Over Again

Chapter One - December 31, 2063.

-Elinor-

I keep my eyes on the clock, waiting for it to hit zero. This is a big event - midnight on the last day of The Slow Year.

The whole town of Astrakhan seemed to be gathered in the town hall, and even some people from other nearby villages. The Geffin family sat towards the front of the hall nearer the clock, away from us 'peasants'. Krist, one of their children who is around the same age as me, turns back to face my family. "Such a shame poor Alexander couldn't be here with you. I wonder if he's celebrating with his kidnappers. I mean, he hasn't escaped yet. He either really likes them or really hates you."

Henry stands up quickly and starts storming over. I expect he would've punched Krist's face in if Quinn hadn't held him back. It was the first time I'd seen Henry in years, as he moved to the city when he turned eighteen, and never bothered to contact us.

The second hand finally moves again, and everyone turns at once. Seconds last for hours now, but that doesn't stop the excitement. Quinn sits back down next to me, ever the loyal twin, with Amelia and Charlotte laying in front of us. The four of us sit on the floor with the rest of the children, even though Amelia is 20 and should really get a chair, like our mother and Henry do. Eliza, of course, is nowhere to be seen. Probably out back with her friends, getting into trouble, taking a few drugs to last them until the end.

After what feels like a lifetime, the clock ticks. Everything is still for a moment, and then everyone in the room falls to the ground, dead.

Everyone except me.

Slowly people begin sitting back up and doing what they were doing a minute ago. Is this some kind of joke that no one told me about? But listening carefully I notice that my siblings are talking backwards. And Henry and Quinn get up unprovoked, the insults coming moments later. 

I pull my army jacket tight around me and stand up, making my way carefully to the door of the town hall. Turning back, I see a faint green shimmer where I was sat. A rift, I think to myself. An anomaly in the space-time continuum.

Because that's what I am now. An anomaly.

The late-comers almost crush me as they hurry backwards out of the hall. People I knew, living life in reverse, while I'm made to continue forwards. I walk around the side of the building, staying away from the crowd of 15-year-olds there that includes my youngest sibling.

I climb to the top of a tree on the edge of the village to get some space. I can't be the only survivor. There has to be more of us. Peering through the branches I can just see the bright lights of Lullin, capital of Arkaley. I have to head there.

I run back to my house to grab some supplies, being careful to take things only I had used. The granola bars I bought last week. My school water bottle. Everything I need for the journey to the city, packed into my school bag and slung over my shoulder.

I had my hair down for event, so as I leave I tie it up in a ponytail as usual. I finger a loose thread on my jacket, before stopping abruptly. This was Charles' jacket. The only thing we have left of him. If I take it, my family will have nothing.

I think about it for a moment, then do the jacket up. I have to keep it. He didn't die in the third war to save Arkaley just for me to get hypothermia. Not that I'm going to survive anyway. We learn in Chemistry that the air many years ago was made from different gases, so if I make it that far, I'll probably die anyway.

Can I die?

I mean, I'm supposed to be dead, but I'm not. I'm like a living zombie, or something.

Awesome.

I smile to myself as I begin walking down the side of the road. Since I can't hitch a ride, it should take me a week to reach Lullin. I'll be there just in time for Christmas.

It gets lighter as I walk, since I left just before midnight. Every now and then I turn around to see how far I've travelled. After about 12 hours, when the sun is high in the sky and my legs ache, Astrakhan is just a spot in the distance. "I'll be back," I whisper. After all, I have questions that need answering.