Survivor Part One

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or any of the Gundam Wing characters. This story is purely for recreational purposes.

I woke up at an almost blinding pain in my left leg. The pain was so strong that I couldn't open my eyes and instead I lay still and listened for sounds. I heard anguished cries and screams surrounding me. I slowly began to move my limbs one at a time to see if there was any other damage. Other than my leg and a possible concussion I seemed to be alright. The last thing I wanted to do was open my eyes and make the nightmare become real but I knew there were people that might need my help. My mother might still be alive. My friends and neighbors could have survived too. If my fear caused one of them to die I would never be able to forgive myself.

I opened my eyes slowly and squinted into the bright light of the sun. My eyes adjusted to the light and I sat up to get an idea of what was around me. I took in the scene of carnage and death with a strange feeling of detachment. I vaguely recognized this as a symptom of shock but couldn't gather together any real concern about it. That by itself should have been a reason to worry. The landscape looked like a bomb had dropped. Which, of course, it had. I could feel my pulse beating in my leg and recognized that it was probably broken and possibly even shattered. There was nothing I could do about it now. Suddenly I heard a voice cry out.

"Mommy!! Daddy!!"

I turned my head and saw my next door neighbors' daughter trying to shake her parents awake. They had shielded her with their bodies and had given their lives for their daughter. I slowly stood up and limped my way over to the girl while trying to put as little weight as possible on my injured leg. I bent down by them and felt for any signs of life even though I knew there was no way they could have survived. As I feared they were far beyond any help I could give. I looked at the girl and sighed in relief. Except for a few cuts and scrapes she was unharmed. Her pink overalls were torn in places and she was filthy but she would live. She was watching me and tears were streaming down her cheeks. I reached out my hand to her.

"Come on, Sarah. I'll take care of you."

She threw herself into my arm and I gritted my teeth at the unexpected impact of her small body. I almost fell over but managed to keep my balance. I pried her arms from around my neck and wiped a smear of blood and tears from her cheek.

"We are going to play a game, ok?" I asked. Sarah nodded. I had seen my mother as I had been making my way to the girl. I didn't want to leave her alone but I knew I couldn't take her with me. I ripped a clean strip of fabric from my skirt and tied it over her eyes.

"Now, I want you to sit right here and not move, alright? If you do what I say I will get you a present." She nodded and sat down on the curb of what had once been our street. "I want you to sing the alphabet song for me. When you finish it sing it again. Don't stop singing. I will be right back." She started singing and I backed away a few feet. When I was sure she wasn't going to move I started limping to where I last saw my mom.

When I found her she was alive but unconscious. I scavenged more strips of cloth and tied off the worst of the wounds, trying to stop the bleeding. I was just finishing tying one of the knots when a hand touched my shoulder. I reared back in alarm to see that she had regained consciousness. She was looking at me with tears in her eyes. She tried to speak but her throat was too dry. She swallowed and tried again.

"Sharon. I love…you. I am so…..very…proud of …you." She whispered. "No Mom; don't. You can talk later. I have to get you to a hospital." I said. I didn't want to hear this. "No I …need to say…this." She coughed and blood came up with it. "You have to know…that I love you …and that …I wouldn't go if …I had a choice. You are …the best thing …that ever happened …to me. I would do …it all …over again if I …could." She croaked. "I love you too, Mom." Tears welled up and I couldn't stop them. "I know you …will be alright, sweetheart. You're strong …and you will …survive. I'll …always be with …you, Baby." She coughed again and it was even worse than before. "I know, Mom. I know you will."

I held her head in my lap while she coughed up more blood. I sang a song she used to sing to me when I was scared and rocked her into sleep. Her last breath rattled in her chest and I died a little inside. I slipped a blood coated ring off her finger. The same one she promised to me when I graduated. I fitted it to my own finger and gently lay her down on the bloody grass. I kissed her hair and took a deep breath of her familiar, comforting scent. I knew I would never see her again.

"Goodbye, Mom. I love you." I said. I stood up and walked back to Sarah. She hadn't moved and she was singing to herself. The Gundams were fighting in the distance. I could see the lights from their attacks and felt the rumble in the earth. I picked Sarah up and told her to climb onto my back and hold on tight. "I'm going to leave the blindfold on for now, Sweetie. Don't be scared though; I've got you." We walked for about a half mile before I found a car still able to start. By now the fight was over and the Gundams were gone. I headed in the same direction I had seen them go. We drove for two hours and we came upon a building that looked like a very large garage. There had been rumors that the Gundams had been hiding in our general location. I figured that they would probably be interested in the small military installation just west of our town. It only made sense that they would be staying nearby.

I knew what I was doing was dangerous but it wasn't like I had much of a choice. I knew that they were the only ones who could help. If it weren't for Sarah I would have stayed behind and helped with the wounded. I baby sat for her often and felt a responsibility towards her. Now the only thing I cared about was our survival. Sarah was asleep in the backseat with a stuffed animal I had pulled out of the wreckage of her house. I kissed her cheek and then opened the car door and stepped onto the concrete. There was a very good chance I would end up with a bullet in my head before I even made it to the door but I was betting they would be busy repairing the damage to their gumdams. I made it to the door and let out the breath I didn't even realize I had been holding. I tried the knob. It was unlocked. That was unexpected. Could I have been wrong? That possibility was even scarier than if they were here. I had to make sure either way. I gathered all my courage and opened the door. Nothing. The daylight filtered weakly through the dirty windows making the empty warehouse seem spooky. In denial I stepped farther into the room hoping to find something that might help.

"Don't move." I gasped at the feel of cold metal pressed into the small of my back. His voice was so distant. Almost as if he didn't care if he shot me or not. I knew this was the moment of truth. I had to play this just right or I was dead and Sarah would be left alone. I froze and held my breath. The lights came on and I was blind until my eyes adjusted. Four boys stood in front of me. I blinked in amazement as I realized that I knew all of them. I had seen all of them in school. Two of them were in my classes. The one with the braid was Duo Maxwell and the one holding the gun on me was Heero Yuy. All of the four in front of me had very serious expressions on their faces. Duo's quickly turned to surprise when he recognized me. I recognized the others names and descriptions from the papers and wanted posters. Quadre Raberra Winner had a sad look in his eyes while Wufei looked offended. The one named Trowa Barton was staring at me. I met his gaze and refused to back down. Heero spoke from behind me.

"Who are you? Who sent you? And why?" He demanded. I studied those in front of me for a few second before answering. I looked at Duo and spoke to him. "You know who I am. I came here by myself."

"Why?" Trowa asked. I hesitated. "We need your help." I said calmly. Heero moved from behind me and stood beside Duo while never taking his gun off me. Wufie frowned. "Who is 'we'?" he said. I tilted my head in the direction of the car. Quadre walked to the window and looked out. His voice was a little raw when he said, "There is a little girl asleep in the car."

Duo mover closer and he looked angry. "Who is the girl and what are you doing with her? Why do you need our help?" I understood his concern. He was probably worried that I would threaten her to get what I wanted from them.

"She was my next door neighbors' daughter and I'm looking after her. I need your help to keep her safe." Duo seemed confused. "Why was?" Trowa asked. I looked him right in the eyes as I answered. "Her parents died protecting her from a stray missile fired by one of the gundams in the battle you fought this morning. I'm the only one left alive that she knows and I feel responsible for her. She is scared and traumatized by loosing her parents. I promised I would keep her safe as long as I could. I always keep my word." I finished my explanation with a shrug of my shoulders. I noticed that Duo and Quatre flinched a few times while I spoke. Most of my attention was focused on Trowa. He didn't show any emotion.

"Why come to us?" Wufie asked. I nodded to him, politely acknowledging his question. "I know you are the only people with any chance of being able to help us. I didn't see anyone else alive for miles as I was driving. If anyone is alive I'm sure they have more important things to do than giving charity to strangers." Wufie huffed royally and said, "Didn't it occur to you, Woman that we would have more important things to do?" I didn't want to go there but they pushed me. "No, it did not. I just assumed that you all had killed your quota of innocent people for the day and just might find it amusing to
help instead of destroying."

"That's not true!" Quadre yelled. Duo put a hand on his arm. "Then show me that it isn't." I demanded. "I don't normally judge a book by its cover, but if
I listened to what others around me believe, or believed, this being the case, it is the truth." I needed to know that if they did decide to help us that they would see it through. If not, that they would not try to stop me from doing what I could to protect Sarah. The next move was theirs.