CHYNA
"Cuck-oooooooooo!"
"5 more minutes, mom," I mumbled as I rolled over in bed.
"Cuck-cluck-ooooooooooooooooooooooo!"
"Agh!"
I woke up and moved the pillow away from my head, throwing it on the floor. Stupid roosters. They were worse than an alarm clock. It was hardly dawn outside and I was already awake.
I heard my stomach growl. Our food rations yesterday were just a loaf of bread and a jug of water for all of us to share. It had not filled me at all. I dreamed of all the delicious food that I could've had at home, roast beef and mashed potatoes, collard greens and greasy home made cheese fries, apple toast for breakfast, and my favorite chocolate strawberry milkshake.
For some reason, all the bedrooms were on the first floor in a narrow hallway. I heard that the workday for farmers started bright and early, and that the roosters were programmed to wake you up just before dawn so you could have time to eat and get ready. I sat up and pulled on my new heavy work boots and trudged outside.
I filled a basket with plenty of fruit, some eggs from the chickens, and went back in. I was not a very good chef, but I made a fresh fruit salad and eggs, and filled tall glasses with the remaining water from the jug.
After eating, we sat in the study on the second floor.
"OK, let's make some rules," Olive started.
Fletcher and I groaned.
"Chyna will be in charge of cooking in the morning. I'll do lunch, and Fletcher will do dinner."
We all agreed to this.
"We'll all pick the fruits and stuff, feed the animals, keep the house clean, and stuff like that."
This was agreed to too.
After making all the rules, we had to decide what to do next. Everyone else was outside, taking care of their crops and animals, working had to try and make a living. We had tended to everything we owned.
"At noon," said Olive, "We'll take the train to the market with some of our things. If we're lucky, we can get enough money to hitch a ride inside the city, where Lexi most likely is."
"But what if we can't sell anything? The people here are pretty biased," said Fletcher.
"Yeah, I mean noon is in a few hours. Shouldn't we start picking?"
Olive sighed and rubbed her temples. "I'm not sure about everything, but if I know anything, we can only hope for the best."
FLETCHER
At noon, us and a few more people were on the train to the market. This car seemed to be for the middle class, and it wasn't as bad as the one we were in yesterday. The windows were open and there was a nice cool breeze. Beside us was a big basket full of all sorts of things 'we' had grown.
Not too far off sat the market. It was busy, and we had to go to the produce section in order to sell anything.
"Fruit! Poultry! Grains! Get everything you need here!"
"Delicious citrus, no-legs eggs! All matured and ready to tackle!"
"Get your meals, fresh from us!"
Chyna sighed. "It's no use. No one wants our stuff. We'll never get to the city."
Olive groaned. "Chyna's right. We're not selling."
I huffed. "I'm not giving up! We have to get back to the real world before it's too late and something happens to us!
"FRUIT! CITRUS! POULTRY! EGGS! STRAIGHT FROM 99 WILLOW'S EDGE, NO HASSLE, READY TO TACKLE!"
The people near us stopped. One woman with a baby spoke up. "Did you say 99 Willow's Edge?"
I grinned. "Why, yes I did!"
She pulled out several gold coins. "Thank goodness! I thought we would never get things from them again! They are the best of the best, you know." She placed some fruit and eggs in her bag and put the coins in our empty jug. "Please, keep the change," and she hurried off.
After that, business started booming. In an hour, we were all out, and we had way more than enough to get to the city.
"This is great!" I said. "We'll be out of here in no time!"
Olive smiled cheerfully. "All we have to do now is get Lexi and get on the next train out of this place!"
Chyna jumped with joy. "We can even get something good for dinner tonight. What are you making, Fletcher?"
I shrugged. "I dunno, but we have plenty. Let's think about other things, too. We have stuff at home for a small salad; maybe we can have burgers tonight. It's one of the few things I'm good at making."
Chyna and Olive nodded. "Sounds good," they said.
After buying the meat, we were on our way out when we saw an old woman at the edge of the market. "Please," she started, "My family is in debt to Our Lady Melody. If we don't pay her tonight she'll take away our farm and send us back to the real world. But there, we are homeless. We need this life. All we have left is our goat. She is in good condition, all she needs is a good home to stay in. Could you spare 75 gold coins?"
I looked at Chyna and Olive. This lady needed our help. We had 100 left, and we only needed 25 for the ride.
I gave the lady the money. "Goat's milk sounds good, don't you think?"
She smiled. "Thank you so much, kind children. My name is Ursa. I will not forget this. Good fortune shall be bestowed upon you; but, look out! Darkness is coming your way!" And with that, she was gone.
"Did you guys even see a goat here?" Chyna asked. Olive shook her head. "Whatever, I guess. But that last message was creepy."
I nodded. "Let's just forget about it! Off we go!"
OLIVE
She opened the door.
"YOU?! What? How?" she huffed. "Come inside."
We followed Lexi inside as the door shut behind us. We sat down on the comfortable sofas.
"What are you doing here? This is my place."
Chyna sighed. "You don't understand, Lexi. None of this is real. We're in a dream. A simulation. At home we're in comas. If we get hurt or die here, we're dead there. In the real world. If we don't get out soon, anything could happen."
Lexi giggled. "This is real. I'm loved here. Respected. I have all I could ever want. No brats to ruin it. There's no need to leave."
"Sure, you could die. And then what? What's the purpose of us even being here? The only reason why we're here is to get you. We're risking our lives for you. Because we know that if anything happens to you, we would be blamed because it's Chyna's fault we're here in the first place!" said Fletcher.
"It's a dream," I said, "And if we don't leave quick, we could die and be nowhere. We have all of our lives ahead of us, us and you. But just not here."
The was a period of silence before Lexi angrily stood up.
"It's a dream? Yes, it's THE dream!" She fumed, "And I'm not going to let YOU ruin it!" She snapped her fingers and we found ourselves outside, behind the gates, facing the new, cold world.
"Well, that didn't work," Fletcher whispered.
Chyna said, "Is there a plan B?"
I looked up in the sky in horror. "There won't be a plan B," I said.
That was when the first bomb fell.