Hidden

Chapter 1

I blinked open my eyes, slowly, and sleepily pulled an eyelash out of my eye. A dim and dusty light peered through the windows of the old abandoned cabin. I shifted a bit in my bed, I kicked off the thick sheets, layered in tiny specks of dust, and sat up right.

My long brown hair was a tangled mess from a whole day of gathering and hunting yesterday in the woods. I planted my feet on the old wood floor and stood up. The wood was a bit splintered, probably from its years of use, luckily it wasn't rotted. The sun was starting to rise, I could see the striking colors barely through the window and over the trees. Slowly and quietly, I walked to the window and placed three fingers on the cold glass, no snow, good.

It was late fall and the Canadian snow showed no mercy for anyone. It coated the woods in a thick blanket of white. The wolves, usually starved and thin, would come to the cabin to look for food, there is one gun we found in the cabin. I keep it by the door, just in case. Finding good game can be hard, the deer are thin and it can be hard to chase in the snow. So far, I haven't lost any family members I was left to raise. You can say I have survival skills, but let me tell you, it wasn't always like this, I wasn't always prepared. The first year after my mom and dad died, I was left to raise my two younger sisters, Sophie and Sarah, and my younger brother, Jake. Sarah is 14, Sophie is 15, Jake is 13, and I am 17.

War raged across the world, and it has for 20 years. The Alliance was made up of Canada, The United States, Australia, England, France, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, and Portugal.

The enemy force was known as the Overtakers, creepy name right? It was made by the sick minded man who made the force, and started the war.

His name was Jacob Hudson, don't be fooled, it seems normal, but trust me, he is deadly and insane. He was part of the British parliament before he had a disagreement with someone and freaked out. He left England and went to Russia to discuss an alliance with him and the few followers that also left with him. And you can imagine, the Russian officials said yes and the Overtakers were formed. Soon to join them would be Japan, China, a few South American countries I couldn't remember, a few African countries, Austria, Germany, Syria, and Belgium (by force).

The other countries not on a side were called neutral countries, it was nobody's land and everybody's land.

After England found out about Hudson, they started to attack and get allies, and then that lead up to today.

I sighed and placed my forehead on the window, I stared at the floor for a minute then decided to get changed. I was pretty much restricted to the 5 outfits I had, but could you blame me? It's not like I could walk miles and miles to the nearest Walmart? And it's world war 3! I would be sent to the orphanage with my siblings (or worse, with my aunt!), I also have no money. Anyways, I changed into a pair of jeans and a black and white sweatshirt. I put on some socks and my brown hunting boots. My bow leaned against the post of my bed. I grabbed the bow and some arrows, went down stairs,  and walked to the door. I put on my hood and took in a deep breath to get focused.

"Emily?" I heard someone say softly and I turned around.

I saw Sophie lift her head and look at me. Her brown hair was up in a pony tail and her eyes were half open. She was standing at the bottom of the stairs.

"I'm going hunting, you're in charge", I say quickly and walk out the door without looking back.

The cold air was still and quiet. I could hear some birds up in the trees and squirrels scampering from branch to branch. The tress towered over me, pines, maples, oaks, basically, a lot of trees. I could hear leaves crunching below my feet, I had to be more quiet.

I crept forward and leaned against a tree trunk. I looked around, side to side, nothing. Then I heard crunching from behind me. I slowly turned, in fear it was a bear or wolf and instead saw a deer. Quietly munching on a bush at the base of a tree.