Three generations ago, the planet was ravaged by drought, disease, and overusage of all resources. Candy Starling comes from a large, sprawling family, full of keepers and hoarders. Candy is a young woman who was born to survive. But more than that, she was born with the keys to the past, that can unlock the future - a very different future from the one she lives in now.

Will she recognize the wealth she was born with? Can she fulfill her destiny and put the trainwreck of humanity back on track? And if she does, at what price?

        I crawled through the cement tunnels. I was used to the darkness, and the dampness, and the pervasive stench of fermenting sewage and rat dung. I slid my hand along the wall, following one patch of moonlight after another. When I got to the seventh stream of moonlight, I turned to the right, and reached out for the slick metal rungs of the ladder.

        Up, I went. At the top, I pressed my head against the cold metal disc, listening for footsteps. Hearing none, I pushed my fingers into the holes, waited, then heaved the iron cover over the lip of the hole and pushed to the left. 

        The moon was nearly full. My eyes began to adjust to the light, and I quickly leapt out of the gateway, sealing the entrance behind me. 

        I was Above Ground.

                                                                        * * *

        "Candy."

        The voice came from the shadows. I walked into the alleyway as a tall, thin boy with thick black hair on top of his head leaned away from the brick wall behind him. The sides of his head were shaved, and metal spikes glistened in the moonlight, along the right side of his forehead and ear. 

        "Hey, Sal." I reached for the dried meat he handed me. "Rat jerky?"

        "I prefer to call it 'street meat'." 

        "I'm not sure how that is any more appetizing." I chewed on the topic, both literally and figuratively. I had heard the tales-- myths, as far as I was concerned-- about the days of meat and potatoes. Steaks made from cows, back when there were still cows, and salads made of fresh vegetables and fruits of every color of the rainbow. But, for as long as I had been alive, the average mericun diet consisted of canned goods,weeds like dandelions, roasted bugs, and rat meat. 

        I didn't mind. It was all I knew. I could pretend to imagine what Sal was talking about when he told me about biting into a juicy apple, or what a McDonald's cheeseburger tasted like. Or things like ice cream and chocolate milk, or coffee and cherry pie that my parents and grandparents talked about. It was all so much Tooth Fairy Ambrosia and Moon-made Mochi to me. 

        One thing I did know-- everything tasted better when it came from Sal. When I was with Sal, I felt like maybe I could taste the flavors he spoke of, even though they were completely imaginary.

        "What'chu got for me?" Sal asked. 

        I had to smile at the sound of his voice. It was both deep and rumbly and soft and high at the same time. I felt it reverberate in my chest,just as his breath brushed the wisps of hair into motion in front of my ear. He spoke smoothly, like his throat was oiled, but ready to break out in a roar at any time. It gave me shivers.

        I reached into my jacket pocket and shoved a handful at him.

        Sal looked down at the small waxed paper twists. "Tootsie Rolls?" He said it slowly, then laughed out loud. "Where'd you find these?"

        I shrugged at him. "You know, the usual." I had to be coy about The Family Stash. "Are they good?"

        "'Are they good,' she says." Sal shoved his shoulder against mine in jest. "They're classics! Candy, you do earn your name, you know that?"

        I smiled back at him. "Yeah?"

        "Yeah." Sal put the candy in his hands away, and pulled me towards him. "Now, gimme some real Candy."

                                                                                    * * *

Coming up: We meet Candy's mother.