The Fighters

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The town was small, so it took only about an hour to get to the shelter. It was like a dome, a big blue dot on the earth that served refuge to the many now homeless. There were two large doors, maybe eight feet tall. One, I could see, was labeled “Shelter” and the other, “The Fighters Sign-up”. But there were three lines that I could see, one for males and the other for females. As I walked to the significantly smaller line for females, I saw a familiar face. Maria, Leon’s close friend since they were children smiled at me and pulled me into the line behind her. No one objected to my skipping the line, in fact, the girl behind me, who seemed to be only a teenager, took a step back and allowed me in.

            It seemed everyone was afraid of enrolling into The Fighters. But Maria wasn’t, and I certainly was itching to enroll. “I haven’t seen you in a while,” she said, embracing me in a delicate hug. Her dark skin glistened in the sunlight, and I envied her pixie like features, her small nose, and petite figure, though she was taller than I. Her rough hair was pulled up into a tight bun, and her eyes had purple swirls that framed her almond shaped eyes.

            I wanted to perform some small talk, but I just didn’t have it in me. Like Emerson, I was in no mood to engage in meaningless conversation. “Have you seen Leon?” My voice cracked at his name, and I bit my lip, hoping, praying that she had at least seen a glimpse of him. That he was okay. Safe. And that he was still in reach. But I had to face the facts, he wasn’t there at his home, or what was left of his home, and he couldn’t have just vanished. Unless they took him, like they took my parents.

            My throat filled with anxiety and squeezed me air supply, my breathing becoming rapid. All the while, Maria stared at me with a curious face, as if she were trying very hard to think deeply. Finally, her brown eyes popped open, making her purple eyeliner look even more magnificent. “I think I saw him, in the huge mob that formed when there was panic right after the aliens left. But I’m not sure, it could have been anyone. He looked frantic, though, so if it was him, I’m certain he was looking for you.” She said.

            I thought about what she was saying, and hoped it could be true. Maybe I did have something left to hold onto, and I wasn’t completely alone. I had someone to fight for again. Suddenly, a tall, muscular man with an army suit on and a tight khaki hat, came down the long line of girls waiting to enroll, and he inspected all of us, looking us over once, twice, and then moved on to the next one. He had only three girls walking with him, one with blood gushing from her temple, a girl with a noticeable limp, and a girl that was sobbing, and kept crying “Mommy!” over and over again. He was weeding out the weak.

            Whether it was emotional or physical scars, if you weren’t fit to fight, you couldn’t be a Fighter. My hands clenched and my fingernails dug into my skin. I felt stronger, more powerful than them all. And the only image that kept popping into my head was that of the disgusting creature that took my family away from me. And I would soon destroy it.

            I signed my name on the sign in sheet, and immediately I was pushed into the dome with Maria by my side. She would flash looks to me every once in a while, and I wondered if she was fearful, or just checking to see if I was alright. And the truth was, I felt fine. But my head was cloudy. Two large men led the way as they allowed our single file line of girls into a cooped up wooden room with bunk beds. There was at least twenty two on either side, leaving a narrow walking space. In between that led to a series of showers and bathrooms.

            And then I had realized; I had no bags, no clothes, and no necessities. I just had the clothes on my back and the shoes on my feet. Maria noticed I had just realized I had nothing with me, and she patted her small backpack. “I don’t have much, but we should be able to share clothes.” Her calm and charming voice was drowned out as the two large men who stood in front of us, and the taller of the two began to yell. “Girls! This is no joke, nor is it camp! We are under attack as of now, and we have to squeeze months and months of training into one week!”