They call it an army but its really just a bunch of teenagers who have gotten into some trouble and are working off their debt to "society". We're called f(x); a subgroup of the main tactical force, SM, here in New Seoul. Our commander is Victoria. She's the oldest and the prettiest and the only one who won't tell anyone why she's really here. Luna, our second in command, says she heard it was for stealing, like the rest of us. I think its something more than that though. She wouldn't have a problem with saying it was stealing if it was. Victoria may be beautiful but, behind her mask of shining eyes and perfect skin, she's hiding something dark and painful. But aren't we all? Next are Sulli, a cute girl with a bad cursing habit and Krystal, the  psycho. She stole a rare diamond ring from the Museum of Old Earth. She's here for life. Last is me, Amber. I stole some holy water from the temple. They said I can go home in three weeks. 

But we're here now and we're stuck together in this busted up old warehouse loading sheets of scrap metal into an old pick up truck. The sun beats down on us, milking beads of sweat from our brows. Our legs and arms are tan, the color of the deep brown earth under our feet, our hands are rough and calloused. We look like boys for the most part. Our uniform is the same: camo shorts, black tank tops, chunky black boots. Victoria hemmed our shorts though, to make them more feminine and pretty. She also made us some jewelry. That's what she did before she got put here. She made things pretty.

The shorts and the jewelry don't help me much though. Being flat chested and having short, boyish hair only serves to make me more...male-like. I don't mind it much. Boys leave me alone this way since they think I'm one of them. Not like Krystal, who gets whistled at and taunted by every man who sees her. It's her long blond hair, her long, slender legs, and her long black eyeliner that only covers one eye. She's immune to it now. She doesn't even flinch under their hungry eyes. She stares them down right back. Luna made Victoria cut her hair too, for this reason. She wouldn't cut it as short as mine but it didn't need to be. Jaw length, black with hints of blue actually made her look prettier. Stronger but still prettier. The eyeliner is something that's being passed down. I notice not only Krystal, but Victoria, Luna and Sulli with the dark eye look. It's odd but somehow makes them look cool. Like they've formed some kind of clique. Sulli still looks young and innocent despite her attempts to seem older. Her small, delicate, doll like face and long brown hair makes it impossible to believe that she's 20. She's struggling beside me with a large piece of springy metal in her small hands but I know she won't take my help. Me even asking if she needs help would be an insult to her. 

She slips on something as we approach the truck and she she cuts her hand on some sharp edge and a stream of blood drips onto the hard, cracked earth. 

"Damn, that looks bad." Victoria says, pouring some water from her flask onto the cut. Sulli winces slightly. 

"It's alright." She says, biting her lower lip. She's trying to be tough. I saw her crying yesterday because she got stung by a bee. I'm sure this hurts ten times more. There's so much blood. Krystal steps up and pulls a black bandana out of her pocket and begins wrapping up Sulli's hand. Sulli mumbles a thanks and Krystal heads silently back into the warehouse. A purple light suddenly beams from the top of the tallest building in New Seoul, the watch tower, signaling lunch. Everyone in the city takes all their meals at the exact same time. Something about synchronization equalling safely. We all sat through that seminar in school. It doesn't make sense but who are we to question it? We're nobody's and criminals. The confused third generation of children born on the new earth. We don't understand what life was like before the destruction. We only know sun and metal and lights. The system has worked this long. Who are we to ask why?

Under the partially shattered glass roof on the far side of the warehouse, we set up our foldable table and chairs. Victoria distributes everything evenly; rice, watered down tofu soup and kimchi. Its Tuesday so there isn't any meat. Meat days are Sundays. Everyone eats in silence. It seems we haven't got used to each other yet. They set up these little units of juvenile delinquents according to age and the crime committed so we all should be pretty close. We aren't though. Krystal finishes first, as always. She stacks her dishes and brings her backpack over to the table. She pulls out a long black pencil from the front pocket and sits really close to me. 

"What?" I ask, feeling small under her intense stare. 

"You in?" It's a simple question but I don't know how to respond. 

"In....where?" 

"f(x)." They say f(x) was some mathematical function. Real numbers and graphs and inputs and outputs. They didn't talk about that much in school. We mostly talked about how to not die. f(x) is still a function, I guess. Just a different kind. A kind where girls are forced together,  forced to work, forced to live. It's really my only option. 

"Okay." She smiles, the first time as far as I know, and grabs my face. Sulli and Luna gather around me to watch what krystal is doing, big smiles on their faces as well. I feel my stomach twist and turn. Despite the heat, Krystal's hands are cold on my face. She steadies her hand.

"Close your eyes." I do and I realize what she's doing. The soft eyeliner goes on so smooth, it actually feels nice to have her put it on. For some reason I thought it would be uncomfortable. When she's finished, she orders me to open my eyes and she looks at me for awhile, silently admiring her work. Luna hands me a piece of glass from the ground. I think I look strange. I don't say that though. I'm glad that we all look strange together.

A loud blaring horn rips through the quiet and we all lift our eyes to the watch tower. A red light is beaming. Without packing up, we all follow Luna out into the sun. The nearest safe house, which is actually just a big hole in the ground with a heavy door that can be bolted down, is a few blocks over. We're not panicking though. We're too far inside the city for the beasts to be a real threat. Even if they did breach the wall, they'd never get past the gunners. Victoria isn't around and that worries me only because she's never not around. She's always right there, listening, giving advice, tugging on your hair, pinching your cheeks, acting like your mother. 

"She's fine." Sulli says, quietly, reading my mind. 

"Where is she?" 

"Someone from SM came earlier. Some General. He wanted to talk to her."

"What about?" Sulli shrugs. 

"Something called an airplane?" The word is foreign to me. I can't conjure up a picture in my mind to connect to the word. It doesn't matter. Victoria is here at the safe house, all smiles. 

"Another one. Crazy, right?" She says, as we all file in. This particular safe house is an 8x8 ft metal box. It's more like a storage closet. The other safe houses around the city are much better. They're actually small houses that are underground and can sustain life for up to six months. The only plus here is that once the door is shut, it stays pretty cool. 

"This is bull." Krystal says, pulling her black, heart shaped eye patch down over her left eye. Victoria made them for us a few days ago. Krystal is the only one that's used it. 

"What is?" Luna asks. 

"This whole thing. Why can't we just kill these beasts? Didn't they used to do it before?" 

"It had to be done before. We had to reclaim some land."

"And now?"

"Now," Victoria says. "We're just fighting to keep it."

"That's bull." She repeats. 

"What do you want them to do? Send out more troops to be eaten? All we can do is defend what we have." Sulli adds. 

"How long will be have this? We've backed ourselves into a corner with these things. We're easy prey. We've minimised city deaths and they're pissed of about us cutting of their food source." No one says anything. " And what about expansion? think we'll all fit in here forever? In this tiny city?" 

"We're not expanding that fast." I say. "I mean, with the one child laws and everything." 

"The people don't like that." Victoria says, her voice sounding heavier than it ever has before. "The people are tired of it." Luna grabs her hand. Sulli grabs mine. 

"Look, all I'm saying is this life, this boxed in life, isn't worth living." She bangs her fist against the metal wall behind her. 

"What kind of life do you want then, Krystal?" Victoria asks. Krystal pulls her backpack off and reaches inside. She pulls out a few square pieces of paper with notes scribbled across the back. On the fronts are colorful pictures of famous landmarks from all over the Old Earth. 

"I want to see every inch of this planet. I want to go to where these places are." 

"Krystal!" Luna shouts, snatching the pictures from her hands. "Where did you get these?" 

"The Museum of Old Earth." 

"Jesus, Krystal. What is wrong with you? You could be killed for this." Luna says. Krystal shrugs. 

"That sounds really nice Krystal but, these places aren't around anymore. Everything outside the city is dust and rubble and dead." Victoria laments. 

"All I want is to see something, anything different. I just want to go outside." 

"Outside isn't an option right now." Luna says, shoving the pictures into her bag. "You're lucky to be inside." Krystal bangs the back of her head against the wall. 

"What if we could go out?" Victoria says, suddenly. We all turn our heads at neck break speed to look at her. "What if that opportunity was given to us?"

"What are you talking about?" Luna says, her eyebrows furrowed. Before Victoria can answer, the door above us is swung open. "All clear." Another commander says. He helps Victoria out and hands her a manila envelope. Stepping out into the unrelenting sun again makes me feel lightheaded. I have to shield my eyes for awhile. Everything looks so bright and blinding, the metal buildings firing the suns light back at me in all directions.

"That's it for today. Everyone's closing up shop. There was a breach in the eastern wall. 18 civilians were contaminated. A caterpillar almost got in." Victoria informs us. I like that she's not afraid to tell us the truth. 

"." Sulli mumbles. 

"Everyone, back to base. Get some rest. We have an emergency meeting tonight at the star."