Dangerous Allies // Cato Hadley

Part 1: The Reaping

There weren't many times Eve could say she felt whole, but drifting across the waves in the warm morning sun was certainly one of them.

Her muscles rippled when she lowered her heavy anchor into the deep blue water below. Years of dragging it through the sand and waves made it feel light in her hands.

A puff of sand dispersed around the solid steel mass as it landed on the ocean floor. She steadied her breathing, watching the sand settle before plunging into the water's depths.

Her hair darkened in the waves as her legs worked hard to push her downward.

A few brave, or stupid, fish swam her way, curious of the strange creature invading their home.

She paid them little mind as she drew closer to her target.

The vibrant colors of the reef made her heart swell and a smile line her closed mouth. The last time she ventured into these waters, the colors were dim and the fish were scarce.

Harsh storms had ripped the coral from their roots, leaving a graveyard of mangled plants and white coral.

The gentle spring had given life back to the reef.

As Eve looked over the thriving ecosystem, she knew she was stalling. Today was the day of the reaping.

She thought about letting the ocean take her instead of leaving her life up to chance. Her name was in that glass ball more times than she could count.

If she didn't need to put her name in more than once she wouldn't. But for a lot of people it was the only way they could live comfortably.

Her lungs felt heavy as she thought about the people she had lost. Her parents were what some people called vigilantes.

In other words, they were sick of fearing for their child's life every year.

When the capital got word of the uprising they were planning, they moved fast. Faster than any of them could have imagined.

They came in the night when Eve was only nine. The distant waves did little to drown out her mother's screams as she was ripped from her bed.

The peacekeepers dragged Eve out of her peaceful dreams and into the dark streets where she was forced to watch as her parents' lives were taken away from her.

They were used as an example to those who wished to follow in their footsteps.

Eve held her parents' bloodied hands for hours as they laid stiff in the street.

Before dawn a strong pair of arms lifted her from the ground. Her hand was pulled from her mother's cold fingers and her feet battered against the stranger's stomach.

Her throat was raw from crying and she was barely able to pull the scream from her throat as she struggled against the stranger.

She never saw his face. Not when he tucked her back into bed, nor when he left fish outside her door.

Eve's lungs burned as her body screamed at her for air. It didn't matter if she wanted to end it there, she couldn't. Her body's will for survival surpassed her fear of the capital.

She broke the water's surface and gasped into the warm June air.

She climbed onto the wooden boat that belonged to her father and pulled the anchor up with a grunt.