The new generation

Part eight

LYNN

I had found someone amongst The Damned who was more like me than any other person I had ever met. At the moment we were sitting side by side on a tree trunk, reading a poem about a caged bird. "This is so beautiful," Huck said tracing the line as it pecks at its cage trying to free himself. I totally agreed. I looked at the clock hanging in the outdoor kitchen where I had spent time with Carl and Daisy after first meeting The Damned. Ten minutes until the boxes would open. "What happens outside the boxes when they close?" I asked Huck. His face contorted. "I don't know but there are bad people waiting outside the boxes." He suddenly closed the book. I just wanted to complain about this when he spoke. "They just pulled me away from her," he said. What? He was crying. "We were buying food at the mart and then they came and just pulled me away from her." His voice was stifled by tears. "She screamed and didn't want to let me go, and my father just stood there." His voice cracked. "And they took me away and I saw how my mother collapsed crying." "Huck what are you talking about?" I asked. He sniffled. "You're a curious person, I told you how I got here. The bird reminded me of my mother." He repeated the first few words. When it darkens and night slowly does fall, a bird starts crying its lonely call. A tune full of sorrow as it pecks at its cage...
I listened to him repeat the entire poem. It was hauntingly beautiful.
When he was done I opened my mouth and wanted to say something, but suddenly the boxes opened and my words were lost.

I crawled into my box, which suddenly seemed very cold. In vain I tried to fall asleep, but the whole night I was plagued with memories. People I loved. People who wanted to hurt me. Olivia. At the thought of Olivia, tears ran down my cheeks.

When morning broke, I was tired and in a bad mood. I crawled out of my box and noticed Gloria who was laughing about something with Jules. It struck me as admirable that someone could still laugh after they had been through what Gloria had gone through.
"Hey, Lynn." Someone grabbed my shoulders and spun me around. It was Huck. He smiled and said, "it's your turn to get the food."

THE GUARD (AMRAN)

He sat all alone in the room, his colleagues had just gone to get lunch a few minutes ago. He stared at the screen a bit bored. He wrote down every movement the girl made. Right now, she was walking towards the wall. He remembered the construction of the wall very well, it had not been easy. The girl climbed up the ladder, then down the other side.
He scribbled something into his notebook. The girl looked around and then ran towards the hut. Scribble scribble.
She hopped over a brook and went on running.
The door behind him opened and he jerked. It was only his comrades. "Did something happen?" One of them asked.
He shook his head. "She's just going to get the food."
Someone put a plate in front of him and sat down next to him.
The girl entered the hut and the camera perspective changed. Her eyes widened when she saw the pile of food.

At the observation desk his annoyed colleague threw a fork onto the plate. "You should have seen the line!" He snapped. "Not even Phillis let me skip the line!" He leaned his head on his hands and moaned. "We need some fun for a change!"Amran began to smile. He nodded and looked over his shoulder. When he saw that the other comrades were distracted a plan started to form in his head and he smiled a little more.

In the meantime, the girl had begun to put the food in a backpack. She munched on an energy bar and some other things she hadn't had in a long time. When she was done, she hoisted the heavy backpack onto her shoulders and set off.

"Are you going to press the button?" Amran's friend asked. Amran nodded slowly. A bit hesitantly he opened the display. A lot of buttons appeared, each one was labeled with a name. He looked for the right button and was about to push it as he pulled his hand back and looked at his friend. His friend nodded and Amran pressed the button, which was labeled Lynn.

LYNN

A sharp pain shot through my body. I gasped and grabbed my side. Again, this time even more violently. I fell to the floor, my mind racing. Had I eaten something spoiled, is this an allergic reaction to something...? The ground underneath me had started to swirl around me. Like a blanket it wrapped itself around me. The throbbing pain came back. My head felt as if it were going to explode. The pain was agonizing. Unreal. Everything went black.

AMRAN

In amusement they looked at the girl who had fainted after fierce spasms. Amran's friend grinned. "Finally something interesting!" He said a bit too loudly. Their comrades turned to them. As they looked at the screen and saw the girl, they shook their heads and rolled their eyes. Then they turned around and went on with their work. Newcomers, they always had to make it harder for the test people...
It was pretty easy to let the test person faint, due to the implants in their heads.

LYNN

I woke up bathed in sweat. The pain was gone but my heart was still pounding. I groaned and stood up, leaning on the backpack. The world began to spin again when I saw someone running towards me. "Are you okay?" The person yelled, "you've been gone for a long time!" When Huck finally reached me he was gasping for air. "What happened?" He asked when he saw how pale I was. He sounded worried. "I don't know," I mumbled. He looked at me. "Why are you so pale, you didn't faint, did you?" I nodded. "It felt like someone was jabbing a needle in my side," I said. My vision had gone back to normal, Huck was no longer blurry. Huck looked around nervously. "Let's go back."

We walked back hand in hand. Huck carried the backpack and kept glancing at me worriedly. Suddenly he started singing. It was then I realized he was scared. He sang all the way back, the same song over and over again.

Come my little nightingale, come to our tree
Where we met as little children, you and me

You know where it is, you know where I'm from
You know I'm not a sinner, so why don't you come.

Come to our tree in the midst of the night
Come and see me under the stars shining bright
I waited till it dawned I waited till you came
But never did I see you, my little nightingale.