The World is on Fire (a Transformers Fanfiction)
Transformers characters are inspired by a mix of G1, IDW, and Prime.
Josephine, Simon, and Vyncent are each my OCs.
*Full Author's Note at end of the chapter*
Chapter 1
Josephine slammed the broken refrigerator shut with a bang that shattered the silence of the dilapidated home she was scrounging through.
Nothing.
There was absolutely nothing here. No food. No water. Nothing but dust and cobwebs coated nearly every surface and corner of the place.
She had checked everywhere that looked like a hiding spot for something edible but much to her aching stomach's chagrin, she had been completely unsuccessful.
Sighing in defeat, Josephine grabbed her small pack and left. Food would have to be found somewhere else, and while she'd learned decent survival skills over the last several months, her hunting skills were shoddy at best and the likelihood of her actually catching something that would fill her was next to none.
Overgrown prairie grass along with a darkening and cloudy sky helped shield her from any prying eyes that might have heard her reckless movement. She winced. Not one of her wiser moments.
When one's own government was hunting you down, doing things that might draw someone's attention were never smart. But the growing hunger that left her nauseous coupled with the frustration of yet another one of her usual stops not having any food had gotten the better of her. It was as if someone had come through and cleared out the food ahead of her. As if they were purposefully trying to draw her out.
Josephine held in a snort at the thought. If her own government wanted her and others like her so bad, they shouldn't have threatened and killed their loved ones to earn their cooperation.
Not the United States' greatest move among plenty of others. Especially the one that had gotten them into this mess in the first place.
If she could only turn back time… her heart clenched at the thought, and she swallowed the lump that had begun to build in her throat. Flashes of her parents' final moments still haunted her, it felt as though their ghosts followed her, never finding peace or rest but instead choosing to remind Josephine that the hunger and thirst and exhaustion were better than other outcomes.
As she neared the edge of the field surrounding the house, a wall of trees loomed in front of her, leaves rustling in the abnormally cool summer night.
The woods had become her safe haven. No one bothered to go beyond the path anymore. There were enough old hunting traps and goodness knew how many different animals that roamed the woods. But Josephine—she'd adapted. Learned how to spot the signs of any traps lying in wait for a foot to step on it, and how to steer clear of predators that claimed the woods as their own territory.
Dusk quickly turned to night as she moved towards the looming trees. Slowly, she picked her way through, finding her previous trail and following it.
A sweet cacophony of insects came to life around her, cicadas and crickets helping her trek to remain unnoticed. It didn't make her any less cautious of where she stepped though. Sweat began to coat her face as she struggled to avoid fallen branches and bushes that sought to snag her clothing.
Josephine slowly but surely worked her way towards the fallen tree where she'd found a semblance of shelter. It at least covered her from any rain and kept her hidden, and really that was all she could truly ask for.
To live in a home meant the government knowing of your existence and you cooperating with whatever idiotic idea they came up with next.
And what was the United States' grand idea to get out of the debt that they'd incurred? Selling off their own people to the highest bidders which were typically aliens from other planets. It kept the economy going in the wake of a war that had nearly destroyed the continent and it kept aliens appeased. At least that's what the government told everyone when they'd first released the idea.
There had been talk of alien contact at the time and fear of an extraterrestrial war or takeover had left everyone senseless and practically throwing themselves at the government to save them and the rest of the world.
Then when what the government had once done as a so-called temporary precaution became a permanent economic fixture it was too late to try to change course. The military began to take people by force when once people had gone along willingly, selling themselves if only to save their families from a disaster that had never actually come.
And now, here she was. Living on her own in the middle of nowhere, trying to avoid the countless different military posts, people looking to make a reward and sell out their own neighbors and friends, and anything else that might maim or kill her. Though if Josephine had to be honest with herself, she'd rather be killed than end up a slave.
A shiver crawled up her spine as she approached her temporary home, breathing out a sigh of relief as she noticed nothing seemed to be disturbed from her last visit here.
Deciding to forgo food for the evening, Josephine slung her backpack to the ground under the tree and prepared to sleep and wake up early to try and find something to eat, when the smell of smoke drifted in on a slight breeze.
She froze, hardly daring to breathe. You either had to be incredibly stupid to light a fire at night in the woods if you were trying to evade the law, or you were hunting for a paycheck in the form of a human on the run.
If she stayed here and there were others nearby…
Josephine wanted to scream.
And then she heard a distinctly male scream.
Her heart beat like a violent storm in her chest, adrenaline creeping through her veins as she slowly, so slowly shouldered her backpack.
Another scream tore through the woods, silencing the animals and insects around her for a brief moment.
A stupid human also on the run then.
Her gut clenched at the thought of another innocent person being taken to be sold off.
Then reality smacked her in the face. If someone had hunted down and captured another person in these woods, she was not alone and the likelihood of them finding her next only grew the longer she lingered.
Trying to keep her breathing even to prevent her from panicking any more than she already was, Josephine forced herself not to run but to walk, retracing her steps back the way she came and away from the sound of screams that trailed in her wake.
The air around her felt thick with tension as if the entire forest was holding its breath as it watched her navigate back the way she had come.
Now that night had fallen, it was even more treacherous picking her way through the trees. No moonlight meant she was hidden but so was anything else that might be lying in wait.
When the smell of smoke finally left her nostrils, Josephine stopped, allowing herself time to gather herself and think. An inkling of worry nagged at the back of her mind. A fear that someone would easily stumble onto her path or that perhaps someone already had and was waiting for her to get closer.
She gnawed at her lip, trying to decide what to do. Going deeper into the woods seemed wiser, but she had never gone much beyond her own little path and her knowledge of what might await her was next to nothing. She'd be slower and more than likely if anyone was trailing her, they might assume she'd go deeper into the woods to avoid detection or would be waiting for her to venture away from the road.
But going near the main road would be just as risky. Though she'd have the vantage of being able to see anyone that might be coming, she would risk being easily spotted if someone drove by.
There was a curfew enforced, so in theory civilians shouldn't be out, but that didn't apply to any of the military.
Worry fought for dominance over hunger in her gut and in her mind, and she decided to continue on her own path, praying that there wasn't some trap she stumbled into.
The sudden rustle of leaves from deeper in the woods made her jump, sounds of voices drifted towards her and it made Josephine's decision much easier. She veered toward the main road instead.
Military would never be that noisy… it had to be people desperate for extra money, trying to find humans to turn in. Unless they were friendly. Which in this world was a rarity. And Josephine had learned rather quickly that most people who claimed to be friendly were really just lying through their teeth.
Josephine half stumbled her way toward the edge of where the trees met the main road and walked where she could remain as hidden as possible yet able to view the road to keep her going in the right direction.
No more sounds of people followed her and slowly her body began to loosen, letting the tension evaporate into the night.
Once she began to see the clearing ahead, she fully allowed herself to breathe in what seemed like hours. Just a little further and she could go back to that house and wait things out there.
Relief was sweet an instant at the thought, and Josephine began to pick up her pace as the trees started to become sparser around her. So close, she was so close.
Then the sound of a vehicle met her ears, her body froze, mind whirling with what to do and how to hide. She turned back to the forest and ran, not caring about how much noise she made, she just had to get away and find a way to avoid two different groups of people in the woods that had once belonged only to her.
Heart hammering and lungs burning Joesphine ran. Her clothes caught on branches and leaves and any exposed skin was torn. Pain didn't register in her mind, she just kept running.
Kept running even as the sound of tires screeching to a halt sounded behind her. Kept running even as footsteps began to sound from seemingly all around her.
Any words that came from the people chasing her didn't register in her mind, as it was much too focused on her one goal of avoiding capture. No matter how tired her body felt, she could not and would not stop. Josephine refused.
Her mother's stubbornness shone through in her daughter's will to survive and avoid the fate that her parents had died to protect her from.
Then she made the fatal mistake of looking behind her. Her foot caught on a root, and her momentum threw her forward hard, knocking the air from her lungs. And before she could even attempt to push to her feet, large hands were hauling her up, gripping her so tight Josephine could swear her bones would snap under the pressure.
She kicked out with her feet and tried desperately to pull out of the hands that would deliver her over to a fate she'd been running from for nearly a year.
"Let me go!" She screamed, voice scratchy with disuse.
More hands grasped her, holding her still, her screams only falling on deaf ears.
Her foot finally made contact with a soft spot and a grunt of pain was like music to her ears. Josephine struggled harder, twisting, and trying to free her arms.
She was merely rewarded with a sharp needle jabbed into her neck, a coldness rushing through her veins once the needle was removed, and a sob tore through her throat.
The hands that had restrained her let her go and she ran.
Confusion clouded her mind at her luck, but she didn't care, not as freedom danced before her like a carrot on a string.
Then her vision blurred, and the world felt as though it were tilting. Josephine shook her head trying to clear her mind and refocus her vision, but it only made it worse. She stumbled to the ground, knees smarting from the impact, as drowsiness crept up her body and fear flooded her mind.
No, no, no.
Her vision doubled and Josephine closed her eyes, trying to fight off the sedative that was leaving her weaker by the second.
Unrushed footsteps sounded from behind her, and tears pricked at her eyes. A broken sob filled the air as Josephine finally collapsed to the ground and darkness consumed her.
AN: Thank you so much for checking out this story, I'm super excited to see where it goes. The Transformers will be coming soon, I promise! Once the introductory chapters get out of the way we shall get into the actual cast of Transformers... but until then, I gotta build the suspense! Thanks again and see you soon for chapter 2. :)