"May, May!"
My brother Alex lay next to me as he screamed and shook me awake.
"What? Are you okay? What happened?"
I scream. I grab his face and bring it inches away from mine and look into his eyes.
Good, his eyes are brown. He's not altered.
"They found a soul wandering outside our camp!" Alex says shaking his head and squirming out of my grasp.
"What! Are we in lock down?"
"No, they knocked it out and brought it inside"
"That's against the rules, what are they thinking?" I utter
"I don't know, but breakfast is being served, and I heard the soul is in the infirmary"
"I'll catch up with you later Alex, go ahead and get breakfast"
I watch as Alex hastily makes his way to the opening and disappears into the tunnel. Once he leaves, I slump back down onto the mattress and look around me. Roots dangle from every inch of the room. Planks of petrified wood are buried in the dirt that we call walls. A single mattress and chair lay collectively in the corner, waiting for someone to use them. The room is damp and sober with one lantern that flickers unsteadily in the doorway. The smell of earth lingers, but is beginning to fade now that I have been here for over 5 months. Sometimes I crave to smell fresh air and tree pines, but the memories with it are the parts that scare me away.
My brother and I were lucky to escape the last attack on our village. With nothing but each other, a knife, and a can, we wandered for days in the forest, eating berries and nuts, desperate for shelter. On the second week, I thought we were going to die of hunger and dehydration, but Demetrius found us and brought us back to his camp. We now live in the refuge for Exiles; a system of underground tunnels ten feet below the ground that keeps us safe and protected from the Peace. This is what we call home; it's all we have left.
The soft patter of voices travel through the tunnels and quickly fill the silence of my room. Without hesitation, I stand up, blow out the lantern, and step through the opening, engulfing myself in the darkness of the tunnels.
