A/N: Hey guys, this is my first fanfic, so please bear with me :) Below is the background story for this fanfic. Please MAKE SURE YOU READ IT because you won't understand anything about the story if you don't. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own the Gallagher Girl series (unfortunately). Only the plot and setting(s) are mine.
Background Story
This fanfic takes place in the future, where humans are now living in little villages. The villages are "ruled" by a ship named Cavan. Cavan is literally a big floating ship in the sky that oversees the villages and keeps everything under control and everything in all the villages are operated from the ship. The ship is run by a group of people called "The Circle of Cavan." Inside the Circle are some of the most important elected leaders of all time. It is considered an honor to be a part of the Circle and govern the villages. The leader of the Circle of Cavan is Catherine Goode. She's kind of like the queen of all the villages. In each village, there is a leader and ten Council Officials. The council officials report to the leaders of the villages, who in turn, report to Catherine.
Besides the villagers, there is another group of humans. They are called Outlanders. Outlanders want to destroy the ship Cavan and the government system of the villages. Because of this threat, the Circle of Cavan labels all Outlanders as enemies. Outlanders attack villages from time to time, and can easily wipe out an entire village. To help defend a village during an Outlander attack, the Circle of Cavan sends droids from the ship to exterminate the Outlanders. I'll explain more about Outlanders later.
Now, in each village, there are about three hundred people. Cammie Morgan is a young girl who is living in the village of Gallagher. There was an attack on Gallagher by Outlanders and both Cammie's parents died in the battle. Cammie was only three years old. Josh's parents both died as well. Cammie and Josh have been friends since they were toddlers, and are now dating. They are both Council officials of Gallagher. The leader of Gallagher used to be Cammie's dad, but when he died, Joe Solomon took his place.
In Gallagher, everyone has their own apartment or house. An apartment is large enough for two people, while a house can is large enough for four. Cammie, Josh, and Joe each have their own apartment.
So, coming back to the subject of Outlanders, I mentioned that they are a group of people who don't believe in the government system of the villages (Outlanders). The Outlanders' main objective is to destroy the villages one by one. To destroy a village, the leader (who is usually allied with the Outlanders) can call the Outlander base to ask for an attack and for the Outlanders to "kidnap" the leader plus any other requested persons. Since some Outlanders (including leaders) hide their true identity while still living in a village, the leaders must make up an "Outlander search" every week to fool Catherine and the rest of the Circle into thinking the leader does not share beliefs with Outlanders. Council officials go around searching people's houses to make sure there are no Outlanders. And the Outlander battle uniform includes an animal mask given to only the most elite Outlanders.
This story is about Cammie and her life at Gallagher and the different surprises that come up.
~Chameleon~
Chapter 1
The sunlight shone through the windows of Cammie's bedroom a little brighter than when she usually woke. Cammie sat up with a start and frowned at the intensity of the light. Rubbing her eyes, she peered at the little clock sitting on her nightstand. She had woken up an hour later then she usually did. Giving a small sound of surprise, she threw the covers back and leaped out of bed.
Cammie hurriedly put on a green tank top and black jeans and pulled on a pair of combat boots while hurriedly trying to brush her teeth. She pulled out a black box from underneath her bed. Inside it was her gun, which she stuffed into the back pocket of her jeans. She also took a knife and slid it into her boot.
Cammie passed the mirror in the hallway and stopped short at the sight of her hair. She ran her fingers through it a couple of times, trying to get rid of the tangles, but gave up. Instead she tied it up into a messy bun before leaving her apartment.
As Cammie stepped out of her apartment, she was greeted by the many people walking down the main road. She smiled as she passed each pedestrian and glanced up into the sky. Cammie could clearly see Cavan, sitting midair. The ship was looking even more massive and huge than normal. She had always wondered how the Circle of Cavan had managed to keep the ship afloat forever.
Cammie hurried towards the big gray building up ahead the road, which was the cafeteria. This was where everyone had their meals. There was a crowd of people exiting the building, so Cammie had to squeeze her way through the double doors and into the cafeteria. She jogged up to the counter, where a lady in her mid-50s was talking to one of the villagers.
When the lady finished her conversation with the villager, she turned towards Cammie. "Morning, Cameron!" she smiled.
"Good morning Patricia," Cammie grinned back. "I hope I'm not too late for breakfast. Is there anything left?"
"We have a few eggs, and some toast," Patricia replied. "Is that fine?"
"Yeah, of course," Cammie took a seat at one of the long tables in the room as Patricia disappeared into the kitchen. A few minutes later, Patricia appeared with an omelet, two pieces of toast, and a glass of orange juice.
"Here you go," she said, setting the food down in front of Cammie.
"Patricia?" Cammie asked. "Before you go, would you happen to know where Josh is?"
Patricia chuckled. "I saw him with Joe earlier, heading towards the Council Hall. "Don't know if he's still there, but you can check."
"Thanks," Cammie said gratefully.
"No problem," Patricia patted Cammie's back. "He's a good kid; Josh." She smiled one last time before walking back towards the kitchen.
Cammie continued eating and when she was done, waved Patricia goodbye and left the cafeteria. She walked towards the Council Hall and entered the building.
Two men were standing at a table looking at a map spread out in front of them. The man on the left was tall, with dark hair and a face that could make any middle aged woman melt. This was Joe Solomon, the man who had raised Cammie ever since her parents had died. The boy standing next to him was Josh Abrams, Cammie's boyfriend. He had brown hair and blue eyes, and looked like your typical teenage heartthrob.
Josh turned at the sound of the door opening and grinned. "Hey there," he gave Cammie a hug and pressed his lips to her forehead.
"Hi," Cammie smiled. "Good morning, Joe," she nodded at Joe.
"Hey kiddo," Joe ruffled Cammie's hair. "Did you sleep well?"
Cammie nodded and her eyes fell on the big map spread out on the table. "What's this?" she asked. Josh looked at Joe, and coughed nervously. Cammie glanced up at Josh, frowning. "What's wrong?"
Joe shook his head slightly.
Josh said, "She has a right to know."
"A right to know what?" Cammie asked, turning towards Joe. "Tell me."
Joe cleared his throat. "The guards up at the watch towers spotted a couple of Outlanders today."
"What!" Cammie said, shocked. "How come we aren't under a lock down then?"
"They haven't made a move yet," Josh reasoned. "We're safe for now."
Cammie looked at Joe. "If the Outlanders attack…." her voice trailed off.
"I know..." Joe said, pacing back and forth.
"We have to do something!" Cammie exclaimed.
Josh nodded. "There's going to be a Council meeting today at noon. We'll vote on what's our best action."
"There's not enough time!" Cammie said. "The Outlanders could attack any second. We have to take action now!"
"Cammie," Joe said tiredly. "I've already doubled the amount of guards surrounding the perimeter. We can do a quick search through the village and see if we can find anything. If we do, then we'll decide what the next best step is. Just stay put for a couple more hours, okay?" He turned and the left the building.
"C'mon," Josh said. "We should probably start the search." Cammie nodded and followed him out of the room, her mind preoccupied with the safety of Gallagher.
After a couple of hours, Josh and Cammie had searched all the houses of the villagers. They had found nothing. Nobody seemed to be the Outlander type, except this one lady, who was furious when Cammie had told her she was going to search her home
"I have nothing here!" the woman cried out indignantly. "You can't just come into my house unwelcome!"
"I'm sorry, ma'am," Cammie said for the hundredth time. "But it's the local protocol. We're just trying to keep everyone safe. Everyone is getting their homes searched." She turned and started to exit the house.
The woman started grumbling and said, "What about Joe Solomon. Why don't you search his house? He could be the Outlander for all we know!"
Cammie wheeled onto the woman. "Joe Solomon is a good person, all right? He raised me as one of his own when both of my parents died from an Outlander attack. Those Outlanders killed his best friend. If you think that he doesn't hate Outlanders for one second, you're wrong!"
The woman stepped back, surprised. "I'm sorry… I didn't know…."
"That's all right," Cammie apologized for her outburst as well before turning and leaving the house.
Cammie sighed at the memory and sank down into one of the chairs in the Council room. Josh came and sat down next to her.
"You okay?" Josh asked, caressing her cheek.
"Yeah," Cammie smiled. "I'm just worried."
"Me too," Josh smiled. "But that doesn't mean we shouldn't be happy. C'mon," he stood up and held out a hand for Cammie. "I wanted to show you something."
"What?" Cammie took his hand and stood up.
"You'll see," Josh smiled and led Cammie out of the building and onto the streets.
A/N: So, what did you guys think? Does it make sense? I'm sorry that it's such a short chapter. The next chapter will hopefully be longer. All of you Zammie fans don't have to worry, Zach will come up in the next few chapters :) Remember to review your thoughts! Thanks for reading :)