THE END

Chapter 1

"Come on Cecily, we have to hide!" Neil said. I could hear the bombs dropping, they were everywhere. The noise was so loud. I couldn't move.

A blast went off in the distance and I saw a mushroom cloud of smoke appear on the horizon, pulling me out of a trance. I took off after Neil and we ran and ran until my legs threatened to give out. Finally we found a trap door in the ground, probably the cellar of an old house from centuries ago. It doesn't matter.

We fling open the door and drop inside, only to find it almost completely caved in. We climb over some rocks and mounds of dirt bigger than me, and eventually found a small space open in the back. We crouched down in the corner and held each other tight.

"Neil." I said, once I got my breath back. "What if..."

"What is it?"

"What if one of these days we can't find a place to hide? What if one day there's nowhere to go? What if a bomb hits us, or one of Jupiter's helicopters comes and takes us?" I said. "What do we do?"

He paused and held me closer. "I don't know. We keep fighting I guess. We don't let them take us. We stay together at all costs; we can't get separated."

"But you know about the evacuation plan. You're scheduled to go to Jupiter in three days and I'm supposed to go to Saturn." I told him. "I don't want to lose you."

Suddenly a bomb went off directly overhead. I felt it shake the ground and the dirt mounds around us trembled, causing tiny little avalanches. Then the helicopters came. I could hear the chopping of the propellers and I imagined I could feel the wind through my hair. Neil put a finger to his lips, and I tried to quiet my breathing.

I held him tighter and heard footsteps overhead. They were coming. The trap door opened and the area got lighter. We simultaneously ducked down farther into the corner, hoping the rocks and mounds of dirt would be enough to conceal us. A man in a white, full body swat suit drops down and shines a flashlight over the room.

The light almost hits us and I close my eyes, glad to be wearing black. I send up a silent prayer that we won't be found. Neil holds me tighter and sucks in a tiny breath as the light passes right over our corner. "I don't think anyone's here." The man calls out in a gruff voice. He starts climbing back up to the trap door, and soon I hear it close behind him. The propellers start again and the helicopters take off.

I hear another bomb in the distance and let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding. I give Neil a questioning look and he whispers, "I think it's safe now."

"That was way too close." I said as I stood up, brushing the dirt off my pants. "We've got to be more careful."

"I just wish all this would end." Neil said, giving me a boost up to the trap door. This was a routine for us, hiding by day and scavenging by night. The sun was setting soon, it would be time to hunt for supplies again. "The fighting, the hunting, scavenging, I mean... we're living like runaways. Like some kind of low life. Sometimes I wish Jupiter would just win already, if only so that all this ended."

"Don't think like that. We've got to beat them. The officers know what they're doing. They'll solve all this soon enough."

"I wouldn't put so much faith in them." Was all Neil said, and then we were running again. By now the sun had set, and as we ran I had time to think. Our feet fell in rhythm as we sprinted in no particular direction, and my mind wandered.

The officers are the rulers, in a way. There are ten officers per planet, making a total of fifty, and they work together to decide what's best for all the planets, and how to keep the human race alive. There are about 2000 people on each planet, about 10,000 humans left all together.

But Jupiter is rebelling against the officers and the other planets, so now there's really only forty officers. And with Venus and Earth, where we are, being evacuated, there will only be 20 officers and three planets. Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. Scientists are working on Uranus, but Neptune and Pluto will never be habitable.

The human race is going down fast. If Jupiter keeps up this bombing there won't be anything left. Not even them.

The sky has turned dark but I can't see any stars; I haven't been able to in years. The sky is so polluted that the only thing above us is an ocean of black. I remember when I was little, maybe only five years old, I was fascinated by the stars. I couldn't even fathom how many were out there, and it made no sense to me that they were so far away.

But now there's no time to look at the sky, even if I could see the stars. We're too busy. Every day is spent making preparations and every night is spent gathering supplies. We rarely sleep. Neil and I have been living like this for about two years, ever since a bomb killed my family. His family was taken to Jupiter when we were 13. Now we're around 17. I've lost track of the days.

We break into an old house that's been uninhabited for years, like we do nearly every night, and see if there's anything worth taking. We find a few canned goods that may or may not be expired, and some boxes of stale granola bars. I stuff them in my duffle and we keep moving. We do this all night, moving from house to house.

By dawn we have the canned goods and granola bars, a few candles, some plastic dishes to eat off of, some powdered milk that the astronauts use, and a utility belt that Neil wears, filled with various tools and items of importance.

We then make our way to a bridge, where we camp out underneath and try to stay hidden from sight. We each have a duffle bag filled with supplies, which we dump and divvy up equally. We add water to the powdered milk and eat a couple stale granola bars for breakfast. Then we take out the one small blanket we share between us and us our duffle bags as pillows.

We try to nap for a while but I can't get the sound of the bombs out of my head. Finally I drift off, only to have a nightmare. The same one that I've had for months.

I'm back in my home from a couple years ago, the black curtains drawn over the windows and the doors locked and bolted shut. All the lights are off and we hide under the dining room table as the bombs drop outside.

We stay as silent as possible, me and my parents, trying to make it through the night unnoticed. Suddenly there's a sharp knocking on the door. "It's just me."  My uncle says. "I have a new hiding spot." My dad stands up and walks to the door, his brown hair falling in his eyes. My mom follows him, leaving me under the table.

My father opens the door a crack and my uncle says, "Follow me! I know of a better place to hide."

"Come on, Cecily!" My mother says, taking my dad's hand. I stand up and begin to follow them. They race outside and duck under some trees. They pause, waiting for me, but I can't move. I see the bomb before they do. They race under a bridge, shielded by the gray cement. "No!" I call out, but it's too late.

The bomb lands directly on the bridge.