Flashf0rward

Chapter 2: Survivours

Ivy

After Gerrard was defeated, we knew we couldn't stay in one spot forever. Tobias may have cured the hypermorphs in our area, but we knew that there were some still out there across the world, and even near us. We knew we couldn't do much else but survive. So, we spent a few days scrounging every piece of tech and supplies we could salvage from the remains of Reservoir, and set off.

It took a week or so to find a good place, but thankfully we found the small valley that would become our new home. First off, getting the other metahumans to talk to us was the important part. They had only just been released from Tobias's control. Some barely knew how to speak, or even how to walk. And they were all scared out of their minds. Most of them were just kids, no older than I was at that time.

Eventually, we brought them all together, and finally managed to form a community of sorts, along with all of the normal humans that Tobias had transformed back from being hypermorphs. The metas, as we came to call them, began to use their abilities to help us. Cutting down trees, building houses, gathering food, you name it. We soon had a makeshift town in no time.

There was just under a hundred of us in the beginning, metahumans and humans alike. Soon, we realized that more could still be out there, and we began sending out search parties. The radio system that we'd found in Reservoir was still somewhat intact, but pretty much useless since no one else had a radio, and if they did, they didn't seem to be in range.

It was when we sent out the search parties that we discovered we weren't alone in this area. Hypermorphs from across the country had come to find us and try and kill us, probably more angry than anything that their former master was dead. They didn't have their pack mentality anymore, now they were just wild animals. But, we weren't scared of them anymore. We decided to push back.

We dealt with several raids from these things in the first few months. But after we started placing their corpses on the outskirts of the valley as a sort of message, they began to get the idea. We've only had attacks here and there, but we're still always on the lookout. Metahuman and human guards watching the horizon 24/7 for any sign of those things.

The search parties starting finding more and more people. Whether they had powers or not, everyone was welcome in Sanctuary. Soon, we started to get too big for our own good. We needed to expand, as well as getting more supplies. So, we decided to take a risk: head into the big city. Seattle wasn't too far away from our location, and most of our metahumans could get there easily. So, they went out to see what they could find.

The city was abandoned and deserted, just like all the rest. But, there were a few survivors, as well as enough supplies to feed, well, an entire city. We packed up as much of it as we could, as well as finding alternate means of transportation for non-metas. The zoo, as it turns out, had plenty of animals still alive and not infected, which meant the horses could still be useful.

That was the day where everyone started to feel a little more hopeful. That humanity maybe could recover from this whole mess. We were small, but that was how most things started. As I grew up in a makeshift city, I started to get a new outlook on life. Some people say I matured way too fast for my own good. But I would usually think that I didn't have a choice.

I learned how to hunt, how to kill, and how to fight. People always underestimated me, especially him. He never thought that I should go out there and be with the others, always telling me it was too dangerous. I know he just cared about me, especially after what had happened, but I knew that he had to let it go eventually. So, I just ignored him and lead my own life.

Soon, all of us became close to each other. A community, a family. We all trusted and were kind to one another. At least, some of us were. Now, it's been 10 years since we first built Sanctuary. We've grown from a population of under a hundred to almost a thousand people. Hopefully we'll keep growing, but only time will tell.

As I rode Fred through the village, I can already see the marketplace ahead of me bustling with people. Since currency is obsolete now, everything in the village is pretty much free, but dealt out at a small enough rate so that we don't have riots on our hands. Bakers, butchers, fishmongers, everyone has their own taste. We even have our own garden, which thankfully can be grown pretty easily thanks to one of our own metas.

Riding towards the small cabin that makes up my place, I tied Fred to the hitching post outside, already seeing him going to town on his feedbag. Patting his side, I smiled. "Good horse." As I was about to walk inside, I heard a voice from behind me. "Ivy!" Turning around, I groaned as I saw who it was.

A short, balding man wearing a brown vest and cargo pants walked up to me, several other people behind him. Sighing, I looked at him. "Clarence, don't you have anything better to do?" Clarence Hightower was one of the non-metas that lived in Sanctuary. Remember how I said that some people were kind to one another? He's not one of them. Hightower crossed his arms. "I want to talk to him."

Brushing my hair behind my head, I leaned on Fred's post. "I've told you a thousand times, you know how busy he is." Hightower raised an eyebrow. "He always is whenever I want to talk to him." I gave him a sarcastic glance. "Well maybe that's because he never wants to talk to you, hmm?" I turned around and opened the door to my place. "Tell him he can't avoid me forever!" Hightower said before I slammed the door in his face, dropping my backpack, bow, and arrows to the floor.

Sighing and rubbing my hands over my face, I groaned loudly. "Old baldy talk to you again?" A voice said to my right, and I saw a girl with frizzy black hair and tanned skin sitting at a chair in front of a huge radio. Smiling, I got up from leaning against the door. "I swear, someday I'm gonna shoot him and blame it on a morph." Giggling, the girl shook her head. "In your dreams, Vee."

Julie Brown was my roommate, and was one of the only human friends I had. She was also our resident radio operator, but unfortunately her job had been kind of boring lately. "Gotten anything?" I asked as I sat in the chair beside her. Shaking her head, Julie sighed. "Nothing. No signals to be found. If I could maybe boost the signal somehow, I might be able to get someone in the next state, but in Seattle, nobody's transmitting."

Leaning back, I stretched my arms out. "Well, you'll get something someday. You just gotta keep trying and hope someone's listening." Then, there was a knock at the door. Frowning, I got up. "Clarence you little..." I clenched my fists and opened the door, fully expecting to see him standing there, but instead it was a man that was part of our security team. "Oh, um...sorry, Ms. Sawyer. Am I interrupting?"

Shaking my head, I looked at him. "No. What's wrong?" He jabbed his thumb over to our makeshift council hall that we'd built. "Urgent meeting for all higher-ups. You're needed there, now." My eyes widened, and I looked back at Julie, who smirked. "Go get 'em, tiger." Looking back at the guard, I sighed. "Tell him I'll be there in 5 minutes."