The Detachment

Chapter 3

I slowly drift back to reality seeing dark and light green trees. Where am I?

"Scarlet?"

"Mom?"

I spin around one more time to see where I am like a vulnerable lost child. But after a wile, everything comes back to me and boy, do I regret it. And I am sick of regretting it because I know that I must have been until the moment I blacked out.

Since I have not even some sort of idea where I am, I walk. I start out walking in some direction, since I'm pretty sure it's west.

Soon, I see a creek that splashes along down a hill, with lots of rocks and sticks.

"Great," I say out loud because my passing out might have been because of dehydration. I run to the creek and squat down. I cup my hands and dunk my handes into the water soon carefully bringing them up to my mouth.

When I finish my drink, I start on again forward but I realize that the sun is starting to set. How long did I pass out? I thought that it was only late afternoon!

"Okay. Where to go, where to go."

Starting to panic is not fun. Everything is rushing through my mind but nothing is at the same time. I run faster forward because I don't know how long it will be until there is no more forest. Or even any sign of human life. I runs on with my hair blowing in the wind until I come to a halt, forcefully, because I run into some kind of solid surface.

I take a few steps back to see what I ran into. A house! No, more like a log cabin.

Should I go inside? It is dark and there are animals out here. I am surprised I haven't encountered one yet of any sort.

But there could be a murderer in that house! What am I doing! Then I remember that there are probably no murderers any more. The soldiers wonder around everywhere and control everything. They would have caught a murderer. Unless the murderer killed them first! Whatever. It IS worth a shot to go inside.

I carefully open the door, paranoid that someone will come out from behind it. Right when I fully step into the cabin, I notice that, well, it doesn't look like a cabin at all. In the front, there is a granite table with three wooden chairs with silk cushions resting on them. In the background, I see a large mirror with small granite handles that match the table. Do I really look like that? There is mud smeared on my clothes and my long brown hair is knotted and has leaves strung through it everywhere. I look up and the light source is a gigantic chandelier made of silver and diamonds. Now I see why someone would want to live here but, why?

In the mirror, I notice an older woman with grey hair piles up on top of her head in a neat bun. From the way she dresses too, it looks like she I'd from the third section. Could this old woman be a murderer? No, obviously. I am being paranoid again.

"May I help you?" She says surprisingly politely.

Her smile comforts me but I can tell that it is fake.

"Oh! Umm... I saw this house and there was no one here and I... I... Don't know where I am..."

"How did you find this place? Are you from the Society? The Government? Why. Are. You. Here?

"Well, long story short I came here because I was running and I kinda ended up passing out. I am not from the Government or Society. I am here because I saw a house with some sort of sign of human existence. I haven't seen anything but trees for miles. Where am I?"

I don't even know the difference between the Society and the Government. I didn't say it though, it would make me look ridiculous.

The old lady chuckled. I can tell she has calmed down and the smile now isn't fake. But I haven't been smiling the whole time.

"Where are you?! You are not in a Section, most people don't even know we are here except for the residence! This is the place that is not any part of the rest of Gera. The place where people want to go if they want at least some of a choice. You are, young lady, in The Detachment