Water Rebel

Chapter One

     Water Rebel. That’s what they called us. The people who risked going out into that deadly water. The people who lived there, who hid there. By “the people” or “us” I mean the only family I know. There’s Jon, the lanky man who gathered us all together. Who saved Yuli and me from our life of crime. He had dark brown hair and pale green eyes. With one look at his 20 year old face, you wouldn’t think he’d be capable of the things he does. We call him our leader for a reason. 

    Yulliana is the closest thing that I have to a sister. Granted she’s a different race than I am, she’s still my family. We have been inseparable since we ran from the orphanage that used us as slaves. The only life that we knew was thievery. That’s how we survived. We were experts at getting what we wanted, until we tried to steal from Jon. Surprisingly though, instead of killing us, he took us in. That’s where I met Logan. 

    It was no secret that I had a crush on him from the first moment I saw his sparkly brown eyes, and the shiny brunette hair. We met in private every night, away from the group. I yearned the feeling of his muscled chest on mine all day every day. He was like a d**g that I couldn’t get enough of. In a way we were connected. I knew what he was thinking just by the look in his brown eyes. 

     These people are my family. We all had positions in the group. Yuli was the pretty face, the distraction. Jon and I were cunning, we thought out all of the plans, we made sure no one got caught. Logan was the muscle. He put our plans into action. Most of the time. We were unstoppable in this land. Mostly because none of us had fear of the creatures that lurked in the depths of the water that invaded most of the Earth. 

     See, it used to be a normal world, but thenpollution happened. It brought massive floods to the land. 

      You know how they say “Pollution is bad”? They weren’t lying. Gasses ate through the Ozone layer that protected us all. The whole Earth’s balance is completely whack. Either land was scorched by the sun’s rays, or devastated by floods and the creatures that pollution created. 

    The only continent that managed to escape being scorched was South America. We only got the floods, but the water only reached so far into the land. People still died, blah blah, but for the most part, the land is intact. People who managed to escape being cooked fled to here. All sorts of colors were mashed together and it was outright war for the land, before a woman stepped up to be Queen. 

                   She is a horrible woman who went by the name of Regina. She patrolled the waters in a massive ship that the creatures couldn’t get through. We learned the tricks of the polluted creatures.   

                    They live in the dark parts and never ever come out to the light. If you only swim a certain ways down, you’d be safe. Never go into the dark part or swim into the ocean at night.  

      Anyways, Regina lived in a ship and controlled us all. She brought order, somewhat, to the land, but only provided for the wealthy. The average Joe on the streets starved because she refused to help provide food and stripped whatever we had from us. Granted, we are still doing fine. People enjoyed life like they did before everything was burned. They went to the beaches, and still looked down on one another. Ultimately, the world was still a shitty place, even after it ended. 

     I live in Uruguay. Argentina and Chile were destroyed up until Uruguay. That’s where the water stops and where I reside. The city is still there, everything is the same as it was before the end of the world, except a little more run down. Most of the buildings are halfway destroyed, and nothing but trash and filthy people littered almost every street. 

     My parents were killed in a riot when I was almost seven years old, so I was sent to live in an orphanage where I bonded with Yuli. Where we learned to defend ourselves when the headmaster tried to whip us into slaves for him. When things got really bad at the orphanage, Yulianna and I ran. For a little over a year we lived off of the streets. When we found Jon, he truly did save us. We would be forever grateful for the life he has helped us have. 

    Well, that’s how I ended up here, as one of the most feared people in the land. One of the most wanted people. At only Eighteen, I had quite a reputation built up for me. 

     They called us the Water Rebels because we weren’t afraid to go into the water. They thought we lived out on the ocean, but in reality, we lived among the people of the land. Just in hiding. We had escaped the Queen’s grasp multiple times and Police stopped chasing us. After losing so many men, they ultimately gave up the hunt.  We got away so often because people didn’t expect a Water Rebel to be a teenager. 

     So here I am, crouched in a bush next to Jon. I had my black and red water suit on, ready for the water that was about to come. The material hugged my skin, and I craved that rush I got when I was in the water. My sandy blonde hair was tied back into a tight french braid. I was ready. I wondered if Jon was ready too, I could see the outline of the dynamite in his suit. He appeared ready as ever. 

      "Now, remember,” Jon’s voice was hushed, “Once Logan has him down, you are going to sneak onto the boat. You start it, Yuli will join you, Logan and I will hide the body, then we will come as well. If we aren’t there within ten minutes. Retreat. Do Not.” his voice grew stern, “Do not try this on your own Charlie.” 

      I nodded and looked over at Logan, who was walking casually up to the man Yulliana was talking to. His black and blue suit hugged every muscle of his body beautifully. I would’ve drooled if he hadn’t reached his hand under the man’s chin and pulled up and to the right, snapping his neck. The body fell. 

     “Now.” Jon breathed and we both ran from the bush. 

      Thankfully we were just at the dock and no one came to this side of the beach except boat owners, which are rare. 

     My feet crunched in the sand, I could feel it fly up behind me as I sprinted to the boat. We had to hurry before someone came around the corner and saw a dead body on the ground. 

    I ran past Logan and grabbed Yuli’s hand, pulling her to the speed boat with me. Her black hair was also back in a braid, and she was wearing jeans and a shirt over her pink and black suit. When we climbed aboard she stripped her clothes off and threw them in the water. I sat in the driver’s seat and felt around for the keys. But they weren’t here. I looked under the seat and in every cubby hole. No keys. 

     Shit...