The Symbol

Chapter 2-Flashbacks

(A/N note)

I was up all night planning the next chapter so, hopefully, it turns out to be good...

Zero's POV

"Shut up!" I laugh, trying extremely hard not to fall over. "I tell the truth, I promise!" Zac Abel says, also fighting the urge to give up and fall down. "Anyway, are you excited? First time meeting my kingdom and it's going to be epic." "Shut up, I've met some of your subjects before."

"But never like this."

"Never."

Then the scene changes

"STOP! DON'T HURT HER!!" I scream. I'm dreaming if I'm reliving this. I don't want to remember. I can feel myself thrashing in my sleep

Wake up. Wake up.

The soldier holds the gun to Camilla's throat. His finger on the trigger. "Summon any drones, and she dies." The soldier says, a cruel smile tugging at his lips. My hands shake.

Wake up. Wake up. WAKE UP!

I take a step back. The soldier's mouth opens to speak, but what comes out is relieving. "Wake up."

My eyes shoot open and I sit up. Quickly realizing my mistake, I close my eyes and lay back down. "Good morning Z! Sleep well?" Astrid, my doctor/therapist,says. "No. I had the nightmare again."

"The one about your little sister?"

"Yea. I'm also wounded, so could you please get to that? You can take all the time you need." I say, sarcasm dripping in my voice. "Oh yeah, forgot about that." Astrid grins nervously.

Later, with a bandage around my side, I go to my room. "Doctors stupid orders." I mutter. "Pandora, pull up the recording from outside the base." "Are you sure, Walker Zero?" "Do you have any other way to show me if Adelaide died or not?" Pandora says nothing but my computer turns on with footage from earlier. The footage comes from drone 170. Adelaide had started to get up so 170 had blasted her to dust. Good. Now I could sleep knowing that my people were safe.

She was gone. Adelaide is gone. Thank god. She might have been my sister, but she was the worst of them. She caused the most pain. Sure, there were other things that people could do that she couldn't, but it still hurt. I exhale shakily as I climb the stairs to the coldest room in the house. I had watched the footage of Adelaide's death earlier, and I had silently rejoiced. I opened my window, breathing in the fresh night air.

"HEY YOU!!!" What? Who is that? I look down to see a walker standing at my window. The mask hides half her face but I can tell she's grinning. She isn't wearing the classic hoodie, she has one without the symbol, but is covered in fake diamond roses. "Do you know how dangerous it is for you to be here?" I ask, my eyes wide. "Yes, but I chose to come save your butt from this place, so you better be grateful." She says, haughtily. "I'm coming, just lemme grab my hoodie." I reply. Going to my closet, I reach out and grab my hoodie. It has a picture of a red sunset with AV-8 drones on the back. On the bottom it says 'Endless Summer'. I don't know why I loved this hoodie, but I did. I jump out the window and onto the trampoline. I've done this multiple times, so it didn't hurt me. "There you are!" the bedazzled walker says. "C'mon! I don't got all day, so we gotta get moving!" I follow her.

She takes me to a tunnel filled with the symbols and writing that fill the walls of Red Nexus. I had asked about them, but no one wanted to answer. So eventually I just dropped it. "What's your name?" I ask, tentatively. "Queenie. I know it's a weird name, but it suits me, don't you think?" She does a little twirl, the lights of the tunnel reflecting off the roses and making a disco party on the walls. "What's yours?" Queenie asks, walking backwards to face me. I take a deep breath. "Lily. Lily Tempest." She stops walking. "Well, good luck with Zero." Queenie says, her expression full of pity. "Who's Zero?" "Technically the head walker, but no one really acts like he is until he gets mad. Also, he hates the Tempests." Great. Just great. "He isn't really talkative, literally the only people that make him talk are Astrid and Brea. But he only talks to Brea when she hacks into his stuff." Her chattering about Zero goes on until we reach the end of the tunnel.

"Do you have a crush on Zero?" I ask. Queenie's cheeks turn pinker than her eyeshadow. "Don't tell him, ok?" "Ok." Then a female voice from out of nowhere startles me out of my wits. "Identification please." A golden orb appears, seemingly made out of 0s and 1s. "Aw, Pandora you know it's me!" Queenie says, putting a whine in her voice. The glowy thingy, Pandora apparently, sighs in exasperation. "Hello Queenie, who do you have this time?" Pandora sounds exhausted with her job. "This is Lily Tempest-" Queenie starts to respond, but is interrupted by Pandora. "Zero isn't going to enjoy this." "I don't care, she needed to get out of there. And I can tell she isn't like her sister." That's when I recognize the place I'm in. The walker's base. Pandora releases another sigh of irritation. "Fiiiinnnnnneeeeeee. But don't say I didn't warn you." Suddenly, a barrier lifts, and I can see the base. I inhale sharply. This is it. I'll be safe here. Unless this so-called 'Zero' decides to kill me then I'm just as safe here as home. Home. That's not a good name for it. Heck, maybe? Queenie gestures for me to follow her. I take another deep breath, and step inside.