Snow Dancing

Chapter 3

Getting off the shuttle was an awakening. "Leave your bags!" One of the gaurds commanded in a loud voice. "You'll get them later." I dropped my bag, but kept my picture with me. I quickly ran to Aharon and Adam, and made sure that we stuck together in the crowd.The view was not the world I had left behind. You couldn't see the sun shining over the hills, or hear the birds singing to each other. It was silent and gray, a weight looming over everyone's shoulders. I held on to Ava's hand so tight I was scared I would break it. Ava put on her red coat just in time before we left the shuttle. It was still a bit too big for her. We followed the crowd, some were crying, others conversed quietly as mice, others just stayed silent and thought to themselves. A man stood in front of two others, around then a fork in the road.  "Men to the right, women, and children to the left!" shouted one of the guards. I stared at my brothers with fear in my eyes. I didn't want to leave them. I didn't want to have to take care of Ava by myself. I couldn't. "Green, don't give me that look. It'll be fine, we'll be on the train by tomorrow," Adam kissed my forehead quickly. "I promise ok?" I smiled a little bit but I could tell I was almost crying. I felt a pair of arms engulf me so fast I couldn't even breathe. I could tell that it was Aharon, and I could tell he was crying. Adam could lie all he wanted to, but Aharon was terrified, just like me. "Mom would be so proud of you if she could see you now," he said, choking up. "I don't know what I'm going to do without you Evie." I cried silent tears in his chest because if Adam heard he and Ava wouldn't be able to say goodbye. I let to look at his face again. He looked so much like mom it scared me. The bags under his red, puffy eyes broke my trance. "I love you Aharon" I almost whispered. I'm not even sure if he heard me. I wrapped my arms around them quickly, squeezed as hard as I could, gave my goodbye kisses and walked to the left. I watched them as I left, smiles spread across their faces like it would all be ok. As I was about to turn around, I saw them both mouth "I love you" before walking in the other direction. I could feel the tears swell in my eyes as we continued walking, a lump forming in my throat. Another guard met us at another fork. He pointed at me. I quickly gave him my arm and rolled up my sleeve. He scanned my ID chip and then Ava's. Everyone had an ID chip the moment after they were born. It's a blessing and a curse, anyone can know exactly who you are. The guard paused for a moment, almost like he was playing with the scales of life. He pointed to the right, then to the left. I was confused but then I realized that all my fears were true. Ava was headed to the left. I was going to be alone. I picked up Ava and hugged her in my arms. "Evie, what's going on?" She asked, so softly I could tell she didn't sleep much last night. "Listen to me Ava, I want to you walk to the left for me. I'll be right behind you. And if you don't see me, just remember that I'm right behind you. Always." I gave her a kiss on the cheek. "I love you so much ok?" I could see her nod her head as I put her down and sent her to the left. The tears weren't in my eyes now, but streaming down my face. I walked to the right, surrounded by other women, not a child to be seen. I walked towards the cold, gray sun, not knowing that my family was going to die, or that I wouldn't eat enough, or that my will to keep going to drop the moment I heard that they were dead. But I kept walking. I walked into a gray building, just a cube with no windows, just one door. The lights were a more blue lighting, with the buzz of machines swirling in my brain. Women in lab coats were huddled around holograms, comparing data and test results. It hit me even harder than I had before. The reality I was in. We were with the Surg, the people who wanted to destroy us for what we were, and use us for what we have. I then knew where my family was. My brothers and sister, the only things I had left, were going to be killed, more numbers to a group. I'd never see them ever again. I have never felt my body collapse faster. I almost couldn't keep walking, but the shoves to move came from behind me. I walked through an assembly line. My chip was scanned, my body examined. I didn't answer their questions, but it's not like I needed to. They had my life the moment that scanned me. I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my wrist. I looked down to see that they were removing my chip. They just took my identity. I wasn't anything anymore. I was shoved along until they told me my job. "Housemaid" the woman said so coldly. As she handed me my uniform, I looked around to see my kind everywhere. They all had lost the color in their once golden eyes. Some were getting blood tested for nutritional value. Others were dying. I saw one already in the chamber. His body was so blue that you could tell he was almost gone. We met eyes for what felt like forever. I could see him mouth "Enrimae" which on our planet means "peace be with you." I mouthed back "Onrimo" which means "May you be in good hands." He gave me a quick smile before his body started to slink over. He was gone. I quickly grabbed my uniform and walked over to the changing room. I don't think I could stand to see what they did with him. The uniform was simple. A dress going to the middle of my shin that was a thick gray material. It was longed sleeved. I grabbed the belt that I was given and used it to cinch my waist.  I looked at myself in the mirror on the wall. My hair wasn't as curly anymore, but flat. You could tell I hadn't slept in a while because of the bags under my eyes. I looked unlike myself. It wasn't me. I continued walking in line, filled with girls who looked like me. They sat down in an old wooden chair, one by one, and had their hair chopped off by this giant of a woman. She looked around 6'5", but the way she peered down at you made her even bigger. I could see some of the girls silently praying, or tears swelling up in their golden eyes.  I could feel the lump in my throat the moment I sat in the chair, and my heart plummeted the first time I heard her cut my hair. Over and over again, until she had to tell me to get up because my legs had given out. She said it again, but I couldn't think. Next thing I knew, I was on the floor, being kicked in front of a group of horrified looking girls. All I could see through my clouded eyes was the man in the chamber. The man that could be me. I tasted metal in my mouth, and felt the warm blood flow from the corners of my mouth. Was this it? What else was there?  I opened by eyes to see that the woman had stopped, and had gone back to cutting hair. I started to stand up. Not because I wanted to, or for myself. But because i had to find Aharon and Adam. They need me. I followed the rest of the girls in the line, with some of their eyes wandering onto me, but I didn't care. We walked out into a snow filled yard, filled with Surg and others alike. I saw my people being enslaved, I saw purple Naikas being marched in lines, their heads down low, and I saw people I had never known existed. I saw the universe full of beings, all at the hands of monsters. They are monsters in uniforms.