The new generation

The new generation part one

LYNN

When the school bell finally rang I jumped from my chair and ran out of the classroom. Another day of school survived ...
I ran over the still damp grass to our tent. It was on the edge of the clearing. I stormed in and threw my bag on the ground, then I ran out and headed for the forest. I wanted to go to The Other Side. Look at Denver. Or what was left of it. I often did that after school. Actually it was forbidden but ... well, I did it anyway.
At the edge of the forest was the barbed wire fence. It was there to keep animals and
who-knew-what-else away from the clearing. And to keep curious children like me on the clearing. I ran for a few minutes along the edge of the forest until I found the hole in the fence. My hole. Created to satisfy my curiosity.
I pushed myself through the hole and stood up on the other side. From this place I looked at the ruins of a house and a street that miraculously wasn't damaged at all. Most of it, anyway. The street went right through the ruined city and most of it could still have been driven on, but no one here had a car. I walked along the street for a few minutes, then turned left. Here, I had built a viewpoint. I climbed up and sat down on a pillow that I had smuggled from our tent. I'd never gone further than this point. I only ever walked on the road, because there were holes and shafts to the left and right of it. It would be way too dangerous anyway, I was smart enough to know that.

Something on the street stirred and I froze. It was a person and it was coming closer and closer. Then it turned left. When I saw who it was, I breathed a sigh of relief. It was Chris. My best friend. "What are you doing here?" He shouted at me. "What are you doing here?" I cried back. "The same thing you're doing!" He shouted. When he was standing next to my construction he began to climb up. Chris was the only one who knew that I went behind the fence. And the only one who knew about my viewpoint. When he'd climbed up he let himself fall down beside me. "Bad girl," he grinned. "Breaking the rules, my my my, I'm sure your grandma would be happy!" I boxed him jokingly. "Just follow me, my my my, what a bad boy." He laughed, but just got serious again. "You really don't go any further right?" I nodded. "No, I'm not going anywhere without my bodyguard." I looked at him, trying not to laugh. He glared at me, his brown eyes sparkling, long brown hair swaying in the wind.

CHRIS

I stared at my friend. "I mean it," I said. "You know what could happen." She rolled her eyes. "Chris I'm not going any further ..."
"Promise?" I asked. "Okay, okay. I won't." She stood up and leaned over the railing. I followed her gaze. She was looking at the Rocky Mountains. They could be seen on the horizon. At school we had learned that somewhere, very close to the Rockies, was our Section One. Just heard, not seen. In our history book a whole chapter was devoted to the various Sections.
In the distance a bird shrieked. "Do you think we'll ever be as free as that bird?" Lynn asked. I shrugged. "We're free, aren't we?" She shrugged. Suddenly, she leaned forward and narrowed her eyes. I followed her gaze. "Do you see something?" I asked. She didn't answer but pointed at a distant spot with her finger.

LYNN

I tried to see more. There was something moving on the horizon. Chris tried to follow my finger. "I see nothing," he murmured, disappointed. I waved my hand violently and leaned forward a bit. Chris grabbed my shirt and pulled me back. "You're going to fall down little bird ," he said. Then he froze. "I see it now."

CHRIS

Coming from the Rockies several spots moved towards us. They seemed to be on the street. Who the hell could that be? Last time someone came, was almost five years ago. "Maybe they'll come to make sure everything's all right?" Lynn suggested. "Yes, exactly," I said, "but I think we should go back." She agreed and started climbing down. Then she stopped and looked up. "Doesn't your dad have a telescope?"

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The next day after school we met at the fence. I had secretly taken the telescope from my father. He'd been hunting with other men since early morning, so it was an easy game. Wait until the rest of my family went out to get food, then pick up the telescope from my father's box and pack it in my bag before the others came back.

When I arrived at the fence, Lynn was already waiting impatiently. I stopped a few yards behind her and watched as she bounced on one leg. Sweet.

Together we went to her lookout. When we were there, she grabbed the telescope and tried to find the dots again. But they had disappeared. Disappointed, we walked back to camp.

LYNN

I was upset, because it was the first time I had seen anything alive outside the fence. And I had missed my chance to follow it.
Before our ways parted, Chris kissed my cheek and we hugged. Then he sprinted away, over to his tent. Before he lifted the flap he looked back and when he saw me still standing there, he waved.

He made me feel like someone special. I knew, even if it wasn't for him, I would still be considered special. Or at least my past. Hunters had found me in an abandoned house behind the fence when I was still an infant. They said it looked like someone else had been there too, but they had found no other living soul within miles. So they took me with them, named me Lynn and I was raised by Sue, who was like a mother to me or more precisely, grandmother. She was 72.
Now I was no longer the tiny baby with tufts of soft hair, I was, as Chris described me, a young woman with beautiful auburn hair, green eyes that sparkled when I laughed and dimples.

In the tent, my little sister jumped towards me. I picked her up and twirled her around. "How's my little sunshine doing?" "Always good when you're around!" She said. Olivia always said that. A few years ago, a forest fire had killed her parents, and she'd lived with Sue ever since. "You're covered in dirt!" Sue said disapprovingly. She put down the blanket she was mending and shuffled over to me. Then, despite the dirt, she hugged me.

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A few days had passed since I had seen the black dots and I was sitting back in school. It was a particularly exciting lesson. I was bending over a map of a city called New York, when a student behind me shouted something. I hardly listened to him and continued reading. New York had had nearly 9000000 inhabitants, now there was a village there that belonged to Section Three. The boy now shouted again. Louder, more excited.
I turned around. Several children were standing at the window, noses pressed against the glass. "I think people from Section One are visiting us!" A boy speculated. "There are several armed men standing outside!" A girl shouted and pushed an other kid to get a better view. I joined them at the window, not listening to my teacher who was yelling at us to get back to our seats. "Stay in here while I go outside!" She yelled and a few seconds later she was running out of the door.
The second she was outside, the rest of the class stormed out too.

I pushed past a group of students who were standing in a group huddle in front of the doorway. "My dad told us not to go near them," one of them yelled at me when she saw me getting closer. I turned around and joined them in their huddle. "They don't look nice," a girl with pretty blond hair said. "I don't like men with guns, they scare me."
We all turned around when there were shouts from behind us. One of the strangers was gesturing at a small boy who had ran up to what seemed to be his dad. His dad was trying to push him away from the strangers but the boy just wouldn't leave. "Timmy!" A woman's voice yelled from a tent. "Timmy, come to mommy!" She started running towards them, shouting at the boy.
When she reached him, she grabbed the boy and hugged him.

CHRIS

I watched from a safe distance as the scene unfolded. The woman, now holding her son, clearly wanted to leave but the men were holding her back. When she turned around and wanted to walk away one of them stood right in front of her, blocking her path. "Leave me alone!" I heard her yell in a panicked voice. When the guard grabbed her arm the father yelled some nasty words at the stranger and tried to take his son away from the woman and leave.
It all happened so fast. The father hitting the stranger, the stranger bringing the barrel of his gun down onto his head. Then holding a gun to the boys head.

The clearing immediately panicked. Mothers shouted for their children, children screamed, desperate families tried to escape into the forest. Suddenly, I heard a shot. The whole clearing stopped dead in their tracks. A red-haired man from the group had fired a shot and was now making his way through the crowd. The little boy, who now probably served as hostage, was screaming his head off. The man stopped in front of a woman and grabbed her child's arm.