Page 1 of Semi-Human

The humming of the elevator turns into an angry rumble the higher we climb, as if the Hive itself is telling us to keep our asses down where we belong.

“What if they arrest us?”

I ask, my palms sweaty.

Caden rolls his eyes, and his younger brother, Ruben, snickers. They’re only a few years older than me, but every year counts when you’re twelve.

“Why would they arrest us?”

Caden says, but there’s a hint of nervousness in his voice, even though it was his idea for us to travel to the Heights.

“Because we don’t belong there,”

I say, and neither Caden nor Ruben contradicts me. There isn’t a law against us visiting the higher floors of our Hive, but we’ve all heard stories about unjustified arrests.

The elevator’s rumble grows louder, and just when I think we’re about to plunge to our deaths, it stops. There’s a loud beep, then the metal door slides open, revealing an old guard sitting by the entrance of a gray corridor. He’s reading a book.

“You boys lost?”

Caden walks out with Ruben and me at his heels. “No, just visiting.”

The guard crosses his arms, his eyes darting between us. “Is that so?”

“We have some shopping to do.”

“Up here?”

“It’s from Dino’s.”

The guard frowns. “Doesn’t he have a place in the Depths?”

“The best things are up here. He invited us.”

That’s technically true. Dino has said we should stop by sometime. He never brings his best products to the Depths because he worries they might get stolen.

The guard sighs. “Listen, I can’t stop you from entering, but you and I both know what’s what, so just be careful.”

He gives a once-over to our plain clothes. We tried to wear our best shirts and pants, but the orphanage didn’t supply us with anything remotely fancy—mostly handouts.

“We’ll be careful,”

Caden says stiffly. “Not planning on causing any problems.”

“Problems don’t usually care about your plans.”

The guard’s eyes focus on me. “Are you Josh?”

I stand straighter, trying not to show I’m both surprised and scared. “Hmm, yes.”

He nods. “I play cards with Dino. He mentioned you. You boys can go ahead.”

He picks up his book. Now that I have a chance to see the cover, I realize it’s science fiction: The Fall of Hyperion. The book is worn out, as are all the books we have from the Before Times.

“Is it good?”

I ask before I can stop myself.

“It’s a sequel. The first one was better. You like science fiction?”

“For sure!”

The guard seems hesitant before he reaches into his bag to pull out a book. “It’s not an easy read.”

My heart beats faster. “I can read hard books.”

I turn to Caden and Ruben. “Right?”

They nod, clearly not liking me talking to the guard for more than I have to.

“Here’s the first book, then. Bring it back when you’re done.”

I already feel it was worth coming up here. With slightly shaking hands, I take the book from the guard. “Thank you! I’ll take good care of it.”

“You do that.”

He tilts his head. “Off you go, youngsters. Keep to yourselves, you hear?”

*

“Fuck, their air is sweet,”

Ruben says.

The air is indeed fresher and sweeter up here, though not because it comes from the outside; they simply have a better ventilation system. I’m annoyed with how green and lively their park is, not to mention how huge.

I scan the people around, some having a picnic. Their clothes are much brighter than our gray ones, and their skin is less pale because their lighting system is better at mimicking real sunlight.

People stare at us, some with curiosity and some with open hostility. I stare back with more confidence than I possess.

“Ignore them,”

Caden says, even though I didn’t say a thing. His hair looks blonder under these lights, his elegant cheekbones more pronounced.

“I don’t mind them.”

Caden chuckles. “Sure you don’t, Joshy.”

“Josh.”

He has been calling me Joshy since I arrived at the orphanage when I was six.

“It’s either Joshy or Joshua.”

I grumble. I will never prefer being called by my full name. My mother and grandmother used to call me Joshua, and both died during the 2127 plague, which claimed a fifth of the Hive’s residents. My father used to be a Defender, but he died while fighting Raiders when I was a baby, so I’ll never know what he used to call me.

“Do we even know where we’re going?”

Ruben asks, already losing his patience. He’s as tall as Caden, both of them towering a full head above me. Where Caden is lean and pretty, Ruben is stocky and… less pretty.

“I know where we’re going,”

Caden says, but I can sense his hesitation.

“We can ask someone,”

I suggest.

“No need. It’s right past the park on one of those little streets. I remember my way around.”

We exit the park and face a paved road packed with people riding bicycles, the fastest way to travel around the Hive.

“I’m hungry,”

Ruben says.

Caden snorts as he leads us across the road. “You’ll need to sell a kidney for a meal here.”

“So what? I have two. Or is it three?”

I laugh. “Two.”

Ruben ruffles my hair. “You’ll sell a kidney for me, won’t you?”

“Not for one meal!”

“Even if there’s meat?”

“Hmm, I’ll think about it.”

“Here it is.”

Caden stops by the entrance to a narrow street with shops on both sides. “Don’t act like you’re about to steal something. They’re super tight about these things.”

“Will they think I stole the book?”

Caden seems to ponder, but before he can decide, Ruben takes the book from me and slides it into the front pocket of his hoodie. “What book?”

“Thanks.”

We walk past well-stocked shops, and I try not to let my gaze linger on things I can’t have. Dino’s shop is called Relics, and it’s less glamorous than the other shops, as if he doesn’t care if shoppers walk in or not.

Caden opens the door, and a bell rings above us. Dino is leaning on the counter, holding a screwdriver as he works on a gold watch. He raises his gaze and scowls. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Joshy’s idea,”

Caden says.

I grunt. He knows I won’t call him a liar in front of a grownup.

Dino takes off his glasses and shakes his head at me. “You’re supposed to be the smart one.”

Ruben gasps. “I’m the smart one!”

Caden snickers and walks between the low aisles, already checking out different artifacts.

“Well, you did say that we should stop by,” I mumble.

Dino sighs. “There’s more security around because of the weekend.”

“So? Ain’t nothing illegal about us being here.”

Caden doesn’t hide his anger. “I was born here, remember?”

Like me, he and Ruben lost their parents to the 2127 plague. With no room for all the new orphans in the Heights, Caden and Ruben were sent down. Ruben was too young to care, but Caden has been carrying a grudge.

Dino signals me to come over. I hold back my nervousness and walk to the messy counter. He whispers, “I know it wasn’t your idea, but don’t let anyone get you into trouble.”

“Caden won’t get me into trouble.”

Ruben’s another matter.

Dino shakes his head, his long, graying hair as messy as usual. I like his eyes, which are soft brown and kind. His little shop in the Depths is my favorite place in the world, though he only opens it once a week, and even then, he doesn’t sell much.

Once he comes to terms with our presence, his features soften, and a glint of excitement appears in his eyes. “Come here.”

I hurry behind the counter. He pulls out an old photo album and places it in front of me. “Got that from an old lady who found it hidden behind a closet. The old bat wanted two novas for it—this can go as high as twenty with the right buyer.”

I can’t even imagine having twenty novas to my name, so spending so much on an old photo album sounds crazy. Still, I eagerly raise the cover, ready to dive into the past. Those old albums are from before the bombs fell on Doomsday, before the land became uninhabitable for years because of radiation.

It’s fascinating to see people who lived so many years ago, but it’s the photos of the outside world I care about the most. Lush forests, tall mountains, and if I’m lucky, the blue, endless ocean. I know those places still exist out there, but it’s too dangerous to step outside unless you’re a Defender or an experienced merchant. The only person I know who sometimes leaves the Hive is Dino, and he promised to take me with him someday, though it felt more like a stop-bugging-me sort of promise.

“The Rockies,”

I say, pointing at one of the photos, awed by the scale and beauty of the mountains.

“That’s right.”

“Have you joined the assembly yet?”

Caden asks Dino from one of the aisles.

“I’m not joining the assembly.”

“Why the fuck not? They invited you.”

“Language. I don’t like playing politics. When I get dirty, it better be because of grease and oil, not lies and backstabbing.”

Caden sighs. “Sounds to me like someone is afraid of responsibility.”

“They obviously don’t insist on you washing your ears at that orphanage.”

I chuckle, and Caden gives me a look before saying, “If you join the assembly, you could get Joshy a job there when he’s older.”

“I want to be a librarian.”

“You can’t,”

Caden says. “That’s for women.”

I’m about to protest, but the only librarians I know are women. Worried, I look to Dino for support.

“You’ll be a fine librarian,”

he says, and I see the matter as closed. He leans closer. “I’m supposed to get a couple of old card games from Blue Moon next week. I’ll let you choose one if you get a good grade on your math test tomorrow.”

“Sweet!”

Time passes, and I get lost in the photos and the stories they tell. The family in the album had two children, growing from toddlers to teenagers throughout the album. It feels surreal to flip through time like this, casually skimming over events that must have been significant to those people.

I’m so captivated, I almost don’t notice the ground shaking. Caden and Ruben hurry toward us.

“It was a small one, right?”

Ruben asks nervously.

Dino narrows his eyes. “It felt… different.”

I know what he means. The quake didn’t feel like it came directly from underneath my feet. We all share the same fear when it comes to quakes—losing our reactor at the bottom of the Hive, and with it, our only source of power.

“You boys better head back. Caden, I’m counting on you.”

Dino points at me. “Don’t let him out of your sight.”

Seeing Dino scared makes me even more scared. In less than ten seconds, we’re out of there. The street is packed with people looking around in confusion. Armed guards run past us and refuse to answer anyone’s questions.

Something isn’t right.

“Depths trash incoming!”

We stop and turn. Four teens approach us, wearing nice clothes and seeming to be around Caden’s age.

“There was a quake,”

Caden says as the four approach us. “We’re heading back down.”

“Maybe you three caused it?”

The leader is tall and muscular, watching us in disdain.

“Yeah, sure, we caused a quake.”

Ruben snorts nervously.

All three of us know how to fight dirty, but we’re outnumbered, and I’m noticeably smaller than the others. I focus my gaze on the teen in the back, who is skinny and appears the weakest. I’ll go for him first, smash my fist into his balls, and take him out before things escalate. Caden is likely to charge their leader, while Ruben can take down—or at least hurt—the two remaining others. If I manage to take out the skinny one quickly, I’ll move to help Ruben. I see it all playing in my head, and my fear turns into dark excitement. We’ll show you how trash from the Depths fights.

For a long moment, our two groups stare at each other intensely. They must have sensed we wouldn’t back down, or they would’ve attacked by now. Caden and Ruben have moved to stand in front of me, and though I don’t like being treated as the weakest link, I appreciate it.

A flash of concern crosses my mind when I remember the book in Ruben’s pocket. I promised to return it to the guard, but will it survive in a fight? I’m still worried about that when I hear a sound I don’t immediately recognize. It’s a distant bang, like the sound of a gunshot I’ve only ever heard in old movies.

We all turn our heads, but there’s nothing to see but more confused people. I’m about to suggest that we split when the booming sound of a siren cuts through the silence. Red lights appear in every streetlight, sending my heart to my feet.

“We need to go back!”

Caden calls above the noise, but before any of us can move, the sky starts to fall. I see it happening as if in slow motion. First, an explosion; then parts of the ceiling crash down a few hundred feet from us, causing the ground to shake again.

People scream, and there are more gunshots, closer than before.

Caden grabs my hand, and we run like hell toward the park. It feels like an invasion, likely by Raiders, but maybe it’s the Semi-Humans who are back for revenge after so many years.

Either way, I can feel it in my bones that death is coming.

The Heights are closer to the surface, making it our first line of defense, but based on the relentless sound of gunshots, that line is crumbling. The red lights make me nauseous, and the howling siren hurts my ears. At least I don’t need to navigate on my own through the chaos—my hand is firmly held by Caden, with Ruben right beside us. I was never more grateful to be led.

We fight our way through the chaos in the park. The elevators are likely to be packed with people, so we’ll need to reach the stairs. We’re getting closer to the park’s exit when I hear a loud cracking sound above us. I look up to see a piece of the ceiling crash down, squashing the woman running in front of us. I scream as a wave of dust rises to meet us. Once it settles, I see the woman’s legs twitch while the rest of her body is buried under the debris. There’s blood everywhere, and I clamp my mouth shut in fear of throwing up.

“Come on!”

Caden pulls me forward, and we continue to run, but we don’t get far before people around us start to fall. Even through the siren’s wails, I can hear the gunshots closer than before. I can’t stop myself from looking around. People are crawling on the grass, bleeding and screaming for help.

This can't be real. I participated in every emergency drill, but nothing prepared me for this.

“Down on the ground!”

A group of Defenders runs toward us in their black uniforms. Caden pulls me to the ground as they run past us, firing as though the invaders are right here.

I try to shrink into the cold grass, making myself as small and invisible as possible. Bullets fly overhead, and all around, people continue to fall, dying as I helplessly watch. If this is a nightmare, it's time to wake up, because I can’t take any more. My heart has never beaten so fast.

Time passes, and the gunshots fade into the distance, meaning we’re pushing the invaders back. I should feel relief, but I’m hollow and numb, lying in a sea of corpses. The sound of sobbing slips through the fog in my brain. I realize that I’ve been vaguely aware of it for a few minutes. It’s Caden, lying on the ground a few feet from me. Is he injured? Panic sharpens my awareness. I follow the direction of his gaze.

Ruben is lying close by, staring at us with unblinking eyes. The book he had kept for me lies next to him, soaked in blood.

I listen to Caden’s sobs until I finally pass out, knowing that everything has changed.