The Fear Within Us

Chapter 2

Lucas

    Aching. I didn’t want to move. It took me a minute to actually think. I opened my eyes and saw a window, a soldier… the soldier that striped me from my family. He had a badge that said Will. So his name is Will. I’m in the van. I looked down, relieved to see my amulet.
Jasmine. She must have been loaded on the other van. What was that noise? It sounded like gunshots…
“All men be cautious, there is a rebel uprising in the northern part of the city. All men not called to battle are advised to stay out of the area” his radio squealed. Rebels? there were no rebels in my neighborhood.
“Where am I?”. Bewildered, he turned his head in surprise. “Why do you care? You’re gonna be dead by sunrise. It could be worse. You could be like that rebel Connor. There gonna torture him until he begs us to kill him. Maybe we will catch his girlfriend and use her against him. We will make him wish he was never born”.
Who was Connor? Probably some outlaw. "Where are you taking me". "A place much like hell. They will test things on you that will make you wanna throw up your intestines. They will make your head explode from a press of a button. Hell. That's where you're going." Just as he finished his sentence the truck slowed to a stop outside a large
The sound of explosions rang in my ears. There was a shot and the guard went down. What was happening , this couldn't be happening could it. The door was busted down and there was the rebels standing there. Waiting for me to come out, so out I came into the bright sun and we ran for our lives.
As I was running I noticed a siren going. We bolted past soldiers and buildings. As we were running, a few rebels branched off and took out soldiers. My legs began to feel numb and my side hurt. It was a few seconds later when I realized where we were going. We were heading for a pickup truck by the main gate.
We were about halfway to the truck when a band of soldiers blocked our path. As soon as they saw us, they began firing. One ran up to me. I did a quick uppercut to his jaw and kicked him in the shin. But as soon as I started running he grabbed my leg and I face planted into the gravel. Pain spread through my face and my vision started to blur.
He got on top of me and socked me in the nose. He then pulled out a pocket knife and took a swing at my face. A deep gash was cut into my face as I picked up a nearby shovel took a crack at his head. He fell to the ground unconscious as me and the other rebels continued our sprint to the truck.
As we were entering the truck and heading out the gates, we were greeted by an array of fire. We were almost out of range when a bullet pierced my right shoulder. I cried in agony. I could literally feel my pulse. As I looked up, I was greeted by a teenager. He wore mostly camo with a white t-shirt sticking out and had a short buzz cut.  What struck me most was a scar running down the side of his face.
“Welcome” he spoke. “I am Connor, and this is my lieutenant Kaylin” he pointed towards the back of the truck where one of my saviors, a girl with a bo staff with knives taped to each end. She looked dangerous. I turned back around to see the rebel Connor. "Welcome to the 4th Regiment".

    We’d only been driving for a few minutes when we stopped outside an old walmart. Before we entered the store, they searched the truck and patted me down.
The inside was littered with tables and anything else they could find was used as barricades. As we walked past one of the barricades, more of the place was revealed. All the store shelves were arranged into rooms. Light spilled out of one of the rooms and drunken shouts could be heard.
We walked past dozens of soldiers. Here, there was no uniforms. there were men and women,in different clothes, different races, different sizes, and different opinions. At the front of the line, Conner was entering what looked like an old managers office. Inside was a control panel and multiple screens that were hooked up to cameras inside and outside the store.
I halted right before Conner, along with a few other people the rebels managed to free.
“I’m pretty sure you all are confused. So let me clear up a bit. I’m Connor, I’m commander of the rebel activity of the Denver area. My men rescued you from the horrible fates you would have had to face inside that building. You are weak. You are idiots. You are trash. But I’m gonna rip that all out of you. When I’m finished with you, you will be cold-hearted soldiers. My men say that you’re hopeless. But they were once like you. And in you, I see potential. Now talk amongst yourselves. Because you four, are gonna be together for a while”.
To my right was a tall, bulky boy who had a ski slope nose and blond hair. He also seemed a little scared. “Hi, I’m Alexander. That guy over there with the small black afro and wearing plaid is my moron friend Corey”. “Nice to meet you, I’m Lucas” I replied. I turned where a kid sat in the corner alone. He had black wavy hair and dark clothes. He wasn’t very active. He just sat there. “Who’s he? Do you know him?” asked Corey. “No idea.". "Ok listen up! This group of rebels are known as the 4th Regiment. There are 12 total. This is how it was back in the day. Welcome to the army. Dismissed!".
    

      “Rise and shine!”. Aching, I opened my eyes and looked at the clock. 6:00. “Get up sleepyheads. Time to get up!”. I rubbed my eyes as I sat up.
The sun was just rising as I walked across my room to get dressed. The other three kids were still asleep. They laid out a plain gray tee and a pair of cargo pants along with my Nikes. I winced in pain as the shirt touched my bullet wound. Wondering where my amulet was, I searched the room. I picked up my amulet as Connor walked into the room. “Okay, today is combat training. But later we will do target practice”.
Me and the other 3 boys walked in silence as we walked down the hallway to the gym. The rebels created a small hallway connecting the walmart and a school. They used shelves from the Walmart for the walls and ceiling.
“Okay, Lucas, you will fight Corey. Alexander, you will fight Steve.” said Connor. “Your name is Steve! What kind of name is that” said Corey. Steve quickly turned around and punched Alex. In the face. Everybody went, "OOOOOHHHHH". The look on Alex's face was priceless.
My fight was first. I anticipated the blow of the whistle. Just after the whistle was blown, I swung my right hand and punched him in the nose. He recoiled as blood poured out of his nose and took a wild swing. I ducked and uppercutted him in the chest. He fell to the ground in agony.  I waited for Kaylin to blow the whistle to end the fight. But the moment never came. Corey wrapped his legs around my foot and twisted. I fell to the ground in a split second. My head throbbed with pain as Corey hopped on top of my chest and slugged me a few times. I tried to get up but Corey had me pinned good. Before Corey could do any major damage to my body, Connor ripped the whistle from Kaylin and blew.
I lay there on the floor for a second to regain my strength. Connor walked over and extended his hand, but I refused it. It took me a sec to get up. My body ached all over. The throbbing pain of my bullet wound hurt more than usual. "What's wrong? We're you shot?" Asked Connor. "Yeah. I got shot in the shoulder" I replied. "You should get that looked at. You need to get that bullet removed before you get an infection".