In New America, chosen children are taken to be soldiers at the age of 10. They are given guns and treated mercilessly. So who are Zana Carmichael and her five companions? They are The Chosens on the run.

Chapter 1

It all started when I got that letter. It didn't say much. All it said was:

You are chosen.

Those three words are still the scariest words I know. I was almost ten years old then, but I knew what it meant. My world was going to be shattered. I had told my mom about it and she just sat and cried. She told my dad, and he hugged my hard. I knew I didn't want to be a soldier.

My parents and I tried to go on with our normal lives. It only worked for a while. The training guards would come to get me two weeks later. The night before I was going to be taken away, my parents had come into my room with a small backpack. It had looked over-stuffed. That's when they told me I had to run away.

                                  

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Three years later

I ran. I couldn't stop running. All I thought was, Have to get away. Have to run. That's all one can think when they're sprinting, trying to escape training guards. They'd found me. "Come, fugitive!" I ran faster. They were gaining on me. "You are chosen to be a protector. Don't resist!" one yelled. I said nothing. I would be killed if I did.

I turned a corner in the forest. I saw light. That could mean one thing. Escape? Gosh, I was SO off. I had to stop myself from running into a brick wall. What stood in front of me was the one, the only...the Facility. Nothing like seeing that to scare you out of your skin.

A/N: Yay! First chapter! What do you think? ~Liv