I blinked open my eyes, slowly, and sleepily pulled an eyelash out of my eye. A dim and dusty light peered through the windows of the old abandoned cabin. I shifted a bit in my bed, I kicked off the thick sheets, layered in tiny specks of dust, and sat up right.

My long brown hair was a tangled mess from a whole day of gathering and hunting yesterday in the woods. I planted my feet on the old wood floor and stood up. The wood was a bit splintered, probably from its years of use, luckily it wasn't rotted. The sun was starting to rise, I could see the striking colors barely through the window and over the trees. Slowly and quietly, I walked to the window and placed three fingers on the cold glass, no snow, good.

It was late fall and the Canadian snow showed no mercy for anyone. It coated the woods in a thick blanket of white. The wolves, usually starved and thin, would come to the cabin to look for food, there is one gun we found in the cabin. I keep it by the door, just in case. Finding good game can be hard, the deer are thin and it can be hard to chase in the snow. So far, I haven't lost any family members I was left to raise. You can say I have survival skills, but let me tell you, it wasn't always like this, I wasn't always prepared. The first year after my mom and dad died, I was left to raise my two younger sisters, Sophie and Sarah, and my younger brother, Jake. Sarah is 14, Sophie is 15, Jake is 13, and I am 17.

War raged across the world, and it has for 20 years. The Alliance was made up of Canada, The United States, Australia, England, France, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, and Portugal.

The enemy force was known as the Overtakers, creepy name right? It was made by the sick minded man who made the force, and started the war.

His name was Jacob Hudson, don't be fooled, it seems normal, but trust me, he is deadly and insane. He was part of the British parliament before he had a disagreement with someone and freaked out. He left England and went to Russia to discuss an alliance with him and the few followers that also left with him. And you can imagine, the Russian officials said yes and the Overtakers were formed. Soon to join them would be Japan, China, a few South American countries I couldn't remember, a few African countries, Austria, Germany, Syria, and Belgium (by force).

The other countries not on a side were called neutral countries, it was nobody's land and everybody's land.

After England found out about Hudson, they started to attack and get allies, and then that lead up to today.

I sighed and placed my forehead on the window, I stared at the floor for a minute then decided to get changed. I was pretty much restricted to the 5 outfits I had, but could you blame me? It's not like I could walk miles and miles to the nearest Walmart? And it's world war 3! I would be sent to the orphanage with my siblings (or worse, with my aunt!), I also have no money. Anyways, I changed into a pair of jeans and a black and white sweatshirt. I put on some socks and my brown hunting boots. My bow leaned against the post of my bed. I grabbed the bow and some arrows, went down stairs,  and walked to the door. I put on my hood and took in a deep breath to get focused.

"Emily?" I heard someone say softly and I turned around.

I saw Sophie lift her head and look at me. Her brown hair was up in a pony tail and her eyes were half open. She was standing at the bottom of the stairs.

"I'm going hunting, you're in charge", I say quickly and walk out the door without looking back.

The cold air was still and quiet. I could hear some birds up in the trees and squirrels scampering from branch to branch. The tress towered over me, pines, maples, oaks, basically, a lot of trees. I could hear leaves crunching below my feet, I had to be more quiet.

I crept forward and leaned against a tree trunk. I looked around, side to side, nothing. Then I heard crunching from behind me. I slowly turned, in fear it was a bear or wolf and instead saw a deer. Quietly munching on a bush at the base of a tree.

Perfect. It was large, healthy, and would last long. I aimed the arrow at its shoulder to wound it and fired. It bleated in alarm and faltered to the ground. I rushed over and pulled out a knife.

"Thank you", I said quietly and stabbed the knife into the deer. 

It went still and I pulled out the knife.
I looked at my catch and a small drop of water dropped from one of the leaves overhead onto my nose. I pressed my hand into the soft moss below me while I crouched there for a minute. Then, I washed off the knife with a cloth from my pocket and slid it into my pocket. I picked up the deer and threw it over my shoulders, it was heavy, let me tell you that! I spat at a few flies buzzing around my mouth and a stray strand of hair got stuck in my eye. I looked ahead and saw the cabin. I dropped the catch to the left of the door and went in.

"Emily!" I hear someone say and i turn to see Jake sitting on the couch.

"Sophie was being a jerk, she wouldn't let me help you hunt", Jake told me and looked at me with his big brown eyes.

They looked just like me mother's. His blond hair was a mess too.

I looked at Sophie who was scowling at Jake, "I told you no because I am responsible."

"So?" Jake replied.

"I am also older", Sophie said and turned back to her dresser as she picked out and outfit.

Jake stuck out his tongue at her and Sarah laughed from her corner of the cabin. She was sitting on the couch, reading one of the books we found in the cabin. You'd never expect there to be so many books in a random cabin in the Canadian woods!

"I got a nice deer! It will last a good time", I say and stand up.

"Nice", Sophie said and walked to look out the window by the door.

"A buck," she says, "a big one too."

"Want to help me bring it to the food store out back?" I asked and glanced at Sophie.

She smiled and nodded, "happily!"

The food store was an extra building outback where we stored the food we hunted and gathered. It was too gross to keep it with us, the meat at least, and this structure had no other use, it was perfect.

The food was prepared and stored in the store and stayed surprisingly fresh for a long time. We keep blocks of ice in it that we get from the lake. We gather ice in the winter and put it in the cellar so it is available year round.

Sophie and I pick up the deer. She has her hands on the two back legs while I have the front end. Sophie was turning into a fine hunter, she was smart and brave, when our father was still alive, he had taught us both. Jake was to young, he had one more year to wait, and Sarah gathered with our mother.

Food was low, we lived in an actual neighborhood back then in northern Maine, yet we used the woods to our advantage. When the bomb dropped in our town, we barely escaped. That was the bomb that took my parents, Lisa and Kevin Port. We had wandered for days, until one day, while walking down a road, we saw all the cars had odd license plates and then we were in Canada. Technically illegally but I honestly didn't care at that point.

I placed my end of the deer in front of the food store door and Sophie opened the door. I could smell all the fruits and meat as soon as the door opened. Sarah had memorized all the healing herbs and edible fruits, berries, and plants.  She was a remarkable young girl.

I pulled out my knife and took the deer's pelt off. Sophie had cut off the horns and was starting to cut of the hooves.

I started to cut the meat and Sophie sprinkled some salt and preserving herbs on top. We finished quickly and I brushed extra salt off my hands.

"Good job!" I said and stood up.

We high five and walk back into the cabin.

"I'm hungry!" Jake complained and rolled from the couch to the floor.

"I can gather some fresh fruit", Sarah said, "or we can use some from the store."

"Save the stuff in the store for winter, you can gather new fruit, Sarah", I turned and told her.

Sarah stood up and brushed out her long blonde hair. She had long legs and and deep blue eyes. She picked up her gathering bag from the corner post of one of the chairs at the kitchen table and walked out the door. Her foot steps were light and soft, not like Jake's heavy steps or Sophie's determined ones, you couldn't even feel the vibration in the wood.

"I'M BORED NOW", Sophie declared and sat at the dinner table with her head resting on her arms.

"Want me to braid your hair?" Jake mimicked Sarah's voice and he laughed.

Sophie sat up and glared at him. She hated getting her hair done, Sarah loved it, but Sophie would always swat Sarah's hands. She was not like the girls i knew when i was younger, than goodness she isn't! They would faint at the sight of blood, never mind hunting! Jake would sometimes, never mind, often annoy Sophie, they would always get on each others nerves.

"Can you tell us more about life in the real world?" Jake asked as he sat down on the floor about 20 minutes later.

"This is the real world", Sophie retorted.

Jake sighed and rolled his eyes, "I mean like cities and towns, shops, school, that world."

"You were alive when we left you know", Sophie sneered.

Jake glared at her, "I was five OK!"

"Whatever", Sophie muttered and laid back on the couch next to Sarah who had just returned from gathering.

She spread out the blueberries and blackberries on a small blanket on the floor so everyone could get some. I threw a few in my mouth before beginning to talk.

"Anyways," I said, "The cities were big and crowded. People were everywhere. Walking down the sides of the road were shops and restaurants, many different things. There was no hunting, no gathering, and there was always food."

"The sounds amazing", Jake yawned and fixed his hair.

I couldn't believe it had been eight years since my parent's death! It seemed like only yesterday we had found the cabin and made it home. But, the cabin wouldn't last forever. Sophie would be sixteen and Jake was becoming more restless, we were all growing.