Fury
Chapter Two
Java is riding in the car with her step-father. She is scowling and has her arms crossed. Ma is off at a photo shoot with her two younger siblings. Java was disinvited after ripping her dress. She had wanted to go get her picture taken so bad! She had tried to tell Ma what had happened, but Ma was too furious to do anything except punish her.
Ma is always punishing her.
Christoph has at least allowed her to accompany him wearing pants and a cozy sweater. He is dressed in a dark suit, as always. He has music from The Nutcracker playing, something she is trying hard not to enjoy. He is nice enough, always getting her toys and letting her play any sport she likes, but he is also the reason she can't see her Father any more. Ma insists he takes much better care of them all, but he has an intense seriousness that unsettles her. She feels uneasy around him. Even now, as she notices the car turn away from the city, she barely glances at him before looking away.
"Where are we going?" She asks suspiciously
"It's a surprise." He answers. Java doesn't know if she should be happy or scared.
"I thought Ma said I had to go to Miss Irene's cause I was bad."
Her step-father leans forward across from where she sits. "You were careless, not bad." He corrects gently. "Your mother is under a lot of stress with her new film coming out. I believe she overreacted."
"Over what?" The little girl asks confused, still trying to figure out if she was in trouble or not.
He gives a slight chuckle and a ghost of a smile graces his usually stern face. "I know you tripped because you were stopping your sisters from going into the rose bushes. If you hadn't stopped them, they would have been hurt. You were being a good big sister. I am sure if you're Mother wasn't so busy she would have seen that. I think we should go to the archery park today, what do you think?"
Java can't help but smile. "Really?"
"Really."
"What about Miss Irene?"
"I will tell her you are unwell. It'll be our secret. Your mother doesn't need to know." He reaches over tentatively and pats her hand. Java forces herself not to move away. "Besides, there are some skills I believe are more important than knowing antiquated etiquette."
His words are a surprise relief for her, far from the constant disapproval Ma throws her way. Java nods. "Thank you... Papa." She says quietly and also a bit guiltily as she thinks of her real Father. She turns to the window eagerly trying to spot the range, her little hand pressed into the glass. The little girl never notices, but he beams at her for the rest of the trip. Afterwards, she finds herself finally able to relax in his presence.
The path from Liberty is bumpy and unpaved. She's doing her best in her condition, but she needs to stop to rest real soon. She has her hood up and is doing everything to seem unafraid and daunting, quite a feat to manage when one barely stands over five feet tall. There are a few scattered houses and she debates raiding and squatting in the next one she sees.
She hasn't needed to rely on her survival skills for a stretch, but she was thoroughly trained in it. Survival training had been insisted upon by Pops, much to Ma's dismay. She had gone along with it just because it made Ma upset, but had kept with it when it became something she actually excelled in. Java thinks about the time her Ma caught her trying to shoot apples off her sister's heads for a moment before shaking it off.
She does her best not to think of her sisters. She does her best not to think of anything at all; just put one foot in front of the other and find some damn shelter. She spots a cabin-like abode and trails off looking for an easy entrance. She is debating on which window she is going to break when she hears someone scream from the other end. She pauses and waits until she is sure the noise isn't coming from inside the house. When she hears it again, she grabs a rock and uses the noise as coverage to break a window and slip inside. She is about to search for a place to pass out when the screaming becomes soft, sad childlike whimpers. She peeks out a nearby window. Three guys in matching black bandanas have two young girls tied up back to back. Two are tall, one is short, and all three are wearing horrendous orange outfits. The girls look barely twelve, dirty and skinny. One of the girls has a bloody nose. The guys keep howling at them and asking where the goods are. She can spy empty glass bottles littering the ground and an empty wheelbarrow turned on its side. The whole display disgusts her, especially when one of the guys starts making gross kissing noises at the girls. The girl with the bloody nose begs them loudly to let her sister go.
As they coo at the kids, Java feels the rage take her over, and despite her exhaustion, she starts looking for a weapon. She is not a fan of children, but she absolutely loathes assholes who prey on them more. She finds herself in the mood to punish something, anyone, perhaps in hopes it would quell the dark emptiness inside. Besides, the cabin itself has long since been scavenged of food or supplies, so she is hoping the kids can lead her to wherever they were heading with the booze. She finds an old tire iron in a closet. She also luckily spots fishing wire and a box cutter and takes them with her. She silently slips back outside and quickly puts down half a dozen lines meant to trip and trap, most of them invisible at night. Then she grabs a few stones and tosses them on the side of the house. She has herself hidden well on a low branch. She watches as the short guy with a bat comes looking for the sound. He immediately catches himself on her line and barely gets out a helpless groan before Java is behind him and brings the tire iron down hard, knocking him out cold. His companions call for him and are met with silence. She leaves his body on the ground as bait.
Java can feel her injuries and exhaustion take a hold of her. She tries to take a few deep breaths and pace herself. She won't be safe until she takes care of the other two jerks. She mentally wills them to come toward her. Only one does. He trips when he tries to reach his buddy and Java takes the opportunity to rid him of his weapon.
Realizing the last guy won't move position, Java leaves this one hurt but conscious. She secures him to a tree and pulls down branches to make noise each time he struggles. She scoffs in his face when he says his friends will come and gags him with his stupid bandana. She then takes off for the opposite side of the house.
The lone guy is jumpy and paranoid as hell. He keeps hollering for his friends and Java is dismayed to find he has a pistol. She knows she has to be fast and she will have one shot at this. Thankfully, his friend was busy making a bunch of distracting noise and his back is to Java when she comes upon him. The girls see her approach and watch her warily, but say nothing. She stalks silently behind him and brings the tire iron down on his head swiftly. There is blood, but he is still breathing. Java kicks the gun from where he dropped it and hits him in the stomach. He crumples to the ground. She retrieves the gun and walks over to the girls.
"Who are you?" The one with the bloody nose asks.
"Someone who doesn't like assholes." Java tells her as she unties them. She gives them a look over and they seem unharmed besides the one facial injury. "We need to leave. Others will look for them." She puts a hand to her chest and tries not to grimace. Her exhaustion is catching up to her and her laser fire has truly begun to sting.
The smaller girl looks at her curiously, her eyes falling on Java's knuckles. "Are you okay?"
Java nods, but she falters on her feet. The girl with the bloody nose rushes forward and helps her stand, draping Java's arm over her shoulder so she can lead her away. "We have a place to go. Come with us. Our sister can help you." She says reassuringly. Java would smirk at her luck but all she can do is vaguely nod and concentrate on not passing out.
"How do we know we can trust her?" The younger girl asks suspiciously as she reaches into a nearby bush.
"Because she could have left us to them and didn't." Her sister replies as she helps Java down the road. Her sister pulls out a second wheelbarrow hidden behind the bush and the three of them head into the forest.
