Deprived

Chapter 1

Maize Leeland didn't want to go to heaven. She wanted to stay in hell.

In a few hours, her classmates would stand in the school assembly, hoping for dear life their names would be called. If the headmaster called them, they would transition to the capital, their heaven. But not Maize's. She was good right in hell, in her scum village, close to her family and best friend, Ollie.

Walking through the village square, Maize stayed near the shops, which were all broken-down and wasting away. The decrepit apartment buildings, towering high, had enough crevices so she could hide if need be. The last thing she wanted was to be stopped and searched by the village guards, who were always eager to shoot people on the spot.

She had four Solix protein cakes her mother baked in her bag—for bartering, even though bartering was illegal.

The early morning, desert sun was already burning her face and hands.

"Bloody heat." She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand.

Up ahead, the wind kicked dust into the air. Maize squinted and pulled the scarf, which hung loosely around her neck, up to cover her mouth and nose.

The cries of a baby came from one of the apartment buildings that lined the dusty road.

Always hungry, sick, and crying.

At the front of a building on her right, a naked boy ran in circles. A lazy-eyed junkie looked on.

Maize stopped and kept her gaze on the man. She left when the little boy stumbled inside the building.

Turning into an alley, wide enough for one, she gagged at the scent of feces coming from defective latrines. Her stomach boiled in disgust.

Passing the entrance of one of the crammed apartments, she heard a splash behind her. The weight of liquid tugged at the hem of her school skirt. The back and sides of her boot were wet.

She turned and stared at a pee bowl hanging from a woman's hand, a nob-quarter-size bit of pee still in it. The woman's lips were thin and hard, chapped and pressed together, to form a tight smile, and her eyes were set back like two black stones dug deep into black sand. She gawked at Maize, showing no remorse.

Maize pulled the knife from her boot and started forward.

The hag bolted. Strapped onto her back was the scrawniest baby Maize had seen. The baby was asleep—didn't even wake up when his bald head rocked backward, straining his tiny neck.

Poor guy.

Maize stomped her foot on the ground hard, trying to shake the pee off her boot. She shook the hem of her skirt as the woman and the baby disappeared behind high piles of finds from the village dump. She shoved the knife into her boot and headed towards the road—the quickest route to her next trade.

As she stepped out onto a broad, dusty street, a man driving a wagon pulled by a crazy galloping donk, raced past. She jumped out of the way just in time, her heartbeat echoing in her ear. The wagon, piled high with dead bodies, left a trail of stench behind. Mutant flies as big as eyeballs hovered over the carcasses. The village graveyard stayed full.

The pain in her stomach flared—she knew that could be her little brother Liam in the back of that wagon if she didn't get him enough Earth food. But time was running out. The choosing was that day.

Taking a turn around a pile of mangled steel, she headed towards Mr. Roden's house to barter Solix protein cakes for Earth food.

She kept an eye out for those vile elephas who President Aberdeen let roam freely in the desert wasteland. Really to kill them out one by one, she believed.