The Wastelands

"Everyone up? Good." Captain Terrance marched in front of them as Lilia, Terran, and Heather stood at attention. There were a couple of others standing with them, a boy, and a girl all looked a little older than fourteen. 'They didn't look happy to be there. Must have gotten caught by that Captain, like the rest of us.' "Tell me why you're here? Mr. Sinclair?"

The unknown boy stepped forward."To take the Initiation Trial test, Sir."

"No, you're here because you don't want to take the Initiation Trials. Now here is your prize." He pointed to the outsiders to the side. "You get to be their babysitters. Good job." The Captain clapped slowly and mockingly.

'What an a.s.s,' Lilia thought. Though Captain Terrance's revelation wasn't that surprising, it was still an annoyance. Making sure that the Outsider's newbies stayed alive sounded like too much work.

"I really don't want too," Lilia blunted out, and as if it was an afterthought. "Sir."

Suddenly, she found herself on the ground with a foot-stomping on her c.h.e.s.t. The Captain leaned into her, put his weight into her c.h.e.s.t. "Don't undermine me again." He raised his voice. "Do you hear me?"

"Yes! Sir!" The compound students yelled out.

Captain Terrance looked down at Lilia and sneered. "Now, get the f.u.c.k back in formation."

"Yes, sir!" Lilia coughed out, and slowly began to stand.

"Faster!"

"Yes, sir!" Lilia got back up and stood with the others.

Lilia winced, that kind of hurt. Captain Terrance was a human, but his strength was nothing to mess around with, especially when he was a Vine survivor.

*I don't think it's smart to provoke the guy with the ham fist,* Sil advised, but he couldn't hide the amus.e.m.e.nt in his voice.

*No, it wasn't, but he was inching to make an example, and I just gave him a target,* she smiled inwardly. *Besides, you've kind of expect something like that from me.*

*True enough,* Sil agreed. *but with you're reflexes, couldn't you have avoided getting hit?*

*Sure, easily,* Lilia wasn't lying she could. Actually, it was harder not to react to an incoming threat. It didn't mean that Captain Terrance wasn't a scary man; he was. Despite his bl.u.s.terous attitude, he gave off the same air as Shadow, like he danced with death and won. *The show wasn't really about me anyway, well maybe a little bit; in any case, it was more about them.* She nodded to the Outsiders. There were two boys and an older woman standing with Tessa. The woman must be a supervisor. All their faces were pale. *I think the point had been made.*

*You get all that, and you still suck at chess.* Sil clicked his beak.

*Shut it.*

The woman came up in a hesitant manner, "You think it's a good idea. They're no older than my kids."

Captain Terrance eyed the woman. "Well, it's all you got, lady. I don't know how you manage to wheedle yourselves here, but I have no manpower available to look after you."

"But still…"

The looking teacher was looking worried, and the big man sighed. "Despite their irresponsible behaviour, they're competent enough to pass the Trials, if that gives you any comfort."

'Oh, I feel so appreciated,' Lilia thought sarcastically.

Captain Terrance continued. "Now you lot get in line. Now!." He barked at the Outsiders, and they hurried to their places. "Since you still want to be here, I am going to treat you no differently than these students." He gestured to Lilia and her group. "Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir."

"Needs work, but it will do." He seemed satisfied with the reply. "Now I am going to go over ground rules. First, if you are not a scout, do not stray far from the path. The rocks lining these paths are the same as the rocks protecting the compounds from the Wastelands, so they will keep you relatively safe, but…"

"Don't rely on it." The Compound students said together.

"That's right. The Wastelands are unpredictable, if you start to rely on something, it might disappoint you." It looked like he was talking about something else entirely. Someone he lost, perhaps? Then she mentally shook her head, Lilia must be more bored than she thought, to make assumptions like that.

No matter, it still had some truth in it. Her eyes moved up where Sil was perching, so high up. *I wish I was up there with you, buddy,* Lilia whispered.

Sil just huffed and turned his feathered b.u.t.t toward her, trying to tuck his beak underneath his wing. *Don't bother me, sleeping.*

Lilia's eyes widened in envy. *Traitor!*

A sound pulled her gaze as a very large wolf, with spikes along his spine, pulling a hoverboard sled moved to the Captian's side. "Second, this is Spike, don't touch him, he'll bite. He's guarding the emergency supplies and our weapons supply. So no touching without my say-so."

One of the Outsider boys raised his hand. "Um Sir, are we allowed to use the guns." There was some hesitant excitement in his eyes, as he eyed the gun cases.

Captain Terran towered over the boy. "Listen, boy, did you not see what happened with Miss. Spencer over there?" He pointed at Lilia, and she restrained the urge to wave, probably not a good idea at the moment. "Now, I'm going to talk really slowly. Do you have a level 3 weapons licence, Mr. Conners?"

"Um…Tanners, sir, Conner is my…" He swallowed, as Captain Terrence growled at him. "No, Sir."

He moved away from the trembling boy. "Who other than me has a level 3 or above weapons's Licence?" The Captain called out.

Heather, the other Outsider boy, and the teacher were the only one's who raised their hands. Lilia saw the Captain's widened in surprise. "More than I thought. They are the only people allowed to even touch a firearm." He turned back to Conner. "If I hear you complain about it, I will more than punch you into the ground clear?"

"Clear."

Level 1 and 2 were for crossbows and small melee weapons, they were basic defensive weapons seen everywhere. Level 3 and over weapons like firearms were harder to come by and were more destructive.

Heather, who had a level 5 licence, complained that passing Level 2 was a cake walked compared to the higher levels. Lilia just going to take her word for it. She wasn't very good with weapons to even attempt it.

"During the Trials, I'm going to test your limits to see if you pass muster. Just remember you have to work as a team. No, one-upping each other. No trying to show off. No stupid pranks And if I say stop, you better listen. The first part of the Trials is a touch up on the basics. The second part is when things get interesting." He gave them a hard look. "Do you hear me?"

"Yes Sir."

"Good, get your stuff and let's get a move on," He ordered and turned to stomp down the path.

Lilia called out to Sil. "Sil we're leaving." Seeing the others looked back at her strangely. Lilia realized she said that out loud. She grinned sheepishly, 'Oh well, nothing to do about it now.'

Lilia looked up to see Sil startled awake. He fell backwards off his perch but recovered, to land softly on the sled. Spike growled at the bird, but then left him alone to follow after Captain Terrance.

"Show off," Lilia mumbled with a smile as she followed along.

Then she felt a presence to her right. "Ha," A smiling Conner Tanners came up to her. "Geeze, what a hard a.s.s, am I right? What he did to me was bad, but what he did to you? He should be more gentle with girls." He looked at Lilia strangely. "You know we should stick together."

Lilia stepped back a little. 'Is this guy for real? Does he think he's charming or something? Doesn't he know where we are?'

"You really don't get it, do you?" Lilia said, bluntly.

Conner stopped confused. "What don't I get?" Lilia just ignored him, and walked faster, adjusting her headphones. "Ha!"

*That guy had no chance.* Sil yawned out. *If he was a pretty girl, on the other hand.*

Lilia glared at the silly falcon. 'Well let's ignore that for now.' *Being dumb is being dumb. There are no such things as second chances. Not out here.*

*It looks like Captain Terrance gave you guys a tedious task,* Sil reflected.

*Outsiders are unpredictable, teenagers even more so. So, yep, it's going to be annoying,* Lilia complained. Ignoring the fact, that she too, was a teenager.

*They might surprise you.*

*I hope they do.* Though Lilia couldn't sake this bad feeling, something just smells off. Hopefully, she could get the chance to talk to Heather and Terran about it later.

***

Towa

The city looked so busy from the inside of the dome. Flashing lights everywhere. Everyone seemed like they were in a hurry, and hover cars were zooming back and forth. The building looked like a layer cake, one on top of each other. The higher up one looks the fancier it gets.

Statson breathed in a lungful of air. "Ah, it's nothing like the taste of artificial air. It feels like home."

Druid and Bryson were finished loading the rental car and were and looked at him strangely. "If you say so," Druid said with an uncertain smile.

Bryson just sighed. "Sergeant, we have to get to the townhouse before it gets dark."

"Yeah, yeah." Statson waved his hand in dismissal, as he slid his big frame into the driver's seat. "I got to say, I don't miss going through quarantine. Those damn nano-machines scrubbed my skin raw." He started the car and zipped through traffic. Then a map filled the windshield.

"You're going 30 m/h over the limit. For your safety, please lower your speed." An automatic voice chimed in through the speakers.

"Yeah, yeah. Turn off Voice Operative, now." He ordered. "I certainly don't miss you." There was a paused before he shot the teenagers' a sideways glance. "I was a little skeptical since there were two Lumeye with me, I thought there was going to be a little more fuss going through customs. In fact, it was to easy. Aren't you going to tell me why?"