Beginnings: A New Home

Chapter 1: Sparrow

The day shines bright and the wheat rolls like the waves of the sea. The sky's coloured a pale blue and the clouds look light and fluffy. Iris and I lug our watering cans out to the field, like we always do, my hand in hers.

We start watering around the edges of the field. I look up and receive a smile from her and naturally I gift her one back. Iris starts to hum a tune as she continues to water the plants. I work my way to the other side of the field and eventually we meet each other in the middle.

"Hi, baby," Iris kisses my cheek and I giggle.

"Hey, how are you doing?" I move to water the inner section of the field.

Iris wraps an arm around me, "I missed you."

"Of course you did," I roll my eyes and smile halfheartedly, "You always miss me."

Iris smirks and kisses me. She releases her grip around my waist and moves to the other half of the growing field.

By the time we're almost done watering, a large bus noisily makes its way down the highway. Its heavy dirty green front and camouflage patched sides indicate harsh, unmerciful business.

Iris takes my hand and books it to the house without a word, dragging me along behind her. She takes the path to the backside of the house, closer to the orchard. She opens up the back door and shoves me inside.

"Stay inside and don't let them see you," She slams the door behind me.

I stand in shock for a few moments before moving upstairs and peek out a front-facing window in the spare bedroom. The bus parks on the front lawn and a few men in military gear step out armed with guns. My heart begins to thump against my rib cage and my stomach twists with anxiety. I step away from the window and sit on the floor between the outer wall and the bed.

"Iris, please don't be dumb," I whisper to myself.

The men split up and move around the house. One of the few intruders pounds on the door and my heart skips a beat. Don't answer it, I think to myself.

The pounding on the door stops abruptly. I take another peek out the window. Iris struggles in the grasp of two soldiers. They push her down onto her knees in the grass and keep her there.

The soldier who was pounding on the door walks over and a small exchange of words takes place. I watch the conversation move back and forth between Iris and the soldier. The other two pop in every so often.

Being occupied with the conversation outside, the fourth soldier comes up from behind me and drags me down the stairs. I kick and scream and fight back, but his grasp is unbreakable. He drags me through the living room and onto the porch.

"I found another one upstairs," he throws me to the ground beside Iris.

"How dare you-" Iris jumps up and lunges at the soldier who found me, stabbing him in the left side with the knife she always keeps in her boots.

He grunts and falls over himself, landing butt first into the lawn. One of the two immediately pulls her back onto the ground. He presses his knee on her back and the other aims down his barrel.

"Iris!" I try to leap to her side, but I'm held down.

"Well, that wasn't necessary," the soldier who leads the group sounded very disappointed

"Fuck you, Rick," Iris spits into the grass.

"What is going on?" I desperately choke out.

Rick looks me up and down then smiles, "What's your name, dolly?"

I cringe internally at the nickname, "My name is Sparrow."

"Well, Sparrow, we caught your friend here 'round back. She resisted telling us where you were, so we did things the hard way."

"What do you want from us?"

"We don't want anything from you," Rick shakes his head, "We only want to take you to a safe place. The world is dangerous out here for people like you."

"Shut. Up," Iris hisses through clenched teeth.

"Tatata. you're in no position to be making demands, Iris," Rick tilts his head.

"They're crushing her. Order them to get off of her, please," I beg Rick.

He turns back to me, "Only if you promise you two will come peacefully with us."

I look at Iris and the house. We never thought in a million years we would ever have to say goodbye to the life we built here. I look at the chaos around me. I conclude that there's no way out of this safely.

I look at Rick with tears stinging my eyes, "Okay," I say softly, "We'll go. No-fuss, no resistance. We'll go."

Rick wears a smug look, "Thank you, Sparrow."

He and the wounded soldier grab me and hull me onto

the bus, the other two doing the same to Iris. They seat us across from each other and strap us in. They cuff Iris to the seat by her wrists. She gives them a hearty tug and Rick shoots her a warning look. Immediately, Iris looks at the floor of the bus in defeat.

The look on her face kills me, "Can I sit by her?"

"No," Rick says in a harsh tone and gets too close for comfort, "we decide where you sit and you don't make a fuss, got it?"

I nod my head and swallow the lump in my throat.

"Alright then," Rick looks at the both of us, "get comfy, cause the camp's two days away," he then disappears into the front of the bus with his buddies.