ⒸⒽⒶⓅⓉⒺⓇ 4:
Taken to the Dragon's Castle
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Six Months Later

We marched through the woods; me, holding Ellies hand, and dad, out in front with his gun and knife. I had a knife of my own but I had yet to find myself a working gun.

Ellies hand shook but she was so used to being afriad the rest of her body didn't seem bothered. I squeezed her hand to try to get some of her strength. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't be calm. I was always on alert, always expecting the worst. I heard a twig snap and jerked my head in that direction. I watched a rabbit bound away from us.

"Rabbit!" I shouted, informing my dad. As quick as I could say it my dad hanked up his gun and aimed. He fired but he was too slow. The rabbit got away and we were out in the middle of the woods.

"Come on," he said in a dissapointed tone. "We need to get out of here before the frankies come to the sound of the gun shot.

We walked more urgently and our eyes shimmed the nearby openings for shelter. Ellie scrambled next to me and held my hand tighter. Her other hand gripped around her small purple backpack. We found it in convinience store a few weeks ago. It was given to her for her birthday.

We jogged down the path, keeping together, watching out for any danger. Suddenly we stumbled onto a clearing where we were out numbered with several guns. My dads first reaction was to pull out his own gun, but once he saw how much of a chance we had of surviving that fight he lowered his weapon.

"Put your weapons on the ground." A man ordered us. We did as told a put our knives and guns in the dirt. Ellie grasped my hand and stayed behind me. I rubbed her knuckles with my thumb to keep her calm.

"Put you hands behind your head." Though I was reluctant to let go of Ellie's hand I knew it would be more of a problem if I didn't.

"The girl too." Ellie bravely stepped from behind me and put her hands on her head like me and dad.

I started to get mad. What are they going to do to us? More importantly, to Ellie? I searched for a sign of malicious intention but all of their faces were covered with masks. My body was stiff  and my expression firm. I couldn't see my dads face but I knew he was thinking the same thing.

"What are you doing here?" The man asked.

"Same as anybody else," my father answered. "Just trying to survive." None of them moved.

"You the one who fired the shot?"

"Yes."

The man stepped toward my father, keeping his gun aimed at his head. Ellie whimpered and stepped a bit closer to me. I wanted to comfort her, but I needed to stay alive in case there was a chance I could save her.

"Who are you?" He asked sternley.

"I'm Theodore Goldman."

"No, thats your name but i want to know who you are."

My dad stared the man straight in the face, through the holes cut out for his eyes. "I'm a guy trying to keep his family safe."

The man face me. "That your sister?" I glared at him. "I don't think thats any of your buissnes." I said menacingly.

He chucked and stepped back. "Stand up." I grabbed Ellie's hand and rose to my feet. I kept her behind me and glared at all the people.

To my suprise, the man lifted his mask and showed the face of a young man. He looked to be in his early twenties and he had a scar that when from his lip to his chin. He looked us with dark eyes that seemed to scan every bit of us.

"I'm Atom. These are my comrades." He motioned to the people behind him who had lowered their weponds but not their masks. "We have a camp nearby. Follow us."

We might've objected had they let us but no such luck. Half of the people walked behind us and Atom and a woman stayed in front. They whispered to each other as we walked along, arguing about weather or not we could be trusted.

"I know bad people, Toxic," Atom said. "And they aren't bad people."

We arrived at a large metal chain-link fence. Atom whistled a toon and and two people popped out of the trees. They unlocked the large gates and let us in. The two people eyed us cautiously as we unwillingly followed Toxic and Atom.

I held Ellie close to my side and constantly checked on her. She looked around taking in every little detail, which was lucky for my dad and I; she has an idetic memory.

Its is a little unfair to ask a little girl to memorize things like; how many people they have or how many guns. But she can remember it and the only way we can keep her safe is to know what we're up against.

They lead us to a large barn that had tents and drapes all around it. It looked like a little community. We were taken through the sliding wooden doors and met with a large crowd of people. They we preparing, preserving, and distributing food. Everything stopped when they saw us. They parted so that Atom could take us throught to an upraised, throne-like chair. The chair looked like it was made of a person. It had a head which looked like a frankie and hands that were the armrests. A dark figure sat in it with thier helmet covered head resting on their fist. As we approached Atom greeted them.

"Dragon, we found these people on the outskirts of our territory."

Dragon rose to meet us at the bottom of the steps that lead from the seat. He wore a heavy amount of leather and what looked like a motorcycle helmet. His tall, heavy books made a thump as he stood on the last step.

"I would like to make them an addition to our community." Atom said almost as if he were afraid to.

Dragon faced down to us and slowly turned his head, inspecting each one of us. Finnally, Dragon spoke. "Welcome."

I almost fell over backwards because Dragon was a girl. She lited her helmet and revealed messy, frizzy, bright, red hair. Her eyes were green and sharp. I could see why they called her Dragon. Even if they hadn't said anything, I would have associated her with the image of a dragon.

She stuck out a small but rough hand for my father to shake. Her nails were sharpened to a point and caked with blood. Talk about freaky.

My father shook it and tried to look straight into her eyes but even he had trouble.

"Follow me." Dragon said as she pulled her hand away, stepped down to the ground, and began walking through the pathway; skirted by people. As I walked I felt eyes on me trail to my sister. She looked around nonchalantly. Like we weren't the focus of countless menacing stares.

She took us around the building to a mini shack-like structure sticking off the side of it. She pointed a dark, bloodied nail and said: "That's your place. The couple that's stayed there went on a run a month ago and didn't come back. It's yours now."

We stepped toward it in awe and slight discomfort from the story.

"Now, don't think we are doing this out of courtesy. If you want to be apart of this community you have to contribute." She said sternly.

"Who ever said we wanted to be here?" I asked.

She smirked and leaned one arm against the doorframe. "Oh, you do. I can see it." She said confidently.

We didn't respond to her and she didn't wait for a response. "Tonight's meal is free, of course. But tomorrow you will need to go to services to see what kind of job you can get and fill out your forms. They'll answer any questions you might have there." She stood straight and started to walk away. Before she got to far she stopped and added: "Oh, and I wouldn't try anything, if I were you. Just so you know. We have pretty good security and the usual penalty for most crimes is either banishment, torture or death. Which, in this world, are pretty similar." She threw us another sharp look and then walked off.

My family had a moment where we all just looked around at each other. Then we all faced our new humble abode and stepped through the doorway.