Savage

Chapter Five - Treyton

Chapter Five

Treyton

Other than Mom, only two people know of my existence. The first is Mom's flaky ex-wife, who pretty much took off the day I was born. The second is Aunt Justana, Mom's older sister and informant for outside knowledge. Aunt Justana works in the Capitol, collecting data from foreign countries and interpreting their level of threat against us.

I've never met Aunt Justana. She comes over at the beginning of each month, only on the condition that I stay hidden until she leaves. Mom says it's nothing personal, but I know Justana loathes my existence. She probably spends her entire visit begging Mom to kill me while she has the chance. Still, Aunt Justana isn't the worst person in the world. She has been loyal to Mom, even after learning of her dirty secret. Plus, she occasionally brings news on the Iberra-Lieth War, the best war this nation has ever seen.

Justana gets up to hug Mom, which she does every time at the end of her stay. She pulls a folded piece of paper from her back pocket and places it on the counter. Five minutes later, Justana leaves and Mom comes down stairs with papers in hand.

"What'd she say?" I ask. I toss the Statio to Mom, but she doesn't catch it. She glares at me as she picks it up off the floor.

"Not much," says Mom. She inspects the Statio for damaging before looking at me.

"Can I have the papers?" I ask.

"Trey—"

"Mom," I say. "We made a deal. You're not allowed to hoard all the information."

"Watch your tone," says Mom, but she hands them over nonetheless.

I flip through the documents, only to find disappointment.

"There's nothing on the Iberran War," I say. Mom reaches for the stack of papers, but I tighten my hold over them.

"Justie doesn't have much access to that war," says Mom. "You know that. She's a lower level official. She primarily researches the Eastern countries."

I glance over the papers again. They're mostly news updates, basic information about the Eastern countries' problems. Problems that have nothing to do with Lieth or its extinction of men.

Mom stretches for them, but again, I pull back.

"Do you want to look through them for a while?" asks Mom, nodding toward the papers. She's letting me win the fight, just like always.

I nod, even though I'm not sure I do. All of these countries are consumed with their trivial problems. A higher rate of obesity, a disproved scientific theory, a decrease in a dollar's worth. From what I've learned, it's been six decades since a foreign country has publically challenged Lieth. That is, until Iberra.

When I look up, Mom is still in my room, watching me.

"Why aren't they doing anything?" I ask. I quickly clear my throat, embarrassed at its whiny tone. I say it again, this time with anger instead of pain. "How can they not do anything?"

"They've got their own problems," says Mom with a one-shouldered shrug.

I stare at Mom, but eventually get tired of our pity fest. Part of me feels like working out to blow off steam, but another wants to sit here and let my anger fester. So that's exactly what I do. As soon as Mom leaves, I lean against the wall and go through each and every aggravating piece of news.

It just doesn't make sense to me. I don't understand how these countries can sit back and watch as Lieth holds hundreds of men in hostile Brute Wards while women roam free. Mom says that nearly a century ago, when all of this first began, other countries did protest. But then, Lieth shut down their borders and locked out the rest of the world. Lieth remained isolated until they were a strong and functioning nation, powerful enough to stand against any who opposed. Lieth was doing well in its new society, so the other countries didn't see a reason to fight. Or more likely, they were too afraid to take on a new and mysterious power.

That's Mom's theory anyway. If you ask me, this is less about fear and more about selfishness. The other countries didn't want to get involved in our problems, didn't want to get sucked into the black hole that is Lieth. I've read about situations like this in history. This world has seen a lot of ugliness. People killed because of religion or politics or skin color. And now gender.

One day, Lieth will be another notch in this world's belt of shame. Or maybe not. Maybe one day, Lieth will be the grand beginning that its government claims it to be.

I throw the papers at the wall and watch them litter my bed. My skin is hot and itchy, and part of me wants to peel it from my body. I want out—I always do. But there is no out. No way to fix what I am.

I flick off the hologram and stare into the basement living room. Greenish light floods through the window; and I know if I just stretched my neck a little farther, I'd be able to see the forest. I tap my fingers against my legs and decide it's time to break out of these glass walls, no matter how dangerous.