Born 01 - Born

asked if we knew ya."
    I feel dizzy. "So they know who I am?"
    She shakes her head. "Nope. Couldn’t describe you. Just a girl with a wolf. Said you was some kind of vigilante. Causing trouble for folks like us."
    I laugh. I know that word.
    "Me, a vigilante?" I put my hands out. "Well, this is the kind of trouble I like to cause them."
    The women smile. "You are the hero we need, girl. Everyone needs hope. You got a name?"
    "Yeah, Emma. You see those men again, you tell them everything you saw. They will probably pay you with food and maybe leave you alone."
    They all shake their heads simultaneously. The oldest looking woman speaks, looking defiant. "Nope. We need you. They say you're going to overthrow the government that they worked so hard to create out of the ashes. I say they burned it all down so the ashes that’s there is all their fault anyway. Make them pay for everything they done to people. I hear they shipped the blacks and Asians and South Americans and Indians home to their countries. Poor people lived in America longer than most whites but they got put on slaver ships. Every country is doing the same as here. They breeding their people like here. Blacks in Africa. Indians in India. Asians in Asia. It's crazy. Whites here and in Europe. I hear Canada is still free though. They ain't got slaver camps and ships."
    I nod. "We had a black nurse in the farm, and she confirmed they weren’t breeding blacks there. Only whites."
    "I heard a man say that mixing the religions and races was a sin, and that God smote us for it."
    "That's bullshit. God didn’t drop the bombs or make the infection. They burned the world and now they gotta live with the phoenix that rises out of the ashes."
    "You are the phoenix, Emma. You need to spread your wings and soar. Don’t let them catch you."
    The women all speak trying to motivate me. I feel sick. I've caused death and destruction. My actions have had consequences. Not to me, but to innocents who never met me before. Innocents have suffered because I have stood up against the breeder farms.
    "This is crazy." Joe looks stunned.
    Jake looks horrified and whispers to me, "This is creepy." I lean in and whisper back, "I know, right?"
    The truck rolls to a gentle stop. The back opens.
    Mona smiles. "Well, we're at Green Mountain."
    The ladies in the back stand and stretch.
    Each of them touches my hand and squeezes it or hugs me as they climb from the truck.
    "You guys sure you'll be okay?" I ask in between hugs. I feel lost in too many thoughts.
    They nod.
    "We all got picked up fairly close to here. We haven’t been in the truck long."
    "Good luck, Emma, and may God be with you. You are the hero we need. Don’t ever forget it. Like the phoenix."
    I can't smile. Not without losing the control I have. I want to shake them and tell them to stop speaking such treason or the others will come for them. Instead, I look out at the bright day ahead of them and mutter, "Stay safe."
    Mona closes the door, and I hear her laughing as we sit in the darkness. Will sits beside me. He kisses my cheek silently and whispers, "You okay?"
    I shake my head and push myself away from him. I feel more ready than ever to kill something.
    We ride in the dark for a while but then we feel the truck veer off to the left and slow down. We hear talking and the truck starts moving again. I have my bow ready. I stand at the back of the truck and press my back against the metal. When it comes to a stop and the door opens, I am ready.
    When the first bit of light hits, I let the arrow soar. I've already pulled a second arrow and shot my second guard when necks are broken and knives are slashing. Mona backs the truck up and parks over the dead guards. Their guns are thrown in the back of the truck and Will and Jake each take one.
    My bow is left in the truck, but the back of my pants is filled with knives and scanning cards. I have a gun with a silencer too.
    When we enter the facility, I let Will snap the neck of the first nurse. I try not to watch him kill. It makes it harder to watch him sing later around the fire, with images of him snapping necks and stabbing people. It's the same with Jake.
    We move silently and effectively. We are always split into teams. Will and Jake are doctors and have Anna as a patient in tow. I am alone with Leo. I always dress as a doctor. Mona and Joe stay with the truck. Mitch and Muriel are a doctor and nurse team. Everyone takes a wing and guides their group to the