Lost Cloud Chasers

Chapter one: new deal.

I run through the forest's edge, close to the cliff ahead.  Rain pours through the cracks of the branches and onto my torn and ripped clothes. Shivers run up and down my spine, freezing yet warm from the running. I hit a rock and fall down into a net, the net flings us up and I see people in dark gray and one in white , holding rain protectors. Two people hold my arms through both sides of the net and the person in white injects me with something that knocks me out instantly.
When I awake I see a woman in a dark gray dress, her hair dark red cascading curls down her chest.  I try to move but I'm in constraints. She smiles at me with white teeth and says “welcome Jess, you are with the Clouds now. You are protected and safe.” Where am I, who are these people?
Then I wake up to the sound of the pounding from  my supervisor.
“Sorry, yes come in!” I say shakily, like rocks in a jar. What was I dreaming about? It was so vivid in the back of my mind.
He comes in and walks to my white, unmade bed in long heavy footed strides.   “JV12 why aren't you out of bed! I didn't raise you to be like this.” he screeches, making my ears ring, and then he slaps me. 
I feel his cold, hard hand hit my skin, my cheek feels like burning coals and it stings. I try to not let anything out or he will hit me again.  Instead, I stand up, look at him in his cold, beady,  green eyes and bow slightly.  He wacks me on the head, clears his throat and chides “you will go to messhall in 10 minutes, and next time you will not be a failure of The Clouds.”
I nod, not knowing if he wants me to speak or not, though the nod wasn't good enough. He whispers close to my ear “12, you weren't raised like this were you. I asked you a question, you are supposed to answer, you're not a Defective are you?” He caresses my cheek and pulls my hair back.  My heart stops when he mentions being Defective.. Through closed teeth I mutter “no sir.” he pulls away and smiles “good girl. You are to do extra chores tonight.” I nod and bow towards him. He smiles and walks out of my room, keeping the door open 
After a few seconds of trying to regulate myself, counting the tiles on the ceiling.  I walk away from  my bed and walk over to the chair that holds my daily clothes. I undress from my nightgown and put on my white button up, trying to avoid the shirt hitting my cheek. I close the buttons with shaky fingers. My mind evades what I was doing and I think about my dream, what happened in it? My thoughts are distracted by a piercing headache, like icepicks hitting my brain. Shallow breaths leave my lungs.. What was I thinking about?
I shake my head and rest against the wall, waiting for the dizzy spell and headache to pass, the walls twist like a top, furniture moves in a kaleidoscope,  though slowly turning back to normal.  I take a deep breath and hold it in my lungs, waiting till it burns. I let it out slowly and walk to my shoes, sliding down the wall I put my boots on, tying them tight in a double knot. After a good look at my room, everything was perfect and untouched. I open my door and walk slowly down the right side of the hall, keeping my head up straight and my hands resting at my side. I make it to the 10-14 mess hall and sit at my assigned ‘12’ table. Tucking my skirt beneath my thighs so the chair doesn't freeze me up. I look around the room and see other kids conversing with their friends, or sitting quietly like me.
Supervisor Alex's words shoot around my brain like a loose tennis ball. Defective. Why..  The microphone noise buzzes overhead and I change my focus to the front of the room, where Doctor and 2 supervisors stand. 
Doctor holds the microphone and smiles, “good morning children” she cheers, “good morning doctor” we say in unison back.  Though my words was more of a whisper. “Today we will be announcing a new medication and technology to you all. It will be tracking your dreams as well as having a better understanding to your brains, we want the highest outcomes out of you. I believe in you.  The medication will help you fall asleep and stay asleep. So that way you can have better usage of your day, due to being more energized. You will gain this technology before bed today, a nurse or I will collect you from your rooms.  Have a pleasant day” she bows at us and walks off the stage. Shock runs up and down my system,  why this sudden change? And why did Alex bring up defectiveness earlier, no one ever brings it up. Its a title that stays hidden in the dark.  Something isn't adding up. 
  Supervisor Gale speaks up next in his ragged voice to say the thing he says every day at breakfast “your here to help restore humanity
Finally we are allowed to eat our daily portions already set out for us. First the oldest 18 takes a bite, and then the oldest 17, and when it reaches 14   I can take a bite. The oldest of each sector must eat first otherwise the young get Tallied.  The rest of the oldest take bites, and now everyone is eating. No talking while eating, or you get Tallied. I silently take a sip of my vitamin filled smoothie, tasting faintly like berries, though it really just tastes like the metal it gets sifted through. I poke at my eggs, not wanting to break the perfect orange yolk. I puncture the yolk with my fork, and the delicious goo spreads down like a food volcano and onto my toast. I smile and put my fork down to the left and pick up the toast, taking a giant bite of the savory and tasty food. Another and another till the toast is finished. I take another sip of the smoothie. I stay on the straw as I watch others around me.
Everyone of us is the same, yet so different. Girls with curly black hair, or long straight red hair.  Some girls in braids, others in ponytails. The boys with buzzed cut brown hair, frizzy overgrown blonde, a few with afros, we all are here for the same thing. We all wear the same clothes. We  all have jobs and work assignments.  the only thing they cant control is our hair, how we were born *physically*
After we finish breakfast we head to our rooms to change for job assignments, which include gardening, meat and egg farmers, sorting, guard training, laundry, librarians or  cooks. I am a gardener with 10 other girls but I have my own section to look after, the tomato and corn. I walk down the white hallways with the rest of 14, all silent but the pitter patter of our steps, and the rain tapping on the windows. Once I get to my room I change into leggings and my work shoes. I quickly make my bed, which I failed to do this morning. I stare at the window, showing me the forest with fierce winds abrupting the branches, rain pours down hard. It's been raining all morning, the noise continuously filling the silence. I focus on it and close my eyes for a minute.
I walk with my heavy legs to the hallway, white gloves stuck under my arm to gardening. A few kids scattered in the halls, making their way to their jobs. I get to gardening and walk through the greenhouse doors, the sticky warmth engulfs me from the artificial cool everywhere else. I smile at the assorted greenery, reds, yellows and oranges poke through the different shades of green.
I put on the white rubber gloves and walk down to my aisle, I grab tomatoes and put them in their tube, where they get sucked  up and away to sorting, processing and washing. 132 cherry tomatoes, 179 pear tomatoes, and 98 big, red tomatoes. I tap on my wrist and put the numbers in on the hologram, which is sent to the head gardener.
  I look around and peek out the hallway to see if supervisors or guards are by, there isn't. I smile in relief and stretch, then lay down on the cold concrete, my hair makes white rivers around me and I close my dark blue eyes. My chest goes up and down in slow sessions, I lay here for what feels like a long time, when it really is just a few minutes probably and stand back up when I hear footsteps coming towards me. My head goes dizzy after standing up fast, and I try to focus on the person though now my heart beats fast again. I will get tallied if it's a supervisor,  but nope it's only my friend MR13. I sigh in relief and smile. He also works in this section for the carrots, radishes and artichoke. His long curly hair in a braid.
He smiles back and asks teasingly  “why do you always have to sleep on the job?” “because I want to get Tallied, obviously. It's the new cool thing. Don't you know? All the newbies are doing it.” he laughs “no i didn't know” then pauses, considering his words “you really shouldn't do anything like that again, you can't afford to get another Tally. How many was it this session?” I sigh and look down, he's always trying to console me.  They don't tell you when the amount of Tallies is too much, they don't even give you a record. Its just a thing in the dust that whisks you away into itself upon the fact. 
“Like, 7 I'm pretty sure. But it's all for stupid reasons, okay?  Nothing big”  I say defensively and annoyed. I look down and take off my gloves. “I just care about you J, when people go into the Pit, they don't come back the same, you know that too.” he murmured, I nod and see him look at me through my bangs.  Sadness fills his brown eyes. “I'll stay out of the pit,  I promise M.” “Good.” he lifts my chin up “so get back to work then.”  I smile a sad smile at him and nod. He walks away to the back of the room and I head to the right, where I pick husks of corn and put them up to the tubes. I write into my hologram that ive collected 50 husks. Right after that the speakers crack to life “JV12 please go to the head office, JV12 go to the head office.”