I watched as the lightning brought brightness to the dimly lit compound and it showed the trash heap that was my home. I hated lightning, always have, but I never knew why. Whether I liked it or not, this was where I lived. I tossed my knife up slightly in the air, catching it by the handle and throwing it at a small target hung on the wall. I hit the target, right in the bullseye. Again. Day by day I get more and more bored with this life.
Since the Solar Flares, life had been difficult, especially for the kids who got taken by WICKED. If your Immune, your taken, if your not then you turn into a Crank. Either way it feels like you loose.
"You know," a loud voice echoed and I turned to the girl who spoke. "You should at least try to look a little more excited when you hit a target like that."
"How long have you been watching me Brenda?" I asked and the girl smirked, coming closer to me. She was around my height, short dark brown hair and a strong personality. She's been like a sister to me since we were kids, knowing each other since elementary school. When the Solar Flares hit, Brenda and her bother lost their parents so me and my dad, Jorge, took her in while WICKED took him.
"Long enough." Brenda said, taking the knife off the target and handing it to me. I took it with an attempt at a smile.
Unlike me, Brenda was totally content with her life here. I think she thought that we were living, surviving, but not thriving. She knew that my dad was losing control of this place with each new group of people that came. We hadn't had any others join our ranks recently, which was good, the less people the better. Normally the people who did find their way here were a bunch of assholes who think they're better then everyone else.
I'd be lying if I said I enjoyed this life. It may have been a foolish dream but all I wanted to do was leave, explore the scorched world. Staying in this abandoned warehouse wasn't the life I wanted. Little did Brenda or my father know that this was exactly what I had been planning to do. For at least a month I had been planning on packing a bag and just leaving, never turning back. This storm definitely put those plans on hold.
Of course, the last thing I wanted to do was leave them, but they didn't show any signs of leaving this place behind. I understood why, there was so much work put in to make this place the way it was, but I couldn't stay. There were also memories, good but mainly bad memories that I wanted to get rid of. I thought leaving would make me feel better, whether it would I wasn't sure.
"Is he still listening to the radio?" I asked her and Brenda sighed with an almost disappointed smile.
"Of course he is, what else would he be doing?" Brenda huffed and I laughed slightly.
"C'mon Bren, let the man dream." I told her but she rolled her eyes, sitting on a backwards chair as she watched me throw the knife again, and again hitting the bullseye like it was nothing.
"Dreams aren't reality (Y/n), you know that." Brenda said and my breath hitched in my throat.
"Dreams can be realities of you tried hard enough." I told her, but I don't know if that was me speaking to her or the girl who wanted her own dream to be a reality speaking.
"So you believe in the Right Arm?" Brenda asked with her eyebrows raised. I sighed, pulling out another knife to throw.
That was a good question, did I really believe the Right Arm, a rebellion group fighting against WICKED, was real? I didn't necessarily believe in the Right Arm, but I didn't deny it's existence. Maybe it was out there, but it's not like they'd take me in if I found them. I'm normal, not immune.
"I believe that there is more to this life then this dank warehouse." I told her and I swear I heard her eye roll. Let's just say that I was very open on my opinions about this place.
"Not this again (Y/n)." She sighed and I threw my knife, hitting it right next to the one I had thrown before. I had perfect aim, the best aim out of anyone I have ever met.
"Your telling me you see the rest of your life here?"
"Yes, (Y/n), cause that's how the world works now, so you better start seeing it that way too." Brenda snapped and I let out a sigh. She wasn't yelling at me, but it still made me feel like a child. "Look, there isn't anything better out there for us."
"You don't know that." I said under my breath so that she couldn't hear me.
"Hey, what's that?" Brenda asked as she got out of her chair and walked over to the window. I followed after her, looking out into the raging lightning storm. It took me a moment, but when I saw the little black dots running towards the compound, I knew exactly what she saw.
More people.
"They're heading straight for the Cranks." I pointed out as another blast of lightning hit the dusty ground, right next to someone. I felt my muscles tense up when I watched two people go flying from the blast. One of them got up on their hands and knees while the other lay motionless on the ground.
"I'm gonna tell Jorge- (Y/n)! Where are you going?!" Brenda shouted as she watched me run off.
"I'm gonna go help them!" I shouted to her and I was gone before she could respond.
I turned the corner hard, almost sliding on the slick concrete floor. The wing of the warehouse they were headed for was where we held the Cranks that were almost past the gone. I didn't know why I was doing this, I had never gone to help a group before, but these people seemed different. I don't know why.
I heard someone slamming their fists against the door of the warehouse and I ran even faster. I unwrapped the chains around the door handle and used all my strength to slide open the heavy medal door. With a wailing screech it opened, and I was met by a very big dark skinned boy. He was followed by a girl and I looked back to see four others still in the storm.
There was a blonde boy going after the unconscious boy while a smaller boy was helping the struggling brunette.
"THOMAS!" The dark skinned boy shouted and I didn't hesitate.
"Stay here!" I shouted to them, "I'm gonna go get your friends!"
Before they could respond, I bolted out into the stormy night, lightning crashing down around me. If my dad saw this, well, if the lightning didn't kill me then he would.
I ran up to the boy with the brunette, getting his attention. His eyes widened when he saw me but I ignored it, pointing to the warehouse entry for him. Once the kid was pulling the brunette along, I ran after the blondie and unconscious boy.
The blondie looked at me and I could see the worry on his face as he tried lifting the boy up. I looked down at the smoke radiating from the boy's clothes and I knew that wasn't good. But that didn't matter, what mattered was getting him and his friend out of the storm.
"What's your name?!" I shouted over the rumbling thunder.
"Newt!" The boy responded just as loudly with a deep British accent.
"Okay Newt, we have to carry him!" I said, throwing the unconscious boy's arm over my shoulder while Newt did the same with the other. From there, we hefted him up and ran for the warehouse.
Once we got inside, the dark skinned boy slid the door closed and all I could hear was heavy breathing. Then, a light clicked on.
"Minho?!" The brunette called, shaking the boy.
"Come on Minho!"
"Come on man!"
Listening to this made me feel pity for this group. It was clear to me that this wasn't the run of the mill gangs that wandered in. If it were then they wouldn't care that one of their friends was struck by lightning, they'd probably leave him behind.
"Please, come on!" One of them said, and then there was silence. For a second, I thought the kid was actually dead. That was, until he groaned and made everyone sigh with relief.
Newt and the brunette picked up Minho and brought him to his feet. A little unbalanced, the boy, I assumed his name was Minho, looked very confused.
"Ugh, what happened?" The boy groaned.
"You were struck by lightning." The brunette told him but Minho seemed to not care much.
"Oh. Does my hair still look good?" He asked and I was a little shocked to see that it was.
"Yes Minho, your hair is fine." Newt assured, giving Minho a pat on the back.
I turned to see the girl looking around the compound, her nose scrunched up as if she smelled something fowl. Then I remembered.
"HEY! BACK UP!" I yelled and as she did so, a Crank jumped out of the dark, screaming and chomping the air. The group, all except me, screamed at the horrific sight. One by one, more chained Cranks leapt from the shadows. While they were distracted, I took their flashlight and headed towards the light switch. The hallway illuminated when I pulled it, making everything more visible. The six seemed to be terrified of all the chained up Cranks, which I didn't blame them.
I flipped my hair to the side, rolled up my sleeves and wiped the sweat from my forehead. Then, I walked back to them nonchalantly, as if nothing happened.
I walked through the pathway of Cranks as they clawed and screeched, reaching out to grab me. I didn't flinch and I wasn't afraid, but I knew I never wanted to become one. Becoming one of those things was worse then death.
I didn't say a word as I stood in front of the group of six and they all looked at me like I was insane. Maybe I looked it. I noticed Minho staring at me and me staring at him. He wasn't bad looking, kinda cute.
"Who are-" the brunette boy started but I cut him off.
"I ask the questions, seen as you are the intruders." I said with a low intimidating voice.
"First, I want names." They didn't speak.
"Unless you guys want inside, I suggest you start talking."
"Thomas." The brunette said. "My name is Thomas and this is Newt, Teresa, Frypan, Aris, and-"
"Minho." Minho announced, cutting his friend Thomas off. "Now who are you?"
"Who said I was giving names?" I told him, taking a few steps forward to get in the boy's face. He stepped back and as a bolt of lightning burst through the sky, illuminating the room, I found that his cheeks were flushing pink. "Saw you get struck down by the lighting, not everyone survives a storm like that these days." I told him and Minho smirked. I backed up and sized up the entire group. They looked sweaty, dirty, and tired. They were all different sized and all around my age.
"Yeah, well, I'm just great that way." Minho responded which was followed by an elbow from the blondie next to him.
"You guys okay?" I asked but they didn't say anything. "I don't know where you guys are from, but when a question is asked of you, you answer. Act like that with Jorge and your gonna find yourself hanging over the pit."
"Sorry," Newt answered with his deep British accent. "We didn't know if you meant it."
"If it was someone else asking, no, probably not. But me? I don't say anything unless I mean it. Now, are you guys okay?" I asked and then thought about the question I asked, deciding to rephrase it. "Well are you guys okay after the storm? I don't think that question is really valid if your talking about being okay overall."
"I think so." The smallest one, Aris, answered.
"Alright then, let's go." I said, turning on my heels and walking down the path of Cranks.
At first, I couldn't hear their footsteps after me, and I thought that maybe they didn't trust me enough to follow, which would have been fair. Then, I heard some whispers, followed by echoing steps.