1 Chapter 1

Names are just labels given to us at birth. And a Label is just a word with a definition of smaller words. But what if a Name was more than just a word? What if it was some kind of prophecy? Like it determines your future, your babies future. Would people think more carefully on choosing a name? Or would it drive them crazy with power? Well, this is the world we live in. Corrupt Government, check. Death Penalties, check. Rebellion, check. Just your typical post-apocalyptic story.

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Everything was black. My body felt heavy and unmoving. As if it was made of lead. It felt as though my back was pressed on a hard metal table, the room around me silent and my eyes glued shut. I could not move. I could not speak. Nothing. Nothing except for the warmth by my feet, warmth - no, not warm but - but - but BURNING! My feet are BURNING! Flames encasing my toes and BURNING ME! I WAS ON FIRE! But I could not speak! I felt the screams as the flames consumed my legs and dug it's claws into my hips. I desperately needed to scream or run but I was glued to the table beneath me and oh my, I was on FIRE! But nothing compared to the smoke filling my lungs and the dagger stabbing my heart as the flames climbed my neck and strangled me. I could not breathe but yet I was alive though it felt I should be dead.

But I was not dead. In pain and burning. My heart twisting with the knife. Tears would pour out of my eyes if they would only open. But instead of water coming out, water poured down my throat and choked me further. I was drowning and burning and being stabbed all at the same time and I could not wait for death.

But it never came.

Instead, air surged through my lungs, filling them completely. Light burned my eyes as the flew open, my body flying up with them. The room swirled in and out of focus, white noise screeching in my ears. Dizzy, I shut my eyes again, breathing and out, steadying my rapid heart rate. I breathed out, my eyes gently opening this time, managing to focus on the freckles on my pale forearm only to spot a tube sticking out of it, attached to a beeping machine on my left. Looking past the machine was another bed, only now did I notice the grey sheets of that one and the starch white ones of my own. Above the other bed hung rows of fairy lights but nothing hung above mine. My head swirled, only now did it hit me I had no idea where I was... or who I was. My attention turned to the foot of my bed, my eyes catching sight of a mirror attached to the wardrobe. I swallowed and then winced as I pulled the tube out of my arm, crawling across the bed to meet my chocolatey eyes, my fingers pushing the ringlets of ginger hair out of my face to look at the freckles on my face. A smooth finger ran across own soft, plump lips; I felt like I was seeing myself for the first time but how could that be? My hands grabbed at the wardrobe door, pulling it open to reveal t-shirts, leggings, vest tops and jeans. I looked at myself, seeing the hospital gown clinging to my body and swapping it for an Olive t-shirt and blue jeans.

A door sat on the wall with the wardrobes, in between the beds. My fingertips caressed the round door handle, wondering whether to turn it or not, again my heart beat a little louder; who knew what waited for me behind the white door? Still, I couldn't wait in here forever. Swallowing my fears, I opened the door. Light streamed in through windows to my left, a glass bannister separating myself and the windows stretching two stories high. Water trickled from a fountain surrounded by flowers, which sat in the centre of the entry room below. Straight ahead was another white door as well as another halfway down the corridor on my right. Luckily the floorboards didn't creak as my feet treaded lightly across the corridor to be greeted by two staircases at either side of the door at the end of the corridor, one on my right spiralling upwards and one on the left leading down into the entry way. I stood there for a moment, pushing ringlets of hair behind my ear as I listened: silence upstairs, chatter downstairs coming from a room under mine.

Another breath in as I crept down the stairs, praying nobody came through the front door opposite. I reached the entry room, peering through a glass door just at the bottom of the stairs, leading to a room on the western side. It was empty of people but I could see a bookcase at the front and a sofa in the centre of the far wall, facing a TV and in between them sat a ping pong table. In the far right corner say a small table and chairs around it. The room was clear for now. I turned around, walking past the fountain, catching a glance of a pool and miles of forest through the glass back door.

The chatter got louder as I approached the final door. I breathed in deep, preparing myself for whatever awaited me as I pulled it open...

The conversation quickly died down and a girl with dark black hair stared at me with deep blue eyes from behind a breakfast bar, counters forming an L shape along the eastern wall and the centre of the kitchen, acting as a separation to the glass dining table, which sat central in the back half of this room. Another two girls sat around it, one with messy dirty blonde bob and dirt brown eyes facing me. The other sat opposite, her hair bright blonde with a slight wave, her hazel eyes turned round to meet mine, showing her complexion and facial features to be similar to the black haired girl. The girl in the kitchen looked me up and down, I could feel her deep blue eyes pulling me in; they swirled like a deep ocean.

The girl with dirt blonde hair spoke first, her skin a warm fawn colour, Her voice was calm, "I see you've finally woken up." She stated, "In case you're wondering, I'm your roomie. My name's Lian." She had a calming presence and dressed simplistically in grey jogging bottoms with a green t-shirt over a darker grey long sleeved top.

The girl with bright blonde locks turned to smile at me, she was the opposite of the two girls, her makeup was colourful to match her clothes, pink and feminine, yet bold and slightly seductive. She dressed in skin coloured knee-high socks, with a short black skirt that had white flowers patterned on it and a green ribbed t-shirt that was low cut and revealed cleavage, "I'm Mina," she introduced, a slight Spanish twang to her accent, "I know it can be scary at first, but you'll get used to it, I promise. Besides, you have us to help you." She smiles warmly, and then she pointed to the other girl, jokingly, "Even Mari isn't that bad once you get to know her."

My eyes turned back to the girl behind the breakfast bar, she sighed at Mina's comment, rolling her eyes. She seemed moody and slightly bitter but I could feel a warmth inside her. She looked at me and then at the others, "Well, as nice as this is," she begun to walk round the breakfast bar,"I need to train." Her shoulder grazed mine as she pushed the door open, "Laters." She was gone, but I swear a felt her Ivey touch clung to my shoulder, her coldness seeping through my t-shirt sleeve to my flesh and bone.

Mina's chair scraped across the floor, bringing my attention back to the girls, as she pushed it out further, swinging her legs to her left so that she was sitting sidewards in between myself and Lian. She smiled at me, sounding a little awkward at the silence, "So, do you have a name?"

I shook my head. I couldn't remember what my own name was? I had no idea how I got here, where he is or who I even am - my head swirled but my body remained still.

Mina nodded, her voice soft, "It's okay. It'll come to you soon."

I nodded, sinking into the silence. The room was filled with it. I didn't fit in here, I didn't know these people and by the looks things, I was now stuck with them. Wherever this place is, I'm stuck here. My head swirled again, but my feet remained glued to the wooden floor, holding my body still as a statue.

The sound of a truck pulling up outside caught my attention, my eyes turning to look out the kitchen window, seeing the army jeep outside. My eyes darted back to the girls, the pulses in my body channeling blood and adrenaline through my body, hairs standing up slightly and my muscles preparing to act. Lian got to her feet, a slight light in her white eyes, "That'll be the boys." She stated, her tone slightly husky.

Lilah's cheeks blushed slightly as she eagerly got to her feet, she then looked at me, "They're here for you." She half-skipped up to me, taking my hand in hers, her skin soft and gentle like the rest of her exterior.

The engine shut off as the sun hit my skin, wheel tracks in the thick desert sand. A cluster of eight buildings, like the one belonging me, gathered around a singular cul-de-sac, mine at the tip. And beyond the cul-de-sac, sand stretched for miles and miles, nothing but a distant small tower in sight. I was in the middle of nowhere. Alone, except for the strangers looking at me. A boy with curly black hair jumped out of the passenger seat, his dark muscles catching the sunlight along with dog tag around his neck and single stud on his right ear, He walked up to me, smiling with a flirtatious glint in his dark eyes. "Newbie, huh?"

I didn't say anything, I just stared. He was not the only military man present, looking around many men dressed in uniform patrolled the small, lonely street and around five, including the boy before me, occupied the jeep.