The new generation

Part ten

CARTER

I took Olivia shopping on a warm monday morning. "It will be a lovely day," I had said, patting her shoulder. I only took her with me, to cheer her up. I hated it when she cried all day, going on about her sister and the clearing where she once lived. One might have called me heartless and in times like this, maybe I was.

Olivia trotted after me, stopping to look at all the food. "Come on, don't get lost!" I yelled after her, trying to overtone all the merchants barking their best deals. After a few minutes she stopped again. "Come on!" I walked over to her and grabbed her wrist. She started to cry. I dragged her with me.

When we got home, I was exhausted. "I'm going for a walk!" I yelled and walked outside. There, I leaned against a wall and started to cry.

"You don't look very happy," someone said. I looked up, startled. It was an old woman. "You're a very handsome man," she smiled. I took a step back. "Who are you?" The woman grinned. "I will be your saviour." "I don't need a saviour," I replied and took another step back. The woman stepped closer to me. "You will need one soon enough. And I'll be there for you." She reached out her hand and tried to touch my face. I pulled back. We stared at each other for a few seconds in silence. Then the woman hobbled away. I turned around. Firmie was standing in the doorway. "Carter, who was that woman?" She asked. I shrugged. "Probably a beggar." Firmie walked down to me and kissed me on the cheek.

LYNN

I was sitting on a leather armchair that I had moved farther away from The Damned so that I could be alone, when Huck walked up to me and sat down next to me. I looked up. "Hey, Huck." "Hey," he said and stared at me. "Why are you staring at me?" I asked. "Because I want to talk to you," he responded and moved closer to me. "You're not doing anything am I right?" I nodded slowly. "Actually I am but go on"
"Well then it seems we both don't have anything to do, so we might as well talk," he said. I raised my eyebrow. "What do you want to talk about?" He shrugged. "Anything. Your life, my life. Tell me something about your life."
"Well what do you want to hear?" "Just start talking," he said.
"Well... I'm 16. I lived next to Denver. I would have gone to school for another year and then I would have helped my family survive, I would've married, had kids and so on." "You want kids?" Huck asked. I nodded. "I never want kids," he said. "They would grow up in a ruined world." "So you're scared of this world?" I asked. "And I'm scared that I'll never see my mom again," he said. "What are you scared of?" "A lot of things," I said. "I'm scared of snakes. I'm scared of getting raped." "That happen a lot, where you lived?" He asked. I shook my head. "No, but I heard that it happens." He looked at the ground. "Well it won't happen to you here." I smiled. "Thanks, I'll keep that in mind." He stood up and pretended to tip an imaginary hat. "Nice talking to you, I think I'll go for a walk. Care to join me?" I hesitated for a moment. Then I stood up. "I'll come with you." He smiled.

At dinner, conversation was scarce. Afterwards, Carl stared at the clock in the kitchen, his mouth twitching uncontrollably. It was 8:55. In five minutes the boxes would open. We waited.
8:58
8:59
9:00
Nothing happened. Everything remained silent until Daisy broke the silence. "We'll die, oh I just know we're going to die!" She buried her hands in her face. "Oh shut up Daisy," Carl said. "We're not going to die." Gloria scoffed. "Like you know that."
Carl got up and ran to his box. He kicked it with his foot, but nothing happened.
9:05 Disappointed, he walked back. "If this is our last minute on earth, what do you want to say?" Gloria asked him. "We're not going to die," Carl said angrily. "Does anyone want the last potato?" Filipo asked, preventing a possible fight. "No, go ahead and have it, honey," Gloria said. I watched Filipo as he ate the last potato, he was smiling, completely oblivious to the fact that we were possibly in danger. Huck, who was sitting next to me started humming. "Are you scared?" I asked and he nodded vigorously. Daisy started whistling. Molly started to sing, her voice was sweet and clear. Filipo joined in, singing about the potato he had just eaten. "Suddenly Molly stopped singing and started yelling. "The boxes are opening!" A sigh of relief went through the group. "Well I guess we're not going to die yet!" Gloria said.

CHRIS

After just a few minutes of sorting mail, Finn stepped inside. He carefully closed the door behind him and then sat down next to me. I ignored him and kept going on. "Stop." Finn said and I did. "You really think I want you to sort mail?" He asked. "No, that was not my intention but I needed your team to think you were busy. They're awfully nosy." When I didn't answer, he said: "You know, if I were you I'd start acting like I wanted to be here. Even if you don't. Your beloved Lynn has such a pretty face, make sure it stays that way." I managed to fake a smile even though his words shocked me. In my happiest voice I said: "But I do want to be here!" Finn laughed. "That's what I want to see. Tell me, what do you know about the war?" Not much," I answered quietly. Finn sighed. "Just as I thought. Well, let me tell you about what happened.

World War Three destroyed everything. We fought until almost everything was destroyed. Only three billion people survived. The other eight billion died. Most of the survivors live in the US or Europe. We were fools.

After the war, KASKADA decided to divide each former state into four Sections. We brought order into the chaos and worked out a plan. Section One and Two should be protected. Against a possible new war and against the disasters that make the world unsafe. But there was a problem, the soldiers who survived the war were weak and soon, one by one, they started dying." He stopped and looked at me. "Are you still paying attention?" I nodded and he continued. "We are testing young people. Those that are strong and healthy will protect the Sections. They will also be a big part of our main plan. The new generation. What if only the healthiest people were allowed to have children? Would those children be healthy and strong as well? We think the answer is yes.
We are one step away from creating a generation that will be strong and healthy.
These people and their descendants will be the hope of the Sections." He laid his hand on my shoulder and I shook it off in disgust.

Finn took my hand and pulled me out of the chair. "I want to show you around," he said proudly. He led me through the hallways until we reached one that was bright pink. All the doors were painted blue. He opened one of them and to my surprise, there was another hallway. People were bustling about noisily laughing and talking. Finn walked on until we reached a glass wall. Behind it was a row of cribs, in each one a tiny bundle. I gasped. "Aren't they sweet?" Finn asked. "Each one of them will one day help protect Sections One and Two." It disgusted me to think that Finn only liked them and would let them live because they were part of his 'grand plan'.

Finn ushered me away from the glass and pulled me into another corridor. "The patients are allowed to roam free in this hallway," he said. "Please don't make any loud noises, some of them are quite sensitive." Soon enough, a girl with glassy eyes and a pillow under her arm slipped past us. She was drooling and murmuring incomprehensible stuff. "That's Miriam," Finn said, "She's already donated four times and will donate one more time, then probably die. Normally you die after the second donation, but Miriam is a strong girl." I looked back. Miriam had stopped walking and was looking at us. "Keep walking!" Finn hissed. Miriam took a step towards me. Without turning around Finn grabbed my hand. "Walk!" he shouted at me. Miriam took another step towards me. And then she broke out into a run.