The Wastelands

Fifteen Minutes Later.

Lilia wanted to sleep some more. She even made an effort to untangle her headband from her neck so she could use it as a sleeping mask. Sadly, it was not to be. Classes were out for the day, and students were crowding into the nearby courtyard.

She gave up and focused more on her surroundings. The place looked like a prison, that or a heavily fortified military compound. Which it was, Compound 8, to be exact. This place was one of many compounds dotting throughout the Wastelands.

Most compounds had one purpose. To harvest resources from the Wastelands and transport them to the Cities. Whereas Compound 8 functions more like a boarding school, teaching the students how to survive in the Wastelands.

The truth was most people don't choose to live in the compounds. They are recruited forcefully by the Cities. Those who came to the Wastelands were…

Lilia watched as a kid who appeared younger than Stella. He was clutching his bag like it was the last thing he had. Orphans and the homeless.

She glanced at an older woman, who looked like a farmworker. She had a number shaved in the back of her head. "Must be new," Lilia mumbled. The Convicted.

A group of teenagers walked past. Some had their vine markings showing in plain sight, others made sure that their clothes covered or had wrappings to hide them from prying eyes. More than half who lived on the compounds are made up of Vine survivors.

Or all of the above.

Lilia yawned and stretched, wishing that she had a better view of the Wastelands beyond the towering walls. All she could see was the top of the trees. Very disappointing. However, that might be for the best because the walls were made from out of a mineral that discouraged the Wasteland from crossing over.

Though that doesn't mean that it was safe. Quite the contrary, the Wasteland breathed and had a mind of its own. One could only take what was offered. If not, then there was a consequence that will, at worst, get people killed. Those who lived on the compounds must always keep that in mind.

Personally, Lilia didn't mind the Wasteland as much. Breathing in the fresh air was a lot better than that recycled air the Cities used. It was harder to deal with people. Especially if you're a Lumeye.

"All because of the Lumeye."

"Lumeye should all die."

It was only but a few statements that Lilia heard all her life. It brought about more considerable significance after she found out what she was. Truthfully, she thinks that everyone just wants someone to blame.

Lilia watched as the crowd doubles in numbers with great concern.

Uh-oh, I need to get through the courtyard. I hate crowds. I can't wait any longer. Then again, the opposite direction looks pretty tempting. Stella will kill me if I don't show up again. She internally debated, but in the end, Lilia built up her resolve and slowly got up, grabbing her things before setting off.

She was late, but that was nothing new. The only thing annoying about it was the people she had to swim through to get to her destination. It was going to be such a headache, literally.

Walking across the courtyard, her long legs eating up the distance, Lilia tried to blend in, to be as casual as possible, and not to stiffen up when anyone came too near.

She bumped into someone, and she couldn't help but stare. There stood a girl a couple of years older than Lilia. 'Oh, she's cute.' Lilia felt a smile play on her lips.

The girl, on the other hand, merely gave Lilia a hard look and a flip of her hair. She moved on like Lilia never existed.

Oh, rejected. Nonetheless, that was enough for some to take notice.

*Isn't that, Lee?*

*She used to sing…no; she played the piano.*

*I heard that they had to send her to the mental hospital.*

*I heard that she doesn't talk much.*

*What was that around her arm?*

*She's a blue sash.*

*Blue means that she is a reservist.*

*Not even good enough to be on a squad.*

*That serves her right.*

I knew that this was a bad idea, she thought, clenching her teeth. It was too much for Lilia. Her head was pounding. This was why she hated crowds.

She was telepathic.

Usually, she was able to process foreign thoughts as white noise, but when focused on her. Well, let's just say it was a lot harder to control.

Hers was modified to suit her needs, but she certainly wasn't the only one who had them. They were standard issue for those who had high musical intelligence. Why? Because they were able to hear the Wastelands' song. Enabling them to navigate through the Wastelands in relative safety.

'In short, we are like trackers and scouts.'

Needless to say, it was noisy, but minor if compared to her other issues. For now, let's just concentrate on getting out of the crowd.

'Oh.' Something caught Lilia's eye. A woman with long red hair and green eyes. A man with blue-tipped blond hair and blue eyes. Both were two years older than her. Both were beautiful. Both were beautiful.

'I didn't know that Druid and Bryson are back. No wonder the courtyard was busy. Just my luck.' Sighing.

No wonder the courtyard was busy. The power couple was back from travelling as representatives of Compound 8. So, everyone gathered wanted to catch up on the latest gossip.

Oh well, it had nothing do with her.

***

Druid's eyes were drawn to the commotion, not too far from where she was sitting and spotted Lilia in the thick of things. Her eyes instinctively moved a little to the left to see a man leaning against a nearby wall. He was dark except for his pale grey eyes. Eyes that never left Lilia.

'Shadow.'

Her own green eyes glazed over. Imagines flashed. A strange woman dying in a fire. Screaming. Cyan eyes. Lilia dragged away by shadowed hands. A sense of urgency. Other images flashed, but those weren't clear. At least not yet.

"It's going to be soon, but it's not time yet," Druid whispered.

Visions were like staring into a river. The closer to the surface. It was easier to grasp and shift. The further away, the murkier it gets. Disappearing just as quickly, replaced with something else. But this, this is important. If I don't change this…

She closed her eyes. No, I can't think about that day.

Druid felt a breath close to her ear. "What are you doing? You're staring at them too much. We can't acknowledge them in public, you know that" Bryson's crisp voice whispered. There was a hint of worry in his eyes.

"I know." She smiled, lovingly at Bryson. Before turning her attention to the surrounding students and mustered up her stage smile. Playing up her exhaustion. "I am sorry, what was the question?"

"Oh, um, how was the party?" The girl who spoke up looked a little fl.u.s.tered. She and Bryson were representatives for Compound 8. Basically, they go to events and show off how good looking and talented they were.

Druid kept on smiling while replying, "The food was excellent." Meh at best. "The people were interesting." Old guys and some women who were too handsy. "And the music was mind-blowing." Boring. Nothing to dance to, and she loved to dance. In fact, Druid wanted to dance right now. "All in all, it was quite productive." Yes, very productive. They gathered a lot of blackmail information. The headmistress will be very pleased.

After she finished. It got noisy. Students were asking one question after another.

Suddenly a hand reached out, reaching for her. Druid didn't bother to move away. Allowing Bryson to take care of it.

Bryson's gloved hand wrapped around the offender's arm. "What are you doing?"

The other boy just snickered. "Relax, ok. I am just testing your skills. Please, can you let go of my arm." He winced.

Bryson let go and sat back and stared at the boy in silence.

The boy looked a little uncomfortable. "Um…my name is…"

"Jason Vasters. Sixteen years old. A Vine Survivor. Leader of Juliet Squad. And no, I have no interest in joining your squad," he interrupted in a bored manner. "You should be grateful I said no, boy." He did need to finish with, 'Or I would replace you as the leader.' Druid thought that Jason got the point.

Jason's flushed. He turned to Druid. "How about you beautiful?" he flirted.

Please, was that supposed to impress me?

She grasped Bryson's gloved hand and gave him a look. Don't rise to his bait. Before turning towards Jason and smiled politely. "I'm sorry, but I am perfectly happy where I am."

Jason scoffed. "Being a Blue Sash loser. Yeah, right."

Druid just sighed and shook her head. 'Not this again.'

After they turn fourteen, students were split into two groups. Blue Sashes and Red Sashes. Blues and Reds for short. The Reds were the fighters who take on the riskier jobs like going into the Wastelands and finding the resources the Cities needed and guard duty. Supervised, of course. The Blues, on the other hand, was made up of supports and specialists.

The Reds had a superiority complex.

'It gets tiring after a while.'

Bryson laughed mockingly. "If being a Blue bothered us that much, we would have been a Red a long time ago. We had dozens of Red recruiters, none of them were worth mentioning." Bryson leaned forward; his eyes turned hard. "But you, I will remember."

Jason stepped back. "Why."

"You tried to touch Druid." His voice was cold as ice. "You better hope that we don't cross paths again."

After that, Jason couldn't run fast enough.

Bryson was always overprotective. But despite that, she still loved him.

Her mind turned back to her vision. Her eyes searched for Lilia and Shadow, but both already disappeared.

'Hopefully, things will turn out all right.' Though Druid couldn't help but feel doubt deep in her heart.