Bay

Chapter One

The trickle of light peeked through the tattered curtains as Bay slid out of bed. She tried not to wake her sister's, but that was hard since she lay between them. She needed to creep out of the blankets first and then crawl down to her sisters' feet. She always woke before them, and it would make more sense for her to sleep on either side of the bed, but neither one would give up her spot. Bay stretched as she stood and stepped toward the window.

The sky was a murky grey as it usually was in the morning. Her mother had told her of a time when the sky had been blue and the sun had been a warming bright ball in the sky. Now the sky was full of ash that blocked most of the suns light. It was hard to even tell where the sun was in the sky on most days.

Many of the people in her village were awake and beginning their days work already, and Bay needed to start helping her mother. Her mother was the type of woman that would let her daughters sleep in even if it put her behind in their work. She wanted them to have a childhood that they never could have. Not with the world the way it was. Bay loved her mother's stories of the world before the Saviour had died. About children playing and laughing out in the streets and climbing trees and swimming in the lakes and rivers. Now, the only time children played or laughed was in their living space and only quietly. They did not want to bring attention upon themselves.

Bay's mother already sat on her rickety stool pushing fabric through her sewing machine. Her leg rocked up and down with the peddle beneath her, as the needle whizzed through the fabric. The seamstress smiled as Bay took her place at another machine. They had cut the material they would need the night before, so everything was ready to begin sewing.

"You're up early," Bay's mother said.

"It's not like that's unusual," Bay replied. "I don't think I woke Brook or Isla when I got up. Isla was up late with nightmares again."

Her mother stopped her machine and snipped the threads. "That isn't unusual either," she said. "I better get your brother up. Lochlan will be angry if he is late again." She pushed herself to her feet and limped out of the room.

Her mother had been injured during the last battle before the devastation of the world. She had been thrown into early labour and allies had taken her away from the battle. Bay had been born healthy, but her mother's wounds had never healed fully. Bay's father had been angry that his wife had even been a part of the battle, but they had needed everyone. But everyone had not been enough.

"Are you going to start sewing or just sit at the machine?" Brooke walked into the room and opened the breadbox. "Have you eaten yet?"

Bay shook her head and started threading her machine.

"Of course not," Brooke said. "You would starve yourself if you didn't have me."

"I don't like eating when I just woke up," Bay said.

"No, you don't like eating before the rest of us."

"I want you all to get enough first." Bay poked the thread through the eye of the needle. "Isla and Lachlan are still growing."

"So are you," Brooke ripped off a chunk of bread and held it out to Bay. "You're only fifteen years."

Bay took the bread and bite off a small piece before placing in on the table. "Are you heading to the market now?"

"Soon," she replied. "I promised Isla I would bring her with me today, so I'll tidy up while she sleeps some more."

"Morning." Lochlan hurried into the room and snatched Bay's bread off of the table. "Don't want to be late. Bye." He grabbed his coat and smashed his feet into his shoes.