The Outside (#wattys2016)

The Change

I was awake. Not dead. Only being held captive. What was I doing here? I didn't know. I could only hope. That I would remember.

It all came back to me when I saw James laying next to me. So close yet so far away. I ran to go see him, wake him up, but ran into the glass holding us apart. I couldn't know if he was sleeping or dead. Dead. The word struck me. He could be dead. I collapsed on the bed. A man dressed in grey came into my room. He spoke into a thing attached to his neck: "She's awake." Suddenly I grew scared. A whole team of men wearing the same uniform the first one was wearing came in and picked me up, like it was easy for then. Right before we left I saw James' eyes flutter open. He's awake, I thought, not dead.

I realized I was wearing something different. Instead of my usual ripped jeans and t-shirt, which were so dirty from our journey, there was an outfit just like the men, but all black. It looked like we were all ready for a battle of some sort, and I couldn't shake the feeling, that I was about to be in one. They put me in a chamber of some sort, and arranged my feet and hands in certain places. I realized that my boots and gloves stuck there---I was trapped. I noticed cameras all around the room right after the men left me. I was alone. I had to figure out a way out of here, but using logic didn't help. I couldn't slip my hands out of the gloves or my feet out of the boots. I felt something hit my back, a pain like nothing I had ever felt before. I lunged forward. "Help..." I called softly, the last thing I was able to get out.

I woke up to the sound: "You have a visitor." It sounded like the same voice as before: 'She's awake'. More tired that ever, I forced my eyes to open. Then the walls began to move. It was a circular room, and it spun, with my hands attached to it. The floor must have spun too, because my feet were moving. A teenage boy walked in, maybe about my age. But it wasn't James. It was almost mockery. He looked a little like him, his blonde hair and bright blue eyes. But he wasn't like James at all. His smile was fake, and his skin was freakishly pale, unlike James' tan skin, from working out in the sun. It looked like this boy had never even been in the sun before. Then it occurred to me, some people may have never been in the sun. It was like everything here was fake, unreal, and man made. The exact opposite of the Outside. I didn't like it.

"I'm William." He said. "We welcome you to the Inside." The thought hit me like lighting. Hadn't this been my dream, my goal, this whole time. But what people were trying to tell me back in the Outside was the trouble I was now in. I was doomed, I thought. It's my fault we're stuck here. I opened my mouth to say something to William, but he stopped me. "Shhhhh. You need some rest. Let me do the talking." How is being held captive like this rest? I thought. "We've been expecting you. There have been some..." He paused. "Disfunction with our machines." "You call trying to kill us disfunctions?!" I shot back. "Quiet!" He shouted. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be harsh." I was angry now. "Trying to be harsh? I'm sorry, but I would call leaving our ancestors with nothing in the wilderness to die harsh!" I yelled. "Excuse me miss, your getting a little out of hand." He said kindly. I could tell he probably didn't do anything wrong. But still, he was one of them. One of the people who threw our ancestors out, and sent them to die. But what did we do? We formed the Outside, and our colonies, they were stronger than these people ever could be. These people had their technology and fancy stuff, but we were still stronger. We are beaten and torn, but still stronger. These people are cowards. "Out of hand?" I asked. "I think out of hand is you. You acting like you've never done anything wrong." I said, starting to cry. I told myself to stop, but it was too emotional. Everything today. "You people are cowards!" I screamed at him. "You rip people apart, try to put them back together, and when they reject you, you turn on them. You and you messed up little world. Get out!" I chocked out. Where could everyone I love be now? I asked myself. There were my parents, safe back at home, but James, he was probably going though the same thing. If I could only see his face, I thought. But then I realized: what if they go, and send their drones, send their machines, and killed them all. We set off a bomb, I thought, a bomb that leads to a war, but I wasn't sure if we could win this one. I had realized William had left, and fell asleep crying.