**Chapter 1: Faith**

"Attention: Units W-Z report to the fieldhouse immediately." A woman's robotic voice sounds over the intercom. After a moment of delay, I drag myself out of the bottom bunk of the bed I share with Jayla. She's in Unit Y, like me, but soon we'll graduate to Unit Z and finally be allowed out of The House. Every announcement the robot lady on the intercom makes reminds me of the approaching event. I can't wait, but Jayla is more anxious than I am.

I rub my face and adjust my plain red t shirt with a black eagle logo on the back. I attempt to slide my hands into my pockets only to remember I have none. I'm still used to the Unit V uniform, my favorite uniform. It had pockets and was much warmer than these. You'd think after three years I'd be used to my lack of pockets, but I can't help myself. It's a reflex, not unlike sliding my finger up the bridge of my nose only to realize my glasses aren't on my face. Jayla laughs every time. "Jay, get up. You know Madame Ugly will getcha if you don't." I reach up to the bunk above mine and tug Jayla's red pant leg, identical to my own. Jayla groans.

"It's Madame Egly, Faith," she corrects me while climbing down the ladder against our connected beds. I just snort and scratch my hair through my bonnet. No one actually calls her by her real name, so I'm not sure why Jayla insists on it. "It's called respect." I hear her yawn as she stretches her arms above her head.

"Whatever, she doesn't respect us. We don't have to respect her." I shrug and take off my bonnet, making my way to the small, rundown bathroom where I tend to find ants and spiders. It seems the older I get, the worse my life gets. I grab a bottle of lotion and toss it to her. "Here, you need some. You look just about white." I snicker and grab my toothbrush. She laughs before reviving the color in her skin and passing the bottle back to me so she can do her hair. I always tell her to pick a style and stick with it. Much easier in these conditions. That's why I locked up and never looked back, but she swears by her quote "variety." I think it's a show for the pretty boy down the hall-

_SLAM! _"Why aren't you both ready for the fieldhouse yet?!" Standing in the doorway is Orion, the culprit of the slammed door and the pretty boy I mentioned earlier before I was so rudely interrupted. I see Jayla scurry behind the bathroom door immediately to hide from him. I scoff at his sharp demeanor and identical uniform to the other boys in Unit Y. They all wear long-sleeved dark red shirts with black eagle logos embroidered on the back, black trousers, and matching dark red combat boots. They dress us like we're going to war. The only thing that makes him stand out is his decently long hair, well, for a boy at least. His cornrows touch his collarbones, which frankly is unfair because my hair-

"Don't scoff at me!" He huffs. Again, interrupting my train of thought! What is with him today? "Get ready, quickly. Madame Egly called us to the fieldhouse-"

"Why are you in the girls' quarters, Orion?" I cut him off with a deadpan expression, grabbing my uniform out of the drawer. It looks almost identical to our male counterparts, except the eagle is white and not black. He pauses, seeming caught off guard by the question before responding.

"Well, we had a couple missing from the group. I had to come check-"

"One of the other girls couldn't do it?" I scoot into the tiny bathroom where Jayla is frantically doing her hair into a slicked back bun, that clearly isn't going to work with how fast she's going, and close the door behind us, leaving Orion to argue through the door.

"Well, of course they could, but," he begins to stammer. Oh, I see what this is.

"But what?" I call through the door, getting dressed in the cramped space. "You wanted to come see Jayla, right?"

Jayla smacks my shoulder and I hear Orion go quiet for a moment before yelling in a higher pitched voice, "Just hurry up!" The door slams behind him and I laugh in Jayla's face as she finishes her bun.

"Jay, your man wanted to come see you!" I tease as I exit the bathroom so Jayla can get dressed as well. Honestly, I have no clue what she sees in that man, but if she likes him, I...tolerate him. We both finish getting ready quickly and run out to the fieldhouse where we're greeted with stares from our peers and three other units. Units W, X, and Z. We rush into our own Unit's line, knowing immediately where to go based on our uniforms. All of our uniforms are practically the same, but in different variations. Unit W wears pink, X wears pinkish-red, and Z wears black and white. The girls in Unit Z wear white and the boys wear black.

Madame Ugly, I mean Egly, watches us disapprovingly as we scoot into line between Ryleigh and Eliza, the two girls who share the other bunk in our room. I can't stand Ryleigh, but it's a cross I must bear for the time being. Madame Egly clears her throat. "Now that we're all here," she emphasizes the word 'here' with a stern glare at Jayla and I, "We may begin. As you all know, graduation is fast approaching for our Unit Zs." She gestures towards the group that looks not much older than ourselves. "It is time you all begin considering your options, of which there are only two. Fight for this country," she gestures vaguely to the smelly building around us, "or strive for adoption." She lets her arms fold politely once more. I stare straight ahead. I know exactly what I'm doing once I get out of here. I'll be fighting for our country, like I was set out to do. Jayla and I will be fighting together, kicking butt like in the spy movies. Ryleigh probably wants to be adopted, but I wouldn't care. Good riddance. She's whiny anyway.