When Stars Fall From The Sky

By LaNona Walker

Perfect for fans of Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game, Stephanie Meyer's The Host, and The Giver.

In 2305 when stars are considered myths, other planets are being colonized, and alliances are made with other inhabitants of the galaxies. Mallory has been the outcast for as long as she can remember, search

• Language: English
• Publisher: LaNona Walker
• Release date: Dec 27, 2021
• ISBN: 9781733911252

Book preview

She could see her breath in the air right in front of her, with each exhale, a cloud formed. But that wasn’t what kept her legs and fingers frozen at her sides. It wasn’t what sent pricks of pain across her chest and ribs, where it ached from the inside out as if too cold.

In the dark cavern around her, there was no one.

Nothing else breathing, except her and yet she still couldn’t look away from the sight. The cold spread to the tips of her fingers, ensuring no movement could occur. Her chest constricted. It hurt more with every breath she took and let out.

The darkness enclosed her, but not even the foggy cloud her breath formed hid what was inches from her face.

The otherworldly and glinting eyes that stared back at her from the shadows.

A chilling sound between a laugh and a growl pierced her ears. She was standing at the entrance, the lighting was so bad that only darkness and those eyes greeted her. The world around her was as lost as ever.

A slithery voice whispered to her, ‘’Found you.’’

She pressed her shuddering lips together, she didn’t like whatever game this was. Whether she was dreaming or not, she couldn’t stop the reply from leaking out, ‘’I think I found you technically.’’ Her voice sounded cracked and like a whimper lost in a storm.

A tsking sound echoed around her, bouncing off the walls and ceiling of the old research facility. The voice seemed amused. Almost. ‘’You’re good at finding things, and things finding you, I see.’’

‘’I w-wouldn’t know,’’ she stuttered out, taking a half a step back.

It took on a sing-song note, ‘’No, but I do.’’

The voice sounded lovely and almost enchanting, if it wasn’t for the glint in the eyes looking back at her she would’ve thought it was someone rather nice. But there seemed to be an edge even in the voice. It reminded her of the wolves in human skin she usually saw and watched her mother bargain with.

It all ended just as quickly as it began. The darkness around them broke like shards of ice and glass mixed together. The pricks in her chest spread and spread, and it burned.

A horrible sound tore through the chaos around her as if it was tearing its way out of whatever held it in. A scream of terror and pain- coming from her throat.

Her eyes flashed open as she screamed again, being met with only white instead of a black abyss. She moved her head this way and that as her screaming quieted slightly. She was strapped to a stainless table and anything more than a few inches from her face was just a blurry blob.

Everything was so cold, and she opened her mouth to voice the thought.

Someone responded she heard something like a distorted yell that came from down a long long tunnel. It seemed like her vision was going down a long tunnel too, everything was going in and out. It felt like a weight on her chest wasn’t letting her breathe.

‘’Her arm!’’ A terrified sob rang to her ears,’’What happened to her arm?!"

Mallory’s gaze shot to the person who was crying, she couldn’t make out if it was even the person she was looking for. But she knew exactly who was crying. She was in-tuned to that voice and knew how to read it better than anyone. Bells went off in her ears, ringing, and signaling.

‘’HOLD HER DOWN!!!’’

‘’I’m trying! She’s jerking too much- I need help now!!’’

More screams.

She didn’t know who it was, but someone was shouting,’’ Do something!!’’

Her screams.

The ringing. The constant ringing wouldn’t stop.

It just wouldn’t stop. She tried begging and pleading even still though.

‘’I NEED HELP IN HERE NOW!!!!’’ Another voice yelled.

There was a distorted crashing sound, almost like something hurtling through glass and hitting the ground. When she tried to open her eyes again, it didn’t matter- everything was all blues and whites. Too blurry for her to make sense of anything around her at all.

But at least it wasn’t in a dark space with only those strange eyes to look back at her.

She didn’t know exactly where she was, but she wasn’t there at least. And frankly, that was more than she could’ve asked for.

She started off with a simple hum, but slowly the words came to her: ’’There's so many stars

In the night sky,

Yet, I only see you

So many bright stars,

And you're the most beautiful,

Do you see it too?

Oh, how can I be the only one

Who knows it?

Out of all the stars,

You're my twinkling wish.

You're a star,

My twinkling star,

My wish, every night.

How can you,

Not know it too?''

She was a sight as she laid on her back and drank in the ceiling above her head, or what was left of it anyway, blonde cascading hair sprawled out around her in a halo on old wooden floor with two-inch wide gaps missing. Eyes fixed upwards, on the masterpiece and it’s many swirls that she had started painting six years ago. Six years. And it still wasn’t complete in her eyes. It may never be finished, she thought as her eyes traced every line and swirl. It was how she imagined the night sky would look.

Or how it once might have looked anyways, with so many lights to illuminate the vastness of it all.

Billions or trillions of the little lights. With every color imaginable, and planets all in a line together. It wasn’t an accurate painting, she was sure, bit it was so realistic that she found herself staring up at it more often than not. Of course, she had added her own special details. Ones that no one would ever notice unless she pointed them out. She didn’t particularly have to worry about that, though.

''I see the stars,

As beautiful as ever,

And here I am-

So far away

From their welcoming embrace,

And I know, no other sees it.''

The song slowly turned into just humming the tune over again. She couldn’t even remember when she had first made up the lyrics, but it was definitely a taboo song regardless. The girl carefully got up from the hard ground, hearing her bones cracking from being still and stiff for so long. With the crumbling room being so closed off from the rest of the house’s structure it was usually unbelievably chilly and had at least one wild animal trying to nest once in a while. Not that she minded the animals, she saw it as they could share a sanctuary that no one else needed to know about. She only minded when they tried to climb on her or mess with her painting supplies.

But it didn’t look like there were any extra guests that night. Shivering a little as she made her way to the other side of the room, she glanced up at the sky that she could clearly see through the large cracks in the ceiling. Sadly, it didn’t make it anymore real to look at than when she’d first realized the sky was only a hologram with projected images.

A shield the Leaders came together to have built to protect the survivors over two hundred years ago. To help them forget the fear and tragedy they covered it with fake images of other planets, the sun, the moon, and even random lit up designs sometimes. They often changed the projections to give the people what they wanted- the shape of a butterfly or even words.

And every child learned at some point that these fake stars, these illusions, were the only safe ones.

Because the real stars didn’t exist, because the Leaders had strived for everyone to forget even the word for the lights that used to be in the sky. No one remembered that either though.

Turning away, the little blonde started to gather her supplies: a jar with a little bit of water, the different paint containers placed all about the room, and the jars holding all her many paintbrushes and sponges. She set them all in order on the decent-sized worn bookshelf. It’s wood frame held deep cracks stretching from the bottom to the top, and it’s once-dark-wood was so scratched and used it was a light brown now, except for the burnt spots that were far too charred. But it did it’s job well, holding her valuable tools for her until she could come again.

She had to treat each time in the tower-like-room as if it would be her last time there. Even if she was sure no one knew to find her there, that no one would think of it as a place of secrets- or even think of it at all. And that made her love it all the more. A crumbling room that wasn’t supposed to exist, not in the Leaders’ Cities.

The Leaders’ Cities were the safe place for humans. Where they once again forgot what the world used to be, and built things to protect the last of the race instead. They decided what happened and stayed in their Cities, and they made sure to monitor it all too. It only took one time being caught, it only took the wrong person seeing what the crumbling room held- and it’d all be gone. She supposed it was rather childish to still come to this place after all these years, but the way she looked at it there were worse things she could do. She could do much worse for someone with the nickname ‘’Unfortunate and Ill-fated Child’’.

Seeing as stars were the reason for all the destruction, being obsessed with them didn’t help her in the public view or in the Leaders’ eyes by any means. Her parents had tried to cover up anything to do with her for years, any little mention of her, but it had never worked.

The public knew about her, her bad omen nickname- given to her by the Jupites themselves, and about her love for the very things that had wiped most of the planet out. The public had a different opinion about her, everyone did, but her parents had worked hard to keep most things about her under wraps. However, they also had to attempt to prove she was normal.

It seemed to appease people, though it made no difference to her. Stars weren’t real anymore, they were feared, and gone without a trace. Just like so many other things on their planet.

She sometimes wondered if they would remember the fear or if they’d one day forget that too?

Glancing down at her stained hands and pants, the blonde girl bit back a small grin at how messy she looked. She was sure she would be quite a sight. She almost wanted to picture her parents when they saw her, but thought better of it very quickly. After double-checking that everything was put away and taken care of, she headed towards the sheet she’d hung over the entrance to act as a door. She’d had to nail it in place, but it did it’s job nonetheless.

Wait for another day, The girl hummed before she left her favorite safe place with her eyes shining- almost as if a star was held within them.

She kept her shoulders straight but with the appearance of relaxed, while looking around the office. She was sitting in one of the only two armchairs in the room, in the corner and directly in front of her mother’s desk. She didn’t mind because the chair was in arm’s reach of several bookshelves. It made it a bit easier to ignore the stinging antiseptic smell that always seemed to stay in the room. She tapped her fingers on the worn leather of the chair, in tune to a melody she couldn’t hear. She forced her fingers to stop when she thought there was a creak outside the door.

She kept waiting, casting a glance towards the shelves and calculating how many of the books she still needed to read. When no one still came in, she decided to just focus her on the fading color of her skirt and the spots where it still retained some of it’s original blue tones. Her eyes strayed straight to the closed door every time she heard the sound of someone just passing by.

She sighed, slumping against the back of the chair. The most empty part of the room seemed to be the other side of her mother’s desk, where a third armchair used to be. Her mother had it removed when she was eight, and she used to think the emptiness of the room was radiated from where it was supposed to be. Now the whole room radiated it that emptiness.

She could almost hear the ticking of a clock in her mind when the door to the office opened, and in strode her favorite person in the world.

Hudson, her bodyguard and best friend, was a large burly man with a deep frown set in his face. To others, he looked cold and intimidating, but not to her.

Though when she had first met him, she had presumed he had been one of the professional fighters that held secret fight shows in the Cities. She had bothered him with many questions- though he eventually became quite fond of her as well. As it turned out, he had not been one of the professional fighters that held shows. His profession was in fighting and being a guard, he’d informed her. His dark brownish-gold hair was trimmed, as was the beard that usually hid the lower part of his face. She could only see slight traces of exhaustion around his eyes, but otherwise he seemed fine.

Hudson mouthed one word to her,’’Ready?"

She nodded her head once, the action barely noticeable unless you were looking for it.

Hudson moved to stand next to her chair, his arms folded behind his back and face forward. His towering size next to her dwarf-like size. Though to be fair, she was sitting down.

‘’I didn’t know you were allowed in the meeting,’’ she whispered to him.

‘’Neither did I,’’ he whispered back without turning his head. ‘’I was just informed and immediately came here.’’

She bit back a grin. It was rare for him to be allowed in these meetings with her, and while it made her rather happy, she couldn’t help but feel a twinge of suspicion for why he was granted permission this time. Either way, it was hard to be as worried when she knew he would be beside her.

‘’Any last minute things I need to prepare for?" She whispered to him.

Hudson shook his head, ‘’I was sent a message on my disk, so I wasn’t able to get much about it.’’

She said nothing, looking to her mother’s desk as if it might have a hint about what she needed to brace herself for.

As always, it gave her nothing.

The door opened again, and in came her mother and her mother’s personal bodyguard. She didn’t move an inch as they took their spots. Max O’Conner was not only her mother’s bodyguard, but also the superior guard that all the others, including Hudson, had to report to.

Her mother folded her hands in her lap neatly, as she sat behind her desk. Her gaze went over everyone in the room in only a few nanoseconds, before refocusing on her daughter.

‘’Mallory,’’ she said towards the girl in the armchair,’’I trust you’re aware what day is coming up? Preparations need to be made.’’

Mallory wanted to slump in relief, but held back.‘’I’ve already gotten everything picked out,’’ she replied. ‘’The judges are still being decided though-’’

‘’No, it’s been decided as of this afternoon that one of the Leaders will be a judge.’’

Mallory couldn’t help looking to Hudson nervously for a brief second, he was good at not letting his surprise show. Facing her mother again, she chose to be silent. She couldn’t be sure which Leader it would be, and could guess it probably wouldn’t do her any good anyways.

Hudson spoke up,’’Should we consider increasing security and protocol?"

The woman sighed and waved the question away with her hand, ‘’If there’s a Leader on the premises, there’ll be enough protection. Not to mention it’s already an important enough day that it’ll be well supervised.’’

Then she already has the supervisors on her side, other wise she wouldn’t be so nonchalant, Mallory thought. Or is she that confident of who the Leader is that will be supervising?

‘’Do you know which Leader it will be?"

Her mother watched her carefully,’’As of this moment, it’s still being decided which Leader. Or if it’d be the best for all to attend.’’

Her eyes dropped to her mother’s hands, clasped tightly together on her desk, just in front of her. She had nothing to say.

‘’With that in mind, I know it’s already too late to completely change whatever presentation you already have been preparing. But you can prepare to adjust anything that you should now,’’ her mother finished.

The blonde girl nodded her head, ‘’I’ll have it prepared.’’

‘’Good,’’ the woman looked to Hudson, ‘’Mr. Marise you’re not allowed to help my daughter with the presentation, nor is anyone else, understand?"

‘’Yes, ma’am.’’

‘’No one is to be by her during it- except for the people in this room.’’ Her mother stated, ‘’Any questions can be directed to Max.’’

The said guard hadn’t moved from his spot since they’d walked in, nor had is facial expression- beyond cold and unreadable. Though his eyes flickered over to his boss after she was done speaking.

‘’Adjust as much as you can,’’ he addressed Mallory cooly, ‘’Mistakes on Worthy Day aren’t erasable.’’

Hudson tensed, but she just looked at Max, ignoring the obvious jab.

‘’Some mistakes aren’t supposed to be erasable,’’ her mother said sternly.

‘’That doesn’t change that it’s a mistake,’’ was the indifferent reply.

Mallory looked to her own bodyguard, asking one question with her eyes. He gave a imperceptible nod. You’re not a mistake.

She waited until she and Hudson were dismissed from the office to bite her lip. Whenever the Leaders got involved, she always ended up getting in trouble or making things slightly worse.

Adjusting, indeed.

She was just glad she got a fair warning this time. She could count on one hand the number of times she’d had one of those.

‘’Regardless of the other parts, Max was right about Worthy Day,’’ she murmured as they walked through the hallway.

Hudson glanced at her, ‘’I’m not inclined to think Max is correct about anything besides basic math.’’

She grinned, but shook her head at him still as they neared her bedroom. ‘’Worthy Day is going to be much more complicated if a Leader is a judge. They supervise yes, but never get to decide and judge!" She couldn’t help but grumble.

She crossed her arms and went straight to the chair in her room, while Hudson placed himself next to the door after looking around the room to make sure it was all clear of devices or people. One could never be sure with a politician family.

‘’It’s only one day, which I know is not helpful in your case,’’ he said after noticing the look she gave him,’’but you will do fine, because who will ensure it?’’

She stared at him for a second, who would ensure that she passed?

He rolled his eyes as if he could hear her thoughts, ’’You, kiddo. But I’ll be there by your side through all of it. Like always, right?"

She didn’t hide her smile this time, ‘’Alright. But I’m more worried about…well…y’know.’’ When he only raised an eyebrow she continued with a huff, ‘’Will they show up and see me fail? Either way there’s a 76% chance that in their eyes it’ll be a fail anyways…’’ She couldn’t meet his eyes, instead she opted to study the palms of her hands.

Hudson exhaled long and slow as he watched her, ‘’You could fail to them, but you’ve never once messed up too bad in my eyes. Except maybe that time you-‘’ her head immediately shot up.

‘’Don’t bring up the tea cake incident!" She protested, pointing at him with a fierce glare.

He almost snickered at her reaction.

Honestly, she thought, I didn’t know that the cake or the meeting would turn out like that! It’s called ‘tea cake’ if it’s not coated in tea, and got tea in it, then why is it called that?

Hudson came over and ruffled her hair to get her out of her thoughts, leaning down to look her in the eyes, ‘’Kid, at least you didn’t poison it.’’

She glared at him. He of all people knew very well that more than three people had gotten very ill after eating the tea cake, which had resulted in her being banned from the kitchen until further notice (which had managed to last three years up to date).

‘’Still,’’ she murmured, glancing towards the window on the far side of the room. Sometimes it seemed to drag her attention there, trying to coax her into looking out. She almost didn’t hear Hudson’s next words, but they broke through to her anyways. ‘’You’ll have time before… to try and find out, I’ll make sure of it kiddo.’’

She didn’t say anything, but her eyes smiled for her.

Is she asleep? May asked him, not bothering to look up from her paperwork, when he came into the Calnan office.

Yes, she fell asleep talking, Hudson lied. He always lied about Mallory. She was sleeping, she didn't love the stars a little too much, she was always home, and she was always where she was supposed to be. She didn’t know about things that she shouldn’t. She slept through the night.

Mallory Calnan, I'm pretty sure you yourself are a star, He thought.

‘’Good, I’m sure she’ll wake up talking as well. Dismissed,’’ Ms. Calnan waved him off.

‘’Yes ma’am,’’ he said, before leaving, he glanced back at the woman- looking for anything that the girl could have inherited from her.

But he didn’t see it, they had different colored eyes, and the roots of the mother’s hair proved she’d dyed her hair blonde. Whereas Mallory’s naturally blonde hair was more strangely beautiful and uncommon. At night it was paler and completely unable to blend in with anything- it stood out to much in the darkness. During the day it was more gold and shiny.

‘’Is there something you wanted to ask, Mr. Marise?" May Calnan’s blank stare bored holes into him. He couldn’t even imagine the blonde girl ever having blank eyes like her mother- void of emotion and used to manipulating. She was a Leader, it was her job. And one she did well.

‘’No, ma’am.’’

‘’Dismissed then, Mr. Marise.’’

‘’Yes, ma’am.’’

‘’Good morning citizens, today is 07-01, 2305. One of our esteemed Leaders, May Calnan, has an upcoming speech within the next three weeks; however, it may still be moved around a bit. We also have an upcoming event with the other Leaders the following Monday after Ms. Calnan's speech. ‘’

The message was automatically read aloud as Mallory stepped into the kitchen. The words echoed around the large space, distracting her for a moment.

The house…is empty? She wondered, looking around the vast and silent space.

Though she usually would expect it on a day like this, she was still surprised. She’d even slept half the day away, surely someone was still in the house? Her house that constantly had maids, cooks, or guards. Of course her parents wouldn’t be there today, but they wouldn’t leave her to her own devices on this day especially. They wouldn’t risk her being able to walk outside where someone might see her. As she searched for her favored drink, she listened to the deafening silence of the house. She didn't dare break it, obeying the silent rule not to speak.

Giving up on finding what she wanted, she pulled her disk out of her pocket and clicked it. The screen immediately came to life. The hologram of images and apps floated around her.

Check messages, the girl whispered to it.

Half a second later the programmed voice answered,’’No messages have been received.’’

She sighed, but wasn’t surprised. Hudson was supposed to be checking with the new guards today, it’d likely be evening before she saw or heard from him. But anyone else…she had no idea.

She swiped her fingers along the apps, moving them around- and looking for any new notifications. She clicked the disk closed, and stuck it into the pocket of her backpack. Setting the bag on the table, she checked in the living room only to find utter stillness.

She checked the overly furnished rooms first, then the foreboding upstairs rooms. The slopes of the remodeled Victorian era house were supposedly unique and intricate, but Mallory had always thought cobwebs and haunted sounds would’ve fit better. Her parents offices and rooms were deadly quiet and dark. The curtains pulled close to keep the light out, and the dark furniture looked like blobs in the darkness. Once sure no one else was around, she went back downstairs and into the kitchen.

Swinging her backpack over her shoulder, she slowly made her way to the front door. Once she closed the door behind her, it automatically locked, and she turned around to face her home. There were a few homes near her house, but not very close at all. Of course the large iron, black gate would keep just about anyone out.

Usually there would be at least a few guards, but not today.

Today was the day that she was to be the loyal child, the one person in that Cities that didn’t celebrate. Perhaps she liked surprises too much, or perhaps she loved the thrill that coursed through her veins whenever she got to see things she wasn’t supposed to. Rule breaking without being a rebel. But regardless of why, she knew that she wouldn’t have stayed even if all the guards had been lined outside the house.

Bounding down the stone steps that led up to the door, she eagerly pulled out her bicycle from where she hid it beside the house in a bush. It was perfect for hiding things with its thick vines and moss everywhere. While her home and the grounds were well taken care of it still seemed to have a mind of its own. Vines and large dark green plants endured any trimming and butchering the groundskeepers could inflict. Numerous perfect spots to hide things, the catch was just that the things were hard to pull out and away from the clingy plants. She eagerly dragged the rusty contraption down to the gate door. Placing her hand print on the pad, it opened and locked behind her- just like the front door. Placing her pale blue backpack in the basket (what was left of it anyway), the girl rode off.

Not too many people had actual bikes, so she would have to ditch it once she got around more populated areas to make sure no one recognized her. She never would be able to bring herself to leave it for good though. The bike was an excellent companion, and one of the only odd antiques she was allowed to keep. One that her father had actually defended, telling her mother that she should just let the girl keep it. And she had. One of the only things her father had ever won, and it’d been for her.

Mallory rode her fading dark blue bike with silver chains and rusting petals often, to somewhere new or anywhere she could find that she hadn't been to before. Usually places she shouldn't be, farther away than her mother would ever approve of. It just made it all the more fun, and well worth the fluttery feeling in her stomach that spilled from her mouth in tiny giggles.

She knew exactly where she was going today. And that just made her want to race there all the quicker.

Mallory wouldn’t know what the world had been like before firsthand, she’d only heard stories here and there. Before the water completely reseeded, evaporating in some cases, and left the face of the earth, making rain the only way of getting water on the planet. She was sure she wouldn’t have loved the ocean, in fact just the thought of it terrified her. An empty body of water- farther than she could see, with nothing in either direction that she looked. She would’ve gotten stranded and died before she knew it. There were stories of boys that survived a shipwreck with tigers and were stuck in the ocean for months, or of ships carrying families to look at beautiful sights only to hit things in the water and leave everyone on board to the icy water and it depths.

I’m sure being lost on land is different than being lost at sea, Mallory thought as she pedaled as fast as her legs would allow.

And somehow, even with all the stories and projected images they saw at school, it was so hard to really picture. That there had been a world outside of the Cities, and that it had been destroyed so badly that no one could step too far from the Cities in case they got too close to the wreckage.

Earth Before and Earth After. The before was all the things and places she’d never see. The way of life humans had previously been accustomed to was bizarre to say the least. Most of the people hadn’t realized the existence of other life forms until it was too late. Even with all their entertainment devices exploring and showing the idea. History showed the evidence long before their entertainment concepts existed. And yet only the Leaders around Earth Before had acknowledged it, and some of them didn’t even do that much.

The humans, her ancestors, from Earth Before had been completely in the dark right up until the end. When their own planet began to destroy them. It wasn’t until most of the planet was gone and dead that the Jupites, the aliens that had been believed non-existent, showed.

And then Earth After began.

Keeping her head down, Mallory ducked around people as she made her way through the crowd. Coming to a stop just at the edge, she observed all the people gathered together. She wished she’d done this sooner.

Sixteen years ago on this same day, May Calnan had become the Leader of Thane City. So today, people were celebrating the anniversary. Men held up bottles and shouted cheers, women danced with their husbands and children, and the children laughed as they ran around. At the end of the celebration, a hologram of the celebrated Leader would appear in the sky; and the kids got to send up little rockets, that held their wishes written on paper inside. The hologrammed sky that acted as a net and shield would keep the rocket’s from going higher than they should- instead the holograms in the sky connected with them and would destroy every last molecule.

I wonder if mother gets to see this, Mallory wondered, watching the children prepare their rockets. She stood amongst the crowd, almost feeling like she wasn’t trespassing. But of course she was. The moment she’d stepped foot outside on this day of all days, she’d trespassed.

THREE, TWO, ONE!! The crowd counted down together. Everyone cheered as May Calnan's hologram appeared in the sky.

Good evening everyone, She began, ‘’We’ve conquered many of our blocks in the past, and now we conquer together always. In these cities, we are preserving and rebuilding what is important- never to forget it again.’’

Mallory cocked her head to the side, it was trickier to spot things that were off in holograms because they could be tampered with so easily, but it wasn’t impossible. Especially when she already knew multiple things to point out that while Leader Calnan hadn’t outright lied- she wasn’t being truthful either. She was playing with words, a trick Mallory had seen her do for a long time.

’’Our alliances with the Jupites, our colonizing places not even our ancestors could predict, we’ve evolved in the past centuries- more than was thought possible after the destructions caused to our planet from the war and comets. But Earth’s Leaders have never been more united, both with each other and with the Jupites themselves!’’

The blonde girl stayed to the side, silently watching in awe to everyone else’s reactions. So many people were clapping and shouting. This day was always such an interesting sight, that she couldn’t imagine not sneaking out to see it. Though she didn’t like to dwell on why the day mattered so much.

‘’We are here and not alone, the last of the human race, in these Cities that we built together. You, our fighters and survivors, nominated the other Leaders and I to monitor and ensure the safety of our Cities and children. To ensure a new day. I will do everything in my power to protect us from the chaos that’s beyond our shield. Beyond our