Verman

13. Jeremy

July 31, 2055

It was late morning when I woke. I opened my tired eyes and saw Gunther looking at me. I sat up groggily and realized I wasn't in my own bed.

"Where...Where am I?" I asked, surveying my surroundings.

"Congratulations, Jeremy!" Gunther smiled at me. "You've been promoted!"

"Promoted?" I still wasn't processing this. "To what?"

Gunther sat down on a chair near my bed, smiling, "You've promoted you to a guard."

"A guard?"

"Yes," Gunther said. He took a long, slow sip of a bubbly red liquid. "Compliments from The Leader." He held out a glass to me.

"N...No thanks." I stood up and stretched. "Why have I been promoted? Why me? I haven't done anything special, have I?"

"Well," Gunther took a drink of his liquid and sat back in the chair. "Your bravado is very enlightening."

"My bravado?" I walked over to a chair with my new uniform on it and began unbuttoning my shirt.

"Yes," Gunther sighed. "You get up early every day, skip breakfast, get on the job early. We need more soldiers like you."

"What do I do as a guard?" I asked shakily, slipping into my new shirt.

"For a start, you'll guard our base, maybe The Leader's castle...we'll see."

"But...But isn't guarding just like being a soldier?" I asked, finishing and moving back to my bed.

"Let's take a walk." Gunther stood, motioned for me to come.

I stood and we walked to the door, where I snagged an apple from a nearby stand. I followed him out the door and into a part of the military base I had never seen before. We walked up a stone spiral staircase to the ground level. We went out a door, and once we stepped outside I realized where we were. We stood on the opposite side from where I lived as a soldier. The wall that separated Abandonment from our village loomed beside Gunther and me.

"Why are we here?" I asked.

A breeze ruffled the trees as Gunther spoke. "Guards work inside The Leader's castle. They guard there."

"Then why are we here?" I asked, still baffled.

"Because this is where we test you to see if you are fit to become a guard."

"I--"

Gunther held a hand up to stop me. "I didn't think you'd be fit for a guard's position. You're being a great soldier and I didn't want to disrupt that."

"Then why--"

"A higher ranking official thinks you'd be right for the position."

"But, but..." I trailed off, unsure of what to say.

"I know," Gunther said. "I don't think you'd be right for the position either. But we have to give it a shot."

"OK, what do I do?" I said, hating Gunther for talking to me like I was a baby.

"Well, first you can guard this door," Gunther said, walking over to a heavy metal door.

"OK, so I just stand here?" I said, annoyed.

"Yes, and if anyone asks to enter, demand their ID card."

I nodded to show that I was listening even though my mind was elsewhere.

"Scan their ID card in this scanner." Gunther pulled out a small scanner and attached it to my belt. "If it shows up red, they are not eligible to enter."

I nodded again, passively watching birds fly above.

"If it's green, scan the ID on this panel," Gunther said, motioning to a panel I didn't care enough to look at. "The panel will open and you may use this key on the chain to open the door."

"OK," I said, as it seemed he was finally done talking.

"Good luck." Gunther turned on his heel and strode off back into the building.

I looked at the square of dirt that I needed to guard. This new uniform hung on my shoulders, more ill-fitting than the last. The door above the square of dirt was bland and the scenery even blander. Dirt stretched far ahead, with the promise of a chain link, barbed wire, electrocuted fence in the distance. The wide expanse of dirt served as extra security. If someone were to run across it, soldiers could spot them and quickly prevent escape. And even if someone got to the fence, it was electrocuted and 12 feet tall; good luck getting over that.

I glanced again at the patch of dirt under my feet and decided guarding was a waste of time, just standing there. I turned and sprinted away from my post, toward Abandonment.

As I began to climb the 12-foot wall surrounding Abandonment, I began to have second thoughts. I didn't see Luna yesterday. Would she be OK with me visiting today?

I hoisted myself up to the top of the wall separating Abandonment from our city. It was a nice view, really. You could see the whole city stretching out in all directions. the cornfields closest to me were surrounded by small, rundown houses intertwined with roads. Bigger buildings for more important people and royalty were the farthest from Abandonment. Some soldiers lined the roads, marching in perfect unison. Farmers worked in the cornfield and traders traded goods in the street market, heavily supervised by soldiers. Off in the distance, more soldiers exited the main building and began prowling the streets and alleyways. I glanced back at the spot I was supposed to guard, my eyes scanning along the long military base. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a man exit the building and walk briskly to the spot I was supposed to guard. He scanned the surrounding areas then looked up and seemed to look right into my eyes. It was Gunther.