This War of Ours

“Don’t talk.” A woman says as she reaches for Ellie’s neck. “You’re still a bit swollen and bruised.”

She winces. “Wh-where?”

“Relax your voice, Ellie. You’re at the hospital in Cambridge, you’ve been asleep for quite some time.”

“Why?” She asks, her voice hoarse.

“Madam Marsh sent for you.”

After the nurse leaves, Ellie slides on the light grey, skin-tight jumpsuit, that was left neatly folded on the table near her. Her balance is a bit off as she wobbles to the exit, her head still fuzzy, her throat sore. Two doors slide open and there stands a man, hands behind his back, his stance perfectly noble.

“Hello, Ellie. My name is Trey, I’ll be your escort.” He signals her to follow him.

At first glance, it just looks like a large building with tons of people, but as they continue on, Ellie realizes that they’re underground. She’s been to Cambridge a few times to do trading, but she was above ground in the small town. Trey steps onto a platform and grabs her hand, guiding her as her legs shake. She huffs and puffs, she doesn’t like counting on people to take care of her. The lift comes to a screeching halt in front of a door that reads: President’s Office. Upon entering, five or six people turn in their swivel chairs in sync, they stare directly at Ellie, like she’s some sort of broken child.

“Ellie, it’s nice to finally meet you.” A woman says, standing and smoothing out the wrinkles from her ugly black pantsuit. “I’m Madam Marsh, I run Cambridge.”

“I didn’t know that this place even existed...or you.” Ellie says, almost whispering.

“We choose to hide a large fraction of our people underground, just so our enemies don’t know we’re here.”

“Sounds cowardice.”

“It’s strategic.” Marsh sets back down in her chair and pushes her jet black hair behind her shoulders. “Please sit.”

Ellie watches the eyes follow her as she walks to her seat and makes herself comfortable. “So.” She swallows hard, getting her throat ready for a question. “Why am I here?”

“The leader of Libertalia wants to speak with you. As of a few days ago, No one even knew that place had a leader.”

“Much like this place.” Ellie chuckles under her breath.

“He wants to talk about your “defiant” liberation of the military outpost.”

“Defiant?” She’s confused.

“He seen it as an act of defiance against Libertalia.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.” Ellie protests. “We agreed that it would be a place of trade for the colonies. Last time I checked, Libertalia didn’t sign the coalition. They have no say in what we do.”

“Just go and speak with him. You’ll be flown in by hovercraft tomorrow morning.”

“Hovercraft?”

Marsh looks at the others in the room and smiles, like Ellie is stupid or something. “We have a bunch down here. We got them after the war, the military left them all over the place. We’ve been making new modifications on them for the past fifteen years. It’s amazing what our engineers can do. You’re dismissed.”

Ellie lies in her bed all night, her eyes wide open. She just can’t wrap her mind around the whole defiant thing. How could liberating the military outpost be an act of defiance? The morning comes, she can barely move, her throat hurts too bad but she pushes through it. She sits up quickly and massages the bruised purple areas on her neck. On the table next to her is a crimson red outfit, along with a red breastplate and shoulder plates. A note is left lying next to her ensemble.

“Ellie, wear this armor as an act of rebellion, that you’re not going to take any shit. I’ve always seen red as a sort of defiance. Show him what a woman is made of. ~M”

She puts the outfit on and looks in the body length mirror. She looks beautiful, the only thing left is the armor. But first, she grabs a pair of scissors and slides it down her hair, just a bit past her shoulders and begins to cut. Strands fall to the floor and pile up. The outcome is just how she imagined it. Ellie puts some of it up in a small bun that sits a bit loose on the back of her head and lets the rest hang down, then snugs the armor onto her body.

“Shit!” She yells as she opens the door, her throat feeling like it’s ripping apart. “You scared me, Trey.”

“Here to escort you ma’am. I like the new hairstyle.” He smiles and they begin to walk. “Oh, the outfit is amazing as well. Madam Marsh never disappoints.”

“I do like this outfit, it’s pretty great.” They take an elevator platform that leads to the hovercraft hangar. Ellie looks at the plane in amazement. She’s never been in one like this. It’s large, black, the wings outstretch into circles that act as a secure cage for the propellers.

“The armor is beautiful, isn’t it?” Marsh asks, meeting them at the loading platform of the aircraft.

“It is.” Ellie begins to walk aboard but stops. “Madam Marsh. Why do you want me to meet with him?”

“I’ve seen what you can do, Ellie. We want you to be the face of the war. You are strong young woman, we need you.”

“What..war? And who is we?”

“The Coalition is we. The Manhattan Colonies are planning a war for our supplies, they’ll stop at nothing to take us over. Libertalia is leading it.”

“Why the hell wasn’t I told this last night? So am I talking to him about the outpost?” The loading platform slowly starts to close, driving them inside.

“Yes, you are. You’ll tell him that it’s just for trading.” Marsh takes a seat across from Ellie.

“But that’s what it’s for…”

“No. It’s being used to stockpile weapons for the war. Your friend Tamin was the one that brought that place to our attention.”

“So, you knew about this and you didn’t offer help?! Tamin is dead, Marsh!” Ellie screams through the pain.

“We tried, he didn’t wanna risk being exposed to Libertalia.”

“We’re already in a war with zeds.”

“They are the least of our worries right now, Ellie. The outside colonies will come in and murder our people, our families. We need to do something about it. Are you in or not? Once we have Athena, then our work will begin.”

“I-I guess.” Ellie says softly, she truly doesn’t know what to do, but if it will keep her loved ones safe, then she’s on board.

The flight only takes about an hour. Libertalia is a large building set in the rubble of what’s left of New York. The hovercraft lands on top and then the loading platform starts to lower. Madam Marsh gives her a pep talk before Ellie heads off. Her boots clank against the helipad, fear is running through her veins, she’s never seen a colony like this. In one large building, it seems strange to her. A man meets her at the end of the ramp and takes her down a flight of stairs, then to an elevator. Her stomach feels like it’s about to come up out of her throat, the elevator back in Cambridge doesn’t go this fast. It stops and he leads her into a room lit with only torches. Red carpet leads to a throne but there’s no one sitting in it.

“Strange right?” A man says, walking out of the shadows. He’s tall, dark red hair, handsome features. “What happened to you? Looks like you had an abusive boyfriend.”

“Looks like a rat chewed up your face.” She smirks.

“Feisty, I like it. Do you know who I am, Ellie?”

“No, I also have no clue how you know my name.”

“I’m King Jonas. I run the place.”

“King...Jonas...You’re…” She gulps hard.

“Your brother.”

“After all this time, you were here.”

He smiles. “I was. I made myself known here. Now, enough of the reunion. Tell me, why did you take over the outpost?”

She can barely think, barely talk, there’s a lump in her throat that she just can’t seem to swallow. “It’s...a trading post.”

“Don’t bullshit me.” He points his finger in her face, inching his way towards her. “What the fuck is up with the armor get up?”

“It’s fashion. I’m not bullshitting you.”

His hand reaches up in the air and smacks against her face. “You’re full of shit, Ellie.”

“If it’s a war you want...It’s a war you’ll get.” She turns around and heads for the door.

“Shall I stop her?” The man that walked her in asks.

“Let her go. She’ll get what she deserves soon enough.”

Back on the plane, Ellie sits silent. “He’s my brother.”

“What?” Marsh asks.

“The leader of Libertalia...he’s my brother.”

“That's unfortunate.”

“That place changed him. He wants to kill me. Madam Marsh...The war has started.”