You've been running for so long, still breathing
Hoping soon to find a song worth singing
Every chapter of this note they're reading
But you're slowly losing hope on bleeding


Persephone looked around-nothing, no one. The small group had all taken shelter in the Bank for the night-the sun was finally beginning to set behind the ram shackled buildings and Perry knew that she too needed to get inside. She couldn’t help but feel disappointed though-she had been sure that this would be where the Wild Ones were hiding out. It was the perfect location-far enough away from civilization, but close enough to F.E.A.R so that they could attack when needed. But nothing was here-no one was around and as Persephone sat on the wooden planked decking in front of the Bank, she sighed heavily.

She was a failure and this entire thing had been a huge mistake. All she had wanted in life was to be free, but now that she was…she didn’t really know what to do with it. She also hadn’t expected so many people to come along with her-Persephone had just thought it would be her and Maggie going off to find the Wild Ones and join up with the Legion of the Black. But they had followed her and now they hated her. The small kids were crying-asking when they could go back home and Perry felt her heart fall. She had let them all down-she had been a disappointment to everyone once again.

The night air was blowing her hair around softly and as Perry moved a hand up to push her bangs out of her face she noticed something. A girl-probably no taller than her-with blonde hair and a ripped dress was coming out from inside the General Store across the street. Perry watched in silence as the girl looked left, then right and then placed her fingers between her lips and blew out. A soft whistle filled the air and Persephone jumped as she noticed that more and more people were flooding the streets. Some were young-maybe no older than six, but most looked to be about her age. What should she do? Should she call out to them? Or would that scare them off and force them back in to hiding.


“Persephone? What’s going on out here?” Someone said from behind her and as Perry turned around she saw that Maggie was standing in the doorway. Odette was right behind her and the young girl was looking around at all of the people who were gathering in the middle of the town.

“I-I don’t know. They…they just kind of appeared out of nowhere.” Persephone said as she stood up, brushing off her butt while looking around. Finally from around the corner of the Saloon she spotted them-five figures coming from the distance and one of them had something in his arms.

“She was right…” Odette said as she looked over her shoulder, smirking at Mark as he stood in the background with his arms crossed over his chest and a scowl on his face. Perry paid him no mind-all she could focus on was what was being carried. She recognized Andy-he was the one carrying the large sack and as the small group came closer Persephone felt a gasp get caught in her throat.


A body-Andy was carrying a body and now she could hear the faint sounds of crying in the background. There were three girls following behind the Wild Ones and Perry watched as the two girls on the outside held up the girl in the middle. She had her head in her hands and she was sobbing loudly-screaming almost. Perry felt her heart breaking just by watching this entire thing unfold and she now knew-this girl had lost someone. At one point Andy stopped walking to look over his shoulder and that’s when Persephone realized that the girl who was crying was his fiancé Odessa. Who was he carrying then? Persephone bit down on her lip as she took a slow step down from the planking and then began to walk towards the collecting group.

They were all gathering around a small pit in the center of town-something that to Perry looked like it was meant for fires. There was a small thing of scaffolding set up-the old wood probably having been salvaged from one of the buildings that had begun to fall down. Andy slowly walked up to the small wooden structure and set the wrapped body on the very top. He then moved to stand beside the crying blonde, his arms wrapping around her as he kissed the top of her head and looked towards someone. Jinxx stepped forward and as Persephone tried to move towards her cousin she stopped. A small flame had appeared in his out stretched palm and soon enough the wood beneath the wrapped body had smoked to life and now everything was burning.


“We have lost someone very special to this group-Moira Montgomery. She was special to us because she had hope in this group-she had faith in the Legion of the Black-and she never gave up on us. She was lost over a week ago when we stormed the Head Quarters looking for survivors of the raids that have been happening in the area and she stepped in front of Andy to protect him from an oncoming attack. We give her a rightful send off and we know that as the sun fades she will not be forgotten because in the end we will all fade away in to the night and nothing will be left but our stories.” Jake was speaking, but Persephone could hardly hear him over the sounds of crying and sobbing.

“Listen to me Legion! We will not give up on our fight! It is not what Moira would have wanted and it is not what her sister wants either! We have lost many, but never someone who meant so much to all of us and we cannot give up! It’s not what Moira would have wanted and it’s not what I want either!” Andy had moved away from the girl he had been holding and Perry felt the goosebumps flesh up on her arms.

“We almost have F.E.A.R right where we want them! We have them running finally and if we stop now then there is no telling what will happen. The Wild Ones are here for each and every one of you-we’ve been there for you all along and we won’t stop-we can’t stop! We light this fire in honor of our sister Moira, who left us too early but she left with bravery attached to her name! Tonight we come together in honor of her and we come together to show the serpent F.E.A.R that we are not afraid!” Andy was holding on to the girl once again and as the body in front of all of them burned, Persephone felt something within her rise up.

Hope.


The small group standing in front of the Bank stayed where they were as the Legion walked around, speaking softly to one another and talking about things to come. Persephone had heard Andy say that they had gone looking for any survivors of the raids-did that mean the ones that had happened in Wickenburg? What did he mean by Survivors? It was then that Persephone knew-her mother and father were dead. They had most likely been killed and buried in a mass grave-the same kind that she had seen all those years ago when F.E.A.R had taken over and killed the President and the rest of the governmental powers. Suddenly everyone had grown quiet and Perry looked up to see that Andy was looking at her and then quickly walking towards her.


“Persephone! Oh thank goodness! We thought you and Maggie had been taken-that’s why we went to Head Quarters…to find you.” Andy had wrapped his arms around her tightly and Perry felt her stomach clench. They had been looking for her-they had risked their lives to try and find her.

“N-no. They came and took our parents, but left us behind for some reason. We all decided to come and find you-it took us a week, but we finally made it.” She was smiling, but her eyes were filling with tears and Andy only smiled as he looked over her shoulder at the collected group. Twelve in total and they were a sad looking bunch.

“We’re so glad you’re okay we-“A shout pierced the air and everyone turned to see a figure running towards them. Maggie screeched, but then she was laughing as CC picked her up and swung her through the air. Persephone looked on, happy and yet sad because she knew that she would never have that again-her love had died and was never coming back.

“CC was worried about you both, but especially Maggie. Where’s Reese?” Andy was looking around, his smile bright as he looked for the young boy and Persephone knew that all of the color had left her face at that point.

“I-um…he died. F.E.A.R came for my father after you all left and Reese tried to stop them. Th-they ki-killed him in front of all of us…” She was crying now and Andy said nothing as he just pulled her towards him. Perry could see the blonde walking towards them, a small smile on her face. As she got closer Perry could see why Andy loved this girl so much-she was beautiful with her short blonde hair and light moss green eyes.

“I’m so sorry for your loss. I’m Odessa by the way-Andy and Jinxx told me a lot about you Persephone.” Perry found herself being brought into the tightest hug she had ever experienced and somehow she found it comforting. Even though Odessa had just lost her sister she still was finding it in her heart to give someone else some comfort.

“I’m really sorry Perry, but at least you’re safe with us now. Come on…we’ll show you around.” Jinxx had walked over finally, smiling at her softly and Persephone only nodded in return as she allowed herself to be ushered around.


While they walked and she was introduced to people, Persephone noticed that Maggie and CC were still sitting on the steps of the Bank. He had an arm around her shoulders and she was looking up at him with so much adoration that it made Perry’s heart hurt. Her little sister was in love and while that was great-this was a dangerous time to get attached to anyone. Andy explained as they walked what this place was-an old mining town that had been abandoned and that he and Ashley had found one day while they were looking for shelter. The town was placed over the mines and so the entire Legion and the Wild Ones were taking refuge in the cavernous sections to keep from sight.

As she was led in to the General Store, Persephone sucked in a breath and blinked a few times. She couldn’t believe that she had made it here-that they had survived. Jinxx moved to stand behind the long counter-it’s glass front having been broken out a long time ago, but it still held a purpose. As Perry moved around the side, she noticed that Jinxx had moved a rug out of the way and was now standing on top of a trap door. He stomped on it twice and then moved as the door popped open and a small brown hair boy popped his head out. He looked around at them all, his light green eyes taking Perry in warily until finally he moved out of the way. Soon enough she was climbing down at small flight of steps and the air had grown ten degrees cooler.

It was like walking in to her cellar at home except it was wall to wall bunks on either side with a small aisle running down the middle. There were lights hanging from the ceiling and some candle sconces were attached to the wooden walls-probably to conserve energy. The place was empty-probably because everyone was up in the town, but Perry could only imagine how crowded it could get down here. She followed behind Jinxx silently; Andy and Odessa behind her and Persephone could feel her claustrophobia setting in. She smiled as Jinxx finally stopped at the very end of the room and there was a closed wooden door behind him.


“Well this is one of the main sleeping halls. This one is where a lot of the little kids sleep, but we all take turns taking shifts to keep the peace. They like to fight…” Jinxx smirked at her as he pushed open the door he was standing in front of and moved on.

“This is where we eat-we wanted it to be close to the General Store as that’s where we keep our food supplies. The kitchen is through those doors-Odessa is our head chef.” Jinxx said and there was a small bit of laughter from behind them. Odessa was smiling and Persephone thought it made her look five years younger when she smiled that brightly.

“Thank God none of you are that picky.” Odessa laughed and Perry only smirked as she looked around. The walls were lined with long wooden tables and on closer inspection she could see that they were in fact doors taken from various buildings that had no doubt fallen apart.

“Beans, bread, dried ham and corn-that’s pretty much all we eat.” Andy said and Odessa only playfully smacked his arm and rolled her eyes. Jinxx only laughed and moved on-leading them all through another door which he had to unlock with a small key at the end of his belt.


The room before her was huge and had a large desk in the middle of it with ten chairs that sat around the large surface. On one wall was a map of Arizona and there were pins dotting the landscape-what was that about? Andy moved forward, a soft smile on his lips as he touched the map towards the middle of the state and Persephone moved closer. Wickenburg. There was a huge black pin to the right of it and deep down she knew that they had figured out where all of the Head Quarters for F.E.A.R were located. She knew now just by looking around that she wasn’t just in any room-she was in the room. This room is where plans were made-this room was where her rescue had been planned. Andy only smiled at her as he came towards her and clapped her on the back before looking down at her and speaking.


“Persephone-welcome to the Legion of the Black.”

Notes

Sorry it's been so long guys! I just finished posting my long standing series and it was a rough few days trying to process that. Now I can focus more on this story since people seem to be liking it more than I thought.

Review<3