When the sickness came everyone over 14 fell sick, the lucky ones died. The others, well, they are crazed, infected, and hungry. The only people left were the children, they had no idea what was happening in the rest of the world, the last news report said the disease was only in the area surrounding London. Then why had no one come to help had it spread? Was it all over the world? They didn't know, but they did know how to survive, together. That was the only way, using everyone abilities to get through this.
Maxie stood there, as she watched the younger children play in the car park. It was outside their base, Waitrose, but there were no grown-ups around so she decided to let them play. Maxie was the only girl over 10 in the group and, at first, she thought she wouldn't fit in. but she had always been a tomboy and no one seemed to mind her being there. On the other side of town there were the kids who had made base at Morrison's, their group was like theirs. Most girls had ran and got themselves eaten in the first few months of the disease. But not her, she was resourceful and she knew how to shoot a mac-11 (not that she had ever told anyone that until she was captured) as well as various other firearms. She kept her mini-Uzi and mac-11 safely wrapped in tissue paper in her backpack. She knew she had to save every bullet, no adults (no non-cannibals anyway) meant no factories working meaning that no more ammo was going to be manufactured. She was also talented with a sword, dagger, bow and spear. But she only carried a dagger everything else was to heavy as she had established earlier on. She hadn't planned to join them it just sort of happened, on the day she joined she had been watching one of the Waitrose scavenger groups and had ambushed it she had all 4 of them on the ground begging not to be killed in no time whatsoever. At the time she hadn't realized the leader coming up behind her until he had an arm around her neck from behind, she had stabbed him in the hand and he had let go but while that was all happening the others had got up. 'shit' she had whispered and had to back flip her way out of the circle they had made to surround her. But, again, the leader was ready and grabbed her arms and held them behind her back. She had stabbed, cut, slashed, hit and kicked him but there was only so much she could do. She was taken to Waitrose and had been sat down in a chair while they ties her wrists and ankles to it. What a mess she had been thinking, survived crazy cannibal adults for a year and I get taken down by a bunch of boys! And now here she was.
'what were you doing on the streets on your own?' one asked, he had glasses, ginger hair and freckles across his nose. They were interrogating her and she had stayed silent. 'yeah, what were you doing?' they didn't seem to realize I couldn't physically answer with my mouth gagged! The leader wasn't there as soon as the had unlock the gates to their base he had walked off leaving her with the others. That was when she had first realized there were no girls here, not that she wanted there to be, most girls were useless unless they could defend themselves with most couldn't. 'you guys she can't answer with her mouth gagged, can she?' she felt someone come up behind her and untie the fabric that had been used to stop her biting anyone. 'oh yeah, right' they all murmured I turned round and glared at the leader. My eyes are black you see, and can be extremely scary when I make them be. 'did you ever think to check her bag?' he asked, they were right to make him the leader, all the rest didn't seem to have any brains. But right now she wished one of the others were. 'Aaron where were you?' a boy with harsh eyes and blond hair asked. So the leader was named Aaron, pathetic name. 'had to go get some plasters' he said grudgingly, they all looked confused 'she's feisty' he explained. He took my bag and took things out. The 15 cans of tinned fruit I had, 2 packs of biscuits, a can opener, my blackberry, my iPod touch, my solar charger, my torch and batteries (20 packs) and then, my guns. But they didn't know they were guns yet. 'you don't want to open those' I warned smug, they all looked surprised to hear me speak 'I'm not mute' I said annoyed 'why not?' Aaron asked, sceptical 'well I'm not sure I locked them right' I said, he looked more confused than ever and just carried on. 'Oy be careful' I said 'the mac-11 and I go back a long way' they all started repeating the gun name, trying to understand 'please tell me you boys know what I'm talking about?' I asked, they all looked ashamed 'ugh' I groaned, 'the mac-11 and the mini-Uzi are all sub-machine pistols.' I said most had their mouths hanging open 'what?' I asked annoyed once again. 'who exactly are you?' Aaron asked 'why would I tell you that?' I retorted, they groaned. Obviously not liking how difficult I was being 'practically all the girls died how come your alive' I scoffed, what a compliment, why are you alive? 'do I look like I would go running to a make-up store when England is practically infested with zombies? No. I got my guns, packed up and was going to go home but yeah, I can't row a boat and I couldn't be bothered' Aaron shook his head 'shall we let her go?' he asked 'Ollie what do you think?' the boy who talked to me first looked up 'she seems more trouble than she's worth, to me' he said 'yeah but she can fight' another boy said, he had brown messy hair and a sharp spear resting on his lap 'Achilles, I didn't ask your opinion. You probably just want to borrow one of her guns' Aaron said. I was getting used to their names now 'yeah borrow one and it'll be fun to watch your spine shatter' I smirked. 'can you do anything else?' Ollie asked 'what do you mean?' I asked playing dumb just to be annoying 'what other abilities have you assimilated in your life?' most of the other look confused by the new word but I wasn't stupid 'I'll start then, I not that talented' I said, because I wasn't, not in a good way anyway 'ok. Lets see. I'm trained to shoot sub-machine pistols and assault rifles, also some snipers but I don't like them, to heavy. I've learnt to sword fight, use a dagger, a spear and a bow. I did gymnastics, martial arts-the defending-peaceful type and painful-intended-to-kill-you type- I did military training for 4 years at a boarding school and that's about it' I summed up 'ok right, lets vote then' Ollie said no one seemed to want to insult me again and that seemed reasonable, considering I still had my knife in my boot. I never did explain my clothing did I? ok so I'm in black skinny jeans, a royal-blue vest top, and a black leather jacket on top. Along with black bicker boots which had a pocket on the inside to conceal a knife. They untied my ankles before they were about to vote. I smiled, big mistake. I quickly turned my body and chopped the chair in half with my foot, releasing my hands, I whipped my knife from my boot-pure black Stygian iron-and cut the rope. I climbed up the wall and sat on their gate 'so are you going to vote or what?' I asked 'um, what's the point you can go if you want' Aaron said, boys were confused so easily 'ok, 1-my stuff is down there 2- I need a good spot to watch you fight 3-I've had enough experience to know when there's a fight going your best to fuel it from a distance' I said they nodded 'vote then' I said obviously impatient. They got on with it and it was a tie 4 either side 'this will be interesting' I murmured 'right ok, so when do you guys think she should go?' Aaron asked obviously trying to get his head round the whole thing, pathetic. What I didn't tell them was my fuel for the argument 'oh there is one thing I forgot to tell you' I said smiling 'yeah? What's that?' Ollie asked sceptical 'I can control the elements' I said absently, as I picked the dirt from under my nails with my knife 'yeah right' they all scoffed I waved my hand and I made a staircase out of rock 'really, this shouldn't be to hard to convince you though' they all thought it was a joke 'ok then prove it' they said Aaron stepped forward 'water' he said, I walked over to the water bucket in the corner and corrected my stance, I had to hide this for so long I was a little stiff but I was still a master. I formed a whip out of water and then made it freeze. Then I made it melt and formed it back into a whip and lead it back into the bucket 'rock' he said next I sighed. I made myself a podium and raised 5 lumps of rock and made the spin just by spinning my wrist round and round. I made them collide and let them fall 'throw a spear' I said emotionlessly Achilles stepped forward spear in grip and an evil grin across his face he threw in directly at me. I pulled my arms up, level with each over to make the ground raise and make a shielded. The spear clattered harmlessly off the rock I let my arms down, pushing the rock back into the ground 'air' he said 'I'll need a volunteer for this' I said jumping off my podium (that was about 8ft of the ground) and pushed it back into the ground as well. 'no' he said 'I won't hurt anyone' I said faking sweetness as I glowered at them 'all I'm going to do is throw wind in their face a levitate them a little bit' I said, 'fine' who wants to volunteer?' he asked no one stepped forward 'guess that means me' he mumbled, I swirled my hands in a circular motion forming currents and then threw it at him. 'ok so you created a little wind what does that prove?' he said, he was uncertain though 'fine stand still otherwise I might crush you' I said 'might?' Achilles said, laughing. It seemed hilarious to him 'you want me to levitate you?' I said and he shut up, I focused on lifting him up. Controlling the air currents but I lifted me instead 'for gods sake' I murmured 'ok we see you can do air' Ollie stepped in 'fine' I grumbled, annoyed I was so out of practice I couldn't lift him, 'fire?' I prompted 'what? No' Aaron said 'why not?' I protested 'it's my favourite' I said with a smirk 'ok no tricks I'll just make fire' they all look pale, scared, of me! It was so funny. I simply burst a flame in my palm and traced an 'M' in the air so the smoke made the M appear. 'believe me now?' I said, they nodded 'ok carry on, do you want me here or not?' Aaron nodded, Achilles, the blond guy, and his mate next to him. Another 2 who looked exactly the same-emmos, and this black haired gut who had kept himself to himself all this time. The only one not voting to keep me was Ollie 'well ok' I said 'oh and Ollie, try to stay clear of me when I have a gun in my hand…I don't like you' the other made a low ooooo like they wanted to make him more scared I picked up my bag and my guns strapping their ammo bags to their barrels securely and then wrapping them up in the tissue paper then shoving them in my bag.
And so here I was watching the kids on my first day at least they didn't find me scary. Along with Callum he had voted to keep me in here and was lookout. Then I heard a sweeping sound, like dragging. 'Callum what's that?' I asked 'GROWN-UPS' he called ringing a bell. I saw them coming and grabbed a plank of wood, and quickly sharpened the end into a point with my dagger. It would do. I encircled the children by making the ground chasm around them wide, and deep. Like a moat. I told them to try not fall into the hole in the ground and charged to the grown-ups. There were about 15 of them, easy. I kart wheeled to them, and conked everyone of the head as they got close and then stabbed them in the neck to finish them off. The tried to grab me but I dodged any, spit, hands or swipes. The worst that could happen was I would get infected. And that wasn't going to happen. They were all down and I made the ground where the all lay lift up and chucked it the air lit it alight and chucked it down the road. 'c'mon lets get you guys in side' I said filling in my moat and chucking my wood aside, dagger in boot, so I could hold two of the youngest hands. One had a puppy 'aw that's cute, what's its name?' I asked 'puppy' the little boy said 'that's nice, does it like chews?' I asked, the little one nodded furiously 'I found some in a pet store and thought I'd give them to any dogs I came across, so it looks like there all for puppy' I said he smiled. When I walked in, they all just stared at me, they were probably shocked that I was so nice to the younger ones 'I can be nice when I want to' I grumbled as I passed Aaron, he shook his head 'we have to talk' he said sounding stressed. That can't be good. I gave the little boy the chews and a packet of fruit pastels to share with everyone and went to find Aaron.
'what did you want me for? I'm sorry if I messed up your car park but I didn't want the grow-ups to get to the children or the children to run near the adults' I said explaining myself. Someone put an am over my shoulder I scowled, and growled and twisted the arm off making make a snap sound and as some of the other boys became present they chuckled at their friends miss fortune. But once again Aaron had my arms behind my back 'if you want to stay you can't hurt everyone else' he said firmly 'Achilles are you ok?' he asked I turned and saw that his arm was bent at a weird angle. 'you can't flirt with her mate' the boys called 'you telling me' Achilles groaned on the floor. I smirked 'now what did you want to have a go at me for?' I realized at the beginning it was just me and Aaron in the room. Either it had filled in or they had been hiding. I guessed they were just late and filed in. 'how many adults were there?' he asked straight to the point 'about 15' I said quietly he nodded 'did they touch you? Bite you? Hurt you at all?' I shook my head 'well done' he said smiling and patted my back as did some others 'what?' I said he looked puzzled 'I put the kids in danger by letting them out, I wrecked the car park and a perfectly good piece of wood that you could have used for something else!' I protested I wasn't used to easy praise and I didn't like it. 'but you got rid of them on your own and no one did get hurt so everythings good' he said smiling once again 'fine' I grumbled most of them laughed 'I didn't know you could be nice' Achilles said from a chair looking really pissed with me. 'yeah to people who deserve it, like those scared kids' I said 'and you gave them a pack of sweets? You do know you wont be getting them for a while, or ever' he said I nodded 'yeah but sweets for kids who are scared is like antibiotics when your ill, it helps' I said 'did you have any kids in your family?' Ollie asked I shrugged 'I don't know I was always at different boarding schools, I wasn't ever at home. A pest, waste of space' I said. No one really knew what to say after that and it didn't help that I was playing with my knife again, but hey, I was bored. I slung my backpack off and pulled out the tins of fruit and biscuits and sweets and all the other things I had on me along with 13 large bars of galaxy. 'here' I said shoving them into a single plastic bag 'what's this?' Aaron asked 'to prove I won't run away we share the food I got' I said 'and plus when the kids get on your nerves best tactic is to let them argue over a biscuit' I smiled as he took the bag. I wasn't on my own anymore 'thanks' he said 'welcome, oh and I sort of gave the kid with the puppy some chews for his dog hope that's ok' I said not really asking for permission, just to let him know 'well he'll probably hang around with you from now on' they all laughed 'why?' I asked not getting the joke 'well the last one to give him something I.e. me' Aaron said, I nodded 'well he didn't leave me alone, well now its your turn. You now have a new shadow' I shook my head 'great' I said sarcastic when I got interrupted by the boy with the puppy. 'Maxie! Maxie!' he called sounding upset. I crouched down to meet him 'what's the matter peter?' I asked softly 'the other kids keep trying to throw Puppy around, and trying to hurt him' he said nearly sobbing 'do you want me to sort them out?' I asked, he nodded weakly 'ok lets go them' I took his hand and walked out to where the kids were playing, they all straightened up as I walked the corner, I smiled.
'So guys, what so you think of her?' I asked the rest of the group. Yes she was a good fighter but could we trust her. Well Achilles was the only one to get hurt, it could have been worse. 'Maxie?' Ben said sceptical 'what do you think her really name is?' he asked. They were going off the subject and they didn't have long before she came back 'we don't know that that isn't her real name Ben' I said impatient 'how about we get Achilles to ask?' they burst out laughing and I had to smile 'god no, I like limbs un-broken thank you very much' he said 'so what team should we put her in?' I asked desperate to get somewhere 'I say defence' Ollie offered 'no! she should be in the scavenge group' Berney said and Ben nodded in agreement 'what no I do not want to be in the same group as her' Achilles protested 'what do you think' Callum asked him 'I say defence but she seems to know where to go to get food, why don't we ask her?' I asked what I really wanted was for her to scavenge she had sweets and biscuits and she knew how to fight. But he saw reason in defence as well if they weren't there and they were attacked she was the best person to take them all down. 'ask me what?' and he turned round to see Maxie smiling and leaning on the door frame
I really didn't know why they were talking about me but I couldn't care less. They were the family I never had and family fought and within families there were enemies. 'so what did you want to ask me?' I said smiling a little. I didn't want to seem a threat all the time 'what group do you want to be in?' Ollie asked quickly a quietly like he didn't want to be heard 'it's up to you, we couldn't decide' Aaron explained 'ok…so what does each group do?' I asked not wanting to make a rush decision 'there'd defence, you guard here when were on scavenge, and guard together when were not scavenging' Aaron explained that didn't sound to bad 'or you can scavenge going through houses killing birds, whatever we can find' he offered the second one, but I didn't want to kick someone out of that group so I dismissed it 'and then there are the minor rolls like looking after the kids, looking after peter, medic that type of stuff' he explained 'defence' I decided confident in my decision 'I like kids and I'm good at finding things but I'm best as defence' I said, he nodded 'what if I object?' Ollie said 'well she decided so its to bad' Aaron said 'and you might have your face rearranged in the morning' I answered sweetly, they all laughed but Ollie looked pale 'right' he murmured 'just wanted to know' I did a few simultaneous back-flips out of the room and got back to Peter 'are you ok?' I asked glowering at the girl who had tried to hurt Puppy. 'yeah, she hasn't been mean and Puppy likes the chews' he said smiling while the girl hid behind a tree. 'ok I'll see you later then' I said ruffling his hair as I walked away 'bye Maxie!' he called and I waved. If there weren't thousands of grown-ups trying to engulf me then this would be a real nice day apart from me being tie to a chair, but still, a nice day. 'hey' I turned to see Aaron, 'we never did get your name' he said, the way he used we made me uncomfortable like I wasn't entirely excepted yet 'Maxie' I said without any anger or hate, it was weird but I couldn't be mean to him he was the leader and I didn't want to get throw out. He smiled 'what?' I asked 'nothing' he said back simply 'when did you know you could go all that stuff with water and fire?' he asked 'you mean bend?' I asked, he nodded 'only a few months ago' I said looking down, I knew I was a freak I didn't try to hide it. So if I told you to set on fire that bin over there-' he began 'done' I said. He looked over my shoulder and he looked confused, then I put the fire out so it didn't freak the kids. He smiled 'water and fire your favourite?' he asked smiling 'fire and air' I smiled back and then ran extra fast away with the obvious help of my air bending.
'Did you get to talk to her?' Ollie asked when he came back into the room, everyone was there, all scrutinising his expression. Well everyone except Maxie and the kids. 'yeah' I said not wanting to talk 'and..?' they questioned 'I just asked her when she found out she could bend, that's all' I said uncomfortably 'that's it?' Achilles said 'well its more than what you got!' I retorted 'true, but did you come away unscaved?' he asked hoping to catch me out 'yes, yes I did' I answered smug, his jaw dropped 'how? She's so violent!' he said and it made me angry that he was so quick to judge and I realized the others were just watching us argue 'she violent to you, not everyone, the kids for example' I retorted pleased 'and you' he snickered 'maybe that's because I didn't go out of my way to patronize her!' I objected what he was getting at. 'fine you win, but your gunna be the one to talk to her none of us want to risk it' they all nodded 'fine, but don't be so quick to judge' I said and sat down and we talked about plans and food storages.
I was so bored, but I couldn't intrude on their "meeting". so I just practiced my archery. I hit target after target, bull's-eye after bull's-eye. I sighed and went to go retrieve my arrows. Life can be so tedious some times, but it will pass. Well that's what I kept telling myself. I heard a snickering and spun round arrow ready 'easy, don't kill me' it was Callum 'what do you want?' I asked trying my hardest not to sound annoyed 'it was just funny seeing you hit perfectly every time' he said a smile on his face 'how's that funny exactly?' I asked failing in my earlier attempt 'well you don't seem to be happy with perfection' he said and a shot an arrow so close to his head I skewered some of his hair to the tree a few metres behind 'you were saying?' I said faking sweetness, he turned around and smiled 'you just proved my point' he said, smug 'if you don't beat it soon you will see just how accurately I can shoot, ok?' he nodded 'what going on?' Aaron asked as he came out of the building 'nothing' I lied 'didn't look like nothing' he said but he wasn't angry at me, he was glowering at Callum. He held his hands up 'I was just saying how she's not happy with perfection' he defended 'this is why, Callum, you can't master a weapon' Aaron said 'how many have you mastered Maxie?' he asked, I smiled 'sub-machine pistols and assault rifles, some snipers, sword fight, daggers, spears and a bow. I've mastered other thing that aren't weapons but you know those' I was smug finally I didn't have to hide all this 'oh and the four elements' I added forgetting Aaron smiled 'now, Callum do you see the importance of not being happy with perfection?' he said patronizing him, he nodded and groaned 'yeah' and walked off 'thanks' I said Aaron turned a smiled, 'welcome' he was staring at my bow 'you shoot?' he looked down 'not well' I felt bad for him he didn't know how to use a bow, but he wanted to and I was going to let him try 'I'll teach you some time' I said 'you shoot well?' I snickered 'depends on you definition of well' I said he tilted his head but left it. 'see you later' he said and walked off. I sighed, again, boredom engulfed me. I had my iPhone in my pocket, I had rewired and modified it so it runs through a solar battery not a battery you have to recharge I foresaw this disease coming and I was ready, and I had nearly found some sort of cure, but I had to leave the lab to find somewhere safe to hide and haven't found any lab equipment since. I got it out of my pocket and found several messages from Orange 'ugh how do they still manage to send this junk?' I said to myself 'what's that?' it was Ollie, what was this come pester Maxie day? 'nothing' I said slipping it into my pocket 'what was it?' he persisted 'if I remember correctly you said I wasn't worth keeping, so why should I tell you?' I asked bitter 'you shouldn't, you might as well go tell Aaron' he said I screwed up my face 'I wouldn't show him either' I said and he looked up hopeful 'why?' I shook my head 'I'm not the spill your guts sort of person' I said and he nodded 'now can I actually get some practice in? I keep getting interrupted, first Callum, then Aaron and now you!' I protested 'oh and I still want to kill you but your bellow Callum now' I said smiling, 'see you later if I'm not dead by then' he said and walked off smiling.
I had hoped to see Maxie before Callum but he had beaten him to it. He was a fast little bugger when he wanted to be. But I was pleased that I had been able to sort out their argument. I smiled, she was going to teach him archery, hopefully no one would see them he didn't want to seem weak but he needed to have a proper weapon, an axe handle didn't exactly scream dangerous. Ollie what was he walking to the practice area? I slid behind a pillar and watched as he approached Maxie who had something in her hand. 'what's that?' he asked, he was so nosey he probably just wanted to talk to her, show off to Freak and Deke later. 'nothing' she replied and I felt like laughing at him, I didn't know why, it just made me fell…what? Better? I was seriously going crazy or I was just ill or dieing. Either way we couldn't stay here much longer we were running out of edible food. 'what was it?' he pushed, he should know, if he wanted to get a girl to tell him something then he should push her it just made them annoyed. He couldn't talk despite being on the football team and quite popular he never had a girlfriend. Lots have asked him but he never said yes. But he did know quite a bit he had lots of friend, girls and boys. Maxie was the sort of girl he would hang out with but she a hell of a attitude. Most of the girls he hung out with had an easy life, she, well, she hadn't he could tell. And the girls he hung out with weren't ever dressed like they were going to kill you, and didn't have a knife in their boots. He had noticed it despite how quick she had got it out and but it away, no one else had noticed so he decided not to tell them in. she was totally biting him out with if I remember correctly and referring to how he wanted he gone wasn't worth keeping were her words then she asked why she should tell him, I didn't think she should. Anyway didn't they all say they were to scared to talk to her? So it was my job! Ugh this was pathetic I was prepared to argue with Ollie and Callum because they talked to Maxie, well I was going to embarrass them. Ollie looked upset 'you shouldn't, you might as well go tell Aaron' he said bitterly, there it was. Everyone jumping to conclusions. oh of course Aaron will get the girl he's the popular one. To be honest I would prefer not to have been popular, you didn't know who your friends were, and you just got stereotypical views from people. He hadn't even planned it that way he just liked playing football like Freak and Deke with their spray painting they had their tag everywhere and I do mean everywhere. 'I wouldn't tell him either' she said. For some reason I wanted to go punch Ollie for making her say that. What was I saying? He hadn't made her say that. But I wanted her to trust me, so she could trust someone so she felt like she could fit in. I realized to late my slip up earlier when I had said we instead of I. I had seen on her face the disappointment. I felt better when she said she still wanted to kill him and Callum, but she said nothing about me. Maybe she forgot or maybe she didn't hate me as much as she made out. That gave me hope though, I knew it shouldn't but If Maxie could survive on her own for months on her own with no proper shelter then maybe we could too, we including her. When Ollie walked of, she went to get what she had before out of her pocket, I walked off. What ever she had she would show me on her own accord not mine. We arranged a meeting and I walked in and looked around 'where's Maxie?' I asked 'she not here' Achilles said 'I'll go get her' I said and turned 'why you?' Callum asked 'earlier you guys said I was the one to talk to her so that's what I'm doing' I said acting confused Ollie and Callum looked down blushing, everyone was staring at them. I walked out pleased.
I knew they were having a meeting but she didn't want to intrude. She had thought they were having a meeting earlier but it look like it had been postponed to annoy her. 'hey' she was about to kill whoever that was but she turned to see Aaron and she couldn't, she only had one friend who treated her normally and she wasn't going to throw him out the window. 'hey' I said back and smiled. I walked over to him. I realized my iPhone was in my hand. 'what's that?' he asked I looked down and then shoved it into my pocket when I looked up his face had fell like he was upset 'nothing' I said repeating the conversation I had had with Ollie. 'ok' he said smiling 'your not going to keep asking?' I asked shocked at his, well, respect for me and my decisions. 'no, why would I do that? You don't want me to know that's fine' he said simply and looking confused by my objection. 'its my phone' I said 'the blackberry?' he asked smiling by my decision to tell him no doubt, boys were so easy to please. A wave or a smile meant the world to most. She shook her head 'no…' I paused, I could trust Aaron, I think. '…my iPhone' I said and took it out of my pocket and gave it to him, this was more than he expected 'sweet' he said I smiled at him 'here look' I said and went to stand next to him and showed him CoD and how I had all of them on there. 'you play Call of Duty?' he asked and I nodded 'and far cry 2 there the best' I said and he nodded 'still haven't found all the golden guns though' he said 'neither, I know where they are I just can't reach them' I said annoyed 'anyway we're having a meeting now, wanna come?' he asked 'you want me there?' I asked shocked that he would ask me to be there he nodded 'why not?' he questioned back, he handed me the phone back and I slipped it in my pocket.
We walked back to the room at the back of Waitrose reserved for meetings and as we went in I held the door open for Maxie 'thanks' she said turning back to me and smiling and that made me happy again. At least she trusted me more than the others like I had wanted her to. They all stared open mouthed, I hadn't got hurt and she had said thanks to me, ha they looked really, really envious. She could have sat by herself but she sat next to me, stunning the others further. 'right so whose going on the scavenge party tomorrow?' I asked looking around, Achilles but his hand up 'I'll go' and he stared at Maxie and she scowled at him and he stopped smiling at her. Then Ollie put his hand up, trying to impress her as well no doubt but he was a good strategist if we got in trouble. 'I'll go as well' he said and Maxie snorted 'what do you fight with, a slingshot?' she asked, he reddened as he did fight with a slingshot 'its better than your guns!' he said and Maxie's pupils went so black and large all the coloured bit was black, pitch black. 'oh shall we fight and then we can see, that will be fun wouldn't it four-eyes' she said. She had leant forward on her chair and I put my hand on her shoulder and pulled her back. Achilles eyes widened as I was able to touch her shoulder without getting attacked. Maxie slumped in her chair, like a stroppy kid. I smiled. 'you can fight him afterwards' I said and she nodded 'yeah right, by then he would have ran for the hills' she said upset. I felt bad but I didn't know what else to say. 'ok who else?' I asked 'that's only two' I said 'three' Maxie corrected, I stared at her puzzled she laughed 'if I remember rightly when you captured me' she said screwing up her face 'you were on the scavenge team I would have got away otherwise' she said I nodded 'right yeah three' she smiled resilient 'we'll go' said Freak and Deke in unison, but didn't stare at Maxie at all. Deke had been on the football team with me but the lucky bugger wasn't popular but he could have got girls if he wasn't spending all his time with Freaky but the two were inseparable. Maxie looked up, and looked at them and then looked down bored. She put a earphone in and blasted it up to top volume. Everyone stared 'you know the battery life won't last long' Ollie said she laughed 'not everyone is as dumb as you Ollie' she said 'I'll have you know I'm the cleverest here' she looked around the room at everyone but me 'oh dear' she said smirking 'why are you so clever then?' he asked offended now 'lets just say I got moved up a couple of years' she laughed at her inside joke, something else I wanted to know 'what do you mean?' he asked 'why-would-I-tell-you-?' she said bring their previous argument up, he looked down 'exactly' she said and went back to ignoring us.
Once the meeting had finished I tried to get out as quickly as possible 'wait up' I sighed as Achilles appeared at my side 'how come Aaron didn't get pulverized?' he asked frowning like he was waiting for me to hurt someone apart from him 'what?' I asked confused 'he pulled you back from attacking Ollie and you didn't punch him or anything' he said pouting a little 'well he didn't do it to patronize me' I said 'he did it so Ollie could still walk' I said and he looked down 'its so unfair' he mumbled 'get lost Achilles' I grumbled and shoved him into a muddy puddle 'this is what I'm talking about!' he protested trying desperately to prove his point. I smiled and did back-flip after back-flip to get away. I sat down under a tree with Peter and Puppy on my lap. 'you sure your ok?' I asked, Peter had fallen over and was upset that he had nearly crushed Puppy, I tried to tell him that Puppy was always going to get out of the way but he had carried on crying so I gave him a hug. 'yeah I'm ok now' I got out a packet of Oreos from my pocket 'here I heard puppies like Oreos' I smiled at him and he smiled back and ran off to eat the biscuits. 'your good with kids' Aaron appeared from behind a pillar and sat cross legged at my side. I bumped into him 'am not' I protested, to be honest all of the boys annoyed me but Aaron was the most annoying but he had manners something absent in most of the people here. He smiled but didn't argue 'what did you mean by you'd got moved up? You don't have to tell me, you can just shove me in a puddle like Achilles' he said smiling 'how'd you know about that?' I asked confused 'he came in socking wet and grumbling about how life wasn't fair' he chuckled 'oh right… I've been to Uni' I whispered, he stared at me shocked 'what? I said I got moved up' and I walked away. He didn't come after me. But everyone was staring especially Achilles who looked smug. What? Did they think I had hurt him? I had tried to keep this a secret, I didn't want to make them feel inferior. But I'm no good at lying and the best thing to do I people ask me a question like that is to tell them but real quiet and then you don't have to say it again and they probably wouldn't have heard but the problem was Aaron had heard and now I just had to hide I didn't want another volley of difficult questions. So I climbed a tree and went on to Facebook. I knew there were parts of the UK that weren't infected because some of my friends were talking to me, but others in Germany and Canada weren't so it sort of freaked me out. If England was the only place that was only partially infected we had to keep it that way. But I had no clue how without a lab and test subjects, ugh this was so frustrating! Calm, Maxie, calm. I climbed higher until I was at the top of the tree. I looked round on the road was a few grown-ups all looking hungry. I slung my bow of my shoulder a notched some arrows from my quiver. Every time I shot an arrow another was on there like the last had never left. One, two, three. All gone. That was easy, I could make arrows fine but I wouldn't need to one because I would retrieve those tomorrow and two because I had another bag filled to the brim with them and this bag is like luggage size, its not here though its in the house across the street. When I was planning my ambush I left it there. I carried on looking round and realized Callum was in the crows nest and had just watched me fire three arrows great another thing for them to question me about. Wait no he wouldn't have seen me because I had crouched down with my back to him so he was probably just wondering how I had got up here, that I could deal with. Then I saw all the others arguing about something about ten, fithteen metres away from the foot of the tree.
I sat there stunned, she had gone to uni. I didn't know why I hadn't said anything, if I had she probably wouldn't have gone of. I couldn't tell if it was disappointment or anger in her expression which didn't help either. I got up slowly, aware that I was going to be interrogated by all the guys who were probably staring. I walked round the training area and was heading for the big Cedar tree in the corner but got stopped 'hey wait up!' it was Ollie 'what'd you guys talk about?' I tilted my head 'what?' a sigh came from behind me, I turned and saw Achilles with a smug grin on his face. 'Maxie! What-did-you-talk-about-?' he said every word separately just to make sure I heard right I rolled my eyes 'nothing in particular, what does it have to do with you anyway?' he laughed 'well you looked quite shocked, it was funny' he said, Freak, Deke, Ben and Berney were there now 'what did she do?' Freak asked, amused 'what do you mean we were just talking' I said my hand raised in a "freeze!" position. 'she didn't stab you or knife you or anything?' Deke asked, the first time he had actually talked about Maxie and I don't know why but that annoyed me. 'no! when I came out of the building she was comforting Peter on her lap! Not hitting his brains out!' I said desperately trying to defend her without going over bored. We were in a full blown argument before long. Achilles kept insisting that the only reason she didn't hurt me was because she thought I was weak enough already. Ollie saying that he thought we should let her go and not keep her. Freak saying that she could teach us a thing or two and Ben and Berney just tried to stay out of it but kept getting drawn in for back like 'your with me aren't you Ben?' I just walked away and sat behind the Cedar where they couldn't see me. I heard a rustle from above and them I saw Maxie crouched on the lowest branch to my right. 'hey' she said smiling and I smiled back.
I smiled at him as I got of the branch and stood leaning against the tree. 'so what were you arguing about?' I asked honestly curious 'well Ollie thinks we should kick you out and Achilles is in denial' he said looking guilty but I didn't see why 'he's in denial?' I laughed 'about what?' I asked finding the whole this hysterical 'he doesn't see why you only hurt him' he said smug and I realized I had practically said I would kill everyone apart from Aaron, that needed to be fixed. 'oh I plan to hurt everyone at least once' I said matter of factly he looked down, obviously realized this did include him. 'hey don't take it personally' I said trying to lighten the mood 'ok so what do I do when your on the scavenge party?' I asked because I had no idea what the hell I was meant to be doing 'well that depends' he said 'on what?' I asked cautious 'on what you want people to see, I know you don't want them to see your archery, your ok with that dagger in your boot and I'm guessing your fine with the sword as well' he said he knew so much about me without even asking it shocked me into silence for a moment 'yeah ok I spose I prefer to use my dagger, how did you know it was in my boot?' I asked, I had been so quick so careful how had he seen? 'when you cut the ropes of your wrists you took the dagger from you boot' he said confused why I seemed so surprised I took the blade out and whipped it with a cloth so it shined pure black. 'I'm not human' I said totally involuntarily I didn't even understand what I was saying! 'what?' he asked looking a little disturbed, but I understood. I realized why when I get really angry the floor opens, I realized why I was quick to defend myself, I knew why I saw the grown-ups as an easy threat and I knew why Greek mythology interested me, I was the daughter of a god and I knew how crazy it sounded but I was right I knew I was. 'I can't tell you' I said, he was mortal, well I guess I had to be half mortal otherwise my blood would be golden, inchor-the blood of the gods. He looked upset that I couldn't tell him 'I'll give you a clue' I said and his face brightened 'Greek mythology' I said and he sighed 'I'm no good at anything intellectual' he moaned and I smiled 'its not that hard, think the big 3 main gods, then you should get it' I said 'one more clue' he pleaded 'nope' I said popping the P he bumped into me 'you so stubborn' he complained 'I know'
After that he had to go sort out the containing argument and I decided to make a tree house. I had to drag Ben and Berney out of the huddle but I eventually got to talk to the and asked for some wood and a hammer they asked what I was building and I told them to wait and see, I had also realized that Berney was a girl, though she looked exactly like Ben. I went back to the Cedar and climbed the tree with the wood slung over my back about 7 meter planks worth but they didn't weigh that much. I made a platform in a section near the top of the tree where the branches had spread and made sure it was stable by jumping up and down on it. I secure a few more ropes to it and then began on the canopy, I made it like a gazebo on top of the platform. And it look pretty good. I had lots of wood left over so I built walls. At first I thought I could only build two but I turns out I had enough for three on made the open wall face out over the street outside the confines of the Waitrose walls. I tied three ropes to a 40cm thick branch and then slid down one. Once I had got too the bottom I twisted two so that they made a thicker rope and tied them at the bottom. And left the third one alone for a thinner rope. I was proud of my self, but I wasn't done I fetched my bags and carried them up, once I was up I threw them in one corner and got out a fabric roll I had stolen from the back of the store. It was only wide enough to cover half of the open wall so I had to slice two pieces with my knife. I jumped on top of the wooden gazebo and secured the fabric to the top. I got down and looked around, it needed colour. I got the 4 spray cans out, I only liked one of the colours, duck egg blue. I sprayed it on the inside of the wood and I was done, my own personal house. I smiled and got down with the other three spray cans in my back pockets. I walked over to the fire where everyone was sat 'Maxie!' the little ones cried and I ruffled their hair as they came for a hug. Everyone else just stared I went over to Freak and Deke 'I heard you like spray paint' and gave them the cans 'oh sweet! Thanks!' and they were already discussing where and what to paint 'what were you doing?' Aaron asked, I rolled my eyes and pointed up. 'I made a tree house for myself' I said proud 'and if the adults get to near then we put the kids up there out of the way and pull the ropes up' I said smiling 'you did that in two hours?' Ollie asked 'brains aint all I got four eyes' I said and he shut up. We ate and we talked, I say we but it was really them I stayed quiet and looked into space. The fire was going out 'ugh' I groaned and twisted my wrist to make it burn brightly again, they all stared 'do you wantto freeze?' I asked and they shook their heads Aaron was the only one smirking as he looked down. After that we went to sleep, me in my tree house and them in Waitrose. I climbed up the rope really quick, rope climbing was easy and effortless. I thought I'd never get to sleep but as soon as my head hit my make-do pillow my eyes were closed and I drifted into a dreamless sleep.
I woke up and saw a lovely sunshine blazing in through my net curtain, wait what? Sunshine? Bright? No it was nearly mid-day how had I managed to get up this late I could already see the scavenge group nearly turning the corner. Why were they going that way? Were they suicidal idiots? Probably. I got dressed, brushed my hair and brushed my teeth and then slid down my rope. I didn't know how to get on the crows nest so I had to use my gym skills again, unfortunately. It always managed to make me look like a freak. I did a handstand up against the wall and hooked my feet under the gutter I didn't weight very much so when I yanked myself up it didn't groan or break. I walked on the roof until I found the crows nest, basically a very tall stick shoved in a crack in the roof with a platform on it which was only 30cm wide. 'hey' I said making Callum jump 'where are they going' I asked pointing out side the confines 'to the sports centre, vending machines I think' he said 'those idiots!' I shouted and then jumped off the roof. I ran for the wall 'will you open the gates?' I asked Ben and he shook his head 'fine!' I grumbled and ran up the wall and over the fence. I had my backpack containing; my Uzi, my bow, my quiver, my sword and some antibiotics. I sprinted for the sports centre my wind bending manipulating the air currents to make me run faster and lighter. When I reached there Freak and Deke were half swarmed my Grown-ups in the green water filled pool. Achilles was lying groaning on the floor but they hadn't noticed him yet. Ollie had just locked himself in a cupboard and locked it and Aaron was desperately trying to get rid of 20 or so Grown-ups on him alone. God boys were the stupidest living things on earth. I burst through the doors and got out my sword 'duck' I told Achilles as I slash a grown-up that was behind him. He groaned in defeat obviously not liking being up staged by a girl. I ran over to Freak and Deke I bent water around the grown-ups and froze it. Then I set them on fire inside using all my will power to keep the outside frozen. I ran back over to Aaron and my ankle gave way and I fell. I cursed. 'stupid hyper mobility' I shouted and then said 'ey over here! Look me equals easy lunch!' I didn't want to resort to this but there were to many Aaron had a large father snapping at him up close and personal and I didn't have time to hide. I slung my bow off my shoulder and fired arrow after arrow at blinding speed each shot taking a grown-up with it. They were all gone and I got up with the support of a plastic chair 'what it the bloody world were you think!' I shouted at all of them, they lowered their heads 'you ok?' Aaron asked scowled 'only asking…you fell' he said sheepishly 'ugh you just thought you'd march in here and kill them all?' I protested 'that what you did!' Achilles shouted 'how come you didn't get killed?' he asked none of them had seen me shoot the arrows, good. 'well lets see, 1. I actually have brain, 2. I'm not fighting with a poll with a spike on the end 3. I'm just a better fighter than you lot' I said smug and trying to aggravate them 'oh and Ollie you can stop hiding in the cupboard' I said laughing 'you were hiding in the cupboard while we were being ambushed?' Freak protested to Ollie 'you would let us die than help us?' they began to have a argument 'Thanks Maxie you're welcome guys' I mimicked the conversation that they should be starting 'yeah thanks Maxie, really' Aaron said 'yeah thanks' Deke and Freak said and my the looks of it Freak had won the argument with Ollie, he was sulking in the corner. 'hey pass me that lump of metal' I said pointing at the shiny object on the floor Aaron passed it to me confused I chucked it at the vending machine the must have been trying to get that was in the centre of the pool that Freak and Deke had been ambushed in. I air bended 6 chocolate bars out and they landed in my hands 'who wants chocolate?' I asked they all looked a little freaked by they whole bending thing but they wanted the chocolate I tossed them one and chucked the last two at the backs of Achilles and Ollie's head because they hadn't said thank you. 'what was that for?' Achilles asked 'bad manners' I said smiling I shoved mine in my bag 'aren't you going to have it?' Aaron asked I shook my head 'I'm allergic and plus a kid might want it back at camp' Freak snorted 'why would you give it to them?' he asked incredulous 'hey they're just kids they don't understand why they can't have this stuff anymore' I said. 'hey stop having a go at her she saved our sorry buts and all you can do is argue' Aaron said and Achilles raised a eyebrow, inside conversation I guessed. 'or I could teach them some manners with my dagger, more educational if you ask me' I said. 'that's ok I think I prefer staying in one piece' Achilles answered looking weary 'we should get going them' Aaron said and we started to move.
I could see the pain on her face as she tried to get up using her spear. I had offered her my hand to help but she dismissed it, so here we were walking down the road that lead to a crossroads. 'stop' she called and unsung her bow, looked to see if the others were watching and shot down two alleys and three behind us 'ok, safe' she said and signalled us to carry on, I gave her a confused look but she shook her head. She wasn't going to tell me everything. I heard a swiping sound, I looked to my right to see Maxie quickly sweep her surroundings, she looked pale and a little uneasy on her feet. A swarm of grown-ups game from all directions and were encircling us. Maxie looked as if she was about to snap 'NO MAS!' she shouted and she got out her dagger and stabbed it in the ground, around us was a circular crack of pure black stone and all the grown-ups just fell in. she sat down and sighed 'so much for being inconspicuous' a huge rumble shook the ground and a plume of black smoke erupted from yet another crack in the ground. Once the smoke had cleared there was a single figure standing there looking intently at Maxie. I had never realised before but she wasn't white. Well not exactly she was naturally tanned, and olive tan. She had said to get home she would have to go by boat and just now she shouted something in another language. The man stepped forward and I had to have a minute to take it all in. he had black hair just like Maxie and the same colour skin on his head was a helmet which was hard to look at, sometimes my worst nightmares sometimes it was like I merged him into the shadows. He wore a long blood red cloak with actual moving faces in horrible expressions that looked like they were being tortured. And on his feet, biker boots. He scared me, he looked like he just radiated power. Maxie bowed from the floor, in the process twisting her leg, and she cursed but again not in English but not in the same language as before, how many languages did she know? 'are you ok?' he asked obvious concern in his voice 'yeah I'm fine' she said as if she didn't want to worry him. 'I can't stay long, you know I'm not supposed to mingle with your fate but I will make sure you get to that shop of yours safely, as a can not heal you' he said as if the matter bothered him 'thank you' Maxie said with gratitude 'that you for my knife by the way' she said smiling he smiled back 'I see you like it and your harnessing your powers nicely' he said like a proud father. father, he was her father! 'it tires me though' she said begrudgingly 'the more you practice the better you will get. We don't know if the world needs you yet though Maxie, immortality seems like the only way to go with this' he said 'I know, but what if they don't want me? I'm practically an out cast' her fathers face darkened 'you're an outcast like me, so you may have to stay with me and Persephone' he said and Maxie smiled 'really?' she sounded so…excited! He smiled at he reaction and then moved for forward, we sort on hovered forward. He put his index finger to Maxie's forehead and hummed some words in the same language Maxie had cursed in. 'you are now immortal' he moved back smiling at her 'thank you' she said and lowed her head as he disappeared. She didn't say anything but I knew that she felt better but even immortality couldn't heal what was already there. She literally glowed she seemed so full of energy. Out of her backpack she took out her sword also pure black but with gold engravings of torture and death we all cringed apart from Maxie who seemed to be admiring it. She traced a few patterns and then used it to haul herself up and lent on it to help her stand. She tapped the end of her spear and it compacted into a pocket sized cylinder and in the bag that went. 'come on' she said 'its getting dark'
I could tell they were all freaked out but at the most only Aaron knew that was my father. He wouldn't have to make a very big assumption to find out what god of the big three has Persephone as a wife. But you know these were boys we're talking about he might not guess. I leant on my sword and hobbled along. We were just about half way there when I heard a deafening crack and I shot of pain went straight to my knee. I cursed in ancient Greek again and again. I screamed and protested and then collected myself 'I'm ok' I said but Aaron raised an eyebrow and Ollie kept hitting his ear like he couldn't hear properly after my scream. We walked a bit more, with every step there was more tiny cracks each hurting ten times worse than the last but I kept quiet. It was only when we reached the cross roads that I realized we still had to go through 3 estates to get back. We sat down the boys were hungry and I had to inspect my leg. I took a drink of water and then pulled up my trouser leg. From the knee down was patches of black, purple and yellow there was no visible skin anywhere. 'great just great' I murmured 'what the matt-' Aaron was cut off when he saw my leg. I shoved my trouser leg down angrily 'I'm fine' I persisted through my teeth. 'you don't look fine' he said 'c'mon we have to get going' Ollie said and they all moved on. 'c'mon then' Aaron said we were going to be left behind. I sighed and he put his hand out to help me up and I took it this time I was to tired to protest. He did help me up but he put that same arm over his shoulder and grabbed me round the waist. I protested I didn't want any help that showed weakness and I couldn't afford to show that. But he was taller that me and a lot heavier I couldn't win, this was exactly how he had captured me last time. I sighed 'you're annoying you know that?' I said while stabbing his arm but he wouldn't cut it was annoying I could hurt him using my right hand I was left handed! He just smiled. 'I know' he said 'and your being difficult I' trying to help' I lowered my head 'yeah I know, habit sorry' he nodded 'hard life, yeah?' I was about snap at him but I held it back, I nodded 'you could say that' he looked away 'your dad's…um-' I laughed 'scary?' he nodded 'I hope so otherwise he wouldn't be doing his job' I said 'have you figured it out yet?' I asked, he shook his head 'I have lots of separate ideas but they don't fit together' he said sounding disappointed. We had caught the other up and I didn't feel so good but we only had a block to go not far now 'you haven't even figured out who my dad is?' I whispered so the others wouldn't hear they were arguing loudly again anyway. He looked at me and shook his head 'ok then let me give you a hint and some history, after world war one the big three-Zeus, Poseidon and Hades-all swore never to have any more kids with humans as that was what world war one was a fight between the children of the big three and they were just to powerful. Zeus broke that promise with Thalia Grace first, then Poseidon with Percy Jackson and Hades has never broke it he had kids from before, Bianca and Nico de Angelo. Zeus-god of the sky, Poseidon-god of the sea, earthquakes and hurricanes and Hades-god of the dead' I said and waited for him to take it all in. 'now do you understand or do you need one more hint' I said smiling smugly 'one more hint' he said, poor him I can't imagine growing up with this little brain cells. 'Bianca died on a quest with Percy and some others but Nico's alive and he's my half brother' I said and sudden recognitions crossed his face 'you dad's the god of the dead?' he asked not scared though 'ohm' I said 'and I'm his favourite, but I am also the one that made him break the promise' I said and he nodded 'that military school-?' he left the sentence hanging 'yep that was down there' I said pointing down 'my life wasn't hard it was just messed up, my dad and his children are outcasts, not excepted. I loved it down in the underworld Nico taught me shadow travel and I have my own pet hellhound but when I came back up I was more of an outcast than before my mother hated me so I went back to dad and he brought me up apparently I'm the best fighter my father has ever seen but that might just be a parental thing. See I don't understand why we should follow Olympus's rules when were not excepted there, my father has no throne and I bet yours-' shut up Maxie, shut up. 'my what?' he asked, he doesn't know yet keep quiet 'my dad?' he asked. Ok so now he has the brains! I gave a sheepish smile I knew I couldn't lie 'maybe' I said 'who is he?' he asked 'I don't know, Ares maybe?' I offered 'who's he?' I smiled and looked up at him 'god of war' he frowned 'the guy who nobody likes?' I shook my head 'they like him more than my dad, look on the bright side at least your not an outcast' I said then we were interrupted by Achilles 'ok this is so not fair! He gets to help you but I don't?' I nodded 'pretty much' I said smiling and he went off in a strop. 'hey I'm not even sure if he's your dad or not if he were you wouldn't need a child of Hades to fight a battle for you and besides you might be normal' I said because I truly wasn't sure. I heard a buzz from my pocket 'we have to get back and quickly' I said, you see I have this app that can detect other movements not minor ones like one or two adults but car sized movements it used to be a nucence but it had saved my life lots of times. No one argued. I had a feeling Aaron was holding we a little tighter than he needed to be,maybe he was scared?
We had got back avoiding the adults but I wasn't in a hurry to let go of Maxie. We had set ther down In the infirmary and John was looking after her. I was in the practice arena and was just day dreaming when Achilles sat down next to me 'you like her don't you?' he asked I turned at him shocked 'what? Who?' I asked 'you really don't know? Oh my god you are so blind even I can see it. Well actually I'm the only one who can see it but…' I snickered 'doesn't that tell you something Achilles? Your wrong' I said and he shook his head 'I'm not. And I'm talking about Maxie' I blushed a little 'see! There!' he pointed at me I swatted his hand away 'she's shy you know' he said 'what?' I said 'see you're a little shy to so you don't notice but I do' I stared at him 'have you been stalking again?' I asked and he scowled 'not this time' i shook my head 'as i said before no, i don't' he smiled 'uhm' he said 'oh give it a rest Achilles, your probably only saying this cause you like her' i said and this time her turned red 'see!' i said giving him the same reaction he had given me. Did I like her? Nah she was just a friend but I couldn't see a reason why I wouldn't like her, she was funny, nice personality, unique for a girl and beautiful. Ok maybe I liked her, just a little bit.
