The vehicle drove past the school as it entered the town.

For obvious reasons, it was an automatic source of gossip as students exited the building at the end of the day. Cars were rare this far out from civilization, and the only vehicle they saw regularly was the supply truck that came in every other Saturday.

This was neither the supply truck, nor a Saturday.

Alex followed the direction of the vehicle with her eyes until it turned left and away from view. Some of the other students were clumping together and looked as if they were already planning on trying to follow it, but Alex just scoffed and turned away to wait for her brother. He wasn’t long in coming, running down the single hall that made up the school house with his fingers curled around the straps of his backpack.

“Alex! Alex, did you see it?!”

The young woman pushed herself off the crumbling brick wall, hands in the pockets of her uniform trousers as she shrugged. “Looked like any other vehicle to me.”

Nico’s eyes bulged as he fell into step beside Alex excitedly, hopping along next to her as they headed home. “Which direction did it go?!” he asked hurriedly. Their path took them along the small stream on the outskirts of town, a shortcut that was quicker than walking through the town center. Not that Alex particularly cared to be home any sooner than she had to, but she’d take the scenery on the other side of the stream over the dilapidated buildings of town any day. Alex motioned with a jerk of her head back to the only road in town.

“It turned left at general store.”

“Whoa, cool.” Nico turned to wave goodbye to a friend as they separated from the majority of the group, immediately turning back to Alex with his mouth hung open in awe. Alex didn’t see what was so cool about it. There were only so many paths the vehicle could take, and Nico knew that just as well she did.

Alex grunted in what Nico took as agreement, and continued tramping through the weeds. “How was class?”

Nico shrugged, running forward to jump in the pile of leaves that had settled in their path. “Missus Moore said I did really well on the nation-wide aptitude test.”

“Good job, kiddo. You got any homework to do?”

Nico slowed to a stop to wait for his sister once he was far enough forward, beginning to walk again once she was close enough for Alex to wrap an arm around his shoulders. The boy shrugged. “I finished it in class,” he mumbled.

“Alright. What do you want for dinner?”

Shrugging again, Nico looked up from his examination of the ground abruptly. “Where do you think you’ll go after you graduate?”

“Graduate,” she echoed back to him, expression blank. “Where’d you learn a word like that?”

Nico beamed proudly. “I read it in a book.”

Alex made a thoughtful noise at the back of her throat before shrugging in answer to the question. “I dunno. Hopefully somewhere far away from here.”

Nico was silent. Alex chewed on her lip as she watched him, but the boy didn’t do anything save lean a little bit closer into her side. Alex ignored the pit in her stomach that had been there ever since she’d made the decision to join the Military Police after her mandatory two years of service when she finished school. She knew it ultimately meant leaving Nico here alone in this good-for-nothing town with their father until he came of age, and Nico knew it, too. “I hope you make it in,” he finally told her, avoiding his sister’s gaze.

Alex squeezed his shoulder, and let the subject drop. “We’re almost home. What do you want for dinner?” They passed the other few houses along the dirt road, migrating from around back to get on the road itself.

Nico suddenly broke away from his sister with a shout, grabbing hold of her hand to pull her forward.

“Nico, what—” Alex cut herself off as she caught sight of the vehicle parked outside their house.

What? They didn't know anyone from the city, much less anyone who would be willing to make the drive, even if they did have access to a vehicle.

"Look." Alex followed the direction Nico was gesturing in and frowned. What was a government-issued vehicle doing here?

"Come on." Taking Nico's hand, Alex led the younger boy to the front door. Alex yanked hard automatically, correcting for the rusting door jam that always stuck. 

It was dark inside, the electricity unreliable at best and nonexistent at worst, and the windows, the only other source of light, too dirty to properly let light in. It was enough, though, for Alex to see the woman standing beside the fireplace. Her father was on the couch, looking mutinous as he slouched in place, but the woman looked non-plussed.

She could feel Nico press closer into her side as the door swung shut behind them, but Alex ignored it for the moment, squinting across the room to take in the pressed slacks and spotless military jacket. And there, just beneath the name tag that declared the woman's name to be Simmons, was the familiar eagle juxtaposed against the gold star behind it. Military Police.

Alex tightened her grip on Nico's hand without realizing it, eyes widening. This wasn't just anyone from the military police. It took Alex a moment to place the name, but as the woman folded her arms behind her back Alex realized where she knew that name. The Superior Captain of the Military Police. The four gold stripes on either shoulder confirmed it.

"Alejandra Martinez?"

Alex nodded. This was the woman who could make or break her chances of ever joining the Military Police. There was no one higher in that branch of the military, and if she took a disliking to Alex, it was over. Alex would finish her two years of mandatory service and be forced to return to this rundown town. She'd be nobody. She'd be hungry, and poor, and nobody.

"Excellent. Why don't you have a seat." If it was a question, it didn't sound like one. Her inflection remained the same over her words, but Alex didn't even consider ignoring the suggestion.

Nico stayed close, and Alex made sure to take the spot closest to their father and put Nico to her left on the edge of the sofa. She had been right; her father looked furious, both hands balled into fists as he narrowed his eyes at the woman before them, but Captain Simmons didn't seem to pay him any mind. Her gaze remained on Alex and Nico as they settled on the sofa. Already, Alex could feel her esteem for the woman rise.

"Ms. Martinez," the woman began once Alex was looking at her once again, "the government as taken notice of you. You've done well in your pre-training." Alex shrugged, ducking her head; but her cheeks felt warm. Her work had paid off after all. "Ms. Martinez?"

Realizing she was meant to reply in some form, Alex mumbled out some form of assent. The captain paused, studying Alex for a long moment before pulling her gaze away to turn on Nico. He ducked his face against Alex's shoulder until Simmons returned her stare to Alex.

"You've been invited to join an elite program that fast tracks eligible students to join the Military Police. You will finish your school year with a military academy before completing your two years of service with the recognition that at the end of your two years you will be joining the Military Police. As such your service will be tailored to fit these parameters."

"Wh--really?" This was it. The answer to everything she'd been hoping for. "I--man, I don't even know what to say. I've never even heard of this before today."

The captain made a noise at the back of her throat. "Like I said: it's an elite program, and one that's open by invitation-only."

"When could I go?" She could barely contain the excitement in her voice, but she held it down as best she could as she addressed the military officer. "Ma'am."

"You would be leaving today with me."

Nico was still clinging to Alex, and just like that reality returned. She'd been preparing herself to leave a year from now, when she turned eighteen. Not today. "I--" She glanced down at Nico, pressed into her side.

"I suppose now would also be a good time to inform you I haven't come here for you alone."

What was that supposed to mean? That she was planning on bringing someone else from school to join the program as well? There was no one else in pre-training as good as her, definitely no one good enough to be described as "elite" in any terms. "Ma'am?"

Captain Simmons wasn't listening to Alex, having turned her attention to Nico as she addressed him and moved around the coffee table to crouch to his eye level. "Nicolas, right?" Her voice didn't soften when she addressed him, not like Alex or his teacher's did. Not like mom's used to. But it wasn't harsh, either; not like dad's. It simply remained the same, as if she was addressing a subordinate, but not one who had incurred any wrath.

After one hesitating moment, Nico nodded.

"You took a national exam in school a few months ago, is that correct?" Again, Nico nodded as Alex furrowed her brow. What the hell did that have to do with anything? "That exam was in reality an aptitude test administered to students between the ages of six and eight in the hopes of finding children who the government feel would greatly benefit from the new private academy that they've funded. The test is designed to find students who could one day become politicians, scientists--the important people our nation needs, but who may not be able to realize their full potential in their current situation."

To her right, Alex's father spoke up for the first time since they'd gotten home. "Yeah, but what's it gonna cost me?" He stank of alcohol, but not as much as usual; perhaps he'd gotten a late start that day, but Alex wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. He was more stable with less to drink in his system, but his temper tended to stay the same no matter how sober he was. Still, today Alex didn't think she had anything to worry about; today, the superior captain of the Military Police was here. And it only took a glance between Captain Simmons and her father to make an educated guess who would win in a fight.

Captain Simmons turned a disdainful gaze on the man. "Nothing," she finally deigned to tell him, returning her attention to Nico. "Tuition is taken care of by the government. As I said before, this is meant to help students who wouldn't otherwise be able to help themselves."

"Bullshit!" The man jumped to his feet, spitting expletives. "There's some sorta catch, ain't there?"

Alex stood the moment her father raised his voice, pulling Nico off the sofa and closer to the front door. At the same time, Captain Simmons stood to her full height from her crouched position, crossing her arms as she met the man's angry scowl with an unimpressed stare. "Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to leave the room now."

Alex watched her father sneer at the woman. "Or what?"

"Or I will make you." The captain's voice was deceptively quiet, but her stance widened as she prepared herself for a fight.

It didn't come to that. Alex's father was a coward, someone who only attacked when there was no chance of his opponent fighting back. Kicking out at one of the glass bottles littering the floor with the intention of startling Captain Simmons, the man cursed in her direction one last time before stomping off in the direction of the kitchen door.

The door slammed, and everything was silent before finally, Captain Simmons addressed Nico once more. "Do you have an answer for me, Mr. Martinez?"

Nico's hand had fallen away from Alex's when she'd shoved him behind her, but it came up once more to slip into hers as he answered, voice small but determined.

"Anywhere is better than here."