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Chapter 1

Emmie stood, gazing upon what once was her home. It was beautiful. Endless swirls of green, white, blue and brown were sprawled across the surface of the planet. She moved her focus over to the splashes of green. Those would be trees she thought, trees and grass.

Emmie tried to remember the last time she sat beneath a tree. Pleasant memories of grass tickling her bare feet under the shade of branches and leaves flooded her mind. That was 365 days ago.

365. The number aggravated her. For 365 days Emmie had been living on mars, she had not seen the beauty of earth, instead having to settle for nothing but the dark sky of space and red dirt to entertain her. Emmie could feel pain growing in her head, she could no longer hold in her anger and so, she screamed.

"WHY CAN'T I JUST GO HOME!?" Emmie winced as she pounded on the window of her room, pain traveling up her arm. She sunk down to the ground, realization dawning upon her.

This was her home now.

She didn't want to believe it, but unless she found a way to escape, it was.

"Hey Em?" Emmie lifter her head to see a tall, thin figure peeking from behind the doorway. It was Anne. Anne had been assigned to take care of Emmie at the hospitality home, which she found quite odd as she was 19. sure she was orphaned like all the other children living there, but she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. Nonetheless, Emmie enjoyed having Anne around, as she happened to be her only friend.

Emmie broke out of her thoughts as Anne spoke. " I heard you yelling and was wondering-" "Im fine" Emmie interrupted. "I just need some fresh air". Fresh air, her choice of words seemed silly. The entire planet ran on simulated oxygen, which was anything but fresh. Dismissing her thoughts, Emmie walked past Anne, entering the halls of the hospitality home.

She's just trying to do her job, Emmie thought as she walked down the hall. There was no point talking about her problems with Anne. She had tried once before, explaining how she wanted to return to earth to find her parents, however, all Emmie received was " You can't do that Em, it's not safe. And besides, you wont be allowed back if you leave". It wasn't Anne's fault though. She was one of the many people who arrived on mars safely along with her entire family. She wouldn't understand why Emmie wanted to return to earth. No one did.

Emmie continued walking, passing many rooms that looked like her own, only varying in paint colour. Large windows on the right walls, bed and dresser on the left. The rest of the wall space was usually taken up by drawings if the room belonged to a younger child.

Emmie began to picture some of the children who lived at the hospitality home. Many of them lost their parents within a day of being on mars. At least they know what happened to their parents. Emmie knew that her thought was rude, but she couldn't help it, her parents were seperated from her, against her will. Emmie remembered the moment quite vividly. The warm summer sun brushing against her arms as she waited to board the capsule like rocket ships, hearing the sound of the scanners beep as her parents walked through,  Strange men in uniforms yelling to one another that they had the disease in their systems, her mother and father being pulled away from her despite her screams and tears, her mother trying her best to conceal the look of terror on her face as she spoke her last words to Emmie, "It's okay Em, they're just going to check us. We'll be on board in a minute". Those words were lies.

Emmie had reached the exit of the hospitality home. Realizing that she had cried, she quickly wiped her face and stepped out. She decided that it would be best to take a walk.

"ONE MORE CITIZEN HAS BEEN QUARANTINED. PLEASE ENSURE THAT YOU TAKE ALL YOUR DAILY MEDICATIONS IN ORDER TO PREVENT ILLNESS."
Emmie turned to see a display hovering in front of her, showcasing all of the recent events that had occurred in the community. The leaders of the community really did try their best to prevent another epidemic from occurring. If any citizen showed any signs of illness, they would be quarantined and observed until they fully recovered.

Emmie continued, noticing people who must have been farmers on earth, working busily in the greenhouses. Row upon row of tilled dirt held a variety of different crops, which would soon be ready to harvest.

As Emmie walked, she noticed pod like hovercrafts nearing the edge of the force field. These pods belonged to the resource department. They must have been going to collect supplies. As she looked closer she noticed that they would stop,and the force field would open momentarily! Codes Emmie thought. They must be entering a code that allows the forcefield to open. Emmie quickly broke out of her thoughts. These codes were her ticket out of mars. She just needed a way to find them.