Theo~

I wake up at 6:00AM to the sound of my blaring alarm, the only device in the house that runs on electricity that the country provides without charge, because they don't want their slaves to show up late to work now would they? No, of course not. I reach over and turn the alarm off only to quickly pull myself back into the folds of my blankets due to the chill now running down my spine. The House is freezing. Come on Theo, drag your sorry butt out of bed. I muster all my courage and throw myself off the bed before I have any more time to think about it and stall the inevitable shock of the brisk morning.

"Must be nice to be able to sleep in that warm cocoon of blankets until 8:00." I mumble to my brother as I pass by his bed.

I stumble into the bathroom across the hall and light the candle on the counter so I can see. I pull my clothes for today, one of three sets I own, out of my storage drawer and quickly dress before washing my face in the wash basin. I head into my mom's bedroom and shake her awake to tell her to get up for work, then proceed into the kitchen. Holland doesn't have to get up for another hour for her work assignment, and Xander for another two, before he makes his way to the neighbors for school. I make a stop in the kitchen to get a slice of bread left from last night's meal for breakfast and head over to our outhouse. After my quick stop I go to the sidewalk to wait for Arwin.  We work at the same facility so we always go together.

"Hey." I say as she walks up.

"Hey." she replies with little enthusiasm.

"You look like you had a rough night." I tease.

"Yeah, I kinda did."

"Mom?" I supply.

"And Adrian." she finishes.

"Oh," I say understanding the added message in her reply, "And how did that go?"

"You know, the usual. Guilt tripping, and sadness, and prying."

"Lucky me," I say with a grin, "No one in my house knows, so I don't get bothered about it."

"Oh shut up, jerk." she says as she slaps my arm a bit too forcefully.

"Ow! That hurt!" I cry back.

"It was supposed to," she replies with a laugh. "No pain, no gain."

"And what exactly am I supposed to gain from that?" I question.

"Um..." she trails off as she thinks, "Respect for your elders?"

I burst out laughing and she soon follows suit because we both know I am older than she is. I'm seventeen, and she is only sixteen.

"That doesn't really work." I manage to get out as my laughing fit calms down.

"No, I suppose not."

We walk in relative silence the rest of the way and come up to work all too soon.

"Do we have to go?" I complain like a toddler.

"If you want to be able to live then yes."

"Well..." I start.

"Exactly," she replies, "I don't either."

"Oh well, I may not care about me, but I care about my family."

"Yeah. See you after work Theo." she calls over her shoulder as she walks up to her department.

"See ya." I call back.

As I walk into my own department door, I suddenly notice how quiet it is; too quiet. I walk slowly, so as not to make noise, and go around the corner. As I do, I hear muffled voices, and creep towards them hoping to not alert anyone of my presence.

"Why are you taking us?" I hear someone scream.

"As we told you, you are being enlisted." a smug voice tries to say calmly.

"We don't want to be enlisted!" another calls out.  A chorus of agreement ensues before being silenced by a sound that could only be a gunshot, followed by a hard thudding sound. My gosh, did they just shoot somebody?

"Any more objections?" the mystery man says again, "I didn't think so. Now, let's see if we have any other friends." I hear footsteps advancing towards me, and quickly run back out the door into the street and behind the corner of the building. Breath coming in fast bursts, and my heart racing, I try to be quiet so nobody finds me. The door opens and I hold my breath and try to make myself as small as possible.  After a few seconds the door closes and the footsteps receded. I stay in my position for a few extra minutes just to make sure, then peek my head around the side of the building. It's clear, so I run to the door of Arwin's department and rush inside. I am relieved when I see Arwin standing inside and quickly pull her back out the door with me.

"What are you doing?" she asks me surprised.

"We've got to go!" I tell her urgency laced in my voice.

"Why?"

"I don't know but they're killing people, and taking people, and looking, and..."

"Whoah, whoah, slow down. What?"

"Arwin, I can't explain it here, we've got to go."

"I can't miss work, I'll get written up!" she pleads.

"Arwin." I say with urgency, "Please, you have to trust me."

"Okay," she relents, "I trust you."

We run home, avoiding all patrols along the way so we don't get caught away from work. I take her up to her house and we walk inside greeted only with her mother screaming. Astrid runs over to her mother to see what's wrong.

"Mom!" she screams, "What is it?"

"They took Zeke." she sobs.

"Dad?" she exclaims.

Arwin collapses onto the floor and I rush over to her and hold her as she cries. I push past my fears of hurting people and comfort her as best I can. I sit uncomfortably between her and her mother as they cry and just hope that her father wasn't taken by the same men that we're in my work district.