Way More Than Flesh And Bone

I - Can you hear it getting louder?

Zeta.

Zeta walked along the endless corridors of the Centre. She had come to know those halls better than herself. Every crack on those white concrete walls, every small defect on the marble floor. She tied her dirty blonde hair in a tight braid.

"Ugh, I need a cut..."

She groaned softly and kept walking. Her uniform was completely white except for a number written on her chest in black ink. 6.

In the Centre, they were trained to fight, to be soldiers, to be heroes. The first five units had went on missions and never returned.

Zeta was the new leader. The sixth unit. The one who ordered the remaining 14 around. But, somehow, the utter respect she was met with didn't settle well with the sixteen year old.

First of all, she wasn't a leader. She was just following orders. But who was she to complain? She'd be the hero they wanted her to be. Her past was long gone, buried under a white uniform and the silhouette of a number six.

She met some members of the 15th unit on her way, and both of them bowed their heads at her, too afraid to even look at her in the eye. Zeta simply sighed and kept walking. All the respect she was given felt foreign. But she had to be strong.

She gripped the handle of the sword that was tied to her belt until her knuckles turned white and clenched her teeth.

She walked inside the training room. Her unit was there, the sixth. They, too, bowed their heads, but in a more familiar way. After all, she was their leader too, but also their colleague.

Zeta knew that, even though she stood them, they were all waiting for an opportunity to turn back to her and dig a knife into her neck. There was only one person she trusted in her unit, and in the whole world, and that was her sister.

Her sister, S, was training, slashing a training dummy with a knife until it was nothing more than cotton wool and white vinyl.

Zeta knew the world had two kind of people. Those who kill and those who are killed. She knew that she would kill everyone in the world if required, except for her sister. She'd die for her.

She knew it crystal clear.

She grabbed a bar and started doing pull ups, eyes closed, red on the face. She chuckled and turned to her sister.

"Beat this, S"

The twelve year old laughed and held onto the bar. She had started training long before her sister, because the outbreak had happened when she was barely ten.

The outbreak. Zeta couldn't help but wonder about it every time she went to sleep, and whenever her mind wasn't filled with either pain or concentration.

The virus had set panic all across the world. When the world realized it didn't harm humans, they eased. But, when they realized all plants and animals were being decimated, panic set once more.

There was only one way to fix it. Colonizing another planet that wasn't infected to the core.

The Earth was rotting to death. People died of hunger or thirst on the streets. The rebels set fire to everything, so much the sky was dark orange. Teenagers and kids from all over the world were being brought to the Centre to select the best to train. And, even if they survived the trials, the leaders of the units had to personally choose new members.

Unit six hadn't had a new member since the day Zeta turned to a leader.

She kept training until a guy from the 20th, the least important one of the units, ran towards her. Usually, someone from the 20th wouldn't even dare approach her, what did he want?

Then she realized people from the 20th unit were the ones who organized the trials.

"M-miss..." the boy panted, head down "w-we were wondering if you wanted to see the new shipment of kids..."

Zeta rolled her eyes to the back of her head and climbed down from the bar she was holding.

"New shipment? From where?" She asked, firm and cold, professional.

"Slums" The boy's voice quivered "from zone two and three"

Countries had ended up dissolving due to the war and crisis. So they merely divided the world depending on time zones. From zone -12 to zone 12.

"And what does it have to do with me?" She didn't even try to fake interest.

"The Leader has to personally assess the shipment before sending them to the trials" the boy sounded terrified.

Zeta sighed. Right, since what had happened to the first five units...

"I'll be there at one"

She grabbed the laurel wreath made from silver, the symbol of the Centre. Symbolizing they would be victorious and find uninfected planta and animals. A new land. She places it on her head and turned back for an instant.

"S, you're in charge"

Her sister nodded, solemn. She had been forced to grow up to fast but, of course, hadn't they all?

She turned to the boy of 20th.

"Okay, let's go..."

She walked along those white halls again, knowing every crack and every defect, counting them as she made her way towards the new shipment, groaning to herself.

But, she was a leader. The crown felt as if it was digging inside her head and making blood run down her face as she opened the door and all stares were on her.