Freed

Blaze

Chapter 1

Blaze

It's been a three hundred years since World War III, the war that reshaped our planet.

I live in a place that used to be called North America I think.

Our schools tell us there were 41 people who survived the war. There were twenty people male and twenty-one people female. They came up with a system of these city-states called servers. One male and one female would repopulate one server.

If you can do the math there would be twenty servers and one female left over. They then voted who the last female would be and that would be the president of the country now called Amers, short for America.

It was hard at first, but no one talks about it. I don't understand any of it because who would populate Vent-what they call the capitol. They said the smartest children of the servers would move to Vent and populate it. They also say it took a while, but it eventually worked. (I still don't get it)

I still live in 13, just not happily like I did in 18. Everyone is hungry and everyone learns to fight... the hard way, all the people that live here are pretty lean so we are known as the fighting server. We're just hungry not tough.

Its not so bad living here, I mean I got family-one person- friends- actually no friends- but that's life.

The war pretty much wiped out the country, of course they built new buildings but they still keep the damaged ones to remind us what happened with World War III. I don't look at them like that though I look at them like adventure.

Server 13 is in a part that used to be called Seattle. Wonder what that means. There are so many tall buildings here to go exploring. They tore down the small houses and buildings and replaced them with new houses, but no one has the guts to climb what they used to call the Space Needle.

I will some day though. I will someday.

"Blaze, come down to eat." My mother shouts at me across the hall. "Coming!" I shout back right when I finish putting on my flaming wrist band my papa made for me when I was seven. It's made of gold and rubies.

I look in my tall mirror and see it adds a nice touch. At my boarding school we are only allowed to wear one thing besides our uniform. It's plain black stretch pants that grips to your legs for girls and black kakis for boys, but all of us wear black flats and gray t-shirts.

They said in the sign up slip that "don't bring but one thing from your home to the boarding school and everything will be supplied to you. Three sets of the same clothes, food, toiletries, ect."

"Blaze! Hurry up your food is getting cold." She yells again. I take a look at my room to say one last good bye. "Good bye" I whisper and run out.

I get to the kitchen to find plain oatmeal with sliced apples. "Again Mom!" I complain "Sorry it's all we got" she opens the pantry and I see that she's right. There is a bowl of apples and three boxes of oatmeal. "Oh..."I eat in silence but I only eat about four bites. I'm not hungry today, I'm just too nervous.

I look up to find my mom starring at me. "Can I help you?" I ask. She replies "No. No you can't darling. But you can help yourself. Do you promise to keep that fire under control?" I hesitate "Yes mother. I promise"

I get up and hug her. I can hear her sobbing and I know she's sobbing because I felt a tear on my shoulder. "I will be all right. The thing I'm worried about is will you be all right" Silence. I don't want to be mean so I keep hugging. She lets go after a minute.

"Oh dear. You have to go. Don't want to be late." She says with a chuckle. "Yeah they'll probably execute me" We both laugh. "She kisses me on the forehead and whispers under her breath "I love you. Good luck" She pushes me off and I silently walk away.

I wait outside for the monorail. It comes five seconds later and I get on. I give my mother one last wave and I'm gone.