Aight, so here's the first real chapter! Not everyone is in it, but every one will be in the next chapter. Please review and the next will be up in a couple of days 3 Oh and sorry for any mistakes, I'm a relatively poor editor. 3
"Three hours. Three freaking hours we've been out here. We've literally found nothing. Not so much as a dusty can of soup is boiling in this sun. But we are, of course we have to sit out here in the heat and the sand." Cloud groaned, fiddling with her earlobe. She squinted at the horizon, and placed her hands on her hips.
"Oh, c'mon Cloud, I think this is fun." Green insisted throwing up her arms. Even under the tan bandana covering her nose and mouth, Cloud knew Green was sporting her usual grin.
"The only thing fun about this is the fact that the sand particles in my ears are helping me tune you two out." Wasp spat; speaking the most words she had all day. The three girls were scouts and scavengers, tasked with the job of finding the ten other teens and themselves food. The pack consisted of Cloud, Wasp and Green, some of the Vultures finest… and quietest.
Cloud was a small and skinny girl with black hair, laced by a white streak. She was a bit of an oddball, but they all were out in the Scorch. Wasp was a lanky dark haired girl, with locks pulled back into a stinger braid and a black and yellow bandana covering her mouth and nose. A thin translucent layer covered her eyes, something she called a second eyelid, it was her mutation, and helped her see well in the sandstorms. Finally there was Green, the only one of the three who actually loved to talk. She was average height with a wild mop of curly blonde hair, pale skin and the greenest pupil-less eyes to ever see the sun.
Cloud scanned the ground for somewhere to sit, but gave up, finding a nice patch of orange sand to relax in.
"Y'ok?" Green asked as she pulled the cloth off her nose, letting it rest around her neck.
"I'm just tired of this. We can only scavenge for so long before the Scorch runs out of trash. We can't survive here."
"We can steal from the Cranks." Wasp huffed, sitting her self down, but leaving the bandana over her mouth.
"We could." Green agreed, twirling her hand over the hilt of her dagger. "Speaking of, stay alert. We haven't had a run-in in weeks, and I wouldn't want one now."
Cloud nodded, and pulled her bow and arrow a little closer. She looked up to Green, still standing and searching the horizon. Blonde hair whipped around her face, and the wind beat at her army green jacket. She carried the duffel bag the often held the spoil of their scavenge, but today it was empty. If empty space could feed humans, the Vultures would be rich.
The wind cut at Wasp's skin, but she didn't react. She liked the quiet, both in her mind and outside.
But Cloud had to say something, "It's… it's gotten really windy." She stated. No one responded, but she was right. The blue baking sky began to swirl with orange and red particles as the horizon blurred around them. "Hey… Green. Are you seeing this?" Cloud called.
The blonde nodded, pulling the goggles resting on her head over her eyes and the bandana back over her nose. "Damn, it's gunna be a sandstorm. We really need to get going."
Of course the universe had other plans for the desert dwellers. Through the up and coming haze, a dull medal aircraft broke through the sky. The scouts' shoulders sank as they read the thick black letters.
"WICKED." Wasp cursed.
"Cloud, send an arrow to the Base door, give them a message. Tell 'em that WICKED is here." Green ordered. Cloud nodded and grabbed her bow and arrow. She ran about a 100 feet from the other scouts until the wood door of the Base was in good range. She scrawled a quick note, took aim, and let the arrow fly.
It soared into the thick wood with a loud THUNK!
Right Before the THUNK!
"What do you think we should do?" Kit snapped, raising her voice. She tossed the map she'd been studying aside, and stood up.
"We can not send scouts out separately! Think of everything that's out there! What would they do if they ran in to a pack of Cranks and they were alone?" Ross shot back
"Need I remind you that we ARE cranks?!"
"Woah woah, calm down there, Twitch." The multi-color haired boy whistled, holding his hands out in front of him. "No need to yell."
Kit took a step forwards, gritting her teeth and balling her fists. "Careful Hyena boy. I'm not in a good mood today."
"Hey hey hey. Chill out!" Ross stood from his own chair, rising well above Kit, staring right into her Amber and sky colored eyes. Their planning day hadn't gone to well. It was supposed to be a chance for the leaders to discuss plans and think of how they were going to support themselves for the next couple of weeks. But their opinions differed when they dabbled over the topic of the scouts.
The tension in the room was thick, and the two leaders held each other's gaze for several moments before they were interrupted.
"Um… guys… sorry to… interrupt, but Cloud shot an arrow at the door, it's got a note."
Kit didn't drop her gaze from Ross's eyes, "What does it say?" Ross rolled his eyes and looked over at the messenger. A tall brown haired blue eyed boy stood in front of the pair.
"Give it here," Ross said, "please."
Tyler smiled and placed the dirtied note in Ross's rough hand, "Is everything ok in here?" the tall teen asked simply, not quiet understanding the conflict.
"We're fine." Kit snarled, snatching the note from Ross's hands. She read it over once, then twice, and then once more. Her hands twitched ever so slightly as her eyes skimmed the words.
We've got WICKED visitors.
Kit dropped the paper to the ground. "We need to find Green, Cloud and Wasp." She said, "Now." Quickly, she darted about the room, grabbing a cloth to cover her mouth, glasses, and her trusty sword.
"What's going on Twitch?" Ross asked, grabbing for his own machete.
"The scouts said WICKED is here. Get Otto. We need to go."
Right off the Berg
Jason stared at the sand bowl in front of him. He hated coming into the Scorch, he hated the fact that he had more under-boob sweat than a prepubescent teen, he hated that when he opened his mouth his spit turned to sawdust and he hated that his eyes were filled with more crusted boogers than his nose. But most of all, he hated seeing the snivelling faces of the 13 survivors that WICKED just couldn't seem to crack.
He took a dreadful breath in and stepped into the Scorch.
The first thing he saw when he adjusted to the sand, was a skinny girl with wild blonde hair, earth toned clothes, and the strangest pair of goggles any mad scientist has ever seen. In one hand she held a knife, and in the other she balled her fist.
Behind her, two more figures manifested. Neither one seemed as bold as the first, but both looked as intimidating. One was tall with dark braided hair, and a black and yellow bandana over her lips and nose. The other was small, with black hair laced by a white streak. Each carried a weapon, and each had their vision dead set on Jason himself.
"Hello there Vultures!" Jason called, holding out his arms and throwing them back down, feeling very self-conscious about his growing pit stains.
"Hey Rat man!" the blonde called cheerfully, before instantly remembering that Jason was the enemy and composing her self. Jason sighed at his nickname and carried on, nearing closer to the group of girls.
"I'd like to talk to all the Vultures." He said when he was about 5 feet away.
"Green, Wasp and Cloud." Green introduced, clearly being the most talkative of the 3.
"Could you take me to your leader?"
"And how do you know I'm not the leader?" The goggled girl asked. Her hand etched its way to a rusted dagger hanging loosely from her belt, she took a daring step forward and carefully removed her goggles. Jason was looking into the most terrifying eyes he'd ever seen. They were a swirl of different shades of green with absolutely no pupils.
He gulped, "Careful girl, I've got four guards in that ship with snipers trained on your heads."
"Green." Ross's voice called, "stand down."
The attention turned to a few teens behind them, Kit, Ross, Otto the sniper, and the great green giant, Tyler.
"What the hell are you doing here Rat man?" Kit demanded, pulling out her sword and pushing her way to the front.
"I've got an offer you can't resist, Twitch." Jason sang. Ross grabbed Kit's arm before she could even react. Kit hated it when people she didn't like called her by her nickname, no one called her Twitch but the Vultures.
"What is it?" Ross asked, staring daggers into the old man's grey eyes.
"Can we go some where nicer to talk? Maybe a place with less... sand."
"Not a chance." This time it was Otto, the groups best marksmen. He had his gun trained on Rat man's face with out a sign of resilience.
"Otto is right," Ross agreed, "we're staying here."
Jason sighed. "Fair enough, I guess we can talk here. In 24 hours we will be commencing the second part of our latest Trials. 23 boys will be placed into the Scorch. They will be given no resources or information on how to survive in here. When they come past your base they will no doubt be looking for food and shelter. WICKED asks only one thing from you, don't let them get out of here. Do your best to keep them in the Scorch and then we are prepared to give you a years rations and 5 new weapons."
"Like we would do anything for you for one measly year of rations." Kit spat. "We do fine scavenging, isn't that right Green?"
The blonde nodded, patting the clearly empty duffle bag.
"I believe you." Jason lied, "How's 2 years?"
"What exactly do you want us to do?" Ross asked, crossing his arms over his chest. "Kill them?"
"Take them in, befriend them, make them feel welcome here. And then, when they want to leave, keep them, steal from them, injure them even. You can kill the ones that seem useless to the group if you'd like. Mess with their minds and bodies; show them the horrors of the real world. Do this, and we'll give you what we promised." Said Jason. For a second, no one said anything. The 7 nomads stared at the WICKED worker. Their faces scarred, their eyes mutated, their skin tanned and covered in the desert's dust. They were kids he had tortured and they held lives in their bodies that he had ruined.
Ross took a deep breath in and looked at Twitch, the person he trusted most in the world. She stood several inches shorter than him, and yet she seemed larger than life itself, and more powerful to. Her jaw was set, her eyes un shaking, the only part about her that seemed innocent was the faded dent of the dimples he only got to see when she smiled. She looked back at him with a slight tic in her eye, and nodded carefully.
"We need to think about it." Ross said.
"What the hell Ross!" Cloud asked, "We can't do this." She jerked forwards, but Otto grabbed her and held her closely to him with his free hand.
"Let it be Cloud." He whispered.
"No, Ross is right," Kit stated, "We need some time to talk things over."
"I can give you till the end of the day." Jason replied, "Take this walkie talkie and buzz in by sunset. You can give us your answer then."
With out another word, Kit spun on her heels and stalked off into the sand storm, followed closely by Ross, Wasp, Otto and Cloud. Tyler waited patiently as Green pulled her goggled back over her eyes, cursed under her breath and spat at Jason. "Kill your self Rat face." She hissed. "But… but have a nice day." She said, letting her instincts take over. With a unintentional smile, Green and Tyler fell in line behind the others.
"It was nice seeing you Vultures!" He called to the pack, earning himself several middle fingers.
As they walked towards the Base, none of them could believe that they might just get involved with WICKED again or that they were considering tormenting others the same way WICKED had tormented them. But hey, they were the Vultures, vultures do what they must to survive.
And these 13 in particular, refused to die.
