Isolation

Prologue

Thirteen years ago...

It was his first day of school. His father was excited to get him started on his training, and it made Mark also excited. His babysitter was fun and all, but he was ready to go to school and make new friends. Ella the elephant on the big TV had lots of friends. He wanted them, too.

"Are you ready for your first day?" His father asked him.

He was helping him get dressed. The children were not assigned military-grade armor until they were thirteen. He didn't mind it. He liked wearing the comfy clothes he had. They felt like pajamas.

"Yeah," he said, biting his finger.

After getting completely dressed, his father had the computer deliver their breakfast. It was heated within a minute and served to them at the dining room table. The walls were bright like it was broad daylight. The illusion was mesmerizing to Mark. He had never seen the sun or Earth, but it was something he always saw in books and shows. He wanted to find the sun one day and just stare at it. He was told not to do that, but he didn't understand why. It was just a ball of light. Staring at the hallway lights didn't bother him. Neither would the sun.

"Listen," his father said.

They had finished their breakfast and were ready to go out the door. His father knelt to his level so they could speak eye to eye.

"Whatever you see today is going to be scary," he said. "Just remember that it's good. Fear is okay. Fear keeps us alive. Fear is why we are still here. It's what you do about it that will either save you or... kill you."

"I want to go to school!" Mark pouted.

"You're going to school. I just want you to be ready. You're going to see some scary things."

"Can we go now?"

He chuckled. "Of course we can. Nothing fazes you, does it?"

"Nope!"

They went out the door. Mark didn't know the way to school himself. It was too many winding corridors and too many people to move around. Lots of them would wave at him and nod at his father. The only thing he remembered about the school was the giant oak tree in the courtyard. It was too big to climb, but he wanted to build a treehouse in it one day. He would call himself king of the forest. It might be only one tree, but that didn't matter. He felt a nuzzle, and the large, black fur rubbed against his face. Mark rubbed Bear's head gently. The black wolf was always gentle with him, so he didn't want to hurt him. He only had a few years left. He was getting old.

"Can Bear come with me to school?"

"Sorry, champ. Bear has to go with me today. Maybe another day."

"Aww..."

The base around the tree was littered with acorns that had fallen overnight. People came by to collect them every day to grow more in other parts of the colony. He couldn't wait to have more trees to rule over.

"This is where I leave," Mark's dad said. "I have to go to work."

Mark didn't like that. He thought his dad was going to stay with him all day.

"No! Don't go!" He begged.

"It's okay, champ. You got this."

"No, I don't! I want to stay with you!"

Jason shook his head. He should have known it wasn't going to be that easy.

"Look. I have cameras all over the school," he said. "I'll be watching you all day. You can just pretend I'm with you the whole time. Can you play pretend today?"