• I threw my gun onto the floor before me. The stained familiar carpeting made me long for what this house used to be; a home. My home, to be exact. Now being shot at and bombed by The Enemy. Their guns were better and their bombs were bigger. All of us here were just kids. Most of us used to go to school together. But we had determination, and we were all fighting for something. Some for their homes, some families and others, for freedom. Me, for everything I had ever known or loved.
    I don't know a lot of things. I'm not entirely sure why we're fighting. I don't know why this is at my house, or where my family is. But I do know that my friends are here, fighting right beside me. I refused to let The Enemy bring me down.
    The window beside where I crouched exploded and I rolled behind my coffee table, slowly peeking out to fire after the shards of glass fell. The man who had taken aim at me ducked behind a bush in my mom's flower bed. I rested my gun on the window sill and pulled the trigger. He dodged an inch, just missing my bullet. I swore and stayed out of his view.
    I don't want to kill anyone if I don't have to, but right now, I don't have a choice.
    "General, we have received a letter from The Enemy." One of my friends from school, James, approached me.
    I don't know why they call me General. My real name is Abigail, but I guess the rebels need a leader, and if anyone should do it, well, why not me? But then again, why me? I was one of the oldest, but nothing was really special about me. I knew next to nothing about guns, and before today, the only thing I've ever shot was a target. Desperate times call for desperate measures. But yet I'm "General." It's weird, because most of the guys fighting here used to be sexist and would make fun of me at school for believing that girls are just as good as guys, if not better. And now, here I am, their leader.
    I tore the envelope away from James, anxious to see what The Enemy had in store for us now.
    What I saw surprised me:

    General,
    Your presence has been requested at 111 North Main St. for a meeting of leaders. Bring no weapons, and we shall do the same. What we have to discuss is bigger than our battle. You know what we mean.
    The Enemy

    I know what they mean? Could they possibly mean- No. It can't be.
    As much as I didn't want it to, I had to face the fact that it was possible. The only thing I could think of that The Enemy would call a meeting to discuss is The Leader. He was the one who ultimately caused all of this trouble. He took everything away from us. He took my family.



    I arrived on the street they requested of me, without any weapons, as asked. James drove me here in what used to be my family's car. Now it had dents and was missing two doors from bombings and wrecks.
    I hopped out, firmly placing my gold tennis shoes in the dirt. In a way, I was a little embarrassed that theses were the only shoes I had left, but I was glad I could be The General in my favorite comfy yet stylish sneakers.
    I spotted Ian, The Enemy's leader, right away. It didn't take much, with his tall, lanky frame and short spikey hair, I knew it was him, although I hadn't seen him for a while. We had gone to school together, though he was a few years older than me. He moved away one year, and this is the first I've seen him since. Now I had a deeper hatred for him than that of one for his haughty, rich-boy attitude. I hated what he was forcing me to do. Him and his crew have made me fight against people I once knew.
    "What do you want Ian?" I asked with a bit of impatience in my voice.
    "I think you know already, Abigail." Ian smirked at me, as if calling me by my real name should bother me.
    But yea, he was right. I think I do know what this is about.
    "The Leader?" I winced when I said his name. It brought back many painful memories that are too deep for me to go into right now.
    Ian nodded slightly, "Yes. I know you may hate me, and trust me, the feelings mutual, but we need to stop fighting before he stops it for us. The results could be much, much worse. For all we know, it could already be too late."
    Anger boiled inside me. I mean, it's not like I woke up one day and said, "I think I'll attack The Enemy today!"
    Far from it, actually. He was the one who was attacking my resistance, in my house!
    I wanted to scream at him, but I knew he was partially right. It may very well be too late.



    "Allson!" I screeched for my right hand gal and bestfriend.
    "Yes, General?" I suppressed an eye roll. Under different circumstances I would have yelled at her, I mean, she's my best friend, not my servant! But right now we had important things to discuss.
    i told her everything that happened with Ian. After I was done, her eyes widened.
    "We have to call everyone back and get them safe, but where?" Allison was starting to shake.
    "I know! The basement! It's the safest place we got!"
    Allison, James and I round everyone up and got them into the basement. We were checking for anyone we may have missed when I felt a sudden cold. First it crawled up my legs, then sent chills up my spine, and finally I got goose bumps on my arms.
    "The Leader," I whispered. Allison and I bolted downstairs.
    "We'll never make it in time!" Allison was wailing now.
    "Shut up! Go to the kitchen." Okay, usually I can stand Debbie Downers, but now was not the time to be complaining!
    I swung open the freezer and started to push Allison in.
    "What the heck are you doing?"
    I completely ignored her and pulled out shelf after shelf of frozen foods. Next I pushed open what looked like the back of the freezer. Behind it was a tunnel leading to our basement.
    "Go!" I hollered as I nudged her in. I followed closely behind.
    Whether you believe me or not, what I say next was true. I heard some sort of cold, dark cackle that could only belong to The Leader. The weird thing was, it was right behind us. And I mean, like, two feet away.
    I had always been curious about what he looked like. Of course, I had hope it would never come down to me having a stare down with him, but he was our Leader. And no one knew. Because if you knew, it was only for an hour or so until you were either publically executed or the memory was tortured out of you.
    But curiosity got the best of me, and I whipped around. There he was. Black slicked back hair, long, oval face and pointy beard that seemed to elongate his face. His glittering green eyes held a hint of pure evil, you only ever hear of in books. I know it's hard to imagine just reading this, but evil seemed to radiate from his body.
    I can honestly say I've never been so scared in my life.