Chapter One
Prologue
The wind was sharp and powerful as it wiped through the land. Puffs of painful sand wiped up with it, swirling into something worse than the wind. In the midst of this desert storm was a person, a boy, curled up and tucked under a blanket. When the dust storm clears, he sits up, shakes the dust off his clothes and body and begins to walks forward. His clothes are layered black, a long scarf, flowy shirt, and billowy pants. The scarf wrapped neatly around his head and draping over his shoulder. He stops for a second to take a sip of water, then continues. On and on into the endless wasteland of a desert.
Chapter One
Today of all days. I think as I try to fix my hair for this year’s graduation. In my bedroom with clay walls that need a new coat of plaster, family pictures, and my pale brown twin bed. My small dark brown dresser was covered in hair products. Three brushes, a comb, water spray, and of course the curlers I put in last night. My tiny dim bathroom with it’s faded cream walls was probably not the best place to do it. SNAP! Another bristle on the brush breaks. I must have put them in wrong. My black wavy hair is way too frizzy and not nearly long enough, it only goes to the top of my shoulders. I wanted smooth, not fuzzy waves! I’m only a year 17, one grade shy of the year graduating, the year 18’s, it’s not like my hair has to be perfect right? Maybe I should just straighten my hair instead…
“Noel!” My mother screams like a banshee up the stairs. “I’m almost done!” I lie. Straighten it is, much easier than curling. It’ll only take like half an hour. Ugh, I don’t have time for this. “Noel! Dylan and your dad are already there and waiting for us! So get your pretty little-” she is cut off by me running down our light brown clay stairs with a small tidy bun, my light brown leather satchel and my gray communications watch. Wearing the ceremonial graduation outfit for girls, a light brown skirt that goes to the knees and a dark brown dress shirt with light brown flats. For boys, it’s the same except light brown trousers. “I told you to leave your hair down!”
“I couldn’t! It was taking too long.”
“Fine. Let’s go.” Our house is the fourth one down on Wilting street. All the houses are identical, inside and out. White iron and dark brown wood on the outside, a balcony, and a pool. On the inside, four rooms, one for the guardians and the others for kids or storage. Then the basic kitchen, family room, guest bathroom, and dining room. Since summer is here and it’s warm and we walk instead of the tram. Which some people still decide to take. I and my mother walk in silence. Out the door down to the walkway, the roadway is reserved for horse and buggy, since our town is too small to afford cars. Once we are down Wilting street we have to cross a small dirt highway, all roads are dirt unless you’re in the biggest cities then they are brick. Across the highway is a large field of grass, tall and wispy with solar flowers waving back and forth. The day is a tad too sunny for me, but that means the graduation will be outside. Our little town only has about 100 residents and the school only has six rooms. So a lot of the kids share classes. All the people in our little town are now gathered here in front of the tiny schoolhouse. I start to scan for my brother, Dylan, I haven’t seen him since he left for the Eclipse, six months ago. The Eclipse is a group of monks that live in a monastery on a mountain called Aero. It was supposedly a spirit calling him there. I don’t know or care really.
“They’re right there!” My mother shouts excitedly. I turn to see were she has pointed and seen him and my father standing quietly under a tree. My brother’s hair is all shaved except for a ponytail in the back of his head, he’s wearing an orange sort of dress looking thing with pale belt and sash. His sky blue eyes sparkle as we come towards him and he smiles, showing off his shining white teeth.
“Dylan!” I can’t help but scream and run towards him. He smiles even brighter as I throw my arms around him. My dad turns and watches silently. He never says much.
“Wow. Hey, you excited to become a year 18?” He asks nonchalantly as if we see each other every day.
“Of course! How about you? What are you guys doing on that mountain?”
“Nothin’ much just keeping the peace.” He smiles and chuckles a little as if this is some private joke.
“Well, that’s nice. Now let us get moving! Everybody else is already going inside. I need a good seat to see my only daughter graduate to 18.” My mother says strictly and grabbing me and my brother’s hands and drags us inside as my father silently follows.
“Mom, I have to sit with my class. I’ll see you after.” I give her and my brother a brief hug and leave to join my class but before I can my dad stops me.
“Wait. I wanted to say congrats. I’m sorry I’ve been away for so long but-”
“Dad it’s okay. The military called you away…it’s not your fault. I gotta get a seat though.”
“Alright…I love you.”
“Love you too.” I say as I run to get a seat.When I get over to the 17’s row of chairs on the bright green grass there are only two seats open. One next to Franklin Archer, the only guy in the school who never bathes or Benedict Carter, my crush. I start to wonder how bad does Joel really smell when Ben says “Noel! You can sit here!” How he knows my name I know not, because I have only spoken a few words to him since he moved here in year 14. Still after saying okay I pick my way past the other students and sit down. No going back now. Just hope he doesn’t talk to you. “So you excited?” He asks and it takes me a second to realize he’s talking to me. “Oh! Umm nu-not really. I mean yes actually.” I give him a quick smile hoping to end the conversation but he laughs. “I’m nervous too. But just think of all the new things we’ll get to finally learn next week on Monday!” Yes I’ll admit it, I like a nerd but he’s a hot nerd. You can tell because half the girls in my class like him too.“Welcome everyone! To the beginning of a new year!” Our principal Mr. Robin announces. Everybody claps and the year 18’s stand and clap, man I wish I could stand with them. The only people allowed to stand and clap at this time are the year 18’s and the year 5’s, who are just beginning school.“Thank you all for coming to support our graduates, whether it be to a new class or to a new time in their life, like becoming a teacher or a doctor.” He smiles as we applaud again and the students who were standing sit. “When you graduate from year 11 to year 12 you choose one of the many career opportunities there are out there. Then you study it passionately for seven years. Now that you are 18 you will moving on out of the learning to show us that you have what it takes to change the world!” Mr. Robin says excitedly as everyone claps yet again. “But I’m afraid you’ll have to wait just a second more while your peers graduate to their next year.” He smiles as the year 18’s groan. It take a hole hour to get from year 5’s to us year 17’s.“Now lets move on to our next year. Year 17’s please stand.” Mr. Robin announces. We all stand and I look around to make sure no one can my heart hammering in my chest but all I see is my mother tearing up and my brother smiling at me. “You have completed six years in your field of study. You have one more than you may take your place as the year 18’s will today in the real world and become an adult and maybe one of you might just make history.” He smiles and I’m pretty sure I see him whipe a tear.“Please come up to the stage when your name is called and accept your new outfit as a full-fledged 18.”One by one we go up, called alphabetical by the first name. When it’s my turn, I stand and walk over to accept my new clothes set. The 18’s get to wear the clothes of their occupation and if your a girl you finally get to wear a dress and boys finally get to wear a suit with dress pants instead of shorts. My occupation is a government agent so I get a black suit dress and five more dresses for school. I turn and go back and sit down. Benedict already got his clothes, a military uniform, and five suits. “Those dresses are nice colors for you.” Benedict whispers with a smile.“Oh….um thanks.” I say awkwardly. When it’s time for the 18’s everyone claps excitedly. The 18 looks quite relieved. They stand as their mentors come out and stand in front of them holding their diplomas. A ½ inch thick gold paper that states what they’ve studied for seven years. “Well 18’s this is it. Your officially 19 and an adult. You may now take your diplomas and go into your new life!” Mr. Robin says clearly proud. Ten minutes later the ceremony is over and everyone is heading home for a private celebration. As I’m leaving Ben calls my name. “Hey wait up!”“Um, yeah?”“I just wanted to say… congrats…on graduation I mean.” He gives me a cute smile as a lock of his curly light brown hair falls into his darker brown eyes.“Thanks. You too.” I say trying to resist the urge to touch his hair.“Thanks.” He says pushing the hair back as he turns and walks away. When we get home my mother tells my brother that he can sleep in his old room. Once he and my dad go upstairs to check it out my mother decides to have a talk with me. “Now that your almost an adult we need to talk about your future. So sit down.” She commands, gesturing to the small white couch in our tiny living room that only consists of the couch, a small white chair that looks like the couch, and a glass coffee table. So I sit down on the couch. “When you graduate next year you’ll need to move out and make a life of your own. I just want you to know that you don’t have to move out right away. I also wanted to know where do you plan on going?”“Oh, umm” I say feeling a little overwhelmed and totally unprepared “well I wanted to live in The Capital. You know, cause my career is with the government.”“Hmm. Alright and whom do you plan on marrying?”“What? Umm, mom, I don’t even have a boyfriend.”“I know I just want you to be prepared. Were you thinking Benedict?” Her saying this makes me blush.“I don’t know. If he wants to.” I have no clue what I’m talking about. You can’t just choose a husband, you have to get to know him, right?“Well alright. Then that’s settled.”“Mom this is ridiculous.I have lots of time to-” Mom, I need to talk to you.” Dylan interrupts.“Oh, ok. One minute sweety.” My mother gets up quickly and walks with my brother outside into the backyard. “Okay. Guess that conversation is over.” I say. That came on way too quickly, sometimes I wish my mother wasn’t so brash. I decide to get out of my house before my mother gets back. So I head to the library, a small stone building directly behind the schoolhouse. It’s been here only a few years but already holds all the history I’ve ever wanted to know, like before the Six Plagues. Each one was worse then the last, the final one was dubbed The Plaga Mortis or The Death Plague. We’re taught that the plagues came on because mother nature was keeping the species of the world from overpopulation. I don’t quite believe that but what else could it be? I walk in to see the library is very deserted, not a soul! I’ve got the place to myself! I find a table in the back and sit with a book I’ve probably read a dozen times: What was it like before us? As I read it I try to imagine myself in this strange world where weapons could destroy countries, buildings touch the sky, and people fly! It’s crazy! The people in this world lived completely different lives! They had many capitals, while we have just one: Gold City. Gold City has at least one thousand residents, if not more. The cities in the place called the United States of America dwarfed our capital. Some of the technology they have we have too but only big cities, like automobiles. The reason they stopped the production of the planes and spaceships was that they were deemed too dangerous and they were also used as weapons at times. So instead of focusing on that, we focused on our medical advancements. We now have much better technology than them. Which thankfully means a lot of the Death Plagues they had won’t exactly kill us now.“Hey.” I am startled out of my fake world by Benedict. “Um, hi.”
“Can I sit with you?”
“Um…sure. Why aren’t you celebrating?” I ask I was certain everyone had gone home to celebrate. “Oh, you know I got bored. What are you reading?” He asks, quickly changing the subject. “Oh, um. What was it like before us?.” At this, he smiles. “I love that book. It’s written by Emilio Garrá, my personal favorite historian.”
“Uh. I didn’t really…um, that’s cool. I’ve read this one like a hundred times.” And we both smile. “Yeah, me too! I love how he goes into detail about the skyscrapers! Have you read The dark past that led to The Cleansing?”
“Oh my gosh, yes! Who hasn’t?!”
“Right?” He says as we laugh. “His all-time best is How we could have prevented The Six Plagues: that killed off most of the human race.”
“What no! It’s definitely the dark past that led to The Cleansing!” I argue. I and Ben laugh and debate for about an hour and a half before deciding to call it a night and head home before curfew. As we walk back several curfew officers are already out.“You kids need to hurry up and get home.”
“Yes, sir.” We both reply and say goodbye to each other and literally run home to beat curfew. Monday morning I head to class. Today I will not be meeting my mentor after school, because of the seven hours test that determines where we are in our studies. We take this at the beginning of every year. I hope I get better than last year or I will be deemed unfit for my career choice, since I am 18, otherwise I would have two more days to study and then I would take it again. If deemed so, government officers will come and get you to escort you to find a better fitting career…but the results come out three weeks later so, I’ll be waiting a while. “Hey. You excited?” Ben asks me as he catches up.“Oh, hey. For the test?”
“Yeah! I’ve always liked tests. A chance to show off what you know.”
“Oh. Wow, I-” I am cut off as he laughs “I’m kidding! No one likes tests. There long and stressful. So I try and think up positives.”I smile at this, well at least he’s not that perfect.
“Yeah. Good idea. So, you nervous?”
“Oh yeah, totally. Whoever isn’t doesn’t understand what being redirected from your career means. I mean who would hire you?”
“Right! Ugh, I was hoping I wasn’t the only one.”
“Good luck. I hope you excel.” Ben says and smiles as we head into the test.“How was the test?” Dylan asks as I come home feeling extremely exhausted. “Um, long. I’m gonna go to bed without dinner. Okay?” I say to Dylan and my mother. “Oh, alright. Goodnight honey.” My mom says back. “Goodnight sis.” My brother says kissing me on the forehead. I head upstairs and plop on my small bed. Picking up a book I read tuntillI drift off into sleep. When I wake up my brother has left me a note on my side table. Telling me he had to go but he loves me and hopes I did well on my test. Disappointed I get ready for school. As I walk I’m so distracted I don’t notice a stray dog run right at me. “Aaah!” My stuff flies everywhere. Great. “Noel watch out!” I hear someone yell before two hands grab me and pull me off the road quickly.
