Amidral: No Promises Exist

A Distant Continent

Brokart. Once, it was a continent with villages far apart from each other, rich in resources and in people capable of driving progress. However, the exploitation of the land led it through several stages of crisis. The first was caused by mining: pollution led to even freshwater sources being contaminated with particles of various heavy metals. The fusion of water with these components deep within the suffocating interior of the planet made purifying the water almost impossible. They turned to seawater, but it wasn't long before the oceans were also contaminated by the rivers flowing into them.

The water crisis forced the population to live along the continent's coasts, scattered into eight communities. The inhabitants depended on eight desalination plants connected directly to the sea and its deepest zones in search of water with lower concentrations of metals. This led to the second stage. The entire continent's population became concentrated along the coasts; the space remained the same, but the people multiplied. Cities expanded inward, and the journeys to collect water from the central plants grew longer, while the supply was no longer sufficient for everyone. Thus began the third crisis.

Farms disappeared; the demand for water could not sustain crops or livestock, and their lands were quickly occupied by small homes as cities grew. Synthetic foods became the only means of controlling hunger. After all this, people's survival instincts took them down two paths. Many risked returning to the interior of the continent in search of water, giving up their space near the coast. No one ever returned, either because they found water or perished on the journey. Others remained on the coasts and became part of the disaster that unfolded as people began to die of starvation.

Extinction was one step away. Although the population exceeded ten billion, the numbers would soon begin to dwindle due to the increasing deaths. At first, it was just bandits stealing rations from other families, but with the idea that only a few would survive once the demand for food and water decreased, terrorist groups began to attack. The eight villages around the coast became independent nations, and war broke out between them with the sole purpose of eliminating mouths to feed. The hunting of women as potential mothers began. While many supported it, many others opposed it, and now, besides the war between nations, a civil battle had also formed. Houses ceased to be homes in an effort to hide the presence of someone living in them. Now people lived seeking refuge in the rubble of abandoned areas after the bombing by any of the foreign nations. Fleeing from the outside, fleeing from the inside, gathering resources to survive, avoiding being killed. This was the life known to children born amidst such misery.

Daniel, George, and Charlotte Drew were part of the population of the western nation. Their father had gone off to an important attack against the southwestern nation but had not returned in the three years that had passed. Their mother and they survived in the basement of a complex of houses and well-placed rubble near the water supply station, but their biggest problems had to do with the government's embrace of the idea of hunting women as potential progenitors.

It was a terrifying, mist-filled morning. Their young ages of 5, 9, and 11 allowed them to move more swiftly and effectively through the city. It was finally their turn to collect resources at the supply station. The only problem, after having their basket, was that the government did not take responsibility for thefts. The mission wouldn't be over until they made it home with what was rightfully theirs. As the oldest, Daniel protected George as they moved through the city. He was young but skilled with the 5 mm he had received as a gift from his father.

"There's the old church. From here, it's four minutes to reach the station," said George. He was only five years old, but his memory and sharp mind guided them and got them out of trouble.

A couple of vases broke behind them, and a girl with ash-blonde hair and light greenish eyes appeared in the middle of it all.

"Charlie! What are you doing here? I told you to wait with Mom at home!" Daniel whispered, startled, making sure not to make too much noise.