Chapter 1

I had heard plenty of alarms in my short lifespan of seventeen years, but they were only drills. Fire drills, earthquake drills, lockdown drills, and even to the extremes of tsunami drills and nuclear fallout drills. My city was built to withstand even the most extreme cases of any of these incidents, but it didn’t stop Leader from putting the people through the loathsome rituals of drills every other week for the entirety of my life. He had prepared for the worst, and even the worst of the worst, and he had repeated these drills so often, that by the time I had turned nine, I had memorized the specific sound and procedure of each and every one. I was about to join my yearmates in signing the petition to end the torture of the semi-monthly drills when the lockdown alarm sounded and shortly after, Leader’s voice on the intercom rang out, “This is not a drill,” three times every five minutes. Even though every person in the room had gone through this drill thousands of times, it seemed that with the threat of real danger, no one could remember what to do. When they all grasped even a small sense of reality, the chaos started.

My teacher, classmates and I, all sprinted towards the door, creating a congestion that I found myself near the end of. The common feeling of panic was evident in the group, with boys popping their knuckles, and girls twirling their hair. Everyone was impatiently waiting for their turn out of the room and were willing to shove their neighbors out of the door to get it. The hallway lights were flashing red, indicating again that this was not a normal circumstance. When I was out of the room, I turned the opposite way that my classmates did, as my safe room was with the parentless and not in the family branch. I had turned the first of four corners to the safe room, when I heard the sound of a dozen or more people running in the corridor. These footsteps were heading in the wrong direction of where the citizens of my city were supposed to head on this floor. My heart stopped, knowing that these were the sounds of the people who infiltrated my city, but I pushed myself to keep going. Adrenaline was pumping through my veins and I could suddenly think clearer than ever. I focused my raging mind onto getting to my destination and not about the death that could find me at any given moment. I wished desperately that there was at least one other person in the demonic lit hallway so I didn’t have to face this horror alone. The red lights kept blinking and the friendly, yet threatening bell chime was continuing to sound. “This is not a drill,” Leader’s voice echoed in the metal halls. The footsteps felt louder now. “This is not a drill.” Were they getting closer? I couldn’t tell over the noise the intercom was blasting in my ears. “This is not a drill.”After the last sound resonated through the echo chamber of a hallway, I could hear monotone robotic-like voices coming from around the fourth and final corner I had to turn. The footsteps weren’t just louder, they were coming straight for me. I cursed my parents under my breath for leaving me and blamed them for my imminent death. I turned myself around in an instant, survival instincts kicking into full gear. I ran as fast as I could, even though my legs cramped and my lungs stung. I ran through the pain and through the fear of what was coming my way. I ran for my life.

“There she is.” one of the voices said. 

I risked a glance over my shoulder, five people in full black tactical armor, green accented helmets, and lightweight burster guns were sprinting after me, and they were gaining. I had heard about the threats that the Others had on them since I was in primary education, but seeing them in real time made those threats into horror stories. The various messages my teachers have given my yearmates and I throughout the course of our lives came alive in my head;

They will raid ruthlessly through the corridors and kill anyone who comes in the way of their goal. 

Not a single Other has ever shown mercy, so don’t expect it.

They are trained masters in various combat methods, so don’t even try to fight them. 

Some are known to be wielders 

At that last memory, I found that I was running faster. If some are wielders, then I’m screwed. Wielders were known dangers to all societies. For the past couple decades numerous cases of children having some supernatural gift have been reported. These children were called wielders. Most cities tend to kill them off, saying that those dangerous genetics have no place in their gene pool, but some cities, like mine, keep their wielders, in an effort to use them as military. The Others, however, are not a city, they are a terrorist organization that openly accepts wielders that were either hidden from or feel like they don’t belong in their cities. They use the wielders that they acquire to experiment different weapons to use to infiltrate and raid unsuspecting cities. Leader knew this and he required education classes to teach this terrifying truth. Leader stationed all his found wielders into combat training from age twelve  to eighteen to better protect his city from the Others. He put into place all the protective drills to prepare for any tactic that the terrorist group finds to try and take over his beloved people. All of this meticulous planning and preparing was to be put to the test today, although I did not see the reason I needed this information ingrained in my brain if it wasn’t going to help me when I was being hunted by the very real, merciless grunts.

I had sprinted almost all the way back to my classroom when I tripped over my own feet. I toppled to the ground, sliding painfully across the cold, cement floor. When I tried to get up, I found that my arms were too weak and tired to push my body weight, and I fell right back to the ground. I wouldn’t give my life up that easily though. I pushed myself up to my knees and with my convulsing muscles, it felt as though there was a whole other person sitting on my back. Each breath felt like fire, but my attackers were still coming. The grunts' footsteps rounded the corner, and there was nothing in between the hunters and their prey anymore. I pushed myself up with as much force as I could and continued my pained effort to escape my attackers. In the leg that I tripped on, my calf screamed with the pain of a pulled muscle, but I didn’t let that stop me. I passed the intersection of the education street with the main street and as I did, I saw more armored grunts coming for me out of the corner of my eye. Letting out an anguished cry, I pushed myself faster, although I knew there was no point. I was thousands of feet away from the next intersection, and at the rate I was going, my attackers would catch up to me before I even finished the first third.

I had accepted my end and prayed to whoever would hear me to take pity on me and raise me to the joyous place, when to my surprise a fight broke out behind me. I turned my head to see and was astonished because the extra armored grunts were not chasing me, they were fighting the Others. 

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The three wielders wore light blue, not black, indicating that they were from my city, Burke. The short one was just fighting the smallest of the grunts fist to fist while the other two were battling two each. The female wielder was using a sword and dagger while the male just seemed to predict what each grunt would do before they actually did it. When one of the grunts would swing at his face, the wielder had already moved himself out of harm’s way. When the two grunts both tried to charge him, he dodged, successfully making them barge into each other. Next to him, the female displayed excellent use of her sword, not only using it as a weapon, but as a shield as well. She seamlessly blocked a grunt’s attempt at grabbing her with the blade of the sword, and stabbed him with her knife. While he reeled in pain against the wall, she dealt with her second opponent in a similar manner. When she finished, she knocked both out. The male was obviously having difficulties winning his fight, but in the end, he somehow got both grunts to battering ram each other's heads, knocking them both out as well. The female assisted with the third wielder’s battle and ended the fight swiftly. 

The male turned to take in the rest of the scene and he began to approach me. He lumbered toward me, his gigantic arms ready to smash my bones, his lightning agility able to outmaneuver any trick I would try to use to escape. As he got closer I analyzed my possible attacker. He held himself with pride and walked confidently. His smirk laughed at the poor challenge the grunts gave him, however there was a premature bruise on his chestnut brown cheek that suggested the fight was closer than he made it seem. He was bounding from foot to foot over towards me, when suddenly he raised a hand, acknowledging someone behind me, and turned back towards his friends. I whipped around and the worried face of a middle-age man stared back at me. Leader stood there. I was amazed at how easily Leader waved the wielder off of me. Wielders are fierce fighting machines that sometimes not even bullets can stop, how could this man just get him to stop pursuing me without even saying a thing?

Leader put both hands on my shoulders, giving me a sense of long-awaited safety. He wore a grayish-blue ironed suit with a blue tie and his signature golden pin on which their city’s emblem was engraved. The profile of a bear was outlined, but it had fire for its eye.

“Shae, are you alright dear,” he asked me, widening his concerned eyes. 

The underlying fear in Leader’s voice made me nervous since Leader was known as a fearless role model. He was described as a wise old soul with a brave young heart by the various adults throughout my mostly uneventful life. Even the few times Leader had talked to me before, he held himself like a protective father. Now it seemed like his true age was showing and his persona had melted like warm butter.

“Yeah,” I responded, my voice raspy from the sudden exercise. I cleared my throat, “I’m fine.”

Leader exhaled and removed his hands from my shoulders and straightened his suit, “Good.” He placed one of his hands gently on my back, directing me in the direction he came from. “I think it's time to let you in on a secret Ms. Westow, would you follow me to my office?” 

I nodded and we walked side by side through the remainder of the education street. As I turned to walk, the diction Leader chose truly nestled itself in my mind. I realized that never once had Leader called me by name before. It had only been ‘dear’ or ‘Ms. Westow’, never ‘Shae’. The informal way he addressed me made me more wary of the situation I had found myself in.

The blinking red lights subsided and the usual warm white glow resumed. The repetitive bell alarm faded away and nervous, silent chatter took its place. My heart rate settled to a normal pace, my breathing slowed, and in the wake of the terror that I had faced, I replayed what had happened in my mind. I still didn’t understand where the Others had come from and how they had come so far into the city in such a short time. Why were they in the parentless wing? I wondered, Wouldn’t it make sense to go through the government precinct? That’s where all the valuable things are anyway. Then the three words struck my mind with such force, my heart raced, my adrenaline seared back through my brain, and the impossible, surreal truth hit me in the chest. There. She. Is. They were looking for me. They were looking for me, Shae. Why? 

I shot my head towards Leader, who was muttering to himself. I could tell he was also in disbelief, but I had a fiery feeling that he knew a lot more than I did. As we entered the government precinct. Panic filled my bloodstream and my nerves were more alive than ever. The usual warm white glow of the lights was too bright, the aroused, fearful chatter coming from behind me was suddenly too loud. The world started to seem less solid and as I stepped the ground seemed to give way to my feet. The hallway went in and out of focus. My breathing sped up faster, faster, faster, until it hitched. When I took that sharp, scared half breath, half gasp, Leader noticed and tried to help contain my panic.

He put his hands back on her shoulders and turned her to face him. Leader was worried as well, he didn’t want Shae passing out before he even told her her parents’ secret. He gripped her shoulders firmly and tried to tame the wild lion behind her eyes. She was hyperventilating. Leader wasn’t a doctor by any means, so without knowing exactly what he was doing, he did his best to calm her. 

“Shae, dear, calm down.”

I barely heard him, but his gentle words and his reassuring hold was enough for me to gain control of myself, even if it was only a little. I didn’t feel seventeen, nor did I want to be. I desperately wished that none of the last hour had ever happened and I was back in class, about ready to head home for the day. This time though, I wouldn’t wish away the parentless life. I wouldn’t be jealous of the attention and love that the parented got. I’d be grateful that I was dust in a world full of stars, and I’d tuck my unimportant, ordinary self into my warm bed, and dream normal dreams. I desperately wished that I would wake myself up now. I would wake up and realize that this nightmare was not real and that today never happened. I would wake up and get ready to go to class, get a boring ‘goodbye’ from the nurser, and head off for another bland day of class.

My eyes filled with childlike fear. The kind of fear that a seven year old would have when they woke up terrified and crying from a bad dream, the kind that a child would have when they would get lost in a store. I felt like a frightened seven year-old. I didn’t want to be seventeen. I wanted my parents to not leave me with barely any memories of them, never planning on returning for me. I wanted some childless couple to pick me from the selection of parentless instead of a younger child. I wanted a mother or a father to support me when I felt like crumbling. In the moment of comfort I felt from Leader’s care, I impulsively embraced him, using him as dry land to pull myself from drowning.

Leader was taken aback, and almost moved to tears for he hadn’t had a real, honest hug in years, and coming from Shae, it meant a lot to him. He found himself hugging her back, but only for a moment before she pushed away, embarrassed at the informality. However, Leader looked at her, proud of how strong she was, and praying that he could deliver the news so that it wouldn’t break her completely.