Young Writers Society

Ace

"What happened to her?" Tia asked.

Riley looked around the room, hands on her hips, lips pressed tightly, daring someone to answer. No one did.

Finally, pulling myself gingerly up to sit against the wall, I looked to Tia. I was really the only person who truly had nothing to lose, that I knew of, anyway. I cleared my throat, my stomach threatening me as I did. "Reg," I croaked. "Died."

Riley reached for her gun. "Ace, you mind your own business. Don't think you can get all cocky just because--"

"The hell are you going to do, Riley? Shoot me? Go for it!" I yelled, but I reached for my own gun as well.

Maitea pulled me back protectively, crying, "Ace, no! Stop it! Both of you."

I just continued in my rage. "What on Earth could you do to me that's worse than what's already happening?"

"Ssh!" Maitea tried to console me.

"I could leave you to die," threatened Riley, though she put her gun away.

I sneered at her. My strength was failing me quickly, but I stood my ground. "You wouldn't have the guts. You know why? 'Cause I saved your sorry ass. Remember that next time you want to draw your gun on me."

Riley growled and stomped away from me, and I relaxed once more. I'd hit a nerve, I knew, but it was the truth. She owed me one. Her letting Maitea back into the gang absolutely did not make up entirely for me saving her from a high-security prison, and it would be in her best interest to remember that.

Maitea made me lie down then, and I hoped I didn't make her mad at me. I put my gun back in my pack next to my sleeping bag and closed my eyes. "Sorry, Maitea," I whispered. "I can't help it."

It was probably not the first spat that would happen, and most likely not the worst.

Riley

He was the first one who had spoken of Reg in to months. The last one who had was in Greece right now, and had no intention of coming back, in her best interest. I hadn't shot him for two reasons: One, he had saved my life on numerous occasions, and two, one I would never admit to anyone, the mere mention of Reg sapped up all my strength. It rendered me useless, as much as I wish it wouldn't. It was a sign of weakness, and not one I could show.

I walked outside, into the light drizzle. I sat on the ground, and put my head in my hands. This wasn't right. I shouldn't collapse like this at the mention of one person. But I had no control. I hadn't cried in two months, and I was going to keep it that way. I lifted up my head, and leaned against the back of the wall. What was happening to me?

Tia

"God, she's seen enough people die. What's her problem?" I demanded once I was sure she was outside.

"Her and Reg were close," I detected an edge of bitterness in James voice.

"And you care because?" I demanded. I was curious, maybe I could figure out what made my cousin mad. What was driving her on the edge of insanity. Or maybe none of us could ever really know.

"I don't," the lie was there, but it also wasn't. His tone of voice told me to shut my mouth, but I didn't.

"How long has she been like this?" I said after a minute. Maybe there was still hope for her. I prayed there was, or else there would be problems. A corrupted gang couldn't' stay under one leadership for very long.

James~~

"Two Months. It's really not that bad, but then again, I spend most of my time outside alone so I don't catch the full force of it. And this is a walk in the park compared to South America."

"What do you mean?"

" 'Bout a year ago I skipped out of the gang to go help a local revolution in Brazil" I shook my head, "God that place has become a shit hole. Anyways, thats when Reg became our #2. Riley sort of started to rely on him for more than his gun hand. I think he held her up emotionally through all the bad around us, even if he was the one who started most of it." It was hard to keep the bitterness out of my voice. I wasn't mad at Reg, or even Riley. Riley I owed more than my life, and Reg... I could never fully repay my debt to Reg.

Eve

I hated listening to this. None of this was Riley's fault. Why couldn't her cousin just except that she was hurt and get of her back? I decided not to come back down the latter. I just stayed up in that little room, thinking to myself. This was hard for all of us, but Riley was really hurt.

I wanted to help, but I didn't know how to. I decided it would be best to just keep quiet and stay out of trouble. With all of us in this small little space, there were going to be some fights. Our gang had gone through hard times, but each time we'd made it out. Now that Reg was gone, and Riley was hurt more than ever, everything seemed to just...fall apart.

My stomach started to rumble. I was hungry, and getting claustrophobic. I climbed quietly down the latter and walked out the door. It was raining hard, but it felt good. I tightened my jacket, wondering when this storm would end. It seemed like it would never stop raining. I normally liked rain, but the winds were so harsh, we were forced into a small shack. I hated living like this, but there was no choice.

I sat down as Riley walked out the door. We didn't speak to each other. Riley and I were never really close anyway. Plus, there was nothing to talk about.

Maitea

"Sorry, Maitea," he whispered. "I can't help it."

"As much as I would have liked to say the same things, I don't want to get myself shot. That was brave Ace, but it was also foolish," I leaned against the wall. I watched as he went to sleep, and then looked at Eve.

"I want to rest, but I want to watch him too. Will you watch him, and wake me up in an hour or so?" I asked her. She nodded, and I laid down on my sleeping bag beside him. In less than two seconds I was out flat.

The other reason I never went to sleep was the nightmares. Nightmare, to be more accurate. The same one I had every day since Bree died, and the main reason I didn't go to sleep.

I go upstairs, and open the first door I see. Ace is in there, with Bree. She is sitting on the bed, he's on the ground, leaning against the wall.

"Bree?" I ask, "You traitor! You would go with them, in the end." She opens her mouth to speak. I don't give her the chance, and shoot her clean between the eyes. She crumples onto the floor.

And that was where the dream stopped being true. Where it turned into a true nightmare.

I notice Ace sitting on the ground, before long, he has gone the same way as Bree. Reg walks in the door, and runs over to Bree. He, as well, meets my bullet. It is easy, killing them all. I stride out of the room, mission accomplished. I smile, and my eyes flash red.

I wake up to Eve shaking me.

Eve

"Maitea...Maitea are you oaky?" I ask, shaking her awake. She jolted upright, breathing heavily. "What' wrong?"

"Nothing." she replied. I knew she was lying, but I didn't want to press her about it. "I have Ace now. Thank you." I nod.

"No problem." I say, standing up. "Are you sure you're okay?" I ask. She nods, and I walk off. I climbed up the latter and sat down behind all the crates. I wanted so badly to get out of here, but the storm was getting worse. Riley had come inside again, and nobody was talking much. I felt claustrophobic, but there was nowhere to go. I wondered when we were going to get out of this blasted place. I couldn't take this much longer.

Eventually, I fell asleep. I woke up to a loud crack of thunder. It shook the entire shack, though that wasn't much. I decided to stay awake, even though there was nothing to do. I just sat there, thinking to myself. How had we gotten in this situation? Riley normally had some place to go if something like that had happened. Then again, none of us were sure if Riley was in her right mind. I didn't think she was crazy, but I could tell she wasn't thinking straight. Reg dying was a big change for us, and things took a turn for the worse.

I didn't know what was going to happen. We had nowhere to go.

Tia

"We need to get out of this bug's house, Riley," I informed my cousin when she came striding back in the door. I crossed my arms over my chest, then laughed when she grimaced at me. I could tell she was really mad, and I knew my laughter would anger her even more.

"What's there to laugh about?" she growled at me, watching her get even angrier just made me want to see how far I could go. I tested my limits with a riddle.

"So much, and not enough," I grinned, and leaned against the wall. She threw her hands up and walked to a different side of the room, "You can run, but you can't hide," I taunted.

"That's it, we're leaving!" she yelled. Mission accomplished. All you had to do was annoy the hell out of my cousin and you could get anything you wanted. I had learned that a long time ago.

"Excellent, let's go then," I threw my duffel bag over my shoulder and walked out the door. I realized the rain had stopped. "Oh look," I called back inside, "it stopped raining."

Ace

"That's it; we're leaving!" Riley yelled, rousing everyone who'd been asleep.

It hadn't been too long, but I'd regained enough strength to help Maitea pack our things. The coffee was still there, still somewhat hot. I took a sip of it. Not bad, for in-convenience store coffee. I shared the thing with Maitea during the mad rush to get everyone's belongings completely together.

"She shouldn't be moving you around like this," my girlfriend said for probably the thousandth time since we'd initially left the mansion. "With you sick...and especially so soon after that car wreck."

I was lucky to have lived through that, Eve had told me. If I wouldn't have blacked out and relaxed, if I would've tensed up, it probably would've killed me.

"Well, I had the chance to put a bullet in her face, but you didn't want me to. So what do you want to do about it now?" It wasn't just her, really. I hadn't particularly wanted to off our leader, either. She and I used to be cool with each other for the longest time. Anymore, though, the temptation came and went pretty often.

Gracie Finn

"Where is Ace?" the man asked me again. I'd had terrorism training before, and all I had to do was pretend that this man was the terrorist, instead of my son. I could stand up to him. I was breaking numerous codes of the UCMJ, not to mention outright laws, but if there was anything I could do to give my remaining child a fighting chance, I would do it.

"I. Don't. Know," I said again, slowly, sternly. He got up from his position leaning on the table and staring intently into my eyes and started to pace around the room again.

"You haven't touched your coffee, Admiral Finn."

That was because it was likely poisoned. "I'm not thirsty, and don't you 'Admiral' me, scum. I told you I don't know where my son is. I haven't had any contact with him."

He took a piece of paper and slid it across the table in front of me. I forced myself to be calm and suppressed, to not look like I recognized the girl in the picture. Maitea Donerez, I remembered. That really nice girl Ace brought with him when he came to find me and...Benny. I really liked her.

"What about her?" he asked me. "Have you ever seen her before?"

"No."

"She was Ace's girlfriend."

Was? They thought something happened to Ace? "Look, if I knew anything at all, Ace would be home with me. He's very sick. I just know he is..." A tear slipped from my eye. One of our boys was dead, and one had cancer. Things weren't looking too sunny for Paul and me lately. We had actually fought a few times, and that was very unlike us as a couple.

Finally, the police officer produced another photo--one of a twisted mass of blue fiberglass and metal, charred from flame. I picked it up, studied it, and dissolved into tears, even though I knew very well that he'd made it out alive. I cried because they assumed he was dead. He had a chance.

"Where did they hide the body?" His demand was angry; he nearly screamed it. "Or did you hide it, Midori?" He had the nerve to use my real name. After a few moments of silence, he told me, calmly, "We have a warrant for your arrest, for assisting the illegal activity of the Fishers. We have a search warrant for your house and any vehicles, including any aircraft you have flown in the past two months. We also have a warrant for your husband's arrest." Then, he left. I was cuffed and taken to a holding cell somewhere. I didn't know where.

((She is still an NPC. Just a possible direction to take.))

Reg Carter

I woke up right back in my cell the next morning. This time not everything was white. A trail of dried blood fed into the cell and I noticed I was lying at it's end point. Whatever the hell that crazy guy did last night, I must'a lost a damn pint o' blood over it. Even I knew that wasn't healthy, and I would merely get weaker and weaker. I cursed. There was no doubt about it; the increasing shadow of fright upon me was getting ever-so taunting and it wouldn't be long before I lost my mind along with my physical strength. I needed to think. No where was impregnable, since it at some point would've relied on a human mind and at some point there would've been an inevitable mistake. Whether that be the tiniest structural flaw, or the biggest cock-up by one of the guards; there'd always be a way out. Jesus, I'd just have to find it.

Riley

I knew where we were going before I had even made the annulment we were leaving. It was a bit of a distance, but I had my reasons. I pulled the slip of newspaper out of my coat pocket, and again skimmed the article.

...sources say that at least three of the Fishers were killed by Captain Marci's band of cops.

What rubbish, where the people really this stupid?

He intends on hunting down every last one of the Fishers, regardless of the cost. "I have been given a task," he states, "no man has accomplished before. But we have already had a great success in our last fight with the Fishers. We won't rest until they are all dead." Captain Marci is holding a gala on February 18 in the Greenwood Resort, in Richmond's Square, Texas. There he will reveal his plan to track down the Fishers. "Who knows, before next year the Robin Hood Gangs could just be a story to tell our kids." As Captain Marci puts it, the reign of the Fishers could be coming to a close. Maybe someday America will be safe again.

We were going to Texas. I had a plan, but I was going to do it solo. That Captain was getting a taste of his own medicine, Riley style.

"Where are we going?" Alis demanded, walking up to me. I shoved the article in my pocket.

"Texas," I answered.

Eve

"Texas," Riley said. Jaws dropped all around the gang. Texas was miles away, but I knew Riley had a reason for that particular destination. I only wished I knew what it was.

"Texas! Are you crazy?!" Tia shouted. "We're not going to cross all of Mexico by foot. That's insane!"

"It may be insane, but we're doing it." Riley ordered, giving her a stern look. "You wanted to get out of that shack so badly, well here you go." Tia glared, but didn't reply. We would all rather be out here walking than in that tiny little shack.

"I have officially accepted it. She's gone mad!" I heard Maitea whisper to Ace, who didn't reply. It was a little crazy, but I didn't say anything about it. Maitea had a right to be upset. Ace was sick and injured, and all this moving around wasn't making him any better. There wasn't much that I could do to help.

It was quiet while we walked. There wasn't much to talk about. Riley was reading a newspaper. I wanted so badly to read it. My parents got me reading the newspaper everyday since I was 9. I loved being clued in on things. There was probably some things about the Fishers in there. I figured that was what Riley was looking at. We had to keep a really low profile, with so many people coming after us. There was a big reward on Riley's head, and probably some on most of us.

I looked up into the sky and saw a rainbow. It was the most beautiful thing I'd seen in a long time, and it sort of comforted me. I tried not to thing about the fact that we were being hunted, but it was a pretty hard thing to ignore.

I'll do what I can, but I'm currently amidst my California vacation right now, and only have short moments in front of my laptop when it has internet, so if I have fewer and shorter posts, don't kill me!

Howard

I'd done more than plenty things in my life; I've killed, I've fought, I've learned, and probably more than most people could say, I'd walked and ran. Like everybody else, I was shocked; walking across all of Mexico, that isn't a cakewalk. But as long as I had my head up high, no rain pouring down. my feet on the move, and even more, some chocolate in hand, I was fine, happy, and full of energy.

Nobody felt like talking. I didn't blame them. I didn't hate this, but it was pretty crazy. For now, I just planned to follow along. Picking a fight wouldn't make anything much better.

Alis

"Hey, here's a better idea." I said after a minute, "Tia can call up some taxi company, and we get around in those, using her supposed credit card. Then we shoot the people so they don't go and blab."

"It could work," Riley deliberated. I had half a mind to go up and give her a hug. I had never seen her so willing to kill someone. I was almost laughing from the excitement. This was great. I had never liked Riley, but now I had a feeling life was going to get easy.

"Tia," In that one word, Riley gave a full order. Tia shot Riley a look, but pulled out her cell phone, and gave orders to the man on the other side.

"Dibs," I said after a minute. I wanted the job done right and the only way I was sure of that would be if I did it myself.

"On what?" Howard demanded.

"Killing the taxi drivers,"

Eve

I was really glad about getting a taxi. There was one problem, though. Who was going to drive? I'm sure Alis would want to, but Riley would probably end up taking it. She wouldn't get it without an argument, though, and I knew that. We didn't want someone who would drive super fast to take the wheel. Low profile: that was one of our main objectives.

"Dibs," Alis said, raising her hand excitedly while after Tia hung up the phone.

"On what?" Howard asked, a questioning look on his face.

"Killing the taxi drivers," Alis said in a voice that said 'duh! what else!' I couldn't help but to smile. Alis was the kind of person that you grow to know and...sometimes love. If someone tried to take her kill...well, I just hope nobody ever does.

"Oh ya, what if I want to?" Howard ask jokingly, but Alis just looked at him seriously, her eyes piercing. He put his hands up. "I was just joking!" he said. Alis smiled and nodded. For the first time in a while, things felt almost normal again. I mean, it was weird that we were all together. That only really happened when Riley needed to have a group talk, and that was only when something really big happened. Even on heists we'd be split up. It felt...good. Odd, but good.

No one was fighting either, which made things even more strange. I understood. We were all each other had.

Ace

I leaned against the wall, one hand shoved in my pocket, the other massaging my still-healing ribs. Scowling, I listened to this nonsense. A taxi? Really? There was that little voice in my head telling me, Come on, Ace, stop being negative. Stop picking fights with everyone. It's not you. But it always had been me, and I was just reverting to my old ways. I couldn't even count the number of times I'd been suspended for putting some kid in the hospital just because they decided to make a snide comment about my appearance or something.

"Mhm, taxi," I said. "That's a great idea and all, but how're we all going to fit in said taxi? Cause that wouldn't look suspicious, either. I mean. Unless you're planning to get one of those soccer-mom van dealios."

"I know what I'm doing," Tia snapped, covering the phone receiver.

"All right. I mean, I guess you could fit a few of us in the trunk, and I'm tiny, so maybe I'd fit in that spot under the back windshield..."

Riley glared. "Ace, just...just shut up." She didn't even want to pick a fight with me, and even her speech sounded more like a friendly suggestion than an order at that point. It sounded tired more than anything.

I sighed and covered my face with my forearm; tears were coming too easily lately. And I'd always been known as the one who cried too much, even though before I really hadn't. It wasn't even what Riley said, either. I was just frustrated. Ma would have understood...if she'd answer her phone once in a while.

Gracie Finn

"I hope you don't mind, Ma'am, if there's no one to...you know...pipe you onboard," the dark-haired, bulb-nosed cop on my right joked.

"Where the hell are you guys taking me?" I demanded. They just snickered and continued pulling me along a white hallway.

"This is so fun," the stupider, lighter-haired fatso on my left guffawed.

I halted, throwing all my weight into the stop. I only had about one-hundred and ten pounds to work with, but the surprise factor threw both the cops off balance, and I started using my scariest flight-deck voice. "I just asked you two where you were taking me! In case you haven't noticed, I am a three-star admiral, and I outrank both of you."

"Not for long," the idiot said, almost unsure of himself.

"I haven't been stripped of my rank yet, shit-for-brains, so I ORDER you to tell me WHERE you're taking me!"

"Stop badgering the prisoner!"

I looked behind me to see a police captain. "You--"

"No hard feelings, Ma'am," he said. "Let me escort you. I promise, I'll have a bit more dignity than these cronies." He took me lightly by the shoulder and walked a bit behind me. I braced myself for anything unexpected. "I'm truly sorry for your loss, Ma'am, but trust me. That little scoundrel was taking out personnel left and right. It was for the best." He then pushed me into a cell and slammed the door. It locked electronically, so if I could just find a phone. I knew Ace could've sprung me out.

I sat down on the cot. White; everything was blindingly white. I wasn't sure that was how jails were supposed to be.