Catalyst

Chapter 1

Part 1:
Dust

Chapter 1:
402 Years After the Virus; Month 8; Day 14

The dust puffed from up underneath my feet. It was mid-afternoon the sun was blazing down on our backs, scorching anything it touched. I shifted the weight I was carrying and wiped the sweat from my brow. My brother Jamie walked ahead, shouldering the other end of the long, narrow branch I had on my shoulder. Hanging from that branch was the deer Jamie had shot early that morning. Our pace had slowed as we approached the village center. You didn't have to worry about anyone in the village center stealing your hard earned kill; they already had enough to eat. Still, we were out at midday to make sure that less people were walking around.

Finding food was hard enough. Spending your time to hunt down, shoot, and then carry the deer from the woods and into the town only to have someone steal it from you was even worse. We'd had it happen before, as everyone was hungry in the outskirts of town. They hung around in the shadows, thin, dehydrated, and hungry. They slunk around like starving dogs, opportunistically waiting for someone like us to walk by. They'd steal your things and kill you if you didn't get away. With food as scarce as it was, your body could do as a meal for someone else.

Anything we hunted and killed was brought into the village center. It was the only way for us to get any income, especially water. People in the village center wouldn't hire poor outside trash; it'd make them look bad. Jobs were limited for the outsiders. You couldn't get anything that paid well and didn't kill you. I looked at the back of my brother's head. Jamie had exhausted every last option to take care of what he had; that was our ramshackle house, our brother Tucker, and myself.

We made it to the butcher's shop where the deer would be cut up and a portion of it would go for water, another portion would be used as tax and sold in the butchers shop itself, and the third would go to us to eat. It might've been a shit deal for anyone, but we were lucky that our parents had known the butcher. He couldn't do anything about the water, which was strictly monitored by the government, but he could at least give us the portion that would've been used in place of a monetary tax that we couldn't afford. He would make sure the papers said the correct amount was taxed. If anyone found out, he'd be put in jail and we'd be killed.
Jamie knocked on the back door and as we waited, he spoke up.

"Alloy, I shouldn't have to warn you every time we go in here, but there is a chance that Sabre could be around so don't act surprised that he lives here and keep quiet." I scowled, knowing he couldn't see it.

"I know he lives here," I muttered, "I'm just surprised he doesn't inhabit a cave to which he can drag all his women to."

"Well, that doesn't matter. He lives here and you're going to get over the fact that he's not a troll and if I'm not mistaken, he doesn't look at you like you're outside trash."

"It's because I'm female, that's why. I have a—," the door opened cutting me off.

Sabre was standing there in a bloody apron and like every time I saw him; there was an undeniable urge to choke him until he stopped breathing. He looked us over as if we were knocking at his door, begging for money. He glanced at me and I really wished the sun wasn't highlighting how green his eyes were, but after all it was an observation anyone could've made. It didn't mean anything.

"You going to let us in?" Jamie asked.

"Dad's busy," Sabre stated and looked like he was about to shut the door when Rinnick the Butcher's booming voice could be heard.

"Who's here, Sabre?"

Annoyance flitted over Sabre's sharp features and he stepped out the way as Rinnick came into view. The big man smiled warmly.