9/18/2014: Greetings folks! I know many of you have been waiting for me to post the prequel and/or sequel to this story as I had mentioned, and it is about to happen! Survivors is in fact complete and will be considered a "miniseries" for a larger trilogy centered around Sister's adventures.

REBEL CHILD , the story of how Dexter and Kaikaina Grif ended up in Blood Gulch, will begin posting on Monday 9/22. Here is a preview of the first chapter.

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

Kaikaina Grif slammed her hand down on the obnoxiously beeping alarm clock for the third time as she heard her brother calling her from the kitchen,"Enough snoozing munchkin! It's game day!"

"I'm up! Quit your yelling!" Kai yelled just as loudly back. She rolled out of bed and stretched her muscular limbs thoroughly before going into the bathroom to begin her usual morning ablutions. She could smell the Spam and eggs Dexter was cooking as she brushed out her long coffee colored hair and washed her face. She walked back into her room and slid out of her pajamas, tossing them aside and squeezing into a high school cheer leading uniform and a pair of shoes so white they practically glowed. Dexter was just placing her plate of breakfast on the kitchen table as she plopped herself down in a chair.

"Is all your homework done?" Dexter asked.

"Yes, I finished it last night, I told you," Kai replied exasperatedly.

"Now remember, please try to cheer for the right team this time. They won't let you back on the squad a third time. At least the teams aren't the same colors this time. That should help," Dexter ran his fingers through his long dread locks, the way Kai knew he always did when he was stressed.

"It's not my fault! I'm colorblind!" she whined.

"Don't give me that bullshit. You can read the team names on the jerseys. You see every one of those people at school on a daily basis," Dexter glared at her.

"Yeah, but the boys on that other team were so much cuter," Kai pouted.

Later...

As he turned to leave something on the table caught his eye. He brushed the other mail aside and picked up a shiny, clear plastic postcard. It was blank except for the UNSC logo in one corner.

"Huh. What in the world?" Suddenly, the UNSC logo enlarged, lit up, and a voice spoke.

"This is an official pre-recorded holo-postcard from the United Nations Space Command. Please remain still while your identity is confirmed," said a pleasant, only slightly robotic, female voice.

"Uh … " Grif was too startled to move as the postcard glowed blue.

"Voice identification accepted. Dexter Grif. Please stand by for message." There was a pause.

"Hello," said a new voice – a man's this time, still pleasant, almost overly soothing. "In this time of war, the worst we have ever known, sometimes desperate measures must be taken. Calculations have been done to determine the exact number of soldiers needed to win this war. Volunteer forces are no longer enough. That is why we have instituted a galaxy wide draft, to draw by lottery more soldiers for the effort against the Covenant. Do your duty – protect your family, our citizens, our way of life, our very existence! Report to your nearest recruiting station tomorrow at 0800 hours for further instructions." The message paused and the original voice came back.

"Message marked as received. Please remember that failure to report for duty as a draftee is considered treason. Have a nice day!"

The blue glow faded and the clear plastic postcard now showed in neat white letters the address of the nearest recruitment center. Grif just stared. His hands were shaking. They shook so hard the card fell from his fingertips to the cheap vinyl tiles of the kitchen floor.

Later...

"Isn't that your brother in the stands? It's cool that he could make it tonight." Tom disappeared into the locker room as Sister whirled to face the bleachers. Sure enough, Grif was coming down the bleachers toward her. She grinned happily and ran to meet him.

"I thought you had to work!" The grin left her own face as she saw the look on her brother's. Grif saw her concern and tried to smile weakly. It didn't work. His hands were shaking again, and he tried to still them as Sister reached for him.

"What's wrong?" Sister demanded

"Your coach told me you've been fighting again. Sister, you have to stop. You can't get in trouble!"

"I didn't get in trouble. She deserved it. Now what's wrong?"

"Kaikaina, I don't doubt it, but this is serious. You have to promise me that you'll be good and stay out of trouble from now on. No matter what."

"Grif. What. Is. Wrong."

"I've … I've been drafted into the marines."

" … What!?"