"I know I couldn't run fast, and I wasn't as clever as the rest of you are. But once I leave, I'll do my best!" Conny was in her adoption outfit, everyone wore it when they left the house, she clutched onto Little Bunny, "I don't wanna go! I want to stay here!" Connie started crying, "Conny, I'll miss you!" Don cried, Mum and Conny left the house to go to the Gate. We were cleaning and sweeping up for the night, "Little Bunny?!" I saw her on the dining table, "What do we do?" Emma runs up to me, "It's not too late, the lights by the Gate are still on and Mum hasn't come back yet," Ray walks in, "Then let's hurry you two," Norman looks at us, we nodded and sprinted towards the Gate. "Never go near the Gate or the Fence," We arrived, "Yeah I know, all three of us will get in trouble later," Norman smiles, "Conny?" I say gently, the three of us walked in, we saw a truck parked in the corridor, "Is this the truck that's gonna take Conny to her new home? I've never seen a vehicle in real life," Emma said, Norman looked at the drivers and passenger's seat while I went to the back of the truck and lifted the curtains, I gasped and thought I was about to throw up, "N-Norman, E-Emma..." I took steps back in fear, they came up to me and had the same reaction. Conny lied dead in the truck, her face was grey, she was half submerged in water with a red flower impaled in her heart, "Is someone there?" We heard a voice, the three of us flinched, "Hey did you hear voices just now?" The door started to open, Norman dragged me and Emma after him and we hid under the truck, "It's your imagination," Emma grabbed Little Bunny with us, "You eat those disgusting things?" We leant over, closer to the voices and my eyes widened in absolute terror, Emma, Norman and I held out mouths and bit down to make sure we didn't scream, we saw demons, they had long, sharp nails, their eyes ogling in every direction, he picked Conny up, his tongue reached out, their teeth razor sharp and steam was coming out from its mouth, "It looks so delicious, human flesh is definitely the tastiest! Damn, I wish I could have just a fingertip," He plunged Conny into some blue liquid in front of us, our eyes were in absolute fear, "Don't, it's valuable merchandise, definitely not something we are meant to enjoy, the human flesh from this farm is of the highest quality, only the rich can afford it," Another voice said, I looked at my hand in horror, "Where's Mum?" Emma asks, "Shh!" Norman quickly says back, "Another six year old, we've only been shipping out average once lately, but we'll be harvesting a few higher grades soon enough. They're all eleven, three of them, they've matured nicely however there's a fourth eleven year old, they're not as valuable, just look at their scores. They'll probably be shipped out next, right Isabella?" I leaned over and saw the face of the demon, it had two eyes vertically and a skull like mask, Norman, Emma and I almost gasped out in fright. Mum? "Yes," We heard her voice, "These three with full marks are made to be read for plucking. Send the average eleven, they can leave first, then we'll send three of the highest value to the higher ups," We heard the demon say, "Yes sir I understand," Mum says, "Hold on, I smell something," The demon walked closer to us, we knew we had to make a run for it.
We ran, as fast as we could back home, Emma and I collapsed, I threw up on the side, the memory and image of Conny's dead body and the smell of death loomed in my mind, I kept vomiting, Emma was hyperventilating, we both broke out in tears. "Welcome home, how'd it go?" Ray was holding a gas lamp, "We didn't make it in time," Norman said, the three of us trudged back to our rooms, "Have we been living here just to end up being food?" I muttered to myself, I was still trembling, everyone else was asleep, I ran to the bathroom to vomit again, the image plagued my mind, I dragged my feet back to my bed, I didn't sit on my bed, rather leant on the side of it, everyone else was asleep, "Hey, you're okay," I heard someone's voice and they put a blanket over the two of us, I looked up and saw Ray, I shook my head violently, "I'm not okay, C-Conny, dead..." I couldn't form proper sentences, "I don't want anyone else to die," I hugged my knees, I felt him hug my waist and pull me closer, "No one's gonna die, we'll find a way to escape," He says, "You know about this? When?" I asked him, "For a long, long time," He whispers back, I hugged his arm, "Please, please can we just stay like this for tonight, I don't think I can go back to bed, I... I just can't," I said quietly, he nods, "Sure, I wouldn't mind some company, even if it's from a three year old," He smirks, "Ray!" I whisper yelled, but he did manage to make my mind forget about the demons, the death, even if it was for a second, "Thank you," I leant on his shoulder and we fell asleep.
"Good morning!" Phil ran into the dining hall, "Hey Phil, no running in here!" Gilda says, "And this goes there?" Mark asks Mum, "Yes, can you finish setting the table Mark?" Mum leans down, I felt my eyes widen in fear, I grabbed Ray's arm, "Sure thing Mum!" Mark smiles and continues setting the table, I saw Emma and Norman walk in with Sherry and Vivian, they seemed to stick together while I stuck with Ray, "Good morning Nat, Ray," Norman walked up to us, Emma still seemed to be terrified just as much as I was but she tried to play it off, "Come on, smile," Emma plasters a smile on her face, "Listen, we need to act like nothing happened, sure we might have broken the rules by going to the gate last night but that doesn't mean we saw anything," Norman walks over to my ear and walks to the table with Emma, I slowly nodded and forced a smile onto my face, "Listen, everything's alright, I promise I'll look after you," Ray holds my hand, "Ray, will you promise to stay with me, please, I don't wanna be alone," I gripped onto his hand tighter, "I promise," He nods and gives a small smile. Everyone sat down and said prayer before digging into the meals, Ray passed me his last slice of ham, "Wow! Now they're really like a married couple! They're even sharing food! I've never seen Ray so nice to Nat before!" Phil claps at me and Ray, I cleared my throat, act like I normally would, "L-Like I'd ever marry him!" I shouted, I knew I stuttered, crap, I never stutter, "Yeah, like I'd ever marry a two year old," Ray crosses his arms, he knew he had to keep the act up for me. After breakfast, Norman, Emma and I went up to a room where no one could hear us.
"The delicious food, the while clothes that show when we're dirty, our regulated lives, all of which is to keep up our lives as merchandise, the only thing left for us to do is to wait till we get shipped out," I held on my neck, I remember the numbers on it, 11794, "The demon confirmed it's not random, he said another six year old, they've all been average lately," Norman says, "What's that mean?" Emma looks at him, "Based on what the demon said, our ages determine our quality of meat, and if I remember correctly, the siblings who have been shipped off before were all between six and twelve, and if a six year old is ranked normal..." Norman says, "Then the highest quality must be twelve years old," Emma and I say at the same time, "But what about our scores? Meat won't start tasting better because of some score we got on our tests will it?" Emma asks, "True, results weren't announced unless we got full marks, which means..." Norman thinks, "The shipping order!" Emma's eyes widen, "When we turn six, we're shipped off from lowest scores to highest, then once we turn twelve, it seems we get shipped out no matter what." Norman continues, I fell onto my knees, "So when they said the three best and one average, they were talking about you, Ray, Emma and me. I'm next, I'm gonna be shipped off and killed," I held onto my pounding head and fought back tears, "No, we're not gonna let that happen." Emma holds onto my shoulders, "Thing is, I'm still wondering what our scores have to do with our quality, and why does it matter that we're between twelve and six?" Emma says, we put a box onto the tray, "Can it be the size of our bodies? No because weight would become a factor," Emma touches her chin, my eyes widen, "Our brains!" I looked up, "That must mean the brain tastes the best, and the more developed it is, the better." Norman finishes, I gulped, "Think about it, Conny was just shipped, before her it was Hao and Ceddy before him. Following the cycle they've followed so far, the next shipment should be two months from now," I held up two fingers, "Which means the three of us, plus Ray need to think of a way to escape by then, otherwise..." Norman and Emma look at me, I trembled, "I'm shipped off to be killed and eaten," I muttered, they didn't want to nod or agree but we all knew it was true.
We headed outside and the three of us got to the Fence, we jumped over and kept running, that's when we saw the Wall, I climbed up a tree, "Is there something?" Norman asks, I shook my head, "Nothing, the wall looks around two or three meters thick, the top of it is pretty high up, but there are no guards, it's quiet." I hopped back it, "It's sturdy, I don't see any rough edges or seams, and the surface is smooth, there's no way someone could climb this," I touched the Wall, "Then should we just give up," I turned to them, "How can you say that! Are you fine with dying!" Emma holds onto my shoulders, tears starting to form, "It's inevitable, you, Norman and Ray are prodigies, I'm sure your brains are miles bigger than any of the kids here at home. I was going to be shipped out before any of you, months before, I always had that itching feeling, I'd rather spend my life, one life and save the other thirty eight," I smiled at her sadly, "No! We're getting everyone out of here!" She had a few tears slip out, we heard the bell sound, "We should head back," I ran back, leaving Norman and Emma behind me. "There's two missing," Gilda counted everyone, "MUM!" Mark runs up to her crying, "What's wrong? Did something happen?" She crouches down, "I'm sorry! I lost Naila in the forest!I looked but I couldn't find her!" Mark was sobbing, Mum pulled something out of her pocket that resembled a pocket watch, "No need to worry, everyone stay here till I get back, I won't be long," Mum walks off, I started trembling again, "Did you see that..." I breathed out, Emma and Norman nodded, Mum came back quickly and had Naila in her arms, she was asleep, all the children crowded around her, "How did she do that? It's almost like she knew exactly where Naila was." Norman stared at her, "Well now that you mention it, Mum's always been really good at finding us, she found us quickly no matter where we hid," Emma's eyes wide open, "Wait, that's not a watch, it's a tracker. Then that probably means, we have a chip inside us, she did that on purpose. Pulled out her watch so we'd see and figure it out. That must be Mum's way of saying no matter who you are, I won't let you escape." Norman says as she and all the other kids walk past us back to the house, "So that means," I say, "Mum's our enemy," Emma finishes.