New World

The fence surrounding the colony’s exterior was buzzing with the electricity that flowed through it. The sound was like music to Elena’s ears, as it signaled she was next to the place her dreams met her reality. Out there, past the fence, was where she really wanted to be, but her father would have none of it. If he knew what she did at night, he would have chained her to their kitchen table and had dozens of guards stand watch.

When her father had first told her about Atello, the new world the government was creating millions of years in the past, she saw it as her chance to finally have adventure. Her one shot at stepping out from underneath her father’s overprotective wing and out into the real world. But Atello proved to be just the opposite.

If her father had been anyone but her father, things might have been different at Atello. She might have been able to go out on some of the expeditions with the soldiers or study with the paleontologists, but instead, she was daughter to Aaron Morris, and she was trapped inside the colony’s fence.

Of course, the government had appointed her father, the decorated soldier who had worked up his way in the ranks, the sole leader of Atello. Everyone respected Aaron Morris and most of them would give their lives to save him. With that, they kept their eye on Elena, making sure she was safe at all times and never doing anything she wasn’t supposed to be.

She was like the colony’s prized possession, that they wanted to keep locked up safely in a trophy case, and they weren’t shy in showing it to her, especially the many soldiers who were at Aaron’s beck and call. They did anything for him, including watching his daughter like a hawk.

All of her father’s many followers made her time at Atello - what could have been the most exciting thing to ever happen to her - rather boring.

Instead of being able to walk around the colony and make mischief like the other teens, she was forced to be on her best behavior, or else her father would catch wind of it and her life would be even more dull than it already was.

Luckily for Elena, every night at exactly midnight, the soldiers guarding the perimeter would do their shift changes, and Elena was able to slip out of the fence through the small crack behind the colony’s pub.

No one in the colony knew of the spot aside from her, and it was her little secret. Through that hole, she was able to step outside the colony’s walls and be free, if only for a few short hours.

It was dangerous; she knew that. A dinosaur could attack her at any moment, swallowing her whole, and her father would be left with no clue of what had happened to her, but all those horrible things that could happen only made leaving that much more exciting.

“Elena.”

The brunette didn’t have to turn around to know that it was her father standing behind her. His strong voice was unmistakable, and it was laced with the loving tone he only gave to Elena. She was his only his daughter, his pride and joy, and she knew that he loved her more than everyone in the colony combined. He’d toss each and every one of them into the volcano if it meant his daughter could be safe.

It made him a better leader, though, having that much love. It made him know what it was like for his soldiers to step outside that perimeter not knowing whether they’d make it back to their families or not, because he felt the same way every time he left the fence.

Elena spun around, her hair whipping behind her, and she was met with her father’s soft eyes.

“What are you doing?” he asked, with his hands clasped behind his back.

“Just looking.” Elena spoke with that wisp in her voice that she always carried. “Since that’s all I ever get to do.”

Her father sighed, shaking his head at his curious daughter. She’d thrown lines like that at him a thousand times, and he always forced himself to shrug them off.

“Elena, we’ve lost fourteen people since we arrived, and that’s not including the men who gave their lives to build this place. I’ll be damned if I’m going to let my daughter be the fifteenth.”

“I know,” Elena said, shaking her head as she looked firmly into her father’s eyes. “I’m not asking to camp out in a field full of raptors. I just want one expedition. One. Not even something big. I just wanna go out on a hunt or water line check. I don’t even have to leave the Jeep.”

“Elena –”

“Dad, nothing bad would happen. Do you really think any of your soldiers would let anything happen to me? They’d take better care of me than you would.”

“Elena –”

“I just want to go outside for one day. Even the children got to go out for that field trip and I’m trapped inside here like a baby. You can’t keep me in here forever.”

“Elena!” Aaron shouted, causing the brunette to take a step back. “That’s enough. I won’t here anymore of it. Dinner is ready and I’d like to be able to eat it without hearing anymore of this nonsense.”

Sighing, Elena pushed past her father without another word.

That was how all of their conversations about the outside went. She’d provide him with reasoning and he’d shoot her down. No matter what she said, she was doomed to be trapped inside the walls of Atello.

Of course, it wasn’t really the case. She always had those few hours at night where she could escape and be free, but that wasn’t enough for her. She wanted to be able to go out on expeditions with her father’s well wishes. She didn’t want to go behind his back, but he gave her no choice.

Until he gave her his permission to accompany the soldiers on one of their treks, she would continue to have her nights outside the walls, hidden deep within the jungle, where the world was lit only by the moon and her faith.