Listed: Book One of The Listed Trilogy

Chapter Two

Humiliation

I wake up, and I find my eyes not used to the darkness. I let my eyes adjust, and then I sit myself up.

I see that I'm in the middle of the wealthy part of town, and all of the streets are deserted except for a few young people in their twenties enjoying the darkness and going to all kinds of fancy parties. I bet they have real food there.... I see that I've been sleeping under the stars, lying on a kind of hard stone.

I shake my head, trying to get the sleep out of me. Another part of me demands to rest when I feel an awful stinging in my back. I groan, and bring my fingers close to my back. Right when I make contact with my back, I scream in pain, fire spreading through it. I then remember everything. The whipping, Mae, Harper, and I realize what's happening.

The humiliation.

Whenever you black out, they leave you there until the morning for all to see, just so they can humiliate you. Just to teach you a "lesson" that they think you haven't already learned from being whipped in the back.

I shiver, my clothes not enough to push away the cold fingers of night here in State 42. I try to rub my hands together, but ropes hold them back. I wrap my arms around my body, hugging myself to keep warm. I can see my breath, clouds floating in front of my eyes.

I look up at the sound of a laugh, a feminine, high laugh. A young woman, maybe in her twenties, walk up to the post with a group of friends. I can't imagine how awful and pitiful I must look, tied to a post without anything to keep me warm. They stare at me, and then one of them snickers. The giggles spread out through the group of girls, and I scowl.

While they point and stare, I begin to bite at the ropes. I hear a wonderful snap when I break one of them, then I move to the next. The rope is dry and scratches my tender tongue, giving it blisters. My teeth begin to ache, my jaw sore. I let go to take a breather, but then I keep on going. I have to.Then I hear the snap. I quickly lunge at the girl in the front. I pull her hair, and scream in her ears.

"Is this hilarious?" I scream at her while her friends attempt to pull me off. I kick their arms if they do, and I punch the girl in the chest. When she clutches her chest I release her, and stare at her friends, breathing heavily. They take a step back, and then I bolt towards the fence.

I jump, and hope the electricity isn't turned on. Luckily, it isn't, since the electricity comes and goes in this part of town. I run past the spot where the officer is, and he luckily doesn't notice me. I throw my door open, and slam it behind me. I shiver, my home not providing much protection from the cold, and slump down to the floor. I put my head in my hands, and wait for the tears to come. But they don't. I don't even have the urge to cry. I just sit there, and stare at the wall, the moon making it illuminate.

I stare at a beetle crawling across the wall, and watch its tiny antennae move this way and that, looking for any place better than my cold, unprotected home. It makes it to the window, and crawls out, disappearing into the night. I sigh, drag myself to my feet, and waver as I stand.

I slowly shuffle into my room, and pull the covers over me tightly. The moonlight pours onto my bed, and I stare at it, a crescent so perfect it could be a picture hanging in one of the stores across the fence. In a store in Opes, as the wealthy towns are called. I live on the side of the fence called Paupertas, which is what all of the poor towns, are called. Many think that Opes and Paupertas are one adjoined town, but I believe that that's wrong. I believe that the Opes and Paupertas are different towns that are said to be one, even though both are in the same sector of the state.

I live in Sector L11, in the very corner of State 42, right by the ocean, and another country which most don't know exist. Even people in State 42 don't know that the country exists. The only people who do are people who live right next to it. Anyone in State 46 or State 34 would have no idea what we would be talking about. Except we wouldn't be talking about it, because anyone who knows can't utter one word about the unknown country. The government says that the country is pure evil, and focuses on destroying ours, along with everyone in it. They say that they will shoot anyone who comes into their country on sight, without mercy. I believe them, I believe the government. Why wouldn't I? And with that last thought, I doze off, unaware of Harper's empty bed.