Verman

1. Girl

July 22, 2055

I ran down the alleyway as rain pelted down around me. I heard soldiers' footsteps coming closer. I ducked behind a building and ran alongside it. The rain came down harder now, and ahead of me, I saw more soldiers blocking my path.

I was scared. This had never happened to me before, and I knew that I couldn't let them catch me again. They would kill me.

"Stop!" A soldier yelled, but I kept on running.

As I ran, I realized that this was hopeless, the soldiers have trapped me, and there is no way I could escape. I thought of my life, how terrible it had been. I mean, I was a Verman, how did I expect to live?

I stopped running, hopeless. The soldiers came toward me and I shivered in fear. The rain pelted down harder, and suddenly, lightning illuminated the soldiers' faces in front of me. I screamed, as they grabbed me and started leading me away.

I sat up, drenched in sweat and some rain. Looking around, I saw the sun rise above the abandoned building I was behind. I had slept in, which was unusual for me.

I got up off of what I call my bed. It's really just a torn segment of a mattress, complete with bugs, grime, and some weird vines that I fear will one day strangle me in my sleep.

Looking up at the sky, I saw some clouds in the distance. It would probably rain again today. Lately, it had been raining more than normal. That was not good for Vermans.

I walked down the alleyway near my bed. I knew my way around the abandoned part of town I was living in. My area is called The Outskirts because it is on the edge of Abandonment. Abandonment is what Vermans call our part of town. The wealthy just call it Vermville, which I hate.

The Outskirts was really the only part of Abandonment I knew my way around. Once, I had tried to visit the area next to The Outskirts called Second Layer, but it was a terrible mistake. We Vermans in Abandonment usually just stayed in our area, not surviving with anyone else, every Verman for himself.

I turned at the end of the alley and headed down to the cornfields. I visited the cornfields a lot in the summer. It was nice because the farmers don't have a lot of money, which is why they have to live near The Outskirts. Their lack of money also means that they have to hand pick the corn, and since that usually takes a few days I sneak there and help myself.

It's nice, living on the outskirts of The Outskirts. Only two other Vermans live here, and they don't even go near the cornfields. So, it's always only me there, and the farmers are none the wiser.

I turned again onto a dead end. It was a stupid building the soldiers had built specifically to keep Vermans out. They built a fake building as a weak attempt to keep us away from the farmers.

There were a few bricks Vermans had chipped away at, making foot holes. I quickly scaled the 12-foot wall and jumped down the other side.

Keeping low, I hurried into the cornfields.

I could sense that something was different today. I looked up at the cornfields that went a foot past my head. The sky above was dark gray, bleak, and dismal. I looked back the way I'd come, everything was silent, empty.

Maybe the farmers left, I thought.

Hastily, I reached up to steal some corn. I snagged a corn husk and revealed the perfectly ripe corn. This was a good day to come, I thought to myself happily.

I stepped forward to get some more corn, and suddenly felt something cold and hard grasp my leg, its claws digging through my threadbare pants and clamping onto my calf.

I almost screamed in agony. The pain in my calf was terrible. I stole a look down, fearing what I might see.

Sharp metal was stuck in my calf, and a trickle of blood slid down my leg. I let out a sigh of relief. This wasn't as bad as I'd first thought. I knelt down and grasped at the trap I was caught in. I tugged with all my might but was unable to free myself.

This day was just too perfect! I thought, angry at my own stupidity.

I heard footsteps nearby and tried to curl up into a ball, to disappear.

Out of the cornstalks emerged a tall but young teen. He wore the usual soldier's clothes, but they were too big for him. He carried his rifle wrong and he slumped over as if he didn't want to be in the military.

"So the military must take teens now, huh?" I said, trying to anger him through my words, although it probably wasn't the best decision if I wanted to be freed.

"Yes they are," he replied. "And I hate it."