Author's Note-
Feel free to skip this part. I just had to get a few things out of the way and explained first. I've never been very good at beginnings.
I grunted as my feet hit the sidewalk and I felt a stab of pain run up my legs. As it faded, I walked along the wall, slouched over as I tried to make as little noise as possible. If anyone saw me, I probably looked like I was breaking out of a prison or something. And, in a way, I kinda was.
Let me stop a minute and get a few things explained. I'm Carrie 'Wire' Elyswyer. It's pronounced "Ellis-way-er". Kind of a weird last name, I know. I'm almost sixteen and half Asian, from my mom's side, so my eyes are kind of squinty. I have dark brown, almost black hair, with light brown eyes. My dad used to say that they were like' pools of the richest milk chocolate' or some crap like that. I have dark shadows under my eyes, and my left eye squints a little more than the right one because of an almost-but-still-not-quite-gone black eye. No one notices it unless I take off my glasses. I'm pretty damn scrawny. I don't have much meat on my bones, but what little meat I have, is muscle.
I used to live with my dad. He was a good guy. Real nice, always supportive of me. He was one of the only people that didn't think I was a failure just because I got bad grades. I understood everything we learned, I just didn't do the work. I thought it was a waste of time and energy, so I just didn't do it. I was too focused on other things, and writing things I already knew just didn't appeal to me. If I was called on in class to answer a question, I just stared at them blankly. Everyone but Dad thought I was an idiot, and after he died from a drunk driver, I started to believe them.
But then, a mother I've never heard of appears out of nowhere and took me in. At first, she was really nice, and got me lots stuff. Swords, guns, video games... It was nice, really, but… all I really wanted to have was a mom. That's it. I didn't really need all that stuff…
After a while, she made me go somewhere with her. Had me meet a bunch of people, made me do stuff in front of them. I had to show off my shooting skills, and my fighting skills. I suspected something was up, but I didn't question it. I didn't really care either, to be honest. After that she took me home, and left for a few days. When she came back, she told me about how she was the leader of a gang, and she thought I would make a great addition. I didn't really want to, and for once, I voiced my opinion out loud, but… I didn't have a choice. As it turns out, I never had a choice.
So, I was forced into this gang, The Steel Guns. I had nowhere else to go, no reason to leave, so I stayed. I trained; I helped them rob stores; I fixed guns and made sure all the weapons were in working shape. It was a mind-numbing experience. But then I met Jason. He was one of the gang member's kids. He was only seven, but god, I loved that little kid. He made me happy. And my mother, Jae, she just could not allow that. So she killed him. She killed him right in front of me. I decided I had enough. I left her a note, Telling her I was done with her and the stupid gang, and that she could go fuck herself and die for all I cared. And then, I ran away, with a Kukri knife strapped to my belt, a revolver with one bullet, a backpack filled with a few photos, a canteen filled with ice-cold water, a guitar pick, two empty book, a few pencils, two hundred dollars, and Jason's stuffed dog, and the clothes on my back; a black tank top under a plain white t-shirt, a black and white striped zip-up hoodie, dark gray jean, and my Converse All Stars.
The sun would be coming up soon. It was an almost five mile walk to Vegas. I had a long way to go, and I knew it. But as I walked away from that damned warehouse, and that stupid gang, I felt better than I had felt since… since before Dad died.
