Planet Urth

I sheathe my spear on my back and I plow through bushes dotted with prickly balls, feeling them scratch and scrape my skin, but do not stop.

I walk along and feel as if my feet are barely touching the earth as I make my way back to the cave to June.

I scoot aside ever so slightly, away from Will, for fear I will burst into flames if his skin touches mine again. I am suddenly parched. I reach for my canteen.

The core of humanity is family. Whether they are people we are born to or people we embrace along the way, family is the crux of human life. And I will defend it with every last drop of blood that pumps through my body.

June is my reason to live, the only reason I still live. She is my purpose. I exist to keep her safe, for she needs protection from many things in this world. It has been eight years since I’ve seen another human being that wasn’t my father or my sister, June. I’m convinced we are the last human beings on what was once called planet Earth. I would never tell June that. I tell her every day that I believe someone will find us, that we will one day feel safe instead of scared all the time. But I know that is not true.

The sun has not risen yet. Eerie, iridescent light trickles in with streams of air that carry the sweet, pungent zing of ozone. Sharp and fresh, the scent fills the cave.

Heat zips like a laser beam from his eyes to my cheeks and sets them afire.

expect to see the deadly, milky-eyed stare of an Urthman. Instead, I see a plump rabbit watching me with oversized eyes that sit unusually close together on its face. I take bold step toward it, warning it off.

Will parts his lips and is about to speak, when a horrible din peals through the quiet of the cave.

The veil between nightmares and reality is thin. Some days, I have trouble distinguishing between the two.