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| - This was the day... the day the reaping began. I remember it so clearly even though it happened so many years ago. My name is Marcus. I'm now eighteen and alone. I used to have a life. One you could compare to any other's, but not now. I live in the desert everyday afraid of being reaped... alone. I don't even remember how many times I've said that now. Well... let's start from the beginning. I sat there in my small stone room on my bed reading a book. I lived in a small peaceful village at the time filled with small peaceful stone houses and in the center of this village was a tall and wide stone temple. I lived in a nice, mud, stone house with my mother and father. So like I said I was just sitting there reading a book, smiling and over all just feeling happy. When out of nowhere I could here a chant or some sort of song coming from outside my little window. I put down my book and peeked my head outside only to be blinded by the scorching hot sun. When my vision finally cleared I could see a line of men in a line holding hands in their red and silver metal armour yelling a chant of some sort. "This is a battle song, this is a call to arms brothers and sisters!" they all cheered together. I just stood there and watched wondering who they were at war with. They kept up that chant even though I couldn't see anything. I squinted due to the piercing light of the sun. The chant continued, but after about five minutes of watching I noticed something and so did everyone else. Every now and then my vision would be blocked for about a second and when I would look again a man from the line would be gone. It continued for a while until all the men in the line were gone except one who kept up the chant until he yelled, "Time to go to war!" My vision was blocked once more and he was gone. My eyes widened as I felt a chill run down my spine and a surge of horror electrocute me. I just stood there stunned... and alone. Every time a man was swept away not a sound was heard. It was like they just disappeared. I was astonished yet horrified. I stood there for only a few minutes before I was visited... by the reaper. I could hear no footsteps, but I could feel an eerie presence enter the room. I slowly wrapped my head around towards my door. A tall black figure made of what seemed to be mist or smoke of some sort floated towards me holding a long scythe made of bones of men and women that was larger than I was. I snapped my eyes shut and waited for it to end... but it didn't. I cautiously opened my eyes to see if that thing was still there. Sure enough it was. It floated over to me and simply whispered in my ear with the voice of a million men and women. "I will kill everything, but you must live to tell my legend... you will suffer." And so here we are three years later... alone on a planet that had lifelike luscious plants and beautiful animals... but now a barren wasteland called Mars.
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