CHAPTER TWO - LAUREN
The world is going to shit and I don't know if it's salvageable. Constant battle leads to constant death which ultimately leads to constant trauma and destruction. The new world is supposedly better but I think that everyone in their right mind knows that is a lie. The general or commander harlow is the leader of the new world at least here she is. I have no idea what is happening outside of the americas and frankly I really don't care.
The remnants of my house are starting to rust and mold and it is not a lovely sight or smell. Joey has been holding onto the hope that we are gonna win the upcoming war and get an actual house with an actual table and actual chairs and everything that a house needs, but until that fantasy comes true… we're stuck right here. After everything we've been through you'd think that he would learn that hope is pointless but no… that boy has hope for years.
Joey has been my second in command for the small piece of the resistance I control since he could hold a gun. And he has never once been late to a meeting. Not even one minute late and right now he is almost thirty minutes late, I get up and cautiously walk to the door and open it just enough to see through the crack between it and the crumbling wall. Nothing. Good. I close the door, grab my backpack and gun, then run out the door until I reach town which has been taken over by rebels.
The first store is a mess; it has been turned upside down and ransacked for all its worth. No Joey. The second store has a decent set up of food and clothes that are stained and ripped but warm enough for now. As I enter the shop I notice a woman wearing a suit and tie which was odd to say the least but, if I've learned anything from my time alive it's that you never pick a fight unless absolutely necessary, so I moved inside and looked around. When there was no sign of Joey in the store I went on to the next, but there was nothing. Next, nothing. Next, nothing. And so on.
The horror of missing Joey was filling my chest so much that I felt as if it would pop. I had found nothing. Not Joey, nor anyone else of interest. The thing is, he has always prioritized my safety even though he is much younger than me. He is my son and I was the one he was protecting. I couldn't let that be the case anymore. A few moments later I arrived at the remains of my house.
"Joey?!" I scream frantically. A slow shadow approaches the door where I am standing and before I get the chance to turn the lights on I feel a cold hand on my shoulder and then pressure. Pushing me down to the ground.
"No joey here. Only me… Hello Lauren." a voice says from within the darkness of the room. I am now fully kneeling and I can feel the strong presence of a woman who should not be messed with. Suddenly with a flash the lights go blindingly bright and I fall covering my eyes.
"FUCK!" I open my eyes to see the woman who I assume pushed me down standing in front of me.
"I said hello, Lauren. Such vulgar language is no way to greet a guest." As I look up I see a tall black woman wearing an army uniform. She looks oddly familiar but I can't tell why.
"Who are you?" I demand. She doesn't seem phased and I do admit that makes her quite frightening.
"My name is none of your concern but if you must refer to me you may call me General." Then it clicks. She is The General. The most infamous general in the whole world at the moment, and she is in my house. Holy shit.
"Why are you in my house?" It is a genuine question which I assume I won't get the answer to anytime soon but it's worth a shot.
"Again, that is none of your concern." I knew it. My heart is now pounding in my chest because all of the information being thrown at me is finally sinking in and it is horrifying. The General of the Americas is looming over me in my house threatening me without actually doing anything. What the actual fuck is happening right now? Suddenly without thinking I spit out,
"It seems like my concern because it is my house." Shit. She moves slowly and gracefully closer until she is just a couple inches away from her nose touching mine.
"Don't… test me." My mind clearly is not in my head right now because again without a single thought thinking this through, I blurt,
"Testing is the only way I communicate so it appears you, my friend, are out of luck." When it sets in that I am literally screwing with the most feared person in the americas, maybe even the world. I trail my words off. Goddamnit. Why do I do this? My anxiety spikes up and I nearly flinch when The General moves back to standing away from me.
"Now Lauren… I have a proposal."