Lost World

Sabaku

I'm at the old, dusty car workshop, modifying a jeep that we found stuck in the dunes. It's nothing much, but since the last conflict with the Nettaiurin tribe, we've been running low on everything, especially food, so all the help counts.

The old radio tries to do its job, but fails miserably, so all you hear is cuts in the music. Since the Collision happened, all modern technologies, and much of the old ones too, stopped working.

The climate has changed in all regions, cities have been evaded by sandstorms, and the chemicals released by the comet have created mutant animals, viruses, plagues, and the strange possibility of having tropical forests with huge trees and weird creatures next to completely arid deserts.

I am welding a protective layer onto the outside of the jeep when someone turns off the radio and calls me.

'Maeve.'–it's my brother's voice.–'Father is calling you.'–he says with that serious sixteen-year-old boy voice who thinks he is tough and knows it all. I sigh and wipe the oil from my hands and the sweat from my body with the cloth that was hanging from my hip. If there's one thing I hate about the desert, it's the temperatures. I let my hair down and my curls fall over my face.

'Do you think it's something important?'- I ask as I go to drink from my canteen, but realize it's empty. My father is the chief of our tribe: Sabaku; and I, as the eldest daughter, have the obligation to take the throne when the time comes.

'Well, he seemed worried.'

He shrugs and I leave the workshop, with him by my side.

'Liam, father always seems worried.'

We both smile and I lock the garage. We are walking down the sand-covered street and people are moving back and forth, hurried as always. I hear a familiar laugh and barely have time to react before catching something that was thrown in my direction. I grab the apple with agility and stroke the hair of the boy in front of me.

'Where did you steal this from, Ravi?'-I ask with a smile on my face. Anyone who looks at this little boy sees a happy ten year old , not someone who has lost both his parents and runs the streets looking for food. 

'Why do you always think I'm stealing?!'-he shouts, hugging my leg.

I take a few coins out of my pocket and give it to him. -'Get some food for you and your sister. Oh and talk to Marcus when you can, he'll let you both sleep in the warrior's dormitory.'- I smile to him and run my fingers trough his hair.

We see an angry man at the end of the street shouting "thief!". Ravi says goodbye with a loud laugh and runs through the shortcuts he already knows as if they were the palm of his hand. Liam rolls his eyes and smiles. 

'He is still going to get into trouble'- he says, pulling down the stairs of the building we live in. The upper floor is reserved for meeting and war rooms, but the others are up to us. We go up a few floors and I see the door to my father's room and, as always, Marcus in front of it. 

He is about my age, a year older. His hair used to be light brown but now its a dirty blond, probably because of the exposure to the bright sun. We're friends for as long as I can remember.

 He smiles at me and I return it.-'Are you gonna take too long to let me pass?'- I joke, and he looks me up and down with a sly smile.

'The princess needs to have everything when she wants it and how she wants it, right?' - he replies in the same tone and licks his lips -' Can you two cut the bullshit? It disgusts me.' - Liam rolls his eyes and pushes Marcus away from the door, opening it without even knocking first.

I take a deep breath and murmur a "jerk" that makes Marcus smile. I enter the room and close the door behind me, greeting my father. 

'Maeve, we need to talk. As you know, we have suffered many losses since the last conflict. They destroyed our crops and cut off the connection to the main river... - he looks out the window, worried - I don't know how long we can manage without water or food, but I don't bet on much. I need you to go to the forest to get seeds and fertile soil...'

Living in the desert is not easy. Most plants can't adapt, animals are few, and water is almost nonexistent... That's why we have underground crops and have developed pipes that can transport water from the underground water sheets to the whole village. But all of that was destroyed by those animals! We can make the pipes run again but the crops have to be rebuilt from zero...

'I leave at dawn.'-I say seriously, going straight to the point.

'I'm going to!'-Liam shouts, clearly irritated. 

'We've already talked about this, Liam! You are too young to cross the border.-our father says and steps closer to him. 

'Ah, I am, but Maeve has been crossing the border since she was fourteen! What sense does that make?! You think I'm weak!'-our father turns his back and ignores him.-'This started when mom died! You think I'm like her! That I'll die like her!' I feel chills down my spine and grab my necklace, the last thing I have left of my mother. 

'Your mother didn't die, she was killed. I don't care what you think or how you feel about my reasons for not letting you go. You are not crossing that border Liam!'-dad yells and the guards in the room pretend not to shiver.

Liam storms out of the room, not saying another word, and slams the door so hard the whole room shakes. I go to my father and hug him as a goodbye. We talk a little more, but I leave the room myself, as the climate weighed on my shoulders. 

'Tough conversation?'- Marcus asks, keeping his guard stance.

'Just Liam being Liam,'-I shrug. 'If I were in his shoes, I'd do the same. But well, see you in a week.'-I smile and start to walk away, but he grabs my arm and pulls me toward him. 

'I don't want you to get hurt...'-he tells me with a nervous expression.-'Be careful, Maeve.' 

'Relax, it's just an expedition like all the others, nothing's gonna to happen to me.'- He touches my scar with his thumb. We both know how I got it... It goes from the lower part of my chin, across my neck, then over my chest, and ends on my abdomen.

'When he did this to you, it was supposed to be just an expedition too...'

'Hey, I'm not a wallflower.'-I clench my jaw. Marcus is a sweetheart, but he underestimates me. And I don't like being underestimated.-'I'm one of the tribe's strongest fighters and the heir to the throne. If I say I can handle it, I can handle it.'-I turn my back to him and head to my room, not looking back. 

I begin to prepare everything: backpack with supplies, containers to store seeds, and the canteen. I grab my knives and hide one on my ankle, one on each wrist, and a few on my hip. I put on my mask and hood. There are several reasons to wear them. Firstly, we go through a lot of sandstorms so we need the masks to see and breathe. Another reason is to avoid being recognized by enemy tribes. 

I told my father I'd leave at dawn, but if I make the journey at night, I save time when I get there. I go to the stables, where we keep our Smilodon. We still don't know exactly what they are, but the radiation affected some desert animal, and now we have something like a saber-tooth, but bigger and faster. Perfect for riding. I pet Nala and give her a steak from a gazelle I hunted yesterday. I hear a noise and see that the door of Diesel's compartment, my brother's Smilodon, is open. I mount Nala once I understand what's happening and leave the stable. 

'You could've warned me that you were coming.' -I smile as I throw one of my knives at my brother, who was already riding Diesel. 

'Where would be the fun in that?'-he smiles.-'Are you ready?'

'I'm the one to ask that. Try to keep up little brother.'-I laugh and make two clicks with my tongue, signaling Nala to start running. I hear my brother coming right behind me; it's going to be a long ride.