THE END

Chapter 2

I wake up with a scream, in a cold sweat. At first I don't know where I am. I realize I'm under a bridge and start to panic, flailing and shouting. "My parents-" I said. "Bridge-"

"It's okay, it's okay." I hear Neil say, "It was just a dream." I take a breath and look around, realizing he's right. I also realize he's cradling me in his arms. I'm not sure we're exactly dating, I mean no one even cares about formalities anymore. But we've come to love each other. The way he looks at me with so much worry in his eyes melts my heart.

"I'm okay." I said after a moment. "Thanks. It's just a nightmare. I'm fine."

"No you aren't." He said, pulling me closer.

"I just..." He cradles me to his chest and after a few minutes my breathing slows back to normal. "I just wish I hadn't had to see it. If I wasn't there when they died I wouldn't have to relive it every time I sleep. I could be like any other orphan and just have a story of their death. I don't want the memory."

"I know." He said softly.

"I mean, you're not with your family, but at least they're still alive. They're out there somewhere, on Jupiter, just waiting for you to return to them. You could see them again in just a couple days. That's where the evacuation plan will take you." I said. I know I crossed a line but I don't care.

Neil never speaks of his family. I remember when we were thirteen, and he was sobbing on my doorstep that his family was taken. My parents took him in and he stayed with us until we were fifteen, when the bomb hit.

He had been out scavenging for supplies at the time and missed the bomb entirely. He returned to find me sobbing on that same doorstep, shouting random words and a mixed up explanation that probably made no sense.

"Cecily," He said now. He seemed to have no idea what to say. Finally he said, "I might see them again. If they're even still alive. I mean how do I know they lived through the last four years? Or didn't get shipped to another planet?"

He continued, "But besides that, I have it almost as bad as you. I've had to live with myself for four years, knowing that they got taken and there was nothing I could do to stop it. Knowing that they could be in danger as we speak and not being there to help them. Knowing that even if I'm shipped to Jupiter, they may not be alive, and if they are I may never see them again."

I hug him tight. "You'll find them." I said. "I know you will."

"But that's the worst of it!" He said. "Even if I get evacuated to a planet where there's a chance I could find them, it means losing you. You're going to Saturn." He said. "You'll be just another person I care about who gets evacuated away from me, and there's nothing I can do to stop it." His voice cracks.

"Hey." I look him right in the eye. "You are not going to lose me." I told him. "I don't care how, but we're going to make this work. We are not getting evacuated in two days. Unless we go together."

"But the chips-" He broke off. Everyone has a small chip implanted in the dip between the front of your collar bone. It acts as a GPS tracker, which Jupiter or the officers can use to find you. It'll be used on us in two days to find and evacuate us. Jupiter is still bombing Earth and Venus, and I'm not sure there will be very many people left to evacuate.

"We'll remove them." I said.

"What? How?" He said.

"If the chips are destroyed they can't find us. So they won't be able to evacuate us." I said. "Although, you wouldn't have a chance at finding your family. Plus the Earth is dying, that part is real, so we'd have to find our own way off the planet."

"I- yeah. If we find our own way to evacuate, can we go to Jupiter? I'd like at least a shot at finding them." He said.

"Of course. But it would be dangerous there. I mean Jupiter's the enemy after all."

"Did you ever think- I mean..."

"What is it?" I asked.

"I know they took my family. They've killed so many people. I'm not saying they're doing it right, but do you ever think Jupiter is right to rebel against the officers? The officers are at fault too. They don't care much about people like us. They separate families and destroy planets and cause war, all in the name of 'the good of the people.' So which side is right?"

"I don't know." I said after a second. I hadn't thought of it like that. To me the officers were always the good guys and Jupiter was the rebel. "Either way we need to get rid of these chips. Do you have a pocket knife in that belt of yours?"

"Yeah, I think so. But are you sure you want to do this? Cut out the chip? I mean, what if we accidentally cut too deep, or not in the right place? We could really hurt ourselves."

"I'm sure." I said. "Cutting out the chips just means we're staying together. We won't be evacuated separately. It doesn't mean we're giving up. We'll still get out of here. We'll still find your family. I promise." He rummages through his belt and finds the pocket knife. I unbutton the top button of my shirt and say, "Cut it out for me. I don't want to do it myself."

"I don't want to hurt you." He says.

"I trust you." I say. "Just do it." So the little knife lowers and makes a small slash across my skin. I gasp and he squeezes the area with his thumb and forefinger until a tiny metal sphere pops out, covered in blood. He takes it and places it on the ground, then steps on it with all his might, crushing it into the dirt.

He takes a cloth and wipes the blood away from my skin gently. The cut is about as wide as my thumbnail. It'll scab over soon.

He then wipes the knife clean on the cloth and hands it to me. I take the pocket knife and he pulls down the neck of his shirt a couple inches. I carefully find the spot between his collarbone and make a small cut. He flinches but that's it. I then squeeze with my fingers like he did until the chip comes out, and crush it under my boot. I use another cloth and wipe away the blood dripping down his chest.

"According to society," He said. "We no longer exist."