The Lockup

Chapter Two - 3647 AE

It had been five years since my dad left. Five years since I had my innocent seven-year-old mind. Being twelve years old, I at least knew more. Not a lot, I admit, but I knew more. I understood why the older teenage boys were so cruel to me all those years ago. I was just a wimp who thought everything could be happy... That everything could be peaceful.

            Matt seemed to now know exactly what he wants to do in the future. He'd follow in his father's footsteps and take over the family business. It was less family and more government, though. Matt knew this, but why did he not care?

            Eventually, he'd go higher up in the ranks and work as a 'computer geek,' as I call him, for the government if he wanted to. I mentioned that last year but he immediately pushed away the idea, saying how it would require leaving everyone he cared about.

            Him not leaving seemed to become less and less true as the days went on. He studied with his dad over the weekend and was learning quickly how to program like his dad. He told me that he was teaching himself how to hack into the Power Tower, the tower that obviously powers the city. He was keeping it from his dad though. The thing is, he would have no choice but to join forces with the government once he hacked into the tower.

            I guess plans do change. But what did I know? I didn't have any real plans in life, but if I did, I'm sure that they would change many times. Being a part of the lower class – the Shards – made choices harder. There were less choices, but it was mostly choosing from the lesser of two evils. Matt had more choices than I did because he was a Cracked citizen – the middle class. People in the Pure class – the upper class – had the most choices and opportunities that they never took advantage of. Mostly, they just waved their wealth in our faces.

            Even though I was a Shard, I should try to create my own plan. Maybe today was the day.

            I woke up to a silent, warm morning. Then again, it was warm every morning. It never got too hot or too cold, but that necessarily wasn't a good thing. Mom wouldn't tell me, but I knew that the sun was dying and the Earth's axis was no longer tilted, causing the weather to be more consistent.

            The silent part of the morning was of The City's control. The days became quieter and quieter as more people were taken from the streets and from their homes for doing nearly nothing. I had yet to be taken. I hadn't done anything wrong.

            Yet.

            Matt was still earning money by helping his dad, and I helped Mom sew in her shop – Needles. I hated it. It required patience and nimble fingers – neither of which I had. Still, with my assistance, work around the shop was finished quicker than it would have been if Mom were alone.

            My life was normal for the most part. Eat, sleep, work, exercise, clean the house, teach myself by reading the thrown away books I discovered in the 'Pure' garbage pile. They were just so much better than us that they got their own garbage pile? Then again, all of the garbage was burned outside of the wall after it was all collected, but still. That was just weird to separate garbage like that. What I didn't know at the time was that my life was about to change very soon.

            I went to work at Needles, as I would on any other day, and she left early because it was a quiet day. Most Tuesdays were. Matt finished his errands and lessons from his dad quickly. He'd been running faster errands and seeming getting stronger during the past year, but never told me what he was training for. At least, I had assumed he was training for something.

            Work ended shortly after 15:00. Matt and I met up in our alleyway at 16:07 exactly. The reason for the odd time was that at 16:00, our alleyway was checked for squatters going in the windows of the apartments. I peeked around the corner of our alleyway to see his back facing me. He was always on time – always had been since we started meeting up here three years ago at 16:07. It was a daily pact we kept.  Seven was now our lucky number.