Searchers

998 P.E. (Post Earth)

What's the worst part about the end of the world?

You might think it's having to live in one of thirteen Arks orbiting a dead planet.

Or that the last vestiges of humanity are only one point three million people, one hundred thousand per Ark. No more, no less, closed loop, until the Searchers find us a new home.

But no, the absolute worst part is turning eighteen.

Because that's when you're forced to marry a random stranger.

It's called Selection - when Oversight assigns you a life-partner, a new job, and you're required to produce a child in your first year of marriage.

That's pretty bad, right? I mean, what if he hates me? What if my job stinks?

Yeah. I used to worry about that, too.

But now, fearing for my life is my new worst thing of all.

Because things are not as they seem, and people are disappearing...