Extricate Them

First Draft of First Section

NOTE: This is just the first draft of the first section, this is probably going to be modified a lot and I'm going to write a lot more after this part. Please don't judge it too much for where it's at right now.     <3

EXTRICATE THEM.

3 years, 10 months, and 27 days in.

Current time - 15:24

The river is cold enough that it makes my bones ache deep in my hands, but I keep them there. It feels good. Nothing matters right now except the water running through my hands, at least that's what I say to myself. I keep watching as the blood finally clears off and runs away from me, following the river down to wherever it's going. I watch and forget about the time, the others, the reason I'm here. It wasn't hard to forget those things. I wanted to forget anyway. I have too many other things to think about.

***

3 years, 4 months, and 16 days in.

Current time - 00:47

They ignore the rain, and so do we. It doesn't matter right now. All that is really important is the gunfire that echoes off the city around me in sharp cracks. Almost like the firecrackers from our celebrations just a few short years ago. The sound surrounds and fills me completely, and I wonder if I am still me or if I have just become another gun, firing away without its own mind. What have these people specifically done against us? I shake the treasonous thought away and stay where I am for now, behind the rubble, a wall or piece of something from the building above me. It's no longer connected to the building. The bombs made sure of that.

Every part of this city is shattered. Every glass, street, building, and family. We are in ruins, but not the beautiful kind like Rome. We live immersed in the waste left behind by the terrorist group known as Extricate. We are not alone. Major cities across the globe have been brutally attacked in an effort to tear down the government of our world and 'free' us from their control. It has recently escalated to the point of no return. We are officially at war with ourselves, with the dirty traitors who sided with Extricate. We are killing our own people.

***

2 years, 11 months, and 26 days in.

Current time - 04:00

"Lex, wake up!"

I jerk awake, gasping and filling my lungs with the air I didn't have a moment ago, looking around wildly before my eyes settle on Ethan, who is looking at me stiffly. I'm still struggling to get my bearings and remember where I am when he speaks.

"We don't have time for this." His voice is gruff as he gestures to me, me and my nightmares. "We have a job to do Alexis. You need to be ready at all times. These... dreams are a weakness that you need to get a hold of."

I shake off the remnants of my nightmare and nod, "I'm sorry. It won't happen again." 

But we both know it will. My nightmares plague me at least every week, if not multiple days a week, usually causing me to wake up the others. I cost us all valuable sleep that we need to keep us awake and alert during our intense training. My nightmares are a vicious torment, a distraction from the focus I need to maintain. But so far there hasn't been anything I can do to get rid of them. Fires burn in my head at night, the scars left in my thoughts by the first bombs. The first bombs, two years ago, took my sister. She was lost in one of those damned explosions when our apartment building collapsed. That's why I'm here now, training and preparing. I will do whatever I can to ensure that no little girl loses her baby sister like I did. Extricate needs to be held accountable for its actions. So, I pull myself up and out of bed. I get dressed. I forget about my nightmares for now. And then I train, preparing for the war we all know is coming.

***

3 years, 10 months, and 27 days in.

Current time - 11:23

I don't know why they picked me. Well, they didn't actually. I was the third choice, but the first two choices died before they could get in. Third time's a charm I guess. So here I am. Trying to find the meeting location that I'm not even sure exists. There should be markers around here somewhere... but they're hiding really well. I know I'm generally supposed to follow the river that's nearby, and I'm supposed to go upstream. The rushing sound of the water flowing through the rocks guides me through the brush. I can feel the coolness of the wintery fall air threatening to raise goosebumps on my bare arms, but I don't feel cold, my legs burning with the effort of moving up this hill. I have to get there at 13:30. I lift my wrist to check my watch and I'm good on time for now, so I keep moving. I'm only vaguely aware of where I'm moving to. Sweat makes the baby hairs that I couldn't capture in my ponytail stick to the back of my neck, but I ignore that and keep pushing my way through the dense brush of the forest.

I'm reminded again how grateful I am for my long pants when a particularly sharp stick tries to stab me. I glance down angrily, planning on snapping the stick in half to give it a piece of my mind, but my plan is forgotten the second I see the paper. Lodged in a bush about a foot or two from me, on one of the flyers the government has posted all around the city, is the face of the man I'm about to meet with. Justin Brenik. One of the masterminds behind the attack on our city. Fury flares in the pit of my stomach as I remember what he and the rest of the filthy Extricate group took from me. Sorana. She was too young for what happened to her. I take a breath, close my eyes, and push down my anger. The time for that will come. Not yet.

I crouch to get a better view of the paper, scanning it and the ground around it. This must be one of the markers. Not seeing any other signs of another person having been around it, I pick up the paper to examine it more closely. His name, the reward money, his picture, etc. Basics. I know this has to be a marker, otherwise why would one of these flyers be all the way out here in the middle of the forest? I flip the paper over and smile to myself. More directions. I'm on the right path.

About an hour later, I begin to see what looks like rotting, mossy wood planks through the trees. That has to be it. I push on eagerly, each step bringing me closer to where I'm supposed to meet Justin. Thoughts buzz through my head faster than I can process them. What will I say to him? What will he say? What is he like? Does he even feel guilty for what he's done? What will he say to justify himself? Sorana. The echoing sound of the bombs when they hit. The screams. Justin. I know that I can't lose my temper right away when I see him. I need to be in control of myself, ask questions and get answers. He needs to believe I really am on his side. And then when I have enough information...

I'll kill him for what he did.