We are the Fire
ISABELLE NOTES:
1. I do not own whatever the New Order does, nor do I own Iggy and Ella, or the rest of the original Flock members. They all belong to James Patterson.
2. I own Jamie and Al, and about half the resistance effort.
3. This takes place 25 years after the Maximum Ride series.
4. This is an AU version of Witch and Wizard – there will be no Whit or Wisty here, just Jamie and Al.
AND NOW A WORD FROM LILO!
Um, uhh…
Read The Fall of Tria Nova!
LILO!
I honestly had nothing to say! What was I to do, leave the readers waiting?
How about you bring in Rosebud, the talking wolf pup who's absolutely looking forward to this?
Go talk to her. She's eating the chicken you were gonna cook for dinner.
ROSEBUUUD!
ROSEBUD (offline): What did I do, aroo?
Prologue
It Ends Here
Jamie
I am not a criminal.
I don't care what the heck the New Order say about me and my family. How we're dangerous threats to all that is pure and good in their New Order. They're afraid. They all are. Not that I'm all relaxed right now, either. I mean, wouldn't you be even slightly nervous if you were about to be hung on live television?
Yeah, you read that right. Hung. As in, head goes through the noose, floor gives away – BAM! You're dead. And the worst part is that everyone in the stands is cheering. Everyone wants us dead for our supposed crimes of being different.
I fight back tears that threaten to come through. I have to be calm for Al. Poor little Al, who's has been through as much as me – maybe even more – and probably had it even worse because he was only thirteen, as opposed to my sixteen. I have to be strong. Even if we Griffiths are going to die today.
I look to my left and see my parents also in the nooses, also sentenced to death. My dad, facing the audience with sightless eyes and a look that screams You might kill me, but you won't keep me down. My mom, her head hung as low as you can can in a noose, tears streaming out – not for her death, but for Al's and my. And I look to the right and see Alfred Fernando Griffiths, my little brother, so close to crying because he knows there's no way out. None. Nobody can or will help us now.
And it's his fault. The guy standing at the podium, with enthusiasm leaking through his calm, neutral-toned voice as he announces our impending execution – he's the one doing this to us. He's known only as the One Who Is The One – leader of the New Order and current orchestrator of all evil. For months, Al and I have caused him trouble, and now he's going to destroy us. All of us.
Now, I bet you readers are all confused. I should be starting at the beginning, not at our execution.
It's time we went back to the beginning.
Grrr… Sorry about the short chapter, I was a bit ANNOYED!
Rosebud: You'd never shout profanity at a little puppy!
I didn't shout any!
Rosebud: Yes you did! You said the "P-word"
Rosebud, the word P-U-N-I-S-H-M-E-N-T isn't profanity.
Check later for the next chapter while we deal with the wolf and the sister. I mean, Lilo! You knew she was eating it! Why didn't you stop her!
You dragged me in to say something before I can do anything
Oops
Lilo and Isabelle out.