Every few months somebody aged out. Turning 16 meant death and only Zephyr knew that. All of the other kids were so ignorant to their situation and never cared to change that. Even the most brilliant of hys peers had little suspicions. 

When one of the caretakers finally told hym, after years of coercing and favors Zeph was distraught. Every one of the older kids who hy'd loved and wished the best for was either dead or weaponized and hy was fucking scared of when that day would hit hym. 

hy kept it a secret, mostly because it was a solutionless problem and the other kids were better just not knowing. Today was of course another day for somebody to age out, Agnes a freshly sixteen year old girl who zeph avoided due to hir touchy and bright personality. 

hy knew hir well of course, not only from growing up around hir but hys only friend--the one hy made before hy found out how expendable their lives were--nicole was horrifically close to hir. the two girls were yin and yang, Nicole's snappy personality bouncing off of agnes. 

hy pursed hys lips as Nicole shed the first tear hy'd ever seen and held hir friend closely, shi was only thirteen and had yet to know of Agnes' fate. the girl hirself seemed sun-bright with a glowy smile and painfully tight hugs which shi'd given to everyone besides Zeph, a well known touch advert. 

hy stood next to nicole as shi covered hir face, only peeking through hir fingers at hir friend as Kamuzawa, the second eldest caretaker and by far the most hesitant, took agnes away. The large girl was herded out the door. once shi was out of sight nicole ran to the window to watch hir and knocked on it harshly for hir friends attention. shi waved goodbye, mouthing it too and agnes repeated the gesture with glee. ignorant glee. 

Zephyr stared at the scene in front of hym, most of the other kids having lost interest or were some kind of distraught for the wrong reasons. They comforted each other about how much better hir life would be and how they'd join hir in the real world soon. it was sickening. 

the boy's stomach fell through the floor and hy clenched hys fist so hard it stung. Hy gasped painfully approaching hys friend, hys cane clicking on the ground as hy approached nicole. the girl turned around teary eyed and grabbed hym so fast they both fell to the ground. 

They cried.