Finding Him

I was screaming and thrashing against my restrainers as they took him away. Hot, burning tears streamed down my face. I was able to get one of my arms free. I reached for him even though I knew that it was pointless. He stared right into my eyes. His amber eyes were filled with tears. I screamed his name over and over again.

"SETH!" My throat hurt.

I watched as they pulled him away from me. He struggled against his captors. I screamed his name again. I struggled my hardest to get to him. I used my free arm to elbow one of the men who held me. He groaned as his grip loosened. I managed to get free. I ran towards Seth.

He saw me coming and freed one of his hands. I ran faster, hoping to reach him in time. I pushed my legs harder even when they burned with exertion. He screamed my name.

"ALICE! I LOVE YOU!" He said as he was forced into a large black hummer. I screamed.

"I LOVE YOU!" I screamed after him. The car drove off into the night. I fell to my knees and cried. The men that held me still left me alone as they got into another hummer and drove after the first one. I cried until it hurt.

It felt that a hole had been punched into my chest. I heard the first crash of thunder. It was far away, but the storm was right above me now. It started sprinkling. I stayed on the sidewalk even after it started pouring.

I knew that those men would kill him if I didn't do anything. I knew that I wasn't strong enough to fight. I was weak. But I couldn't just do nothing. I looked up into the night sky and screamed.

"I will find you, I will save you no matter the consequence." I vowed. I would find Seth even if it killed me.

I got up and walked away from my pain. The men who took him knew Seth would be there today, but they missed one aspect of Seth life. Me. Seth owed them money. Money that Seth used to buy me my ring. I rubbed the ring on my left ring finger. I may have been 17, but I knew that I wanted to marry Seth. Now that I have him, I won't let anyone take him away from me.

My parents don't know about our engagement. I wanted to tell them myself in person, but Seth wanted to be there.

I walked into a coffee shop. I was soaking wet. People looked at me. I ducked my eyes and ignored everyone. I walked up to the counter. I glanced up at the cashier. It was a young man.

"Can I use the phone?" I asked.

"Sure, do you want some change. It's a payphone." The man said. I nodded. He handed me enough to make a call.

I dialed my Uncle's number. He was a rebel. He fought with the insurgency. Everything changed years ago when the US government crumbled. We are no longer America. We are now known as Seris. It started with King Erik Seris. He helped reconstruct the country ten years after the war ended.

"Password?" He asked. He was a very paranoid man.

"America." I whispered, making sure no one in the coffee shop could hear me.

"ALICE!" He was clearly surprised to hear from me. He gave me a password to distinguish me from impostors. All my family member's have one. Even Seth.

"Hey Uncle Jace." I smiled, despite what just happened. In a hushed voice, I explained what happened, including the fact that I was engaged with him. He was silent for a long time.

"Seth didn't owe them money. He owed me money. But they know that he knows that I am apart of the insurgency, so they are probably interrogating him. Asking me where I am hiding out." He explained. This made me even more concerned for Seth's life.

I sighed. "I need to find him. If they get that information from him then he will be expendable to them." I said.

"That he will be. I will come and get you. Meet me at the place that you cherish the most." He told me. I knew exactly where he was talking about. It's the place that I met Seth at. It was the lake in town.

"I will be there." I said before hanging up on him. I had the first part of my makeshift plan. To be honest I was making this up as I go.

I walked to the lake since that's where Seth and I were before he was taken. I had to wait only a short while before I saw my uncle's black Harley Davidson. He had two helmets. Since they still ran on gas, they were more powerful and cheaper than the electric cars now.

"Hop on, Lic. He said, using my childhood nickname. I smiled. I took the black helmet from him and gently got onto the back of his bike. He took off into the night. His long black hair was in a ponytail and kept hitting my helmet.

"Where are we going?" I yelled over the wind and the roar of the engine.

"You're going to love this." Was his only answer.

My legs felt funny when I stepped off of Jace's bike and onto solid ground. Like they were vibrating. Jace blindfolded me when we got close. He finally took it off of me.

"Where are we?" I asked. Where we were was dark, darker than outside. We stood in the building, but I couldn't tell what kind of building.

"Nowhere technically. To the government, this isn't even here anymore. Welcome to Pandemonium!" The lights flicked on, nearly blinding me. I gasped when my eyes finally adjusted. I could see why it was called that. People started greeting us. It was total chaos here. And this was just the front room. I smiled wildly at how many people were actually there to greet us.

"We are in a bit of a predicament." Jace announced in a loud echoing voice. "My niece her just got engaged, but her fiance was taken by Harlots!" I gave my uncle a puzzled look. "That's our little nickname here." He winked at me.

I smiled. Even though he was a little bit crazy, he was a lot a bit genius.

"So what do you plan on doing, Juliet?" A women asked. She was older than my uncle. She had graying hair. She reminded me of my grandma. She had gray blue eyes that were still young and reckless. I liked that about her instantly.

"This is Harley, if you need any wise information, you go to her." Jace explained.

"But why did she call me Juliet? My name is Alice." Jace laughed at my confusion.

"Romeo and Juliet was a play written a very, very long time ago. But after the whole world changed after America fell, it's become more and more forgotten of a love story. I will let you read it sometime." Jace said. Now I was interested. I kept those names in my head, Romeo and Juliet.

"Let's get started." Jace said. I looked up at him.

"Started on what?" I asked. He laughed. It was if I was the funniest thing in the whole world.

"Well, you can't just run and find Seth if you're not prepared to fight." He smiled devilishly. I was instantly scared. I didn't know how to fight. I only hit someone once, and that was to get to Seth. Jace led me to another room. It looked like a training/gym room.

"You will come here every morning for the next few days." Jace explained. I was so screwed. Knowing my uncle, he was going to work my butt off. "But only a few days, because we don't have very long to train you, and save Seth." He continued. My thoughts were still focused on Seth. I took a deep breath.

"Where do I start?