By the time I woke up the next morning, my brothers were already gone.
The only evidence that they had been here at all was the empty plates by the sink that they hadn't been able to wash up yet.
Like I mentioned, I worked in one of the Garment factories. My uniform was a plain, white calico dress, my black hair was pulled back by a grey headband. On my back were the numbers 9870, another way of identification. Just below the numbers were the words, 'Garment Division Two' which was the part of the factory I worked in. I smoothed out my dress and took a bite of the stale bread that was left out on the bench as we didn't have anywhere else to put it.
I pocketed my entry card to the factory and pushed open my door, allowing the sun's harsh rays to light up the inside of my house. I stepped out and closed the door, walking onto the pathway and joining a line of girls with the same 'Garment Factory' on their backs. I didn't know many people who were in front of me. It wasn't worth making friends, not when the chance of them dying abruptly or being taken was so high. Elijah and Isaiah had brought home a couple of friends, their guests usually bringing some food so we didn't have to go hungry for the next month.
It didn't take long for the factory to come into view, A large building. It's colour a dark murky grey. Large windows that had no glass in them. I had seen my fair share of jumpers, some were successful, others were stopped before they could jump. The wolves didn't like spending money on us when they didn't have too, resulting in the lack of glass in the windows. As we approached the entrance, I saw the two wolves standing in their blue guard uniforms standing in front of the doorway.
I grabbed my employment and entry card out of my pocket and held it loosely in my hand, ready to show the guards when I reached the front of the line. The girl in front of me reached the guards, her entire body trembling.
A guard extended his hand, "Full name, age, employment card." He said harshly,
"I-I don't-t-t hav-ve my car-r-rd," She stuttered, her trembling becoming worse and worse.
The guard peered at her threw his sunglasses, "You don't have your employment card?" He asked her, Smirking slightly at her when she shook her head.
"Hmm." He turned to the guard next to him, "You know what to do." The other guard nodded in reply before latching his arm on the girl's shoulder, pulling her around until he had both of her hands in his grasp before pulling her away from the line, muffling her screams as she was taken away into the darkness.
Never to be seen again.
"Full name, age, employment card." The guard said, bored. His hand extended,
"Elora Lynn Reed, Nineteen," I replied quietly, handing the card in his direction. He snapped it out of my hand and looked over the information,
"Proceed."
I hurried past him, letting out a breath when I was out of his gaze. From there I went up the stairs, twisting and turning until I reached Level Seven. I knew that every level looked the same, the only difference was what they did. Eight long lines of desks, each accompanied by a sewing machine. Next to each desk was a box, full of the material that needed to be sewed. There were about five guards, each walking around the room, snarling when they caught someone slacking off.
I walked down the middle aisle up to desk 43, my desk being one aisle away from the window. The girl sitting there had been there all night, as soon as she noticed me she stood up and quickly rushed out of the room, her hands bandaged and bleeding.
I sat down and placed my hand on the piece of material that was waiting in the machine. I pressed my hand onto the peddle and slowly began moving the material underneath it, slowly stitching it together.
"Hey," The girl beside me whispered, I glanced at her through the corner of my eye. All of the guards had migrated to the other side.
"What are you doing?" I hissed, "If we're caught talking..."
"My name's Samirah," She introduced, her voice quieter than a mouse. Her dark eyes were sunken, and her skin was reduced to a colourless, ashy tone.
"A few weeks ago I stole some extra materials to get some more food. I overheard them talking about how they had figured out who. They said my name, I'm an only child and my parents died two years ago."
I looked out the window, "Are you going to..?"
She nodded, "I have no choice. I don't want to give them the last hurrah. I won't let them kill me, I'd rather kill myself. I just wanted someone to know, someone to know why. We've worked next to each other for quite some time, and you seem nice enough." She smiled crookedly, the smile not being able to take over the fear in her eyes.
I looked down, "And there isn't anything I can say?"
She shook her head, letting her machine stop. "I can't let them do it. And I don't have anyone left."
I raised my hand to my closed lips, letting one finger touch my lips "Then let our ancient God bless you, and hope that the Moon Goddess spares your soul." I lowered my finger, "Let your next life bless you more than this one did."
Those were my last words. She raised repeated the motion in thanks. She waited a moment, and I continued running the material under the threaded needle. I heard the old chair scrape against the floor, I looked up along with everyone else. The guards came running, hoping to catch her before she jumped out, but none of the wolves was close enough, Samirah launching herself out of the window before any of them were able to get close enough. Her body caught in the air for just a moment before she began falling, falling all the way down to the bottom.
There was no sound in the room, nor did any THUMP reach our ears. A guard walked over to the window, His usually hidden canine teeth were out, grating against his lip. On his chest was the word AIDO, his last name.
He turned around to us, "Did anyone know that she was going to jump?" His voice was low and deadly, sending the room into an eery, terrified silence.
No one answered, the fear radiating off us. He took a few steps, the loud sound echoing through the room,
"I said, DID ANYONE OF YOU USELESS HUMANS KNOW THAT SHE WAS GOING TO JUMP?" Aido roared, waiting for a reply.
I looked down at my hands, shaking. I could feel my whole body shaking, I could feel the bile rising in my throat, the acidy taste unpleasant in my mouth.
Aido must have noticed something. Before I could even realise what was happening, he had his hand around my neck, pulling me out of my chair and strangling me in the air.
"You knew," He accused, his grip slowly becoming tighter and tighter.
I shook my head, unable to force the words out of my throat.
He narrowed his eyes and went over to the window. All of a sudden, my entire body was hanging out of the window.
"You did know, but you don't want to tell me," He asked mockingly,
I shook my head feverishly, hoping that he would buy my lie and put me safely back in the room so I could keep working. But no,
He placed his leg on the windowsill, pushing me out further. He removed a finger from his grip around my neck, yet his grip didn't loosen.
Would he actually drop me?
I had never seen a wolf through a human out one of these windows.
But there was a first time for everything.
"Are you sure human? You were right next to her, and when I asked you didn't look up."
He watched my face, which I could only assume was slowly turning blue.
He turned his head, "No? Oh well then."
And then he let go.
I took one last breath before I started falling, my arms out on my side, trying to slow my movements or at least bring myself closer to the wall so I could grab a window and save myself from imminent death.
But then I felt the fingers around my neck once again, the tight grip reinstated and no longer was I falling, but back in Aido's murderous hands.
He raised an eyebrow, "Did that jog your memory?"
I couldn't reply. My throat was burning.
In a flash, he brought me back in and through me against the hard floor, my head immediately connecting with the wood. Blood spewed out of my mouth as I coughed, trying to regain a few precious breaths in case Aido decided my punishment needed to continue.
"Are you sure she told you nothing?" He questioned one last time,
I shook my head, trying to cover my mouth so he didn't see the blood dribble down my chin.
He looked at me and sighed, "Then I suppose you're fired."
No, no, no, no, no!
This couldn't be happening!
"I'll alert the guards on the rest of the levels to let you pass freely. Withholding information from us can be counted as a federal offence. So you're fired, be grateful that I don't slit your throat right here on this factory floor," He snarled, giving me one last kick to the stomach.
"Leave, now."
I knew the longer it took me to get up, the harder he would kick next time. I pulled myself onto all four before then grabbing onto the desk and standing up. I let go and quickly placed my hand on the wall to help me walk without falling, or fainting.
I started walking before I could be told to leave twice. Everything ached, my neck the worst of all. A tight burning pain, one that wouldn't be fading anytime soon.
"GET BACK TO WORK!" I heard Aido scream, before the click, click, click of the machines returned.
Getting down the stairs was no easy feat. Guards and other workers passed me by, the humans gasping in horror as they took sight of the blood dribbling down my chin onto my dress. I lightly touched my neck, hissing at the pain. It was probably painted in different shades of purple, blue, green and yellow. When a wolf walked by the spared me no glance, I even had one kick my back leg, Had I not been holding onto the railing, I would have gone flying down the stairs.
I received mainly the same treatment once I had left the building. Pitiful glances and gasps from the surrounding humans. By the time that I had returned home, the blood had completely dried, the metallic taste still lingering in my mouth.
Finally, my house came into view, the small hut is a welcome sight after my horrible morning. I pushed on the door, I could hear my brother's voices,
"What are you doing home so early?" I croaked, closing the door behind me.
Elijah was standing at the cupboards, looking into it, he turned around to look at me with a puzzled look,
"What happened to you, ISAIAH, BRING IN THE MEDICAL BOX" Eli shouted, earning a loud, 'WHY?' from Isaiah,
"JUST DO IT," He shouted back
I sighed and sat down at the table, resting my head in my dirty hands, "I got fired," I whispered, each word, it was too painful to utter anything any louder.
Isaiah walked in, the old, cracked medical kit grabbed in his hands. "I've got the meds, why do we-"
He locked eyes with me, and his mouth opened, "Elora! What happened?"
"Fired," I mumbled again, hoping it was loud enough for him to hear. My neck started to cramp from laying my head in my heads, my fingers lightly pressing into the bruise. I pulled my hands away, hoping to relieve some of the unbearable pain, revealing my neck in proper to them, the blood smudged all over my hand.
"Did one of those bastard wolves do that to you?" Elijah growled,
I didn't say anything, nor did I nod. They already knew.
My brothers were fuming, sending each other silent glances to each other, their expressions becoming more and more angered.
"What did they do?" Isaiah seethed, his knuckles turning white.
"A girl, the one sitting next to me. She was going to jump, she wanted someone to know why." I faltered, "A guard named Aido suspected I knew something, grabbed my neck and held me outside of the window since I refused to talk."
Isaiah stood up and ran a rag underneath the tap, before handing it over to me. "To clean the blood," He said simply.
I grazed my skin lightly, trying not to press down too hard, but also trying to rid my neck and face of any remaining blood.
"I'll send in an application for a new job tomorrow," I promised, placing the rag back onto the table.
Eli pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration, "We don't care that you got fired. We can just stitch the uniforms together instead of stitching a new piece of material into the hole. It's fine, we'll manage." He lied, I could tell. "What we care about is your wellbeing. That guard could have killed you!"
"But he didn't!" I cut in, "I'm fine, he didn't hold me for long-"
"The bruise on your neck says otherwise." Isaiah interrupted, "They'll threaten us, they'll bare their teeth, but they can't do anything more than that. Even the wolves have restrictions. He was threatening to kill you for a white lie Elora. If that's how they're treating you, then you're not going back to the factories."
I sighed, "That won't work, we're barely making by now-"
"We'll manage," Eli interrupted, his voice stern enough to tell me that this was non-negotiable.
"We won't. And you know it." I snapped. "We wouldn't make a month, at least not all three of us." I stood up, pushing the chair back into the table.
"We're out of food, and the last of that bread is too stale to eat at this point." I sighed, gulping to push down the pain and smoothe it over.
If they wanted to stop me, they didn't show it.
"Don't be too long, you know what wolves do to unmated women on the street," Isaiah warned Eli, backing him up.
"I won't," I promised, "I'll be back before dusk at the very latest."
Our house didn't have walls separating the living room, kitchen, dining room and the entrance. I walked straight towards the door. Once I had stepped out, I opened the mailbox and as expected, two envelopes were sitting there. Elijah and Isaiah's paychecks.
I knew the route off by heart. Down the street, until you reach the Livingstons', take a left and then a right and don't stop until you reached the old post office. From there you turn left. You walk down that street until you get to the supermarket, ton's of products shoved into the tiniest building I had ever seen.
I looked to my left, taking a wistful glance to the white buildings and happy, wolfish faces I could see through the gate. It was so different, as if two worlds had been cut in half. The startling white next to the murky greys and blacks. A wolf was picking a piece of meat off a table when it looked over at me, it's face morphed into one of hate, her canines immediately coming out to scare me away. I looked away, quickly rushing into the building, glad to be out of her intimidating glare. I took a breath to slow down my heart.
"Now what happened to you darl,?" I heard a voice, breaking me out of my trance.
An elderly lady wobbled into view her long stained dress reaching the floor, her arms covered by a thin, grey shawl. Dark grey eyes surrounded by sunken, wrinkled skin. I took a breath,
"Just a wolf, how's the store, Mrs Lila?" I asked quietly, hoping to drag her attention away from my too obvious wounds.
"It's always the wolves these days, they've been torturing us for a millennium," She spat, "business is... ok. Those wolves on the other side of the gate keep scaring away my customers. No one should be going anywhere near that gate these days, too dangerous." She mumbled. "Have a look around, take what you need, come pay when you're done."
I offered a weak smile, nodding my head before wandering off into an aisle. I opened the envelope, as expected, fifteen dollars lay inside. I walked through, being careful of what I picked. Bread, just-expired meat, pale vegetables. I walked past the soups,
$7
"What the hell," I whispered to myself in exasperation before grabbing a tin and putting it in my brown paper bag. I looked down at my collection of food, and then at the money.
I doubt I could risk getting anything else.
Mrs Lila was waiting at the counter, ready for the money, as if she knew that I was finished. She peered over into my basket and humphed before handing out her hand, her broken, cracked, dirty nails beckoned for the money.
I gingerly placed the notes in her hands, she snatched it away quickly and then flicked through the three notes, checking that they were authentic.
She gave me a toothy smile, "Thanks darl, see you in a fortnight. I'm going home." And with that, she stumbled out behind the counter and down the street, desperate to get away from the store.
I folded the top the bag and followed her out. By the time that I was standing on the road outside the store, Mrs Lila was nowhere to be seen. I looked behind me, I could see about six or seven wolves still browsing through the shop's products.
That's when I heard it, a slow whistling sound, it became louder and louder with each second. I looked back at the wolves, they seemed to have heard it as well. Scanning their surroundings in an attempt to locate the sound. It wasn't until one pointed it's finger to the sky did the wolves begin to panic. I followed their gaze and begun to hyperventilate.
A black object was falling from the sky, and falling quickly. I had no idea what it was, only that it was close, unreasonably, dangerously close.
I began to run, but I wasn't going fast, not fast enough. My legs burned with each step, my rib feeling as if it was puncturing my skin.
I felt it before I heard anything.
The shaking of the ground, I felt it rip apart underneath my feet. The ground exploded, taking me with it, two words flashed through my mind,
A bomb.
That's what this was, we were getting bombed. And I was caught in the middle of it. Pain ripple through me as I was thrown backwards by the sheer force of the collision. I could feel objects becoming lodged into my skin, I could feel the blood becoming a sticky mess on my skin. But still, it didn't stop. My battered body falling into the crevice that the bomb had created. I felt myself roll, roll over stones, roll over shrapnel, roll over a million things that I couldn't identify, only that it was sharp, that it was painful and that it was pulling me apart, leaving my organs on the outside of my body rather than the inside. At least, that's what I felt.
My head knocked into something heavy, causing another wave of pain through my mind. My eyes rolled back into my head, black dots taking over my vision. The pain began to fade, to numb. I suddenly felt nothing as the black took over completely, leaving me stranded in a crevice of a bomb site.
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Left this one on a bit of a cliffy but that's all good lol.
So what did you guys think? Again, hope you're enjoying the story so far! I think I've mentioned this before, but I was so nervous about releasing this story, but it seems like the people who have read it are enjoying it?
ANYWAY, remember to vote and comment!
See you in the next chapter!
Eryn