Ozy was sitting against the wall, eating a hard piece of dry bread with a glass of water. He looked at his parents in disbelief at what fate had done to their lives. A week ago, the atmosphere was filled with joy, and now it was filled with sadness.
His mother was sitting at the table in the center of the kitchen. She had her arms resting on the wood, using her hands to support her face, trying to hide her red eyes from crying. In front of her, his father smoked one cigarette after another.
He really couldn't understand why all this sadness. His sister had been born alive and healthy, even though the mutations, a cursed inheritance from the Ancients, had chosen her. His father, a man in his mid-thirties, and his mother, thirty-two, were still young, but all of the mother's previous pregnancies had ended before the third month. Only Ozy, at fifteen, survived.
He was the first child, and until recently, the only one. He had gotten used to the regular miscarriages his mother suffered. It was almost a bit ironic that when one of these pregnancies succeeded, the baby was born with mutations.
"What are we going to do?" his mother asked, still with her hands on her face.
He raised his head to look at the couple while struggling to swallow a dry piece of bread. He focused on his father, who was lighting another cigarette. Taking a long drag and exhaling the smoke towards the wooden ceiling, his father spoke, emotionless:
"You know very well what we have to do."
"We finally have another child, and you're telling me to give her to the Transporters?"
"Yes." Seeing his wife's look, he brought the cigarette to his mouth and took another drag. He spoke, letting the smoke slip between his words. "Jasmine, what do you want me to do? We can't fight the rules of the Bunker."
"She's our daughter!!"
"Do you think I don't know that?! Even if we don't give her away, today or in two weeks, the Crows will come here and do it for us at any time."
Supporting himself against the wall to stand up, Ozy took his empty glass to the dirty dishes, listening to his parents argue the whole time. He walked down a wooden corridor, passing by an open door that was his room and a closed one. A room that had been empty for the last fifteen years, now had someone inside—his sister.
He carefully sneaked inside to avoid waking her. The small room was completely dark, a thick cloth blocked the sunlight, the clothes that were once neatly folded and stacked were scattered. The only piece of furniture, a wooden crib, was pushed against the back wall. It was as though his parents were trying to hide their daughter from the world in any way they could.
With growing anger, Ozy went to the side of the crib and observed his sister inside it. She was sleeping peacefully, unaware of the pain she caused just by existing. The baby's head was disproportionate to the body, she had no ears or nose, just cartilage with two holes where the nose should be and two holes on each side where the ears should be.
Her closed eyes, swollen from the recent birth, were twice as large as an adult's. Her tiny and muscular body had lumps in various places, and her hands were the size of a large adult's.
Ozy stood there for countless minutes just observing her. He had always wanted a sibling, and with every miscarriage his mother had, he was the one who suffered the most in silence. He didn't feel alone now as he saw the baby sleeping carefree. The thought of letting her be taken to the Pit made his throat tighten. He didn't care that she was the way she was.
"What are you doing in there?" his mother asked from the semi-open door. "Get out now!"
Not seeing how to go against Jasmine's words, he simply left carefully to avoid waking the baby. The door closed right after he left, so he had to confront his parents.
"I told you not to be near that thing," his father snapped, pointing toward the room. His neck was red with anger.
"I just wanted to see my sister," Ozy replied simply.
"That's not your sister." The man cut him off, looking at his wife for help.
Jasmine turned pale but managed to keep a cold expression.
"Your sister is dead, do you understand? She never made it."
"How is that possible, Mom? She's right behind this door! You're still going to give her away to some stranger!"
"She's a monster, Ozy!!" his mother screamed, about to have a hysteria attack. "I gave birth to a monster!"
The woman broke into tears and was embraced by her husband, who tried to comfort her. Ozy couldn't take it anymore. How could someone treat a child like that? He said:
"The monsters here are you."
The man freed himself from the woman and punched Ozy on the side of his face, knocking him down. The silence that followed didn't last long, as the crying from the room broke it. Dazed, the boy stood up, rubbing the spot where he had been hit, feeling tears welling up in his eyes.
"Get out of here," Jasmine said through her husband. "I don't want to see you today, understand? And don't tell anyone about the thing in the room."
Running with all his strength, Ozy left the house and felt the sun hit his face. He clenched his fists tightly to keep from screaming in frustration while tasting blood in his mouth. He managed to suppress his feelings and prepared to blend in with the people walking down the streets of Pit 50.
Birds flew across the sky, mixing colors and sounds in the blue. The entire city was basically made of wood, from houses to even sidewalks, which were made of thin pieces of the material, covering corridors or the floors of commercial centers. Ozy noticed the colors of the buildings, a very small range, but it was almost a rule, even unconsciously, to use only one type of tree for construction.
Sounds of saws and axes filled the air. Pit 50 was in the middle of a forest, and the inhabitants basically made a living from it. Logs were brought along a central road that split the city in two, people entered the woods with baskets tied to their backs, going to gather or hunt.
Ozy followed behind an elderly man who seemed to be just strolling, judging by the speed he was walking. Controlling himself to not start a riot, the boy quickened his pace and passed the man, sneaking through the crowd. He didn't want to stay near anyone, heading toward the place where he went to be alone, a spot that had almost been his hideaway since childhood.
"Ozy," a woman called out, who was kneading dough to make bread. "Hey, Ozy!"
He stopped and reluctantly approached her, squeezing between two people who were looking at a fruit cake. Ozy finally stood just a few meters away, smelling the mix of sweet and savory items on the shelves. Isabela, the woman who had just been kneading the dough, smiled when she saw him.
He had known her for as long as he could remember. The tall, slender woman with black hair always tied up was a friend of his mother's, and she lived in their house. Going back to work on the dough, she let her hands do the work while she stared at the boy.
"Gessica left earlier," Isabela said, noticing the boy searching for something. "I asked her to buy eggs, but she'll be back soon if you want to wait."
Ozy considered the baker's offer but rejected the idea. Gessica was his best friend, Isabela's daughter. They had grown up together because of their mothers' closeness.
"I have an appointment," he lied. "Say hi to her for me."
"Wait a moment," Isabela stopped him from leaving. "How's your mother's pregnancy? I haven't seen her in a while."
The bitter taste returned to Ozy's mouth, which he had managed to push out of his mind earlier. Focusing as much as he could to not show what he felt, he replied:
"She died." And added, "Stillborn."
Isabela stopped what she was doing, lowered her head in front of the lie, stepped out from behind the table, and with her eyes filled with tears, gave Ozy a long hug, which he didn't resist. The woman smelled like bread and dried fruits.
Ozy stayed with her for a while, feeling the dough on her hands stain his shirt, but he didn't mind, struggling to hold back his tears, barely managing.
"I'm sorry for your loss," Isabela said, pulling away from the boy. "Everything will be alright, I promise. I'll visit your mother later."
"Of course," Ozy said, feeling his tongue swollen in his throat and his mouth dry. "But it would be better in the morning, my mother isn't well enough to receive anyone today," he lied again, knowing the Transporter would pass by.
"Alright, tomorrow morning then."
Saying goodbye to her, Ozy quickened his pace to create some distance. He didn't want to lie anymore. He knew he was good at it, and in recent days, that was all he had done, but he genuinely liked Isabela.
The market became visible at the end of the street he was walking. It was a large place, in the center of the Pit, covered by a roof made of banana leaves. Beneath it, there were dozens of stalls. He remembered that Gessica would be around there and cut through to the first opportunity.
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He walked down a side street, hearing the wood creak under his leather shoes. He felt how small he was, because the more he walked among the people, even while going through the worst moment of his life, the rest of the world simply didn't care, which only fueled the anger he felt.
Crows hurried in all directions. Ozy hadn't paid much attention to that before, but now the movement was obvious. Seeing them in full gear and in groups was only normal when they went on missions.
It seemed like the entire Nest was empty as he passed in front of it. It was a large house, nearly covering an entire block, made of thick logs with an onyx crow in front of the open door. He peeked inside, saw the long tables and some of the corridors, but there was no one.
He wasn't the only one who felt such strangeness, more curious people were spying on the Crows. Even with the unusual event, Ozy simply kept walking towards his special place.
Five minutes later, Ozy was at the end of the Pit, already seeing the trees clearly at the end of the street, blending into a green carpet on the horizon. When a car passed close to him, turning the corner, seeing the vehicle stirred a mix of curiosity and bewilderment. He had never seen one driving; the closest he had seen were ox carts. That would have made him turn back immediately, but he didn't want to go back home. Just thinking about his parents brought back the anger.
He entered the woods, following a nearly invisible path, one he had used before to get to an orchard. The tall grass reached his waist, but since he was used to it, he didn't mind the itching or the occasional prickles. Soon, he reached the place he was heading for. A colossal jequitibá tree grew hidden among the vegetation, with its roots emerging from the ground in some places, giving the impression that the tree was walking.
Ozy didn't know the exact age of the jequitibá, but Gessica had estimated that it was at least four hundred years old, from the time when there were no humans outside the Bunker. Speaking of Gessica, Ozy saw a pair of brown shoes swaying from a lower branch. The girl was staring at him with her large brown eyes, and unlike her hands, she always left her black hair loose in the wind.
"You really came here," said Gessica as she descended from the tree, with the skill of someone who had spent years climbing it.
"How did you know I was coming?" asked the young man, walking over to one of the roots.
"I saw you when you left the bakery earlier, you didn't hear me call, and the way my mom was acting, I could tell something had happened." She finally reached the ground and walked over to the trunk. "She said your sister died. Why did you lie?"
"I didn't lie!" Ozy said with fake indignation.
"Please, Ozy. I've known you since you were little. I've seen you when one of Jasmine's miscarriages happened. You'd stay here for at least five days."
She approached him, who looked like he was about to protest, but he ended up leaning against the root, sitting in front of her. Looking into his eyes, she continued:
"What really happened?"
"She didn't die, Gessica." Saying that to someone was like lifting a weight from his chest.
"I figured as much," she said.
"She was born with a deformity."
The girl put her hands to her mouth. She knew, as did everyone, the fate of those born with deformities: the Pit. A remote place outside the city, in a clearing, where people lived in caves and makeshift tents between the trees.
Gessica took Ozy's hands to try to comfort him. They stayed silent for a long time, listening to the sounds of the forest.
"They're going to hand her over to the Transporter tonight."
"Your parents?" But he didn't need an answer; he already knew. "And now? Are you going to let them do that? I know how much you wanted a brother."
"What can I do? Nothing!!"
She released his sweaty hands and sat down beside him, resting her head on his shoulder. She held one of his hands again.
"Why don't we run away?"
Suddenly, Ozy moved to face her. He was about to scold her for making such an ill-timed joke, but what he saw wasn't the face of someone joking, but rather the face of someone determined. He relaxed again, still a little stunned by the proposal. His heart pounded in his ears.
A macaw, overhearing the conversation from one of the highest branches of the jequitibá, took flight, squawking indignantly into the sky. The event startled both of them, making them laugh and losing all the tension from moments before.
"Stupid animal," said Ozy, wiping his eyes.
"Look who's talking!"
"Very funny." Leaning back against the root, Ozy continued, "I was more scared by the macaw than by your proposal."
"I'm serious," Gessica cut in firmly. "We can take your sister and escape to one of the cities without Nests. I heard there's one in the desert called Oasis that's starting to grow, or we could just live with the caravans."
Ozy simply stared at her, and let himself be swept up in the moment, saying:
"I accept," he managed to respond. "Let's leave today."
Gessica stood up, excited, and hugged him, making him feel something he hadn't felt in a long time: a bit of hope.
"I'll stop by my house and get her," she replied while still hugging him. "And then I want to hear more about this Oasis."
"You got it," Ozy said, beaming.
Then the screams silenced the entire forest, followed by the sound of gunshots and chaos. They separated in shock. Howls and something that sounded like a sinister laugh joined the confusion.
The smell of smoke began to fill the air, and patches of smoke rose into the sky. The city was under attack.
"My sister…" Ozy remembered, running down the path he had taken earlier, heading for his house.
"Wait!!" Gessica shouted, following closely behind.
"I'll grab her and then we'll run," he yelled over his shoulder.
Gessica only nodded, following him closely. They entered a city that was burning, and chaos reigned. Houses were on fire, and people were running in all directions, fleeing from something.
Ozy was running when he stepped on something wet and fell heavily. The other was about to help him up but froze where she was, pale and wide-eyed. Cursing, the young man looked down and felt his mouth dry. It was a body pierced by a wooden dart, lying face down, with the object that killed it lodged in the middle of its back.
He stood up quickly, stepping back several paces. New screams caught their attention further ahead, where a woman riding a hyena the size of a horse and over a meter and a half tall, was hunting a group of people. The woman was covered in white paint, and she threw a dart similar to the one Ozy had seen earlier.
The animal growled and laughed at the same time, saliva dripping from its mouth. Ozy snapped back to reality when a child running with the group was grabbed by one arm and shaken like a rag. The child's apparent mother tried to help, shouting, but the dart found her chest first.
Grabbing Gessica by the arm, Ozy dragged her toward a nearby alley, a few meters from the pair. He felt her trembling, her skin cold. They stood still, only listening as gunfire filled the street.
Peeking out just enough to see, he could distinguish some Crows killing the hyena and the woman. Then, he turned back to Gessica.
"Let's go, quickly." But the girl was frozen, so he grabbed her face with both hands and brought it close to his, making her look directly at him. "We're almost there," he lied. "Remember? We grab my sister and then we run."
Gessica blinked, agreeing, when something came to her mind, and she screamed immediately.
"My mom!!" she shouted, running toward the street.
Ozy tried to stop her, but there was no time. He found himself alone in the alley. He saw his friend running into the same street where the Crows were cleaning up, which calmed him. With them there, nothing bad should happen.
He refocused on his goal and ran to the other end of the alley, emerging into a street that was burning and smelled of charred flesh and blood. It became more frequent to see more dead people alongside the animals, even some Crows. He saw one holding a knife and approached him, taking it.
The object was smeared with blood. Ignoring the urge to throw the weapon away, he kept running. A group of men riding hyenas was trotting down the main street, carrying torches tied to sticks while setting everything on fire. Fortunately for Ozy, a group of people was running, trying to escape down the street. He joined them to improve his chances.
Almost immediately, he regretted the decision as a young man slightly older than him fell, writhing in pain with a dart embedded in his spine. There was no time to think; he heard people falling around him, screaming. Something brushed past his head and stuck in the ground ahead. Ozy saw the dart still swinging in the spot where it landed, then turned at the end of the street, with some other survivors.
What had once been thirty people was now reduced to six. He found himself in the street where Isabela had spoken to him earlier, and like the others who had survived the slaughter, he walked the path alone. With the walls destroyed and burning, one of the houses on the street had a vehicle inside. A crow could be seen desperately trying to get out while burning alive.
He continued straight, knowing there was no way to save anyone. He could barely keep his own life intact, and then he saw Isabela's bakery.
"Isabela!!" he shouted desperately. His throat burned from being so dry. "Isabela!!"
He stopped when he saw her. The woman who had always been kind to him was lying there, with several parts of her body bitten off. Her right arm was gone, and part of her leg on the same side had met a similar fate.
He clenched the weapon's handle as tears of hatred streamed down his face. He couldn't find Gessica anywhere, which was a small relief. Running, as tears blurred his vision, he passed more carnage while screams and gunshots echoed throughout the city. He spotted his house, but the fire from the neighboring house had spread to its walls.
He threw himself against the door, causing it to open. Ozy felt the hot air swallow him. The house wasn't fully burned yet. He crawled through, heading toward his sister's room when Jasmine screamed:
"Ozy! Thank goodness! Get us out of here!"
Ozy turned immediately, facing his father buried under one of the fallen walls. His father was unconscious under the wood, but Jasmine stretched out her hands, screaming for him.
"Son, quick, help us!"
He thought about going to help, but he knew there wouldn't be time to get both of them out and then his sister, especially with his father unconscious. He reached for the handle of the baby's room door, feeling the metal burn his flesh as he entered. He had made his choice. He found the small bundle of sheets crying out. Without thinking, he gently picked it up, still holding the weapon.
"What are you doing!?" Jasmine shouted as he came out of the room. "You're saving that thing, not your parents!!?"
His throat hurt from the smoke, and he fought to keep from looking at his mother. Tears kept streaming down as he headed for the exit.
"You're saving that monster and not us!?"
In that instant, something inside Ozy changed. He remembered what they had planned to do with the child in his arms and how he had been treated. Turning, he saw the terrified look on his mother's face and said:
"The real monsters here are you!" He ran, not waiting for a response.
He could still hear his mother's screams calling, and he had no doubt they would haunt his thoughts for the rest of his life. He kept walking, passing through the macabre scenes around him.
Ozy never imagined such barbarity was happening simultaneously in the Ditch, but unlike the Pit, where there were Crows, there it was a one-sided massacre. He passed through a ghetto where a man was crawling without one of his legs and jumped over him.
He slowly started to breathe normally again, but sweat soaked his clothes. He kept running, ignoring the pain in his lower back and the burning in his throat. Without realizing, he reached the street where Gessica had turned earlier.
Just a few meters after the corner, her body lay stretched out with a dart embedded in her throat. Ozy felt everything spin, but he kept his balance for his sister. The friend had barely disappeared from his sight before she died. A scream of rage escaped his mouth, echoing.
Crows and common people, along with the invaders on their mounts, filled the entire street, which smelled of blood. Ozy looked at Gessica, remembering it hadn't even been fifteen minutes since they had planned to escape, when a movement caught his attention.
Trapped under a hyena, a boy of his age struggled to get out. Ozy approached him without realizing, holding his sister in one hand and a knife in the other.
"Why?" The words came out hoarsely.
The boy was startled to see him but smiled soon after. His teeth were stained with blood.
"Why?" Ozy repeated.
Something in Ozy made the boy nervous, causing his arrogant smile to fade as he said:
"We needed supplies and coins."
Ozy was stunned. It was just about buying or stealing. There was no need for that massacre. He remembered the strange movements of the Crows earlier and understood they knew something, yet did nothing to evacuate the city. He brought the blade down on the boy without stopping, listening to his screams of pain, and then there was nothing, but he kept moving, tearing at the flesh.
The baby's cry brought him back to his senses. He was covered in red, and his sister too, as a result. Still holding the knife, he ran to the jequitibá tree. Hiding there, he could only hear the sounds and smells of destruction. The hours dragged on, and with each one, the silence grew, until nothing.
He stayed alert until near the end of that day. He returned to the Pit and faced the devastation. Others had survived, and they looked desolate, some clearly with no will to keep living. They watched him arrive in shock. Only later did he understand why. A boy holding a knife and a blood-soaked baby was, at the very least, shocking.
"Who are you?" asked an elderly woman, with a long cut on her forehead.
Ozy was about to say his name but stopped. Seeing all the pain, suffering, and the Crows' disregard, feeling anger at his helplessness in the face of the previous events, the loss of his best friend, the death of his parents, he would no longer stay quiet, never again lower his head and accept, as he had done, having his sister taken away in silence. He needed to do something for these people. He would make them his family. He saw an opportunity to not just be another face in the crowd and seized it without a second thought. He looked at the baby and had an idea.
"You can call me…"
"Irrmão! Wake up, Irmão!" called a child's voice.
Big Brother opened his sleepy eyes while stretching his body, which cracked in several places. He was getting old. He turned to his sister, who had taken off the iron mask, revealing the same face without a nose or ears. Her big green eyes were concerned for him.
"Were you having a nightmare? You kept moving around while you slept, so I decided to wake you up. I hope you're not mad."
"I'm not," he replied, sitting up. "As I said, I had a nightmare." And then he spoke softly: "It was more like an old memory, actually."