Dominion

Chapter Two: Vera

Chapter Two: Vera

"She's your sister?" I nodded.

"It's a long story, but basically I thought she died when we were kids. And then her name showed up on the Bounty Board on Star Hall." I explained.

"So what's your plan?" She asked. "Find her, and then what?" I shrugged.

 "Now that I know she's alive, I'm not gonna let her waste her life with the rebels. Beyond that, I'm not sure. Doesn't matter yet."

A bunch of the guys in the front of the pub let out a big wale as someone won a drinking competition, another collapsed next to him.

"That's not much of a plan." She replied. Her skin color changed from blue to green.

"Well, unless you've got a better one," I replied, standing up. "Then we're back to square one. I work alone." I finished and headed for the door, no desire to remain here and listen to the people of this town drink their pain away. Instead of stopping me this time, she stood up and followed me out of the pub.

"Well, you might be able to stop me from helping you but you can't stop me from just following you." She said, catching up with me.

"You wanna bet?" I asked. "I'm not some drunk in that pub, lady."

"Don't be stupid, Gregor." She replied. I stopped. I never told her my name. "You don't wanna kill me before I tell my lead on the rebel base camp, do you?" She asked, smirking.

"You have a lead?" I asked, turning to face her now. Her skin had changed color to purple now. "If that's true, why do you want my help?"

"Because your sister's a rebel," She replied. "Getting to her could possibly mean fighting through them AND Dominion goons." She explained, stepping closer to me. "I'm good, but not that good."

"Fair enough. But we still have conflicting interests. You want the bounty on Ashley. I'm just after her." She shrugged.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there." She replied. "But at least for now, we need each other. So," She held out her hand. "What'd you say?"

I thought about what Paxer would do. His words echoed in my mind.

"The only person ya can trust is yourself, kid. It sucks but it's just the reality of the world we exist in, Gregor. Don't let anyone tell ya otherwise."

He'd said that to me only hours after he'd rescued me. His use of the word 'exist' instead of 'live' is what had really stuck with me, though. Because he was right. No one truly lived here. We just existed. Courtesy of our lords and masters The Dominion.

And despite that, the memory of when he'd told me that was one of my fondest. I'd woken up in the back of a caravan after he'd rescued me. He was sitting opposite me, skinning a potato with his knife.

But before I saw him there, for just a moment I had thought it had all been a dream. The fire, screaming my sister's name, Paxer taking me away. But no such miracle. It was the day I stopped believing in those.

"Where are we?" I asked, feeling the caravan shift as it bumped along the road.

"We're just south of The Wastes, kid." He replied. The Wastes. Miles and miles away from home.

"Where are we going?"

"My old place."

"Why?" I asked. He looked up from the potato and right at me.

"You got somewhere else to be?"

I shook my head after a long moment. No. Such. Miracle. I just pulled my knees up to my chest and rested my head on them, trying not to cry. My entire family was gone. My entire life. What was I supposed to do? What was I supposed to think?