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 2

I turned and sprinted back into the woods. I was never going to be one of those emotionless drones marching around the perimeter. NEVER. "You can't hide from us!" the guards yelled. My lungs burned. I couldn't do this much longer. Idea! Trees were all around me. I jumped up and grabbed a limb. Using all of my upper body strength (which isn't much), I pulled myself up into the tree. Genius! Instantly, I was concealed. I saw the guards run straight past me. I held my breath, just in case. They were finally gone. I was safe! I decided to sleep in the tree. I was so tired.

The next morning, I woke up, safely in the tree, thank goodness. I jumped down and walked farther into the woods. I couldn't stand being so close to the worst place on Earth. About thirty minutes later, I heard the low sound of talking. I instantly pressed myself against a tree trunk. After a few seconds, I realized it sounded like children. Slowly, I put my head around the tree. They were kids. Two boys and a girl stood talking. "Do you have anything I could clean my knife with?" the younger-looking boy asked.

"No, shut up," the girl replied, "Now, what is our plan?"

"Uh, what plan?" the older boy said.

Silently, I approached them. Suddenly, the girl flicked her gaze at me. "Intruder!" she yelled. Instantly, all of them jumped into a fighting stance. I held my hands up and backed away. "Whoa! Don't kill me!" I said. The girl lowered her arms. She ran a hand through her flammeous hair. "Sorry, I thought you were a Facility spy. My bad," she replied.

"Wait a second," I said, "you're running away from the Facility too?"

"Um, yes. That's what I just said," the girl replied, "By the way, I'm Ana. The taller boy is Harris, and the shorter one is his brother Andrew." Both of the boys had wavy, dark-brown hair and sparkling green eyes. Andrew looked about my age and Harris looked a little older.

"I'm Zana Carmichael," I said.

"Nice to meet you," Andrew replied, flashing me a warm half-smile.

"What brings you here?" I asked. You usually don't see three teenagers just hanging out in a forest, especially one in Section 8, Block 5, one of the worst sectors.

"What do you think?" Ana said, giving me a dirty look. I didn't think that she liked me.

"Ana, be nice," Harris said, "So, Zana, do you want to join us or what?"

"Sure, I guess." Suddenly, I heard the faint sound of marching. As the sound grew louder, Ana, Andrew, Harris, and I tensed. We all quickly turned around and prepared for battle. Then we saw the guards. Just a second too late.