Eva opened her mouth in an O in mock surprise. “Oooh, I’m so scared!” she said sarcastically, but still stepped aside. The two girls walked to the front door. the smell of dinner wafted out of the door. Jennie walked inside and declared that she had returned.

She had been looking for her brother, who had been lost in an attempt to keep the dangerous animals who inhabited the Brush from attacking the dome. Nicknamed “Brush Burners”, her brother and the others who did his dangerous job were taken unwillingly from their homes and were expected to live no more than a year from that time. Jeffery had been doing it for four months.

Jennie’s mother sat down a plate covered with the steaming grey slop that the people of the dome ate for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It was supposed to be healthy, but it tasted worse than it looked. She reluctantly dipped her spoon into it, held her nose, and took a bite