When I woke up the sky was gray indicating another normal routine day. After the war there was nothing. Then came President Brooks, everyone says he "saved" the world. I know better. My parents didn't tell me much, but before they died they did tell me not to trust anyone in the government and that included the president. He has everyone in the country working 14 hours a day. We work the fields, machines, and test any new technology's the government sends our way. We live in barracks by age groups which means you only get to visit your family once a month on designated visiting days. Since I have no family I tend to sit by myself and read. The war destroyed my whole life.
We used to live in normal houses. We had a small farm and even had a horse. I was an only child and my parent worked a lot so that's when I took up reading. It passed the time, so my parents would take me every weekend to the local library to get 4 or 5 books for the week. I would usually make dinner and by that time they would be home and we would eat together. A normal family. Until the war.
The government told us they were protecting us, not to worry, and we all just need to make some sacrifices. But all of us had the same question. Protecting us from what? Nobody was exactly sure what they were protecting us from, but they went along with it. The government was our friends, trust the government, their protecting you. Everyone believed them except my parents. They always told me trust no one, especially the government. So I listened, they were my parents and after years of them saying it, I just listened. I became wary of everyone and everything. I had no true friends, and pretty much kept to myself.
I never technically never knew exactly what my parents jobs were, but whenever I asked they would subtlety change the subject. Eventually I stopped asking. When the bombings started happening my parents started acting weird. They would check every room before entering. Whispering, but when I entered they would quit automatically. In fact, we were leaving to go somewhere when they died. We were in the car when my mother forgot her bag in the house. She had just gone inside when I heard a big boom. My dad told me to stay put, that he would be right back. That was the last thing he ever said to me. After he went into the house it seemed time stopped, then all at once time exploded. Along with my house. Everything after that point was a blur.
Now we won the supposed war, all our houses are gone, and we work almost everyday. Kids go to school for a few hours and then we go to work. Adults just work and then have more work. Fun, right?
"Hey you, get to school" yelled a patrol officer snapping me out of a visit to the past. I jumped up quickly and ran to put my uniform on, trying to tame the mess that is called my hair. I grabbed my books and sprinted a couple buildings down to the school.
When I walked in everyone was just talking so I slid into my seat and opened the latest book I was reading, The gray life. The one good thing about this place is that they have a huge, wonderful library. Every second that I'm not working, sleeping, or at school I'm there. All the workers know me by name and sometimes we will have very energetic conversations about a certain book. I had just finished the next chapter in my book, when my teacher walked in.
Everyone got silent quick and she started the lesson. In our school we have the basic lessons. Math, science, social studies, reading, and language arts. I usually had no trouble in anything but math. It seemed to me that math was my enemy and it wanted to come after me just for fun. I never showed it but half the time I was so confused in class. I would wait and see how she did an example problem and eventually catch on.
The other thing I didn't like about school was the looks everyone gave me. I think it was because I was different. I kept to myself, Never talked, read all the time, and just got my work done. Everyone in the school would always be goofing around, not pay attention, and never stepped foot in a library before. I guess that why I don't have any friends.
The other reason they all stare is because of my looks. I never thought I was pretty, but I hear the whisperings. I am unique from everyone else, Which would be a good thing if I didn't want to be invisible. I have bright red, uncontrollable hair. Green eyes with flecks of gold in them and I'm pretty average for my height 5'7. I am 16 years old and my name is Cassandra Jackson Everyone here calls me Cass, but that's okay with me. The only people who called me Cassandra were my parents, and I would like to keep it that way.
After school we went to work. There are four branches of work to do and they separate by our intelligence. The lowest level of people work in the fields. The next level up work on manning the machines. Higher than that is the testers, who test all the new technology the government sends to us. The highest level is the control room. That's the level I am on. We make sure everything's running smoothly. We control the results of the testing. We also help the government keep everything running smoothly. Work for me is pretty much just sitting at a computer all day.
After work I started to feel funny. I skipped dinner and even the library and went to lay down. There's really no privacy in these barracks, but at the time of day it is hopefully I will be able to sleep.
I drifted off almost as soon as my head hit the pillow. I started seeing shadows. Then it all became clear. The president was standing at a podium speaking to a crowd that I was apart of. When I tried to speak though, no-one seemed to pay attention. So I listened to the speech. "My dear people of the world, the enemy is one we must keep a secret. We shall protect you and all your family. If, and only if, you vote for me. The president you have now is doing nothing against the bombings of the world. The world can and will be destroyed if you keep the president Baker in office." This speech was before John Brooks became our president. Off in the distance some one waved to me. When I looked closer I realized it was my parents. They were waving and pointing and moving their hands around like crazy. Then they pointed at president Brooks and at that moment the president looked at me. Then I fell into darkness.
