“Day nineteen.” She paused, pressing her weighted pen against her cracked lips, “Dear Mom and Dad, how have you been? There is endless water in all directions; it’s driving me crazy! The captain said today’s the last day on board before we reach our new home, but I’m not too sure. There isn’t a spot of land in sight for miles!” a small sigh escaped her lips as she leaned against the battered porthole. Trails of water droplets s dozens of tiny pathways down the clear plexiglass only to be instantly erased by a sudden wave colliding with the side of the boat. “It’s been raining for days on end. Not that I mind though! I find it quite relaxing… and refreshing. Somedays, I find myself sitting on the deck just to watch the little raindrops reach the ground. I miss the rain back home… I wish we could still work in the garden together and go worm hunting. Not that finding worms in this type of weather was ever too hard. I just miss it.” Biting her lip, she rested her head against the cold, metallic wall of the ship, “I haven’t met many of the other passengers yet. I know I said I would yesterday, and the day before that… and since the very first day. It’s just hard. All the other girls seem to know each other extremely well, and all the guys aren’t approachable whatsoever. It’s okay though. I have my violin with me to keep me busy. I’ve been keeping up with my studies too. The language of the new home is quite fascinating! There’s a class that all the other passengers go to so we can understand it by the time we arrive.” She glanced at the miniature, wooden clock resting in the grey, wool blankets of her small bed, “Speaking of which, I have to go there now! I’ll write as soon as I can! Missing you, Rose.” Rolling the letter up in a tight, little scroll, she gingerly slipped it inside of the glass bottle lying at the foot of her bed. Twisting the cap back on, she jumped to her feet and rushed out the door.

    The light flickered against the continuous rocking of the ship while her bare feet slid against the rain water leaking from the deck above. Shuffling hastily to the staircase at the end of the dimly lit hallway, she latched onto the railing and slowly pulled herself up the stairs. Her fingers fumbled with the door handle as the faint sound of raindrops drumming against the weary boat hummed rhythmically with the heavy beating of her own heart. Just as the ship gave a sudden jerk to the right, the door flew ajar and she stumbled outside.

    A breath of relief escaped her chapped lips stinging with discomfort from the sea salt clinging to open cracks of skin. She blinked the droplets streaming down her face out of her eyes and shook her damp brown hair out of her face. Gingerly crossing the deck, she reached the bitterly frozen railing and wrapped her brittle fingers around it instantaneously. The churning of the rippling waves clawed at the sides of the boat, yet slid off with great reluctance and defeat. She pressed the bottle containing her letter to her lips, whispering softly against the sweet ringing in the wind, “Find your way home,” and with a single, drawn motion she cast it out into the rolling black sea.

    Her shoulders relaxed ever so slightly as she returned to the safety and warmth of the ship’s cabins. On balls of her tiny feet, she leaped down the stairs and wandered down the white corridors. She passed the door concealing her current bedroom, pausing only briefly as the squealing of her two neighborhoods broke through the drumming of the rain.

    “I know he said that!” the first girl shrieked in a rather excitable manner.

    “I can’t believe it!” the second girl sighed hopelessly, no doubt grinning as well, “He’s just so perfect!”

    “How can anyone be more perfect!” the first girl agreed quite noisily, “I mean, he’s literally the definition of perfection!”

She shook her head, biting her thumb to conceal her laughter shaking her shoulders. Without listening to that last few exchanges in response, she turned the corner to pass by another twenty or more doors. Though she knew no one and no one knew her, she had memorized the faces of every inhabitant in each and every room. For example, in room twenty-two, a boy obsessed with tossing a battered baseball against the wall of his room usually left at eight o'clock in the evening to visit with the boy from room forty-five who happened to enjoy drawing on any scrap of paper he could find. In room thirty-five, a girl of twenty three years always left for the back corner of the deck to smoke at least one cigarette a day. In room thirty one, a boy of twenty-five often joined her to consume some alcoholic drink he had brought with him. In rooms fifty-four and fifty-five were twin girls who usually slept together rather than separately. Rose bit back a smile. True, she didn’t know a single person’s name, but she knew just about everything and anything else. Out of the two hundred passengers onboard, she remembered every single one of them.

Climbing down a third set of stairs, she reached the vast opening of the gathering hall. Over a hundred seats were set in precise, straight rows facing the desk and blackboard at at the front of the room. As always, no one else had arrived just yet, and nor would anyone begin to stroll inside until one minute before class begins. Her toes curled against the cool flooring as she hobbled over to her regular spot in the far back corner on the left side of the classroom. She dropped into her seat, drawing her legs up to her chest and resting her chin on her knees. A soft tune rested at the base of as she hummed quietly while staring at the miniature, wooden clock sitting on the desk in front. One… her fingers tapped lightly against her calves. Two… she leaned against the wall for support as her eyelids fluttered shut. Three. The echoing of voices entered the room and a tiny smile crossed her lips, ‘Same as always,’ the thought tugged at the corners of her mind. Patterns were so predictable. Too predictable.

It took precisely ten minutes for the two hundred passengers, students, teens to be settled in their seats, and once that did occur, it took another five minutes until the professor to enter the room. At least he was thought to be a professor; no one really knew for sure.

“Good morning, class!” the man dressed in a white lab coat entered the room at last and resumed his position behind the desk.

“Good morning, Mr. Glenfields,” the class answered half-heartedly.

“This won’t take long,” Mr. Glenfields cleared his throat and began the roll call. Of course he always said it wouldn’t take long, yet everything he did took twice the amount of time as it normally should, “Aberly, Cameron.”

A muffled “here” warbled into existence.

“Abravion, Michael.”

“Here,” the boy in front of her called out hastily.

“Aders, Milly.”

Rose sighed, ‘There goes another twenty minutes of my life,’ she bit back the thought with great reluctance. Staring up at the pale ceiling, she amused herself by counting the dozens of hanging lightbulbs lined up in ridiculously straight lines. Sixty five. Squinting at the odd stains speckling the white, she then counted every miscolor on the ceiling. Twenty six. Soon growing bored with staring at stains and lights, she closed her eyes once again, ‘One plus one is two. Two plus two is four. Four plus four is eight. Eight plus eight is sixteen. Sixteen plus sixteen in thirty-two. Thirty-two plus thirty-two is sixty-four. Sixty-four plus sixty-four is one hundred twenty-eight. One hundred twenty-eight plus one hundred twenty-eight is two hundred fifty-six-’ and this pattern continued on until she grew bored of that as well.

“Dover, Andrew.”

“Here,” an obnoxious boy near the front drawled with a yawn.

‘I wonder what everyone’s up to back home…’ she chewed on her bottom lip thoughtfully, ‘There was only five hundred of us… now that we’ve all left, I wonder what it’s like? I bet it’s a lot quieter…’ the corners of her lips curved slightly to form a little smile as images of her old home pressed against her closed eyelids as if they were old photos in an album. From the deep green brush of pine trees to the silent, abandoned roads in a brilliant city of memories. Though all houses were vacant, she herself had never lived in one. Her very first memory was inside the deserted theater on the edge of the street corner.

“Mr. Bell?” she peeked her head through the doors of the concert hall, “Mr. Bell, are you here?”

An thin, weary man of sixty turned slightly, “Rose?” the shadows lining his face stood out more clearly against the bright lighting of the stage.

She grinned, slipping through door, “Do you need any help?” rocking on the balls of her feet, her eyes shone with considerable admiration as she studied e theater.

“That would be helpful,” Mr. Bell set out another set of chairs.

There was a slight spring in her step as she climbed the stage, “Did you hear about what happened at the port today?” she asked excitedly, “A whale was spotted! I’ve never seen one before! Only in picture books!” she set up two music stands, “It was so big! I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anything quite as beautiful as it!”

He chuckled and set out another chair before the sea of music stands, “What did it look like?”

“It’s eyes were this big,” she formed a large ‘o’ with her hands, “And there were little barnacles covering it’s back. It looked as if it was smiling too… I wonder why it was so happy…” she shook her head, laughing, “You should have seen it!”

He smiled, straightening that last pair of chairs to match with their own stand, “I would have liked to.”

“It was singing something too… how did it go…” her brows creased in thought, “It was stunning… why can’t I remember it?” she bit the tip of her thumb, “I’ve never heard anything like it before!”

A smile formed across his thin face, as he changed the subject rather abruptly, “I heard you took the test today?”

She blinked distractedly, “What? Oh, yeah. I took it this afternoon.”

“What did they do? The doctors, I mean,” he flipped through the pages of the thick music score resting on the stand at the center and front of the chaos.

She fiddled with the bandage on her arm absentmindedly, “They took a blood sample and did a physical test with a whole bunch of other people there,” she sighed, plopping herself down in the nearest seat, “I don’t see what that has to do with being eligible to move to Korea though…”

He frowned, “They took blood? Are they checking for viruses or diseases?”

She shook her head, “No, they didn’t say anything about that,” tilting her head in curiosity, “I don’t think they said anything.”

Mr. Bell pursed his lips, but said no more. What had taken place the past afternoon had occurred and there was nothing to be done about it now.

Yawning, she rose out of her chair and stretched her thin arms out, “I should probably go now…” she shuffled off the stage, waving back at him, “I’ll see you at the concert!” stealing one last glance at the concert hall, she slipped back through the door she had come from. From the gold turtles, to the elaborate paintings, to the glass stars decorating the ceiling, to the polished wood of the stage, she loved it all. Her first memory was of this very place and she was sure it would be her last.

“Winters, Rose.”

“Here,” she called quietly, opening her eyes slowly.

The roll call continued for three minutes more until the twenty minutes of torture had finally come to a close. Clearing his throat, the professor in white stood before the class with a grim expression on his face, “We will be arriving in the southern part of Korea in less than an hour-”

“Finally!” someone groaned as the crowd whispered in hushed excitement.

Mr. Glenfields stared pointedly at the person and the crowd became silent, “And there are a few rules to keep in mind as you reach your new living quarters.”

Rose’s head tilted slightly as curiosity squirmed at the pit of her stomach.

“Rule number one: you must not leave your room after eight o’clock at night and before six o’clock in the morning unless you have permission,” he began writing on the blackboard with disgusting orange lump of chalk, “Rule number two: the given meal times are not flexible with your own. If you miss a meal, you must wait for the next meal time. Rule number three: you may bring one item with you. Everything else is provided. Rule number-”

Her eyes narrowed, ‘What’s going on?’ her eyes flitted over the nervous crowd as friends stared at each other anxiously.

“-bring any animals, bugs, or any other living creature inside the building. Rule number five: you must follow all orders of the higher ups or you will be severely punished,” he sat the lump of orange chalk down and turned to face the crowd, “That is all. You have twenty minutes to be on deck with the item of your choice,” he began crossing the room to exit through the door he entered through, “Class dismissed.”

“What’s going on?” a girl whispered nervously.

“One item? That’s ridiculous!” another girl huffed, “I need at least twenty!”

“What’s with the curfew?” a boy yawned, “I mean we’re not little kids.”

Rose stood up to leave as all two hundred pairs of eyes turned to her, “We don’t have time to complain,” she spoke quietly before ascending up the stairs, ‘This is odd…’ thoughts buzzed around her brain, ‘What did I get myself into…’ shaking her head, she hurried down the hall back to her room.

***

    Though the clouds had finally run out of reasons to cry about, they continued to mask the sky in a deep frown. A rough breeze whipped against the boat, and the passengers exiting onto the dock clung to each other for dear life. The tint of salt in the air grasped the tip of her tongue all the while churning in the rapid sea below. The green of trees and extent of vibrant flowers bordered the whole port, and if there wasn’t a line of ten grey metal trucks waiting patiently for the passengers, she would have thought this area, this land happened to be uninhabited. Her brittle fingers tightened around the worn, leather handle of her violin case as the crowd of passengers slowly shuffled forward towards the line of cars.

    “Move to car number two! Car number two! Car number one is full!” a Korean woman in white shouted strictly through a megaphone, “Car number two is now full! Move to car number three!”

    Rose sighed, watching people of every ethnicity, every shape, every religion file into each car. Fortune or not, she had managed to find her way at the back of the crowd once again. By the time she had reached the solid ground of her new homeland, a pair of sturdy hands lifted her up into the last truck. Out of the corner of her eye, a surly looking man with a gruff expression slammed the door of the truck shut and all became dark once more.

“Where are we headed?” a girl whispered anxiously.

“What the hell is going on?” the boy next to her groaned, hitting his head against the metallic wall of the vehicle.

“I’m scared…” a second girl whimpered.

The hushed whispers of worry continued even as the constant vibration of the floor shook their feet as the truck moved along down the road they could not see. Yet despite blind chaos, she said nothing. Her heart was heavy with dread, but there was nothing to be done. All she could do was sit in anticipation.

Her nose was red and numb from the bitter rain as she sat on the cold concrete of the theater’s front steps. An opened letter rested on her thighs- yet she only stared at it. A small frown formed across her chapped lips as thoughts whirled around the millions of mazes and passageways in her brain. She chewed her bottom lip, skeptical of the letter’s contents. “Ah… what to do…” she sighed, leaning back onto the palms of her hands supporting the weight of her upper body. She watched in silence as the rain drummed against the still roads glistening from reflected lamp light.

The door behind her swung open and the warmth of a familiar figure sat down beside her, “I thought I would find you here.”

The corners of curled into a sad smile, “I guess I can’t call this my hiding spot anymore.”

Mr. Bell looked down at the letter in her lap, “Did you get the results?”

She hesitated, then gave a curt nod, “Yes,” was all she said.

“Well?”

She looked down at her feet. The world seemed a little smaller just at that moment. The air itself seemed heavier, more contained. She had never felt more suffocated, “I’m scheduled to leave tomorrow.”

Mr. Bell nodded slowly, “Are you happy?”

A lump formed at the base of , “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“It doesn’t seem that way.”

She paused, breathing deeply against the delicate beating of the rain, “I just… don’t want to forget this place,” her head tilted to the side slightly, “I want to see the world and meet lots of people, but I want to be able to come back here.”

“Who said you wouldn’t?”

A crooked smiled crossed her pale face, but she said nothing more. She had no one to share her pain and worry with anymore. The voyage was to leave tomorrow, and she would be completely alone.

The truck came to an abrupt stop. Her fingers curled into tight fists as she clung to the case of her violin. A few seconds passed until the door of the vehicle swung open. Her eyes squinted against the bright, white light flooding into the shadows. A cool breeze ruffled the sleeves of her loose sweater, and absence of sea salt hanging in the air signaled the change in scenery.

“Out. Get out now!” a strict, Korean woman dressed in a curt white lab coat called to them.

“Where are we?” a boy muttered under his breath as the twenty passenger from the boat filed out of the car.

A building of stone loomed before them, glaring down at the newcomers in such gloom and depression. The wall behind them stood a couple meters shorter than the glowering building, yet the barbed wire curling and lining the top sent the hair on her arms up. Her eyes narrowed as she examined the wall until a sudden realization struck her head with a thud just as the heavy metal of the gate to the outside world closed. The wall acted as a fence enclosing them into the fixed area they currently stood in. opened in confusion, but she dared not speak a word.

The woman in white cleared , “I hope you all had a comfortable trip,” she smiled coldly, “There are a few more rules you should know before you continue on.” Swallowing, she held up a list and began reciting whatever was written on it, “From this moment on, you must speak in Korean. If you speak in any other language, you will be asked to translate what you have just said,” she paused before moving on, “You will be assigned two room mates. If one of you three gets caught doing any ‘funny’ business, you all will be punished most severely,” she stared pointedly at the crowd of twenty, “You must attend and participate in every class given. There will be no dating, engagements, or marriage from this point forward. Gays and lesibians are not permitted and will be severely punished,” straightening her lab coat and stuffed the list back into her stiff pocket, “I will hand your schedule and room number before you are escorted to your room.”

Rose’s mouth parted in disbelief, ‘What is this place?’ she glanced at the wall once more, ‘Surely this isn’t a prison?’

“Rose Winters!” the woman called.

Shaking her discomfort out of her head, she shuffled forward, “Yes?”

The woman pressed a piece of paper into her hands grimly, “Welcome to Barrack Twenty-three.”   

***

    She bit her lip, staring at the large, burly man beside her, “U-um, so what is this place?”

    “You will be given the details tomorrow morning,” he replied stiffly.

    ‘Okay…’ she sighed in frustration, “My room is number sixty seven?”

    “Correct.”

    ‘Well this is a fantastic conversation…’ she gripped her violin case, “So… what’s it like here? Is there good food? Is-” she blinked as she slammed into the ground as a body knocked into her, “Ouch…” she groaned, rubbing her left arm in discomfort.

    “Oh my god-” a Korean boy with dyed orange hair shot to his feet in horror as his guard stood awkwardly with her own.

    She smiled cautiously, “Are you okay? I’m sorry! I should have been watching-”

    His mouth parted slightly, dumbfounded, “Y-you’re American?”

    A slight frown formed across her lips, “Yes?”

    He blinked before holding a hand out to her, “S-sorry! Are you alright?”

    She nodded, “Are you?”

    Scratching the back of his neck nervously, he nodded, “I’m fine. Are you new here?”

    “Yeah…” wincing slightly, she picked up her fallen violin case, “I hope it’s okay…”

    His eyes widened slightly, “Are you sure you’re okay?”

    She nodded hastily, “Yes, I’m fine!”

    “Hey, what’s your-” he began until the shoving of his guard cut his sentence off.

    “You’re going to be late,” the guard reminded the orange haired boy gruffly.

    Looking behind him, he called out hurriedly, “What’s your name?”

    “Rose!” she smiled as he disappeared down the corridor.

    “You’re running late as well,” her own guard reminded her suddenly.

    “Right…” she exhaled sadly, wincing as a large bruise began to make an appearance on her back bone.

    They continued down the dimly lit corridor, and the only sound to be heard was the slight buzzing of the white lights flickering against the smooth white walls, and the clicking of her guard’s shoes against the polished white tiled floor. The glass windows they occasionally passed by revealed various empty classrooms. At least that’s what she supposed the rooms to be. There was not a spot of color against the white building except for the people running around in it. She squeezed her eyes shut, shaking her spinning head. ‘This is all so confusing…’

    “Your room,” the guard stopped abruptly before a door with the number ‘sixty seven’ engraved in the metal.

    “Thanks…” she mumbled as he unlocked the door.

    “Your roommates will answer any questions you have,” he then locked the door after she entered the threshold.

    “W-wait!” she called after him as the door snapped shut behind her, “Great…”

    “Are you the American girl that’s rooming with us?” a small Korean girl bounced on her bed, blonde curls bouncing with her.

    She nodded slowly.

    “I’m Kim Eun Sung! You can just call me Eun Sung, or even Eunnie if you feel like it,” she exclaimed brightly, “What’s your name?”

    “Rose Winters,” she replied quietly.

    “Oh wow,” she stopped bouncing, “That’s so pretty! Did your parents give that name to you? I’ve never met my parents. The people who raised me just gave me my name, but they happened to be Korean too, so it all works out! Frida’s parents were probably Korean, but the people that raised her were immigrants from Germany before Germany disappeared so she has a German name, but that’s totally common around here!” the girl, Eun Sung finished quickly.

    “U-um…” Rose’s mouth parted slightly.

    “You talk too much,” a tall girl with straight black hair sighed without looking up from the book she held in her hands.

    Eun Sung rolled her brown eyes, “And you barely talk at all.”

    The girl sat up suddenly, snapping her book closed, “I’m Frida, by the way. Frida Braun,” she nodded over to the vacant bed in the corner, “That’s your bed. It’s not comfortable, but nothing here is anyway so it doesn’t matter.”

    Rose nodded, setting her case down beside her on the stiff bed, “How long have you been here?”

    “Two years,” Eun Sung sighed sadly, “We’ve been here since we turned nineteen and took the stupid gene test.”

    “Three,” Frida replied simply, picking her book back up.

    “Gene test?” Rose frowned slightly.

    “You’re nineteen right? You have to be since you took the gene test and ended up here,” Eun Sung nodded.

    “I’m seventeen,” she shook her head, “Eighteen in a couple months.”

    “Oh, wow,” Eun Sung smiled sadly.

    “Um… what is this place anyway? It doesn’t make sense…” she bit her lip, “We were told that we were eligible to move to Korea and live here but… not everyone in Korea lives in places like this, right?”

    Eun Sung shook her head, “You don’t know anything?”

    “No… why are we here?”

    Eun Sung opened to reply, but Frida cut her off, “Because we have the breeding gene,” she looked up from her book nonchalantly, “Welcome to a breeding camp, Rose.”