The Pioneers

Chapter 7

If it weren't for the possibility of finding Mom and Dad within the crowd, Ethan would've stayed at their new house, away from the chaos. He would've left Amaryllis behind, too, if he were certain that "home" was a safe place to stay. The unknown was beginning to control them both, forcing them into situations that they would've otherwise avoided.

           And, would've otherwise been protected from.

           It wasn't long before the melody on the speakers dissipated, and the robotic female voice was replaced with one of the grunting men. It was unclear as to where the voices originated from, which had caused all of the new citizens of the strange land to leave their houses and investigate . . . Ethan had held off from following them for about an hour or two until the redhead's voice came through, ordering them to leave their houses and stand around the skyscraper.

              For the time being, until he knew who he was dealing with, Ethan was going to obey.

               He'd learn the rules, then he'd play.

                "There are two options for you."

                 The redhead's voice rang louder than the grunting from where Ethan and Amaryllis stood, surrounded by people ten times taller than them—it was hoped that the man was translating, not making things up as he went along.

                "You will decide for yourselves, based off of your personal strength and skill," The words flickered in and out again across the buildings, like auto-generated captions. Sometimes they appeared correct, and other times, it was obvious that they were not being typed by human fingers.

               Ethan looked up and around, searching for the hidden men. The absence of a sky to light the day made it harder to see anything other than the building. It was overpowering, flashing brighter than any of the lampposts.

                "Those slimmer, with some good strength on them, will join together to the east side of the cavern," the text changed to an arrow, pointing to the left of them, where less houses and buildings were present. "Anyone who doesn't feel like they fit into the athleticism, you'll meet in the west." A second arrow appeared, pointing the opposite direction. There was where the rows and rows of houses were situated.

             Nobody moved.

             "After you have gathered," he went on, "you will be given your assignments."

              The microphone shut off, and the grunting stopped. The static building turned back to normal, and after a couple of minutes, they could see clearly again.

            "Where do we go?" Amaryllis said.

             I . . . "I'll go east," Ethan said, folding his arms. "You go west."

             ". . . Shouldn't we stay together?"

              "No, not this time," he said. "It'll put us at an advantage to have eyes on both sides of this place. We can relay information to each other when we meet up at the house tonight, and then start coming up with some plans for escape."

              She turned and looked at the crowd gathering behind her. There were ten times more going in that direction than there were in the east. "What would I be looking for?"

               "Mom or Dad. Either one," he said. "If you find them, then you give them the best directions you can to our house."

               "What if I don't know the directions?"

               He huffed, rubbing his eyebrows. The fact that she was always asking . . . if you have an answer for her, then you have no right to complain. "You'll pass the house on your way. There aren't any street signs, so I'm assuming you identify houses by their numbers," he said, and pointed to the various streets around them. "When you see the house, do your best to memorize the number. It should only be four digits. If you find Mom or Dad, you'll give it to them."

                She turned back around.

                 "I'll see you whenever we're done, okay?" He said, grabbing her by the shoulders. "You tell me about everything when you get back, understand?"

                 "Yes," she said. "I will."

                 He let her go, and she left.

                 Okay, "unknown", he thought, forcing his eyes off of her so he could run the other way. Let's see what you have in store for us today.