The Society

Chapter 1

The Society

My parents always told me stories about their past lives in the lowers. They lived in a shack, then a small apartment. Everyday they worked to earn little money. Most people in The Society, our city, are born into their sector, being either Lower or Upper. No one is driven to change.

The fence wraps around our city. Its tall, ten feet or so, chain linked, barbed at the top, and electric. Maybe the fence is why no one ever leaves or comes into the The Society, or maybe the real reason is that it is just no worth coming to. It's not everyones preference to live in a dark, muggy, cold, rainy, plant less city. It certainly isn't mine thats for sure.

I like to dream about what the outside world is like. I've read about it plenty of times before in my school books and stories. They all say it was beautiful, blue skys, green plants, bright natural light and action everywhere. Some of the books even talked about life right after the accident that killed the beauty of our city, making it into what it is now. They say it was a gone wrong science experiment and the city of San Diego, California was the victim. After that, the leaders changed the name from San Diego to The Society and built a fence around us, practically cutting us completely off from everyone else. They kicked the population out and replaced them with a certain large set of people.

Everyone knows their place in The Society. Everyone helps one another and does what they are told. We all have jobs or somewhere to be everyday. I'm lucky for the life I live here in the Uppers, or North sector, of the city. My house is large having four bedrooms, with an average suburban yard. My family contains four people being me, my little brother Jacob, my mother and my father. My name is Aurora. I am sixteen years old and my little brother Jacob is eight years old and eleven and a half months as he likes to add. His birthday is in two weeks. Parties aren't welcome in the Society because they are said to be a nuisance and a waste to our supplies, but this is said about everything we do.

There was a knock on my door, "Come in," I say a bit to loud.

"Hey, hope I didn't startle you. I just thought I would stop by and say hi," said Cara.

I've known Cara ever since I could remember. She is tall, pale, and skinny. She towers above me. Her brown hair is now cut shorter than normal and is dull because of the lack of nutrition due to rationing. Her blonde streaks were more defined though, which is never a good thing. Blonde in our city is dangerous. To most people it means someone has done something bad. It's crazy, I know, to think someone is a terrible person just because they have an uncommon look to them. She has hazel eyes that seemed to pop because of the ton of makeup she is wearing.

Cara is 18 and now completely under the radar of the city to my understanding. She is incomparably smart and runs a small black market store that sells all sorts of cosmetics and hair products. She has a look of worry on her face as she opens my door and peaks in. Her large brown eyebrows are raised and pulled together, her eyes a bit red almost like she has been crying.

"You didn't, no worries. What's really going on?" I stare at her for a second and then pat my bed, signally for her the shut the door and sit down. She looks down as she closes the door quickly than moves over right by my side, head still down trying to hide her hair,

" Your hair!" I squealed. "What happened?!"

I pull her into an embrace, wrapping my arms around her slim body. I feel her break into tears and bury her face in my shoulder.

"They found me, Aurora," she pauses to catch her breathe and let's out a sob,"It's all gone!"

"Who found you? And what? What's gone?" I say pulling her tighter into me. She lets out another sob and I can see she is in no position to talk. In what feels like hours later, I hear a whisper escape her throat,

"The Leaders" she almost hisses and she says it.

I don't speak because I know exactly what is going on now. They discovered her, and all the others who work in the black market. But it wasn't the leaders we know, the ones that care for our city. It wasn't even anyone from The Society in fact. My eyes narrow and my lips purse. My hands turn into fists so tight that I can feel my knuckles go white and numb. A shutter runs down my spine and goosebumps form all of my arms. They're back. The fence is broken somewhere and they are in the city.

The outlaws, killers and criminals, are back in The Society.