Glass memory

(Perspective: Protagonist – unnamed teen girl)

No one's talking.

Not the parents. Not the kids. Not even the birds. The wind keeps pushing dry leaves across the floor of the compound, like it's trying to sweep away the tension and give us all a do-over.

But there's no do-over coming.

Outside, two fathers shout at each other again. Loud. Stupid. A circle of adults formed around them days ago and never left. Some shout back. Others nod and stay quiet. The line down the middle has been drawn, and every day it deepens.

This morning, my best friend's mom said I wasn't allowed near their side anymore.

"We're not splitting up," I told her.

She looked me in the eye and said, "You already have."

---

Karan, my younger brother, steps into our shared room, teeth clenched.

"Mom says we're moving to the west camp."

My stomach knots.

"That's where Aalya's family is."

He throws his bag on the floor. "She doesn't care. She says this side's dangerous now."

"But this is our side."

He glares at me. "She said you're the dangerous one."

I shake my head. "I'm not dangerous. I'm the only one trying to keep us together."

"She says you're too loud. Too opinionated."

"So she wants me to what? Stay silent while they rip everything apart?"

"She wants you to stop picking sides."

I laugh—sharp, bitter. "There are no sides if you care about the people on both."

He points at the door. "Well, she picked hers."

He walks out. I sit on the floor. Stare at my hands.

What do I do now? If I stay, I lose my friends. If I go, I betray who I am.

I wanted to believe we were better than this. That ten thousand years of sleep made us wiser.

But we woke up broken.

Just like the world.

---

Later, I meet the others. There are five of us. Always have been. Me, Sira, Venu, Ajay, and Maika. Our little tribe before tribes existed.

We sit around the dead fire pit. No one's lit it in days.

"Ajay's parents said I can't talk to any of you anymore," Maika mutters.

"They're moving us next week," says Sira.

"We need to do something," I say.

Venu leans forward. "Like what? Throw our own war?"

"No," I say. "The opposite."

They wait.

"We run."

They stare.

"We leave. Find a way to pull them back together from the outside."

Ajay frowns. "You think running away fixes this?"

"No," I say. "I think staying does nothing. Out there, we can build something. A reason for them to follow."

Maika bites her lip. "And if they never do?"

"Then at least we didn't let their choices define us."

I look at each of them. "We'll only ever matter if we choose who we want to be."

They don't cheer. They don't smile.

But they nod.

One by one.

---

We leave the next morning before the sun does.

Each with a bag. A bottle of water. A note we wrote and left under pillows.

By midday, we're starving.

By nightfall, we're arguing.

Maika thinks we should turn back. Venu keeps snapping. Ajay barely speaks. The silence between Sira and me is growing.

I keep pushing us forward. "We just need one win. One thing to go right."

That night, we find a half-buried data node.

It flickers. Holds part of a map. A whisper of civilization.

I stare at the flickering image long after the others sleep. My heart beats fast.

Was this destiny? A sign?

Or am I just forcing meaning into chaos?

I turn off the node. Bury it again. Decide: we keep moving.

We sleep under broken satellite towers.

I stare up at a sky I don't recognize.

I made a choice.

Now I have to carry it.

To be continued...