Kynthia peered out the window once more. The moon had finally risen above the other houses. The bright sliver stood out among the rest of the blackness. She turned and walked over to the candle, the only source of light in the small house. She wept off shards of glass before sitting on a worn chair. Kynthia looked around at the abandoned safe house. It had been empty for years before they came.

Kynthia and the rest of the group arrived there a week ago, looking for a safe place to rest and plan for the long road ahead. It wasn’t the nicest place but when you’re an outlaw, you don’t really care. Kynthia cringed at the thought of being a criminal, but she didn’t regret what she did.

She had lived in the thriving city of Es and came from a rich family. But that quickly changed the day she saw the girl. The girl was young and looked starved. Kynthia couldn’t help put take pity on her, and gave the young girl her necklace to sell. No sooner had she placed the necklace in the girls hand, an Enforcer arrived. “Stop, Miss. This girl comes from a family of criminals. Her father was executed last month for the thievery. She is to be treated as an exile.” Kynthia froze. “Do you expect me to judge her because of what her father did,” Kynthia said through clenched teeth. She had heard her father talk about how the new governing system was flawed, but she never thought it was this bad. The guard completely ignored Kynthia’s comment and snatched the necklace out of the girl’s hand. Something inside Kynthia snapped as she saw the younger girl cowering in fear. She felt her hand clench into a fist and before she could think, she punched the Enforcer. It was a crime that would be punished by death. Kynthia spun around and ran. She didn’t stop until she was far outside the city. Once in the wilds, she met the group of other runaways and decided to join them.

The candle flickered as Kynthia returned her focus to the map on the table. She would be leaving tomorrow morning and then meet up with others. She stared at the red circle drawn on the map wondering if it could really exist. The red circle was in the middle of what seemed to be the ruble of a city, but the word Philia was written underneath it. Someone in the group said they had a map to the new city of Philla and that the city was unknown to the government. It was supposable a city of outcasts who were trying to create a society like the ones before the Devastation.

Kynthia’s eyes darted to the window. She slowly scanned outside. Something was different. She cautiously blew out the candle and grabbed her pack. Still watching the window and the front door, she backed up to the rear window. She stopped and listened. She heard the sound of footsteps and realized she had been found. She no longer tried to be quiet as she flung open the window and jumped out. She ran to the edge of the woods and looked back. She could hear the angry shouts and saw the beams of flashlights in the house. She turned and ran into the dark forest.
She was starting to tire. It was very late in the night, a long time since she had started running. Kynthia took another step and her leg collapsed under her weight. Even though she was upset, she mentally applauded herself for making it this far in such a short amount of time. She looked at the led that had given out. There was large gash across the back. She wondered if it had given out due to blood loss or exhaustion. It did not matter. She had to keep moving, she had stopped for too long. She took two steps before she fell again. She sighed as she sat on the ground.

She was just started to relax when she heard a branch break. “Is that her?” she heard a voice ask. She pulled herself up and ran in the opposite direction. Adrenalin pumped through her veins as she ran blindly through the woods. She felt herself growing tired quickly and before she knew it she was unconscious.

The sun woke her up the next morning. She jolted up, observing the unfamiliar surroundings. She was no longer in the forest, but in a tent and there was a loud noise outside. She slowly got up and walked outside. She was at the edge of a large crowd. Kynthia observed buildings that looked like stores. A young man pushed his way through the crowd and stopped in front of her. “Welcome to Philla. You must be Kynthia; your friends told me a lot about you.” He said. Kynthia peered behind him and saw someone from her group. “What’s going on here?” she asked him. He smiled and replied “A revolution.”