Marked

5

The grass outside the fence feels weird. Stiff and dry but still green. When you rip it up from the ground it doesn't bring any roots with it. Even the dirt is strange. It's like fine powder, not clumpy like the dirt at home.

I am sitting against the gate of the fence, leaning against it and trying not to sob. I don't know how much time has past. I don't even know if I'm alive. I pinch myself to make sure. It hurts when I do pinch my arm.

The metal against the back of my head is cold. I can still hear the people on the other side with their families. I can't hear my mother. She must have been dragged away from the gate by representatives. Probably brought back to my father to comfort her. Pepper probably doesn't even understand what has happened, asking my parents where I am.

I close my eyes. I don't know what I did wrong. Why does this even matter? I open my eyes again then stare down at the symbol on my arm. The part of my skin that determined so I am now banished to the Outlands. I want to scream. I want to hit something. I want to die.

A twig snaps and my head whirls around in any and every direction to find the source. Over by a clump of trees, a shaded figure stands behind one. I scramble to stand up and pick up the closest thing to me, which happens to be a rock. The figure moves slightly forward and I throw the rock as hard as I can, hitting the figure in the stomach. The person groans and falls to the ground. I run towards the trees. I pick up a large fallen stick and run towards the figure.

The person still lays on the ground, groaning in pain. I didn't hit them that hard, did I? The person is wearing a jacket with the hood pulled over their head. Their jeans are the right length but practically in tatters at the bottom and the shoes are filthy.

"Umm..." I fail to say anything helpful, I just grip the thick stick so hard I feel the barks patterns ingrain itself into my palms and aim it at the person. They pick themselves off of the ground and turn around, yanking the hood off of their head.

The figure is a boy, about nineteen or maybe twenty. His slick black hair is tousled from the hood and sticking up in all different places, his blue eyes so bright they're like fire. His tan skin is red from blood rush.

"Why the heck was that necessary, may I ask?" He says, his eyebrows furrowed into a frown, anger slapped upon his face.

"Well do you blame me? You were lurking in the shadows of the trees! I was freaked out okay?" I say. I suddenly realize that this shouldn't even be happening.

"Wait. Wait wait wait wait! How are you alive? No one... no one or anything has ever been spotted outside the fence alive! How! You should be dead, I should be dead! We should both be dead!" I scream, whirling my stick around frantically. I nearly hit the boy in the head.

"Hey! Watch out! Be careful and calm down." He says, ducking out of the way.

"How in the world am I supposed to calm down when you and me both should be dead!? Can you answer that question? Why aren't you dead?!" I say. I throw the stick over his head a good sixty feet. The stick hits a tree and breaks in half. I gape at the stick. Then I gape at my hands. The boy just smirks.

"How... how could I do that? What?" I look over at his smirking face. I point a finger at him. "You! You know why I could do that! What's going on?" He walks over to me and grabs me by the shoulders. He shakes me and the world goes blurry.

"You gotta calm down. I won't tell you anything unless you calm down." He commands. "Understand?" I nod.

"I was sent to pick you up. Okay?" He says and I nod again. He nods and grabs my arm. I'm about to ask what he is doing when he looks at my forearm. He frowns at the symbol, a confused look on his face.

"This is your real injection symbol?" He says. I scowl at him and snatch my arm away.

"Of course it is. Why else would I be out here in this death trap of a place?" I snap. His eyes widen in the slightest then grabs my arm and proceeds to drag me out of the trees, away from the city.

"What are you doing?" I ask frantically.

"Taking you somewhere where we won't be eaten alive." He says nonchalantly. I feel like I'm going to throw up. A stranger is taking me somewhere where I don't know but it's supposedly supposed to keep me from being eaten alive. Great.

~~~~

After fifteen minutes of walking, I've learned that questions won't make him talk. Nothing will make this boy say anything.

"May I know your name?" He says, startling me. It's been quiet for a while besides the sounds of our footsteps and a few snapping branches.

"May I know yours?" I counter. He sighs.

"It's Levi. Now go on. Tell me yours." He says.

"Aeryn." I say. He stops then walks towards what looks like a giant forest. I jog to keep up with his long strides. Levi walks faster until we reach a open area. I gasp at the sight.

This place is filled with people and buildings of all kinds. Surrounding this place is many logs strung together like platforms, multiple put out strategically in different places. The people wander around, chatting and laughing with others. At least fifty people are out, who knows how many are in the buildings.

I gape at everyone and everything. How does this civilization even exist? There aren't supposed to be any signs of life, right? All logic goes out the window when I see someone fly past me. Literally. The person stops and I see a young girl with wild blonde curls hovering above the ground, zipping from person to person. She flies by and waves to Levi. Despite her young appearance, she too has a injection symbol. Some sort of star, the color of roses.

"What... how is she... was she just...what?" I stutter. Levi's just laughs. Then he also starts to hover, flying in a circle. He picks me up by my hand, the ground leaving my feet. I don't dare look down, even though I do it anyway. I scream as Levi laughs again.

"How?! And put me down!" I screech. The buildings grow smaller along with the people. He rockets towards a bigger building as I cling onto his hand for dear life. He lowers me down and I fall on the ground. I turn my head to glare at him.

"Can I have an explanation for the impossible please?" I say. He laughs again.

"The only explanation I can give you won't make sense." He says, leaning against the wall of the building.

"I don't care even if it's in another language! I want an explanation!" I say. A smirk creeps it's way onto Levi's face, making his eyes glint with amusement.

"Okay. Here's you explanation." He says, opening the door of the building. "Welcome to the Homestead."