2th

"You reckon he'll wake up soon?"
"You reckon it's a he? It looks like a girl. Looks like you."
"I'm not a girl!"
"You reckon she knows?"
"Of course she knows. She'll be along any time soon."
"You reckon he'll sick up?"

The moment Lee woke up, all he wanted to do was vomit. As soon as he sat up whatever was in his stomach made a guest appearance. A couple of people snickered while someone else demanded bread from another. That resulted in a childish push fight between the two. The grey clad spectators jeered them on. A tall, dark skinned girl approached the seething crowd and cleared her throat. Instantly, the melee fell silent.
"Thank you," she said. "As you can see, the watchers have gifted us with another chidder."
Her voice was haughty and her eyes were cold. Like the other persons of varying age and race, she wore the same grey shirt and baggy pants. Her head was shaved and the others gave her a wide berth even though she looked younger than most of them. She couldn't be older than fourteen. Still a child. Half the others were easily double her age. Even I, at a mere nineteen, was older than her.
"The name's Tooth," she continued. "I'm the supreme leader who runs this place."
"Tooth?" I repeated.
She scowled at me, "No, not Tooth, you skint. 2th. As in the number two with 'th' on the end."
"Where's your manners, supreme leader?" someone jabbed. "You haven't asked the nice chidder what his name is."
2th did something I didn't expect her to be able to do. She cracked a smile.
"What's your name, kid?"
"Lee. My name's Lee."
"Welcome to the Iron Gate, Lee," her smile became a smirk. "Every day's a party."

A couple of weeks later I was assigned a duty and a bed. Community life was quiet for the most part. Aside from the occasional scuffle, nothing significant ever really happened. The guards (or watchers as 2th called them) stationed at the watchtowers at each corner of the walls never got involved and the gate never opened. I sat outside the butchers, sharpening a knife with a stone. I didn't look up as 2th approached me.
"Another day in paradise," she said as she sat down beside me.
The butcher was out inspecting which of the animals were ready for slaughter. That left me alone to do my duty. I acknowledged her with a nod.
"If that's what you want to call it," I replied.
"Well why not?" she challenged. "We've got four walls to keep us safe and people watching out for us. We're free to do as we please."
"Yeah, free," I said. "The gate never opens and the watchers have guns. We step out of line and we get shot. As free as ever."
"We're freer in here than they are out there," she said grimly. She tapped the back of her head. "I don't know about you, but I remember. I remember what happened out there and let me tell you, chidder, I'd rather be free in here than trapped out there."

I couldn't sleep that night. What 2th had told me about remembering had left me thinking. How could she remember when I couldn't? What happened beyond the walls? Suddenly a scream pierced through the night and people began to stir. The screams didn't cease as I scrambled out of bed and looked around the bedchamber. Everyone else looked just as confused but no one was screaming. I cautiously peered out of the building and saw a lone person kneeling in the middle of the courtyard, the watchtower spotlights staring down at them. I approached them nervously, the gravel crunching under my feet. It was 2th, on her knees, screaming and gripping her head. She looked up at me as I neared. Her eyes were bloodshot and blood ran down her face from where sharp fingernails had gouged into it. As suddenly as she had started screaming, she stopped.
"I don't want to remember," her voice was hoarse. "The dead, piled high, flesh scorched black. The smell of the rotting masses. I don't want to remember."
Her dark eyes darted around as the others dared to move out of their bedchambers. Then she was up and sprinting, racing towards the gate as if her life depended on it. I watched in shock, silent as my mind tried to contemplate it all, as she started to climb the gate. Quick and nimble, she made it about a quarter way up before the watchers reacted. Two claps of thunder rang out and I watched as she fell. Fell a quarter way down to the gravel. Her bones cracked and splintered on the landing but it didn't matter. She was already dead.
Dead and finally, truly free.