Five, Four, Three, Two, One
This is New Years Day- so rise from the ashes
Faith will find a way- like lightning crashes
We'll keep marching on and on and on...
It's New Years Day, so rise from the ashes


The sun was beating down on top of her head and Perry was feeling like she wanted to pass out. They had been walking for seven days-nothing passing them by but sand, mountains and tumbleweeds. They were all tired-the smallest kids cried constantly and Mark wasn’t speaking to anyone but his little sister Odette. He seemed so angry with her, but Perry couldn’t help it that the Wild Ones had chosen to put their hideout in the middle of a desert. Perry stopped walking as she looked up and noticed that they had come across one building that they needed to avoid-F.E.A.R Headquarters.

The huge building was a solid mass of goldish brown stone and the F.E.A.R emblem gleamed in all of it’s gold glory beneath the sun. This is where F.E.A.R reigned-this is where they brought people…this is where her father had been taken to. Was he inside? Perry was so tempted to just walk right up to the front of the building and begin to kick at the stone-she wanted her family back. Things had been hard for them-they had run out of food that morning and Persephone knew that if they didn’t find more by tomorrow morning that people were going to start turning on one another.

There had already been talk about some of the others leaving to make their own way-Mark being the loudest supporter of this idea, but Perry was still keeping the faith. She couldn’t believe that Andy or the others would steer her wrong, but it was getting more and more difficult to keep faith in something that seemed so impossible. Even if they did find the Wild Ones-what was going to happen after that? Would they be welcomed with open arms? Or would they be sent away, told to go back to homes that they didn’t have any longer. Persephone sighed as she felt someone come up beside her and then smiled when she realized that it was Maggie.


“You doing okay?” The blonde asked her and Perry only nodded her head, trying desperately to keep her tears at bay. She wasn’t okay-none of this was okay. She had completely screwed this whole thing up.

“Come on Persephone! You can’t be like that right now…” Maggie said, her green eyes staring her down and Perry only sighed more loudly. Why did she have to be the strong one? Why couldn’t she be like one of the little kids and just cry for a little while?

“Why not? I don’t know if I can do this anymore Mags…” Perry was near to tears and Maggie only smiled at her, placed a hand under her sister’s arm and led her towards the back of the group. Mark and some of the other boys stared at them, but Maggie just kept walking.

“Persephone Jones-I did not leave the only home I’ve ever known to follow you out in to the desert to have you just give up!” Maggie sounded so angry and frustrated. Perry looked her sister right in her face and smiled softly-she looked so much like their mother it was kind of scary.

“I-I know, but I just feel like I’ve failed all of you.” Perry admitted, biting down on her lower and Maggie said nothing as she just brought her older sister in for a hug.


The two of them had never been close-ever, but now with everything happening it kind of seemed like they had to be there for one another. Maggie had never understood Perry’s need to constantly be free-never understood what was so bad about F.E.A.R. After her father had been taken and they never saw him again and then especially after their mother had disappeared in to the night-Maggie hated F.E.A.R. She had always thought F.E.A.R was good for them, but more and more she realized that she had been dead wrong. There was no reason for them to have to hide away in their homes-pretending like the outside world didn’t exist. What did F.E.A.R have to worry about with them leaving their homes? Did they think there was going to be a mass uprising?

Well now it seemed like that was the case and deep down Maggie was happy for it. All her life Marguerite Jones had been a supporter of F.E.A.R and she never really knew why. They had promised to protect her, to keep her safe and for eighteen years they had done just that. But then something happened-Reese had been killed right in front o f her without so much as a warning. He had been used as a prop-an example-and it made Maggie sick to her stomach. She had seen him run after her father, who had already been cuffed and then all Hell broke loose. Maggie had reached for Perry, held her up as she was sinking closer and closer to the ground until finally she broke down.

The noise coming from her sister’s lips-it sounded like a wounded animal and it had haunted her dreams for days afterwards. Maggie spent a lot of her time trying to take care of Perry, bringing her food, making sure she had enough to eat and just trying to be there for her. But Perry had shut her out completely-staying up in the attic with the door closed and neither her mother nor Maggie felt like they should intrude. Finally she had been able to get Persephone out and on Christmas Eve at that and then they had woken up…Merry Christmas. Thinking on it-it was New Year’s Eve tonight and Maggie felt heart sore.

Usually her parents would let them stay up and watch the F.E.A.R New Year’s broadcast, which basically was a bunch of reruns of F.E.A.R approved movies and programming, but it was something. Then they would all cheers to a new year and Maggie knew that Perry hoped that the new year would bring freedom. She had never craved freedom like her sister-Maggie was happy staying around the house and cleaning and picking things up when it needed to be done. But Persephone-she broke the rules to be as free as she could be. In a small way Maggie wished she could be like Perry-she wished she had wanted to be free as well.


“You haven’t failed any one of us Perry and I’m proud of everything you’ve done for this group.” Maggie said as she held her sister tightly and she could feel Perry’s tears drip down on to her torn dress.

“I just don’t know if this was the right choice-I-I don’t think I was ever supposed to lead you guys.” Her voice wavered with her tears and Maggie only smiled as she pulled away and tried to catch Perry’s eyes. The girl wasn’t looking at her, but soon enough their eyes locked and Maggie could see the fear in those crystal blue orbs.

“Persephone-you were born to do this and you know it. I don’t know anyone else in my entire life who could have motivated so many to just pick up and leave. If not for you we would all just be sitting back in Wickenburg or worse…walking towards the camps. We owe you everything…we owe you our lives.” Maggie said and Persephone couldn’t help but feel slightly better.

“Land! Land Ho!” Someone called out and Perry’s head shot up as she looked towards the front of the group. They were all standing at the top of a large sand dune and soon enough Perry and Maggie were running up to join the small group.


It was true-they had finally come across something other than desert, rocks and dead trees. What laid before them wasn’t much more promising, but to Persephone it was everything. A huge water tower-it’s side faded and rusting-stood in the center of town and she could see that a small amount of water was trickling out of a spout at the very end into a bucket. All around were buildings, their wooden slat sides faded from years in the sun and as Perry looked out on them she felt her heart fall. This couldn’t be where the Wild Ones hid out-there was no one around. Quickly the small kids ran down the hill, some even slipping and falling but it was okay as the sand was soft and cool from the cloud cover.

Persephone slowly made her way down the sand dune, a soft smile on her lips as she looked around. The buildings were ramshackle-falling apart and the paint on them was faded, but she could just barely make out what some of them said. A Saloon, a Bank, and a General Store-this was obviously an old mining town like the ones she had heard about from her father. People would come out west, looking for things like silver and gold, but then when they got out here they would rarely find much or any at all. They would build these large towns with extravagant buildings and yet when no one found anything they would pack up and move on. This left the buildings to Mother Nature and it seemed to Persephone like Mother Nature was having a pretty good time reclaiming things.

They all began to split off, the smaller kids staying with their siblings and soon enough Persephone and Maggie found themselves near the old bank. The doors-the glass blown out of them-were barely hanging on their hinges and as she pushed one open, Perry was afraid she was going to choke on all of the dust. A set of metal bars guarded the ancient safe, which was hanging open, and she could see the nothing had been touched in here for years. Persephone coughed, the dust unbearable but she and Maggie just kept on walking. There were footprints in the dust on the floor-bare feet it seemed like and Persephone wondered who else had been in here.


“Where is everyone?” Perry asked as she looked around and Maggie only shrugged her shoulders. Silently they both walked back out to the street and noticed that Mark and Odette had come out of the Saloon and a few others were standing in the doorway of the General Store.

“Where are these Wild Ones you keep talking about Jones? All I see is a bunch of abandoned buildings and a lot of nothin’!” Mark shouted to her from across the street and Persephone tried to keep her temper under control.

“Shut up Mark!” Odette said as she shoved her brother and ran across the street towards the two sisters. Persephone smiled at the girl as she came towards them and soon enough they were standing hand in hand.

“What does that pendant of yours have to say?!” Mark called out to her and Perry said nothing as she just bit down on her lip and pulled the pendant out from inside her jacket pocket. Nothing happened, even though she was silently willing something to occur.


Where were the Wild Ones?

Notes

Where are the Wild Ones? Did the group finally make it to their destination or is this just a trick on F.E.A.R's part?

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