Chapter 2: The Red Tribe

Chapter 2: The Red Tribe

I woke up to the smell of burning. I opened my eyes to see my room covered in thick, black smoke. This couldn’t be good. I jumped out of bed, flung my bedroom door open and ran down the hallway to my sister’s room through the thick smoke. I went to grab the door knob, but as soon as I touched it my hand was burning with pain. I kicked the door down, and soon realised this is where the smoke was coming from. Zoe’s bed and wardrobe was on fire, Zoe curled up in the corner, crying and scared. I ran over to her, picked her up and fought my way out of the room. I ran down the hallway feeling the heat burning my face. Zoe hid her teary face on my shoulder; I stopped at the stairs and turned around only to see the whole of upstairs on fire, including my parent’s bedroom. Now there were two confused girls crying. With Zoe on my back, I ran down the stairs, tears running down my cheeks and smoke clouding my eyesight. The fire was chasing me down the stairs, I had nowhere else to go but outside. I could feel flames tailing me, I finally made it to the front door, and without hesitation I busted through it, the house bursting into flames and crumbling as I jumped over the front-steps. I let Zoe down onto the grass carefully, and she took my hand as we watched a home full of memories burn to the ground.

“It was the night light.” Zoe whispered. “It got too hot, then it caught on fire, and I didn’t realise until my teddy bear caught fire. I’m sorry.” I crouched down on the lawn in front of Zoe, hugged her tight and whispered in her ear. “No Baby, it’s not your fault.” Zoe tightened her grip on my hand, and at the same time we both walked towards the front-gate, leaving the flaming house behind. Before I stepped out of the yard, I pulled two red roses off a nearby bush, and gave one to Zoe. We brought the roses up to our noses, took in the scent, and then let the rose go in the wind. We watched all the petals fly away, over the house. Zoe looked up at me, her lip stiff.

“Tess. What now?”

I looked down into her icy blue eyes, and then around the abandoned street.

“I don’t know Zoe.”

 She sighed, but I knew she understood.

“Left or Right?” I asked Zoe.

She looked both ways, then back at me.

“I think left. Mum always said if nothing goes right, go left.”

I smiled at her. She took my hand, and we began walking down the broken pathway. I heard a slight rustling in the bushes behind me, I stopped and stood in front of Zoe protecting her, but then I dropped my arms by my sides and laughed.

“Zoe, I think someone wants to come with us.”

Zoe looked confused at first, but she soon understood. Mitsy came running out of a thick bush covered in black soot, then jumped into Zoe’s arms.

“Mitsy!” Zoe buried her face in the kitten’s dirty fur. Mitsy shook her whole body, and now Zoe’s face was covered in soot. We both giggled, and then continued to walk down the footpath.

Walking down the path knowing that we’d never be returning down this street again, was scarily taunting. We walked past many bodies, those of our neighbours mostly. I tried ignoring them, but it was hard walking past a lifeless body with cold eyes staring at you as you ignore them. Zoe was taking it pretty well. She wasn’t crying, she seemed to be pretty content actually. Zoe could be very mature when she wanted to be, and that’s what I liked about her. Most other girls her age were dependant on others, but Zoe was fine. As I looked around the neighbourhood, I noticed that a lot of other houses had been burnt to the ground. Something was telling me we weren’t the only ones, and it wasn’t always accidental… Suddenly Zoe stopped.

“What about Adam?” she whispered.

I bit my lip. Adam… How could I forget about Adam?

“He’s at his friend’s house, right?” I asked Zoe.

“Yeah, that’s what Mum said.”

“Do you know which friend”?

“Ethan I think.”

“He lives in Raglan Parade, yeah?”

“Err…”

“Sorry, forgot you weren’t good with directions.”

“Hey! I know the way to Maccas and the ice-cream parlour thank-you very much.”

I laughed and took her hand as we continued walking. As Zoe was telling me about her visit to the pool with the school last week, I couldn’t help but feel we were being watched. I shrugged off the feeling and patted Mitsy, who was snug in Zoe’s arms. We reached the end of the street and I had to stop and think for a few seconds. Raglan Parade was near the library… Ah, the library. I use to go there to escape angry parents. Angry parents… I wish they were still angry at me, because that would mean they would be here with me, taking away my phone or my laptop for a week. Of course they’d give in before the week was up; they just loved me too much. Before I got too deep in my thoughts, I pulled Zoe’s hand towards the library, keeping focussed on Raglan Parade, and Adam.

We had to walk in the middle of the road now, as the footpaths were cracked, smashed, broken and littered with many curious items. As we walked past burnt cars and motorcycles, we noticed something rather peculiar. There seemed to be a black, blue, red or white pieces of cloth tied to all the burnt cars. We stopped in front of an ash-black Lamborghini, which seemed to be as if it was blown apart. There was a piece of black cloth tied to the antenna, flying in the wind. I stepped closer to the blown-apart vehicle, and then noticed I’d stood on a pile of ripped up and blood-stained white cloth. Did these pieces of cloth actually mean anything or were they irrelevant and random? I had a strong feeling I’d find out sooner or later.

Zoe skipped along the road not far in front of me, until we eventually reached Raglan Parade. We stood at the end of the street both disappointed, curious and in pain. Every single house in this street had been burnt down to the ground. On top of every house, there was a black piece of cloth attached to the TV antennas and satellite dishes. All along the fronts of the houses and on the road, spray painted in black, were the words; “WHITE TRIBE: BEWARE”. I felt sick. Had they taken Adam, My only brother? Had he been burnt in these house fires? I couldn’t face the street anymore.

 I now knew we weren’t alone, and that these pieces of cloth meant something much more than just a colour.

It was obvious there is still life here in Bridgeport, and lots of it. Where were we going to go next? We’d basically been walking since lunchtime, after we’d closely escape the house fire. It was beginning to get dark, and we needed a place to sleep; a safe place. We were searching the streets for somewhere to sleep, when we became too exhausted to even walk anymore. It was probably 9pm now, and I was feeling horrible that I couldn’t provide a safe, warm place for Zoe and even Mitsy to sleep. I was almost drifting off to sleep, when I could see a huge crowd, carrying big flaming sticks. I stared in awe, until I felt a strong arm pull me into a dark alleyway along with Zoe. I couldn’t see properly as half of the arm, which appeared to belong to a boy, was covering my eyes. I struggled for freedom until he kicked me and told me to shut up. When he finally let go of me, I turned around confused. He was a little taller than me, with brunette hair and chocolate brown eyes. He had lots of piercings and it seemed he had a tattoo on his arm, before I could finish examining him he started to whisper violently.

“What do you think you’re doing?! You’ll get yourself killed woman!”

“Excuse me?! You practically just kidnapped and abused me!”

“That was for your own good!”

“Who are you anyway?”

“That doesn’t matter!”

I glared at him.

He clicked his fingers in front of my face.
“Are you going to answer me?!”

I was staring at the red cloth tied around his wrist. He noticed me looking at it, and then quickly hid his hand behind his back.

“What’s that?” I asked, more quietly now.

“You really shouldn’t be out here.”

“Why?”

I sounded so stupid, so naïve. I hated being the weaker one in the situation.

“I’ll explain later, okay? You just need to come with me. I’m guessing she’s with you?” He gestured towards Zoe.

“Yeah she is, what’s it to you? Why should I come with you anyway? You kicked me before!”

“Again, that was for your own good.”

I sighed, and I knew inside this boy was my only hope, however arrogant he was. I took Zoe’s hand and stood stiffly.

“Fine, can you at least tell me where we’re going?”

He simply shrugged and said, “No.” He walked off down the alleyway not looking back at me. Going against my gut instincts, I tightened my grip on Zoe’s hand and followed the mysterious boy down the dark alleyway.

We had to climb over lots of boxes, car tyres and other things to get to where the boy was taking us. It was hard seeing in the dark, so every minute or so I’d make Zoe was still close by. We reached our mystery destination, which appeared to be an old abandoned warehouse; typical. We entered in one of the back doors, trying to be very quiet. When we were inside safely, he took his finger to his mouth to gesture us to be quiet, and then he used his hand to tell us to stay here. He disappeared around the corner for a second and we could hear violent whispering. Zoe and I were quiet as a mouse, trying to listen to what the boy and the unknown person or people were saying. We could hear sorts of words scattered throughout their quickened conversation.

“They don’t understand the rules!”

“They don’t need to! Just let them stay here the night.”

“Fine, but if they’re staying here tonight they have to join the tribe tomorrow, officially. I will not have traitors or spies. You know that we are in enough trouble with the Black Tribe as it is.”

“I know Z, I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine; just make sure they’re legit.”

“Will do.”

We could no longer hear talking, but footsteps. The boy and another guy came around the corner, stopping in front of us. The new stranger was taller than the first boy, and he had dark hair and a nasty scar on his face. He had a red cloth tied around his head like a headband, and a similar piece around his wrist. From their conversation, we had gathered his name was ‘Z’. He spoke to us.

“What are your names?”

“I’m Tess, and this is Zoe.”

“How old are you?”

“I am 15, almost 16, and Zoe is 8.” Z grimaced as I said Zoe’s age, and I bit my lip.

“You are going to join our tribe; The Red Tribe. You don’t understand what this means yet but we’ll explain tomorrow after you’ve slept.”

Z marched off grumpily, mumbling something about ‘newbies’. I have never felt so child-like in my whole life. I can’t imagine how Zoe would be feeling. The boy with the piercings gestured for us to follow him. I took Zoe’s hand once more and let the boy lead the way. We weaved through garbage, boxes, barrels, ship containers and more boxes, until we found ourselves at a secluded area, with a big mattress, blankets and pillows. Mitsy jumped down from Zoe’s grip and made herself comfy on the bed. The boy groaned, and then turned to us.

“This is where you will sleep for now.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re Welcome.” He turned to walk off, but I grabbed his arm, stopping him. He looked at me, apparently waiting for an answer as to why I stopped him. I bit my lip.

“Well, aren’t you going to tell us your name?” I asked curiously.

The boy sighed, and itched at his arm.

He simply replied; “Jake.”

He disappeared from sight and I figured we were going to be alone for the rest of the night. I turned back to the pile of pillows and blankets, and immediately noticed that Zoe and Mitsy were snug in the bed, ready for sleep. I smiled, and climbed in next to Zoe. The warehouse was kind of dark, but there were a few candles around that lit up the walkways and the area we were meant to sleep in. As I closed my eyes ready for sleep, I heard Zoe whisper into my ear.

“Is Adam okay?” Truthfully, I didn’t know the answer to this question.

“I’m sure he is honey; let’s just try to worry about us for now.”

“Do we need to worry about us?”

This was a very good question; I didn’t know how to answer because my thoughts were flooded with the same question. Were we safe? I bit my lip and ignored her, a habit of mine. She didn’t seem to notice my absence of speech as she snuggled into my back, and apparently fell asleep. I too shut my eyes, quickly falling asleep; thinking about what might happen tomorrow, and whether Adam was okay or not.