Daisy steps through the narrow gate and into the belly of New Sage.
The air here tastes different, she thinks, drawing a shallow breath. It is thick, like roasted coffee and the dry, metallic tang of sun-baked soil.
She walks slowly, her eyes darting from one building to the next:
The houses here are sturdy, with real shingles and intact frames. They are not like the scrap-metal husks back in the Soviet village.
A shiver snakes down her spine as she passes the dark glass:
The windows are looking at me. Like hollow eyes. They see the wasteland on my skin.
A coffee shop door creaks, a sudden wave of roasted beans hitting her nose:
I know this smell. From the books. Bitter. Dark. Energy. It finally has a face.
Daisy pauses, her eyes darting from the clean shingles to her own torn sleeves:
How am I supposed to blend in here? I look like the wasteland I just crawled out of.
"Strangers are ghosts in this town," a voice cuts from behind.
Daisy pivots, but the girl is already there.
A fist kisses Daisy's cheek with the force of a hammer.
Daisy hits the dirt hard, the taste of copper blooming in her mouth. The girl looms over her, pinning Daisy's sleeve to the dry earth. "Talk fast. Are you a spy, or just a fool?"
"I'm lost," Daisy gasps, raising a hand to shield her face. "I just... I wandered in."
The girl's eyes narrow, searching Daisy's worn clothes with a scavenger's precision.
Daisy notices the crust of black dirt wedged under the girl's fingernails as she claws at her sleeve, and the faint, sharp smell of iron on her breath.
Daisy's pulse thumps against her throat. She realizes the girl is serious and that they might kill her just for walking through a gate. "Okay. I'll go. Just let me up."
The girl pulls back, her expression a mask of distrust. "Take your leave, then. Don't look back."
Daisy stands, her legs vibrating. She looks at the gate, then at the vast, predatory wasteland beyond it.
Her jaw sets:
The shadows here only hide memories. The real monsters are out there in the trees. If I run now, I'm a corpse anyway.
"No," Daisy says, her voice sharpening. "I can't go back out there. I'm staying."
The girl's hand snaps to Daisy's neck, her grip a tightening vise. "Then you'll die here instead."
Daisy claws at the hand, her vision starting to blur, until a sharp voice cracks through the air.
"Uddin, stop."
An old woman approaches. She walks with a slow, heavy rhythm that commands the street. Uddin loses her grip, and Daisy collapses, coughing the dust from her lungs.
"Grandma," Uddin says, her voice defensive. "She's a spy."
"I raised you to be sharp, not blind," the woman says, studying Daisy.
"A spy would have had a blade in my throat the moment you blinked. This one just has dust in her lungs and a home that doesn't exist anymore."
The woman offers a calloused hand. "What is your name, child?"
Daisy takes it, her fingers trembling. "Irish Daisy. My village was burned. A man... he brought me here. He said you needed people."
The woman's jaw tightens. "He told you we were desperate? Hmm. The Council meets in three hours. They'll decide if your blood stays in your body or hits the floor."
She looks at the bruise forming on Daisy's face. "Uddin, watch her. If she breathes wrong, you know what to do. But for now, protect her."
Uddin glares, but her posture slumps. "Fine."
The grandmother walks away, her footsteps heavy on the wood. Uddin turns to Daisy and offers a stiff handshake. "I'm Uddin. Let's start there."
"Daisy."
They walk in silence toward an abandoned house on the edge of the town.
The wood creaks under their weight as they sit on the porch.
Daisy's shoulders drop, the weight of the last twenty-four hours is finally pulling at her knees.
"Do you really want this?" Uddin asks, staring at the horizon. "This town isn't a playground."
"It depends," Daisy mutters, leaning her head against her palm.
Uddin snaps her head toward her. "Depends? You don't have an option. If the Council says no, we murder you. That's the law."
Daisy's eyes widen:
Mr. Gomez was right; the outside world really is chaotic.
Uddin lets out a dry, jagged laugh. "Don't look so shocked. But my grandma likes you. That's more armor than a shield."
THE COUNCIL OF NEW SAGE
A long oak table dominates the chamber, bathed in the flickering, nervous light of candles.
Four figures sit in the shadows. At the center sits the Leader, a woman with gray hair gripping a wooden hammer.
CRACK.
"New girl," the Leader says. "She wants a seat at our table."
"We need citizens," a broad-shouldered man says, his scarred hands folded. "Let's hear her."
Across from him, a woman with orange hair slides a knife between her fingers. The metal catches the candlelight. "Or she's bait. Hunger shouldn't make us stupid."
"She's a stray," Uddin's grandmother counters. "Let her stay."
"Spoken like a fool," the orange-haired woman snarls. "That's how the enemy gets under your skin."
The Leader slams the hammer down.
CRACK.
"Silence. Bring her in."
The heavy doors groan open.
Daisy steps forward, Uddin a half-step behind her. A short silence follows.
Daisy scans their faces:
They look like they're sucking lemons.
"Irish Daisy," the Leader says. "What brought you to our gate?"
"A man in a black coat," Daisy says, her voice steadying. "Johnny. He wore a round hat. He killed the men hunting me with a pistol, then he walked me here."
The room goes ice-cold. The Council members lean in, their voices dropping to a frantic whisper.
"The man from the Latvilo Casino?" the far-end man asks, his hands trembling. "The one who deleted the Red Carpet gang?"
"Yes," Daisy says.
The Leader studies Daisy's eyes. "Why would a ghost like that care about you?"
"He said this town needed citizens. He spoke like he's known this place a long time."
A long silence stretches through the chamber. The orange-haired woman stops spinning her knife.
"She's telling the truth," Uddin's grandmother says. "The eyes don't lie when they've seen that much blood."
The Leader looks at the table. "We vote. Aye or No."
"Aye," Uddin's grandmother says.
"Aye," says the scarred man.
"Aye," the old man adds.
The orange-haired woman glares at Daisy, her knife clicking shut. "No." She pauses, watching the room. "Fine. Aye. But if she bleeds us, I'll be the one to end her."
CRACK.
"Settled. The girl joins the Sneaky Birds. Fetch Moon Black Paige."
The doors burst open. A girl with a practice stick and eyes like flint steps into the light. "Heard my name."
"Train her," the Leader commands. "And if she's a spy... finish it."
By noon, the heat is a physical weight over the clearing.
Four people sit in the grass, their faces hardened by a world that stopped being kind a long time ago.
"That's the group," Uddin points. "Our team."
Daisy tightens her grip on her gown:
They look cold and rude.
As they close in, a girl with a round metal spark-emitter strapped to her wrist stands up. She offers a palm. "I'm Jullian Nova. You can call me Jullian. What's your name?"
"Daisy—"
"How old are you?"
"I'm sixteen and a half," Daisy says, her hands still tight on her gown.
Jullian smiles and taps Daisy's shoulder. "Well, I am already seventeen. Don't be shy; you're welcome to the team."
She drags Daisy closer to the others. "This is Machi Kuli," she says, pointing to a girl in a feathered hat. "She's our top hand-fighter. Don't touch her hat."
Machi sighs, not looking up. "Jullian, where is Moon Black? We have the Nightshade mission tonight. We don't have time for the newbie."
"She'll survive," Uddin says.
Machi stands abruptly. Her fist blurs, halting an inch from Daisy's nose.
Daisy flinches, her breath hitching.
Machi laughs. "See? Scared. She won't survive the upcoming mission."
"Where are you from?" Jullian asks.
"I'm from the Soviet village."
"Soviet village? I don't know there."
A guy with a scar across his face stands up. "You can call me David." He offers a hand, but Jullian pushes him back. She glares. "You're Scarface. We don't call you David."
He glares. "Why bring that name up in front of the new girl!"
On the grass floor, a young boy sits with a book covering his face. Uddin drags the book away. "This is mine, Justice! Give it back!"
Daisy's eyes soften, her lips curving upward as the group's energy becomes contagious.
Daisy touches the spark-emitter on Jullian's wrist. "Where did you get this from?"
"The Council leader. She says it's an old science invention, back from the 3000s." Jullian leans in, her voice becoming menacing.
"It shoots out electric sparks. It kills. Let me show you."
The emitter hums with a simmering blue light, emitting a high-pitched, unstable whine.
An electric spark breaks out into the clearing.
Daisy's eyes lock on the blue glow:
Is this one of the inventions Antar mentioned? From the 3000s? How has it been preserved for so long?
"Daisy!" Jullian waves.
Daisy blinks, snapping back. She smiles. "I was lost in thought."
"Glad you're back." Jullian's palm rests on her shoulder. "In our group, Expect chaos. Beware, we are harsh on the mission ground." She starts laughing.
Daisy furrows:
Why does chaos feel like a password everywhere? Killing and death. They don't faze me anymore. That's a bad sign.
A girl walks forward from the town, her boots pounding a heavy rhythm against the dry earth.
She carries a practice stick, swinging it slightly with every step.
"Moon Black is here," Jullian whispers. The group stands instantly.
Moon Black stops and taps the stick against Daisy's shoulder.
"Newbie. We have no time. The Sneaky Birds are fast." She studies Daisy, her eyes darkening.
"Moon Black," the boy with the book steps forward. "We're supposed to discuss the mission. Nightshade Keep might not be friendly."
"We discuss the mission on our way," Moon Black says. "For now, we see if the girl is fit. The mission waits."
Uddin walks closer. "You don't have to stress, Moon Black. I'll train her. She'll follow my lead."
Moon Black faces her. "She's not training with you. I'm the leader here. You obey my order."
Uddin shakes her head. "Nah... you only claim the position. Scarface is the oldest. He should be the leader."
Scarface chuckles. "Uddin, Moon Black is only a year younger than I am. I'm twenty, she's nineteen. She can lead."
Daisy sighs, watching them:
Internal issues, how do they survive missions without a single voice.
"You see?" Moon Black says. She pushes Uddin to the side. "Step away. I'll test her speed." She looks at Daisy. "You want in?"
Daisy looks from the gate to Moon Black, her gaze weighing the madness of the outside world against the deadly rules of this place.
"Yes."
"Come at me."
Daisy lunges.
Moon Black sidesteps with predatory ease, her foot catching Daisy's ankle.
Daisy crashes hard into the dirt. She acknowledges the pain.
"You'll face worse than me," Moon Black says. "Get up."
Daisy forces herself upright and charges again, her chest burning with rage.
Moon Black moves like water, driving the air from Daisy's lungs with a brutal strike to the solar plexus.
A wet, hollow whoosh of air escapes Daisy's lips as she collapses.
She drops to her knees, coughing hard.
Daisy folds her fist:
The world doesn't accept the weak. If anything, I hate staying weak.
Moon Black walks closer, staring down. "Giving up?"
"I'm... not... giving up," Daisy wheezes.
A slow, wicked smile spreads across Moon Black's face.
"Spirit matters. Good. Rest. Save your strength. We move for Nightshade tonight." She pauses, her face turning cold again. "I hope you survive. Most don't."
She turns and walks away.
Daisy stands, her fists trembling as she watches Moon Black's back.
Fist tightening:
This is humiliating.. I have to get stronger!