Undesired Warfare

Chapter 1

"Byers." I look up. Slowly. Hair drenched in blood and sweat. The rough concrete under my knees makes a quiet scraping as I shift my body in an attempt to see the origin of the rumbling voice.

"State your crimes and you will be released." The sounds of the chain scraping at the floor make it easier for me to ignore the icy fear in my belly. I could swear they get tighter every moment. A warm, oozing sensation tells me that I am, once again, bleeding from their weight. If I could muster the strength to look down, I'm sure I would see the dark, sticky substance flowing from my wrists.

I know it's a lie. I know I'll never leave the inside of this arena ever again. The cold, wet concrete and the musty dirt walls will be the last thing my eyes will ever see.

***

"Evie! Evie come help me!"

I opened my heavy lids to look at my little brother in playing in the shores.

"Dex, what is it?"

"I cut my finger on a shell, Evie!"

I stood, stretched briefly, and walked down to him, towel in hand.

When I reach him, I see that his pointer finger has a small nick right at the very top. "Dex, you know you have to be careful down here! The shells can be dangerous," I scolded gently, holding his finger tightly within the towel.

"But they're so pretty! Look! It's purple!"

"Yes it is! It's very pretty. But even pretty things can be scary. Remember the story about the sirens? Their voices are pretty, but they can hurt you very badly."

"Pretty, pretty!" he screamed, splashing through the foam and picking up a cream shell. "This one is pretty too!" Seeing I'd already outlasted his short attention span, I followed him up along the sand a few paces, inspecting his shell with him.

"Ridges," he said quietly, pointing them out to me and taking my finger across them.

"Yes, ridges."

"I wanna go inside now!" he yelled, stamping his foot.

"Ask politely."

"Evie, pah-leeeeeease take me inside! It's hot!"

"Alright, Dexter. Dry off and we can go inside."

His bright, orange head bounced softly a few steps in front of me as he clumsily jogged back to the towels. Though I'd layered him in what seemed to be a full bottle of sunscreen, he appeared to have not quite escaped the clutches of the sun, which had painted him a soft, pink color. Looking at his small, defenseless form, I felt a tingle deep in my heart. I didn't quite realize it then, but it was a deep longing for the sun and the pretty purple shells to be the only things in this world that could ever hurt him.

As I stumbled slowly through the sand behind my little brother, I suddenly felt a more intense heat than even the hot day of the summer sun on my back. It was almost pleasant at first, growing more strongly until it was white hot.

I yelped and turned quickly to find Max giggling quietly beside me.

"Max! That HURT."

"Yes, my dear, however, as the saying goes, 'what doesn't kill you can only make you stronger.'"

"You're a real pain, you know that? I mean figuratively and literally. You are literally a giant pain."

"But don't you just love me, Evelyn? Wouldn't you just hate to live in this boring, drab, grey world without me?"

"I suppose I'll never have to find out because I seem to be stuck with you for eternity."

"That's a solid enough answer for me!" He laughed and ran ahead of me to where Dex was washing his feet in the cold hose water before coming inside. He scooped Dexter up and held him high above his head, swinging him around and throwing him up and catching him again. The unknowing Dexter looked panicked at first, and then began to scream giddily. His smile almost stretched all the way from one ear to the other. I would have been concerned had Max not done this a thousand and one times and eventually my protests began to be so drowned out by Dexter's enjoyment that I didn't even try anymore. Max had never dropped him, and I trusted him to never allow any harm to come Dexter's way. He loved him like a brother.

"Come on in, boys. We'll make sandwiches!" Max set Dexter down and patted him on the head.

"Donuts! We have donuts, Evie!"

"If you're good and eat a sandwich you can have a donut, Dex."

Dexter ran inside and sat at the table. Max stood by me and swept a piece of hair from my eyes.

"Your hair looks like gold out in this sun."

"A compliment from the great Maxwell? This is new... Be careful, I might get used to this."

"Shut up," he laughed, rolling his eyes and following me into the house.

"Ham or turkey?"

I got two ham responses so I opened the fridge and pulled out the small packages of cheese and ham. They were pre-sliced, so all I really had to do was layer them on bread, set them on a plate and voila: sandwiches.

I laid the three plates out around the small table and sat down. My muscles ached, either from the heat of the sun or from training yesterday. Or possibly a combination of both. I couldn't tell.

There was a knock at the door. I started to stand but Max beat me to the door. I remained at the table and listened to Dexter babble on about his day at the beach and all of the pretty shells he found.

"Evelyn... You may need to come see this." There was a slight sense of urgency in Max's voice. I stood very slowly, having wished this day would never come.

"Evie what is it?"

"Nothing, nothing!" I said with a small forced smile. "Eat your sandwich for a donut, okay, Dexter? Just eat your sandwich! Everything is okay."

I tread slowly to the door, where I found two men in formal ware. Max looked uneasy. He set his warm hand on my shoulder.

"Evelyn Byers?"

"Yes," I answered slowly, somewhat shakily.

"There has been a new development in the war. We need everyone."

"But Dexter-"

"You have seven days to make arrangements. If none can be made, we are willing to come up with some solution. This, unfortunately, is not an option. There is no decision to be made. We will be back in one week for both of you to report to boot camp."

The second, less severe looking man behind him looked at me sympathetically. "I'm sorry," he almost whispered. My soul left my body for just a moment. I looked at Max. I looked at myself, too shocked to react. I looked at the two men. Stern and unyielding. They spoke for a few more minutes to Max and stuffed some papers into his hands.

We've been drafted.