The Girl Who Joined The Hunt

One

    Today was practically normal, like any other day. Every day of my entire life followed some sort of schedule or agenda, like things were meant to happen at certain, exact times of the day. Occasionally, that fragile balance was interrupted by strange events, such as unexpected weather my Quarter did not predict, as they usually did, or perhaps a rebel from a neighboring Quarter decided they wanted a taste of our life and snuck onto our side of the Barrier. They never succeeded. You could see Council guards rushing about, interrupting the usual calm, looking about for the fugitive or fugitives.
    But I didn't pay attention to all of that. At least my parents didn't.
    Our family, you could say, was 'trapped' in a bubble of ignorance, always following the norm, never caring about what happened outside our little Quarter. They took care in making sure I felt the same.
    When I was younger, my parents had a tradition of taking me to the park down the street from us for my birthday. The park was strangely close to the Barrier. You couldn't see through it. It was just one giant wall of metal, reaching high into the sky that surrounded us until it disappeared into the clouds. That day, my curiosity peaked. That wall was so mysterious and grand. What was it for? Why was it there? What lay behind it?
    "Mommy? Daddy?" I asked as they led me through the park. "What's behind the Barrier?"
    They were, of course, horrified by my question. My parents knew what was beyond the Barrier. But they just gave me condescending smiles and slowly led me away from the wall.
    My father answered me in a stammer. "N-nothing, darling. They put it there to protect us from whatever dangerous stuff is out there. It must be dangerous if they put a wall up to protect us, right, darling?" My mother nodded reassuringly with an equally forced smile.
    I nodded reluctantly. It made sense, but the answers I received fueled my curiosity even more.
    Today was the day the Council recruited it's Hunter's for the Hunt. Everyone would gather in an arena where the Quarters intersected. I was on my way there now, my parents following close behind me.
    This was my fifth year attending the recruiting ceremony since I was twelve, the first eligible age for a Hunter. Each year I'd been graced with the blessing of not being chosen. But I had friends who had been chosen years before. Some of them I never saw again. I was hoping this year, as the next for three more years, I would be blessed as to not be chosen once again. I wouldn't know until it was time.
    My parents and I made our way through the crowds and were guided to the section of the arena for our Quarter. People from different Quarters weren't allowed to mix or socialize with one another. It was against the Council's rules. The act was punishable by death or worse: banishment of the City. All we knew is that the next City was to far for one of us to make it alive.
    As we sat down, I was surprised once again as I studied the state of the other Quarters.
    Across from us was the Lowest Quarter. You could see in the drabs they wore and how they all looked lacked and exhausted that they had a way of life opposite to my own. They looked like they'd just come from the slums. I guessed that was actually where they were coming from. Beside them was the Lower Class Quarter. They were poor but they had enough money to sustain themselves and have decent clothing and homes. The middle class Quarter was beside us. They looked almost like I did. They had a fair amount of money, lived good live and were were happy. Then there was us, the richest Quarter, the upper class. We were almost as rich as the Council themselves. We lived to the highest quality and would never accept living a life like those below us. It sounds stuck up, I know. But that was our way of life.
    People slowly trickled into the arena and soon it was filled. In the center, a man dressed in tuxedo stood on a podium. The Councilman. He and his allies had the names of the Hunters for that year and the entire event set up. He would be the one to call out the names of the eight people, two from each Quarter, that would participate in the Hunt.
    The man cleared his throat. "Citizens of my City. Welcome to our 98th annual Hunt!"
    People cheered. I stayed silent. I wasn't sure if this was an event to be proud of.
    "I'll begin but naming our participants for this year. Starting with our lowest Quarter." People silenced. "Our first participant is...Dill Brunsworth! Come on, make your way down to the center of the arena please." No one cheered. I wasn't surprised. This wasn't something to be happy about. His family was probably aware that after today, they might not see their son again.
    A boy young boy, maybe around thirteen stood up from his seat across the arena and made his way down to the center. I couldn't see him particularly well but his looked quite frail and shabby. He took his place below the Councilman on the podium.
    "Alright, Dill. Your other Quarter member joining you is...Rey Vixen!" A girl, around my age stood up from her seat and made her to the center to stand beside Dill.
    It wasn't always that the Councilman chose a boy and a girl from each Quarter for the Hunt. Occasionally, Hunters would be chosen of the same gender.
    "Moving on to our Lower Class Quarter. Our first participant is...Julia Goodman!"
    And so the pattern repeated for the other two Quarters. It finally came down to my Quarter. I held my breath.
    "And finally, our Upper Class Quarter. Our first participant is..." My heart beat wildly in my chest. I barely felt like I could breath. "...John Cristopher!" I let out my breath. But I knew I couldn't be relieved yet. I knew John. I once had a crush on him in elementary school. Hopefully this wouldn't be the last time I saw him. I waited for the next name.
    "John, your other Quarter member joining you is...Katie Johnson!"
    My heart stopped and beside me my parents gasped, bringing their hands to their mouths. The Councilman...he'd called my name. I slowly stood up from my seat and looked back at my parents one last time. Their eyes were filled with tears and I could see deep in their eyes that they were afraid. Deeply afraid. I swallowed whatever words I was going to say to them and walked down to the arena.
    The Councilman had called my name. I was a Hunter now.