The Middle

1

My name is Alexandra Jaxon.

My name is Alexandra Jaxon.

My name is Alexandra Jaxon.

The more I say it, the more the white screen flashes red and makes a sound that haunts my ears.

I turn to the left: abandoned screening stations.
I turn to the right: more abandoned stations.

There are stations as far as I can see to either side of me. No people, not even uniforms standing at their normal post. I turn around to where the door had been just a second ago and it was gone. When I whip back around to face the screen, I am instead faced with a hallway. It's so white and clean I can't tell where the walls end and the floor and ceiling begin.

I start down the path and once I reach the end, I realize it's just a solid wall. A solid wall. I begin to hit it, nothing happens. I bang on the wall, nothing. I turn around to walk back as I hear an electronic click noise and turn back towards the wall. An outline of a hand shows itself in glowing grey. I press my hand against it and remove it. Words flash one by one in the glowing outline:

Factory Worker

Lowerlands

Factory Worker

FAILURE

The word failure starts to blare from invisible speakers. It fills the once empty air. It grows louder and the robotic voice sounds more menacing with each word. I cover my ears, but I still hear it loud and clear. I try to wish it out:

Go away, go away, go away!!

I shut my eyes and it only gets louder it advances from every side, pounding on my head to let it in to my brain.

"I...can't....take it!!"

I jolted up and opened my eyes wide, my breath heavy. My forehead was sweaty.
It was just a dream. Just a dream.

I try to slow down my breath and calm myself down. I push the plain grey covers to the side and stand up. I look down at my grey pajama shorts and grey tank top: bland as usual. I don't know why I expected to find something different this morning. I pull my medium length frizzy brown hair into a ponytail as I walk to the small window in my cramped room and change the setting to 7:47 am livestream. The window changes from a dark screen to a blue sky with the sun shining and not a cloud to be seen.
"A beautiful day." I scoff in a sarcastic manner. It's just like every other day.

I walk one foot and reach my closest. An automated womans voice greets me "Good morning Alexandra, what would you like to wear today?" The doors to my closet suddenly become transparent and I tap the outfit closest to the left: A brown t-shirt and a pair of grey khaki shorts, the required dress for lowerlanders between the ages of 13 and 18. Saturdays are the only day you can dress differently.

The doors open and I grab the clothes off their hanger. The doors close once more and the voice says "The time is 7:53 am. The date is December 19th, 2185. The temperature outside is--"
"Outside!" I exclaim, falling back onto my bed in a daydreamy tone. Once I'm silent again the voice continues: "82 degrees farenheit"
I walk to my bathroom, and turn on the shower. The time starts counting down from 30 on a digital clock in the wall.

Every morning I go through this exact same routine. Every morning for the past 17 years. I half hope that one morning I'll wake up and it'll be different, but I save my thoughts for something more realistic.

I exit my quiet room and in a millisecond, the quiet turns to screams of a baby girl in my mother's arms and two 8 year old boys running up and down the hall yelling at each other "It's my turn, give it back!!"

I see my mom in the kitchen attempting to hush my baby sister, her efforts were fruitless. I can tell she hasn't slept all night, the purple bags under her eyes pairing with her tousled and knotty short dirty blonde hair give away more than enough hints. People always told me I was my mother's daughter. I have her eyes, green like the murky sea water I've seen in pictures from before it dried up.

I take Juliet in my arms, relieving my mother of her duties. She silently thanks me and goes to her room to take a well deserved nap.

Sometimes I think about what it would be like if we were upperlanders. We'd have help and I wouldn't need to be a second mother to my sister. We'd have a bigger house made for 5 people instead of 3. We'd be able to go outside. Breathe fresh air. Lowerlanders don't get those privileges.

54 years ago scientists discovered a dangerous molecule some humans were breathing out along with CO2. Of too much of it mixed with oxygen it could cause an outbreak of disease. It was then that President J Brighton along with the government and a team of scientists formed a plan for a new generation of living. They divided the region into sectors and upper/lowerlands. This is when they tested out the first Brighton Ceremony. They gathered all the 18 year olds and only the smartest passed the test. These teenagers were alowed to live in the upperlands, the rest doomed to a life underground. It sounds awful, but it's just the way life is now.

I grab my thin grey sweatshirt and sling a cross body bag over me as I walk out the door. The lights are on in the streets and I see one flickering a few blocks down. I walk for fifteen minutes to school everyday. Walk two blocks, turn right. Walk 4 blocks, turn left, then its straight the rest of the way. It was only confusing in the beginning because each street looked identical, now I could walk the entire way backwards with my eyes closed.

The lowerlands aren't necessarily dirty, the people just have less money and are much less privileged than the upperlanders. A lot of us accept it and move on, but some of us see the wrong in the system and try to fight it.

They call themselves The Middle.

~~~~~~
A/N!
Hello to anyone reading this:)
This is my first ever published draft and I'm sure there are grammatical errors and things like that so just know I'm a newbie + I don't edit too intensely. Make sure to vote & comment if you like it and want more chapters:)
-Izzy