The Contamination

Chapter 1

"Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail."

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

She held her breath as the sound of heavy footsteps echoed in the large room. Her pulse quickened beneath her dark brown skin upon realising the sound was quickly approaching her hiding place. Zaria squeezed herself further into the bookshelf and prayed she would not be discovered by the Enforcers. The consequences of them finding what was in her bag were terrifying, like all of the other punishments put in place by the country's new Potentate, Cicado Shavon.

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Zaria peeped between the gap in the books to see what the Enforcers were doing. Having finished yanking open the doors and cupboards and searching them, they had begun pulling the books off the library's shelves and pressing their black gloved hands against the concrete walls. It looked as though they were looking for something hidden within the walls. The men operated very diligently, so much so that they were halfway through the large library in a matter of minutes, and a mere two rows in front of the girl's hiding place.

Zaria tensed her small but agile body, clutching the pocket knife in her left hand, as she prepared to make a run for it. She brought forth all the knowledge that her uncle taught her whilst training and hoped that her strength and speed would be enough. Zaria began to clear her head of everything but escaping the building with her bag.

' Yes sir', one of the enforcers said, as though they were acknowledging someone. 'We will be there shortly, sir. Enforcers 10 23 and 10 42 will continue the search for the contaminated.'

There was a shuffling of booted feet and all of the enforcers, except for two, left.

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Trying to take down a dozen enforcers might have been a suicide mission, but two, that's easy pickings, Zaria thought happily. Just as she was about to get up she heard a nasally voice and paused.

"I really hate them, you know 10 42, every time I think about these contaminations my skin just crawls." He was walking while he spoke and the blonde man came into Zaria's view, taking the long strides as peopple of considerable height do. "I just wish we could kill them all!"

He withdrew a silver stake from its place on his hip and with strong, large hands he drove it into the heart of an imaginary 'contamination' to emphasize his statement, then turned his grey eyes expectantly to his colleague. "You know what I mean 10 42?"

It was then that he came into view, dressed in the standard enforcer's uniform, polished black boots, black pants, mask, long sleeved bullet proof shirt, and weapons aplenty. They dressed the way similar to the way soldiers did nearly two centuries ago, except the only part of them that was visible were their eyes. Zaria saw his instantly and could have sworn he was staring directly into her soul the way they pierced her eyes. She suppressed the urge to jump up and run into his familiar arms. His eyes were such a dark shade of brown that it was impossible to distinguish the pupil from theiris, and they looked so wise, like the eyes of someone who had seen too much of this cruel world, they were unfitting for a twenty one year old.