Awake-Chapter One

AN: So, I hope everyone enjoyed the prologue, and hopefully you will enjoy these other chapters as well. As I said in the last chapter, this one will be longer.
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Chapter 1

"Go back to sleep Nova." I said softly. "It was only a dream."

I brushed the hair out of my sisters frightened eyes. I love Nova but she has nightmares so often I rarely get sleep. She always thinks our leader will send Guards out and take her. I can't promise they won't.

"But the Scientist is going t-take m-me away." Nova sobs. I try to stifle a laugh. For a twelve year old, she is quite the chicken.

"Nova, the Sci doesn't give a care in the world about us scavengers. What would he do with us?" I try to comfort her.

"I..." Nova thinks for a minute. "I don't know." she sighs, giving up.

"Go back to sleep," I glance at her timekeeper. "It's almost midnight." I get up to leave.

"Oh, one more thing Kyri," Nova calls. "Stop being such a scavenge talker."

I laugh. Nova always give me a hard time about using scavenge talk. I don't get why. It's the same meaning as the real terms, just shorter. And I am a scavenger. I live in Shoquer, where the rich are inventors, and the, well, not so rich are scavengers. We steal and go through junk piles, and turn around and sell them for money. I'll admit we aren't exactly dignified people. But here, pride will kill you. Nova always says I have a lot of pride for a scavenger. I tell her that she has a smart mouth for never having been on a scavenge. Not that I think she'd want to. Nova acts like she has a family of inventors. I act like I have a family of scavengers. In reality, I have neither. My family is dead. I live with Nova's family. I love Nova like a sister, but really she is my cousin. My family was taken by the Sci. I was found in a chest, severely injured. If it weren't for Nova's mother, Gala I would have died. It was twelve years ago, and I still have not mentally recovered. Nova never heared the story.

 I think about telling her for a moment, but I quickly shake the thought away. I bend over and kiss her an the forehead. She closes her eyes, and as usual, falls asleep in record time. I walk over to her door and turn back, to make sure she is really sleeping. She is. I'm not sue how she does it. I take a few hours to fall asleep. 

I sigh and press the close button on her scanner. Her door slides shut, and I cross the hall to my own room. I press my wrist to the scanner and the door opens. I keep my room on chip lock at night. I always take extra precautions. Although I am eighteen, my room is smaller than Nova's. My bed is cramped in a corner of the room, on top of some crates that hold some unsold artifacts. Above my bed is a small window that I keep unlocked in case of a power cut. Everything is electronic. Across the room from my bed is an old shipping crate that serves as my closet. Being a scavenger, I don't have a lot of clothes, so it fits them well enough. Next to that, I have a desk with a pretty old computer, a bunch of papers, and few artifacts laying around. I don't really remember to put stuff away, and my crates are certainly an example of that. Next to my desk are some crates teaming with papers. I organized which papers go in which crate, but not where they go in the crate. I honestly don't understand how I can find anything. Somehow my timekeeper fell in one of the crates. I pick it up and insert it back in the wall. I wince when electricity sparks at me, as the timekeeper is reconnected to power. 11:43. I still have time. 

I quickly pull on a black tank top and a pair of old jeans. When I look down to grab shoes I laugh. My pants are up to may knees and my shirt doesn't quite fit either. I grow pretty quickly, and currently stand at five feet nine inches. Nova is pretty tall too, but I think these clothes will fit her. I pull on a pair of black pants an a cream colored tank instead. I throw a green coat on over them and begging searching for my scavenge belts. Scavenge belts are really just belts with loops to attach artifacts to. As with everything else, I'm growing out of them quickly. Once my belts are in place, I grab my dagger off the wall and tuck it in my shoe. It's surprising how many ropes we scavengers need to cut, so I always keep a knife handy. I found this one on my very first scavenge.

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I was only a few minutes away from my first scavenge. Me. A scavenger. It was all so exiting. I was thirteen, so I had to go on group scavenges until I understood. I already understood. But the adults didn't seem to think so. Well, I was about to prove them wrong. I waited as our transport halted abruptly in the center of Shoquer. As the door lifted I breathed in fresh air. Back at home the air is clouded with dust. I'm not sure why though. I tried to keep up with my aunt Gala's pace. She was to watch over me on the scavenge. I didn't need to be watched. I kicked up dirt as we walked creating clouds around me. I eyed the dagger on Gala's belt. It glistened in the sun, and seemed to call my name. The blade was black and the handle grey with inlaid emeralds. She had taken it on a scavenge. At lest that's what I thought. Gala suddenly jerked to the side knocking into the woman beside her. Her quick fingers loosened the pearl bracelet from around the woman's wrist and placed it in her pocket. But what she wasn't focused on was her dagger. In one swift motion I unclasped the dagger from her belt, and clipped it to my own. I smirked. I beat a scavenger at her own game. This will be easy, I thought.

I soon learn that finding someone to pickpocket is not easy. 

If you pick the wrong person it could cost you your life. Though soon enough I found someone. She had short, straight, jet black hair, olive skin, and blue eyes. She looked to be around my age, wore lots of blue, and from one look you could tell she was not from Shoquer. I mean, how could anyone look more like they were from Eau. When she noticed me staring she looked straight into my eyes. Fetuu. Rule number one of scavenging. Never look someone in the eye. I quickly looked away, but I still felt her gaze. I hoped she hadn't gotten a good look at me. Either way, I had seen her feather necklace and I wasn't giving up on that chance. It was pure gold. I ducked through the crowed, weaving in and out of people like I had been told. Soon I was walking right on her heels, hoping she couldn't feel my breath on the back of her neck. This was going to be easy. I unhooked my new dagger from my belt, and swiftly cut the string holding it on. It fell straight into my hand, and I ran for my life. I had cut her. Not bad, but just enough to let her know I was there. I had made a huge mistake. Even as I ran, I felt her eyes following me.

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I tied a piece of string around the end of my chestnut colored braid. My fingers were quick, having mastered the art of tying and untying things from scavenges. So what if I messed up sometimes? I was the best scavenger I knew. 

I climb up onto my bed and level myself with the small window above it. I place my wrist on the small scanner. I pull back my arm as electricity sparks me, letting me know I have been cleared. I unlatch the window and thrust it open. When I was younger, there was always a small breeze that I loved. I used to climb up on the roof every day after a scavenge. These days, I don't always have time. Now the air is still and musty. I don't know why.

I hoist myself  up to the small window and slip through, hoping no one noticed. I climb down the side of the house, which I think was originally some kind of wood. It has been repaired so many times that there are metal scraps and random wood planks all over the side. This makes it much easier to climb. I grab my twenty story long coil of rope from the wall and clip that to my belt as well. I look around a few times before running. I am out way past curfew. If I'm caught I'll be thrown in a dungeon for sure. I suddenly feel eyes on my back. Fetuu. When I turn around, though, I have to laugh. It's a stray kitten. My friend Mina has a pet kitten. Nova always loved it. I pick up the kitten and loosely tie the end of my rope around it's neck to keep it with me. I want to give it to Nova, since she always wanted a kitten. I don't care that Gala won't like it. Gala doesn't like most things I do. Don't get me wrong, she is doing the best for me and I am thankful for her, but we don't really have a mother-daughter relationship. I understand, because I am not her daughter. I am just an extra worry, an extra mouth to feed.

I duck under part of the electric fence that separates Shoquer from the rest of the world. Each section of our world is surrounded by an electric fence. The only way to travel is by air train. Unfortunately, it's not a flying train. It just moves on tracks suspended above our heads. There are three tracks. One goes one way, and another goes the other way, but I'm not sure where the third one goes. I never really felt the urge to know.

My feet pound against the dry earth. The land around Shoquer is not known to be very alive. To be honest, neither is the land inside of Shoquer. The ground is dry and cracked, and where it isn't, it's a mixture of dirt and sand. Not exactly what I call alive.

Outside of Shoquer is dry, dry, and more dry. And sandy. I hate sand. The only reason I come out here is because it is very filled with peoples junk. Which is good when you're a scavenger. My eyes dart quickly across the piles but nothing catches my eye. I begin to climb the mountains of stuff that people tossed over the fence, slipping when an artifact falls out. I finally reach to top, but the moon is too dull to reflect anything of value. I press a button on the screen of my wristband and a small beam of light finds something shiny on the next pile over. I begin to jump to the pile, when the light on my wrist turns green. Behind me, all of Shoquer does as well. The light reflects on the shiny artifacts and shoots straight into my eyes. I scream as it does, but no noise comes out. A cold feeling spreads through my body making me want to shiver and scream again. But I can't. I am almost off the ground only my toes touching. And that's where I will stay. I am paralyzed. I can't move.

Suspended in air, I feel the cold reach into my head. The green light only lasts a second, but it feels like an eternity. As it fades, so does the memory.  Gravity yanks at my body puling it down. I tumble down the mountain of artifacts, getting pretty banged up as I do. I wince as pain floods my body. How did I possibly trip? I do this every night. I press the button to turn my light on, but nothing happens. Dead? I had just charged it before I left. I yawn as I check the time. 12:00. I should head home. Some scavengers will be waking up soon, and those are the scary ones that won't show anyone mercy. They'll turn me in to get paid and I'm sure of it. i jump out of the junk piles and fly through the air. My feet hit the ground, causing dust to swirl up around my feet. The second they do I run.

As I slide under the fence I get a bit of I shock. I wince from the pain. It is so dark I am having a hard time seeing where I'm going. By the time I get home the moon has begun it's descent. I begin the climb the wall to my room I remember the kitten. I pick it up and put it on my shoulder, its black fur gleaming in the dim moonlight. I feel bad for dragging it around all night. 

My banged up fingers fail me on my way up. They hurt so much I loose my grip more than once. My one finger dangles limply next to the others, which are all as beaten and bruised as the rest of me. But somehow I make it to my window. I pull my worn out body through the window and slam it shut. I push the latch back into place and sigh. Yawning, I change into the clothes I left on the floor. I lay down on my bed, and before I can think about my injuries, I fall into a deep sleep.

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My vision is blurry as I blink my eyes open. The bright morning sun floods into my eyes, giving me a sense of deja vu. I slam my face back into my pillow, like I always do. But unlike every day, something was gone. I sat up and listened to the silence. That was it. Silence. Every day I awoke to the busy noises of Shoquer. The sun gives me a headache, and I begin to wonder what time it is. I glance over at my timekeeper, but it only adds to my confusion. It reads 12:00. Deja vu again. But usually everyone is awake by 6:00. I finally drag myself out of bed and wander towards the stairs. As I pass Nova's room I hear silence, but when I glance through her open door she is laying in bed asleep. Strange. The same case in Gala's room as well. Suddenly panic hits me. I run outside and bang on the neighbors door. When there is no response I run to the next door. Silence. I run all around my neighborhood in panic, banging on doors and looking through windows. Not a soul is awake. Are they even alive?

I trip over something, earning a faceful of dirt and sand. Pain shoots through my body as my injuries from last night collide with the ground. Tears well up in my eyes and I give up. I lay crying on the ground for a while. Usually I would have been embarrassed, but there is no one to judge me today. Eventually, I sit up and wipe the tears from my eyes. Crying won't change a thing. I stand up and ran back into the house, determined to find a solution. As I enter my room, I press the button to turn on the light. Nothing happens. I sigh. The power must not be working. I confirm that when I notice my timekeeper still reads 12:00. That makes a bit more sense. I sit down at my desk, and turn my computer on. When I try typing, I find one of my finger limp. Right. I rip some fabric from a too small t-shirt, and wrap my broken finger to the one next to it. I have a hard time typing, but it works.  I honestly had no idea what I was looking for. But I found something. It was a blog post titled, "Anyone Else Awake?". I see three comments.

My first thought is, I'm not alone! Then I know it has to be a trick. I sigh. There is no one to trick me. So I open up the post. I scan the names and faces, keeping them in mind. I see a green light next to all of them, signalling that they are all waiting for a response. I hold my breath and take a chance, typing the words, "I'm here". The second I hit send I wince. It's done. No turning back now. Suddenly, a comment pops up after mine. I check the name. Maris Thane. Her comment reads, "We should meet up. Here is my ID number. 8839762.". Ah. She wants to use voice communication. Smart. I hesitate for a minute. 883 means she is from the Capitol. No one from the capitol is poor. She is from a family of scientists. It scares me. They are not to be trusted.

The next comment that pops up says, "How can I trust you scientist." Cres Yanslai. I smirk. Someone agrees with me. Maris responds quickly. "There is no one awake to control me."  She has a point. Nobody says anything for a while. The next comment is from Dust Rinz. "I don't have any other choice. 45708621." Terre. Then from Cres, "Fine. 6329710. This does not mean I trust you though." Eau. Finally, Liu Jon gives in as well, "17596342." Mien. I hesitate, my fingers hovering over the keys. I need to choose. "21066375." I've done it. Suddenly, a spark of electricity zaps me. I press the button on my wristband and I hear connection sizzle. Someone says something but the connection is bad and I don't understand. 

"Be clearer!" someone snaps. Probably Cres. I haven't met any of these people, but Cres has seemed pretty snappish.

"Sorry. I said let's meet at the train station at the Capitol." Maris most likely.

"Fine," I say. "But don't pull any tricks."

We all agree where to meet. I hear suspicion in everybodys voice. No one trusts anyone yet, but I have a feeling we will when we meet. I quickly change into the clothes I was wearing yesterday, and grab my dagger off the wall. I head across the hall into Nova's room. Tears well up in my eyes when I see her. I run over and hug her one last time. Soon it grows into another tantrum. In my sadness, I rip off her gold feather necklace. I had stolen it for her on my first scavenge. I tie it into my braid, my only memory of her now. I would do anything to save her. I would take her place if it would bring her back.

"I love you." I whisper bending over and kissing her forehead. 

I wipe the tears from my eyes and leave. I head into Gala's room and begin rummaging through her equipment. I take her shot, a gun that can create a holo shield and has a very long rope with a knife on the end that you use to reach high places. I have always wanted to use one, but you have to be at least twenty-one years old to have one. Even us scavengers have rules. I also take her belt pouch, which has some coins and some packaged food. This should be enough. I head out the door, turning back to make sure I haven't forgotten anything. Suddenly, the kitten comes bounding outside.

"No." I say. The kitten sits down and meows sadly. I sigh, picking it up and putting it on my shoulder.  

After a very long run I make it to the highline, the tracks above Shoquer. I try to open the gate, but it's locked. I look up but it's to high to jump over. I'm not worried though. I head over to one of the support beams and begin to climb. This is the scavenger way. My fingers hurt horribly, but they don't fail me now. I pull myself up over the edge.The train will come even though the power is out. It runs on a generator and has no driver. Soon enough I hear it on the tracks. When it passes me I freeze for a second closing my eyes to avoid falling over. But once I feel steady I run down the tracks alongside it. It almost leaves me behind, but I jump into one of the empty cars and breath a sigh of relief. I stare out the train, watching as I leave Shoquer behind. Leaving it all behind.

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As I spot the Capitol station, I begin to wonder if the others are here. Maybe it is a trick. I have to tell myself it isn't over and over as I prep to get out. The Capitol is the only place where the highline has a platform. As the train passes the platform, I jump out and slide across the polished metal leaving skid marks behind me. I lower myself over the edge of the platform, and begin to climb down the support beams. My fingers are still sore, but they work as well as usual. The middle train passes by and I finally understand what it's for. Passengers. Why did I not think of that before?

My feet hit the ground and I begin to brush my hands off, when something pulls my legs out from underneath me. The ground rushes up to my face, and when I collide with it, it knocks the breath out of me. My beat up fingers claw at the ground as the strong grip pulls me back. I see a small trail of blood in front of me, signalling my nose is probably bleeding. Fetuu. Finally, I catch my breath and push my week body up to standing. I take a long sip from the water pouch at my belt and turn to see my attacker. There are four of them. I breath a sigh of relief as I match them to their cities. Terre, Mien, Capitol, Eau. These are the people I'm looking for.

The first person is a man only a little taller than me. He looks very weak and dehydrated. There is dirt in his long black hair and his green eyes are dull and sad. They are also red from crying. He must have lost someone close to him. His clothes are faded and dirt colored as well, and not meant for the colder weather of the Capitol. He must be the one from Terre. Dust. In Terre the rich are farmers, while the poorer are low ranking thieves. Dust is definitely a thief. He seems quiet, but not cold or unfriendly. I can tell he is in pain. I am too. I lost my family. He probably did too.

The next one is the man who dragged me over here. Mien for sure. He does not seem very high ranking, so it makes sense. The rich in Mien are geologists. The not so rich are miners, which is a very horrible job. They don't even get paid very much. he must be Liu. He puts up a harsh front, but he seems to be afraid. His brown hair is short and dirty, as are his clothes. It seems to be that he wears whatever he can find, because his shirt is practically a dress. I try not to laugh. His brown eyes are filled with worry, as are everyone else's. But he doesn't seem to be upset about anything. Strange.

Next is definitely Maris. She looks worried, but her black voided eyes they tell a different story. They are emotionless. I'm usually good at reading people, but she confuses me. Unlike everyone else, she is clean and calm. Her blonde hair is tied up in a slick high ponytail without a trace of dirt, and she wears the traditional scientist outfit. But for whatever reason I trust this emotionless girl. I trust her. And I believe she trusts me. Her frown slips into a smile when she sees me. I trust her.

The last girl brings deja vu into my mind. She is tall and looks to be around my age, with straight jet black hair and olive skin. She is wearing all blue, and is definitely a fisher from Eau. Fishers don't just fish for fish. They fish for treasure. The higher ranking people are marine biologists. Our entire world is made up of science, and they are no exception. Her eyes stare at me, as if she has seen me before. Her eyes. They are blue and familiar. No. Everyone in Eau has blue eyes. But there is something about her though. I feel her looking at me. It feels like on my first scavenge, when I felt that girl watching me. That girl! I align the two of them in my head. She has gotten taller, and her hair longer, but it's her. The girl I robbed. I see her glance at my hair, but she doesn't seem to notice Nova's necklace. Or should I say her necklace. 

"Kyrim." she says. I wince.

"It's Kyri, Cres." I tell her. I try to get off on a good start, but I don't think she's going to forgive me.

"Sorry." she she says, a smile spreading across her face. "How much did you sell it for."

 "I didn't sell it." I mumble.

"I know you know what I'm talking about." She smirks. I grit my teeth.

"I did not sell your necklace!" I scream at her.

She pauses. Only for a second. She runs straight at me, knocking the air out of me as I hit the ground. Pain spreads through me. Stupid Cres. I get up, but before I can defend myself, she knocks into me again. My legs give up and I crumple into a heap on the ground.

"My mother gave to me!" She screams in my face as she pins me to the ground. I gasp for air.

"So make her buy you a new one when she wakes up! I don't care!" I scream at her as I roll out from underneath her.

"My mother is dead!" she crys getting up. In that moment I freeze. I feel regret. I feel pain. She takes the chance. Cres lunges at me, pulling my feet out from underneath me. I scream. Dust saves me.

"Stop it Cres." he says stepping in front of me. "She's been through enough today. I mean, look at her." He points at me all bruised, beaten, broken, and bleeding. Dust and Maris help me to my feet. 

"I'm sorry Kyri. I get over excited very easily. Are you okay?" Cres walks over and wipes the blood off my lip. 

"Fetuu." I spit at her feet. "Yeah, I've been though worse." Her eyes go wide."

"Watch you mouth scavenger. And what happened to you?" she sounds pretty worried.

Now that she mentions it, the memories from last night come flooding in. I tell her the whole story.

"I wonder why I forgot about the light." I say.

Everyone one else admits they forgot as well.

"I had it worse," Cres begins. "I was climbing the ladder to get in my house when it happened. I fell about six feet." I wince. that sounds painful.

I always read stories where the heroes never have fun. But that night, as we set up our small camp, I had the most fun I ever had. We laughed and told stories until Maris actually fell asleep on us. I never had a group  of friends before. 

I finally found a place to fit in.

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AN: I finally finished! (I had a really hard time spelling finally) Sorry it took so long, but it took me a few weeks to write. Most books have 20 pages per chapter but this is only 9. But I thought It might be a few to many because this is going to be a veeeeeeeery long book novel thing. And I'm only putting this on my blog. I'll get the bios for the new characters done probably in the next week or so. But I really hope you enjoy this chapter because I certainly enjoyed working on it!