Hunted

Chapter One - Two Different Extremes

~ BEFORE READING PLEASE NOTE ~ This storyline has been adapted from John Marsden's 'Tomorrow, When the War Began.' Some characters may represent characters similar to that text, as well as the basic storyline. I do not own the story or plot.

THIS IS THE THIRD BOOK OF THE SERIES.

Enjoy! :)

Prologue

It's almost as though where you're born determines your life. If you're born into poverty, you're going to have a life full of suffering and hunger. If you're born into riches, then you're going to be blessed with wealth and comfort. That's what I used to think anyway.

I'd been born into what you'd call a wealthy lifestyle. I certainly wasn't rich, with so much money I didn't know what to do with it, but we were comfortable. I'd been born into a free country, with opportunity and beauty as far as the eye could see. But that didn't stop the horror that came into my life just before I reached adulthood.

When the war had started, it had been surreal. I woke up every day in my little tent, wondering if what had happened the day before had all been in my head. Each day the idea of the war grew more and more permanent in my head, until it was finally accepted and my new way of life.

We'd been blessed to escape the initial invasion, having been up in the mountains we now rely on for safety and comfort. As the war progressed however, we thought that this might have not been a blessing at all, with most of us now having blood on our hands and a keen knack for getting into trouble.

I thought the war might have been going on for about a year now, with the heat slowly beginning to return to our little green campsite. We'd lived through all the seasons since we'd first come up here and had managed to survive.

We were working on becoming more self-sufficient, fearing that the end of the war was never going to come. More and more of the food we consumed was something we'd grown and every now and then, a few of the boys would disappear and come back with some fresh livestock that they butchered for dinner. We couldn't rely on that meat forever, but at least we could for now.

Somehow we'd all come to the decision at some point that we were going to die heroes in this war. We'd managed to sit tight for quite some time now, building up our strength – mentally and physically. It was only a matter of time before we left our safety and fought once again.

The war had become a way of life for us, either building our friendships or destroying them. For some of us we were closer together and others were walking on a very narrow plank of wood, only one slip from falling away.

I guess when you're being hunted in a war it consumes you and changes what you would have taken for granted for so long. Things like school, safety and just the love of our families had all vanished into thin air and all we were left with was our own skill, intellect and those around us.

We'd managed to survive this long, regardless of all that we had been through. I just prayed that somehow we'd all make it through to the end unscathed.

Chapter One

Two Different Extremes

Jamie's very capable hands ticked the smooth skin of my naked back. His lips trailed along my collarbone and I felt bliss once again. It was the middle of the night and once again we'd returned to our cave to be with each other. I knew that what I was doing was wrong, but Jamie was the only one who made me feel alive in this war.

"I remember the first time I ever saw you Esther," Jamie whispered, tickling my skin with his warm breath.

"I don't think the first day of kindergarten is something to brag about Jamie," I laughed. "Are you going to tell me all about how it was love at first sight and all of that other romantic, soppy stuff?"