Chapter 1

Ever since disease took over the United States, the economy spiraled completely downhill. All schools are closed now for safety reasons but before, there were a few schools open. Other countries didn't want to come near us because, as fate was not in our favor, the diseases were contagious. This all started when I was about 5 years old and when Jared was just born. My parents were naturally concerned for him since he was a newborn. He was one of the age groups that were at risk just like when any other disease showed up. The other age group was older people starting from the mid-'60s to the early '70s. So I'm in the fairly safe range.

With all the other diseases flaring up, a fairly new disease came with the mix. We called it The Lightning Disease. But scientists called it project L-137. The Lightning Disease was an illness that made your bones so brittle that someone can push you and probably break your arm. With the disease came weak immune systems. Then your blood started to get toxic and poisoned your organs to cause organ failure. We called the people that got infected, Toxins.

Then there were people like me. Scientists call us L-12's but normal people call us The Pure. The Pure are experiments that scientists test with a specific vaccine. Their testing range is about 12 years-old to 17 years-old now but before, they started at 6 years-old and went up to 12-years old. The vaccine enhances your immune system and makes your bones so strong that it's hard to break them. Before the age range, they tested on adults but all of their adult subjects failed. They tried different ages and found the best results in kids starting to transition into teenagers. Before, it did come with some side-effects. The vaccine either heightened your sight, hearing, or sense of smell. Some kids got one, a rare few got two out of the three or got all three. But some kids got overwhelmed with the side-effects and the vaccine and we call them The Fallen. I've never known what it feels like when the vaccine doesn't work. All I know is that the vaccine is what caused 90% of the kids in the United States to die.

Some people think that The Pure is something that can get them money. There have been a few gangs ever since this whole thing started. They usually find girls and sex traffic them and if they escape then they usually hunt the rest of their family and kill them.

The Pure earn them a lot of money whether be a guy or a girl but I never understood why. Maybe it was because they could handle tough clients when it came to them. The WildFires is one of the biggest and scariest gangs in the U.S. They capture any kid that they can find and beat them until they can't take it.

"Amber?" my dad shouts from downstairs

"Yeah Dad?" I respond

He takes a moment and I hear him shout, "Have you seen Jared anywhere?"

"No, why?" I said

"Because there's a patrol car in the neighborhood looking for kids and I don't want him outside," he said in a little worried tone.

As an instinct I looked outside my window, staring right at the patrol car. Sometimes there are cops that look for kids to take to a lab so they can get the vaccine or be part of the experiment to find the cure for the lightning disease. The whole point of the vaccine is to find as many Pures as possible but for the past 10 years, researchers haven't found a single thing for the cure. Some parents are terrified about their kids being taken away and they sometimes move away or fake their kid's death making them look like The Fallen, so there is no record of them being alive. And some parents give their kids up for the experiment.

"I think Jared is in the backyard reading in the treehouse," I said

I hear the back door close with a loud bang. Once I heard that I went downstairs to get started on dinner since dad isn't the best at cooking. Considering that mom is⎼well, was the cook of the house, dad never learned how to not burn the food. So for the past 8 months, I have been cooking every day.

My mom's death hit us pretty hard, especially since she was in pain because of The Lightning Disease. But I think I was the only one that actually recovered. She always told me to live my life and those were her last words to me. So I lived up to them and every time I get sad about her I always picture her radiant smile in the car singing to Crazy Train.

"Hey, I am starting on the Mac N' Cheese right now. I will cook the chicken later." is what I said as soon as I heard the back door open. I hear Jared stomp his way upstairs to his room and I turn around with a confused look at my dad.

"What did you say?" I said with my arms crossed over my chest

With his head in his hands, he responded "I went into the treehouse, scared he wouldn't be there and started yelling at him for no reason. He just gave me a scare and I don't think I could handle losing him after losing your mother too. I don't want them to take him in."

He took a pause and looked up at me. His expression telling me everything I need to know.

"I know dad. It's scary knowing you might have another Pure in your hands. Especially with the gangs trying to round them up. But you need to trust that Jared doesn't want to be separated from us and he is taking his precautions as well" I said while my arms came down to my side.

"I will go talk to him. Can you manage not to burn pasta?" I said sarcastically. He gave me a little chuckle and stood from where he was sitting, coming around to the pasta, and putting a hand on my shoulder. A small hidden thank you from what I could tell.

As I went upstairs I found myself thinking about what would happen to us. What would happen to Jared? We don't know if he is a Pure so we don't know if the disease could kill him. I know for a fact that if he gets captured by a gang then he would be so hurt. His bones aren't as strong as mine and The WildFires can for sure break his bones if they captured him. Or even worse, scientists could kill him with their experiments. I have to protect him. He can't leave me, not like mom did. Not like dad did with his depression over mom. It's like he has been consumed by mom's death and it hurts me to see.

"Jared?" I said as I knocked on his door. I heard the lock click and I saw the door handle twist. I opened the door and entered his room. He had his music playing at full volume but he lowered the volume to almost a whisper. His dark blue room reminded me of a night that we spent together when we were younger. 

We would always sit in the backyard and look up at the stars trying to make shapes of them. He would always be more creative with them saying that they looked like people and animals when all I really saw were tiny sparkles in the indigo sky.

"What do you want Amber?" he said with pain in his voice.

He stared at me with his dark brown eyes with such an intensity I had to break the silence. I took a seat on the edge of his bed and took a deep breath and said what I needed to say.

"You understand that we are just worried right, Jared?" I said.

He stayed silent.

"You know, being a Pure it's a scary thing. Yes we have benefits but we also have more dangers to fear. The WildFires, the scientists, everyone is always after us and it's scary to think I can be ripped away from you and dad. Especially after mom," I responded in his silence

He took a deep breath and said "How do you do it? How do you stay here with us? Stay hidden from the gangs and the scientists?"

I sighed.

"It's hard. I can't tell anyone I am a Pure. I hide from my friends so the gang's little spies at school can't take me away. But it's easier when I think of you and dad. And how you guys can't survive without my amazing cooking," I said, shoving my shoulder into his playfully. He smiled a bit and then he relaxed.

"Just understand that dad is worried about you. If we find out you're a Pure then he might lose both of his kids to either a gang or scientist and if you're not..." I looked away for a moment trying to compose myself of the pain that was in my chest. Even the thought of losing Jared to this whole world hurts me. I don't think I could bear the thought of him being dead. Or even the thought of him with the gangs or scientists. I looked back at him, putting my arm around him and squeezing him as tight as I can.

"I love you from the stars..." I said,

He whispered "and to the moon."

I got up from his bed and started walking downstairs to start cooking the chicken. I reached the kitchen and looked at my dad.

"Hey Amber?"

"Yeah dad?" I said looking into the refrigerator.

"So you know how you said I couldn't manage to ruin the pasta?" He said with a chuckle.

I took my head out of the fridge and stared at him with my dark brown eyes almost about to burn a hole in his head.

"Please tell me you didn't," I said crossing my arms over my chest and drawing my eyebrows together.

He gave me a playful smile and another chuckle. I cussed under my breath trying not to lash out at him for ruining something so simple as pasta. "How the hell did you manage to do that dad?" I said with a bit of edge in my voice. I could feel my face lightening up from the anger created before when I saw his smile. I look at the time and now I understand how he manages to ruin every meal. It's been in the water, boiling, for almost 30 minutes.

I laugh and say, "Dad you're supposed to take this out after 15 minutes. It's been 30 minutes since I put them in the pot. That was our last pasta box so we are going to have to go out and get another one. We also have a few more groceries that we need to pick up so let's take advantage of that."

"Ok. I will go get the car ready" he said.

I got to the edge of the stairs and started shouting "Jared?"

It wasn't a very loud shout that came from me. I have a quiet voice but our house has a bit of an echo so he could probably hear me if I talked normally.

"Yeah?" I heard him say

I said "dad and I are going out to get groceries we will be back in about an hour and a half. If we don't come back before then you know the plan right?"

"Yeah" he shouted.

"Ok I love you to the stars?"

"And to the moon" he responded.

* * *

I shut the door behind me and saw dad in the driver's seat. I opened the passenger door, slid into the seat, and slammed the door behind me. I looked over at my dad and I saw the gun. His Glock 26, that he always carried around just in case someone tried to take me. He has had it ever since I got the vaccination and became a Pure. He taught me how to shoot guns because in case something happens to him I could always protect myself. He even made me take defense classes. Even though I am not that strong.

"Dad!" I said with panic in my voice

"What? You know it's just precaution" he said

I sighed "I guess but I still don't like seeing it. It makes me think that something is going to happen to me and I will get separated from you and Jared"

As I looked back, behind the car, I could see the patrol car still parked there. I stared at it with an intensity so strong that I thought I would crush the car with my mind. I turned back to my dad and looked at him and it showed that we were thinking the same thing. How are we going to get past the car without it noticing me?

"Try and stay hidden," he said

As soon as I got down, I felt the car rumble to life under me. I was hiding behind the passenger seat but out of the vision of the window. I felt the truck move backward, exiting the garage and I heard the garage door close. I heard my dad mutter some cuss words under his breath and that's when I saw the cop come up to his window. I switched to hiding behind the driver's seat but hiding from the cracks through the seat that you could easily see movement through.

"Hello, sir. Can I help you?" Dad said

The cop sounded like he was smoking. And he sure smelled like it too. He was blunt and went straight to the point of the conversation "Do you have any Pures with you currently?"

I felt fear build in my chest and had to take a deep breath in order to stop my hands from trembling. It was quiet enough that the officer couldn't hear.

"No sir. I have a son in the house but he hasn't reached the age to be vaccinated yet," my dad said

"Where are you heading off to?" the officer said nicely but he had a hidden tone of suspicion.

"Off to get groceries. We are running out of supplies and need to keep the young fellow alive" he chuckled

Kind of ironic in my opinion considering that my dad can't cook for shit. But at least for now the officer was buying his terrible lying and I was safe as long as I stayed still.

"Well, then, go ahead and stay safe." the officer said.

I heard my dad roll up the window and then I felt the car move forward. I could feel the fear leaving my body and I finally stopped shaking.

"Amber are you ok?" my dad asked

I tried to keep my voice steady "Yeah I'm fine"

I hopped back into the front seat on the passenger side. I thought about Jared and how he would feel if he was in that situation. It made me think of the first time we saw someone being taken. It was when everything started going downhill for us. Gangs were starting to form and kids were being stolen from their families. We were at a gas station and our parents were inside when we saw a gang member pointing a gun to someone through a window where the pumps were. There was a second man and he came into the back seat of the car that they stopped. The car was kind of a burgundy red and there was a woman in the passenger seat.

The gang members were yelling and the man that was pumping the gas had his hands up. His face was so white, it looked like he saw a ghost or maybe he was the ghost. The gang members kept saying "Where's the girl" and "Give us the girl or we'll shoot." I was about 13 and Jared was 9. You have to be at least 12 years old to be vaccinated now and Jared turns 12 in November But the girl they were after was about 16 at the time. That's usually the age they look for. I saw the gang members open the back door, pointing the gun at her, telling her to get out of the car. She didn't listen to them and stayed in the car. At this point, Jared was terrified and we were both hiding on the car floor.

The gang member started shouting louder. I sat back on my seat to see what was going on while still having a hand on Jared's shoulder to reassure him that I'm still with him. I saw the gang member pull the girl's long, brown hair, and drag her out of the car. The mother was yelling "No, please, don't take her" and the dad was still frozen like a statue on the verge of breaking down into tears.

And that's when I heard the loud shot. The dad was running for his daughter and the gang member shot him right in the back. The sound was so loud I thought that it was bouncing inside the car. The girl's dad fell on the ground without any type of movement or life left in his body. And then the blood started to form a pool around him. The girl was on the ground right next to her dad sobbing, with blood stains all over her jeans. She was about to run when the same gang member that dragged her  out of the car, grabbed her hair, and pulled her into the car they were driving. That was the first time I knew that it was too dangerous to be a Pure in this world now.

I snapped out of my trance when I heard dad say my name and felt him shaking me in panic.

"Amber?!" he said

I shook my head trying to shake the memory and looked at him in confusion. One eyebrow raised when I asked "What Dad?"

"Are you alright? You have been so quiet I didn't know if you had a heart attack or something"

"Yeah, I'm fine Dad. I was just thinking about Jared. What it would be like if he was all alone" I said

"I think he will be ok. We have taught him everything. Self-defense, shooting, the plan we made in case we got into some type of trouble. He knows what to do."

The plan. The shooting. Self-defense. I knew it was all necessary to survive in the ghost town that we now live in. The plan if one of us gets killed or captured is to hide out in the house until supplies run out. Fake your name and age and go to Texas to live with Aunt Jenna. She could hide him for a little to buy him time in order to cross the border to go to Mexico where dad has some family friends.

"Yeah I know but...we have already lost mom. I just don't know if he can handle any more loss. Plus he is about to turn 12 years old. He is going to be eligible for the vaccine. What if someone catches him going to Texas? They can make him get the vaccine and he can either be in more danger or he would.." I paused. I looked away to gather my thoughts so I wouldn't have a breakdown right in front of my dad.

"He will be ok. He's strong. And smart. He may look old for 11 but he can find his way around it. You and I both know that he is better at lying than me at least." he reassured me

I gave a little laugh. What my dad said was true. Jared was the best to liar out of all of us. He would always blame missing candy on me and I would always get grounded for it but I would sneak into his room and we would both eat the candy at 1 AM.

"He sure is mom's son isn't he," I said

He sighed and chuckled a little and said "He is. He got half her brains but you got the other half. But you both got her looks."

He was right. Jared and I were mom split into half. But it showed that I was her daughter. We both had such a radiant smile. When school was filled with more teenagers, I was always the happy girl. I would walk down the hall and I could smile all day but the only one I cared to make happy was Jared. My hair was the same brown with red highlights and hints of gold, and my eyes were even the same dark color as my mom's. I was a true reminder of my mom's looks.

"I miss her sometimes too dad" I said looking at his pained expression when he mentioned mom. "But you have to know, she didn't want us to wallow. She wanted us to be happy even without her."

He looked at me with a faint smile then turned back to the road. "I know you do Amber. It sounds like your mother, to want that, but sometimes it's hard to let go. You took it better than all of us and I am happy about that but...I just need some more time."

"I know dad," I said

"We just need to focus on keeping each other safe," he said

There was a little moment of silence. I started thinking about mom again and I didn't want to think of when she was sick so I decided to change the subject.

"Hey Dad?" I said

"Yeah Amber," he said, with some pain in his eyes from the conversation we just had

I took a deep breath and said "Do you really think Jared could take care of himself?"

He said "Yeah, I really do."

I knew he didn't want to let his kids go, so of course, he would have some type of faith in his plan. But it still worried me. I wanted to give Jared one last hug before we went out but we needed to hurry since it was already late. So in my head I thought he could hear what I said.

I whispered "I love you to the stars..."

And I could have sworn that I heard him respond. I thought I heard his voice say our little saying.

"And to the moon."

That was the last time I saw Jared. That was the last thing I said to Jared. And that was 3 months ago.