Rosebud

Tessa Presents: A quick background story

Tessa Reynolds was nine years old when she watched her mother die.

Her mother, Alexandria Reynolds, sank to her knees, her fair blonde hair hanging in her face as she lowered her head. The soldier standing in front of her- a tall, lanky fellow, who could only have been twenty-one at most- held an automatic rifle aimed steadily at her heart. His teeth were gritted, and his eyes burned with fury and fear.

Alexandria Reynolds was one of the Infected. She was, to his knowledge, wild and dangerous, and needed extermination, like common vermin. She was one of the .4% of the population who could boast of adverse effects concerning the Rosebud Virus. She hadn't died- she'd Changed. She wasn't even human anymore. They only seemed like they were human.

But they were worse than animals. 

At least, that's what they'll tell you.

Alexandria did not beg for her life. She had to be strong for her daughter, who hid just out of sight, peering out from underneath her mother's bed, where her mother had told her to hide when the first gunshots and rang out and the front door had been kicked down.

The nameless soldier pulled the trigger, and a gleaming metal bullet tore its way through Changeling skin and blood and bone, then spat itself back out on the other side.

Tessa didn't even scream. Her breath was frozen in her throat, and her eyes were wide. 

Her mother slumped over sideways, dead. Her blood decorated the floor in a crimson puddle, and her grey eyes stared up blankly to the ceiling.

Tessa closed her eyes.

Please don't find me, she prayed. Please, please don't find me. Oh God. Oh God. I don't want to die. Please don't find me...

The sound of steps retreated from the room. Went down the hall. Two voices exchanged a quick conversation, and then the steps left her apartment, fading off into the distance.

Tessa didn't open her eyes for a long time. And it took even longer to get moving.

* * *

Eight Months Later-

Tessa hitched the strap of her messanger bag over her shoulder and stood precariously on the edge of a cliff.

The world had gone to hell on May First. The Rosebud Virus had decimated the population. The War had stopped- but so had everything else. Civilization was a mere memory. Food, water, and shelter- these were precious accomadations. Tessa hadn't made it far on her own before a group of other, similarly orphaned children had found her- children whose family members had been killed for being Changelings. The group was made up of just a few people- there was Izzy, short for Isabeau, who was quiet and shy but kind, with eyes like the ocean on a rainy day. She was fourteen. Helios- Tessa doubted this was his real name, but he probably had his reasons- was  very quiet, even more than Izzy, yet they all unconsciously referred to him as the leader. He had golden-brown eyes, a serious look to his face, and golden-brown hair that needed a cut. He was probably fifteen. Then there was Nicole, who was sixteen, making her the oldest, had dark blue eyes and long, dark brown hair that she was always tying up. Tessa liked Nicole- she'd obviously had younger siblings, and probably had a big family before the War'd broken it all up, followed by the diseases. Nicole played with Tessa when she was bored and filled her in when she didn't understand something, even if it was something bad. Tessa liked that a lot, and that earned Nicole her respect- she knew that the world wasn't just butterflies and sunshine. It was a sad place, and people did terrible things to each other. 

Izzy stood next to Tessa as they looked out, over the ghostly ruins of a town.

"Think there'll be anything to scavenge?" Helios asked from behind them.