Rebels

"The name's Cody Davis, by the way," the young boy said. He pointed at the girl, "That's Riley Briggs-" he pointed to the other boy, "-and that's... Archer."

Archer grit his teeth, "Why are you telling her this? She can't be trusted." Riley looked at him, then at Cody and then back at Archer, "I think she's okay." Sabrina smiled. "But... I don't trust you completely just yet."

Sabrina frowned, then smiled again, "I guess that's completely understandable."

They all stared at her, waiting.

"Ahem... Your name is?", Archer asked quite rudely, arms still folded while he proceeded to lean against the wall.

Sabrina bit her lip and contemplated telling them her real name, but she couldn't risk it. She didn't trust them just yet. They could be working for Vision.

"My name's Lia," she lied.

"Now that the formalities are over, you can get out of here," Archer snapped.

"Dude! Why do you have to be so rude? We've actually found an ally, shouldn't we take this opportunity to strengthen our force?" the blue-eyed boy pleaded.

"She nearly killed you Cody. We can't take that chance. As it is, we're risking enough by telling her our identities. We can't trust her," he replied coldly.

"Uhh, I'm still here you know.."

"I don't care."

"Hey-"

"Oh my gosh, can you guys just stop?!", Riley cut in. She took a deep breathe, "Listen, I know we're all a bit shaken up but we've gotta stop fighting and turning everyone away. She might be able to help us, even if a little. I suggest we stick together. She explained her intentions, it wasn't to harm. She's just doing what we've been doing. Besides Cody was the one attacked and he's fine with her, so I suggest you start being a team player or this whole thing is going to fall apart!"

Everyone was silent, stunned by the girl's outburst.

"Okay fine. But I still don't trust her.", Archer stubbornly stated.

"Fair enough."

"Look guys, I don't know if I should join you. It's just—I've been going solo for a while now. I'm not saying that I don't appreciate the offer, it's just that I have to settle things with Vision—"

"Wait wait wait. You're planning on taking on Vision, alone?" Cody bewilderedly inquired.

"Yes, but—wait, you guys mentioned something about a force. What kind of force? Like a survival force? Like a rebel force?", the brunette girl asked.

"Yes, we are a rebel force. In the works," Archer mumbled that last part.

"Where's your crew?" Sabrina asked.

"You're looking at it. We basically just started it like 3 hours ago, on our way back here," Riley shrugged.

"Okay. Do you guys have a base?"

"We're not telling you," Archer replied.

"What if I joined your cause?"

"It's not that easy. We can't just say yes and show you everything," Archer said.

"I mean we can-" Cody pointed out but was cut off by Archer yelling, "Shut up Cody!"

"Okay, okay. Relax, Hulk. What do I need to do to gain your trust?"

Archer glared and the nickname but let it go because he didn't want to back up the insult.

"We're not sure yet. But we'll come up with something. Archie, Cody, meet me in the manager's office," Riley ordered.

"I said don't call me that."

The trio walked out of the room, leaving Sabrina all alone with her thoughts.

She was happy that these people were friendly.

Well two of them were, the other guy could jump in a ditch for all she cared. She was happy that there are some people in this world without a bloodlust, people that listen to reason, but is joining them a good idea? What if they found out who she really was? Would they turn her in for salvation? Could they really stop Vision?

Those questions scared her, but what scared her more was that she might come to care for these people. Those emotions could set her off course. Those emotions make her vulnerable. She'd have something to lose. She didn't want to risk that. Maybe she should keep her guard up. But that would make them suspicious. They're already paranoid enough.

What to do? What to do?

Maybe she was overthinking this. Perhaps these people were good. This could be a great help. She just had to wait...

In the manager's office

"So guys, what should we do?", Riley asked.

"I've already told you, I think we'd be fine on our own," Archer said

"It's not about being fine on our own, it's about helping others. Plus if we're fighting back we have to recruit new members. She just showed us some of her skills. We could use that to our advantage. You could have a partner!" Cody said seriously while progressively getting more cheery as he spoke.

Archer rolled his eyes at the last part, "I don't need a partner."

"Right...So we're just cockroaches," Riley deadpanned.

"I didn't mean it like that. Look you guys are my friends. My only ones. I just don't want anyone to compromise our safety."

"Oh.." Riley and Cody said in unison.

"That's actually really sweet. Who knew he'd grow a soft spot for us, eh Riley?" Cody smirked while nudging the girl.

She snickered and Archer scoffed and then gave the faintest smile before it was hidden again by his poker face.

The other two didn't notice.

"Okay let's lay out everything we know about her. We have to get info on her if we're going to let her join," Archer stated in a very business-like manner.

"We just met her like 15 minutes ago so we don't have much to go on. All we know is that her name's Lia. She's a friendly survivor with some combat skills and judging by this open cubby, she figured out our emergency weapon stash and that shows her keen observation and knack for doing things properly. Plus she managed to stay alive for the past three days by herself and is in pretty much good shape. She also seems to have a vendetta against ol' Vic there," the younger rambled.

"To sum it up, her name's Lia. She's not hostile but she is trained, patient, observant and possibly has a brain on her. And she hates Victor's guts," Riley said while counting the points on her fingers.

"Right, but what interests me most is her vendetta against Vision. She seemed pretty determined to take down their whole empire by herself. Why would she be so adamant about it? What's the connection between her and that psycho?", Archer thought out loud.

"Maybe she just wants what's right. I mean, we also want to take him down, maybe she's trying to do the same thing," Cody mentioned.

"But why did she want to do it alone?"

"I don't know if you've noticed but the world is gone awol. She probably ran into people who lost their minds and didn't think there was any sane people left. Like you've always said, Archer, it's better to do things by yourself because you get it done right," Riley gave in her input.

"I guess. But I still think something is going on. We can let her join, but keep a close eye on her. Also, keep your guard up, but be friendly. If she's observant as you say she is, she might catch on. We need to figure out if we can trust her completely or if we should take her out of the picture. If she does turn against us, it'll be three on one. She won't stand a chance. We'll be ready for her."

"Copy that," Cody said with a mock salute that had his friends rolling their eyes.

"Sure thing. Now let's go recruit the new member of the force."