Entium

Chapter 1

"...if you witness any suspicious behaviour of this manner, it is to be immediately reported to the closest Robeing to you; failure to do so will result in inevitable consequences."

Michelle delicately placed her hands on the kitchen counter, as if doing it secretly, and stared blankly out of the window.

What was once undoubtedly a colourful garden was now a victim of this suffocation. It was strangely comforting to Michelle to know that the people were not the only living things that had had the life sucked out of them. But now wasn't the time to ponder over a garden.              

Announcements were common, although what she had just heard wasn't an announcement; it was a warning.

The distant footsteps descending the stairs interrupted her intense thoughts.

Michelle turned to face her approaching friend. "Something big has happened by the sounds of it"  she stated, hints of fear in her voice.

Her friend glanced at Michelle and furrowed her brow as she reached behind where she was stood to pick up a plastic cup,"Something we should worry about?" she asked seriously, her voice groggy and tired. Michelle's companion leaned over the kitchen sink and began to pour herself a cup of water. The tap let out a blood curdling screech as she turned the knob, causing the two girls to release a frustrated groan.

"I wish someone would come and fix that damn tap or so help me God" Michelle exclaimed, throwing a blunt plastic knife into the sink where her friend had begun washing the artificial crockery.

The pair quietly sulked, trying their hardest not to let their cramped home swallow them whole. It wasn't a particularly small home, but it wasn't fit for a royal family either. It was provided to them by Entium, the only remotely generous gesture shown by the government these days. Every wall in the house was a cardboard brown colour, it had stained and began to peel away like dead skin.        

The kitchen had once contained the backdoor to the house which had since been boarded over with heavy wooden planks (most likely to prevent secret unattended escapes), the only way to exit was by the front door, and a person must always be accompanied by a Robeing when exiting the house. Again; to prevent escapes.

The house occupied a kitchen, lounge, bathroom and bedroom, which the girls shared. Very simple and very normal of homes provided by Entium. Since the two friends were unable to work , most of what they owned had been given to them. Their house, clothes and food. Everything. 

Michelle gently elbowed her roommate, "Anyway, I was saying, about what I heard on the radio" she began to agitatedly play with her hands. Michelle lifted her gaze, only to see her friend was oblivious to her anxiousness; she was aggressively scrubbing a plastic plate.

Michelle hesitated momentarily, but then continued "...Entium have issued a national message; Jacob has been sighted." 

Her companion abruptly stopped what she was doing and finally locked eyes with Michelle.

Why would a man who managed the only successful escape from this dangerous, hateful, corrupted country, return of his own will? Michelle was right. This was big.