I woke with a start. I was tangled in the sheets, and covered in sweat, but I laid in my bed for a moment, trying to get my wild heart to slow down. It was still dark out. The clock said 330am. I pressed the heels of my hands into my eyes until it hurt. 

"It was just a dream. It was a stupid dream." I whispered to myself. 

"Raya?" A small voice squeaked. 

I groaned. My arms dropped to my sides and I turned my head. Standing in the doorway, holding her raggedy stuffed animal was my little sister. She was shifting from foot to foot nervously. 

"What do you want Hailey?" I yawned, trying to shove my unease behind annoyance. 

"Can...can I come sleep with you?" She asked, slowly inching into my room. 

"Why?" 

I knew why. Tomorrow was the reaping. We all knew what was going to happen. Kids are being chosen to participate in The Maze Trials. I repressed my own shiver.

There have been advertisements, propaganda, commercials and billboards...everywhere you look, it's plastered everywjere. That's all anyone has been talking about; The Maze Trials, find a cure and save humanity.

I sighed in defeat, and pulled the blanket back and Hailey scurried over and crawled into my bed. I lowered the blanket and she snuggled closer. 

"I'm scared." She whispered. 

"Your still only seven. Your name is only in the pot once this year. The odds of you being picked are slim to none. You'll be okay. And you know mom and I wont let that happen." I reassured her.   

"I know...but your name is a lot more..." 

"It'll be okay little duck." I yawned. "Go to sleep now." 

She rolled over and curled up. I stayed awake listening to her breathing even out. I knew I wasn't going to sleep now. My mind was racing. I watched the minutes tick by. A sharp rap on my window made me jump. I sat up with a smile. Carful to slid out of bed, and not wake Hailey, I tip toed to the window. 

Another sharp tap.

I slid the window open, letting the hot breeze dance across my face. An impish face appeared out of the early morning gloom. He had a cheeky smirk and his dark eyes danced with mischief in the moonlight. 

"Hey Ray, come on!" 

"Min, it's 4 in the morning!" 

"Ya? And?" He whispered back frowning slightly. 

"And that means you're late, Minho." I rolled my eyes. "Give me a second!" I raced back to the closet, and pulled a pair of pants on, my boots and hoodie, I grabbed my backpack, threw it on as I crawled out the window and up onto the roof of my house. He was already waiting a backpack slung on his back. 

"K, lets go! I wanna go to The Wall!" 

He took off. I raced behind him. We ran along the top of roofs, the buildings and houses at the edge of Denver were so close you could step from one to the other, without any issues. No one was out at this time of morning. It was just Minho and me.

Minho had been my best friend since kindergarten. I was the only girl who wanted to play soccer at recess. The boys didn't let me play, saying I was a girl and not fast enough. So I hit their leader. I punched him in the stomach.

Minho had been my best friend since then, (because I had made him cry. And any girl who could make him cry was good enough to play with the boys.) And I never let him forget it. We were ten now and I could still kick his butt. We grew up in the same street block now, and we tended to sneak out and run around the roof tops. If we were caught we would be in so much trouble, being caught outside of curfew would definitely mean punishment.

I'm sure my mom knew about it, but she was always so busy with work, I was left to my own devices. I pretty much raised my little sister and my self after dad went missing.

We lived close to the outskirts of Denver, so The Wall at this corner wasn't ever occupied by WICKED guards or Peace Keepers, and the electricity was always off. Apparently our corner of the city wasn't important to them. Because who would ever dare to defy WICKED and The Chancellor? Even so, I always take a moment to listen carefully for the hum that means the fence is live. Right now, it's silent as a stone. It always is.

Minho leapt from the roof of the building to The Wall. I hesitated. I could out run him, and out fight him, but I didn't really like free jumping. I looked down and saw just how high up we actually were.

"Come on scaredy cat!" He laughed, turning back towards me, his arms crossed over his chest. He smirked and raised an eyebrow. I hate that he called me that. I wasn't scared. If I died...who would take care of Hailey?

I ground my teeth and jumped. I flailed my arms, my one foot had slipped off the edge. He reached out and grabbed my wrist before I lost my balance and fell backwards. 

"Don't want you to go splat!" He smirked again as he yanked me away from the edge.

I rolled my eyes and huffed. I ripped my wrist free. He waved his hand, indicating I follow him. We walked on top of The Wall for a few minutes. I could see  his jaw clenching as he looked out over the wall into the barren land stretched out until it met the sky and he finally sat down.

Minho and I sat down on the top of the Wall, our feet dangled over the edge. He pulled out a few cookies from his backpack and handed them to me. I took a huge bite and hummed. 

"Mom stress bakes." Minho shrugged. His mom was like my second mom. Mrs Lee was short and sweet. Always bringing treats over for Hailey and me. Sometimes if mom knew ahead of time she was working late, we were shipped to the Lee's house. She liked Hailey.

"So...How are you doing?" I asked, finishing the cookie.

He shrugged again. He was always so nonchalant about everything. "Snatched some other snacks." He pulled a bag of candy out. "The guy even saw me...but didn't say anything."

"Well, we all feel a little closer today, don't we?" I say, not even bothering to roll my eyes. He ripped the bag open and popped one of the candies into his mouth.

Suddenly he falls into a ridiculous accent as he mimics Effie Trinket, the maniacally upbeat woman who arrived earlier this week. She was here to read out the names at the reaping. "I almost forgot! All in the name of science and saving humanity! And may the odds  - " He tossed a candy in a high arc toward me.

I catch it in my mouth and chew the candy. The sweet and sour of it explodes across my tongue. " -  be ever in your favor!" I finish with an exaggerated smile.

Minho and I both laugh. If we don't laugh I'll cry. It seems odd, only a small percentage of the human population have immunity. And even weirder that it's just the young generation. I picked at a piece of the crumbling wall moodily. The disease, known as The Flare, was rampaging the known world.

"We could do it, you know," he says suddenly.

"Do what?" I asked, watching the sky slowly get brighter, bringing the heat.

"Leave the city. Run off. Live in the scorch or mountains. You and I, we could make it," Minho says and throws a small piece of the crumbled wall. I watch it fall.

"Min. We're kids. We're ten. How the shuck would we do that? And you want me to drag my little sister out there?" I asked pointing towards the baren stretch of brown and yellow dessert. "Where those monsters lurk in the dark?! To make it to another city we're walking on foot through the scorch and all those Cranks. I'm sure they would love to eat her eyeballs!"

"Ahh, those are ghost stories. You really think Cranks are real?"

"Well what happens to the people who get the Flare?" I asked.

"I dunno. Who says it's real? It's just another way The Chancellor and WICKED can control us. I've never seen it inside the city! Or maybe..." he said tapping his chin. "They put 'em down. Like shucken sick dogs." He shrugs. I looked back at him shocked. "Or... I guess they dump 'em out there in the scorch.  They can go survive out there until they start eating the brains and eyeballs of little girls who wanna escape WICKED."

"What are they, zombies?" I scoffed.

But the truth was...they did act in a very zombie like way. The disease ate away the rational side of the brain, leaving the person wild and crazy. No one knew where the disease came from, how it started or why no one but kids were immune to the disease. It showed up after the solar flares destroyed most of North America.

So now, here we sat on The Wall waiting for the Reaping of Munies, so they can save humanity. The propaganda made the Reaping a huge deal. A big honor. Some families were offering their kids up without any questions. Others caught back...and the parents weren't seen again. A friend from school, Sonya, her dad said no, and was outspoken about it. One day her and her brother didn't come to school. No one had seen their parents again, or the kids.

I feel an elbow in my side. I look around, Minho was getting up. He holds a hand out for me and hauls me to my feet. For being ten, he's tall and strong. His dark eyes and cheeky smile always look like he's either ready to argue with you, laugh at you for make a smart ass comment. Maybe that's why I got along with him. I'm the same way. Some people, if they didn't know us well assumed we were related. I didn't see it. Minho is Asian. I wasn't. But my dark hair and dark eyes, I guess is what people looked at quickly and make a judgment on. But he has dark almost black brown eyes, mine are dark green. I don't know...people are weird.

We squeezed back through the fence and leap back to the roof, and run back, half way back I stop, my chest was getting tight. Like a heavy weight was on top of me. Each time I tried to take a deep breath it was like a claw piercing my lungs. I was wheezing and coughing. Placing my hands on my knees I tried to slow my heart rate so I could breath. Minho had stopped and realizing I wasn't beside him came jogging back.

"I don't understand how an asthmatic like you can still be faster then me!" He rolled his eyes. He reached into my bag and pulled out my puffer and water bottle.

"Thanks." I wheezed. The medicine in the puffer helped ease the tightness and relaxed my air way. I could straighten up and breath again.

"Anytime wheezy." He snarked. "come on. We gotta get back..."

He seems in a rush, but he walks slower, knowing it's going to take a few minutes for my lungs to be okay again. He's like that, pokes fun, but actually really deeply cares. That's just him. Pretends he doesn't when he really does. Most people see the hard stone exterior, but under it he's just a big squishy.

We get back to my window and I crawl in. Hailey isn't in my bed anymore.

"See you in the square," I say and wave.

"Wear something pretty," he says flatly.

I roll my eyes and flip him off. I watch him climb back up and disappeared over the roof. I sigh as I hear my mom's footsteps on the stairs.

"Raya! Are you back now?"

My bedroom door opens and my mom stands there her arms crossed over her WICKED uniform.

"Back?" I ask innocently. "Back from where?"

"Don't give me that klunk. I know you snuck off with Minho again. You two go to the broken part of the wall. Why? I don't know, but if your caught..."

"Then what mom? What are they gonna do? They already took dad. You're never around and I raise Hailey, and now my name is in The Reaping like a hundred times because of my age and immunity and because I'm a girl and I have high grades in school. What are they possibly going to do?" I finally let out what I've been holding in. "They already took Sonya and Newt and Mage, I haven't seen Gale or Lidia in a long time...I'm pretty much already picked for the Trials!"

She puts the WICKED issued gun down and pulls me into a hug.

"I'm sorry." I whispered. Mom just hugs me tighter.

"I know. We're all scared. I don't like this anymore then you. And I'm working on something. Just keep your head up and eyes open. There might be someone who can help us. He was your father's contact...but it will be okay. Just make it through today."

I just nod. My face squished into her bullet proof vest. She didn't have time to change after work. She probably got home from work and made Hailey breakfast. She holds me tight for another minute and kisses the top of my head before letting me go.

"Go shower. I found you something too, Raya." Mom says and points to the dress hanging on the door.

"Thanks mom." I mutter, feeling ashamed with my outburst. She holds my cheek for a second and looks at me. "Head up soilder. Eyes open."

I nod. And go shower and get ready. When I'm done and come down the stairs, I can see
my mother wears a fine dress from before dad died. She actually has the day off, it's rare that she has a full day, some weeks we don't see her, she's been shipped out on a dangerous mission.

Minho and whisper that it's The Chancellor trying to get ride of her because my dad went missing first and then mom started going to work for longer stretches and then over night missions and then week long ones. I think there's something else going on, but I never say it out loud. I don't trust people- Minho is the only one I trust.

Hailey is in a skirt and ruffled blouse, I wore that outfit for some other fancy WICKED event back when dad worked for them too. It's a bit big on her, but my mother has made it stay with pins. Even so, she's having trouble keeping the blouse tucked in at the back.

"Come here little duck." I sighed and tucked the back of her shirt in.

"You both look beautiful." She smiled at us. "Your father would be proud." I can tell she's trying. I can see the controlled panic in her eyes and the slight tremor in her hand. She doesn't want us to join the Trials. She works for WICKED. So if my mom is worried that can't be good.

I plaster a smile in my face, shoved all my fears and worry deep down and held a hand out for her.

"Come on. Time to go."

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