From Earth

Prologue

Outside it was reaching extremes. The temperature is the highest we have yet seen. One can only expect it to get higher. The trees are basically all dead because there is only enough water to fuel the lab in the center of town so, as they say, they can save humanity. I think it is just propaganda so that the rest of us can feel needed and safe so that we can overlook the fact that the scientists can have all the luxuries that the rest of us can't.

They want us to cooperate. They need to learn that the rest of us want freedom and equality. We want to survive the Change as much as everyone else. We want humanity to survive.

I am a part of the rebel alliance know as the Fighters. Along side me are Andrew, Caitlin, Gale, Nicola, Tristan and Jackson. They are my only close friends, the only people I can trust, the only people I confide in.

As I walk outside I am blasted with a sudden wave of heat. I shouldn't have worn my jeans and combat boots, but you can never be too sure add to when you might run into someone down these streets. I walk along the narrow, graffitied streets of this god forsaken dump of a town. I turn into Orion Street and down the flight of stairs next to the second building on my left and walk through the second door on the right.

Nobody comes down these alleyways because it is know for street fights and gang violence. Everyone is afraid of stepping outside their comfortable houses and into the big, bad world where global warming, pollution and fear have taken control over everything.

Nobody wants to stand up for what they believe in. Only the Fighters.

As I open the door to the basement apartment where Tristan, Gale and Andrew live, I am attacked by Caitlin when she gives me a huge hug. She is the only girl I know that is shy when she is around everyone, including the Fighters, but still wants to be part of the rebel alliance. She has long, blond, curly hair and a cheerful smile. One word to describe her would be bubbly.

"Liz, it is so great to see you!"

"Are we really that bad?" asks Andrew. He is tall with dark hair and only ever wears dark colours, but then again all the Fighters do. Caitlin has a little crush on him and I can see why but he's not my type.

Caitlin blushes, "No, you're not that bad but still pretty bad."

"Now that is just plain rude!" states Gale. Gale is muscular with blonde hair. He feels really strongly about the situation of the world and I can see him going into politics and making the world a better place. If it manages to survive the Change, my brain adds.

I hear the door creak as Nicola walks in. She is petite with short, almost black hair with a light freckling on her nose. We look very similar, many people confuse us for sisters because I am also petite, the main difference is the length of my hair, it's almost waist length but the colour is practically the same. She is almost always laughing and it's contagious even if you are trying to be serious. She is most definitely my best friend.

"What are we talking about?" she asks, ready to put her own say into the argument. Now that I think about it she would also do well in politics.

"We are talking about how guys are better than girls at practically everything!" states Andrew. I can already feel the explosion that is about to take place.

"Where is Tristan?" I ask to excuse myself before the impending doom that is to come to Andrew.

"He's in the back." says Gale.

I gladly leave the room and go into the backroom where there are the three beds for the guys. I spot Tristan hunched over a book while listening to the many shouts erupting from the living room. He is tall and muscular with almost black hair that never lies flat. He is good looking, I must admit. He obviously hears me enter because he turns around and places the book on the bedside table.

"Hey Liz."

"Hey, what are you reading?"

"Just a book about the future written in the past and, boy, did they get it wrong!" We both laugh at that. I had always thought of the future as being a point in time where everything is bigger and better and perfect. I never imagined this. It is honestly kind of a let down.

"What's new?" I ask when I recover from my laughing fit.

"I heard the Saviors want to tell every one an announcement tomorrow at noon in the Square." he says. The Saviors are the scientists that are trying to save the earth. It must have taken them a while to come up with that name, highly creative too.

"We should go and tell the others. It could be important. And maybe break up the fight currently taking place. "