March 15th, 2081

 The world was hectic. An organization called G.E.O.H.; Global Eradication Of Humans, was bent on the removal of all humans from Earth. They thought of themselves as sanctifiers, and they were willing to fight for their cause. GEOH recruited almost all terrorist organizations by giving them food and equipment, and together they fought as allies against national governments. Massive uprisings occurred all over the world. Within a year, half the countries on the planet were in total anarchy, while the others were overrun with refugees and struggling for control. This time was called the Chaos Wars.

  It took a decade, but eventually the rampant fire of terrorism had been quenched by the resistance. Almost one billion people had been killed in battle.

---

December 11th, 2091

  Once the violence had been resolved, public focus turned to the skies. People wanted off Earth. The OtherWorldly Project Inc. was launched to transfer millions of people onto distant celestial bodies. Soon the first billion people out in space were celebrated. Five billion more followed.

  Those that remained built Colonies: urban areas designed to keep everyone inside safe. Each could hold nearly 100,000 people, and hundreds of these areas were built.

---

June 30th, 2108

 Everyone thought these enclaves were safe, but only from outsiders. They didn’t focus on keeping safe from marurading animals. That was a mistake.

  There had been research on building real-life dinosaurs. While it was never successful, there was still a massive archive on reptilian genomes. This led to the corruption of these creatures by the survivors of GEOH. Several species were genetically modified and breed to harm humans. Snakes such as black mambas and spitting cobras were set loose inside multiple colonies. Not only that, but any people living outside colonies were killed in raids or by these genetically modified reptiles. After these events, just 21 colonies were left standing, and they began to turn on each other.

  The colonies Anchorage and Hudson allied and massed an attack on all the other colonies for resources. Hudson used speed trains to send its disguised soldiers into the nearby Winnipeg and Churchill safe zones, while Anchorage assaulted Yellowknife and Vancouver, and all were vanquished. Next to be slaughtered were the Newfoundland and Iceland colonies. Hudson and Anchorage released a lethal virus, killing 97 percent of the population.

  All of the European colonies were destroyed as well; Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and both of Norway’s. The Australian and Chilean safe zones were firebombed, while all three of New Zealand’s colonies managed to fight off the attacks. Now only nine colonies remain, including Maine Colony.

---

September 9th, 2127: Maine Colony, United States, Present Day:

  “Hey Beck, get out here!”

Oooorg. Why? Crack. What was that? Crack. It sounded like it came from the window. He got up.

  “Thomas Becker!”

He walked over to the window. Crack. He jumped back. Oh! Oh. They’re pebbles. He felt around for the latch and opened it, “Seriously?!”

  “Oh, quit complaining!” She scolded. “Happy Birthday!”

  “Julie?”

  “Dude, she’s not the only one. Give some credit where it’s due.” That was Jair.

  “Wait, how many of you are there?”

  “Hold on, let me do a headcount…”

  “Don’t be mean!” Someone spoke up.

  “Bella?”

  “Ow! Fine. It’s all of us. Happy Birthday!”

  “Why don’t you get dressed and come on down?” Chollette said.

  He was smiling. “Alright. Be right there!”

  He started groping around for his shirt. Julie didn’t come clean yesterday, so it’s not in the drawer…. His hand rested on something soft. There. He found the door and started down the stairs. Come to think of it, I haven’t been with any of them all week.

  “When I told you to get dressed, I didn’t mean in those. Eww. Go put on something else. I’ll help,” Julie commanded.

He sighed. “Okay.”

  “Seriously, we’ve got to get you into your birthday suit! This chance comes only once a year!”

  “Like my Christmas suit chance and my St. Patrick's Day suit chance and my--”

  “Oh, shut up. C’mon, it’ll be fun!”

When they got back downstairs, everyone was talking: “Their air forces just got knocked out a few days ago, which means we’ve got to defend against Hudson for both Niagara and Ourselves. We’re a little strained.” Stacy.

  “Tell me about it. I’m on eight-hour shifts six days a week. We can barely keep up, and the mining crews are having the same problem. Maybe if you wouldn’t destroy all our vehicles, I could get something done.” Jair.

  “Thanks for the input.”

They noticed Becker coming in. “Whoa, Beck, that’s an interesting fashion choice. You okay?”

  “What?”

Julie leaned close as she led him to the table. “Your shirt, beautiful.”

  “I don’t even want to know.”

  “Let’s sit down, we’ve got to talk to you.”

---

  “So, as you can tell, things aren’t exactly going well.”

  “No joke,” said Becker, “Stacy, you said something about Niagara Colony’s air force going down?”

  “Yeah, my chopper is scheduled for another scout run tomorrow.”

  “Jair?”

  “The welding unit has been backed up for weeks.”

  “This isn’t good. Is there anything I can do?” There was a pause. “Guys?”

Carter spoke up first. “Hey Savannah, what’s the status on the flashlights?”

  “They’re coming along. I’ve got almost all of them now, and the other two I can get tomorrow.”

  “Oh, I forgot! Allen said he’s got all the spare cloth and sleeping bags ready.” Jair said. “And Arieñ’s got the salt and iodine filters.”

  “Sweet.” Carter paused. “Who else? Do you all have everything?”

Becker was getting confused. “Guys, what’s going on?”

  “Beck, listen, we’ve, uh, well, we’ve been planning something for a while. Since Newfoundland was infected. We can’t stay.”

  “What do mean?”

  “As in, we’re leaving.”

---

  He could feel the sun on his face. A little red creeped through his retinas, but otherwise he couldn’t see. Ever since he could remember, this was his life. Living in the dark. It felt different now. Everyone he knew, everyone he depended on for information, had kept their plans from him and he’d only just found out what was happening. Yesterday had been his birthday, only two days from their journey. Now he could see how detailed their plans were.

  Their idea was to collect resources before they left, enough to survive for several months. At 21:00 hours, they would gather at the wall that surrounded the colony. “The recess yard is perfect. There’re a few trees that could shield us as we climb over,” as Julie had told him. Then they would all run over the 400 meter clearing and into the woods. They’d continue on, far out of sight from both Maine and Niagara military. They would cross the continent until Lake Tahoe, where a bunkered colony of about 36,000 people lived in the mountains. They’d scout it until they were sure it was safe to go in. If it wasn’t, the group would head for San Francisco Harbor, where they could pick up a ship and sail for the Hawaii colony. If all else fails, they can always go to New Zealand, or pick an island in the Pacific to live. In any case, they’d be safe.

  Someone tapped his arm and he jolted out of his thoughts.

  “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you. You okay, Beck? You’ve been quieter than usual.”

  “I’m fine. It’s just not what I was expecting. I honestly don’t know what I was expecting. I mean, the colonies are demolishing each other, and Maine is next. I didn’t think much of it. Of course Jair and Allen did. They’re looking out for me, but I’m blind. I can barely walk around the one place I’ve been for my entire life. I couldn’t even find my shirt yesterday. How can I get through the woods, let alone get half the world? I don’t know. I don’t know.”

They stood there for a minute.

  “We’ll be fine. We just need to help each other. That’s one thing I know we will do. We’ll be okay.”

---

  Stacy came back later that night. Savannah got the lights, and Miller got ahold of some extra boots for the group. The next day Becker was getting anxious. Chollette said the guards on the perimeter wouldn’t let anyone go because they were all needed here. So they had to sneak out.

  This must be what going to war feels like. He’d packed his clothes and a thermos, as well as all the food he could haul. Each person had a duffel bag and a backpack. Miller worked as a Guard, one of the border patrol along the wall. He was going to make sure they could get away, and then he’d catch up.We’re ready.

  Becker walked over to the school. He heard someone walking behind him and turned around.

  “Oh, hello Beck. Where you off to with those bags?”

Natalie. She was nice, and usually he liked her because she dominates the conversation, and he doesn’t have to say much, but right now she was expecting an answer.

  “Hi Natalie, I’m, um, I’m going on a trip. For a long time. And need this stuff.”

  “Neat. Where are you going?”

  “Well….” Away. Far away. Leaving. Before we all die. “To Niagara. They asked me to, ah, do some computer work.”

  “Really? I didn’t know you did that. How come they need you?”

  “The computer guy, he uh, he died, because he...” Think! Think! “...also was an air force pilot, and died.”

  “Oh, yeah, I heard about that! Well, see you around!” She went past him and walked away.

  “Hey Natalie?”

  “Yep?”

  “Goodbye.”

  “Oh. Well, goodbye. See you soon.”

---

  “You ready?” Julie asked.

  “Yes.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I just talked to Natalie. She’s not coming, is she?”

  “No. I’m sorry. I know you were friends.”

  “What if they die? What if she dies? I could have told her what was happening and she could have come. If she dies and I could have saved her….”

  “Beck. Listen, you made the right choice, and she’ll be better off this way. She’s not the type that would make it very far in the wild. You know her. She gets nervous if she has to walk home on her own. It’s better this way.”

  “Okay.” You made the right choice.

  “C’mon, we’ve got to get to the wall. Miller changed his guard schedule for tonight, so we should get over ‘unseen’, and he’ll follow us. He’s got some rope, so we don’t have to climb the trees.”

The wall was the border for each colony, thirty feet high, with an electrified exterior lining and heavy battlements, with mounted machine guns, and several high sniper posts. The guards all had thermal binoculars and a night-vision headset for dark. It was impossible to assault or escape without being spotted.

  “Is everyone here? Look around.” Carter was whispering.

  “What about Thalia?” Jaden asked.

  “I’m here.” Thalia said, out of breath. “I made it.”

  “Good.” Carter looked around. “Alright, let’s do this. Miller?”

  “A rope just fell from the top.” Julie described to him.

He heard shuffling as the first person started to climb. People moved closer to the rope and continued up until Julie and Becker were the only ones left.

  “Alright, it’s our turn. Here.” She handed him the rope. “I’ll spot you.”

He inched his way up. His arms started to burn after about twenty seconds. By the time he reached the top, he began to shake. Then someone grabbed his hand.

  “Up you go.”

He was lifted a little farther to the edge, where he felt the interior wall. He pulled himself over it and felt the ledge.

  “The others are already on the ground.” Nicki said.

Behind him, he heard Julie coming and went to help her.

  “Thanks.”

  “I’ll see you two at the bottom, and I’ll catch you if you fall, okay?”

  “No problem.”

Julie grabbed his hand. “It’s erie. I’ve only ever seen the outside world through virtual reality, and that’s just what I thought it was like. But it looks so much different up here. Like it’s true. Like it’s real. It’s exhilarating.”
  “Let’s go meet it firsthand.”

  “Sure. We better go quickly anyways, I can’t imagine the motion sensors will stay offline for too much longer.”

---

  They sprinted. As fast and as hard as they could, and it was decidedly not fun. He tripped over about five different gopher holes, and smacked strait into a huge thistle. By the time they approached the woods, he was bleeding, but he barely felt it. He was having so much fun he couldn’t even feel the burn of running so far, though the adrenaline pumping through his body probably helped.

  The group started off. It was soon apparent that the luggage they were carrying was not easy to move. They stopped, despite the complaints from Allen.

  He heard a sound off to his left.

  “Wait, shh, what was that?”

  “What?”

  “Shh.”

  “Beck…”

Snap!

Everyone jumped to their feet. Becker could feel people closing around him.

A grunting sound came from the other side.

  Becker had an idea. “Climb the trees.”

  “What?”

  “We need to climb the trees. If it’s what I think it is, then we need to get into the trees now. They surround us.”
  “Wait, Beck, how many do you hear?” Asked Bella.

  “I think… at least nine, but I could be wrong.”

  “I’m going to listen to him, I trust his ears.” Said Ruby.

  “You first, Beck. There’s one right here.”

No sooner had Becker and Juliana got in the tree did the first howl peirce the night. Everyone froze. And then they crashed out of the shadows.