Dystopia

Chapter 1: New America

It's crazy to think that not so long ago, I was an ordinary girl who lived an ordinary life. I went to school every day, and did homework every night. I never imagined that the world would change so drastically in my lifetime, and that my life would mold into what it is now.
Of course I can't say I'm surprised that it did. Before my country was completely reformed, it was a huge, complicated mess. There were constant petty attacks between feuding countries, especially my own, viruses that would take out thousands of people all over the world in a matter of months. Cyberattacks of immense scale increasing by the day. Each day there was something new to fear and something new to push us to where we are now. The United States was once one of the biggest and most prosperous countries in the world, but now it is shattered. New America is made up of bits and pieces of what was once the United States of America. Since so much of the population was  wiped out by natural disasters, disease, and starvation, only about five previous states make up New America's territory and jurisdiction, along with a few other small territories dotted randomly around what was once the United States. Washington, parts of Oregon, Massachusetts, Maine, and a small piece of Vermont. However, there are several camps and train stations along the Canadian border that allow for transportation between the two small territories that are lightly populated and consist of mostly workers of the lowest level in society. These were the only places salvageable, with Canada's help, during the Great Reformation and just before Canada itself had also fallen. The rest of what was previously the United States is a barren wasteland and forbidden to venture there. Every territory you travel to has to be approved by the Council, and only the most important diplomats leave the country.
My name is Lillie, and I am 19 years old. I live in a heavily wooded area surrounded by lots of water in Northern Washington. I used to live with my parents in a quiet suburb in Northern Seattle, but my family moved to my aunt's secluded property as soon as chaos began to erupt in our densely populated city. That was nearly eight years ago.
My aunt is a widow who inherited a large sum of money after her husbands death 20 years before the Great Reformation. He died before I was even born, but my aunt talks about him with great fondness, and from time to time still gets teary eyed when looking at his photographs. Aunt Melly, formally Melissa, sold all of her newly inherited properties in Seattle and quickly bought a large cabin just outside a small town called Port Townsend, where we live together with my two younger siblings, Charlotte and Emory.
When I was 15 years old, just four years ago, my mother gave birth to a healthy baby boy, but unfortunately my mother did not survive due to the complete lack of modern medicine and professional doctors available to people like us. After her death, my father left almost instantly to New America's Eastern territory to a new job post, leaving us in the care of my aunt Melly. The last I heard he was in Massachusetts, but it has been over a year since I've received a letter from him. For all I know he could be dead.
My little sister Charlotte, who is only a year and 7 months younger than me, has hardly spoken since the death of our poor mother and the untimely absence of our father. Charlotte was always very sensitive and couldn't handle the abrupt changes we endured so quickly. She mostly spends her time tending to the animals and housework. Charlotte loves reading, but New America's laws don't allow for most fictional books, mostly those that consist of "heretical" notions. Every single aspect of our lives has a new order. We cannot choose for ourselves anymore.
The New Order controls our careers, our borders, books, and basically everything that made the old world what it once was, but of course for our own protection. Internet, television programs, magazines, and numerous other sources of information and entertainment are now forbidden. Phones are tightly supervised and generally uncommon for people in lower levels of society. Most communication is through letters, which makes it difficult to contact anyone you've lost connections with.
When you turn 20 years old, you are mandated by the New Order to pursue a new life. Meaning in a short three months I will have to find a partner for life and take a complex evaluation that will categorize me into a level of society based on my appearance, knowledge, physical capabilities, and personal strengths. All of these aspects of myself are how the Council determines if I am a quality citizen or not. Based on my results I will be placed where the Council sees my capabilities most useful.
I know what I have to do, Melly has been preparing me for five years for this new chapter in my life. But I will not lie to you.
I am absolutely fucking terrified.