Haven't posted in a while! I wrote this a while ago for a friends birthday present and I hope I've improved since then. Though she didn't like it I'm curious what you'll think, so please review. -HappyAssassin -

The Power She Knew Not

M214 ran, she ran as fast and as far as she could from the only world she had ever her was the place she had grown up in and planned to live her life. Memories washed over her.

M214 had grown up in the 5th Faction with her parent figures, the ones assigned to raise her. Her parent figures fed her and gave her clothes and a place to live, but they showed no emotions, either towards her or each other. Her parents were simply carrying out an assignment. They lived in a small, grey house with no pictures and no plants or color on the walls. When she left the house to go to school, , her parents showed no concern for her safety or well-being. They would say "M214" when you return, do your chores and then go to bed."

She had always dreamed of having a real family, like the ones she read about in the books she stole from The families with children with names like Suzy and Jack. How she longed to be named, to have an identity, a family! She was young certainly, but too old to be considered a Youngling. Younglings needed to be taught and fed. She was too young to be considered an Adult, the ones who held the jobs that kept the 5th Faction alive. The Elders were the ones old enough to make the rules by which the 5th Faction operated.

Her feeling of being without an identity was the reason M214 ran away. She just did not fit into any was an 'inbetweener' but that position didn't exist in her world. She had read about 'running away' in books, but never thought she would do so herself. She had read about the Rebels too. Those that live in the Wasteland, the deserted, uninhabitable, mountainous land outside of the 5th Faction. They are said to be hostile and deadly, to be feared and ignored. What lies! She had found a book in the back of The Library, hidden behind dusty old books and unused tomes.

The book listed some things for which you could be killed. It had proof against the Elders! The book was a journal of some sort, owned by one of the messengers for the Elders tasked to bring information between the Factions. It stated that the Elders were corrupt, and had brought them to the ruins that make up their New were running a messed up government and were slowly killing off the Humans. The most shocking thing of all: there were no other Factions, only the proof was in the book in the form of maps, blueprints, notes and plans. She read how the Elders are actively bringing the New World into chaos and ruin, just like before. So M214 swiped the book and ran with it in hand as fast as she was able towards the had heard that the Rebels, lived in the caves out in the Wasteland. She hoped to find them, so she could use the book to help bring the Elders to their knees.

She was snapped out of her memories, the daydreams of her journey and revelation still fresh in her mind, by a sound in the distance. Before she could figure out what was going on, M346 was ambushed by a group of about 20 Others- half human, half other beings,genetic mutation, who had one frame of mind: kill. Their bloody faces reeked of the garbage and decayed debris they ate when fresh meat wasn't around. And their bony 6ft frames towered over her. M214 was so close to them, she could see their teeth rotting away and pieces of flesh still stuck in their jaws. She had just enough time to pull out her dagger before the Others attacked.

M214 began hacking and slashing wildly at the Others, abandoning all of her had to rely on her basic instinct-survival. She was seeing red, blood coursing through her veins as she did everything she could to keep those vile things away and get to the Rebels. M214 was reaching the brink, her body tiring, and feeling the strain down to her bones. Putting her last reserves into it she fell to a crouch and slashed at an Others bony legs, sending it crashing to the ground. The rest was a blur, as she continued ready to fight to her last breath.

Soon in a crouched fighting stance, M214 looked at the last few Others, who were standing, facing her, The ground was littered with their comrades' remains, lying in bloody pieces on the cracked ground. Just before she could finish, a figure appeared in front of her, and swiftly took care of the last Others in the blink of an eye.

The figure, a man by his build, wore a brown scarf covering his nose and mouth, making it impossible to identify him. He stood in front of M214 offering her a hand to help pull her out of her crouch. When they were standing eye to eye, the figure pulled down his scarf revealing a strong nose, small mouth and tan skin. He spoke in a calm, measured tone that held an air of authority,

"Name's Jake. You are?" he growled as they stared each other down, sizing each other up.

"M214", M214 replied, a slight tremble in her voice (after all, this is the first stranger she had ever met) as she gripped her dagger tighter, contemplating her escape if something went wrong.

Jake shocked her out of escape mode by placing a kind hand on her shoulder. "Come on," he murmured softly, indicating with his head towards the mountains, "let's get you cleaned up."

M214 didn't know what possessed her to trust this stranger, but she found herself following him. When they arrived at the bottom of a mountain, M214 was confused ' What are we doing here? There's no way we can get up these mountains!', she thought. Before she could voice these questions, Jake made a strange noise, a piercing half whistle/ half seemed to mean something because immediately afterwards a rope fell out of a cave high above and Jake and M214 climbed up the offered rope.

The world she saw in the cave was completely different from anything she had seen before. There were hundreds of children that looked around her age and younger fighting sword to dagger and staff to shield. M214 was in the heart of the Rebel camp! The air of authority she heard in Jake's voice seemed to be well placed. He was being bowed to and saluted by everyone. Jake, noticing her questioning gaze, said, "I'm the leader, I guess, I tell them to stop bowing but they insist on respecting authority." his hands in his pockets as he nodded back at the bowers and saluters, a charming smile on his face. All the talk about authority reminded M214 about what she had originally come here for. " I have some information about the corruption of the Elders' rule.', she blurted as she handed Jake the book. He looked shocked, but elated. After all, it's not everyday that you find a strange girl that can kill off a group of Others and then happens to have a book dedicated to the downfall of your greatest enemy.

"Thank you," he murmured still surprised. He quickly gathered himself and said "This will help our side very much." Jake then grabbed the worn, brown leather book from M214's hand. As Jake palmed throughout the book, he asked "So this was owned by a..." he peered at the smudged cursive on the first page," S672. Who knew this stuff how?"

M214 was reluctant to answer, after all she had just given up the catalyst to her being in the this strange new world to someone she barely knew, but did so anyway, "He was a messenger for the 5th Faction, sending messages and information between the Factions. it ends up, as he wrote here," she pointed to a piece of scribbled text somewhere in the middle of the book, "that there were no other Factions and his job became passing messages from Elder to Elder to keep up appearances."

Jake seemed reluctant to change the subject but felt the need to,"Before I forget, when a new person joins us they get a name and a weapon. You have a dagger and are quite good at using it, training with the military guards, I assume?" Jake questioned. When M214 nodded, he continued, "So all you need is a name. What do you want to be called?".

M214 began crying, she had gotten everything she had wanted, a name, an identity and a family. She managed to choke out " Maya". The name simply rolled off her tongue and just felt right. The newly named Maya smiled and hugged Jake, welcoming a new life.

-THE END-