BILUNAR

Chapter 1

Twenty years ago

"Quick, hide her in the basement!" A man desperately yells at his wife as she struggles to keep hold of her child and clamber to safety in their basement.

She cradles the baby girl in her arms tenderly, lovingly and looks down at her lapis-blue eyes that stare back with confusion and fear.

"Shhh, hush now Ayla." She calmly tells the child.

In the distance, several gunshots can be heard and the screams of innocent civilians ring out in the thick air as the rhythmic  footsteps of government troops grow louder and louder, approaching their home. The toxic smell of smoke from the fires that rage in the streets fill their home as they hear a group of soldiers approach.

"Don't say a word." The man tells his family.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

The soldiers hit the family's front door, the sonorous metal contacting the wood creates a shrill, piercing sound that slices through the air. Eventually they get through, a band of tall men with guns wearing all black gear, forcing their way into the family's home.

"Please, take me. Don't hurt my family!" The man begs the soldiers.

But to no avail; they shove him violently to the ground, their strong grip sending spasms of pain shooting through the man's shoulder as he clutches it, unable to do anything as he watches his daughter being ripped away from his wife's arms. The baby cries out, reaching her tiny hands out to her mother, twisting and turning in the unfamiliar man's grip.

"No, bring her back! Ayla - please." The mother tries and tries to force her way through the soldiers, but they push her back, harder.

A single tear rolls down her face as the men exit with their precious daughter, her husband half paralysed on the floor from the violence. The men throw a lit torch into the home, leaving them to burn. The sound of crackles and spits of the fire resonate in the couple's ears as they clutch onto each other, they only have each other now.

One can only assume they perished that day, like so many others did. This was the new society - the Leadership were in power now.

Present day

Zaps of electricity pulsated through my body, waking me up, tingling my every nerve. My neural implant (NI) was awakening me. As soon as my eyes opened and sensation crept into me again, it stopped. It had sensed that I was awake. The white blinds automatically rolled themselves up to let beams of sunlight illuminate my plain, grey walls. Simple and minimalistic. Just as they liked it.

It was 6:00 now. My NI sent a flash of warning into my line of sight. There was something extremely important today, I had to get ready, and fast. I work for the government, or the Leadership as we call them, and anything out of place or non-conforming to their strict rules was frowned upon; I simply couldn't be late.

With tiredness still gnawing at my slow joints, I sauntered over to the bathroom, stripped off, threw my long hair up into a loose ponytail, and felt the cold blast of soapy water attacking my skin. Unpleasant as it was, it certainly woke me up! Pressing my NI, implanted into my right temple, I checked the time as it flashed in front of my eyes, projected from the device in my head. 6:15. I had to rush.

I grabbed a packet of breakfast, jumped on my LevBoard and sped outside with only magnetic levitation keeping me afloat. As much as I'm supposed to be one of the more important, and therefore sensible, members of society, I couldn't help fooling around on the LevBoard. For once, I felt like I was free. I'd read about the huge birds that used to exist on Earth before the Disaster struck, and I imagined I was one of them, the wind whipping my hair as I flew past it, the ribbons of sunlight illuminating the view of the city beneath me. I flung my arms out behind me, not caring anymore!