The Last Wars by Bianca Gray (suggested reading txt) 📖

I thought.
“We’re going to save Nick, Snow, and well, everybody,” said Daniel. I just stared at him. How were we going to pull this off? I thought. Then I thought the inevitable…we’re going back… I looked at him, fear in my eyes.
“We can’t,” I whispered, letting the words of defeat slip through my lips.
“Not with that attitude,” he said mockingly scolding me. I just stared at him.
“Okay,” I said reluctantly. He grabbed me into a huge hug.
“YESS let’s do this!” he exclaimed grabbing my arm. We found Fayre curled up in Terryn’s lap. Thank God she was asleep or I would think she’d jump up and try to scratch my eyeballs out again.

CHAPTER 9

We shook Fayre awake (unfortunately) while Terryn just looked at me with boredom and curiosity. I don’t think I would EVER understand him… His dark brown eyes followed me slowly as I warily walked towards Venus. She glared at me.
“Just…Don’t. Say. Anything,” she said through gritted teeth. I nodded and just looked at her sadly. I didn’t like her like this. Losing Valora, and now Ida, and practically Fayre, she was going insane. She was supposed to be the leader of this elite group. This group that was supposed to protect the One. And now this group was broken up…BECAUSE of the One… Me. I looked over at who used to be so sly and sarcastic, Fayre, she was shaking uncontrollably. She stared at me with crazed, unfocused eyes. She looked like she was being possessed by some demon. This was my entire fault, I couldn’t help thinking.
“We’re going to save the others,” I said sort of quietly. No one was paying attention to me. I stood on top of a snow-covered rock and looked at the four of them with fiery eyes.
“We’re going to save the others!” I said loudly. Daniel smirked at me. Fayre stopped shaking and watched me while Terryn’s arms were around her. He watched me as well with his dark eyes. Venus just looked at me, hopeless.
“We will. And I will prove to you that I AM the One,” I said with confidence that I didn’t know where it was coming from.
“And Valora won’t be proud of us just SITTING around staring at each other. Ida, sweet, sweet Ida, wouldn’t want us to fight either. Not between us. You’re either with me, or your not. You’re either on MY side or you’re not. We’re either still friends or we’re not,” I said directing the last sentence towards Venus. She looked away.
“We’re still a family. And you know what, families don’t leave each other behind. I don’t care if ‘love’ is forbidden here. I don’t care that everyone is ‘selfish’. ‘Cause you know what? It isn’t true. Someone, EVERYONE, cares about at least ONE other person beside himself or herself. Don’t you think we should save future generations from the same fate as us? Because you all know, they’re going to find us, and then maybe even kill us. We need to save everyone. Not just Nick, Snow, Zanita, Prince, Cedric and the rest. We need to save every single person in this world. We need to take down the Center,” I cried out. Fayre stood up and whooped. She was starting to look like herself again. Venus gave me an approving glance.
“We need more people. Followers,” said Daniel standing up. Terryn nodded approvingly. I smirked.
“Then let’s go into those cities you all were talking about,” I said smiling.

CHAPTER 10

So, it took four days to get to the first city. Four. Whole. Days. During those four days, Fayre was a pain. More of a pain than she ever was. She was so emotional. She cried. She was ecstatic. She cried some more. She hit Terryn so hard he’d go flying. Although, she was a pretty strong little girl and Terryn was pretty small… She was an emotional wreck. Finally we got to the city with her in a happier mood.
“What if someone turns us in?” whispered Venus. We all looked at each other. She was voicing all of our thoughts since the first day we left in search of the cities. No one answered her. The city was large and magnificent. There were lights everywhere. It was like fireflies during the summer, all around the trees, except there were no trees, and these weren’t fireflies. We all looked at the city in awe. Then we noticed a man in white patrolling a gate that surrounded the city.
“So, any guess on how we’re going to get through that gate?” asked Terryn. I looked up and down it. There seemed to be a current running through it and there was barbed wire on top.
“I have no idea…” I whispered.
“I’ve got one,” said Fayre. We all looked up at her. She was balancing herself on a branch that was about seventy feet in the air. The gate was about fifty feet.
“She’s already unstable,” whispered Venus in my ear. I was about to voice my protest when she silently leaped over the gate and landing lightly on her feet. I caught a smile on her face as she silently ran towards the city.
“What in the world is she doing?” asked Daniel loudly voicing his confusion.
“Shh!” we all said to him as we watched Fayre curiously. She collapsed close to the man in white clutching her neck. A big lady in line to get into the city screamed and fainted. No one ran up to catch her. The man in white ran to Fayre. We walked closer to see what was going on. She looked over at us when the man in white looked away. She winked and mouthed ‘Go!’ We quietly ran through the crowd and into the city.
“We should wait for Fayre,” said Terryn, his face worried. He was twisting his hands, anxious to know if Fayre was safe or not. None of us said anything and hid behind some column. I wondered if Nick was like this. Waiting for me. Anxious to know if I was safe. Or was he unconscious somewhere, suffocating on his own pool of blood. I clutched my chest. I suddenly couldn’t breathe thinking of him like that. I sat down slowly, carefully not calling attention to myself. Daniel, Venus, and Terryn were all waiting anxiously for Fayre anyway, that they didn’t notice. I was the One. And I couldn’t even control my own feelings. When everyone was gone and they had “saved” her, Fayre ran over to our hiding place.
“You guys couldn’t have created some other kind of distraction? They were poking me and probing me for like broken bones and stuff. I think I have bruises,” she said rubbing her arm. Terryn just engulfed her into a hug. Huh, didn’t think he was the caring type. I couldn’t help but think that a little harshly.
“How are we supposed to find someone who will help us?” I asked. Venus shrugged. She asked the question first anyway in a different way. Then a little girl tugged on my shirt. I looked down at her. She had bright pink hair and bright red eyes. She pointed to a poster she had that had all of our faces on it. We all looked at each other and then Fayre had a knife to the girl’s neck in one swift movement.
“No! I’m here to help,” she choked out. Fayre reluctantly removed her knife from the girl’s neck.
“My family knew you’d be here soon. They told me to keep track of whoever comes through those gates. I saw you guys sneaking in. I saw her jumping over the gate. It has to be you guys,” said the girl pointing at Fayre.
“Take us to your home, little girl,” said Venus.
“My name is Valentine,” she said. Then she took my hand and led us down the streets of this first city to a quaint little home a little away from the bright lights that danced off of our skin. A woman opened the door. This was the first time I saw a middle aged woman. She looked…different than how I imagined them… She had navy blue hair and big black eyes. Her skin was pale white and on her skin was moving tattoos. They spun and squiggled. They went slowly and moved faster as her eyes widened and smiled.
“Valentine…is it them?” she asked holding her breath. And as she did, her tattoos seemed to hold their breath too. Valentine nodded her little strawberry head. The lady quickly ushered us into her house and then closed the curtains quickly.
“JOE! They’re here!” cried out the lady excitingly. A middle-aged man came out of the kitchen. He had graying black hair and warm brown eyes. He didn’t have any tattoos or dyed hair. He was a regular human being. FINALLY.
He smiled and hugged us all.
“It’s a pleasure to be in all of your presence. Now, which one of you is the One?” he asked excitedly and getting right to the point. The lady slapped Joe’s shoulder playfully.
“First, answer some of our questions,” I said sitting down. Joe raised his eyebrows at me as the others proceeded to sit down as well.
“And what would that be little miss?” asked Joe as he sat down on an armchair.
“My name’s Annika. And this is Venus, Daniel, Terryn, and Fayre. I apologize for Fayre almost attacking your daughter,” I said introducing every one of us. The lady raised her eyebrows at her daughter.
“No, no. She shouldn’t have snuck up on you guys. You were all jumpy. Can’t trust anyone. We understand,” said Joe. After a moment of silence Joe asked, “and the question?”
“Why?” I asked, slowly meeting his eyes. I knew he knew what I meant.
“Well, what they say is not completely untrue. There is some truth to it. Our society did crumble. There was no real sense of any kind of government. Then out of nowhere parts of us were beginning to get organized. Granted, it was a slow moving process but we got there. We’re not as big as we used to be. But we are more powerful. Do you want to know why? It’s because of the Fighters, our army. The Center decided to be stricter on us, so society didn’t reboot again. Every other child that each family has has to be given to the Center to be put into the wilderness. This is so the child learns to use their instincts. That way they become more deadly… It’s our punishment for rioting against the last bureaucracy, against the last government. Although, it doesn’t sound so bad. Giving up a child or two for protection and freedom? Sure, I can do that. But when those very same children are being used against us, it’s not right,” said Joe looking at me sadly. Nick was wrong… I thought sadly. He had his story mixed up.
“Against you…?” asked Venus.
“The President uses the Fighters to his/her pleasure of advantage. Sometimes, just for the fun of it, a child from the Fighters has to kill someone as a ‘test’. Not just anyone. Half the time it is their mother but it is always a family member. They of course don’t know this until it is time to kill that person. Their mentor usually tells them right before they do. And if they refuse, they both die. It’s to show that the Fighters don’t care about the family that ‘left them’. And if they do, then they weren’t ‘strong’ enough to stay alive. It’s like a game. A war. The last wars, but the conflict is always inside of you,” said