Chapter 1
Aralia
Suddenly, a bell rang through Zone 5 and everyone else knew at once what to do and were walking casually to the center of the Zone, as I followed, utterly confused. I glanced at a girl who looked about my age and who was following obediently. She met my gaze and I gave her a look that I tried to make questioning and nodded toward the crowd, as if asking her 'WHATS THE BIG FUSS ABOUT'? She looked at me strangely, her head titled to the side with confusion.
"Zone gathering." She said in her unusually dull voice that all people here talk with. I try to make my voice sound the same as I say,
"Why are we having a Zone gathering?"
Now she looked at me as if I had just asked her the stupidest question she had ever heard. Which quite possibly, I could have. I silently scolded myself for being so careless, and looked up expectantly for my answer.
She shrugged off my question and simple replied "Announcement"and walked away calmly.
Wow, these people really give me the creeps.
I tried act as normal as I could as I weaved myself through a maze of bodies until I was safely hidden in the middle of the crowd. I quietly hoped I was well hidden and appearing to be just another dull citizen of this dreary Zone.
Finally the bell stopped and everyone was silent as the mayor tapped on the microphone to gather our attention. The small stage in the middle of the paved clearing was occupied by a stout man whom stood behind a podium. Behind him was a wall of glass.
I was surprised by how proudly he held himself, as if he was better then everyone around him and daring them to contradict him. He radiated obvious authority, but his face was a blank slate, emotionally unreadable.
"As you all know, you were called out here today because of some startling news we were recently informed of." The mayor said. He paused dramatically for a second while others stared up at him, eager to hear what he was about to say. Needless to say, I was not among them. A sickening sense of dread coursed through my body. I had a feeling that whatever he was going to say wasn't going to be good. I looked up at him, my eyes wide with anticipation.
Then, suddenly his dull voice filled my head once more. "A student from Restart's School For The Future has trespassed our borders and is hiding among you. Her name is Aralia and her picture will be shown here, thanks to Restart sending us her photo identification forms from the school data base." He gestures to the wall behind him and a small click signals a holographic face to appear. It was a thirteen year old girl with light blonde hair and her dark, tired, brown eyes looking extremely sad. I tensed and looked around frantically, wondering how long it would take someone to recognize the girl in the picture. The one who they had passed by on the streets without a second glance, the one who they had seen for weeks without really knowing who she was, or why she was there. But as ignorant as they were, I knew it wouldn't be long before they made the connection.
"HEY!" I hear someone behind me shout. "Look, she's right there!" I turn around to see a man in his thirties pointing his finger straight at me
It felt as though the air had turned cold as I froze in place, my jaw clamping shut to fight off an oncoming scream. I could feel everyone's gaze on me as I looked around lamely for an escape.
I didn't know what to do.
Then, before I could think twice about it, I bolted.
Jumping over people as I went, not caring as I shoved others to the ground.
I refused to believe the reality of what just happened, refused to believe it was true. As if that could save me. As if running away would some how wake me from this terribly realistic nightmare.
In the back of my mind I could hear a voice in my head telling me I shouldn't have run, that it is was only making things worse. It also told me that they would catch me, and I would never get
away from them this time.
I ignored it.
Chaos erupted in the crowd as everyone got scared and panicky. People were shouting everywhere.
Demanding the the guards to stop me, yelling to me that I would never make it and should surrender, some people just plain old screamed. A wordless noise, high pitched and oozing with fear.
I ignored them, too.
In the end I knew it was hopeless and that I would never get away, but still I tried full heartedly, scrambling away and forcing my way through the mass of people.
But I wasn't fast enough. I was a fool to think I could outrun them.
They grabbed me from behind with alarming strength, and I stumbled backwards, tripping to the ground to lay splayed across the pavement, too stunned to move at first. Then my senses came rushing back and I struggled to get up to my feet again, but was surprised to feel the pressure of a heavy boot pressed against my ribs, as I thrashed about helplessly beneath it.
"Stop struggling!" Said the man on top of me. His voice was deep and he spoke as though talking through thick syrup. I immediately recognized it.
No.
No, no, no, no, no. This made things a million times worse than they already were.
He was a Restart guard. But a guard i had seen sometimes at school, guarding the hallways, glaring at kids who dare sneak a glance his way.
This was bad. VERY bad.
This meant that Restart wasn't going to wipe my memories and strip me of my abilities, they weren't going to lock me up, they weren't even going to give me the luxury of death. They were going to send me back to what made me run in the first place. School. Not just any school, but RSFTF ( Restart's School For The Future).
I knew it was true as soon as I heard the man stepping on me talk. In Zone 1, where the school was, everyone spoke like this, even me. Speech varies slightly through each Zone, each one having its own trademark speech that they had developed from years of isolation from one another. It set it apart from the other Zones.
Restart is in the capital of the Zones, the one with the most power and influence. Enough power to scour every Zone looking for kids who were special, kids like me, where they take away our memories and enroll us in their horrid school to 'TO TEACH US HOW TO USE OUR ABILITIES TO LEAD THE ZONES TO A BRIGHTER, PEACEFUL FUTURE' but really they were imprisoning anyone with a Gift, as they liked to call it, but to me, it's just a curse I am doomed to live with. Since we had power over the other citizens, they were brain washing the Gifted to become like them. Cruel and tyrannical. In truth, they knew that we were the most likely to rebel. And they were scared senseless. They knew we were powerful. Far more powerful than they could ever imagine. They knew they didn't stand a chance if we turned on them. So that's why they turned us against ourselves, messing up our sense of what is right and what is wrong.
And now that they had me, they weren't going to let me slip through their fingers this time. They were taking me back to the school wether I liked it or not and I think I was pretty clear about the NOT liking it part. But of course they already knew that and of course they don't care. Why should
anyone care about what I think? Maybe someone did once, a long time ago, but not anymore. I'm all alone on the matter.
Realization sinks in that this is really happening, and I know that nothing I do will change anything. I felt powerless as I lay there, under a guards foot. I knew then that I had given up.
Really and truly given up.
Then, strong arms pulled me up to a standing position and prodded me onward.
Soon, I was taken to a huge bus, where they nudged me up the stairs at the sight of any hesitation. The bus was even bigger than I thought, but from the inside you can clearly see a couple rooms in the back all with the same boring gray door. In the front of the bus, there was about six rows of seats where some of the guard sat impatiently. I was directed to a small chamber on the right where I slowly sat down on a stiff mattress that lay on the floor. The room was incredibly tiny, but it was still a room and that was more than I could've claimed to myself since I escaped.
"Clean yourself up, we don't want you stinking up the bus." One of the men said as he stopped by my door.
"Well, if you put it that way..." I grumbled in my strange Restart accent. I hated my voice. Every time I spoke it reminded me that they practically own me. I stood up and walked to the plastic white door in the wall to my left. As I did so, I could hear footsteps, telling me the man was satisfied and had gone back to his seat.
The bathroom was so small i had to crouch down to even to stand inside. It consisted of a skinny little shower and a toilet. I guess you were supposed to wash your hands in the shower.
I took a quick, cold shower, making sure to scrub off as much dirt possible. I even tried to get out some of the dirt that had wound up in my thick, matted hair. That didn't work so well. My fingers just ended up getting stuck in my hair. After I had slipped my clothes back on, I look in the mirror and noticed I was significantly cleaner.Weeks without a shower had left me with many layers of dirt. But it's not like it even matters, if I'm going back to RSFTF.
Cleanliness never saved anyone.
A knock on the door startles me. I leave the bathroom to be greeted an intimidating women with a knife.
"What's the knife for?" I asked, unfazed.
"Haircut."she replied in an accent just as thick as mine.
I sat down in the only chair in the room, which wobbled beneath my weight. She approached the chair and hacked off my hair with accuracy. Then once she declared her job done, she left me to join the other guards. I noticed that she left my hair lying on the floor. But I didn't make any move to clean it up. Instead, I studied my new hair cut in the grimy mirror. My hair had been cut down pretty low. It made my facial features much more noticeable. My naturally gloomy expression looking to the point of despair. Right then the bus ran over a pothole and threw me against the wall. I rubbed my sore head as I retreated to the bed once again, dreading the moment the bus would arrive at its final destination.