Deprived

Chapter 6

Maize was running across the desert. Her rib cage fought hard to keep her throbbing heart in its place.

The stars above popped consecutively from the sky, each sending the night into deeper darkness, and the moon was a crimson red.

Sweat poured like rain down her body, down her face, and into her eyes, burning them.

She glanced behind her again. The shadowy figure chasing her was gaining ground. The closer it got, the slower her stride became. She went from a full sprint to a jog to a walk, and finally to a soupy walk. She extended her arms to gain forward momentum . . . but nothing. The hair on the back of her neck rose. Fangs dug into her back. Deep fiery pain catapulted a giant bolt of a scream from her throat that jolted her out of her nightmare.

Eyes wide opened, Maize fought to catch her breath. She scanned the room dimly lit by the moonlight, her gaze darting to every darkly shrouded object in the room.

The objects were all still, a pile of clothes on the table, a collection of salvaged boxes, and metal sheets leaning against the wall in one corner.

Something stirred beside her on the bed. The thing had settled in shallow rhythmic breathing. She stared at it and almost jumped out of the bed when it turned away from her. It groaned, smacked its lips, then sank back into rhythmic breathing. She recognized that sound; it belonged to her brother— Liam.

The thought of Liam pushed her into reality. She sighed with relief and rubbed the veil of sleep from her eyes.

"Nightmare." She whispered.

In all her life, Maize had never felt so much grief. To leave her family behind was altering her mind. She felt herself rotting inside.

The woman on the radio gave updates about the war and the decrease in food rations. Water would be dispersed three times a month instead of four. She would repeat those words over and over again for the next few hours like a nagging hag.

Maize eased her body back onto the bed and wiped the sweat from her chin. She tucked Liam's blanket under him and removed hers. She wanted to cool off and wake up a bit.

Lifting her timepiece, a family heirloom, she stared at it until she could see where the longhand and the shorthand were pointing. It was 3:15 am. She replaced the timepiece carefully onto a turned-over metal bucket.

In less than four hours, Mr. Jameson, the headmaster, would be at her house to escort her to the capital gates. They would be taking his car. Maize had never ridden in a car before.

Maize got up and got dressed. She had to wear her school uniform. Nothing else was to be in her possession, no jewelry, no food, nothing when she crossed the gates into Wisteria.

She retrieved her favorite book, David Copperfield, buried in the sand beneath her bed. She wanted to read a few chapters before she left but reading under the moon's gray light hurt her eyes.

She wrapped the book back in a cloth bag and replaced it under the bed. Most books from the old America were forbidden. Her nana kept back a few from the Book Burning years ago and showed Maize how to hide them beneath her bed.

The pain in her stomach flared. A cup of red tea would calm her stomach, but she didn't want to wake the family while rummaging through the kitchen.

Instead, she lay on the bed, thinking about the Capital and what her life would be like. She knew she would be working at ProLab, searching for a cure for the virus, but she didn't know the specifics of her job or living arrangements. She hoped for a roommate. Maize was secretly afraid of the dark.