After Humanity

Chapter One

Rachel

The expanse of mountains in the distance was barely visible through the foggy mist that had settled over her beloved lake. Rachel eagerly removed her shoes and dipped her feet gingerly into the water, coaxing them through the initial shock of cold. The weather was just warm enough to make the sensation refreshing, and she knew it would not be long before summer brought the oppressive heat that would drive her to the lake all the more. The sun was already beginning to stay out later and later. It was one of the reasons she loved the season. Mama let her stay out later when the light remained.

Leaving her feet paddling in the water, Rachel lay back in the grass, watching the bright patches of sunlight dancing along the ground where they broke through the cover of soft white clouds overhead. She savored their warmth  on her exposed skin. There was a reason she loved the lake. It was the only place she could really be alone within the confines of their village boundaries. Even Mama didn't fuss when she went here on her own, and Mama never wanted Rachel to wander.

Encased in rocky terrain on all sides, the lake provided them not only fresh water but protection. The sibla had no means to approach, let alone attack. The lake was the reason Mama and Papa and all the others had moved here. With the gates protecting the north, the lake protecting the south, and dense forest hiding them from those who might hunt them, the people of Demin were hidden. The people of Demin were free.

"Rachel!"

The sound of her mother's call surprised her. Rachel sat up quickly and turned to see Mama standing at the top of the hill overlooking her favorite corner of the lake. Even from a distance she could tell that something was wrong. Mama had her arms wrapped around her chest, hugging herself. It was a gesture Rachel recognized well. A gesture of fear. And her voice, there was a tremor to it. A tinge of desperation as she scanned the area looking for Rachel along the shoreline.

"Rachel I need you back at the house this instant!"

Rachel stood quickly, grabbing her shoes in her hand and running up the grassy hill barefoot.

"Oh Rachel thank goodness!" her mother exclaimed when she caught sight of her. The woman quickly wrapped Rachel up in a tight embrace.

"What's wrong Mama?" Rachel asked, trying to ignore the strange churning in her stomach. Her mother's face was unnaturally pale, and her grip on Rachel's arms as she held her close was painfully viselike.

"It's probably nothing," her mother answered, trying unsuccessfully to mask the fear that was so clearly plastered across her face. "Mrs. Carp came by. She heard a rumor that one of the sentries went missing. And your father hasn't returned yet. And...I'm certain everything is fine it's just that," she stopped. "He should be back by now. We should be waiting for him when he comes back."

Rachel nodded, trying to suppress her own mounting fear that her mother's anxiety meant that something might actually be wrong. It was growing late and she knew Papa should have returned already. Still, there were many reasons he might not be back, and Mrs. Carp, though a close friend of Mama's, was a known gossip in town.

Rachel reminded herself that Mama always worried, fearing hidden dangers at every turn and keeping Rachel constantly under her watchful eye. Mrs. Carp once told her it started when Mama and Papa's first child was taken. Back when the people of Demin lived outside of the forest in the valley.

There was no one alive now who still remembered Earth That Was, the age when humans still ruled. The sibla had taken over long ago and they did not like the idea of any other creatures living in the wild without observation. That included humans. The human settlements they did allow to remain free were subject to pay tribute as a sign of their obedience. In return for protection, the sibla required every registered human village to sacrifice a certain portion of their population each year to be sold into the slave markets. Mama and Papa never talked about it, but Rachel knew that once upon a time she had had an older brother. That was why the old village of Demin had "disappeared," so no families would ever again have to lose their loved ones to the sibla.