Lost
Welcome to my latest FanFiction, and my first for 2016. I hope to be able to write more this year and bring the stories that I love to write to the world. inFamous is one of my favorite game series, and I wanted to write something unique and that took the core concepts into something so much larger, even more important. Please let me know how to improve, and happy reading!
"How do we kill a conduit?"
The young boy stared up, his blue eyes blinking furiously with curiosity as he craned his neck to get a better view. His trainers were sodden from the morning rainfall, mud bubbling below them all as the steel frame of a cage flickered in and out of view. Draped in a thick canvas, sunlight shining within slightly, a silhouetted figure waited inside, blood dripping from his clothes as it remained still, clearly wounded.
"You don't kill them, you starve them."
The response was cold, her stare unmoving and focused on the metal outlay of the cage as the footsteps of the other survivors wandered behind all attempting to gain a look. Megan had built this small civilization from nothing, pulling together humans once again in a wasteland lacking resources, and finally they had managed to capture one of the reasons this had happened. Her dirty blond hair, frazzled due to the humidity, swayed in the brief wind before she turned to the boy and muttered, "Head back to the tent, I must speak to the man who captured him."
Stubbornly, the born disappeared into the crowd, as the other survivors began their morning routines of harvesting the minimal growing crops and attempting to rebuild the broken shelters. Ever since the conduits created their Settlements, they completely rid the land of all sense of survival, making every turn dangerous and futile. Megan brushed her way through the crowd, averting the stares of her male counterparts as they noticeably gawked at her beauty. Megan may have been blessed, but in this world that did not matter at all.
Entering one of the larger tents in the area, the rocky outcrop of the mountain shielding them from immediate view, Megan took a sip of water from a stone cup before realizing she wasn't alone.
"I thought you were resting, Arno?" She muttered, having a seat and breathing out heavily to examine the bruises on her arms from the food run late last night. The figure didn't respond as she decided to continue. "Your captive is yet to speak to us."
Arno walked into the light, holstering a large revolver into his pocket, a large scar down the side of his face, "This conduit is not worth much, Megan. He's from the East, Wind powers and my bullet got through pretty quickly. He is no threat, he was banished."
"Banished? The Settlements are throwing conduits out now?"
The Settlements, made full of conduits had been up for decades, separated into the four areas of what used to be America. The East was one of the largest, containing powerful powers of wind and earth, separating them from the brutality of the other Settlements. Conduits were rarely banished, but something must have changed in their perspectives if they are throwing them out as easy as they did the humans.
Arno nodded slowly, as he limped to one side, "We need his powers here, Megan. I'll keep telling you, but he can be valuable, he can help us survive."
"He's one of them, Arno. The reason the world has died, is because of it"
Shaking his head at her complete distrust, Arno looked away disappointed. "How many more of us have to die before you finally accept we are powerless? We have no weapons, bullets are running low, and we can't kill them. This one is weak, give him a bit of time and he will talk."
Megan shook her head, feeling slightly betrayed.
…
Zak was banished from the Eastern Conduit Settlement over six months ago, being completely overpowered in the internal battles. All conduits had to prove their strength constantly to remain inside of the Settlement, the powerful leaders controlling and ensuring their forces are strong, but the reasons were never made clear. Food, water and shelter were hard to find inside, the power balance completely crippled by sheer force and eventually Zak could not survive. Torn to shreds, his Wind powers were useless and still untrained, lacking experience. Lost, lonely and defeated, the cage now protected him, he was safe but still not fed.
His powers had steadily declined whilst surviving within the Wilderness, unable to muster the strength to fight back. Feeling the cold metal bars around him, the course wind flickering onto his skin, there was no way to break out. The humans had found him, surrounding with guns raised and any sort of weapon they could find, Zak had tried to fight, but Wind was noticeably the weakest power a conduit could get. Unable to brush through anything solid, at his lack of experience and training, Zak was lucky to even topple someone over.
They rained bullets, spears and anything they had at him, as he struggled to deflect them. Conduits could heal naturally, at a faster rate, but nothing could stop constant machine gun fire. Looking down at his worn clothes, the muddy black hoodie and torn jeans, he saw the wounds and bruises, his body struggling to heal in his exhausted state. Maybe he would die here and it would all be over, closing his eyes before the rustle of footsteps forced him upright.
Instincts kicked in as the Wind began to swirl around the cage, the beige coverings flickering slightly more. Zak took a deep breath before light broke in, blinding him slightly as a female face appeared in front of him. Stern, angry with bloodshot eyes, she muttered furiously, "You have a few minutes before you die, and it's time to tell me everything you know."
She raised a gun towards him; Zak laid perfectly still, the Wind still blustering around before replying, his voice croaky. "Tell you? There is nothing to know."
"The Settlements don't banish their own kind, why were you removed?"
"They have wars going on in each one. Civil War, Conduits die and many get removed. Not all of us are strong…or evil."
Zak left the final words there with a ring as his powers instinctively gathered Wind, moving the fabric around the outside of the metal cage. His vision had cleared slightly in the bright day sunlight, the bruised and dirty face appearing in front of him. She had been in the wilderness for a while, her body fit and arms scathed with cuts. Her eyes pierced straight through him, reading every emotion but with a tinge of fear. Zak understood, she was responsible for these people, she was their leader and she had survived this long since the human collapsed. Remaining still, Zak gazed back at her as his body continued to heal the bullet wounds, blood trickling down his arm.
Beside her, another man appeared, looking more assertive and unimpressed at the situation. He spoke roughly, "Megan, this Conduit knows nothing. He was chucked out as he couldn't cut it in the Settlement. The powers of Wind are difficult to master."
Megan remained silent, her eyes gazing up and down as Zak continued to remain still. The man continued to speak, now looking directly at him. "What is your name?"
"Zak." He didn't avert his gaze from Megan who responded the same way. Struggling to read her completely, the emotions were there but the reasoning was not. "I'm Zak, and you are correct. I could not master my powers, in the world before and in the world now."
Megan shifted uncomfortably, flicking her hair aside and muttered, "You are the reason humanity is now this, we live like this because of your kind."
"We didn't choose this life, we were gifted it. We tried to help, but the ones with power overthrew it all. You all saw it, you saw how they killed us. My family is dead, my friends are dead and I am next on the list. The Settlements will continue to crave resources and whatever you have here, you will not sustain-"
Zak stopped abruptly, a shiver riveting through his body as he shuddered and sat bolt upright in the metallic cage. Megan jumped back, her hands grabbing a small pistol from her side holster, aiming it up as the man did the same but with less meaning. The wind began to pick up around them all, completely blowing the tarp off the cage to reveal the rest of the small village. Zak gazed around, ignoring the two guns aimed at his head and saw the makeshift houses, made of wood and straw. Mountain ridges beckoned around them, shielding them from direct vision, but the wind blew through here naturally causing the greenery to fade and dissipate.
Leaning forwards onto his knees, Zak gasped. "The wind you all feel is not mine, there are Conduits approaching. Your people have to hide."
"Don't lie to me, Conduit. You are not endangering my people, and I will end you." Megan replied abruptly, her tone and voice raising significantly but the tinge of fear echoed around. Surrounding civilians began to notice the commotion, some immediately fleeing to their hide-aways with children following. "Not one more move."
Zak shook his head, now concerned as the Wind continued to pick up. He could not return to that Settlement, the problems within and the torture inside. Looking at both the startled individuals in front of him, he beckoned, "I'm sorry, but if you won't listen, then I will not sit still."
Grasping every ounce of strength he had in his aching body, Zak shivered more as his arms began to move in the air, feeling it around him before unleashing his own sheer force in response. The cage cracking instantly as Megan and her partner were thrown backwards, their guns firing into the emptiness above. Zak rose a few feet off the ground, the freedom of the air blowing through his body. Landing with a limp, he fell to one side breathing heavily as the un-healed wounds continued to bleed and hurt. The other surrounding survivors began to scream, running for nearby weapons as some began to approach.
Sticks and random pipes flew in from a distance as Zak deflected them, his hands raised to unleash Wind in response. Rolling to one side, and disappearing into a small ditch he heard the footsteps of the army above all in panic as Megan's screaming voice echoed to find him. Zak heard the guns being grabbed, bullets and magazines falling to the ground as he took a deep breath and gazed up above.
The clouds had appeared quickly, as rain threatened to fall from above. His senses felt completely off-balance but the presence of approaching Conduits was too easy to recognize, they were searching for something once again. The Settlements would send their weakest out into the Wilderness for scouting runs, and this felt like it. The resources here were great, and he would be re-captured and brought back for punishing. Shaking his head again, flinching in pain, Zak yelled out with his hands raised above.
The clouds began to twist in his favor the energy and galloping wind moving around him as he began to steadily rise from the ground. He had to escape from here, and the steep ridges nearby seemed to be the only way. Machine gun fire appeared from behind as heavy bullets cut through his already ripped clothing forcing his balance off as he kicked into a tree and screaming in pain as his concentration vanquished.
Returning back to the ground, breathing heavily more shots were fired, but not at him. Rolling back to his front, Zak looked up to see a silhouetted figure in the skies above. Glowing green, the Wind power riveting from his body, the panic ripped through his body as he moved. Barreling over the ditch he fell, Zak ordered, "Back off, Lucius. These people are not for you to kill."
The gunfire stopped instantly as Zak reappeared, stumbling through the crowd as he saw a wounded Megan gaze towards him, the fear in her eyes. Kicking the remains of his cage to one side the Wind Conduit stood and raised both hands into the air as the Wind continued to grow. The Conduit above, named Lucius, looked down with a smirk on his face and confidence in his eyes. Floating to the ground with pure ease, moving his slick dark hair to one side, he began to chuckle at what he saw.
"My goodness, Zak! We thought you had died already!" Cackling loudly, Lucius unleashed a barrage of Wind gasps towards him, Zak repelled the first before being slammed into a nearby wooden house as it broke and fell instantly. "Not many survive after being kicked out for their shameless powers!"
Zak was thrown aside once again as his body was now screaming out for some sort of solace, his energy seeping away at every motion. Coughing as splinters littered around him, Zak responded as he attempted to stand back up, "Lucius…you know you shouldn't be in there. After what they did to our people, our friends…"
Megan raised her pistol as Lucius got closer, the others raising their guns although the Conduit took no care to notice. He responded. "They were weak, Zak. They deserved to die, the Settlements have other concerns in this world and we need to survive over…the humans."
"Back off!" Zak roared, his angry words sending a shiver of anger to his heart, as he shot a gasp of wind in return. Lucius was stunned, faltering slightly as he was forced to the ground and then blown backwards. Zak continued to walk forward, ignoring the stinging pain over his chest and arms as he continued to fire wave after wave of Wind energy at the oppressor, not letting have a second to breathe. "The humans are the victims of us, and you have no right to kill…no right to harm.
Lucius, now covered with dust, his face now shocked and bruised, raised both hands and muttered, "The Settlement will hear about this, Zak. You are making the wrong move, the wrong decision."
Shaking his head, Zak spat blood to one side before raising his hands, flashing green, as he unleashed the final blow to Lucius as the consciousness faded. Rain began to fall from above as Zak buckled to his knees, feeling his powers fading further and further away…