Where The Desert Ends

Prologue: Nyla

It only took a moment for her life to change forever.

It started like every other day for Nyla; she went with her sister to the rationing centre, went to school, then to the medical building for her volunteer work and then to see her best friend. That's how it was everyday. There was a constant order in her life, which meant no surprises.

"Nyla!" Her little sister, Aisley, called, running into the kitchen. Nyla listened to the sound of the front door swinging shut, then turned her attention to the twelve year old in front of her.

Nyla sighed and said, "What is it?"

"Outside," Aisley exclaimed, "you have to come see."

Nyla --  being the older sister -- was always expected to take care of Aisley. Their father frequented the underground, the city's center for illegal activity, so the burden was placed on Nyla.

As she smiled down at her sister, she saw something in her expression she hadn't seen before. Fear.

"Okay," she said, grabbing her sister's hand.

---

A man staggered into the town center begging for attention. "I've saved us all," he yelled. "I've found land without sand."

Seeing the man's torn clothing and sweat-covered hair, Nyla tightened her grip on Aisley's hand. She pulled her further away from the man, and closer to the shadows.

"I've seen infinite water," he screamed. Falling to his knees, his long greasy hair fell in front of his face.

Nyla glanced at the water rationing building and let herself wonder about a land where this was possible. A land where she wouldn't have to worry any longer, wouldn't have to fear running out of water everyday. A land that wasn't so bleak.

That was everyone's dream, and that was all it was, a dream. Their reality was a world where water was almost nonexistent, a world made up of desert upon desert.

"We should leave," Nyla whispered to her sister, "we're not safe here."

Her sister didn't reply, just kept her gaze settled on the man running about the streets.

Then a series of loud noises rang out, causing Nyla to forget her train of thought. She spun back to see the man splayed out on the dried dirt. Blood stained the dried up land and guards rushed through it as if it wasn't even there. Nyla couldn't look away; the thick, dark liquid trailed down the street and dripped into the cracks of the earth. Screaming sounded all around them as people rushed out of their houses, gasping at the sight before them. Hearing a gasp much closer to her, Nyla remembered her little sister.

She pulled Aisley into her arms and held her face. "Look at me. No where else"

Then Nyla looked away from Aisley's wide blue eyes for a moment. Something inside her couldn't help it. There was something she needed to see.

The man was being wrapped up in plastic by three guards. However, it was their commander that caught her attention. He stood with his arms behind his back and a stern expression on his face as if this was nothing more than an inconvenience to him. A girl, no older than Nyla's age of 16, was standing next to him mirroring his stance.

The girl looked as stoic as the commander at first glance, but her eyes held the truth. Nyla caught the girl's eye and the tear that fell from it before Nyla grabbed her sister's hand and ran in the direction of their house.

Nyla ran as fast as she could in the hot afternoon and didn't stop until she saw their house. The scene was no longer in their sights, but Nyla could still see a vivid picture of the man's crippled body drenched with blood being taken away and the girl standing next to it.

A part of her wanted to drag the girl away along with Aisley. A part of her wanted to save the girl from the nightmares and the dreams that would both arise from this incident. Staring into the girl's eyes felt like exposing a long kept secret. From a distance, the girl could be mistaken for another guard, but when you paid a little more attention she was just like Nyla. Scared and alone.

Perhaps the girl needed saving, perhaps she didn't; either way, there was nothing that Nyla could do. The guards had been too late; the damage was already done. Everyone was horrified by the guards' actions, and everyone was hopeful for what was outside the confines of the walled city.

Nothing good could come from hope, Nyla thought

"Nyla," Aisley muttered, leaning against the grey walls of their house. "Why d-did they kill him?" She stuttered.

Nyla pulled her bulky boots off her feet and sat on the floor. "Because he left," she replied.

Aisley's blue eyes shot up to meet hers. "What are you talking about?"

Nyla ran her hands through her hair in frustration. Her sister was too young for this, she didn't know how to tell her. "Aisley," she said. "You've heard people talk about first law, right?"

Aisley nodded and sank to the floor beside Nyla. "Of course."

Nyla hesitated, thinking of the best way to explain it to her. "First law is that we don't leave the city."

Aisley was now the one with a hesitant expression.

"The man," Nyla said. "He escaped the city a few years ago, everyone thought he died out in the desert."

Aisley glanced out the window, "You mean they killed him just because he left home?"

"No," Nyla said. "It's not that simple. It is more about what he was saying than what he did."

"What do you mean?"

"He wasn't supposed to go, but they wouldn't have killed him for that. The stuff he was saying is going to cause a lot of problems for them. What he said is going to make a lot of people want to leave."

"So we can leave?" Aisley asked. The curious twelve year old's forehead scrunched up in confusion.

"No, Aisley," Nyla said. "And even if we could, there is nowhere else to go."

"But the man said-"

"The man was wrong. He was probably dehydrated and seeing things from being in the desert too long. Just forget about it. We can't leave."  Nyla wished things were different, but it was law and it wasn't like there was anywhere better to go.

At least, that was what Nyla had thought.

~~~~~

Thanks for reading! I hope you liked the prologue and decide to read on. I'll be updating on Friday and will try to keep to that schedule this time around.

Don't forget to vote and comment if you enjoyed the chapter.  Let me know what you though of Nyla and Aisley. And if you good a good idea of what their world is like, as I had great trouble with world building for the first time.