The Broken Ones

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

No. No, no, no, no, no. There was no way. It wasn't possible.

But the more I looked at the two men, the more I realized that they matched the descriptions exactly of the people from the stories told about The Broken in my town.

My heart dropped down to my stomach. Why me? I had never been the luckiest person, but this had to be a world record of how unlucky someone could be.

Suddenly, the situation came rushing at me. I immediately slid backwards until I was curled up in a ball in the back of the tiny trailer. Seeing me, the men's expressions changed drastically and the boy stared at me in what seemed to be annoyance.

"W-why did you b-bring me here?" I stuttered out.

The boy rolled his eyes. "We brought you here because we wanted to, okay?"

No. It was not okay. Not even a tiny bit. But I kept my mouth shut, as his patience was wearing thin.

"Stop looking at us like that. If we had wanted to kill you, we would have by now." The boy scowled, crossing his arms.

"You could just be trying to make me trust you so you can stab me in the back later when I'm least expecting it."

He shrugged. "Fair enough. Except there's no point."

Fortunately, he was right.

They both stood there, calmly watching me. My body had started to tremble of its own accord, but as hard as I tried, I couldn't make it stop. A low, gurgling sound of fear emanated from my throat, surprising me. It seemed to come as a shock to the guys too, as they stared at me, slightly horrified that a human could make a sound like that. Despite myself, and my current situation, I laughed. The look on their faces was priceless. Nearly identical pictures of shock and confusion marred their features, with their eyes wide and mouths just slightly open. Eventually, after a few minutes of me awkwardly laughing by myself, they joined me, chuckling quietly.

My stomach chose that exact moment to do its impression of a dying whale, which only made the guys laugh harder. The older one keeled over and slapped his knee, his shoulders shaking spastically, while the raven-haired boy was leaning up against the side of the trailer, laughing silently. I blushed and tried to shrink myself further back into the small enclosure.

"Well, someone's hungry," The older man got out between short breaths, after finally calming down. "it's about time for lunch anyway."

He held his rough, weathered hand out to me and I hesitated, unsure.

"C'mon Girlie." His gruff voice sounded kind and patient, much the opposite of the other boy's.

Deciding to show them that I was not at all pleased with being kidnapped, I ignored the man's outstretched hand and clambered out of the trailer with as much dignity and grace as I could muster. I straightened my shirt and dusted off my jeans, the man chuckling.

"What are your names?" I asked, feigning confidence.

The boy sighed and shook his head. "You ask too many questions."

The man cut in. "Name's Pete, but everyone calls me Patch," he said, gesturing to himself. "This here's Grey."

The boy nodded his head, scowling.

My attention was caught by the sudden realization that I was far from home. Swivelling my head from side to side, I took in the scenery. We were in what looked to have once been a large field, that was severely scorched. The remaining grass was singed and dead, clumps laying everywhere like dead bodies. I shuddered at the terrible reminder of the first days of The Flare.

Bodies had been scattered all over. People that were walking outside had died on the sidewalk. Car alarms went off until the batteries died, and drove people mad. But the absolute worst part was the group of children that had been celebrating a birthday party outside in a pool. Along with the tiny bodies, there were the burnt remains of party hats, streamers and presents scattered across the lawn. Eventually people realized, and almost the entire town pitched in to drag all the bodies into a spot in the woods and have a mass funeral. We didn't have the means to find everyone's religion, so we buried the bodies with some things they had been near when the flare hit. I knew a lot of people being placed in the grave-including my parents, and as they were being set in, I stood at the edge and watched my tears join them in the grave.

"Get ready Girlie, we leave in five minutes," A voice cut through my thoughts. "The camp is about a ten minute walk north from here."

Remembering I had nothing, I sat at the edge of the trailer and stared into the distance.

My life was about to get a lot more interesting.

A/N: don't think I'm completely happy with this chapter, but I hope you like it more than I do. :) please comment, vote, and fan!!! :)