Day One of the Journey

As darkness settled through the sky, Alexia started telling people to leave the bunker, with stuff in hand. Most of them looked sad. Some looked puzzled, as they walked in a straight-line towards the ladder to the hatch. Almost mechanically, they all looked up towards the hatch. Alexia shoved her way to the front, looking over everyone.

"Remember the formation. I'm going out first, to make sure there aren't any people outside. I'll then come back in and guide groups out. I will not emphasize this enough. Stay with your group."

She went out and scanned her surroundings. Alexia saw no disturbance anywhere near by or saw any people. She went back down the hatch, glanced over everyone, then started telling groups to leave.

When just her group was left, it consisted of 8 people, including Alexia. Their names were Andre, Anisa, Lukas, Ronny, Brooklynn, Connor, and Joey. All the boys except Andre were already friends, and Brooklynn and Alexia had met before the war. From what they could tell, Anisa was incredibly quiet. She hadn't spoken once out of will. Brook tried talking to her, but she simply nodded or shook her head low. Sometimes they even forgot she was there; she was so quiet. The one unique thing about Anisa was that she would write everything down. It didn't matter if it was real, or if it just came up into her head, she wrote it down. She would write so much that it would fill up an entire journal. Her writing was so smooth, she would create books and they would never get boring. She never really shared them, so no one knew of her talent.

Lukas was a very quiet person as well, but not because he was shy. He was quiet because he would never get peace and quiet before the war, so every second of silence he valued. He was the oldest, so he was strict when he wanted to get things done, or to get his way. Lukas stayed quiet most of the time, but if he did speak it was always responsible and reserved. He joked around a lot and made sure everyone stayed in line.

Ronny was the exact opposite from Anisa and Lukas. He spoke a lot, to the point where he would get in trouble. Luke would yell at him for speaking after he told him not to, which could potentially hurt them in the end. He was kind, even if people were rude to him. Other group members would make fun of him for being weird, or not funny, but he was funny to everyone in the group. They all would laugh with him after he told a joke, and the nights in the bunker would never be boring. Most of his roommates really enjoyed him, but some couldn't stand his talking. Ronny was very smart, but he always had to be doing something, whether it was talking, playing a game, or tapping a pencil he was always doing something.

Joey was a mix of loud and quiet. He spoke a lot, but not as much to the point of being like Ronny. Him and Ronny were good friends before the war, but the war brought them together more. They would talk together a lot and made plans to hang out with each other. Joey was very honest, even if the truth hurt people sometimes. He didn't always realize right away, but eventually figured out. He had a sense of humor that was different from everyone else's. He was funny, but sometimes went too far. He's very supportive to everyone, even if he doesn't like them very much. He would hide his feelings a lot, making it seem he was always happy. Joey wasn't happy. He had a lot to worry about, he was always thinking about something, even if it was something small. He wasn't afraid to call out something if he knew it was wrong, or hurtful.

Connor was very smart. He worked in his academics more than anything else, although he did sports before the war. He was always top of his class and worked extremely hard. He was funny and kind, but also very reserved and quiet. He was very devoted to his work, and always was punctual. He was also friends with Joey and Ronny, and they were all a close friend group. Connor was very respectful and told things as they were.

Brooklynn was different from everyone else. She wasn't happy and didn't try to hide it around the group. She was very smart, kind, helpful and pretty. She never hurt anyone intentionally, but accidently did sometimes. She was liked by lots of people, which didn't surprise anyone. If you were upset, she was there for you, always. Even if she was mad at you, she would be a shoulder to cry on. She's dependable and worked hard at everything she did. Brook thought very negatively of herself, but no one else agreed with her. Everyone thought she was so perfect and beautiful, but she just couldn't accept it. She made a point to spread happiness around, even if it meant she wasn't happy herself.

As the group started to leave, Alexia saw Anisa writing something down. She tried to glance over her shoulder, but it was in a different language. It was written in Chinese. Alexia didn't understand Chinese, so she asked Anisa to translate.

Anisa whispered to Alexia "Not yet, soon enough you will understand."

Alexia gave everyone a puzzled look, but everyone returned the same glance. She turned around and started to go up the ladder, looking down at Luke's creation. She thought what would become of the bunker, would it be useless? Would someone else find it and use it for the wrong reasons? What if someone found it and used it for the right reasons? These thoughts all raced through Alexia's head as she turned her head to the ladder and peeked out the hatch. It seemed all clear, she couldn't see any other groups.

"C'mon, it's all clear. Move faster! This is a do or die situation, who knows what could happen."

Everyone started getting onto the ladder, one by one, Alexia helped them out. They all looked back at the hatch, as Alexia started looking at the map. She made them get in a line, hutched down as to not attract as many people. The whole group started looking around, curious as to what the outside world had to bring. As Alexia brought the group out of the survival bunker, she was nervous for what would happen next. The possibilities were endless. They could get attacked, make it there safely, all die, and so many other things. Alexia froze, as these vivid thoughts raced through her head. It wasn't until Anisa touched her ever so gently, pointing to the path that she came out of her trance. As Alexia started walking, the group followed directly behind her. She walked at a fast pace at first, but gradually slowed down. She was nervous, of course, but another feeling overtook her. Worry? No... it wasn't that. It was a deep lingering feeling, like butterflies, but not a happy feeling. Her stomach had knotted, causing her to slow down a little. She wasn't ready to back down, but she started to tremble. Her knees started to turn in, and her hands shook. Alexia had planned this herself; she wasn't ready to back down yet. Although as she walked, she found herself thinking about Luke again. His strawberry blonde hair... his chiseled jawline... his warm smile. That image of him smiling a pure, happy smile flashed through her head. Before she knew it, there was a tear creeping down her face. As she started to walk a little faster, she tried to erase the image out of her head. Alexia continued walking, but the more she tried to get rid of the image, the more images raced through her head. Soon enough, she was crying. The images weren't only Luke, but her family as well. A ton of memories, her family at the zoo, her 10th birthday, her sisters and how much they enjoyed the park. There were so many thoughts racing through her head. Then, it all went dark. The thoughts stopped. She looked around, then saw a shadow of a figure. It was small, and nimble. She quickly turned around to see if everyone was still there.

"Are you alright Alexia? You look like you just saw a ghost..." Brooklynn's face was sincere, and clearly worried.

"You didn't see that? T-that thing?" Alexia's trembling increased. She knew she had seen something. She started to look around at the rest of the group. They all looked puzzled, and their faces were filled with distress. As she trembled, Brook grabbed her hand gently.

"I didn't see anything Alexia... c'mon, we have to keep walking. Any slower and we'll get to our first stop by next afternoon."

Brooklynn dropped her hand and started walking in front of Alexia. As everyone continued walking, her eyes grew wide. She pulled her backpack off her back and reached inside to grab something. She grabbed a small pocketknife and attached it to the belt loop of her ripped blue jeans. As she attached it, a small click had ensured it was on. She put her fingers through her long, deep brown hair, and pulled it into a high ponytail. Alexia's hands were still trembling, but the faster she walked, the less she thought about it. At the pace they were going, they would reach their first stop by around 3 am. When she walked, she fiddled her fingers. She was very fidgety; anything would scare her. As she walked, slowly she started to be at the back of the group. Alexia was walking in the back, although that's the place she was supposed to be walking at, she sped causing Anisa to be at the back. As Brooklynn took the front, Alexia noticed something. She saw more people, no more than 20 feet ahead of them. Alexia grabbed her pocketknife, her hands trembling. She ran to the front, just in front of Brooklynn. She motioned for them to go back and stop walking. They did as she said. As she ran forward, being careful to run quietly, she approached the back of the group. As she started to listen closely, they were speaking, but it wasn't a language Alexia understood. It wasn't Chinese, or Russian. She grabbed the person in the very back, covering their mouth so they couldn't speak. They started to struggle, until she pulled up the pocketknife. Alexia dragged them back quite aggressively, keeping the pocketknife at their eyelevel. Soon, she was back to the group. All their eyes wide, and hands clenched together.

"Who are you and who do you work for?!" Alexia was close to their face, only to realize, it was a girl, maybe 14 or 15 years old. As she yelled at them, her eyes filled with tears. Alexia paused and set her upright.

"J-Je suis désolé mademoiselle, m-mais je ne peux pas te comprendre... s'il te plait ne me blesse pas!" She was trembling at this point and flinched at the slightest movement. Alexia understood, she couldn't understand.

"Parlez vous anglais?" If she spoke English, she could be vital. She would be bilingual, which they could use to their advantage.

"I can speak English, as well as French." The girl was still trembling, twirling her thumbs. It was easy to see how nervous she was. Tears started streaming down her face.

"It's okay... I'm not going to hurt you... Who were you with...?" Alexia's face softened, trying to look nicer.

"M-my family... we've been walking for so long miss... there was a battle in Paris, which is where we live- lived. We had no other way of transportation... we've been walking for days miss... we don't mean any harm to anyone... well... I don't at least... my parents don't really care where I am, or what I'm doing... they just wanted to go fight in the war." Her trembling had slowed, showing she was calming down.

"Would you like to stay with us? We're walking to Marifino... we'd love if you'd join us." Alexia gave a small smile, showing they were harmless teens just like her.

The girl looked straight ahead at her family, who had left her, not even noticing she was gone. The tears hadn't stopped streaming down her face, but now they were coming down more than before. They hadn't even looked back, or if they had, they didn't care.

"Yes... I would... My name's Christa..." She didn't move her eyes from her family.

"Welcome to the Black Doves, Christa. I'm Alexia, after a few more miles we will stop for the day and move in the night. It's going to be around a three-day walk, are you okay with that?"

"Oui, I have walked for almost 2 weeks now, another few days won't hurt anything."

Christa was small, around 5'1, and she was very frail, and skinny. Her bones were visible through her skin, she had barely any muscles on her. She looked like the wind could blow her over, which it probably could. She had medium length, curly, chestnut brown hair. It reached just past her shoulders and had tight corkscrew curls. Her hair was extremely knotted, showing that her journey hadn't been pleasant. There were blood stains on her clothing, it had faded a bit, but was still visible. She had soft, brown, glimmering eyes. Her eyes had flecks of amber in them, the light would refract off her eyes, making them shine a bright auburn. As she walked, she had a slight limp on her left leg. She didn't wince when pressure was applied, but she was obviously hiding it in. Her skin had a tan complexion to it, darker than Alexia's. In her hand, she carried a single bottle of water, not even half empty yet. On her back, she had a school backpack. Of course, it wasn't used for school now, but it carried food, water, and other supplies she would need to live.

As the group progressed among the path, Alexia stuck close to Christa. She felt the need to talk to her but couldn't find the right words. Should she ask a question about her family? Or maybe, where she came from? What her origins are? What she had encountered on the journey? Alexia had so many questions but couldn't phrase any of them quite right. She was nervous, of course, but there was something else there. It was a mix of curiosity, worry, and angst. Alexia was still trying to comprehend the fact that she could possibly never see her family again, never see Luke again, or the fact that she could be responsible if the Black Doves failed. Why was she in charge? She started thinking about how that at any moment, they could all die, and it would be her fault. A single tear slid slowly down her cheek. As she slowly came back to reality, she was in the back, alone. Christa had walked up before her, looking exhausted. Alexia looked up to the horizon, seeing a sliver of the rising sun. As the sun started to shine, she could see their camp spot. Everyone was walking at a slower pace than before; it was obvious they were tired. They had been walking for around 4 hours. The point they were stopping at was in the city of Dolgoprudny. It was a small, abandoned shack. They were about halfway to Marfino. As Joey approached the door, he opened it only to find that there were other people there. Other people, in uniforms. In Chinese uniforms. They were in war uniforms. Joey's eyes went wide. Brooklynn came up behind him, her jaw had dropped. There were dead Chinese soldiers, in their cabin. She snapped her neck around, tears in her eyes. Alexia quickly ran up. There were people in the cabin. Dead. As everyone crowded around the door, they all had their jaws dropped, eyes wide, and tears in their eyes, except Anisa. Anisa had the same expression on her face she always did, it was bland. There was no emotion. She looked down at her notebook, and continued writing, as if nothing had happened at all. She was always writing in her notebook even while walking, observing, anything she was doing, she would write. As she looked at the body, she gave no emotion. Anisa wrote something again, in Chinese. No one questioned what she was writing, when they did, she would just shake her head and say "Soon."

"W-what are we going to do...?" Brook had a tear running down her face and was slightly trembling.

"We'll have to find a new spot... are you guys okay with walking a bit more?"

Everyone nodded, without an expression on their faces. Alexia glanced inside the shack once more, looking at the bodies. She looked at the terrified expressions on their faces, then saw blood dripping. The deaths were fresh. Alexia snapped her head around and started looking around. It was the crack of dawn, and Alexia had seen a group of people. Her eyes went wide, but she stayed silent. Her face had gone emotionless. She motioned to everyone to run. There was a less secure house that they had passed, but it was risky. Risky was a better shot than immediately dying. Christa had started running first, taking the lead. As everyone started to follow her, she ran faster and faster. Christa's hair was bouncing, she went as fast as she could, running for her life.