2

A stiff wind from the north blew in, blasting up sand and dust in circles forming small tornadoes that followed along the path back to camp. I was exhausted from another day digging and hamering for Valon down in the mines. My shoulders ached and my eyes grew even more heavier as I was trying to oppose the urge to close them. As I dragged my feet along the road, the sun lowered itself in the horizon. What beautiful sunsets in the desert sky, not like I had been accustomed too back in the northern camps. With a quiet buzz the few lamp posts flickered to life, giving light in the envolping darkness. I ran my rough, torn up hand through my head of thick jet-black hair. My fingers caught on the clumps of dirt and rocks knotted in the rats nest. I needed a hair cut sometime soon, it didn't work too well with hair down to my eyes. As I continued down the road I often noded at the opposing workers heading to their shift. Most of them seemed lifeless, shells of any man or woman they once were, by I nodded and gesture a passing hello with a raised finger as they continued on past. I could hear the scuffling of boots hastingly approaching behind me. Someone breathed heavyily as they quickly made their way to my back. I knew right away who it was sneaking behind me. Naturally I began to turn to look, but as I did the man wrapped his arm around my throat and pulled tight under my chin. "Jackson, let go of me before I hurt you," I weeze. "You know, you think you'd have learned by now Elijah," Jackson laughed. Knowing his sincerity for jokes, I don't waste time talking so I swing my right elbow back to nail him in the ribs. He waited for it, dodging as I swung back and released me. I breathe in and turn to face him. "You're really asking for it," I say as I rubbed my neck where he held me. His eyes sparkled with excitement, "You're actually going to take me on today?" I look at him and with a small chuckle I ask, "And what? Embarrass you?" Jackson pointed his thin finger towards me, "I seem to remember you eating dust the last time." "I don't remember it that way," I say. He shrugged his shoulders and threw his arms into the air, "Fine, you lucked out for today!" I laugh and turn to continue walking down the long road back to my tent. Jackson walked up beside me as the both of us kill the time with conversation. I met Jackson when I had first been brought to this camp. I was shipped from the far north, he came from the camp closet to the capitol city in the east. That camp, Jackson had told me was one of the most vicious and murderous in all of the colony. He told me stories of there not only being just one Alpha, but multiple. Punishing every human if they looked in the wrong direction. He had told me he loved it here, down in the wastelands. The crew was mostly ran by Shephards, with the one Alpha being the only one with-in the many miles to the next camp in the north. Jackson leaned his head in a little closer to me as he spoke, "I got it by the way." I glanced at him and then nervously glanced back ahead while lowering my voice, "Good. I skipped on the pills again today as well." He nodded back at me in response. We both knew talking about such things in the open was a bad idea. I had heard of times when miners would turn each other in, to get extra rations or time off. The Alphas and Shephards use this to snuff out many rebellions or personal law breakers, and we couldn't take the chance to let anything set us back.