Survivor

Chapter 1

*120 years later*

"Audrey, wake up! It is time for breakfast" My mother calls as she enters the room. I groan as she opens the curtains and the sun shines through.

"Audrey!"

" I'm up mother, I'm up" I groan as I get out of my warm sheets and step onto the cold metal floor. I walk into the small, cramped bathroom and splash cold water on my face. As I look up from the sink, I realize my reflection staring back at me. I bring my hands up to my face and slowly run the tips of my fingers down the bags under my eyes, then they make their way across my prominent cheekbones and finally down to my excesively dry lips. I hate who I see. I don't see a happy, loving seventeen year old girl. I see hatred stained in my blue eyes and colour drained from my already pale face.  Why? Because I am a puppet. I am the goverment's puppet and so are the rest of the 60 million people in the nation. The difference between me and most of these people, is that they are grateful for what the goverment has done for them and realize that if the system didn't exist, their ancestors would have died and they would not be here today. But then again, most of them haven't had their dad beaten to death by Red Helmets. Red Helmets are law enforcers and whenever there is a law that is broken, they show up and pick whatever puncihment is suitible for the criminal. The thing is, mine and the Red Helmet's defintion of crime is incredibly different. This came in evidence when they beat my father to death after he took  a bag of bread from the kitchen while he was on kitchen duty, to give to a little girl who lived in our complex, who hadn't had enough to eat.  I witnessed this horrendous event at only 6 years old and even though it has been 11 years, the images of my father being hit, and the loud, shrieking screams that came out of my mother's mouth, have never left. 

"Drey, you ready to go?"  I snap back to present at the familiar nickname given to me by my best friend, Violet.

"Yeah, hold on, I just have to put on my uniform. What's your schedual today?" I begin to take off my cheap fabric, white pajams off and reach for the neatly folded uniform my mother had set beside the sink. She reaches into the pocket of her onepiece, grey uniform and pulls out a square piece of paper.

" Today after breakfast, I get clean up duty in the cafeteria!"

"I'm not sensing your usual sarcasm, why is that?" I chuckle as I move to stand in front of her and motion for her to zip up the uniform

" I heard Lila Petrins has clean up duty today as well. You know I've had my eye on her for a while" she laughs. Violet has liked girls ever since I can remember. She is very open about it, not to my surprise, she never cares about what anybody thinks. Not that many people dare say anything to her in the first  place, she can be very intimidating ans she is not the type of person you want to mess with. Homosexuaslity is frowned upon because it prevents conception and therefore interfering with the goverment's goal of population growth. We met when I was six and she was seven. She was the girl who my dad stole the bread for. Her mother was very sick so Violet gave all her food to her. My father noticed that which is why he did what he did. Coincidently the day my father was killed was the day her mother passed away as well. My mother has been taken care of her since. So now it is just me, Violet, Jack-my twelve year old brother- and my mother. I don't choose to include my mother's lover whom I do not approve of but that is a story for another day.

"Oh, the schedual also says that we are to listen to a very important  goverment announcement at 7:30 pm" If this has anything to do with the nation's 120th anniversary, I will have to mentally prepare myself because there is nothing I dread more than having to celebrate this God awful place. I know I sound ungrateful and selfish, but I dont care, I hate this. 

"Your mom  said to meet her here at 7:00 pm because she has a very important announcment as well"