Red Sky

Chapter 2: John

            “No, I have never gotten in a fight.” I said proudly.

            “Terrific, that is all for questions. Now John I hope you are prepared to leave with me today as Leader Cape ordered last month? I will be waiting in the car while you say your goodbyes and gather your belongings. Take as much time as you need, but don’t take more than half an hour. I’ll see you in the car.” And with that she left the house as quickly as she had entered our lives. I was dumbfounded, it was actually happening. I wanted this all to be a dream, I just wanted to wake up and then have Henry make fun of me for being so scared of a silly dream. I didn’t know what to say.

Ms. Wilson’s car was a black government car; it was a model from the Old Earth so I couldn’t recognize the make. The car was parked outside our house, I had to wear my atmospheric protective suit, no one went outside without one. I glanced behind me and saw my family standing at the door, waving behind an air seal chamber that came with every house. The last half hour was the worst of my life; my mother could not stop crying, and she even brought tears to my eyes. My brothers teased me my about my size and jokingly warned me not to get killed by the aliens, but I knew that they were very upset. I hugged my grandparents tightly, they seemed so frail in their old age; I will miss their stories and wisdom. My father was silent; he just hugged me and whispered something in my ear.

            “Never forget who your friends are John.” I did not know what he meant, but for some reason those words kept echoing in my head.

There was a driver and another kid about my age in the back seat of the government car, Ms. Wilson was looking at her watch and patiently waiting. I waved one last time at my family, and sat in the backseat next to the other boy. I took off my

            “Just in time Jonathan, we shall get going now. To the base Larry.” The driver gave a little nod and started the car, we were on our way.

Ten minutes into the ride, the other boy could not stand the silence any longer.

            “Hello there mate, the name’s Wilfred, but you can call me Will.” He had an accent I had never heard. He offered me his hand; I accepted it and returned the greeting.

            “Hi, my name’s John.”

            “Ah, glad to meet you John.” He was smiling so wide that I was surprised his cheeks didn’t fall off. He couldn’t have been more than 12 years old, but the way he talked made him seem older.

            “So where are you from Will?”

            “Well mate, I’m from Zone III. A lot of us have ancestry from down south in the Old Earth, that’s where we get our accent from if that’s what you mean.” He said with a grin.

            “Yeah, it’s just that I’ve never heard an accent like that, I like it.” I replied with a polite smile.

            “Thanks mate, I’m really glad I’m not alone on this road, I really have no clue where we’re going.”

            “Yeah, I know what you mean.” I glanced at Ms. Wilson in the front sitting diagonally from me, and leaned in towards Will so only he could hear my whisper. “To be honest Will, Ms. Wilson scares me a little.”

            “Haha, tell me about it.” Will replied in a whisper. “When she first came to my house, I thought she was here to kill me.” We both laughed and glanced at Ms. Wilson. At that moment, I thought I saw a glimmer of a humorous smile on her face; it was only for a second. The moment passed and her face became smooth as stone once again.

The rest of the journey was a lot better, Will and I continued making fun of Ms. Wilson to pass the time. The scenery outside remained relatively unchanged. I had never been this far from home before, except for when we went to the Capital but I don’t remember that. When the car finally stopped it was still daylight outside, there was a huge building in front of us. It looked abandoned, and very unkempt. The sign at the front said: Walker Shoe Company.

            “Hey Will, why do you think they brought us to an abandoned shoe company?” I asked as Ms. Wilson suited up and got out of the car.

            “Dunno mate, but I sure hope they feed us soon, I’m starved.” I lifted an eyebrow at him, we were in a strange place and all he could think of was food.

            “C’mon boys, suit up. We have to get going, orientation begins in an hour.” All we could see was Ms. Wilson’s head poking in the car. We quickly zipped up our protetive suits, put on our head gear air filters and got out of the car. The building was extremely tall, I had to bend my head all the way back just to see the top that seemed to disappear into the blazing sun. We were surrounded by nothing but barren land; teh nearest Zone was probably my Zone, and that was hours away. Ms. Wilson led us towards the entrance, Will and I reluctantly follwed behind her. When we entered the old abandoned building, we were astonished. I don’t know what I was expecting when I found out I had to come here, but I was certainly not expecting this.