Marked

Chapter 4

We had to walk, since everyone near the center of Rayton doesn't have cars.

Staying away from people was difficult. Even at night, the streets were busy with people walking around aimlessly after the festival. All different types of people were walking down the streets. Some were holding hands. Some with children following happily. Twinkling lights danced around every tree, showing that soon will be the Day of Shadows. The train track glowed in the distance, with the train hovering just a few inches off the ground. It was absolutely beautiful for s busy city.

And there we were, sneaking through the shadows, trying not to get caught. It was dangerous being this close to the trains, but it was the quickest way to where we were going.

We walked for a long time. Despite Rayton being quite small compared to the other sectors, it still was huge. The further we got from the main city the more dispersed it got. Remnants from the war that happened thousands of years ago were scattered through the desert-like land. Very few people lived out here, and the houses that were intact were far apart. Wider roads meant for traveling were seen more often here than closer into the heart of the city. More roads meant more cars, and we'll need a faster way to get to Nishka. We walked almost all night before we started to find abandoned cars. We approached the first car we saw.

"Anyone know how to drive?"

Our society has rules. Rules that no one breaks. We have come a far way with controlling the people, and there are hardly any rule breakers. I heard that there used to be way more people being arrested before the war, and now maybe only one person gets arrested each year, if you don't include the marked. No one does anything bad anymore.

Due to that reason, a violation of any of the rules can result in total isolation, though not always. For example, the marked. We don't know where they go. We just know they are isolated. We know a little more, like the fact that they are all sent to the same place. And that their food is sent to them by aircrafts daily. They don't have any rules, at least I don't think they do. It's said to be full of psychopaths.

On the other hand, non marked prisoners are sent to jail, obviously. Each cell is completely isolated and sound proof and each prisoner has their own. They don't have any social interaction at all, so some of them come out crazy—but they never want to break the rules again. It's effective.

It's because of that fear that when I suggest we steal the car, they both look at me like I'm crazy. They were raised to never break a rule or steal anything. I, however, was not, and right now we're playing by my rules.

"Fine then, guess I'll drive," I mumbled to myself mainly. I tried the door to the car, which was surprisingly unlocked.

"Are you crazy? We're marked, hiding from the government, and breaking enough rules already. And you want us to steal and drive a car when we can just go on foot. In case you haven't noticed, we live in the heart of the city. None of us know how to drive!" Casey started to ramble as she was worried. She was starting to sound like the cliche character that would always make the smart decisions in a story.

"What if we get caught?" Vincent added.

"It's simple: we won't," I replied, sitting in the car and looking if the previous owner had left the keys. Thy didn't.

"And how do you suppose we do that?"

"Just trust me, Vincent. I know what I'm doing."

~~~

After about an hour and several failed attempts at hot wiring a car, we were on our way. I was surprised that it had a full tank of gas.

I honestly don't have any plans on how to avoid people as best as possible, or, for that matter, any plans on what to do if we get caught for stealing a car or being marked. I was just going to take all the back roads and hope no one takes us too suspiciously.