What's Your Name Darling?

Zero

                       It was cold. The moon light shone in through an opening of my curtain. My nerves were on hyper drive considering it was my birthday tomorrow. I've been like this for hours, my feelings keeping me awake. It wasn't just about my birthday, I met a girl the other day, she was the only person I talked to besides my family, since i moved to Washington State. She was the only thing close to a 'friend'  I invited to my party. I thought about this for another hour or so, figuring out what I was going to wear, what kind of cake my parents bought me. The usual. I had a loving family, my mom was the best. Every time she left me at the house, she would come back with a hot wheels car. This happened so often, it became a tradition. Her name was Karma, everyone thought her name was unusual but, I found it quite lovely. My dad on the other hand, I was completely attached to. He stayed home most nights when my mom had work. He taught me how to play video games. That was our tradition, usually Call of Duty or some lame superhero lego game. Another hour passed, it was now 2:46 A.M. August 27th, my birthday. 

                                                                                 *knock, knock*

                    The sound was vague, but then they knocked again. Who would be at the door this late? I heard sounds down the hall coming closer to my room, "...stupid ding dong ditchers... This late... teach a lesson to these punks." The voice was unmistakable, my dad was mumbling insults as he continued toward the front door. I got out of bed, curious of the commotion going on. I stood by my bedroom door, listening quietly . 

                    "What do you want, you told us you'd leave us alone." My father sounded serious, I never heard him act like that, never. "Where's the child Tony? This could go two ways and you of all people should know the outcome." an unfamiliar voice returned my dads serious tone. "Get your men and get out of my house. You can have my son over my dead body." 

                    The feeling in my stomach told me to run, to leave the house and never turn back, but I couldn't. I couldn't move, I was paralyzed, I needed to find out what was happening. The unfamiliar voice spoke again, "That can be arranged."  And that's when the feeling in my stomach got stronger. My conscious pulling me away from the door but my body refusing to move. A loud noise rang though the house. Tears were threatening my eyes, my ears ringing and I could hear more footsteps coming down the hall. 

                  "..what the.. TONY, YOU KILLED HIM, YO-.." My mom was screaming, the tone of her voice made me even more stuck to the spot than before. Another loud noise rang through the house, then another and another and another. "Overkill, Johnny boy." The voice said.

                  "Find the kid." Footsteps ran through the hall and stopped in front of my door. My heart skipped a beat, tears stained my cheek, but no noise would escape my throat. My door slowly opened and a man walked in. He was really big, he wore a purple t-shirt that looked two sizes too small, dark brown hair covered what I assumed to be dark brown eyes. His left ring finger had a silver band with a black stone engraved into it. The man looked at me and without hesitation, threw me over his shoulder. I kicked and screamed, begging him to let me go, begging him to take me to my parents. I regretted that last part. We walked towards the front door, and I lifted my head up, just enough to see my parents. First, it was my dad. There was a hole in his head, and he wasn't moving. His eyes were open staring dead at the ceiling. I kicked harder, I screamed louder, and then i saw mom. At least, I think it was her. Holes covered the face making it unrecognizable, the blood on her white nightgown made it look like it was originally red. I stopped moving, the hope I had to get away from this man vanished. As soon as we walked through the front door, the man put me down. I stared at the wooden steps leading to my house, trying to put the pieces of what just happened together. A small figure walked up to me, she looked to be around 16. That's when I realized who she was the girl I met the other day.

                    "A-Alex?" She looked at me, sorrow filling her eyes. She kept mouthing the words 'I'm sorry', I didn't know what she was apologizing for, and then it hit me. Literally, a blunt object hit me in the back of the head and everything turned black.

                   "Zero, Hey! Snap out of it." I woke up to my bunk mate Luke pulling the covers off of my bed. "Fuck. You." I said, with as much venom as I could. It was too early, 5 a.m. a day before my birthday. I was turning 19. People knew not to bother me around this time because I tended to get rather violent and moody. 

                  "Woah. Didn't mean to strike a nerve. Anyway, Aaron wants to see you. Something about an important meeting mission quest thing." Luke picked up my comforter and stared folding it. Savannah was pretty strict. We had a curfew at 8 p.m. unless you had midnight training with Tanner, our weapons specialist and sports med expert, he was a night owl, and never went to bed till at least 2 a.m. We also had to keep our bunkers clean, which meant, blankets folded, clothes washed and put away, and absolutely no clutter. I learned that the hard way, when I first got here. They let me have some things from my parents and without thinking I put them all on a table. I fell asleep and when I woke up, they were gone. Classes here, were 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Breakfast was at 6 a.m., dinner was at 730 p.m. and lunch was not needed. The classes consisted of Stalking, Fighting, Weapon Intel, Armor Intel, Physical Endurance, Instinct, and Intelligence, which was basically all your 'normal classes' like Math, Science, English etc. mixed into one. On your birthday, you take a series of pass or fail test to determine whether you're ready to do the big bad head of Savannah, Aaron, favors or 'missions'. Which, I am guessing, is why he is asking for me. I got out of bed and started fluffing my pillow when Luke grabbed my wrist, "Leave. I got this. Go get em' Tiger." Even though this was the worst place you could be, Luke somehow kept things bearable. He was the only one I confided in since I got here. I dropped the pillow back on the bed and left the bunker. The whole compound was underground, so usually our meals come with a ton of vitamin D and other supplements. When we did get to go outside it was like heaven against our skin. I walked down at least ten corridors and long twisty halls until I reached a large set of doors marked 'A' on both sides. Hesitantly, I pushed open the doors, and sitting there behind a desk was Aaron. "Goodmorning sir. You asked for my presence." I bowed my head sightly, then walked in and closed the doors behind me. 

                  "Zero! I have a mission for you." The unfamiliar voice in my nightmare matching Aarons. "I haven't taken the test yet sir. Tomorrow, I will be determined for field jobs." The seriousness lacing my tone  familiar to my fathers. "I make the rules boy. You have a mission and you will complete it or Johnny will take care of you." Johnny was Aarons second in command, the most violent person to ever live in Savannah, and happened to be our executioner. "Yes sir. I humbly accept your request, seeing as I do not have a choice." I tried to stay calm talking to Aaron, because the punishment would be brutal if I lashed out. 

                    "Glad we have come to an agreement. Anyway, my daughter is missing. As you know, Alex was always a shady girl. I shouldn't have trusted her the way I did." His face looked more and more disgusting as he talked, "I want you to hunt her down. When you catch her cut off a few of her fingers or her tongue, doesn't matter, just give her a punishment. I sent a group to find her but all they found was her relative Timmy. Unfortunately, when we cut off his hand, he bled out and died on his way to the compound. So we left an empty threat. We believe she doesn't know, tell her he's alive until you're sure she can't escape. Your mission Zero, is to get Alex back to Savannah by any means necessary. Use your gift, you're special. Oh! And one more thing, I am allowing you to choose three people, experienced or not, to go with you. Alex was last seen in Washington State, somewhere in Seattle. Good luck, you are dismissed." 

                   Any three people, huh? So, say if me and those three people happened to be rebellious against Savannah.. "Thank you sir."