Stars Of Our Lives

Sometimes I Feel I've Got To [LAW & ORDER] Runaway

Grace Somerfield was the first to die.

Frickin Grace.

She had been sitting on top of one of the lunch tables, preaching to anybody that would listen about the fly in her milk. When she'd shown Krel and I, we'd both agreed it was just a raisin she'd dropped in there herself. It was turning into an actual debate, with her friends on her side and basically everyone else at the table on ours.

She was in the middle her rebuttal when her entire body froze up, cutting her off mid sentence. She made little gasping sounds, like she was trying to breathe. Then her eyes rolled back and she collapsed. I was so close to her when it happened, I had to step to the side to avoid her falling on me.

She lay crumpled against the tiles, perfectly still. Lunch ladies and parent volunteers gathered around us, along with every kid that was at the table. It wasn't until I nudged her arm with my foot that anybody realized she was dead.

That's how the Psi disease started. Just one death. A little spark. Then a few more. A small fire. Then the entire fourth grade. And it consumed everything in its path.

Every night, the casualty number they showed on the news only got higher. But that was less than half of the real deaths. Neighbors, friends, people we used to pass on the street, burying their children the next day. I always knew death was real, but it's different when it takes kids in your grade. When you know you could be next.

Then the rumors started. Stories of those that could survive the disease had somehow developed . . . abilities. Mama and Papa tried to shield us best they could, telling us it was all just propaganda. But that was difficult, especially with life on the base.

Our school was the first to show mandatory broadcasts, telling us all about the roles of the PSF officers. How they were to find the "disabled and corrupted" children that survived the disease and take them away for "rehabilitation".

Our school was also the first to air the inauguration of General Morando. I guess it was President Morando after that. It wasn't done normally, with a campaign and people voting. It was done quickly, Morando being chosen by members of the cabinet and other officials.

'For the good of the people', the interviewer had said. 'In times of crisis, efficiency is key'.

And Morando sure was efficient.

Any kids who were still alive at that point were being looked at, including me and Krel. Mama and Papa stayed up for nights at a time, talking quietly between each other. I don't really know if I understood what it meant back then. If I understood what happened to the kids that were taken. It didn't feel real. The President wouldn't really take a child from their parents. No one would.

Akiridion-5 Base had become a sort of safe haven by that time. Anyone with the necessary connections was moving in, and everyone else was making room. Psi had nearly wiped out my entire grade, not to mention Krel's. But suddenly, our school was chock full again. A new kid almost everyday. I didn't know the camps they were trying to avoid yet. I don't know if they did either.

It got so crowded, people started forcing any childless soldiers out to make room for families. Even those who had children were sent away, as long as they had somewhere else to go. Mama and Papa got to stay though, Papa being Sergeant Major over the Marine Corps and Mama being an ambassador - formerly a Commander. They were the definition of 'dream team', the power couple of the marines. And me and Krel were heirs to their legacy.

That had never sat well with me. I was a military baby, raised on Akiridion-5 Base my whole life, but I'd never wanted anything to do with it. It's what everyone expected of me, it's what my last name stood for. But it was also strict. Rules. Deadlines. Repetitive day in and day out. Following orders. It was something I couldn't be.