"Maybe life is a dream"

   I laugh at myself, and sigh looking in the mirror, braiding my hair back into corn rows, and smoothing my edges. I hear a voice clear, and I accidentally drop my brush, "Stop sneaking up on people, Ry!" Ryker laughs, picking up my brush and handing it to me, "Sorry. It's hard. What is the occasion that you braid that untamable hair of yours?" I roll my eyes, waving my hairbrush at him, "At least I am doing it for today." Ryker laughs, "Oh yes...the annual time where they pick which one of us gets to leave here, fight in a war and die." I shake my head, "It is a honor to fight for the only remaining place where humanity still exists." Ryker answers, "Sure. But why do the rest of us have to stay here, never to go see these..these..ruins, this inhumane world. Why must we stay here!" I laugh sarcastically, "Probably because it is war-torn and our main goal here in Rem is to repopulate, and be civilized. And maybesixty years from now, we can watch our children go repopulate the earth and continue our legacy. But for now, our main goal is to keep down, be inconspicuous, and live. Unless you would like to be found out by the enemy." Ryker takes a deep breath, "All I am saying is that, I am tired of being here, Xen. I'm tired of it, we don't do anything. We farm, we cook, we make things, and we hunt! We still can't remember who are parents are and where they went!" I sigh, "I know, Ry, okay? But we get letters from them." Ryker sits down on a stool in my small bedroom, "You mean the small vague letters we get every year? Just a simple: (R)emember (E)ach (M)emory. I'm sorry but no matter how many conspiracy theories Fynn makes about these letters and whatever the hell they mean, I don't think it means that our parents even care. What is this place? Some jail boot camp?" I scoff, "You, as my friend, are so curious. Curiousity killed the cat!" Ryker laughs and follows me out into the long hallway. The place I live in, I have lived in since I can remember. It is a big white building, oddly circled in forest, 16 rooms and oddly one bathroom, you can only imagine how packed it is in there, that's why most of us just go in the woods. I walk down the stairs,  as Ryker make jokes and I just roll my eyes, ignoring him. I reach the bottom of the stairs, and see, Axe, Z or Zeus, Tyr, Viktor, Nova, Syd, Krystall, Sawyir, and Archr, gathered in in a circle, I clear my throat and they look at me. Krystall smiles, "Xen!" I smile, "Hey Krystie." Ryker snickers, "Does she know your not too keen bout her?" I smile awkwardly and nudge his stomach, causing him to back up and walk over to the boys. Krystall, Syd, Nova, and I smile at each other, before I start speaking, "So, today, they pick which one of us goes to f-" The sound of a loud alarm roars in our ears, and I instantly furrow my eyebrows, and Nova gets up, looking around, putting her braids into a ponytail and running out of the living room, and out of the building. We all follow here, wondering what the hell was that noise. To our surprise, a woman, older than all of us, smiles, her arms neatly crossed over her white pants suit,  her green eyes peering into our souls, and her greying brown hair in a tight bun. Nova raises an eyebrow, "And you are?" The woman laughs, "Your quite bold! I love it. I am Lillith Lindon, and I am going to be taking "The Chosen" to their assignment. Nova, Xena, Ryker, Viktor, Tyr, Zeus, Syd, Krystall, Sawyir, and Archr, you all, come with me." She walks away and we hesitate, before following her. It isn't long before we stand in front of what looks to be a monorail. Lindon smiles, "I am sure you have your questions, ask away." Ryker shakes his head in disbelief, "We can't all be the chosen." Lindon smirks, "Exactly." I ask, "Where are we going?" Lindon hesitates, her voice becoming almost monotone, almost mechanical like, " I can't tell you that. Any more questions?" Syd looks at behind her, "Who is that?" For the first time I notice a small little girl, standing behind her, a tear falling down from her chin onto the ground. Lindon tilts her head, "The small eleven year old girl crying behind me?" Syd nods, and Lindon smiles, "She, is a part of the chosen."