Alexis was living in a state of perpetual shock. She was dizzy. Her head throbbed, and black spots were forming in front of her eyes. She stopped and leaned against the nearest wall. One breath was brought in and then another. Her hands shook as she forced herself to focus. But then her knees gave out, and she fell awkwardly down on the floor.

She wasn't supposed to get captured. Get food. Come Back. That was all. Alexis and her brother had the Decepticons activities memorized. They knew when they moved and in what vicinity. They knew when they came back. They even knew and familiarized themselves with the different mechs. Identified which ones were sharp, which ones were sloppy, and which ones were so trigger happy that being captured would have been preferred.

Her brother told her something was off about the guy, the teenager who showed up near their safe place out of the blue. But he had been terrified, half-starved, how could she not bring him back? What sort of human being would she have been if she ignored another's suffering? Alexis would still with her brother, Josh, for one. They had lived in tents for almost a year. The siblings constantly moved around, never staying at one place for long and only taking what they could carry on their backs.

The world grew quiet; once busy streets now empty. Shopping centers were bleak and so very still, people a rarity. If it weren't for the chirping of birds and the buzzing of the locusts, Alexis would have believed Earth had been exterminated of all life.

Leave it to her to find the one that was working with the Decepticons.

They separated from the boy as soon as they gave the teenager some food. Giving him directions to what they believed was one of the few human dwellings left, they continued on their way. It wasn't even fifteen minutes later that the sound of engines was heard.

Yes, they ran. Even throwing off their packs and heading through thick brush did not waylay their predators. Alexis forced them to separate. Josh disappeared behind some trees. Everything happened in a flash and a bang. Two minutes later, Alexis was being thrown into the back of a van, the doors closing shut as she was taken away. Immediately, she got up and stared out the only window. She caught the sight of her brother peering behind a tree trunk. He was safe. He was free. And now he was all alone.

The muffled sounds of crying and whispering came into her ear canals. Turning, she sat down, realizing then that others were there as well. They drove for some time, no one saying much of anything. The captured humans knew where they were headed, knew what was in store for them.

Death in one form or another.

"Are you lost?"

A woman was looking at her, a dark-haired, thirty-something year-old who she had seen earlier in the slave barracks. The voice broke through the fog, and Alexis got to her feet.

"In more ways than one," Alexis whispered.

"You should come with me. They have monitors everywhere and if they see you just standing there, you could get in serious trouble." The woman smiled at her halfheartedly. The two walked forward. "I'm Amanda, by the way. I saw you brought in earlier, didn't I?"

Alexis nodded her head, informing Amanda of her own name.

"Thundercracker's?"

She narrowed her eyes, anger rising at the implication. Amanda didn't notice. She continued to speak; her voice was soft yet easy to listen to, "It's considered high praise indeed to be chosen by one of the Seekers. I did not know that the Air Commander was even interested in..." Amanda gave her a sidelong glance, mouth twisting. "Sorry, been here two months and still can't really say it."

"Slave," Alexis finished for her with repulsion. Their journey ended when the two reached the slave quarters. Amanda opened the door for them.

"Some warnings," Amanda said, taking hold of Alexis' arm as she guided her to some bunks in the back. "I am sure you weren't informed of much since you just arrived but..." Amanda sat down on a bunk, patting the space next to her.

Looking around, Alexis took in the barracks, the double bunks and soft mattresses, the clean floors and the brightness of the room. One would have never known that it was run by slave masters. Every comfort seemed to have been thought of. Alexis even heard some music playing somewhere nearby; the air cool and light around them. It had been so long since she felt the relief of an air conditioner, so long since she even sat down on a bed.

She immediately felt ill.

The bunk squeaked, and she heard the shuffling of feet. Suddenly, a cup of cold water was hovering before her face.

"Sip on this. You'll feel better in no time."

Alexis took the offered water. Amanda sat back down.

"It gets better if you can force yourself to forget about... about your life before... about... your family. Do you have any family?" Amanda inquired, an air of mourning in her tone.

Forget? She would never forget. Not ever. She felt extreme aversion toward the offered advice. What a sick state the world was in. What it made people do and say.

Yet still, Alexis' mouth opened, words commencing. "When the invasion occurred, my parents were off visiting my grandmother. I haven't heard from them except for one phone call before... before the Decepticons destroyed all communications. I also have an older brother, Josh. He was with me when..." Alexis clamped her mouth shut, remembering the last time she spoke to another besides her brother. She wasn't about to trust that quickly again. And if she was going to hold on to anything, it was that Josh was still out there and free.

"It's okay. You don't have to talk about it. I just know it helps sometimes. You feel better now?" Amanda asked, genuine concern in her voice.

Alexis rotated the glass between both hands. Turning it slowly, she looked up at Amanda. She had pleasant eyes, a soft hazel that went well with her dark complexion.

"Yeah, a little. Thanks."

"Good."

"You were trying to tell me something earlier?" Alexis asked.

Amanda frowned. "I would say it could wait, but telling you could save you some of the grief I suffered through. Come here."

They got up and passed by the empty bunks before stepping into a narrow kitchen. Amanda pushed her back, slowly peering out past the wall and then waved her forward.

"There are a couple of people you are going to want to avoid. I should explain by saying that not everyone is averse to being here. Some even..." Amanda cringed, disgust evident. "Like it." She dipped her head forward. A couple of people were in the middle of the room, a cleared out section that appeared to be for recreation. "See that group of men over there?"

Alexis nodded her head.

"Those are Barricade's. You probably haven't met that Con but be grateful. He's one sick bastard. He likes to beat his slaves. Has even killed some of them. Their life spans are not very long, and it makes them, how should I put it? Testy."

For the next couple minutes, Amanda pointed to one group or another.

"And those over there are Starscream's," Amanda said, her voice turning into a dull whisper as if she didn't want to be overheard. "They are the worst of them all. I don't know where he found that bunch but stay clear. See that woman?"

"Yeah... the tall blond?"

Amanda nodded her head. "That's Kimberly. She's Starscream's only female slave. For whatever reason, the woman has gotten it into her head that he prefers her, if you know what I mean. Even if Starscream doesn't look at her, probably doesn't even know she exists," the woman said.

Alexis shivered, paling.

"Oh, sorry, honey. Not trying to scare you or anything," Amanda reassured. "As far as I know, the Decepticons only see us as animals. So at least we don't have to worry about anything... sexual with them."

"I don't know if I am able to remember which ones are okay and which ones aren't."

"Don't worry. You'll learn quickly enough. And I'll teach you about what we are allowed to do and when," the woman assured yet again. "We are actually given more freedom than other humans on the base. Probably because escape is impossible, and we are expected to serve our masters at any time."

"Has anyone ever tried to escape?" Alexis couldn't help but ask.

"Only every other week." Amanda shook her head and then bowed it forward. "I would try myself if... if I knew I had somewhere to go." She frowned and shook her head while chuckling darkly. "Well, how about we get you something to eat."

Alexis was led to a table. The woman was already busy opening a refrigerator that was well packed. It just didn't seem right somehow.

"You never told me..."

Amanda turned around at the sound of Alexis' voice. Her head tilted to the side as she looked at her, a knife in her hand with mayonnaise on it.

"Who I belong to?"

"Yeah. Sorry," Alexis apologized.

"Don't be. Let them think what they want, but we know otherwise don't we." Amanda sighed heavily. "Demolisher. He actually isn't that bad, but we can talk about that some other time." She went back to preparing the sandwich.

Alexis knew that she should have told Amanda that she wasn't hungry. But it had been so long since she had seen or tasted mayo that the temptation was too much. Paranoia whispered of warnings about the unexpected kindness Amanda offered. Caution made her sit up straighter in the chair. At this point, she could only trust in herself and God. She would not be so easily deceived again.

The second day after her arrival, Alexis was initiated with an ankle band, a thick metal cuff that vibrated and burned. Alexis learned she had to move quickly when summoned. The only way the heat ended on her leg was when she appeared, and moving slowly a promise of increasing pain.

Figuring out how everything worked only took a couple of days. She saw what she referred to internally as her inmates come and go. At any hour, without any warning, everything was dropped as they sped away to serve their captors. Alexis always remained behind. So she familiarized herself with the routines and met some more people, finding most weren't bad at all, just scared. A little coaxing and a soft-spoken word or two did wonders. She found to be surrounded and to hear voices was a blessing.

After her first week, Alexis was finally summoned to a game of all things. Something called telidaw that held a resemblance to poker, even if they didn't use cards, but holographic projections that seemed to correlate to metal slabs that the mechs kept before them on the table. Her duties were mundane. She pushed a cart around with what they called Energon. Alexis also wiped up spills and cleaned up after them, overly simply tasks that did little to distract her mind.

Thundercracker didn't speak to Alexis but spoke over her. He transmitted his orders to her in such a demeaning manner that she actually felt offended. Until she figured out how to ignore it. Settling in a faraway place in her mind, she got through it.

After the second week, Alexis realized she was the least used person there. She was only called when they were having a game. That was fine with Alexis, for in her mind, the terror of the first day was still fresh.

During her ample free time, she read, even wrote things, anything to stay away from the darkness in her head. But memories always found her at night: the vision of her family, the sound of their voices, the smell of her mother's banana bread that she made every Sunday morning. Tears would form, but Alexis would wipe them away with a vengeance, reining down her emotions, not willing to let them out. She had to remain steady. She would not lose herself in front of one of them again. They would not see what they were doing to her. They would not win. She still had her self-respect. Still had her thoughts and her God. Remembrances turned into fervent prayer, memorized verses droning through her head until she finally drifted off to sleep.

Being where she was and doing what she was doing wasn't really that bad. It was actually peaceful in a way, safe, even nice. When that thought went through her head, when the state of her obvious acclimation made itself clear, she did the only thing she could do.

Alexis rebelled.

Or as much as she could. Amanda found her sleeping under the lower bunk one morning, a pillow Alexis' only companion as she slept on the cold hard floor underneath its frame. She would suffer. She would make herself uncomfortable. She would remind herself in any way that she could that this was not where she was supposed to be. Nor would she settle for it.

"Alexis, you up yet?"

Alexis shifted to the side. Her cramped body surged with discomfort. A twinge slid up her spine. She saw Amanda's face. Rolling over more, she scooted toward her friend and pulled herself free from the bottom of the bunk's frame. Amanda shook her head, eyebrows rising high. For once though, she made no comment about Alexis' sleeping arrangements.

"What is it?" she asked. Peering up at Amanda, she rubbed her eyes free of sleep.

"Thought we could go for a run."

Running was another thing she did to pass the time, Amanda getting her started on it. Their laps were taken around and through the large barracks, usually in the morning. The rest of the day, Amanda was away serving Demolisher, along with her other fellow slaves who served their designated Decepticons. The barracks became a desolated place then. Alexis was left entirely alone on more than a few occasions for long stretches of time.

"Not up for it today."

Amanda lifted an eyebrow and pulled her long brown hair back into a ponytail. "Something else then? You want to talk this morning?"

"No."

"Did you sleep well last night?"

"No."

Amanda bit down on her tongue, unwilling to breach that subject further. "What's wrong then?" she inquired with concern.

Alexis' shoulders jerked up in a pitch of anger. "Besides absolutely everything around me? Nothing."

"You know, we have it lucky. Do you know how many..."

"Stop, Amanda," Alexis said while pulling herself up before thumping down hard on the mattress behind her. "I can't take that today." Her voice wavered and cracked.

"What is it, Alexis?"

Amanda leaned down and then looked up. Matt, one of Barricade's, let them know that the showers were now available for the women. Alexis saw the way his gaze lingered on Amanda. Alexis caught his attention. She sent a potent glare his way that had him shuffling away with haste. Alexis wasn't in the mood for that either.

Alexis spoke as soon as the man left, "It's Josh's birthday today. I actually almost forgot. Do you know what we were going to do today? We both decided we would risk going back home. They stopped searching houses some time ago, and we were pretty sure it would be safe by now."

"It's still standing?"

"It was a couple of months ago. We used to pass by it here and there. Checking up on it, I guess. I mean, it's just wood and brick and all that, but it holds a lot of memories, and it was where we grew up."

"How old is Josh?"

"22. Fifteen months older than I. He was a surprise to my parents, they were told they couldn't have children. But they refused to believe it, and after I was born, well, we were both considered miracle children."

She had been so self-absorbed in her telling that it almost escaped her attention that Amanda had turned around. The woman sat back against the lower bunk's frame, body heaving as sobs escaped.

"Amanda?"

Alexis got down on the floor with her and rubbed Amanda's hand, patted her shoulder and whispered what encouragements she could find.

"I never told you this, Alexis, but I had a son, Jeremy. He was twelve. When..." she paused, gulping as she tried to calm herself. "When the Decepticons came, I was in the middle of a divorce. Jeremy was living with his father at the time in... in Washington."

Alexis shook her head, covering her mouth in horror. "No... I am so sorry. I..." she stopped. Nothing she said would have been good enough. Everyone knew that was the first place that was destroyed, but worse than that. After their leaders were executed publicly on what was to be the last television broadcast ever, Washington was decimated. Everything, everyone, anything living puffed out of existence. Ruble. Dust. Debris. A big gaping hole. That was all that was left of their nation's capital.

"I was trying to finish up my master's degree, and thought sending him away to Nick's for a couple of months would give him a chance to spend some quality time with his father. I never knew that..."

"Alexis!"

A sharp voice made her pull away from the conversation. Her friend shifted to the side and ducked her head.

Kimberly was holding onto one of the bed bunk rails, the other hand planted firmly on her tiny waist. "Lord Starscream has ordered me to bring you to him." She rolled her head to the side, mouth pinching into a tight line. "Come with me."

Alexis didn't care what tone the woman used with her. She wasn't moving. Every time Kim talked, Alexis had a vision of a spoiled cheerleader who never got past the maturity of an eighteen-year-old. Perhaps she had pigeonholed Kimberly, but the flawless beauty she managed to maintain and the subtle antagonism kept that impression mostly intact. She wanted to believe the woman wasn't as bad as all that. The two did share a halfway pleasant conversation not long after her arrival. But it was if she had several sides to her personality, and at the moment it was a hostile one.

"Go, Alexis. I'll be fine," Amanda whispered, motioning with her hand that it was all right to leave. "We can talk later."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, go. Please."

She picked herself off the floor and made her way to Kimberly. The woman huffed impatiently as Alexis started to follow.

"I don't know why my master has called you. There is nothing you can do that I wouldn't have better knowledge of." Alexis found herself grabbed against the shoulder and forced to stop as Kimberly looked her over. Bright brown eyes darted across her form, the aggression dissipating slowly.

"Hmph," the blond ejected, a half-smile building as if she discovered something. Confidant, Kimberly strode forward once more. "Do not speak to my master without him speaking to you first," Kim warned, her voice now agreeable and at ease as she told Alexis what to prepare for.

For some reason, it was then that it caught up with her where she was heading and to whom. Alexis fought the silly urge to comb out her tangled hair. Looking down, she found she was at least wearing shoes. Trepidation found its way into her suddenly heavy legs. Fear whispered her name. Taking a deep breath and saying a quick prayer, she continued on her way to Starscream.