The Hope Of Humanity (Discontinued)

Chapter 6: Blackmailed

Luckily, I was only out for a few seconds after passing out the second time, opposed to the ten days before. When I awoke, Sam was standing over me with a disgruntled expression.

"I think you might be less hardcore than I thought." He says, leaning back. "Get up. I havent asked you all my questions yet. I want your entire story, from the beginning of the end to now."

So I told him. I told him about waking up, going to the store, wrecking and then getting pushed off into the river, my seatbelt problem, and the explosion. I told him about waking up, the guy with the camera face, and how I met Petro.

After I finished, Sam leaned back against his desk. "Mm. Now, AJ, tell me, do you love your brother?"

I furrow my eyebrows. "Of course. Why wouldn't I?"

Suddenly Petro hands Sam a handgun, and he points that gun at my brother's head.

Quicker than a blink of an eye, I am up and pointing my cyborg gun hand at him. "Don't." I say lowly, fear overtaking my voice a bit.

Sam doesn't blink an eye. "You shoot me, you and your brother die. You refuse to work for me, you and your brother die. You work for me, he lives. Got it? Now put your arm down, before I decide whether or not to figure out if there is something in your brain I can use to control you into working for me."

My eyes were wide with fear, and I'm sure I was pale too. I lower my arm. "I-I'll work for you. Just don't hurt him." I feel myself getting woozy again, and I sway a bit, my vision becoming blurry.

"Petro, has she eaten since she passed out the first time?"

"I managed to get water down her throat, but other than the few times I could do that, no."

"Well then, we know why she's fainting all the time. She probably hasn't eaten good food for a couple hundred years. Take her to the mess hall."

Petro steadies me and walks me out the door. He closes the door behind us, leaving Issac alone with Sam.

The mess hall was a large room full with people, mostly men. I noticed a couple ghouls, but they were talking with some other people, so I assumed they were sane and actually acted like humans, unlike the monsters from earlier. Still, they weren't the nicest to look at.

Petro sits me down and then sets some things in front of me. I recognize bean and bacon soup, bread, and water.

I didn't realize how hungry I was until I had eaten the first spoonful. I scarfed it down like an animal, and ignored the looks some people around were giving me. Soon enough, I had finished, and I was still hungry.

I looked at Petro. "Where do we go now?" I didn't want to sound ungrateful. Even though they were probably all murderers and they had blackmailed me into working for them, I was grateful. Even though they kept him in a cell, Issac was alive and looked well fed. They gave me food and apparently cleaned me and gave me better clothes as well.

Petro lifts an eyebrow. "You aren't still hungry?"

I blush. "Well, I am, but I didn't want to sound ungrateful."

Petro laughs, leaning onto the table for support. "Oh, gosh, you're something, aren't you? Afraid of simply asking for some more food, much less killing an insane ghoul. Goodness, you talk as if you're still in the 22nd century instead of the Fallout."

I frown and look down. Petro puts his hand on my shoulder.

"I don't know, but maybe that's a good thing. It could get you killed but it could also give you respect. I admire you, and I've killed hundreds of people. Who's to say other people won't."

I suddenly don't want to be touched by him anymore. Panic seizes me again. He's kill hundreds? How kind has he trained to be a killer? How long has he been a killer? Will he kill me if I mess up on the job? The blood of many is on his hands, and probably on the hands of everyone in this room.

I stand up quickly and take a scan of the room. Everyone is looking at me. Their eyes are hard, cold, dull. They're all murderers, all of them. They've all killed another human being. That isn't okay. Every human life has a purpose and a story, and destroying that with your own hands is an unacceptable sin.

I back up and run into someone. I take a short intake of breath and stumble forward, turning back to see who it was.

He looked like he was seven feet tall, and he was way muscular. He had blood stains on his clothes, and he had several weapons on him. My eyes grew even wider when I saw the assortment of bones and teeth he wore on his necklace.

"What's with the cyborg girl, Petro? What is Sam planning with her. We all know what the sign in her eye means." His voice was deep and gruff, much different than Petro's youthful voice.

"If you have concerns, take it out with Sam himself. I'm sure he'll explain it as easily as a bullet to the head." Petro says this as a threat. Obviously taking their problems up with Sam was an immediate death penalty. Now that I thought about it, Sam was the tyrant of a group of murderers. He must be very dangerous.

Petro takes my bangs out of the ponytail. I flinch. Then he leads me out by the arm and brings me to a storage room.

"Pickup a backpack, some provisions, and some weapons and ammo. We won't be back for a while, so pack for a long trip.

A/N: shorter chapter than normal. Sorry.

Question time: what do you think the sign in AJ's eye means?