Chapter 1

The Beginning

It was the first light in the morning when the Abigail finally arrived in Mexico.

I've found a nice place to sleep at the deck and was lying there when I heard mom's cries, calling me to pack my belongings and meet everybody to land. So, it was what I did: I got my things packed up and took a final look at what it was "my room". I'm not sure if I'll miss it, though.

Mom met me at the doorframe and stayed quiet for a moment.

"We should go now", said her, breaking the silence. And then she took my cold hands in hers. "Alicia. Let's stay together, all right?"

Her eyes were full of concern. All of us were concerned, and after all, it's the first time, in so long, that we'll have to manage our lives outside the vessel, which became our home. And it is always hard to leave home to start a new life somewhere else. At least, it was what I thought by the time.

On land, we walked for a while through the pier. It was hot and I felt damp from sweat, so I took off my jacket and tied it up around my waist. Strand and the new guy, Luis, went ahead of us. They seemed to be arguing about not having space for all of us in the house. During this unsettling talk, Daniel walked further to join the discussion.

"What are we supposed to be expecting here?", asked him, looking at Strand right in the eyes. His tone had a hint of threatening. We all stopped when we heard him.

Strand stopped as well. He put his hands on his hips and pursed his lips before talking in an inpatient mode.

"I am going to try to get all of us inside the house."

"It doesn't look like a plan to me", said Travis, from behind me.

Strand didn't answer right away. It was Nick who spoke, calling our attention:

"What's that? Something is coming."

A minivan appeared on the horizon and brought all the dust of the road. We all had to cover our faces when the car stopped; the dust was all in our bodies and clothes. It was a black minivan, with a big fender and huge wheels. The driver got out and stared at us. The confusion in his face was visible.

"Victor, Luis. ¿Quienes son? ¿Qué pasa? Who are these people?"

"Pablo, we have to talk", Strand walked toward the man. "Change of plans."

Strand moved closer and began to whisper, making it hard for us to listen. Something happened, though; the guy had opened his door and entered the minivan again.

"Come on", said Strand. Luis was the first to enter the minivan. Daniel glared them and then entered too. All I know, I was the last one to enter and had to sit in Ofelia's lap, which was uncomfortable, to say the least. She embraced my stomach and I kept looking outside the window, trying to ignore the growing heat upon my cheeks. It seemed a long time since I've been embraced. I guess that's why it felt weird with Ofelia now.

In another situation, mom and Travis might had fought back and be suspicious of Strand's plans. But now, we were in the middle of nowhere with no one to trust, so we had to stick with the plan and follow Strand.

The landscape wasn't the best. At some point, more buildings appeared and we happened to be in the center of what it looked like a small town. The minivan drove fast until it finally stopped in front of a huge sturdy house – almost a fortress - with an extremely high white wall and holes through its extension. There was a big iron gateway, closed and without any locks. At the ground, thousands and thousands of corpses were lying in the dirt, alluring flies and disgusting bugs through them. A remarkable view of a war scenario.

We got out of the minivan and stood outside the fortress. The smell was awful; I had to cover my nose. We all stayed closer to the car and didn't move at all until Strand called out the fortress owner.

"Open it! It's me, Victor!"

A man appeared at the top of the wall. Beside him, twenty other men appeared handing shotguns and average guns, all pointed to us. My heart started to race at this point.

"Victor, you were supposed to come with just one extra person!", the man screamed, from the top of the wall.

"Let us enter and talk, please."

"No, Victor. We had a deal! Only YOU and another one. Choose wisely and don't try anything stupid."

The man – who had a Mexican accent – said it and left. The gate opened with difficulty and Strand begun to walk.

"Nicholas, you come with me", he said not looking at anyone.

It all happened too fast. At the very minute Strand turned away, three big cars came by nowhere, spreading dust all over us, stopping in front of the fortress and opening fire against it. Shots were fired from all places; I was pushed to the ground and saw Chris by my side – his right arm bled like hell; I heard mom's scream somewhere and Travis' voice answering her. I lifted my head just a bit and saw two people, wearing black dirty clothes, shooting with their machine guns from behind one of the cars.

"Where's Nick?!", I heard mom asking.

I turned my head to see a glimpse of Nick being pushed by Strand through the fortress gateway.

And then, a female voice broke in the middle of the shootings. It was strong and full of power, and I noticed right away she should be foreign, by judging her accent.

"Retreat! Now! James, go on, take these ones into the car and let's get the hell out of here!"

In no time, someone lifted me up with easiness and dragged me to one of the vehicles. I tried to fight against it, but the man was stronger than me. I saw it was a man because of the beard – it was the biggest beard I've ever seen – and he was lifting me up as if I was a simple leaf.

"Get off me, you motherfu…", I began to scream and shake until a fist hit me hard in the face.

After that, I can only recall some images and sounds.

I remember being dragged into a dark vehicle. I remember the taste of blood in my mouth; Chris' cries and Ofelia's pleads.

And I remember a pair of concerned blue eyes staring at me and a few strands of golden hair above my face. I don't think I could ever forget that. It marked me, especially in what was about to come.

[[ Hey! :D This is the first time I write a Fanfiction. I intend to write more chapters later, since I have all the story in my head. Comments, please! Romance is coming, just wait and see... ]]