Lost in Ash (The Phoenix Experiment - Book 1)

CHAPTER TWO

There was a time when Alva had thought she knew all the evil in the world. She knew that everyone was capable of something evil, something that would break the hearts of everyone who thought they knew them. Everyone could do it.

Evil was easy.

Standing up to those with that wicked look in their eye, was next to impossible. Yet, some could do it. Alva had always thought those people didn't understand the way the world worked. They were too pure or wore rose-colored glasses too often. Lately, though she was starting to see that those people were... Well, she wasn't sure. Maybe, they hadn't been wrong.

You did this.

Alva's white hair whipped in the wind and snow as she stepped out of the log, trying to escape the whisper in her mind. She scanned the area, willing her adrenaline to help her just a little bit longer. Just long enough to make sure that they were safe. That this wasn't another trap.

Without waiting the girl shimmed her way past Alva, even as the older woman protested. The young girl just brushed her off and made her way to the all-black clump of what used to be a person.

Alva stayed where she was, feeling a false sense of protection from the log. As the adrenaline began to leave her body she leaned against the bark and watched the young girl.

She was thin and tall for her age, already only an inch shorter than Alva. Her reddish-brown skin was chapped from the cold weather. The coat she wore was riddled with holes and was both too small and too big. As she began rummaging through the belongings of the soldier, Alva admired the braids that fell just below the girl's shoulders. Still, they felt like a reminder of a memory that Alva would rather forget.

"You're taking that?" Alva asked when the girl stood with a firearm and what she assumed were ration packets.

"You wouldn't?"

"I haven't-"

"Had to? Then, you're lucky."

Alva felt her hackles rise at that. She wasn't lucky. Lucky people didn't live through The Great Fire. Lucky people didn't lose their sons. Lucky people weren't being hunted by Specialists. If this was lucky, then Alva was terrified.

"That was stupid, ya know?" The girl said shocking Alva back.

"What?"

"Stopping. Turning around. Yelling."

Alva nodded. It had been stupid.

They stood there for a long moment of silence, both assessing each other. The girl took the time to put the firearms strap across her shoulder. The gun looked wrong on her back. She was too young, to be so comfortable with what was going on. Alva looked at a girl who was older than her years, forced to grow up because the world hadn't done right by her.

You didn't do right.

The girl once again broke the silence, "You knew the voice?"

"Yes," Alva nodded.

"Weird."

"Weird?"

"Yeah," the girl said with a shrug, turning away from Alva and beginning to walk away.

A panic rose in Alva's chest. A mixture of not wanting to be alone and feeling the need to protect a child, she pleaded, "Wait!"

The girl paused, "Keep up."

Alva startled and her feet started to move on their own. She rushed to keep up, moving in a way that she hadn't in such a long time. With a curiosity that mixed with her nerves just enough to form a twisted type of excitement. The wind nipped at her nose, making it sting, but for what felt like the first time in forever it didn't bother her. It felt like a spark, jolting her back onto her path.

"Six," the girl stated once Alva had caught up.

"Excuse me?"

"That's me," the girl clarified, "I'm Six."

"Years?" Alva asked confused, already knowing that couldn't be the truth.

The young girl chuckled and shook her head, "Twelve years. I'm called Six."

"Oh," Alva wasn't sure how to respond to such a name. "Alva," she offered finally after another long beat of silence.

"I got dropped at a government site when I was six, didn't have a name, and wouldn't talk. The Great Fires started the next week, I guess it was easier to give me a number than a name."

"I'm sorry," Alva offered. Her heart broke for the young girl leading her. She knew too much about an unforgiving world, one that she had no hand in creating.

But you did.

"It's just facts," Six responded back with another shrug.

"Facts can still hurt, no?"

"Sure," Six agreed. "But why spend time being hurt over something I can't change."

"What if you could change it?"

Six stopped, turning her gold eyes to meet Alva's blue ones. She seemed to be searching for something in them, but what Alva didn't know. After a beat, Six began walking again, "What would I change it to? This is what I know."

They walked in silence after that. Alva wasn't sure what to say. If she could, she would change everything. She knew the exact date she would start with too. Back to the day, she found out about her son's disease. To when she thought there was something she could do to twist fate.

As they walked the snow began to get deeper, though the snow itself was merely a sprinkle. The forest was starting to get sparse, more so than it already was. Alva could feel her heartbeat picking up at the wide-open space. They would be easy to spot if they continued much further, reaching out Alva grabbed Six's arm.

The girl flinched at the touch and scrambled away, her hands going immediately to the firearm that she had slung on her back. Alva recoiled her hand, holding them out to show that she meant no threat.

"Shhh, I'm sorry," Alva soothed as she saw the wild panic light up in the younger one's eyes. "The field," she motioned with her head, keeping her hands where Six could see them. The hardest thing was to keep her breathing even, she had to be calm.

The haze of fear faded quickly from Six, the girl shook her head before nodding. Mumbling something to herself that Alva couldn't hear. "It's safe," she insisted.

"There's no cover," Alva argued.

"Don't need it."

"Cover saved us. Staying hidden keeps people safe," Alva spoke, watching as Six walked forward anyway.

"Specialists don't come here," Six answered as her eyes scanned the ground.

Six began walking along a tree line that could hardly really be considered one. Her eyes were glued to the ground, searching for something. Alva watched, waiting for the moment the young girl would walk out and a red dot would appear on her chest. Moments later, Alva would be alone again.

Another one. How many more?

Alva gazed out across the open field of deep snow; she wasn't even sure why they had to cross it. She had been safe in that forest for months now. There were small little towns abandoned here and there with enough food or supplies to get to the next little place. Eventually, she would run into someone who could get her to Elinora.

The sound of brushing snow had her eyes flying back to Six, who was now digging in the snow at the base of a young tree. Alva moved closer, once again her curiosity drove her. Suddenly, Six stood with a thin piece of string in her hand and a proud, bright smile on her face.

"I don't-" Alva stuttered in confusion.

"They put mines out here," Six stated as she motioned towards the field. "They don't need to check for a body count, so it's the fastest way."

"The fastest way?" There were so many questions that Alva had, but it was the first that came tumbling out of her mouth.

"Yeah, I know someone who might be able to help."