Winter's World

Chapter Four

Sonya stood in the self driven van, its wheels bumping along the many potholes and rocks strewn about on the street. Her knees were bent, and her gun was held out in front of her. She grasped it with two hands, ready for anything. Anything at all. Going over the plan in her head, the guards had grabbed their Graspers and stood in front of her. Sonya aimed at their heads, knowing they must be wearing bullet proof vests. The whirring sound of the Graspers powering up made Sonya act quicker. She quickly shot two of the guards, leaving a man and a woman behind. Sonya noticed the man was the one who and tackled her. Sonya aimed the gun at him, knowing he was probably a bigger threat than the woman. Shooting the gun, the woman guard jumped in front of the man. The woman flew through the air and landed on her side with a loud thud, the whole van bouncing to the side. Sonya stumbled backwards, surprised that even one of them would have shown any empathy. As Sonya tried to get back in ready position, the man guard ran at her. Sonya tried to jump to the side, but the man was too quick and she was already underneath him. He squeezed her wrists, as if he wanted to pull them off. She winced in pain, and tried kicking him in the crotch again. He cried out, but kept his grip on her wrists. Sonya could feel the blood quickly draining from the veins in her hands. She sucked it breathes, even tthough she wasn't being  choked. Panic. Panic was what she was feeling right now.  The girl hoped against hope someone would come and save her. Suddenly four figures stood on the edge of the van.

Sonya groaned, thinking it was back up from the C.C.C.C. But, the medium sized figure ran at the man on top of Sonya, knocking him off. Sonya realized it was a girl, and the girl started punching the man, never stopping. The stranger was straddled over the man's waist, holding his arms down with her knees. Punch after punch after punch. The man screamed and wailed like a baby, blood gushing from his nose like a water fall.
"Hannah, what the crap! Stop already!" a boy's voice said, pretty high pitched. The girl Sonya guessed was Hannah gave the man one last punch and stood up, her foot planted on the man's chest. Sonya scooted back, away from all of the new strangers. After closing the doors, the four of them stepped inside of the van a few feet. Their faces were more visible now, and none of them seemed like they wanted to hurt her. One person, the boy who had told Hannah to stop, was tall, had dark skin, closely shaved head, and wore a simple sweatshirt and scarf with jeans and boots. Another was tall and skinny, a poof of blond hair sat atop his head. He wore a jacket with a fluffy hood, with similar jeans and boots to the boy before him. Finally, a small girl with--
"Ella?" Sonya asked, excitment and joy overcame her. The little girl ran to Sonya, and Sonya picked her up and held her in her lap. Hannah smiled at the sight. She had long reddish-brown hair that cascaded down her shoulders and back. Hannah had a hat on, with a scarf, sweatshirt, thin coat, and black leggings with boots. Sonya looked around, taking in the sight around her. All these new strangers, and she was supposed to trust them?
"I'm Zack," the tall dark skinned boy said.
"Liam," the skinny blonde said.
"I'm Hannah, but you probably know that since Zack," she waved her hand over to him, "had to interrupt me." Sonya smiled, amazed at this friend group she just met. Getting up, she couldn't help but stare at all of them, drink in the sight of other people that weren't enemies, but allies. Suddenly, the van hit a huge pothole, making the whole van bounce down, and then up. Sonya almost fell over, but regained her balance.
"Someone should probably go drive this thing, eh?" Hannah said, smiling at Liam. Liam smiled and nodded, running to the driver's seat. He pressed a couple buttons, numbers and words appearing on the screen as fast as gunfire. But, Liam kept typing and tapping, his fingers flying around the screen.
"Master codebreaker," Zack said, crossing his arms and smiling as Liam worked.
"More like hacker," Hannah said, a puff of air escaping her mouth. Sonya guessed this was supposed to be a laugh. Zack glared at Hannah, even though he knew it was a joke.
"We're good, I changed it to manual drive! Now someone take over before I crash," Liam said, holding on to the wheel as Zack walked over. Each of Zack's heavy steps shook the van, making it seem like he was a giant. Liam stepped out of the seat, and Zack plopped onto it, making the whole van shift to one side. The van ride smoothed out as Zack made sure no more big potholes were hit.

Ella curled up in Sonya's lap. For warmth or because she was scared, Sonya didn't know. Hannah walked over to them, and sat down. She smiled sweetly at the sisters, but a look of sadness was painted on her face. Sonya instantly knew that look, as she had worn it many times before.
"Did you ever have a sibling?" Sonya asked, not trying to be rude, but trying to show empathy. Hannah nodded,
"I lost him to the C.C.C.C., that's why I went ham on him," she said, looking over at the man who lay on the floor. He was either dead, or had passed out. Either way, Sonya knew they would probably have to shoot him.
"Should we, y'know, make sure he won't wake up?" Sonya asked, her voice laced with guilt.
"I can just check his pulse, don't get all dramatic right now," Hannah replied with a smile. Doing as she said she would, Hannah hopped up from her place next to Sonya, and placed her two fingers on the man's neck. Suddenly, the man's hands were wrapped around Hannah's neck, her face turning into a purple and blue color.