OGENUS EARTH 🌎 🌊 {Dystopian Sci-Fi Adventure}

Isn't It Ironic

Justin waited next to Meg for the signal to load her into her pod, quietly marveling at her tranquil countenance. Her gray eyes were guarded while she mulled something over in her head, but to her credit, the girl showed no signs of regret or fear.

Meg's stomach acids were churning, practically dissolving her innards. Despite the hubbub going on around them, all she could think about was Harrison and where he was at this exact same moment.

Had she asked to leave with him, Big Joe probably could have been swayed to come along too. The three of them against the world seemed like better odds than she was facing now. As a lowly Tinker, and the unwanted result of her mother's tragic decisions, Meg should have been the first to walk away from all of this.

Harrison, like Meg's mom, had chosen the easiest way out, the selfish path of least resistance. His troubled past with the Seafarers and his shaky relationship with his mother had given Harrison enough reasons to leave.

So, why not me? Not even Meg could answer that question, just yet.

Meg thought back to Harrison's secret sketch of her. There was much more to him than the swarthiness and smart remarks, but like her, he rarely let anyone get close enough to find out.

"Do you want to talk?" Justin suggested. The prolonged silence between them was beginning to unravel his nerves.

Meg turned to him, studying his face with a serene smile. "What would you like to talk about?"

"Anything." Justin sighed. "I feel like I need to distract myself."

"Why did you become a seafarer?" Meg asked, thankful for the opportunity to focus on someone else other than herself.

Justin snorted at this and a blush spread across his prominent cheekbones. "Do you read much?"

"I do," Meg encouraged him with a bright nod.

"Really?" Justin couldn't help the relieved chuckle that escaped his lips. "I read a lot as a kid, and my favorite book I must have read a billion times. It's about these kids who get sucked into a painting of a massive ship, and they-"

"The Voyage of The Dawn Treader?" Meg supplied.

"Yes!" Justin's grin stretched across his masculine face, making him look like a giddy boy. "You've read it?"

"Yes." She answered. "It's also one of my favorites."

"Aw man, I knew you were great!" Justin mused to himself. "Too bad that-"

Neither of them wanted to finish the sentence, so Meg moved on. "What else do you like to read?"

"How about Lord of The Rings?" He asked, quirking up an eyebrow expectantly.

"Of course," Meg replied with a giggle. "I especially love all the descriptions. Like you were right there studying the rich detail with your own eyes."

"Well, those books are why I became a Sea Monkey." He shrugged. "I never really fit in with life on the Arc Cities, everything was too planned, too perfect."

Meg nodded along with his summation.

"Life isn't meant to be planned. Life is chaos, it's an adventure waiting to happen!" Justin was passionate about this and it came through in his body language. "OK, I've got a question for you."

Meg looked at him eagerly.

"If we live through this," Justin was winding up, she could tell. Meg felt her stomach sink as her arms began to tingle. "What's the first thing you want to do on old Earth?"