Walls

Chapter 1

Just a note before you begin-first of all, thanks for reading my guys :) Second of all, just keep in mind that I'm not a professional writer, so don't expect amazing grammar or anything.

"Crap."

I glanced at the microwave clock, then my hands, then the clock again.

"Crap!" A glob of broiling chocolate flew past my face and onto the floor.

"What possibly could you have done already, Blair? It's only tuesday morning. Seriously." My little sister Emily chided from the living room.

"You come in here and try to make these things, these.. Little chocolatey balls of pure evil." I'm making--attempting to make these little coconut ball things covered in chocolate. My mom had wanted me to make them for a bake sale or something. Being me, I procrastinated and waited until the day of the bake sale to get them started. That's how I ended up making these chocolatey satan-balls at 8:00 on a tuesday morning.

"How are they going, anyways? I haven't heard any crashes for a while." Called Emily from the living room. "Great. Just.. Just amazing." I mumbled. Checking the time on the microwave clock, I grabbed a towel from the oven rack to push the double boiler to the back of the stove. Apparently, I was a bit too rough. I ended up splashing boiling water and molten chocolate everywhere. I let out a yelp of surprise and pain, finding a glob of chocolate on my left elbow.
"Yeah, it sure sounds like it." Emily scoffed loudly from the living room, the TV quietly buzzing in the background.

I rolled my eyes and scooped the now-hardened chocolate glob from my arm, making my way to the sink. I reached for the sink handle, then stopped myself as I remembered that my hands were covered in condensed milk, of all things. God, I hate condensed milk. Using my elbow, I managed to get the water running.

"So what's on the news that's so important? I mean, you've been glued to the TV since you woke up." I said, probably yelling over the running water. "It can't be that important. Have you even eaten breakfast yet? Mom will kill both of us if you--" "They're talking about the breaches and the riots, so cram it." She paused."And I wish you'd stop and realize just how loud you're being."

"I don't need your judgement." I mumbled under my breath. Turning the water off, I grabbed a hand towel and sauntered into the living room.

"This is Christa Maggs, and you're watching Channel 7 News. Recently, there have been several cases of riots breaches in certain simulus communities. Rather big cracks and holes in the walls are being found daily, as well as delinquents who are part of the riots." 'Simulus' is a fancy way of saying healthy. At least it is now. There are simulus communities, where the healthy people live, and the solomus communities, where the diseased or the sick live. Or rather, where they were put (I doubt there's much living going on there). The government had decided to separate us into these communities forever ago. Apparently there was some nasty disease that was trapped in the ice, until global warming became a thing. I guess it killed hundreds of people a day, all around the world. They never really found a cure for it, so they decided to quarantine the infected off into their own little secluded areas away from society. Those are the solomus communities. Let's just say they're not happy places.

And that's where the walls come in. Imagine a typical city, then put 150 foot walls in and around it. The walls were put in place origionally to separate the simulus communities from the solomus communities (to prevent the spread of disease). For me, they serve more as a reminder that we can never leave. The government shut out the world a long time ago. Supposedly, nobody's even seen outside the walls in over a hundred years. But recently, people have found ways to get in and out. There's even talk of a haven type thing outside the city. Of course, the government doesn't tell us that.

People (or as the government calls them, 'outsiders') from the outside world have found ways into the city, therefor into simulus and solomus communities (though they've only been targeting simulus communities). They've been breaking into buildings, causing riots, and they even prompted a massive shoot-out once (but it was the government doing the shooting). Their most popular building choice recently has been schools. They'll smash through windows or break down doors and take kids as hostages. Not teachers, kids. Students. And that's the part that confuses me-why would you take students? We're just acne-covered kids trying to pass math class, there's nothing special about that. It's also noteworthy that none of the kids have ever been found.

I stood up and checked the clock around the corner. 8:17-we're gonna be late.

"Alright, let's get going--!" I reached over couch and grabbed the TV remote from Emily's hand. "Hey-!" Emily clawed at the remote. "What are you doing?" I pushed the power button. The TV played a little jingle, then shut off. "Blair! I was doing something!" She punched my arm (with minimal force, might I add). "Was." I punched her back a little bit harder than I intended. "Now get up, we're going to be late because of you. Again." Emily's eyebrows furrowed and she stuck her tongue out at me. She started heading over to the front door, and I followed close behind. It's not out of the ordinary for Emily to get sucked into the TV before school. It's made us late more than once. The school's first bell rang, signalling for students to enter.

* * * *

After Emily stepped outside, I followed and closed the door, making sure to lock it. Usually simulus communities are pretty good with break-ins, but with everything going on, I want to be careful. We trudged through the freshly-fallen layer of snow and arrived at the school's side doors just as the second bell rang (the one that pretty much says 'you better be inside the school by now, pal.').

Emily and I shuffled through the small doors with a couple of other students and headed to our separate hallways-her going upstairs to the seven's, and me the eleven's. Grades one to seven are all located upstairs. Everyone else is stuck in the bottom floor (which I personally think is stupid).

The eleven's hallway is situated in a cramped area right near the side doors. Usually this part of the school is quiet, but today it looked as if a bomb had gone off. Students from all grades were just milling around, looking for something they could do before they had to stay seated for hours at a time.

I shoved my way through a crowd of guys in my grade and started to punch my locker code into the touchpad locks. The school may be falling apart, but I have to admit-the lockers are pretty freaking cool. The lock clicked and the door swung open. I rummaged around a bit for my math and science textbooks, sighed, and prepared myself for yet another day of school.