I ruled the world.
With these hands I shook the heavens to the ground.
I laid the gods to rest.
I held the key to the kingdom.
Lions guarding castle walls.
Hail the king of death.


The door remained closed, but Marguerite could tell that Perry was eating the food that she was bringing because of all the empty dishes sitting outside of the closed door. It had been a week since their father had been taken…it had been a week since Perry had watched Reese die in the street outside their house. They had all watched-even the neighbors-in horror as they strung the boy up and pulled his body through the sand off towards the desert. Maggie and her mother had been able to get Perry inside, but after that they rarely saw her. She had taken up residence in the attic, refusing to come down and finally Maggie had relented and began leaving meals outside her door.

The entire town was on complete lock down-no one in or out…not even for the men to go to work in the factories. The nightly news was rife with reports of bombings, fires and protests nationwide-the Wild Ones seemed to have a big influence. Maggie knew that the only world she had ever known was coming to an end and in some ways she was happy about it. She had never liked living under the laws of F.E.A.R but she always had to respect her parents and so she remained silent. Now it seemed like everyone was being punished for things that one single group was responsible for and Mags found herself growing angry.

She hadn’t liked the Wild Ones at first when they had shown up that night over two weeks ago, but something changed. CC-The Destroyer-had managed to make her laugh and it opened her eyes to some of the things that she hadn’t known before. Maggie had always just figured she would wait to be paired up with a man, marry, have children and then take care of those children-but CC had shown her that there was more to life. He spoke of his dreams-wanting to travel to far off places and seeing people and things that Maggie had only ever dreamt about. He gave her something that Marguerite had never felt before in her entire life…he gave her hope.

Right now she was standing below the attic door, her feet dodging around soup bowls and plates with crumbs still on them-enough was enough. She knew that Perry was feeling sorry for herself-they all felt sorry for Perry at this point-but she needed her sister back. Quietly Maggie knocked on the attic door, holding her breath as she hoped and prayed that her sister would open up, those bright blue eyes and wide smile meeting her for the first time in a week. Instead all she got was a soft grumble from the other side of the door and then everything grew quiet once again. Huffing, Maggie did something that her timid self never would have done in the past-she opened the door and looked inside.

The attic was dark and Maggie could hear the faint sounds of music playing from one corner and then she saw something that broke her heart in to a million pieces. Persephone was sitting at the small window, her hand against the glass and the sun was setting outside of their home. Her bright red hair-not having been washed in a week-was frizzy and in her face and as the girl turned around to look at her younger sister, Maggie felt herself gasp softly. Her eyes-those blue eyes that had once held so much joy-were dead blank holes that reflected nothing but the sorrow that filled her up inside. Those eyes, circled in purple bruises and showing a lack of sleep, took Maggie in before the girl sitting at the window looked away silently.


“P-Perry?” Maggie said softly as she approached her sister, one hand held out before her and then she jumped as Perry whipped around again and trained those haunted eyes on her.

“Go. Away.” She croaked, her voice hoarse and filled with tears that were still threatening to spill down her pale cheeks. Maggie only stood taller at this-she wasn’t giving up on her sister…not after everything they had been through.

“I-I’m not going to do that Persephone.” Maggie said as she folded her hands in front of her and caught her sister’s eye. Perry just sat there, staring her down until finally Maggie shifted uncomfortably and looked down at her bare feet.

“Why not-everyone else has left me…it would only be fitting for you to do the same.” She grumbled, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear as Perry looked back out the window. The sun was setting and while Perry used to take joy out of this time of day-no more…there was nothing for her to ever be happy about again.

“I really am sorry about Reese Persephone…” Maggie stopped talking as Perry had stood up and was now approaching her. Mags could see that those blue eyes held two things-a lot of hurt and even more anger. Soon enough her older sister was almost standing nose to nose with her and Maggie felt slightly nervous.

“Don’t you ever talk to me about Reese…ever again.” Her voice was cold and devoid of anything besides anger. Maggie took a step back, biting down on her lip as she nodded her head up and down slowly.

“O-okay. W-will you come down stairs? Mother is making a decent dinner tonight…it being Christmas Eve and all…” Maggie was smiling once again and for one second it looked like Perry wanted to smile as well. A decent dinner-something besides watery soup and bread…she could feel her stomach growling already.

“Is it really already Christmas?” Perry seemed shocked and Maggie could understand why. It seemed like only yesterday it was Thanksgiving and Reese had been sitting at their dining room table. Now it was almost Christmas Day and with that they would enter a new year.

“Yeah-crazy I know. Please come down Persephone…I miss you.” Maggie said as she reached for her sister’s hands and was shocked that the grumpy girl allowed her to take them in her own.

“Fine…let me shower and then I’ll come down, but only for a little while…” She looked unsure, but Maggie would take what she could get.


The two girls parted with Maggie heading down the stairs and then that left Perry alone once again. She could easily just shut the door and slide the bed on top of it-preventing anymore surprise visits from either her mother or sister. Persephone had all but abandoned the world this past week-much preferring to stay up in the attic…the one place where she could be with Reese alone. They had spent so much time up here that even as she stood in the middle of the room and looked at all of the poster lined walls-it still felt like he was around. The days up here had been lonely-the nights even more so-and yet Perry couldn’t imagine herself leaving this place…her secret tower. No, she would die up here, miserable and alone…missing Reese until she could join him in the great beyond. She had contemplated ending everything-it would be so easy to just crack open the window and jump, but no…she couldn’t do that.

Perry silently moved around, gathering some clothes that didn’t smell like death and soon enough she was walking down the steps of the attic for the first time in a week. The hallway was lined with the empty bowls and plates that she had left for her mother-Maggie made sure that Perry wouldn’t starve to death-and she made a mental note as she passed that she needed to clean them all up. Soon enough she was in the shower, washing away a week’s worth of tears and sadness, but Perry didn’t really feel much better.

She had watched the one person in her entire life who meant something to her die right before her eyes and his death had been because of her. If Perry had just come forward, defended her father and let Reese stay in the background then maybe he would still be alive…he would still be with her. Now she was alone again and as she stood under the cooling water and kept her eyes closed, Perry felt like this was the end for her. She had nothing but her sister keeping her here in Wickenburg and if it weren’t for Maggie…Perry would have left days ago. Where would she go? She had no idea, but as Perry got out of the shower, dried off and got dressed she knew one thing for certain…

She didn’t have much of a future left in this failing desert town.



“So nice of you to join us this evening Persephone…” Her mother said to her from across the table and Perry only smiled softly as she looked up from her lap and at her mother. The woman sitting before her looked just as tired as Perry felt and she knew then-she wasn’t the only one at this table who had lost a love this past week.

“Well with it being Christmas Eve and all I figured I should come down from my tower…” Perry smiled and her mother cracked one of her own before passing the bowl of potatoes her way. Their meal was meager tonight-mashed potatoes, some dried ham, green beans and homemade rolls. Food had become very scarce since the lockdown and this meal was seen as a luxury.

“Yes well…Christmas was always your father’s favorite time of year…” Her mother stopped talking and Perry jumped as Maggie’s fork clattered to her plate. The three women embraced-Persephone had moved from her spot across from the table and now she was being held by her mother.

“He’ll come back mom…I know he will.” Maggie-always the optimist-said softly, but Perry could feel it in her bones that that wasn’t true. He would probably never come back…he probably wasn’t even alive at this point.

“I just…I just don’t know what to do for you girls anymore. With the lock down we can’t go anywhere and even if we could I don’t know where we would go.” Her mother sounded so desperate and sad in that moment that Perry felt the hopelessness enter her heart.

“We’ll stay right here until dad comes home…I know he’s going to come back to us mom…I just know.” Maggie was saying and soon the two sisters were looking at one another. Their father was never coming home and it was only a matter of time before they would all be taken and given the same fate as him.


The town was not only on a lockdown, but more and more families were being taken and led off into the desert. Perry had been looking out her window the same night that Reese had been killed and her father taken when she noticed that the Roberts Family was being led from their home by three Guards. She watched in shocked silence as they walked off into the desert and seemingly were never heard from again. Persephone was sure that her family would be next, but no one ever came for them. Now here they were, all three women sitting around the kitchen table, crying into their pathetic Christmas dinner and wondering what they were going to do.
Perry, as she sat there and comforted her mother, finally seemed to come to realize that she knew exactly what needed to be done.


“I just don’t know what to do for your girls anymore…w-we can’t live like this forever…” Her mother sobbed and Perry said nothing at first as she just pulled out of their collective embrace and looked at her mother and sister. They probably would hate this idea, but she had to throw it out there.

“I know what we should do.” Perry said softly and her mother only looked at her, sniffing away her tears. Maggie sighed-she knew what was coming because she had heard it before…from Andy and the rest of the Wild Ones.

“Perry now is not the time…” Maggie said, her tone stern and Perry only smirked.

“Now is exactly the time Mags…there isn’t going to be a better time!” Perry was almost laughing and the two girls seemed to be having some sort of showdown with their mother smack dab in the middle of it.

“Persephone what on Earth are you talking about?” Her mother asked, her eyes confused as they took her in and Perry only smiled as she stood up and placed her hands on the back of the chair she had been sitting in. Both her mother and sister were staring at her and Persephone could hardly keep the gleeful tone from her voice.

“We should leave and find the Wild Ones!” She suggested, but was only met with shocked stares and utter silence that could be cut with a knife.

Notes

Will they go for it? Will Perry, Maggie and their mother leave Wickenburg and finally find the Wild Ones?

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