It astounded me how many times people fell victim to the guards that paced the wall. They weren’t smart enough to get past them without being seen, their brain matter spewed upon the rocky structure enough to bar most others from slipping past the barrier. I was not one of those folks. The sons of bitches didn’t frighten me and I had my fair share of kills. The ministers and whatever the hell they called themselves would pay for the murders of my friends and family members that had simply been pushed out of line while being shuttled into the church. I could see their faces in my dreams, screaming and begging.
I vowed that I would not be one of them.
We had nicknamed our faction the Black Veil Brides after the widows who had lost husbands, mothers who had lost sons, fathers who had lost babies and men who had watched the loves of their lives raped and decapitated for adultery. My brothers and I made a pact that we would get as many citizens as we could out of the city to strengthen our group, to reinforce our rebellion. The revolt had just begun and our flag was starting to spread through the lower ranked people like wildfire. A five pointed star made of capitol B’s and V’s created the symbol of freedom for the people who starved and died in poverty. We were oppressed by the group F.E.A.R. that which ran the cathedral we were all pushed into each day. They brainwashed people into believing that they protected us, that without them there would be war as there had been in the past. Humans had become so afraid of change or freedom that we allowed ourselves to be locked in a box and treated like animals.
But I wouldn’t let that happen any longer. The masses needed to take hold of their liberty and my generation would start that fire. I for one knew who had created life and because of that I felt the need to save anyone and everyone I could.
I grinned wryly as I hopped up on the stairway that led to the top of the wall, now nicknamed the Wailing Wall after the once popular site in Jerusalem. However, that place had long since disappeared after the third World War that decimated humankind. The church had made peace a century ago between the remaining forces of men and women, creating this place as a haven to grow food and live. However, in the last forty years the cathedral had become an oppressive dictatorship rather than the loving liberators we had been lead to believe they were.
When I watched my best friend quartered for shits and giggles, I couldn’t take it anymore. I found others who felt as I did. We nicknamed one another so that we couldn’t be traced if our names leaked to the guards. The microchips in our arms did not match the identifications we had taken for ourselves.
Jinxx was the first to find me; he and his wife Doll had been seeking refuge when they came upon my house three years ago. My parents had eagerly taken them in before both my mother and father were hanged for unprecedented treason. I kept Doll hidden. She had been raped by a guard and they were still on the hunt for her so that she could be stoned for being a ‘whore’ according to the government. Jinxx made a good accomplice to steal food with because he had become an accomplished distraction without causing the guards to take notice while I took enough rations to feed the three of us.
Later on CC and Pitts found the place. They initially believed this to be one of the many false homes that guards occupied to spy on citizens, but had found Jinxx, Doll and I inside. When we had five people to start out with, we began joking about a name for the revolution we so desperately wished for. It took a year for that to start becoming a reality. People made flags and banners, speaking out and being shot in public. Some days I wondered if it really aided the uprising or hindered it by making people more frightened than they already were. We knew we couldn’t stop though so we started posting anonymous signs made of cloth all over the town. Our symbol of hope dotted broken down areas, the white paint standing out fitfully against desolate homes and bringing a shine to the eyes of those who knew what it meant.
Before long, the rumors had spread of a mutiny and the guards started watching more closely for those who spoke out. The ones who were caught painting our symbol suffered the worst fates, hanging for days on the Wailing Wall with their entrails displayed for the world to see.
The next to come to my home was Ashely. He was known by our group for being an unruly man and one who blatantly opposed the church. He honestly didn’t give a fuck what they thought of him and I had aided him in escaping a gathering he had spoken out at. Later on I told him that if he drew attention to us, I would personally kill him. Since that point, he has become one of the quietest assassins out of the six of us. He saved mostly women, proving himself a Casanova of sorts. It worked to our advantage though because the girls he saved joined our cause. Surprisingly enough it was the women who were braver than the men, dragging their masculine other halves and family members into the cause.
As I made it to the top of the wall, I quickly pulled out a dagger and began cutting bodies from the side so that the ministry would be forced to bury them. They wouldn’t put rotting flesh back up with new rope because of the expense of such a commodity. The mask over my nose and mouth blended with the darkness of the hoodie I sported, skinny jeans slightly uncomfortable but making it more ninja like to maneuver around. It was my duty to do this today, to escape from the throng of people making way to the cathedral in order to save some of the dignity of the dead. Jinxx had told me that he had gone up there one day and found a man still alive, begging to be killed.
And for that thought, I was thankful to be cutting down dead bodies rather than live ones.
There were only twenty foot sections they used to hang folk so my work was quickly done. However, I noticed that there was something wrong with the crowd of people filing into the place of worship. Even through the rain and despite the distance, I noted that they had stopped. With quick feet, I dashed down the steps and made way towards the mob as silently as I could. It was easy to get to the front of the line by taking routes through the shantytowns that dotted the area. Cobblestone pavement was silent beneath my boots and as I ran, I started to feel more and more concerned with the positioning of the people.
As I made my way to the front, I paused in the shadows and watched as a young boy stood on the top step, waving our flag triumphantly. I swallowed and shook my head at his bold hotheadedness, the warrior of youth standing proudly even as he looked death in the eye. He was fucking stupid to say the least, but brave nonetheless for taking a shot at the new world order.
But then I glanced down at the crowd, watching a young woman staring up at him with horror. Her bright red hair cascaded down to her shoulders, wide hazel eyes aghast as this young boy displayed his colors dutifully. He seemed to show remorse for her, but even as I started to feel sorry for them, his blood was sprayed over the crowd and he fell to the ground with an ominous thump.
The young woman with the copper locks was covered in the ruby substance, a guttural scream echoing from her wide spread lips. Her hands went to cover her face, still screeching as she attempted to wipe away the gore. It was then she noticed the dead boy laying in a pool of crimson on the steps, her tiny body falling to its knees as she touched him lovingly.
And then a guard positioned a gun at her head.
I don’t know what the fuck possessed me to run after her, but I did. My feet pounded against the wet floor, slipping slightly as I headed up the stairs. I was scrambling to get to this woman, her wide eyes now turning defiant as the guardsman stared her down. She glared at him even as I ran at her, standing swiftly and crying out. There was something in the way she moved, the manner of her facial expressions showing her defiance as she seemed to tell them that she would not give in and that she would never surrender.
“You will never have us! You will never have me! I am bulletproof!” she shrieked at him defiantly, eyes blazing with all the seven hells.
It was then that I blindsided her, just as the gun went off where her head would have been. The bullet shot through the skull of the man standing behind her, a female voice crying out even as I regained my orientation. I grabbed her by the elbow, dragging her behind me as I ran. She fought against me but as I turned to her, I was stunned by her pale skin and bright amber eyes for just a split second. Those orbs were full of confusion and I couldn’t help her without saying something.
“Get your ass up and fucking run,” I growled, “Hurry up!”
She scrambled to keep up with me but somehow she did. The guards chased us, but we weren’t far from one of the nearby safe houses we could hide in. I didn’t know what the hell I was doing with this girl or why I had saved her but there was something about her I couldn’t help rescuing. There was a fire inside of her that I had witnessed, that instant where I had ran at her had sparked me forward. As we ran, I quickly made out the escape route, pulling her into a hole that we often used to flee. She nearly squealed as I did so, but I hurriedly muffled the sound by covering her mouth with my hand.
It was then that I realized she was pressed up against me. Her body seemed somewhat hollow, but there was a strength to it. Her short stature made the top of her head barely reach the bottom of my jaw and her frail frame made me want to protect her. However, when she elbowed me in the gut it really fucking hurt. She wasn’t as delicate as she seemed and in more than one way that was attractive to me. Maybe it was just that I hadn’t been with anyone in a long time or perhaps it was because I felt so defensive of this young woman but I didn’t want her to move from where she sat.
To distract myself from this, I looked out of the darkness to watch as the guards passed, trying to keep her hushed so they wouldn’t find us. She squirmed against me and I tightened my grip, keeping our faces hidden from the world above. It wasn’t until she bit down on my flesh that I released her into the tiny dug out space of dirt. We were still so close that we were touching, but she had managed to turn to face me with all the anger she could muster. Somehow she scorned me with her eyes alone.
“What the fuck!” she whispered spitefully, eyes filled with tears of fury and sadness, “Who the fuck do you think you are!”
I smiled at her, drinking in her anger with something that resembled lust, but I put that aside. She was beautiful despite the blood on her, but I knew I couldn’t think about that. She had obviously lost someone she loved because the expression in her eyes showed all the agony she didn’t show in her posture. The copper haired woman stood tall though I could see the weight on her shoulders, the sadness dragging her down tangibly. All I wanted to do was pick her up and carry her home, but she looked like a spitfire. I swallowed.
“I just saved you,” I admitted honestly in low tones with a shrug of my shoulders. There was disbelief in her eyes.
“What the hell did you do that for,” she snarled, though her voice was still hushed. The sound was strangled as though she had done it so that she would die and I had interrupted her suicide. I felt my eyes go wide.
“Because I couldn’t let you die,” I replied, watching as her eyes widened.
“Why?” she asked. I shrugged again.
“I don’t know,” I answered truthfully. Her body slumped forward, her hair obscuring her face. She started to quiver like a leaf so I started talking to distract her. “What’s your name?”
She glanced up at me with those topaz eyes.
“I…I don’t know,” she murmured, “I don’t have anyone now. How can I have a name? I’m no one.”
“That’s not true,” I uttered, feeling as she nearly collapsed. I was thankful for the close proximity and I quickly grabbed her, supporting her full weight. She glanced up at me again, eyes full of questions.
“Who are you?” she whimpered, her voice ever so slightly strangled. I smiled.
“Just call me Sixx,” I replied, “Now I think the guards are gone. Will you come with me?” She swallowed and glanced at her feet before meeting my gaze once again. I tilted my head at her, watching as she bit her lip and let her shoulders fall.
“I have nowhere else to go,” she uttered.
“Well now you do,” I stated gently, wondering why I felt such a strong connection to a girl I didn’t even know the name of. I just wanted to protect her from any danger or grief she might come to. I shook the thought away. That was something too stupid for words to explain away.
The gist of the matter was, I saw fire in her and she had enough cause as any of us to join the rebellion.
I helped her out of the hideout and grabbed her by the arm, leading her hastily towards our main base.