Inside The Earth’s Fracture: Chapter One

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It’s a new year and the Writers’ Club are coming together to create a piece of fiction! Every month a new chapter will be released, written by a different member of the Writers’ Club. So, sit back, get comfy, and read the first chapter of Inside The Earth’s Fracture, written by Grey…

CHAPTER ONE

It was never meant to happen. Of course there were warning signs. Decades of them. But no one ever really thought the end would come. All the school strikes and the metal straws and the saving the turtles and the plastic-free packaging and the only buying from charity shops. But still, the oceans swallowed up the coasts, it snowed in July, forests were engulfed by flames, and the icebergs all melted. There’s a new generation who will never see an iceberg. They’ll be talked about like dinosaurs and dodos, things of the past, things that once were but never are. This is worse than the end. It’s life continued, but barely. 

It felt like the world split, and then it did. Two sides of the same coin, but they couldn’t be more different. People grouped together, forming tribes with the people who thought like them, acted like them, believed like them - although they could never really trust anyone. How could you when everything you’ve ever known changed, just like that? 

The first group called themselves the Martyrs. No-one quite knows why. They didn’t sacrifice anything. Wealth was truly on their side. They rebuilt as quickly as they could. Found their comfort in things again. Blamed everyone but themselves for what had happened. Spent, spent, spent and still their funds were full. They didn’t care. Well, not in the majority. 

Ari came from money and she was well aware of that. But it didn’t define her. She knew the end was coming. She used what she could to help out others. She held placards at the rallies. She spread the information. She raised her voice. But her family didn’t listen. If anything, they pressed the mute button on her lips and went about their day as if nothing could touch them. And in a way, they were right. They were still there. Ari got dragged into their crossfire. Just shy of 18, she was told (even in this new world order) that she wasn’t old enough to make her own decision. She still belonged to them. And so she was a Martyr. 

Then there were the Saviours. They survived through their knowledge. They saw it all happen before it actually happened and did what they could to put the pieces back together. They had pennies to their name, not pounds. No resources other than their brains and a will to survive. On this side that’s all they could do. Thriving was a thing of the past. Surviving was the only way forward. And yet, somehow, they did. 

Kai found themselves in this group. Their family may not have had generational wealth, but they were at the forefront of the Green Movement, which, before the end, was one of the most prominent climate activism groups in the country. Kai’s voice was loud, and lifted up by their family. Before it all began, they organised the rallies, spoke to - and scalded - leaders, taught others how to be better, more careful, did everything in their power to fight for what was right. And only got louder with the people by their side. They believed change would happen. Of course it did, but just not in the right way. But their flame never dimmed. 

When the tectonic plates started shifting, people were just trying to stay alive. Hands grabbed hands where they could, no matter where they came from. But slowly, things started to change and grasps were loosened. Old prejudices came into play, along with new ones, and rules were set in place. The divide deepened and each group saw the other as something different. For the Martyrs, they believed the others were Idlers - they didn’t care about making things work again, they were just sitting by and hoping that things would get better. They didn’t see the way they thought, the plans they were putting in place, to not just rebuild, but rebuild better. It would just take time and solutions to not having the monetised resources at hand. And for the Saviours, the others were Gluttons. They wanted everything in an instant, no matter the ramifications, as if the literal destruction of the world from being greedy and not caring about the planet in the first place hadn’t just happened. They were gluttons for comfort, for power, for wealth, for the idealistic view that Instagram and influencers had crafted for too long. Perfectly plastic portrayals of a broken life. And they’d do nothing to stop getting there. 

And then came the big divide. People started fleeing in all directions, looking for land that was salvageable. Looking for minds that felt the same. Nothing was peaceful anymore. People’s bodies and minds were broken, subjected to torture from others and from Mother Nature. Even with all the money in the world, devastation reigned in those first few months. 

It had been one year and eighty seven days now, and a new type of order had somewhat been restored. Chaos was still there, but it was a new kind of chaos. It felt more manageable, in comparison to everything before it. People on both sides were attempting to live. But memories of the world they once knew haunted everyone, on both sides. A revolution was creeping under the surface and it would take two people to start it, they just didn’t know it yet. 

One Martyr, born into money, with the world on her shoulders. And one Saviour, with a fire stronger than most, that they would learn to harness for good.

Keep reading, Chapter Two this way...