New Americana (peterick)

1

Car alarms blared in the distance as smoke danced through the air. Fires coating the streets was a normal thing to see nowadays, and the gunshots at night are what put me to sleep. Traveling was one thing, but traveling in a war zone is completely different. A few years ago, a group of rebels had come to the surface, the Americanas. They wanted freedom, to not be ruled by the government and do what they pleased. Our country wasn't in the best place, and many people agreed and helped carry out their act. The government on the other hand, had plans to entirely wipe out their population. They succeeded, believing that they had killed every single Americana. Rumors had gone around that very little still remained, and government spies were still searching. I, too, searching for this group. I wanted to join them, my family never let me have my own opinion, and once they discovered that I wanted to join such a "sinful group", out to the streets I went. So for about 5 months, I had a plan, find the Americanas as soon as possible. Chicago was in rubble by the time I had left, and I had no clue where I was headed. Somehow I had ended up in California, which was a surprise when I wasn't close to the west at all. I had been camping out in Los Angeles for a while, and started searching again. I ended up in a wooded area and had walked in so deep I couldn't find my way out.
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Fall was inching towards as the month of September began, and the chilly air floated around me as I stumbled my way through the woods, trying to find my way out. I suddenly heard footsteps behind me, as if someone was running. I whipped my flashlight around. "Show yourself!"I demanded, a stern voice taking over my fear. "Pst. Hey you, shine your flashlight in this direction." A voice quietly called out, but was clear enough that I knew this person was female. I turned the flashlight to the direction that the voice had come from, and the light revealed a girl who was probably no more than 21 with electric blue hair and a green highlight. "Follow me, I'll introduce myself while we walk." I hesitated at first, did I really wanna follow a stranger through the woods? Then again, maybe she knew something about the Americanas. I inched my way towards her and soon we set off to an unknown location, to me at least. "So what's your name? I'm Ashley, and assuming you're not from here?" The blue haired girl asked. "I'm Patrick, and yeah I'm not from here. I'm actually from the Chicago area." I replied. "Wow, we've had Americanas as far as England and have never ever had someone from Chicago!" My heart stopped. Americanas. "Y-You know ab-out the Am-mericanas?" I stuttered our. She chuckled,"Of course I do, I'm apart of the group!" "You don't suppose...I could join?" I asked cautiously. "Well, you have to have a certain amount of physical strength, and you need to know how to shoot a gun." Ashley replied. "Double check, how do you think I escaped from Chicago?" She shrugged. Soon, we had reached a door that was slightly hidden by the vines and vegetation growing around it. "Okay, so when you first walk in a lot of this gonna be a little scary, trust me. If Pete let's you join, you'll get used to it." Ashley explained. I nodded, but a question lingered in the back of my mind. Who was Pete? The leader? The door opened and I was automatically hit with the scent of alcohol and tobacco. I heard a boxing bag being hit, someone must have been training. Some people stood along the walls in the group, staring at me as I walked by. We reached a case of stairs,"Pete's office is on the second floor. He's intimidating at first, but once you get to know him, he's quite nice." Ashley led me up the stairs and to another door which had the word 'office' written on with either a really thick marker or paint. She knocked twice and waited for a few minutes before hearing a "come in". We stepped inside a tiny room and I was met with a man with dark brown eyes and slightly slicked back brown hair. He wore a leather jacket and his shirt, pants, and boots were black. I'm guessing it was the theme of clothing here. "Care to explain who this is Ashley?" Pete asked, looking me up and down in a non-sexual way. "Well while on patrol, I met Patrick walking through the woods. He told me he came from Chicago and that he was looking for us. So I decided to bring him along sir." Ashley said. He stood up from his desk and walked over to me,"And how do you know if he's not a spy? Working for the government?" I gulped,"I-I swear that I mean no harm, I have nothing to do with the government. I came to California willingly." I explained. Pete looked me in the eyes for a few moments, the turned back to Ashley. "Show him around and we'll assign him a room. Keep an eye on him though, you already know what to do if he's a spy." Ashley nodded and we walked out of the office, I let out a sigh. I didn't even know I was holding air in. "Jesus Christ, I swear the man could kill me with just his stare!" She laughed. "Yeah, you get used to it though. Usually he's more strict with newcomers, I think you made him go a bit soft." "What? A short little chubby man that came from Chicago made Pete go soft? No way, people have done nothing but hate me, there's no way I could make him go soft." I said. "Well enough about Pete, let me give you a small tour." Ashley showed me the small dining room, not many people lived here so space wasn't that big of a problem. They had an area for bunks and a training area. I was rooming by myself since I was new, and I someone left, I would take that persons bed and move in with another person.
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The first night was horrible. Yes, I missed sleeping in a bed and having silence and peace, but I missed being surrounded by nature and hearing the bugs make their little buzz noises, or how the tiny fireflies lit up the sky occasionally. So I sat and stared at the ceiling in my bed, not daring to try and go outside just to hear the sounds of the animal. I didn't know the rules that well here, and who knows what I could get in trouble for. I looked up at the ceiling for what felt like centuries when I heard a small 'knock' at the door. Hesitantly, I walked over to the door, opening so slowly as to not wake anyone else up. I recognized the person almost instantly. "Pete? What are you doing here this late at night?" He looked down the hall, as if someone was watching us. "Put on your day clothes kid, I wanna show you something. Be quick about it." I nodded in response and quickly changed into what I normally wear. I opened the door and there he stood, waiting in the hallway. "Okay let's go." Pete lead me out the door and into the forest, the only light source being his flashlight.
As we walked deeper into the forest, I noticed that there was a noise in the distance, rushing water? A river maybe? Why would he drag me out her to just show me a river? We walked for a few more minutes before he stopped. "Look ahead." I've never seen something as beautiful as this before. A waterfall, and it was way different in real life. The history books made them look fake, and the drawings that were made were terrible. "Woah," I breathed out, "This is amazing." We stood in silence for a few minutes before Pete broke it. "Patrick, why do you want to join the Americanas? We cause too much trouble and even worse, we could get you killed." I thought about it for a moment before answering. "Because you people fight for what you want. Where I grew up, people were like robots. Everything was the same every single goddamn day of my life, and I wanted change. My parents didn't take it lightly when they found out, that I wanted to join you, so I was kicked out. That gave me more determination, so I spent the last 5 months searching and searching, hoping that with time I could find you. And holy shit did that pay off because I'm here, standing with the leader himself." I let that sink in, it looked like Pete had never gotten that type of response before. He looked at me, and smiled, something I wouldn't have expected from him at all. "You're in kid. And trust me, I'm gonna do all I can to protect you."
And I think that was the night I fell in love with Pete Wentz.