Deprived

Chapter 5

Liam and Mara were fast asleep in the backrooms when the kitchen door creaked open.

As Maize flew to her feet, her body shuddered from fear that the village guards had come to arrest her.

She tiptoed towards the cloth wall separating the living room from the kitchen and peered around the seam.

The reel of one of President Aberdeen's speeches played on the radio, entangled in static. It only exacerbated her anxiety. The community was allowed to lower the volume on the radio at night but forbidden to turn the radio off.

When the door was fully opened, a cold breeze pushed through the kitchen and chilled the side of Maize's face. When Ollie appeared in the doorway, warmth surged throughout her entire body.

"I couldn't get past security," Ollie said as he walked past her and sat on the red sofa.

She followed him there.

Inside the shack, there were two bedrooms cut off by floor-to-ceiling curtains. Mara and Liam were in those rooms sound asleep.

According to Ollie, security at the food distribution center was shut tighter than the capital gates.

Ollie followed Mr. Michael past the village square and beyond a row of cottages. The center was behind a tall fence, and over eight district guards manned the gate.

Maize expelled a heavy sigh. She was running out of ideas on how to gather more Earth food for Liam, and she was out of time. Tomorrow morning, she would leave for The Capital , and once she passed through those gates, she would never be able to return to the village again.

Her plans were too ambitious. She expected too much out of this measly life. She was up against the giants, just a dot in their eyes.

"Sorry, Sis," Ollie said.

"No ... " Maize sat next to Ollie on the sofa and hugged him. "Let's go up on the roof?"

"Didn't the last storm weaken it some?"

"You scared?"

Ollie bobbed his head. "Just being careful, warrior Princess, I've got a lot of mouths to feed, can't be going dying on my family" Ollie groaned as he stood up. "For the last time?"

Maize nodded. She felt a ball stuck in her throat. For the last time

They climbed up onto the roof of the shack.

The diamond-freckled sky was putting on a show. One, two, three stars shot off into the midnight, then melted in the distance. The cold was biting. They were on the roof for about two minutes, and Maize's face and hands were already numb.

She pulled the roof blankets out from under a massive stone and shook off the desert dust. They sat on one blanket and pulled the other tightly over their bodies.

They tensed from the cold as they leaned back onto bags filled with sand used to hold down the roof. They gazed up at the stars.

For a while, they said nothing. Stargazing always brought them comfort. It helped to get their minds off their own problems. A reminder that the world was big, and once there were stars, there was always hope.

"Maize?" Ollie said, still staring at the stars.

"Yea." Maize kept her eyes on the constellation Lyra, tracing it over and over with her eyes, forming its shape with one finger.

"I'll look after them for you."

Maize gazed at the stars in all their glorious beauty, grateful for a friend like Ollie.