenly. I take my eyes off my feet and see we're at the I.D. gate. We queue up for our retina's to be scanned.

Sabrina goes first. A bright light flashes in her eyes. She doesn't blink. The light turns purple and the machine identifies her.