It’s been 2000 years since Earth was declared unlivable. Due to the holes in the atmosphere from the excessive carbon dioxide output, the National Guard of Nations or NGN decided that all citizens of the world were to be housed in the South Pole. A gigantic super city to promote peace and protect people from the harmful effects of humanity’s previous mistakes.  

Though the system had a flaw; a leader. The NGN elected a new group of government and a new set of rules, believing that a citizen’s right was to submit. The people who found this to be adequate stayed in the inner city, Prosper. Anyone that thought differently was sent to what became a new self-governed, outer-rim city called the Fray.  

— 

“Eve?” there was a pause, “Eve it’s time to hunt!” I heard my little brother, Sela, say.  

“Coming!” I called out, zipping up my jacket and tucking the loose strands of dark hair behind my ears.  

I unclasped the latch on the attic, letting down the stairs to the small hallway below me. I could hear the scuffle of boots from down the hall and the faint sound of wood against wood, scraping against the floor with an unnerving squeak.  

“Don’t drag the ax on the floorboards, Sela!” I heard my mom yell from down the hall, most likely cleaning up her morning tea while dad sat silently in his rocking chair, teetering back and forth as he listened to the radio.  

“I won’t!” I heard him call back to her, but the squeaking leading up to the back door said otherwise.  

I climbed down the narrow stairs, smirking as I heard my mom mutter that boy, and proceeded to storm her way down into the kitchen.  

It was Sunday, or as we all outer folks like to call it, capturing day: the day we hunt.  

“Here, let me grab that,” I motioned to Sela as he defeatedly handed over the ax that dragged its way across the dirt, leaving a line of dug up soot.  

The ax rested easily in my hands, the handle fitting snug on my rough calluses. I sighed.  

“What made you think you could carry this thing around?” I asked my brother, a smile threatening to appear on my mouth as I saw his own scrunch up in a childish pout.  

“Because I’m strong, duh,” he sassed back, kicking the dirt from beneath his feet.  

“And you are,” I say, feeling a set of eyes twinkle up at mine. “You just need practice and time to be able to wield something like this.”  

“Okay,” he pouted as he teetered his head to the side, letting his feet stomp the ground as if his legs were a puppet’s.  

There was a rustle.  

“Sh,” I hushed Sela.  

He listened to me immediately, straightening out his legs. Crouching down when I crouched.  

I grasped the ax, my left hand holding the base as my right arm positioned itself higher up towards the blade. It would be a great day if the noise was a hilm, the meatiest animal you could ever slaughter: there would be meat for weeks.  

Another rustle.  

My ears perked up, my mouth watering in hopefulness. I felt Sela grip my knee, his nails digging into my skin. We were both anxious.  

Another.  

Slash! 
 

I exhaled, hearing the blade cut through flesh and a crunch of fragile bones. So, it was something, I thought. 
 

We both watched a tailless hobble stumble out from the greenery, its blatantly annoying screeches echoing throughout the forest. The hobble was a simple, stupid animal, barely as big as a dog. It’s odd name stemmed from the way they walked just before their death: they hobbled. 
 

I felt my brother let go of my knee, kicking away the dirt as he wailed, “a sea turkey?!” he yelled, “a stupid sea turkey?!”  

A laugh threatened to escape my lips as I walked over to the hobble, grabbing the bones of the neck and breaking it in half. It was better for it anyway. Ended its life quickly. I lunged for my ax, still embedded in the end of its furry tail. My mood changed and I felt a familiar sense of annoyance crawl into my mind. I scoffed. It wasn’t a perfect cut. I pulled my ax from the tail out of my own anger, gushing blood everywhere as I yanked it away. 
 

“If you wanted to see something so cool, then you should’ve stayed home. I swear I don’t know why mom let you-” my voice ended abruptly, stuck in the depths of my throat. I would never be able to finish that sentence.  

“Sela?” I looked around, but the loud footsteps of my brother had stopped. The small stature of a little boy was nowhere to be found until I heard his piercing screams echo in the forest.  

“EVE! EVE! YOU HAVE TO HELP ME!” I heard his voice, blood-curdling cries 50 feet away from where I stood.  

“SELA!” I yelled out, hoping he heard me. He felt so close yet so horribly far away. I began to feel a horrible sting in my eyes, clouding my vision. I couldn’t cry. Not right now. I had to find him. 
 

Find him.  

“SELA!” I cried out, my voice cracking with the dryness of my vocal cords. 
 

I could hear the crunching of my boots over the dried leaves and twigs, strands of hair whipping wildly around my head. I looked frantically between the trees and bushes, scanning for a difference in color and sound. 
 

There it was. A white aircraft. Something that looked as if it belonged to Prosper.  

It was no farther than a hundred feet away. 
 

My steps began to pound against the dirt as my arms vigorously pushed against the trees, using them as a way to propel me forward if possible.  

“SELA!” I yelled again. Not to know that I was still searching for him, but to know that I was coming for him.  

“MPH!” I heard a muffled yell. I squinted my eyes to see that Sela was being carried by a Prosperian soldier, its hand covering his entire mouth. 
 

I stared in horror as the soldiers shoved him into the cockpit, locking his hands behind his back. 
 

I screamed once more, just ten feet away as I saw my brother’s eyes look at mine, wide with fresh tears running down his face.  

I watched them shut the door right in front of me. 
 

I hurled my ax, watching it bounce off its pristine glass. I watched in disbelief as the white aircraft flew into the air while the blade came hurtling down at me, just missing my legs.  

 — 

I woke up on the dirt, my face covered in dark muck. I brushed it off quickly, my eyes shooting up to the sky.
 

Nothing.  

I felt the tears come for the second time today, dripping down into the soil.  

If only I was just a little faster, this wouldn’t have happened. Or if I had paid attention the entire time. I shouldn’t have looked away. If only I- 
 

“Who was that?”  

I shot my head to the sound of the unfamiliarly deep voice. 
 

I heard them step forward, leaves rustling beneath their feet. 
 

“I asked you a question, kid,” the voice spoke again.  

There was a man, dressed in a scruffy brown jacket, worn down fur on the end of each hole. His face was concealed with a large brimmed hat that dipped down in the middle to form a curve. He also had a strong accent I couldn’t quite place. 
 

“It was my brother,” I admitted cautiously, my hand grabbing the handle of the ax still planted into the ground. 
 

“That ax won’t help you,” he confessed, beginning to pace his way around me. I got the odd sensation that he was like a bird circling over me, waiting to digest me as prey. 
 

“You don’t know the first thing about it,” I seethed.  

“You’re right I don’t,” he cleared his throat, “but, I do know that it’s not gonna help you when you get into Prosper.”  

“You’re bluffing.” 
 

“I am not…bluffing,” he spoke slowly, tipping his head up to the sky. I could see his grizzly black beard now, dark brows furrowing under his thin eyes. “I can take you there. Save your brother. All that sappy stuff.” 
 

I rolled my eyes. Yeah right. 
 

Suddenly I felt a swoop of wind next to my face. I saw his hard eyes stare back into mine, challenging me like I was some kind of animal. 
 

“You wanna go save your brother or not?” he said harshly, the breath from his mouth hitting my face. 
 

“I do,” I gritted out.  

He grabbed my jaw, forcing my body back on its feet again. I smacked his hand away.  

“I don’t need your help.”

“This way kid,” he said ignoring me. The man walked a few steps forward, stopping when I didn’t follow after him. I watched his shoulders relax, waving his hand from over his shoulder. As he looked to the side, I could see the outline of a smirk. I had never wanted to throw an ax at someone’s face so badly.

I trekked forward, thus starting my journey with a complete stranger. Though this wasn’t what I had hoped would be the way I could find Sela again, it was a chance. And chances were always opportunities. I wouldn’t fail this time to get him back. I was counting on it. 
 

I looked back at the forest once more, the place I grew up in beginning to become a mere speck as I found myself at Prosper’s border.  

I would get my brother back. No matter how, no matter what.  

Sela would come home.