Gunpowder

Poppy felt the ground lurch beneath her, and she bit back a panicked scream.

She hated being in the transport ambulance, though this was really only her third time being in it. It reminded her of Oak’s car, and it reminded her of the fight she had had in the very same vehicle just days before.

But today she was able to put all of those worries aside. Because today was the day she was finally leaving the hospital.

Poppy was on her way to the home of Axis Adlven, well, the home of her and Axis Adlven. It was an exciting moment, but as the reality of it drew dangerously close, nervousness began to set in. Living with a friend had to be better than being stuck in the hospital all the time. Still, she was going to be living in a home with someone who may not even like her. She still had hope, however, as the ambulance rattled closer and closer to the home.

Poppy stared out the window, seeing the city gradually turn from the flat, industrial style of the downtown area to the quaint, rural style of the suburbs. She began to think about what the house she would be in would look like. She assumed it would be made of wood or painted brick, like the rest of the homes in the area.

This led to another thought, one that she had been subconsciously pondering for a while: What would the technology be like? It was a stupid question, at least it sounded like a stupid one, but it truly did interest her. Her whole life was technology, and ever since she had been captured, her exposure to any kind of device had been limited. She had heard that the rebels were very limited technology-wise, but from what she had seen, she wasn’t so sure about the rumors. She had seen some decently impressive technological feats in her relatively short time at the rebel base. Possibly at the house she would find some technology to keep her occupied, and possibly let her find out more about where she was. As she always said, “technology is the gate to information.”

Poppy never actually said that.

The ambulance seemed to be slowing down. Sure enough, when Poppy looked out the window, she saw that they were cruising through a residential area. She took a deep breath, trying to not think of all the negatives that could come out of the situation, and relaxed.

The houses in the neighborhood they were in were all identical: two-story quaint little wooden houses with flowers and shrubbery lining the doorstep.

The ambulance slowed to a crawl when it approached the right house. It turned into the driveway and stopped in place. Poppy heard the banging of doors as the two drivers of the van exited their seats and the thudding of footsteps on concrete as they approached the back of the truck, where she was situated.

The two doctor’s uniform-clad people slid open the doors. They were both unfamiliar to Poppy, but their identities weren’t a concern to her at the moment. One of them, who looked slightly stronger, entered the small room and gestured for Poppy to follow. She didn’t need to be told twice, and trotted after them. She could tell how suspicious of her they were, shown by their constant glances back in her direction. They led her up the doorsteps of the building and rung the door.

Poppy and Axis both knew this could go one or two ways: It could go as planned, or it could fall into chaos.