When I was 15, in a small town of North Carolina, I was in my front yard tossing a football to myself. I lived in one of those towns with no crime, no one locked their doors, and everone knew everyone. I was home alone, when a Suburban pulled into my driveway. At first, I assumed it was my neighbors, because they liked to park in our driveway, so I payed no attention. I heard footsteps behind me, and I turned to see this man, at least 6 feet tall, dressed in all black. He went to grab me and I threw my football at his face. I took off running to my front door but he tackled me. I was gagged, and thrown in the car.
My forehead was bleeding because I slammed into a rock when I was tackled, so I passed out. When I woke up, I was bandaged and somewhere in the woods. I was tied to a tree, and there were multiple men now. They were all surrounded around a device that looked like a metal door. I yelled at them.
"I WILL FUCKING KILL ALL OF YOU!"
One man turned around and walked up to me. He cut my ropes, picked me up, and started walking towards the door. I bit his arm and he dropped me. I grabbed his arm, broke it, and took off running. I made it a good 100 yards before I was caught, and dragged through the door.
Through the door was a different place, so I assumed it was a teleporter. I dragged into a cell, and locked up.
I was in that base for about a year. I found out my captors were rebels against something called the UNSC, and they were going to use me as a hostage to release their men.
I was in a room with a camera and guards, as they were about to make a bargain to the UNSC, when gunfire erupted. My captors ran out of the door and exchanged gunfire. I hit the floor and tried to crawl to safety. The sight of my captors laying lifeless on the floor was both exciting and sickening. A huge metal boot slammed in front of my head, and I rolled over to see a rifle pointed to my head by a huge armor clad person.
"Well boss, he's just an unarmed kid." The person said.
"Wash, take your team and secure the rest of the base. Let me take care of him." Another armor clad person, but this one was female. She kneeled down in front of me, and took off her helmet.
"It's okay, I won't hurt you." She said. I gulped and sat up and looked at her. She looked barely 16.
"What's your name?" She asked me.
"Caleb." I quickly answered.
"My name is Carolina. We're going to get you to a safe place." Carolina said before putting her helmet back on. Rebels started firing at her, and we hit the floor.
"Ever used one of these?" Carolina asked, holding up a rifle.
"Has to work the same as an AR-15." I said, and she handed me the rifle.
I kneeled and shot at my captors. I hit one dead in the face, another in the gut, and one more in the chest four times. Carolina took out the last two and she looked at me.
"Have you done this before?" She questioned. I shook my head.
"Natural born warrior I suspose. Let's head out." She said. We ran out of the building and hopped into a car with the rest of her team.
The trip to their base was in two legs. The first was by a car they called a warthog (though I thought it looked like a puma), and the second leg was in an aircraft. We drove for a good two miles in the Warthog then hopped out in a small clearing. While we waited for the aircraft, we sat around talking.
"So how are you feeling?" Carolina asked me.
"I'm feeling...confused...excited...but mostly I just feel safe." I answered. Carolina smiled and nodded her head.
"That's good. When we get you to the ship we'll get you settled in and then get you home." Carolina said.
"Wait, ship?" I asked, but Carolina ignored.
"Pelican's here!" Carolina yelled.
The ship ride got, floaty. We broke the atmosphere of the planet and headed to space. I was amazed by the whole thing but also confused, because I didn't recognize these guns, vehicles, and armor. I looked at Carolina, who was sitting across from me in the Pelican, and studied her. I studied her flowing red hair, every imperfection, her eyes, everything. She glanced at me staring at her and I looked away.
When we got to the ship, called the Mother of Invention, I was greeted my military police as soon as I stepped off the Pelican.
"Back off, he's with me." Carolina said. The MPs backed off immediantly. Carolina lead me down a maze of hallways to the ships bridge, where there was a tall white man standing, facing outwards.
"Director." Carolina addressed him, saluting. He turned around and nodded at her, causing her to drop her salute.
"This is the boy we found. What do we do with him?" Carolina asked. I looked at her, then the Director. His face showed that he carried a grief like luggage that he couldn't drop off.
"We keep him. He's one of us now." The Director said.
"I'm one of you?" I asked. The Director looked at me, and took off his glasses.
"The rebels slaughtered your family. They slaughtered most of the population of Earth." The Director said. I broke down crying. My mom was gone. I didn't even know my dad, he left when I was young.
"I'm going to fucking kill them." I whispered. Carolina hugged me and calmed me down. Once I was calm, I turned back to the Director.
"Where will I be staying?" I asked. He tossed me a keycard and motioned to Carolina.
"She'll show you to your room. Welcome aboard the Mother of Invention, Caleb." The Director said.