A/N: Carolyn Two, aka Carrie, Royce and Isabelle's eldest
Carolyn Two
Carolyn Two had been taken in full flight. She'd been running for her sister, for Ari's little body twisted in Bob's alien grasp, when the white flashed before her eyes and she was no longer in her parents house. What she was, was running high on adrenaline and then airborne and then frantically trying to get her chute to open as the ground spiralled to crush her.
She screamed.
The chute mushroomed above her and Carolyn Two struggled vainly to hold on to a coherent thought. Her Father had said...her Father had taught her...warned her that when it happened she would have to...
But she couldn't remember. So, when she hit the ground, she dished the chute and ran.
They lie. Most people, even hardasses like your uncle and me, lie. You've just gotta be careful never to lie to yourself. You will run. It's instinct. You may think you're gonna stand your ground and fight, but you'll run like all of hell is after you. And that's good. Be smart about that. Run to high ground. Turn left and right, stick to the edge, then plunge back in. Run fast if you can, let the jungle take you in when you tire. Find water, swim deep, then stop. Stop and listen and assess. And when you do, hit hard and hit fast.
Del was one of her other friends, the ones her Mother went off on in Spanish. A Vargas or a Romero, she couldn't quite remember. They hung out together, her, Del and Big Ramona and some of the other boys and girls of the Vargas Compound. Del's brother had dark devil eyes that had done things to Carolyn Two's head she didn't quite understand. Things that had made Jack angry and Marcus give her a curious and vaguely disappointed look.
Help me...
But Del was beyond help. She was pinned to a tree by a heavily ornate double-blade axe, flies swarming around the caked blood.
Carolyn Two took a deep breath and then another and then, with both hands, yanked the axe from Del's body and turned to walk away.
You still pissed?
It was choppy and poorly recorded, but it was her Father's voice coming from the dead body on the ground. Carolyn Two gripped the axe harder.
You still pissed? , the dead body asked again in her Father's fake voice.
Yeah, I'm still pissed, Carrie wanted to say. You threw me out of a fucking airplane and gave me a shitty chute!
Instead, all she could manage out loud was a snappy "Fuck you!"
Fuck you...
Fuck you...
Fuckyoufuckyoufuckyou...
Carrie, sweet baby girl, I'd like to tell you that you should keep running, till Daddy finds you, but I can't. This is its jungle, its rules. You run, you die. And Daddy may never find you.
Carolyn Two snapped a vine and drank avidly from the juice inside. Then she twisted the vine into a rope and slung the heavy axe on her back. It dug uncomfortably between her shoulder blades, but the weight was reassuring. It grounded her.
She'd gotten her bearings earlier. The skies looked like Sanctuary, but the topography was all wrong. This was a different jungle. Possibly on a different continent. There was no going home anytime soon. But it was getting dark and they'd tire of the chase in no time.
Hole up for now, girl, Carolyn Two thought. Stay tight.
She was alone, truly alone. But she wouldn't be for long. And you couldn't count on the company she might be getting. It was too early in the game to ghost her, that much she was sure of. The dead body - her name was Del, she had a brother - the axe, golden in the sunlight streaming through the foliage, her Father's voice - you run, you die - it was all an elaborate staging. There would be other tests. This was an experiment.
No. You're the experiment, Carrie girl. This is just the final trial.
See if all those years of conditioning paid off. See if she truly was as good as her parents had been.
She needed to stay hydrated. She cut off another vine, swinging the axe, but this time the juice sluiced around the corners of her mouth. She wiped herself clean with a vicious swipe. No place for sloppy. Remember. No fuck ups. There were a lot of things she suddenly needed to remember. But the heavy axe in her hand felt good. Felt familiar. It made her think.
Hole up. Regroup. And then…
There was movement on her left and Carolyn Two tensed. It wasn't fear. It was panic. All consuming, all encompassing.
Trust your instincts. If you don't, then trust my instincts. I trained you well. You can do this. You have to. You would never break your Daddy's heart.
Well, her instincts had been dead quiet apparently. Carolyn Two forced herself to breathe. You run, you die. Trust your instincts. Hit hard, hit fast.
The jungle rustled, tightening around her like a wet fist. She could hear it coming, but the panic lessened.
She could hear it coming.
She could hear the low growl of an unhappy animal.
Carolyn Two sprang sideways just as a family of hogs came charging in, then dove for the bushes, leaving behind a blazing trail of pig shit.
Water hogs, her Father called them. Fat little animals with a mean chomp and a terrible disposition. But where there are hogs, there's bound to be a watering hole, so Carolyn Two darted after them, ducking and crawling through tangled vines and deep green jungle growth. Using the axe as a machete might have been easier, but she wanted to leave no trail. The hogs were fast, but all Carolyn Two had to do was follow her nose and she stayed on track. With a bit of luck, the overpowering stench of pig shit and hog musk would provide some camouflage till she did what she had to do. Whatever that was.
The watering hole was more of a pond really, but Carolyn Two had never been more eager for a roll in the mud. The hog daddy snarled menacingly at her, but she growled back. Any other day he'd be roasting over a fire.
Fire. Like the ones she used to light up with Jack back home. Carolyn Two hesitated. It was a little catch, a tremor in her hand as she reached for another clump of mud, but she knew it could mean her death. She was no longer home. No Mom and Dad to have your back. No Jack. No body. She couldn't think about home, because she'd never been alone there. She was alone here. On her own, like she'd never been before.
You survive. You keep going. That's all.
Suddenly, Carolyn Two felt good. Despite the mud covering her, hiding her heat signature, she felt clean. Unburdened. There was a thought lingering there, but she'd get to it later.
Her Mother had been to all the jungles of Old Earth. She always said You've got to get a feel of the jungle. The trees, the plants. They'll take you in or fuck you over. This is its jungle, its rules. But you've been here all your life, nena. This is your jungle now.
Well, this jungle was singing sweet lullabies to her. Darkness crept into it and as the last rays of light glittered fleetingly across the surface of the pond, Carolyn Two knew what she had to do. Night time would bring all sorts of animals to the watering hole. If anything bigger and meaner were to show up, they'd sound all the alarms and high-tail it out of there before the first plasma bolt was shot.
Good. Once she was satisfied the perimeter was safe, Carolyn Two got down to work.
A jungle is a cage, nena. Look up and you'll see them, following your every move. Look down. Deep down. There's another world down there. They don't know it. And they can't see it.
Carolyn Two dug herself a hole in the under growth. It was a damp and cramped little world her Mother had shown her. A good place for a sniper's daughter to hide. And think.
She thought of her brothers, Mace and his gentle heart and Ari, please, please, a gun, that's all she needs. She thought of never seeing them again and fear started worming into her bones, along with the damp.
Be smart, Carrie, don't let it get to you. They're counting on that.
They had flushed her out, forcing her into a corner, knowing that isolation would be more crippling to Carolyn Two than any physical blow. They had given themselves an advantage, but the next move would be hers.
Rest, think.
Don't think of home.
You're on your own.
Hit hard.
Hit fast.
But as she drifted to sleep, her brothers' faces slipping away, the lingering thought from earlier teased her eyes open to the bit of night time she could see through the foliage she'd covered herself with.
It was Marcus she could see clearly in the dark.
Marcus who'd loved her.
Marcus who'd killed for her, that night long ago.
Marcus, who'd hunted alone all his life.
It was only an image her tired mind had conjured up and suddenly, she could feel her heart swell and her breathing even out, a brief moment of peace as she passed out.
Marcus.
Yeah.
They did not know who they were fucking with.
A/N: Hayj, redeeming enough for you? Well, because I'm awesome, and you're awesome, and together we're the awesomest, you get to pick the next POV.