Jumping a fallen trashcan, I ran as quick as my little legs could carry me. The sound of my breathing rang throughout the long, dark alley. Looking behind me, I could see the two drunk teenagers chasing me only feet away.

Stumbling on a crack, I regained my balance and ran faster.

I had been coming home from a friend's house late tonight when the teens came around a corner, obviously drunk. One was carrying a baseball bat.

When I tried just walking in the opposite direction, but they had already seen me.

"Hey, come here so I can give you a beatin'." one slurred. The other one cheered drunkenly, stepping forward, and before I knew it, the chase was on.

By the way, my name is Steele. I am eight years old and in fourth grade since I skipped third grade. I have short, caramel brown hair and bright blue eyes. It is currently the year 2552 and I am at the top of my class. I also happen to be the fastest kid in my grade and the tallest, towering at 4 ft 9 in.

Between heavy breaths, I could hear them getting closer. I quickly toppled a trash can, causing one of them to trip. Despite my predicament I laughed and gained some ground while they were occupied. I looked behind to see the one help the other up, and, cursing in rage, they continued the chase.

Dang it, where to hide? I thought and frantically searched the shadows. The moon was too bright to allow for any large enough hiding places.

Turning a corner onto the sidewalk of the next street I ran across the road. Mayb... My thought was interrupted as I stepped in a puddle that was slicker than I expected. My feet slid out from under me and I let out a short, "Aaah!" I slid under some tape and into an open man-hole. As I fell, I twisted so my back would hit the ladder and then splashed into the dirty water.

The gross water got in my mouth when I fell and I noticed as I sat up that my back ached terribly. I groaned and stuck out my tongue to keep the disgusting water from spreading in my mouth. Yuck! I thought as I began to spit it out, but then I froze in mid spit as the teen's footsteps came closer. I held my breath....the footsteps got quieter as they got farther away. I let out my breath and looked up the ladder, starting the climb up and trying not to touch as much of the slime covered bars as possible. My frustratingly short arms could barely reach each rung. I pulled myself out onto the ground, panting for a moment. As I breathed I unfortunately caught a whiff of myself and held my nose. What an awful stench. My back still hurt too. I looked up at the sky and saw the moon was directly above me, seeming to grin at my misfortune. Ugh, I wish I was older.

Tired, hurt, and wet, I got up and headed home, my shoes squishing loudly. I finally arrived at the driveway of my house, my dripping feet leaving a trail of wet shoeprints. Looking at the rows of bushes down the street, I noticed that the neighbor's trash was out. Man, I forgot, it's trash day. I slipped inside quietly and listened for a second. Not a sound came from upstairs where my mom was asleep. She'd be pissed if she knew I was out so late without doing my chores. I crept up the stairs and changed out of my repulsive clothes, coming back down for the trash. I emptied the kitchen trashcan and put it in the bin, rolling it out to the curb.

My mind wandered a bit as I walked down our long winding driveway. Man, I hated that the high schoolers picked on us so much. We couldn't do anything without them chasing or bullying us for no reason. I had talked to my friend about telling our parents but he said we wouldn't be men if we couldn't handle it. I wasn't so sure, but I trusted him. Somehow we always seemed to get away. There was a gust of wind and a stick fell out of a bush nearby. I jumped and shook my head, nothing to worry about. But I had a bizarre feeling of unease, like something was going to come out at me from the bushes along my driveway. I looked warily around me, realizing how dark it was. Nervously I walked a bit faster and looked forward, trying to get the thought out of my head.

I was just setting the trash down when I heard something, a rustling, kind of like leaves blowing in the wind. The only thing peculiar about that was that I was in the middle of a street that had no trees. I only thought for a moment when I realized that clothes make the same sound, but only the ones I see on the soldiers in the 'Remember Reach' videos they show at school. Those videos are from the war at one of the inner planets in the galaxy. The clothes are heavy duty so they don't move the same. I suddenly looked around at the thought, peering into the shadows of the houses that surrounded me. They seemed to loom over my small form threateningly. Why would the military be here, I thought irrationally. I hope they don't think I'm a criminal or something, I'm only eight!

I didn't see anything after a few minutes and sighed, relaxing. It was probably just the wind or some trash bag, I always made up some crazy stuff with my imagination. I decided to go back up the driveway. I turned away from the trashcan and took a step back towards the house... Then suddenly I heard something drop onto the ground with a muffled thud. I swiftly turned but only had time to see a black figure with piercing blue eyes emerge from the shadows. It placed a cloth over my mouth and nose, making me inhale something strange. Everything went dark. I felt myself falling and blacked out.

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The figures in black quickly picked the subject up. A rope was lowered from a sleek black aircraft hovering above, shaped like a wedge. They hooked onto it and the rope was raised, taking the young subject and the figures with it. A car driving behind the craft infiltrated the house and set a sleeping and defective clone down on the bed, one that was identical to Steele, but would not survive longer than a few months. Then the vehicle drove off and the craft rose up into the dark clouds, blending in with the night and flying away.

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I woke up very slowly, the white ceiling above me eventually coming into focus. I squinted at the bright light. I looked around me to see I was in a small white square room. I was laying on a gray bed with a pillow under my head. When I sat up I felt slightly dizzy. Must have been that weird stuff he made me breathe, I thought. I looked around the room. There was a thin window to my left and directly in front of me was a sink and mirror. There was a door to my right but it had no doorknob on the inside. This was definitely not my house. Good thing it was a weekend or I'd be missing school, not that I necessarily would be sad if I missed it. Seeing that the window was too small to escape through, even being as small as I was, I laid back down and waited. Eventually, someone will come in to get me, I thought. They will tell me what is going on.

After a few minutes of looking at my hands and playing eye-spy, which was quite an accomplishment in such a sparse room, I heard the door handle turn. I sat up and swung my legs over the edge of the bed. A man in a dark gray uniform with some yellow strips on it came in holding a folder. He was an adult, carrying the same commanding look my teachers at school always had and his clothes reminded me of the ones from the Reach videos. Before he could even open his mouth, I blurted out, "You work for the military, don't you."

He nodded and said, "Good observation Steele, indeed I do." he said somewhat unenthusiastically and wrote some things in the folder.

I blurted out again, "Why did those guys grab me from my house?"

Seemingly interested at my bold behavior, he responded, "How about you try to guess why?". I looked down in thought for a moment and then looked back up, "I'm not sure, Is this punishment for something I did?" I asked. He chuckled, "No, you're not in trouble, in fact, you've done relatively well, better than anyone you know."

My brows furrowed, "Well then what am I doing here? Where even am I? And where are my parents? I need to tell them where I am. I live on 354 South...". He interrupted my barrage of memorized information. "You don't have to worry about your parents, they... won't be seeing you anymore. We are at a camp, for kids like you who excell physically and in school." He said.

I widened my eyes in surprise and sadness, "I... I won't see my parents again? How will they know where I am?"

His face held a hint of sadness for a split second but quickly relaxed. "Don't worry, they love you very much and would be glad that you were selected for this program. But you must promise to forget about them to be here with us, not only them but all the people you knew too. If they find out you aren't training and instead worrying about them, they would be very disappointed. This will be your new home now."

I stood for a moment comprehending his words. "But what if I want to go back? I never got to grab my stuff."

He sighed, "Going back is not an option, but don't worry, you will be put with another group of kids like you and become best friends, even family. Here you will have opportunities and be able to do things you never imagined you could do, and we have everything you will ever need here." he paused to check his watch. "I need to leave now, but one last thing. Since you are starting over here, you will no longer need your last name, you only need to remember your first name. Feel free to explore the room." he said and left.

I stood there, dumbfounded by the strange and abrupt conversation. After a few moments, I turned, sat down on the bed, and rested my chin in my hand. Well, that was unexpected, but because he was an adult I knew there was nothing I could do. And he didn't seem like he wanted to hurt me, so all I could do was believe him. I laid down, shifting around and trying to sleep, but I was too curious and if this would be my new home I should be able to see what there was here. After a bit of trying to get comfortable on the bed, even desperate enough to go upside down, I couldn't take it! This room was just so boring! There was nothing to look at, no toys, no games, just white walls. I needed to get out!

I walked to the door, running my hands along the wall next to it to feel for a switch or an indent. My mom had one of these kind of switches under her dresser. Hers had a weird L-shaped metal object in it, and there was a small space on one side that had a gold pointed dome in it. I never dared to touch it. I was about to give up hope when my finger caught something. I felt along the button's edge and pressed down.

Surprisingly, it opened, no lock. I looked out carefully, pulling back quickly when I saw a guard to my left. Hmm, how do I get rid of him?

I reached into my pocket. There was a gum packet from my friend's house. I threw it upwards at the ceiling. It landed noisily on the other side of him. He jumped at the sound and curiously peered at the packet, and then looked at the ceiling. I took the chance and shot out, heading to my right. I saw another guard preoccupied with a sort of phone heading my way and ducked into the first room I found. The guy passed and I let out my breath in a sigh of relief. I looked around the room I had stepped into.

It was well lit but currently there was no one in it. It was a square-ish white room. There was a platform in the center with robotic arms around the ceiling above it and TV monitors. I was standing behind a long, fancy-looking, curved computer desk, and it was on. I climbed onto a seat and looked at the bold words next to two pictures of armor. It said, "The priority 1/Red directive under way, Subject Steele apprehended, Project: Good Samaritan: initiated. Shows promise."

Huh? Directive? What was that? I looked over the last sentence again, and hmphed. Shows promise?! I'll show them! I looked at the two armors, reaching to zoom in... Then the man from earlier came running in with two guards, one of them was my guard. My guard looked relieved to have found me but the other guy looked mad. "Quarters now!" He commanded and I slunk out the door, of course not before taking another look at the desk. What was Project Good Samaritan? I don't think I would ever get to know, but one thing I did know was that one day, I would wear that armor.

They escorted me back and this time I heard a lock click as he shut me in. I was about to protest when I realized how dark it was. Dang-it, no use in doing anything else now, might as well get some sleep.

I laid down and drifted off to sleep.