Where we are now

Prologue

 prologue

2070 A.D.

"What do you mean the Chancellor passed the law?" asked 24 year old Jaelyn Foxx, a young reporter for the New York Times. "He passed the Gene law, and all Genes under the age of eighteen are being rounded up right now." replied chief editor Alex Starr. Pressing her hand against her forehead Jamie sighed and looked at her watch.

"How long will it take them to find the Genes?" she begged, desperate to know.

"Oh gosh, with the Act signed in of identification of Genes last year, I would say about forty-eight hours give or take." Jaelyn's breath hitched in her throat and it was all she could do not to run out of the room at that moment. Standing, she announced that she needed to use the ladies' room and walked out, almost trembling.

The second she made it to the hallway she broke into a run, blonde hair flying, chest heaving. She burst into her office, grabbing the stash of money under her seat cushion and her knapsack with her books and money. She reached down to her shirt and picked up the bluetooth earbud, placing it in her ear. "Call Amie." It immediately started ringing and she ran down the stairs, trying not to call too much attention to herself. Not many people knew she had a daughter, let alone that her daughter was exactly what they were looking for. As she made it outside, her best friend picked up the phone. "Amie, where are you?" She practically screamed over the phone. "In your apartment. Did it happen?" she asked. Jaelyn could hear her daughter giggling in the background. "Yes I have to get her to the safe house. Please, get my stuff together. Her stuff is in a bag under her bed."The line went dead as Jaelyn knew Amie was flying into action.

Almost leaping across the street, cars hovered above her head in their glass tubes, silent and fast. People were buzzing below, and she realized that few people would know immediately about the law that had just been passed. She decided to use that to her advantage and as she skidded into her apartment lobby, the doorman stopped her. "Ms. Jaelyn, what are you doing here? It's not lunchtime yet." She stopped and forced a smile. "Oh, Blake, you know, I just snuck out to have some more time with G today. It's friday and I feel like we deserve it." Blake smiled softly and raised an eyebrow. "Then why were you running?" Jaelyn felt her heart stop, but kept eye contact. "Well my trainer says I'm not doing very well at home so..." fake sighing, she prayed that Blake bought the story. He smiled and nodded, facing outside once more.

She walked slowly to the elevator and plastered a smile on that made her feel like she was carrying forty pounds worth of the lies she just told. Standing in the elevator, she felt her heart pound in her ears, and with each passing floor it just got louder and louder. When the elevator reached her door, Amie was waiting right outside her door, tapping her foot impatiently. "When did you find out?" The words left Amie's mouth the second she saw Jaelyn. "Ten minutes ago. That means we have half an hour tops to get out of the city before the cops head this way. " Amie's eyes widened and she opened the door, revealing Jaelyn's daughter playing with her princess doll. "Mommy!!" she screeched, jumping up and down at her mother's unexpected appearance. "I missed you, love." purred Jaelyn as she hugged her tightly. Amie spoke up. "Jae, we are running out of time." Smiling at her daughter, she picked her up and plopped her on her hip, picking up the bag Amie had packed.

"Slight setback. The doorman works for them, you need to distract him while I take her down the back way." Nodding, Amie picked up her bag and hugged Jaelyn. She looked her in the eye and took her hand. "Peace and courage to you."

"And to you." Just like that, her best friend was gone.

"Mommy?" Jaelyn's daughter asked quietly. Jaelyn turned and smiled at her and said, "You ready to go?"

"Where are we going, mommy?"

"We are going to live somewhere else, baby. And mommy needs you to be okay with that and not ask questions until we get there. Okay?" She nodded and walked out their door, not bothering to lock it. She ran down the stairs, holding her daughter's bag and her own backpack. When they made it to their car, Jaelyn buckled up her daughter in and she hopped in and changed the car to manual drive. She drove to a glass tube and got onto the main highway, the outside world completely silent. Glancing in the rearview mirror, she saw her daughter yawn and drift off into the dream world she so longed to join herself.

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