Note: I revised the original because I had written it at one o'clock in the
morning and didn't really re-read it to make sure there were no errors.
Here is the edited and hopefully, better draft.
Chapter One
Realization
My hands trembled as I pulled the onions from the frozen ground. Our crop of vegetables was meager at best, I only hoped it would get better. Every day there is less and less food for us to eat.
Suddenly the hairs on the back of neck stood up, I turned my face to the sky. It was bright and clear. No sign of the Fire Breathers. Something was wrong however, I knew in the depths of my soul that there was danger. "Ray!" I whispered loudly. Less than ten feet away, Ray our outing leader, didn't answer. I picked up a loose pebble and threw it at him hitting him squarely in the head. He looked up startled and rubbed the spot where I had hit. I gestured at him to look towards me. "Something's wrong!" I mouthed. Ray looked up at the sky. It was still clear. You could see the peaks of Rockies and the tips of trees that bordered their tops. There was no danger in site. However as if on queue, the sound of hawk caught our attention. That was the call of one of our scouts. A Breather had been spotted. We ran for our vehicle. Out of the clearing two figures came running. Ray had already started the engine, "Come on Becky! Put the baskets in the back! Hurry!" he barked at me.
The two scout had barely reached us and gotten in vehicle when I spotted it. The Breather came crashing through the trees, running at full speed. Ray hit the gas and the truck lurched forwards. "I told you it was coming!" I yelled at him. He ignored me and pushed on the gas pedal even harder. We weren't out running the Breather, it seemed to be gaining on us.
"Theo calling Grange. Theo calling Grange!" Theo, one of the scouts was screaming into our two way radio. All that answered him was static. "Theo calling Grange!" he shouted again. Finally there was a reply. "Grange responding. You're breaking up Theo." "We got a Breather on our tail. A runner it looks like!" he was still shouting. Runners are wingless Breathers. My dad told me they called them dragons once, but dragons are myth. These Fire Breathers are real. "We need back up!" "Roger, sending back up now." Suddenly there was a jolt on the back of the truck. I turned away from the Theo to see that Breather had taken the bumper off our vehicle. "Shit." the other scout, Harvey cursed. I don't know how I heard it. The truck, the stampeding of the Breather and the beating of my own heart, were deafening. But I heard the 'copter nonetheless. It came whizzing over the trees. I would of whooped and thrown my hands up, but I was to busy holding onto the truck bed wall, for my life. It wouldn't be to spectacular to fall out of this moving vehicle and be right in the path of the Breather. It may distract the Breather from getting the others, but it sure wouldn't help me any. You can't do any good for anyone from the inside of it's stomach. I never saw the Helicopter launch the rocket, but soon the Breather was exploding into little pieces. "Theo calling Copter! Now get yourselves out of there!" Theo yelled into the radio. I watched it zoom into the distance. Ray never slowed down and my heart was still in my throat, but now we had a greater chance of getting home in one piece.
"Hector, I'm telling you something's up!" Mika, who headed another scavenger division, said when we were eating dinner that night, "Every time we go out, we always run into them. We've lost six people in the last month alone to Breathers. It's like they know when we come out of hiding."
"How can they Mika?" he shot back, "We don't have any patterns for them to follow!" I sat and watched them argue, wondering if it would of been better to be Breather lunch, than sit here listening to them squabble.
"All I can say is, watching that Breather blown to bits was sure satisfying." Theo said with his mouth full. Quite a few people in our little 'commune' agreed with him.
I stared at my food. I really wasn't hungry. Suddenly I had lost my appetite. "Becky are you going to eat that?" Greg, a tall blonde man several years my senior asked pointing at my plate. I shook my head and he promptly scraped my food onto his.
No one noticed me leave. There were forty people living in our community under ground. Ten men, twelve women and eighteen children.
Our community was fourteen feet beneath the earth's surface. Probably not deep enough to matter much against the Breathers, but it kept us relatively safe. Niches had been carved into the walls. Each held a glowing candle, which reflected off the limestone rock making the hallways and passages seem warm and colorful, and not so close-in and prison like.
Every so often I passed one of the large alcoves that was the sleeping quarters of one of the families. Some were full with children laughing, some lay empty. Any more there seems to be more and more empty ones, than filled.
Along the top of the passages, a long wire was attached. Every passage and hallway, every alcove, cavern, every room where human life could be found, were laced with these wires.
In the likely event that a Breather was spotted close to home the wire would light up, warning us of an impending attach and telling those not able to fight, to head deeper under ground. I remember being told as a child to sleep with one eye open to watch the wire. It has never lit up in my lifetime. I hoped it never would.
I dreamed of the wingless Breather that night. I was running. The world sped by in a blur, trees melting into trees. The Breather was chasing me. I could feel its breath on the back of my neck.
"Just run," I kept repeating to myself. But it was gaining. I could hear the trees crashing beneath its feet. "Run, run faster!"
Suddenly fire engulfed me. I could feel its warmth and the tingling that comes from first contact with flame. Then I could feel it burn. I awoke screaming a soundless scream. My body was drenched in sweat. That nightmare was too real for comfort. I put my head in my hands and tried to wipe it from my memory.
Out of the corner of my eye, I say two big red eyes starring at me. I remembered the eyes of the Breather; they'd been deep red, blood red. I looked up sharply, Chester my fat tabby cat jumped onto my bed and curled up at my feet. I could have kicked him for scaring me like that. I laid back down and promptly fell back asleep.
Chapter One
Realization
My hands trembled as I pulled the onions from the frozen ground. Our crop of vegetables was meager at best, I only hoped it would get better. Every day there is less and less food for us to eat.
Suddenly the hairs on the back of neck stood up, I turned my face to the sky. It was bright and clear. No sign of the Fire Breathers. Something was wrong however, I knew in the depths of my soul that there was danger. "Ray!" I whispered loudly. Less than ten feet away, Ray our outing leader, didn't answer. I picked up a loose pebble and threw it at him hitting him squarely in the head. He looked up startled and rubbed the spot where I had hit. I gestured at him to look towards me. "Something's wrong!" I mouthed. Ray looked up at the sky. It was still clear. You could see the peaks of Rockies and the tips of trees that bordered their tops. There was no danger in site. However as if on queue, the sound of hawk caught our attention. That was the call of one of our scouts. A Breather had been spotted. We ran for our vehicle. Out of the clearing two figures came running. Ray had already started the engine, "Come on Becky! Put the baskets in the back! Hurry!" he barked at me.
The two scout had barely reached us and gotten in vehicle when I spotted it. The Breather came crashing through the trees, running at full speed. Ray hit the gas and the truck lurched forwards. "I told you it was coming!" I yelled at him. He ignored me and pushed on the gas pedal even harder. We weren't out running the Breather, it seemed to be gaining on us.
"Theo calling Grange. Theo calling Grange!" Theo, one of the scouts was screaming into our two way radio. All that answered him was static. "Theo calling Grange!" he shouted again. Finally there was a reply. "Grange responding. You're breaking up Theo." "We got a Breather on our tail. A runner it looks like!" he was still shouting. Runners are wingless Breathers. My dad told me they called them dragons once, but dragons are myth. These Fire Breathers are real. "We need back up!" "Roger, sending back up now." Suddenly there was a jolt on the back of the truck. I turned away from the Theo to see that Breather had taken the bumper off our vehicle. "Shit." the other scout, Harvey cursed. I don't know how I heard it. The truck, the stampeding of the Breather and the beating of my own heart, were deafening. But I heard the 'copter nonetheless. It came whizzing over the trees. I would of whooped and thrown my hands up, but I was to busy holding onto the truck bed wall, for my life. It wouldn't be to spectacular to fall out of this moving vehicle and be right in the path of the Breather. It may distract the Breather from getting the others, but it sure wouldn't help me any. You can't do any good for anyone from the inside of it's stomach. I never saw the Helicopter launch the rocket, but soon the Breather was exploding into little pieces. "Theo calling Copter! Now get yourselves out of there!" Theo yelled into the radio. I watched it zoom into the distance. Ray never slowed down and my heart was still in my throat, but now we had a greater chance of getting home in one piece.
"Hector, I'm telling you something's up!" Mika, who headed another scavenger division, said when we were eating dinner that night, "Every time we go out, we always run into them. We've lost six people in the last month alone to Breathers. It's like they know when we come out of hiding."
"How can they Mika?" he shot back, "We don't have any patterns for them to follow!" I sat and watched them argue, wondering if it would of been better to be Breather lunch, than sit here listening to them squabble.
"All I can say is, watching that Breather blown to bits was sure satisfying." Theo said with his mouth full. Quite a few people in our little 'commune' agreed with him.
I stared at my food. I really wasn't hungry. Suddenly I had lost my appetite. "Becky are you going to eat that?" Greg, a tall blonde man several years my senior asked pointing at my plate. I shook my head and he promptly scraped my food onto his.
No one noticed me leave. There were forty people living in our community under ground. Ten men, twelve women and eighteen children.
Our community was fourteen feet beneath the earth's surface. Probably not deep enough to matter much against the Breathers, but it kept us relatively safe. Niches had been carved into the walls. Each held a glowing candle, which reflected off the limestone rock making the hallways and passages seem warm and colorful, and not so close-in and prison like.
Every so often I passed one of the large alcoves that was the sleeping quarters of one of the families. Some were full with children laughing, some lay empty. Any more there seems to be more and more empty ones, than filled.
Along the top of the passages, a long wire was attached. Every passage and hallway, every alcove, cavern, every room where human life could be found, were laced with these wires.
In the likely event that a Breather was spotted close to home the wire would light up, warning us of an impending attach and telling those not able to fight, to head deeper under ground. I remember being told as a child to sleep with one eye open to watch the wire. It has never lit up in my lifetime. I hoped it never would.
I dreamed of the wingless Breather that night. I was running. The world sped by in a blur, trees melting into trees. The Breather was chasing me. I could feel its breath on the back of my neck.
"Just run," I kept repeating to myself. But it was gaining. I could hear the trees crashing beneath its feet. "Run, run faster!"
Suddenly fire engulfed me. I could feel its warmth and the tingling that comes from first contact with flame. Then I could feel it burn. I awoke screaming a soundless scream. My body was drenched in sweat. That nightmare was too real for comfort. I put my head in my hands and tried to wipe it from my memory.
Out of the corner of my eye, I say two big red eyes starring at me. I remembered the eyes of the Breather; they'd been deep red, blood red. I looked up sharply, Chester my fat tabby cat jumped onto my bed and curled up at my feet. I could have kicked him for scaring me like that. I laid back down and promptly fell back asleep.