Rebel Born [FIRST DRAFT]

Chapter 12: A New Mission

It has been a month and I was finally let out of the hospital. Hugh was staying for another two weeks just to make sure that everything is okay. Vanessa wanted me to stay for another two weeks as well. Like that's happening. I've already been cooped up for way too long. Max and Kyle helped me convince Vanessa to let me leave the hospital. During the time Hugh and I were hospitalized, our rank dropped down to rank 10, but Mrs. Miller let us stay in our house in Sector 3 because of our circumstances.

"You what?" Vanessa asked, shock in her voice.

"I want to get my ears pierced." I repeated. Vanessa and I were currently walking through Sector 3's shopping district.

"Any particular reason?" Vanessa raised an eyebrow. I shook my head. I wanted to try it.

Vanessa hummed. "Well I suppose we can stop by to get your ears pierced after we're done with shopping." I beamed at her. She giggled and grabbed onto my hand, pulling me into another store.

With Syndicate 42 gone, life seems so easy and carefree. I stood behind Vanessa, who was flipping through the clothes on a rack, looking around the store. I still had no clothes of my own and had been borrowing Vanessa's but we didn't exactly have the same figure so we're buying me some clothes.

"Vanessa? I've been wondering." I started.

"Hmm? Wondering about what?" She replied, still flipping through clothes, discarding the more colourful clothes since I had told her I didn't want too much colour.

"Why did you, Max and Hugh join the syndicates in the first place?" I asked, picking up a white tank top with a black hood attached to it. I heard Vanessa pausing before going back to looking for clothes.

"Well... I didn't join for a noble cause or anything. I only joined because they would provide food and shelter for all those that joined." Vanessa spoke in a soft tone, as if she didn't want anyone else to hear her. Is this a hard topic to talk about?

"I lived on the streets for as long as I could remember. My parents had abandoned me on the streets and I had to grow and survive on my own. When I heard that the government was starting the Syndicate program, the only thing that caught my attention was the promise of food and a home. The money we get paid is a nice added bonus too." Vanessa paused to look at a shirt that she found. It was a black t-shirt with bold white words that said 'Fight Me'.

She turned to me, holding out the shirt and I took it eagerly. Vanessa continued to talk, starting to flip through the racks in the next aisle.

"As for Max and Kyle. Max was somewhat similar to you I suppose. He was abused by his parents who whipped him. Apparently he was abused for never doing anything 'helpful'. They dropped Max off at an orphanage when he was around seven years old. Max signed up to join the Syndicate program when he was twelve because he wanted to do something helpful." Vanessa thrusted another item of clothing in my direction. They were black pants that were tight and stretchy.

"Kyle... well..." Vanessa paused in her movements, as if trying to come up with a good way to explain. "Kyle's parents died when he was still really little. He had two little siblings too." Had?

"After his parents died, Kyle and his siblings lived with their grandparents. Kyle joined the Syndicates when he was fourteen. I don't know much about the reason why he joined, but apparently he was brought to the government office by Vincent and Lindsey who helped him out during a patrol at night. The only thing I know is that his siblings were killed." Oh.

I dipped my head and stared at the clothes in my hands. Vanessa patted my head. "Don't worry about it. You had are really hard past too. But we're all happy with where we are now. The past is the past. Don't worry."