Eclipsed Star

Chapter Two

                                                                 Roman POV

I sat up, jolted from sleep by the impact of Sophia's knee in my gut. "I really don't know why everyone likes you so much." I growl before shoving her off me.  

She tumbled onto my tiny bed next to me, head propped up on her hand and batted her dark eyelashes innocently. "Because I'm so very non-threatening." 

"Only to those who haven't grown up with you. Why are you in here? You have your own room, you know."  

"But it's time for you to get up!"  

I rolled out of bed and pulled a pair of jeans on over my boxers before making my way out to the kitchen. Our tiny pod was one of the better ones in the sector, made of two shipping containers welded together. We had running water and even a toilet. 

I washed my face in the sink, enjoying feeling my skin absorb oxygen directly from the water. I missed swimming. That had to be the worst thing about this awful sector we were restricted to. On nights when it rained, Sophia, Drake, Teri and I would sit on top of one of the Pods, soaking it in until the guards blared the alarm for curfew. The worst part was that from up there, we could see the beach, the water lapping against the shore calling us to it's depths. But we'd never been allowed to go. 

Sophia had relocated to the main living space and was pulling her fingers through her hair. "Let me do that honey," our mom offered before going to her room to retrieve a brush. 

"You nervous?" Sophia asked when we were alone. 

"Whatever, if Dad wants us to play nice with the humans then that's what we'll do." 

"Right, I forgot. My brother the brave and ferocious Atrian isn't afraid of anything." 

My hand drifted to my chest where I'd been shot almost 10 years ago. "Yeah, thats me. Fearless." 

In my room, I sat on the bed and and held my head in my hands. I didn't understand why my father would send us out there. Any Atrian who'd ventured outside the sector since we landed was taken to the cage. What made anyone think they'd treat us any better just because some rubber stamp said we were allowed out there? I didn't believe for a second we were going to be safe, but when Sophia agreed to go with so much hope and excitement, I couldn't not go.  

Plus, as much as the memory of the night my primary heart stopped haunted me, I knew there were good humans in the world. The boy with the large brown eyes who had tried to protect me from the dogs and police was sometimes the only thing that made being on Earth bearable. I could understand the Trags, the Atrians who hated humans almost as much as they hated us, but that boy's kindness always kept me from giving up on them all together. 

I wished I knew what had become of him. They had probably put in him in jail for helping a "Tattie" as they called us. But somehow I knew he was still out there. I only hoped he was safe. 

"Roman, if you want something to eat before the bus comes, come on out here." our mom called. 

I pulled my best t-shirt over my head. It was thin, but not yet threadbare, and joined my family for breakfast. 

*** 

The bus ride out of the sector showed us parts of the world I hadn't seen since the night we crashed. The trees loomed above our heads, so tall I could imagine climbing one all the way home to Atria. Everything was so green. Inside the sector most of the native vegetation had been cleared away. No trees were permitted to be taller than the fence line, for fear we'd climb out. The only flora we saw, we grew ourselves.