Aaron put his face in his hands as he cried. He remembered her face and how she had looked at him. Her face was full of sadness, fear and horror before she fell. That look of total calmness in the murderer's faces. He felt empty, there was nothing he could do to get the grief out of his heart. Guilt consumed him. He could have ran. Protected her so she would not have been killed. But it just could not be undone. He didn't run and his mother was now gone.
Someone touch his shoulder and he jumped. A girl sat next to him. Her eyes red.
"Aaron, what is happening?" She whispered with fear. He shook his head.
"They are taking us, Irene." He mumbled as tears filled in her eyes.
"They killed mama and papa!" She sobbed and rapped her arms around him tightly as she cried.
"They killed my mom too." He whispered as a new wave of grief showered over him. He put his elbows on his knees with his hands hanging over with his head looking down as tears leaked from his eyes.
Irene leaned against him and dug her head into his shoulder. He could hear sniffling as he closed his eyes, he guessed it was the children around him.
He soon drifted into a uncomfortable sleep.

He woke with a start as hands grasped his shoulders. He gasped as he was launched into the air and he opened his eyes. He stared in horror at the same suited person from yesterday. They were shaking him a wake.
"Wake up, kid!" She yelled as he started to struggle.
"Get off of me!" He roared as he felt anger rise from his gut. He launched a foot at her stomach and she flinched.
She dropped him onto the ground and he landed on his knees with a painful thud. He grunted as the pain streamed up throughout his whole body. He looked up with his teeth clenched to suppress a cry of pain.
She put her hands up to her mask and pulled it off, revealing a young face of a woman. Her mouth stamped into a frown.
"You have guts kid." She smirked at him and held out a hand.
He started to reach out but hesitated and gave her a questionable look. She nodded softly and he took her hand. She pulled him up and opened the door. Her boy cut brown hair glowed in the intense sun shine. He followed slowly.
She turned and her dark brown eyes glinted. He gulped as he exited the air craft carrier. He walked out and covered his eyes as sand swished everywhere. The wind howling in their ears.
    "Run!" The woman yelled with her hand out stretched. He grabbed it and stumbled out onto the hot sand.
     He could not see five feet in front of him as she started to run, pulling him from behind. He ran blindly as the sandstorm raged around him. Terror gripping his heart as he coughed and wheezed from the hurtling sand. It seemed to take forever till a shadow could be seen through the storm. It was wavy and he could not make it out until he was just a few feet in front of it.
    The woman let go and disappeared into the darker shadow ahead. He pushed his free hand in front of him searching for a solid object just to fell a cool surface that loomed in front of him. He jumped back as he pulled his hand out to feel a immense pain from the heat around him hit the once cold hand.
    "Hello! Please help me. Where are you!" He yelled over the roaring wind.
      He looked around with his eyes squinted to block out the sand. Nothing. He turned and walked forward a little. It was quiet except for the wind around him. No one in sight. Aaron looked at the dark shadow in front of him. As he guessed, he was alone. He stood there waiting. Then as he began to give up something grabbed his shirt. He was pulled forward through the cold wall and felt as if he could not breath.
     The cold inched to his bones and he grunted in pain then emerged to warmer air.
    "You should have followed me kid!" Someone shouted from ahead. He blinked his eyes opened. The whole room was blurry but he could make out the woman from before standing in front of him, still holding his shirt in her fists.
    He shivered as the cold still stung his skin. He rubbed his arms to bring back warmth. As he warmed he looked around to find that he was in a large room. The roof was metal and the floor was concrete. Crates and other things he did not know were surrounding him. About five doors in each of the five walls. His eyes widened as he turned around. The thing he had passed through was gone. Only a wall of rusted metal took it's place. He gasped and the people around him laughed or snorted.
"That is a security wall. If you were able to pass through then your not a burner. Or your staff, like us." A man with grey ratty hair looked down at him with small hazel eyes.
"This way, kid." The woman guided him towards a door on the far right wall. "I'm, Lizzy by the way." She added and smiled down at him. For the first time he could see her face clearly in the light.
She had a round face with freckles on her cheeks and dark brown eyes. Her hair was boy cut that still hung a little over her ears and she was short and on the little to the chubby side. She had a nice smile that reminded him of his mother. Mom... He though and his mouth dropped into a frown.
"Why did you guys kill our parents..." He whispered almost to himself, grief clung to him like piece of tar.
She didn't look at him, just strait ahead when she answered.
"To make you not have someone to escape out to, we kill the parents so you don't have any funny ideas of runnin' for it. There will be no one for you to miss or to have a reason to rebel. Terminate the non-immune family will make the child stay put and go through our tests." She had a hint of guilt in her voice and her eyes saddened. "We don't have a choice." At the time of that that conversation was over.
He nodded but felt hatred spread throughout him as he thought of all the unnecessary murders thoughout the globe. His hand formed into a fist and he squeezed his nails into his palms to keep him from punching something... Or someone. He looked over at Lizzy and realized she had asked him something.
"Huh—what?" He studdered she rolled her eyes.
"I asked your name, stupid. You thinking about revenge or something?" He felt his cheeks go red in embarrassment but still kept his hands in a fist.
"I am Aaron. Aaron Welton." He said through clenched teeth. She nodded and opened a door from the narrow hallway they were in.
"Come inside here and stay with the other kids, Aaron." She ordered and shoved him softly inside with her elbow. He stumbled in and caught himself before he could fall. He had entered a big room with many bunk beds lined up in five isles. Each row had about twenty to thirty bunks. Kids swarmed the area. He looked at their faces and could not recognize any of them. Where's Irene? He thought in worry for the younger girl but was soon relieved to find arms wrapping around his stomach. He looked behind him to see the little girl hugging him from behind with her blond curly hair hanging over her delicate pale face and light blue eyes.
"Hey." He whispered. "Hey." Came a sweet reply from her small mouth.
"Top or bottom bunk, fivey?" He asked the five year old. She smiled at him weakly as tears still ran down her face. He felt tears fall down his as well.
"Top, twelvey." She whispered into his ear and he laughed. Aaron scooped her up and carried her to an open bunk. He took bottom while she took the top.
He stared up at the wooden bottom to the bed above him.
"Night, night, Aaron." She yawned as he heard her shift under her covers.
"Night Irene." He closed his eyes and thought.
So you can go through our tests... That sentence echoed through the boy's mind as he drifted off into sleep.