The Phoenix Colony

Ben's arm hurt, his stomach hurt, his back hurt, everything hurt, but soon he'd be able to fix it all, all he needed to do was get the ram back, back to the cave before the night came, and with it the predators. About half an hour of harsh pulling had only gotten Ben halfway back to the cave, but he heard something.

"Did you hear that?" asked a familiar voice in the distance. Ben, still dragging the beast, let the leg drop to the dirt and began to yell. "OVER HERE! I NEED HELP!"

 

Raylene crounches near the entrance of the cave, watching Fox and Reva walk away. In the distance, the sound of a shotgun firing. She hopes Ben found some food. The meat Pasha has isn't very appealing anymore. It's been dead for over 24 hours. No telling what kind of illness they'd get from eating rotten meat.

A myriad of voices swim through Raylene's head. She is confused. Why was she hearing things that weren't there. A snip it here and there. She couldn't make out any one voice through the others. She stands and walks outside the cave, trying to clear her cluttered mind.

 

Fox says, "Yeah, I heard it. Come on, we should check it out." says Fox as they walk down the slope. After walking for a few minutes they come upon Ben, who is attempting to pull a rather large ram.

"Looks like you've been busy. We'll help you pull it back to the cave." says Fox.

As Britney sits by the fire, she stares at it. It was as if the fire was calling out to her. Without giving it a second thought she puts her hand in the fire. It seemed to dance around her hand. As she moved her hand, the fire moved also. She quickly thinks "What in the world am I doing." She pulls back her hand and looks at it. "Why didn't the fire burn me." thinks Britney.

 

"Hey guys," shouted an unfamiliar voice, "I'll help y'all with that."

Out of the trees came a battered looking man, clothes in shreds.

"The names Juliano, good to meet you" The other survivors looked on in suprise, they knew there were other survivors but the blunt and almost arrogant entry was rather shocking.

"I landed in the trees over there, got thrown clear of the wreckage but this bushy tree here caught me. I'm a bit battered but I can be of some help. I'm sure of that"

He grabbed the horns and promptly started dragging the bull up hill, before realising the others were just standing there, watching the strange newcomer.

"so, you gonna stand there or you gonna help out a fellow survivor?" said Juliano, his eyes glaring at the others.

(hope thats an ok entry )

 

Allen turned his head towards the guard and spoke to her.

"So, how does it feel to become what you hate so much? What would your family say if they could see you now?"

 

Fox watches the man for a second and smiles, thinking "Good, another person to join our tribe, we'll need all the help we can get."

Fox walks over and begins to help the man pull the ram, "Hi, my name is Fox. I'm the leader of our tribe, the rest of us are in our cave. So how did you end up on a prison transport."

As Britney looks at Allen, still wandering what had just happen, she says "Shut up. You don't know anything about me, or my family."

 

Raylene stood in the tall grass near the cave entrance. The voices inside the cave became muffled as she moved farther away, but she could clearly hear the other voices in her head, the ones she'd been unable to untangle from reality in the last few hours. She closed her eyes and shook her head, hoping to shake them free. Opening her eyes, she hears nothing. She sighs, relieved at the silence.

Walking along a fallen tree, she hears a scurry in the leaves. "Nibble nibble! Mmm, I love roots!"

"What?" Raylene says outloud. The critter stops. She crouches among the foliage and waits.

"That was close. Nibble nibble! I love roots!" Raylene finally sees the thing making the noise. It's a rabbit, or at least it resembles one. Raylene grabs a limb and swiftly smacks the poor critter in the head. She picks it up and breaks its neck. "Well, at least I can add this to whatever is for dinner." She dreads walking back into the cave and the clutter that will begin in her head again.

 

Reva walked alongside Fox and gently pushed her back from the ram.

"Hey, Miss Ceader Hero, you are in no fit shape to drag anything." And neither am I, Reva added in the privacy of her thoughts with a mental sigh, "Those injuries will start to bleed again and then where will you be?"

Reva got a hold on the front hooves and tasked her small frame to helping the new guy and Ben.

I think I'm starting to hate this planet, thought Reva as she tugged.

 

"Hey there Fox, nice name by the way. The name my parents gave me was Juliano Haywardo but you can call me Hays." said Hays, offering his hand.

"I was wrongly imprisoned, and sent to the ship. I first tried to protest, even tried to break free but after the crash i've been thinking. Lifes a ride and you cant just get off it you dont like it, all you can do is detour the route. I seem to like this detour myself" said Hays, who appeared to be almost happy they had crashed. He stopped momentarily, breathing the air, he felt alive again.

"Why was I on the ship? Well, I was in the ERRF for 17 years, but I got wounded. A few days after I was discharged some sensitive documents went missing. They had the gaul to believe it was me, that I would steal some documents! After 17 years service, honestly. I actually took a bullet for the force you know. That was back in..........."

The new man rambled on, recounting his past as they slowly dragged the bull up the hill to their destination.

 

Pasha sat down, boiling in Britney’s words.

“He’ll hurt her Pasha.” Yuri muttered. He looked at Viva’ delicate figure.

“He’d better not.” He growled under his breath. “Maybe I should… prevent it.”

“Maybe…”

“He’ll hurt her.” The voices seemed to mumble in his head. He growled angrily, grabbing the stick in his hand and standing up. He took his knife, putting it inbetween his teeth. She ran over stopping at the man’s side. He could feel his hands shaking at his eyes looked over him. He was tied up, all it would take is a swipe at the throat, and he would be dead. The voices in his head seemed to scream.

He growled, it echoed as he jumped on the defenseless man.

“You’ll hurt her.” He growled as he brought he knife out.

 

Fox says to Reva, "Fine, I won't try to pull the ram, or whatever the hell you want to call this thing." Looking at Hays she says "Thanks, its a nickname that my comrades gave me when I was younger. ERRF huh, sounds interesting. I was second in command of the Warriors of Ares rebel faction. You might have heard of us, we're the ones the blew up the White House."

 

""I've got to go find some more food." Chad announced. Derek's ears perked up. He still didn't trust Chad. "If anyone wants to come with me you best do it now, I want to get this done with before it gets too cold."

"I'll go." Derek said, standing up. He still had the "We shouldn't be travelin' alone." He winked. He followed Chad out of the cave. "So, you remember where you found those berries? Could be more o' those bushes layin' around."

 

Viva's eyes widened. She left the meat on the fire and ran towards Pasha.
"No!"
She grabbed his wrist at which he shoved her away, growling:
"He'll hurt you if he lives!"
Viva once more pounced at the handle of his knife, trying to keep her cool.
"Don't...do...this..."
Don't make me do this. Pasha shoved her away, and raised his knife just above Allen's neck. Viva's fighter instinct kicked in and she jumped towards him, kicking him away. The cave rumbled as he hit the wall, as though a somowrestler had arrived. Or maybe it was a landslide.
"Quit it Raskolnikov!"
She blurted out, and then bit her lower-lip.
"So much so for secrecy."
A voice mocked her.

 

Raylene reached the cave just in time to see Pasha leap on top of Allen, biting a knife.

“You’ll hurt her.” He growled as he brought he knife out.

She screamed. "What are you do..." Her voice caught in her throat the second she realized that she was screaming at a psycho murderer. She backed slowly out of the cave, Pasha's wild eyes starring at her. She didn't know what to do anymore and sank to the ground in tears.

Just then, the ground shook and she looked up, seeing Viva and Pasha on the ground.

"Quit it Raskolnikov!"
She blurted out, and then bit her lower-lip.

Tears errupted from Raylene harder than before. She wept and her body shook. "So much so for secrecy." She heard clearly in her head.

 

All of a sudden Pasha stood up and came over to Allen to kill him, and he couldn't do anything about it, not one....damn....thing. That's when Viva stopped him. That was strange. It seemed she wasn't exactly what she seemed. He should have picked up on that.

 

Britney looks over to see Raylene fall to her knees in tears. She ran out to her and hugs her. "Relax. He isn't going to hurt you." says Britney while thinking "Damnit, I only wanted to get rid of Allen. I didn't want to upset Raylene."

Looking back into the cave she sees Viva knocking Pasha off of Allen. She calls out to Viva, "Who are you really. A ditz wouldn't have been able to do that."

 

Pasha looked at her with wide eyes, as he backed away, dropping the knife into his pocket. He had called her by his last name… only one person other then himself knew it. His eyes turned dark as he walked away from them both. He sat down, his gaze meeting Raylene. He gave her a growl.

“She… knows who you are.”

He began to wind the rope again, putting his anger into his fingerwork.

“I love her though…” he thought to himself. He felt the hoplessness set in. He wanted to yell at her, he wanted to find out how she knew. He wanted to hurt her. But… he couldn’t.

"Who are you really. A ditz wouldn't have been able to do that." He heard Fox say.

He growled, standing up.

"She's who she says she is! The end, enough said." he yelled. His eye's looked deeply at Britney, just waiting for her to try and defy his word.

 

"Nah, i picked them pretty clean just left a few." Smith said and and then added. "But i've got an idea on how we can find some more edible plants." Smith said and gently put Joey on the ground. "Joey's always looking for something to eat." He exsplained and watched as Joey sniffed the air for a moment hopped forward a few times and glanced back to make sure that Smith was following. He was.

"Now we just follow Joey and keep and eye out for anything that might make a good meal." He said happily and followed Joey into the tree line, hopeing to find another one of those deers on the way.

 

"That's a nifty little thing, now isn't it?" Derek said, slightly bemused. "Be sure to keep an eye out though while we follow him. You never know what kind of predators could be out here."

 

Viva grinned stupidly, and pushed her hair back.
"I'm not ditz. You shouldn't listen to the police. They think I murdered a girl 'cause I was crazy! Hmmph."
She then giggled and turned to the meat.
"Oops, silly me. The meat is gonna blow soon."
She chuckled, and returned to the meat, her back towards the others. Her face were pale instead of the giddy one.
"Work well done, Agent Viva. Now, you're toast."
Shut up. Viva tried to smile, and it worked after a few attempts. She then looked over to Pasha with that smile, and walked to him.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Huggles. I didn't hurt you, did I?"

 

"Here!" Raylene wails. "I've found some dinner!" She holds up the dead rabbit. "I figured you didn't have enough food left to feed all of us." Tears still pouring down her face, she gets up and takes the rabbit to Pasha. She moves toward the spring and dips her hands in. She pulls a handful of water out and splashes it on her face.

 

Allen laughed out loud for the second time in one day. Everything was wrong. He watched cautiously as Pasha stalked off and Viva talked to him. Then he turned his attention back to the guard.

"Know you! Of course I know you. I've met you in every single place from the lowliest rebel group to the cubicle down the hallway from my office at headquarters. You pop up in absolutely every culture, time, and country. You joined the guard because people told you it was good as you grew up. You wanted them to be proud of you. You did what they wanted. Now things are different. There's someone else who's strong now. She's telling you that everything you knew before is evil, and you believe her. You do things because you think that she'll think it's right. You have no will of your own because you want to fit i. You're weak. They do your thinking for you.

As for your family, would they rather you kill me by starvation or by homicide? I know your kind. At least I know why I do what I do." Allen looked back at Pasha "Hell, even he knows why he does what he does!"

He spat at her, for once truly angry and not just acting.

 

Pasha gave a nervous laugh, his fingers shaking as her went back to making the rope. He had weaved most of the bark by now, with only a few more to make. Hopefully enough for the fence.

“You didn’t hurt me, but you’re pretty strong aren’t you?” he said with a half-grin. She gently sat on his lap, and he blushed as he put his arms around her. He gently slid three strands of the bark around.

“Want to help?” he asked. She nodded and he began to show her how it was done. His heart gave a skip, and there was no more doubt in him that he loved her.

He took the rabbit, setting it at his side. He would have to skin it later.

 

Raylene couldn't stand it anymore. She jerked up from a sitting position and ran to where Allen was tied to the gurney.

"SHUT UP YOU FILTH!" She slapped him across the face. "I heard you. I know you want to kill us. You want us dead. You said we are witnesses, to what, who gives a s*it! YOU ARE FILTH AND I DON'T CARE WHO TRIES TO KILL YOU NEXT. I WON'T STOP THEM!" She lifts her foot and stomps on Allens good hand, hearing the bones crunch and runs out of the cave.

 

Smith couldn't shake the feeling that a certain someone wanted him dead. He had been trying to ignore it but the not vary vauge references. He continued following Joey, and keeping and eye out for "Preditors" but still hoped he could just make freinds with this oddly angry man. "So what'd you get arrested for?" He asked. "And whats with the bad murder joke." This time he turned and faced the man, he hoped he was wrong but couldn't risk it.