The formatting is lost so I'm using * to represent italics. The opening chapter is through the eyes of a 17-year-old female agent of an organization that hunts down people with a special virus immunity in their blood.
*Only another mission,* this is what I keep telling myself as I try to sleep. I lay awake all night in bed staring at the ceiling fan spinning in slow motion. There really isn't a need for the fan as the air is surprisingly cool. The sound of it comforts me and helps me rest easy on most nights. In my mind, the blades of the fan turn to knives. Blood rains down on my face, and I can hear the screams of the dead. *Tomorrow will just be another mission.*
I roll over and close my eyes. The sound of my assigned guardians talking in the next room rings in my ears. The walls are so thin in this townhouse; I'm surprised they've never heard me scream into my pillow at night. Ever since my parents disappeared, the Organization was kind enough to give me "replacements." Not that I need them, I can take care of myself. Yuki, my substitute mother, is planning to go to the summer festival tomorrow. She's been laughing and talking about how great it's going to be. Her voice is so annoying. It sounds as if she's had the same cold for years now, high-pitched and squeaky. I cover my face with my pillow to block out the sound. All I can think about is how blind everyone in this city seems to be.
We pretend nothing is wrong. Every year we host carnivals and festivals in the summer, picnics in the fall, and pie eating contests in the spring. It distracts everyone. We pretend this is our little piece of paradise in a bleak world. Yet that couldn't be further from reality. No matter how hard we try to live normal lives, no one can escape the truth: our island will never be safe until the monsters that hunt us are gone for good. For this dream to come true, we have to harvest the cure.
*Only another mission,* this is what I keep telling myself as I try to sleep. I lay awake all night in bed staring at the ceiling fan spinning in slow motion. There really isn't a need for the fan as the air is surprisingly cool. The sound of it comforts me and helps me rest easy on most nights. In my mind, the blades of the fan turn to knives. Blood rains down on my face, and I can hear the screams of the dead. *Tomorrow will just be another mission.*
I roll over and close my eyes. The sound of my assigned guardians talking in the next room rings in my ears. The walls are so thin in this townhouse; I'm surprised they've never heard me scream into my pillow at night. Ever since my parents disappeared, the Organization was kind enough to give me "replacements." Not that I need them, I can take care of myself. Yuki, my substitute mother, is planning to go to the summer festival tomorrow. She's been laughing and talking about how great it's going to be. Her voice is so annoying. It sounds as if she's had the same cold for years now, high-pitched and squeaky. I cover my face with my pillow to block out the sound. All I can think about is how blind everyone in this city seems to be.
We pretend nothing is wrong. Every year we host carnivals and festivals in the summer, picnics in the fall, and pie eating contests in the spring. It distracts everyone. We pretend this is our little piece of paradise in a bleak world. Yet that couldn't be further from reality. No matter how hard we try to live normal lives, no one can escape the truth: our island will never be safe until the monsters that hunt us are gone for good. For this dream to come true, we have to harvest the cure.