The girl starts to race off, but then stops
, whirling around to retrieve the ball before scampering back behind the o
rphanage.
Smart girl
.
We wait
against the wall, expecting
an Enforcer to appear
at
any second, having been ratted on by the sweet little
clever
girl.
Instead, l
ike a mirage, my sister appears, running so fast her legs a
re a blur, her jet-black hair swishin
g
around behind her.
My day is
a rollercoaster of emotion
s
.
Th
e demon drop of Cole’s story has
given way to a higher high, practically bursting through the
cavern roof
.
My heart i
s literally soaring, rising ou
t of my body and smiling upon me
from above.
Elsey slams
into me with such force
that she nearly
topples
me over.
Although we’
ve
only been apart for six months, a
mere blip in our lives, it feels like we have
n’t seen
each other in years.
She seems
to have grown, both physically and in maturity.
Only ten, her
pale
face
looks
wizened
, young but worn.
“Oh Elsey,” I sigh
, holding her tight against my chest, her
legs wrapped around my hips. She is s
till a child, above all.
Forced to endure far more than a child should have to endure.
Far more than anyone should.
I want
to ho
ld onto her forever, but time i
s short.
“Le
t me have a look at you,” I say
, gently lowering her to the sto
ne slab alley.
My breath catches as I gaze on her face.
She is breathtaking, has
always been, with doll-like features that
are so perfect they must
have been carved by a ma
ster sculptor.
She’
s
always been m
ore beautiful than me, but I don’t mind, for she is a pure spirit.
I can tell by the way her jaw sti
ck
s
out now that six mo
nths in this place has
hardened her
, but in her violet eyes I can
see the same pure energy she
’s
always had.
“You’re a sig
ht for sore eyes, Elsey,” I say
, tearing up slightly.
“I’ve missed
you so much, Adele,” Elsey says
earnestly.
“I couldn’t believe it when Ranna said you were here.
I ran as
fast as I could.”
She scrunches
up
her
face, like she i
s making a wish.
“Are y
ou here to get me out?” she says
hopefully.
I nod
.
“Yeah, but we’re not
exactly allowed, so we’re going to
have to do it sneakily.”
“I knew
you would come!” Elsey exclaims
.
“Big John kept telling me I was crazy, that you were stuck in the Pen forever, but I
always said
he was wrong, even when he called me names.
I was right, wasn’t I?”
“Of course, but there’ll be time to talk about all that later.
We’ve got to go.”
“But I’ve got to say bye to Ranna!”
“There’s not time, El, I’m sor—”
I am cut off when Ranna tears
around the corner, hissing, “Miss Death is coming!”
Elsey seems
to understand the urgency of the situation.
W
ith a conviction that has
been her trademark for all ten yea
rs of her short life, she hugs
Ranna, pulling her friend’s head into her heart.
“I’ll ne
ver forget you, Ranna,” she says
.
“
Our hearts are one.”
If you do
n’t know Elsey you’d think she was cr
azy.
But that i
s just Elsey.
Everything i
s drama
tic, although in this case it i
s probably warranted.
“I’ll never fo
rget you either,” Ranna parrots
, like a miniature version of El.
I grab El’s hand and we run back down the alley.
Tawni i
s alr
eady over the wall and Cole i
s waiting to
give Elsey a boost.
We follow
closely
, hearing a cry f
rom behind
just as we slip
over to the other side.
Miss Doom, or Death, or whatever
, I think
.
“Quick
, I know a shortcut,” Elsey says
, running
in the opposite direction we’
re planning on goi
ng, simply assuming that we’
ll follow her.
We do
.
And it i
s a good thing
, because at that moment I hear
a yell from far back
, out on the street where we’d been heading.
I half-turn
, curious
as to who is
pursuing us.
I’d recognize that demented face anywhere: Rivet.
Chapter Twelve
Tristan
T
hey say the meteor was the size of Texas.
Any life left on the surface of the e
arth when it hit was
wiped out by either the shock
wave caused by the coll
ision, or the resulting tsunami
s unleashed across the world’s oceans.
H
umans were forced to move underground.
Secretly,
government scientists
expected it for years, using covert teams of miners to dig the world’s largest caverns
in preparation for the inevitable
.
But still: T
here wasn’t room for everyone.
It would’
ve been terrible
: the L
ottery.
Families ripped apart; friends lost; blossoming relationships cut off at the knees.
Of course, key individuals, like politicians, doctors, scientists, and farmers
received
a free pass, but all others just got a number.
The number gave them a
one
in a hundred chance of getting selected to move into the underground facilities.
All the rest were destroyed.
And that was just the
United S
tates
.
No one kno
w
s
for sure what
happened to the rest of the
world.
Perhaps they weren’t
so prepared.
Perhaps they were all dead.
Year Zero would
have been difficult
for everyone.
Losing relatives who didn’
t make the cut;
eating from the rations of rice and beans and hoping it wouldn’t run out before the leaders and their teams of advisors could come up with a way to grow food underground
; most people becoming miners;
l
iving in darkness.
Now all
of
that i
s just a part of everyday life.
These
days, time i
s measured fro
m the day the meteor hit.
It i
s
4
99 PM (Post-Met
eor).
Time before Armageddon i
s referred to as Before-Meteor, or BM.
The funny thing about Armageddon: we survive
d
.
Well, some of us anyway.
Year Zero’s first president was Stafford Hughes.
Things were run much like before Armageddon, albeit in a slightly more haphazard manner.
The U.S. Constitution was upheld, laws were revised as required for our new living situation, new laws were created
.
But it didn’t last.
It couldn’t last.
Things were too different.
People were too scared.
There was too much chaos.
More structure was required.
The first Nailin was elected to president in 126 PM.
His name was Wilfred Nailin.
He was my great-great (and a lot more
greats
) grandfather.
At that point elections were sti
ll held regularly.
Congress
decided that given the state of
America
, elections should be held every five years instead of four, with the opportunity for reelection after the first term.
But
Wilfred
wasn’t satisfied with
ten
years in power
, so after his first reelection
he pushed a law through Congress that allowed for a third presidential term, but only if supported by the people, of course.
There were rumors of ballot-rigging.
After his second reelec
tion, he passed a law that
allow
ed
him to remain in power indefinitely, assuming he obtained approval from Congress every five years.
At the same time he passed a law that allowed Senators and Representatives to maintain their elected positions indefinitely, unless
the President released them from service.
It was a circular system, one where bribery and deep pockets
ruled.
Who you knew meant much more than what you knew.
The people had lost their voice.
That wasn’t the end of it.
Wilfred’s next move was to secure his family’s future.
He had one son, Edward Nailin.
With the full support of Congress, Wilfred managed to pass a law that allowed positions to be handed down from generation to generation within each family, so long as Congress and the President unanimously appr
oved it.
Public elections
continued to be held, but they were fixed so that no new contenders could infiltrate the inner circle of the government, which was holding all the cards.
It worked for a while.
In fact, people seemed to like the more rigid and consistent structure.
Soon, however, the gap
started
to widen between the classes.
The wealthy began to take more and more liberties, much to the middle and lower classes
’
frustration.
The complaints started pouring in from those who were being disadvantaged, but they were
largely
ignored.
It got to the point where fights were breaking out in the streets.
“Elected” officials couldn’t walk down the street without being accosted by the poor and depressed.
Something had to be done!
The Tri-Realm
s were created from 215 PM to 25
5 PM.
First the Moon Realm was
excavated, using the advancements in mining technology to create massive caverns deep beneath the original caverns
,
to build
more
cities in.
Natural caves were used as a starting point, widened and heightened to the extensive size required to house thousands of people.
Heavy
beams of rock
were used to support the caverns
’
roofs, which were prone to cave-ins.
Middle and lower class citizens were used to do the work, having been convinced by large salaries and the opportunity to “advance our civilization for the good of humankind.”
Once the caverns were complete, the workers were forced to take their families to live in them.
Then t
he
work on the Star Realm began
, digging even deeper below the earth’s surface.
Fewer resources were allocated to excavating the Star Realm, and therefore, the caverns were smaller, more confined, more densely populated.
The poorest citizens were sent to live in the deepest caverns.
Each of the Tri-Realms was split up into eight chapters, and each chapter into between two and six subchapters depending on its size
, each of which was populated by between ten and a hundred thousand people
.