Terra Nova: A Second Chance

Terra Nova: One

Flora

 Your friends and family are dead. You have nothing to live for, nothing to leave behind. Terra Nova is what you need, Flora. You will die here.

The knock on my door jolted my train of deep thoughts and thumb twiddling. I slowly got up from the old, torn rocking chair and walked the few steps to the door. My hand rested on the handle for a lingering second before I finally built up the courage to twist it.

Before me stood exactly who I was expecting. “It’s time,” the tallest of the two cops said through his rebreather. I took a deep breath and slowly nodded. In the corner of the small room I lived in, sat my tiny, ripped back pack, which I slung lazily over one shoulder. “Let’s go,” I spoke, slipping on a rebreather of my own.

We stepped outside and into the smoggy, poisonous air as the two policemen slowly escorted me to Hope Plaza. Luckily for me, it was only a block or so away from my house.  The smog had gotten thicker since the last time I’d been outside, and it was hard to see just twenty metres in front of me.

As usual, the roads that the people used just a century ago were empty and deserted- no one travelled anymore and cars or vehicles of any kind were forbidden- the atmosphere was polluted enough.

No one said a single thing on the walk to the plaza. The police didn’t normally escort people, but I’d been an exception this time because I was one of the only traveller that was travelling alone. I stared at my feet below, which silently plodded along on the concrete, the only sound that could be heard was the one that the rebreathers made  to keep us alive.

Usually, everyone stayed in their homes, only coming out on the occasion to restock their food supplies. It was just too much of a risk now a days- a single breath of this air could kill instantly.

My thoughts suddenly turned to my parents: they were killed because they weren’t supposed to have a kid. I was just an accident that my parents did not want to lose, but the overpopulation law stated they were married too late and were ineligible to have a child, but they did. Consequence for them- death. Harsh, yes, but our world is over populated enough and I’ve had enough time to mourn.

The shorter officer beside me cleared his throat, bringing me back to reality. We had reached Hope Plaza, lit up by only small blue, energy-saving lights that laced its edges. Hundreds of people lined up, getting their ID’s and tickets scanned. Here, the security levels were red- extremely high. Once you stepped through that portal, there was no going back, and at Terra Nova, they're determined to keep the population levels at a standard amount.

At one of the scanning bays (I don't really know what they're called so I will just call them that), I saw a scary, drunk-looking man called up for a fake ID and two policemen drag him over to the cells that sat off to the side. They roughly shoved him into the 'cage' and he fell over and let out a shriek. Momentarily, some people turned to look at him, disgust all over their faces, before they turned back to what they were doing.

A voice came through the radio over head and informed us that it was safe to take off our rebreathers. Without hesitation, I removed mine and took a breath of air. It wasn’t fresh- never was- but was the best you’d get these days.