The World We Made

Chapter 3

I'm not sure if the people knew that I could hear all their whispers. People gossiped that I was too loyal, too nice, too good for this world. They even predicted how long I'd last until I killed myself from the misery of life. What happened here? Everyone I knew in the room would sacrifice themselves to save another. What made humanity change?

When nighttime arrived, I was sorted into my bedroom that was shared with 7 other girls. No one had actual beds, we slept on the floor with thin mattresses or towels. Everyone seemed to have fallen asleep so quickly but I couldn't.

"Cassidy, isn't it?" a girl asked.

I nodded silently, she was one of my many roommates, Bethany. She was very nice and compassionate, unlike every other person here. But now that I think about it, in this world, it'd be understandable to only care about yourself.

"Were you born in rooms?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"Do you want to know about this world?"

"Yeah." I replied bluntly but I was genuinely curious.

"Where to begin. Well... it wasn't always like this. There was a time of peace, many decades ago. If you wanted to call it peace, that is. But suddenly, some people in power decided to ruin it for everyone. You know what's sad? If you give power to the wrong people, even if it's just one person, they could end the world. People are selfish, but some people are also kind. Although kindness never gets people anywhere in this world." She explained.

"But..." I stuttered. "why? What did those people want to have to destroy the world for it?"

"More power, I guess. Wars erupted, missiles and nukes were launched across the planet like it was nothing. No one ever cared about the people that couldn't fend for themselves. So here we are, where companies are growing children to sell. They said that if you grow up in a horrible environment, you'd be grateful that your buyer even feeds and clothes you. They weren't wrong."

"Has anyone ever tried to get them out?"

But Bethany shook her head. "The only people that cared about them are slaves with no power. And those slaves could barely get past the doors in their starving state. Although you might think that this world is bad because of the slavery or the murder. In desperate times, comes desperate measure. Just because you steal stuff, doesn't mean it's bad. To some people it's wrong, to some people it goes against their morals. But if you were starving, if your family was starving, wouldn't you steal food for them?"

I sat in silence for a second. Letting the cool breeze waft through the room. Hearing the whistling of the wind. The almost melodic pattern of breathing from my roommates. It was an understatement to say I was overwhelmed with today's events. It was all too much to take in.

"We should sleep." Bethany suggested. "Tomorrow's your first day of real work, it'll be hard before you adjust so you should get some rest."

I nodded, thoughts still racing through her head. Snuggling under my thin blanket, I mourned over my memories. Realising that I would never see those people again. The people I grew up with, the people that cared for me. I may have food and clothes now, but I was lonely. I needed someone. Anyone.

...

Sweat dripped down my forehead and plopped onto the gravel I stood on. I had rarely ever seen the Sun. Everyone once in a while the men in masks would lead everyone in the room outside for a day and that was it. Apparently, it helped with your health or something like that.

"AAHHHH!" someone screamed.

I was suddenly alerted due to the scream, but everyone in my group seemed to not notice it. Crowds of workers and rich residents gathered near the wall where the scream came from.

"What's happening?" I asked Bethany.

"I don't know, I think someone was killed." She replied unemotionally.

"Killed?!"

"Probably thrown over the wall for misbehaving. Or maybe they killed themselves, I'm not sure." Bethany replied as if it was normal.

And Bethany wasn't the only one. Everyone in my group acted as if someone being killed was an everyday occurrence. Maybe it was.

"Shouldn't we do something?" I asked.

"Do what?" Bethany replied. "Slaves are killed all the time, it's a punishment. If we don't continue and do what we're told, our future could end up worse than theirs."

"But..." I stuttered. "Cover me for a second." I said hurriedly.

Chucking my stuff onto the ground, I dashed over to the commotion. Most slaves had just glanced at the situation and moved on. But the richer residents had enough time and hearts to care about the recent event.

"Who is it?" I asked someone in the crowd.

They took one look at my face and clothes and ignored me. They knew I was a slave, which meant they had no reason to answer my question. But I pushed forward through the crowd, almost feeling suffocated until I stood right next to the body.

"Jonathon?" I whispered but I knew the answer.

Even through the bloody rags and the deformed positioning of limbs, I could tell it was him.

"Is he... dead?" I asked the crowd, but I was too afraid of the answer.

"Does he look very alive to you, child?" someone replied sarcastically.

"Poor boy, he was too young to die." A mother said, and I couldn't agree more.

"Who cares?" another man replied, shrugging. "He was one of Harrison's slaves. He probably misbehaved, Harrison only punishes slaves like this if they do something unforgivable."

The crowd started to dissipate, everyone moved on with their day. No one even bothered to cover the body. But I stared in despair. His mother wanted him to survive the world, that was her end goal and she's probably dead right now and being fed to the everyone left in the room. But Jonathon barely survived a few days. How long would I survive? Jonathon was always one of the tougher people in the room. He knew how to follow orders. What did he do?

"Cassidy, we have to go!" Bethany shouted.

But I didn't even flinch, it was almost as if my whole brain was locked on Jonathon's body. Memories started flashing through my mind, memories from years ago. The room may have been Hell, but that Hell was also my happiness.

"Cassidy!" Bethany ran up to me and grabbed my arm but I shoved her away.

"Go! I don't care what happens to me, just go!" I shouted.

Bethany glanced at her fellow slaves and back to me. After a few seconds she finally scurried back to the group, informing Blake about the situation. Blake stared at me for a few seconds before slowly approaching me. I thought he was going to scold me, I was preparing my arguments but to my surprise, he walked straight to the body and covered it with a thin towel.

"Let's go, Cassidy. There's nothing more we can do."

I reluctantly stood up and followed Blake back to the group. Giving one last glance at Jonathon before picking my stuff back up from the ground and moving on. These people kill like it was nothing. Do human lives not matter to them? Are we just disposable beings that can be kicked out and used at any time? Just because we aren't rich doesn't mean we can be treated like trash.