The Reduction

CHAPTER SEVEN

James

Even though his ears were still muffled, it didn't stop the cries from the other citizens of the community to fill James' head. He knew he had to go back and gather his items to leave this place. He had nobody but himself to look after, and that's what he was going to do.

    James stood up from under the tree and sprinted towards the center of the community. His adrenaline pumped through his veins with every step he took. He dashed up the staircase of the nearest building, trying to get as high as possible to make a plan.

     As he reached the top floor of the building, he quickly made his way up to the roof. There he could take cover and be able to see the whole community. James squatted down and stealthy ran over to the edge so no one could see him. He then braced himself for what he was about to see. The community had planned for attacks however, it obviously failed because the community looked like the definition of chaos.

    There weren't any government soldiers capturing citizens as he expected. Hell, everything was quiet except for citizens crying or screaming in pain. 'Why would they just attack then leave?' James wondered. 'These are all people the government would want.'

    All the citizens of the community were either criminals, orphans, or government rebellions. Perfect for the government to capture and punish or put in their army.

    The community was a micro-society that seemed like a state of nature with only a few laws that were very loosely enforced. The only laws were, that if you leave the community, you can't come back or snitch, you must have a job to live here, no drinking under the age of 19, and you must respect Zara and the Operator at all cost because they are superior. Anyone who defied these rules were publicly hanged in front of the whole community. Other than that, there aren't really any rules. That's what made this place dangerous for anyone but Zara and the Operator. So the fact that the Operator was dead and Zara was nowhere to be seen just made everything worse for the community.

    The front wall was completely destroyed with a military tank resting where it should have been. The condo buildings at the front, called Front Houses, were also destroyed. That's where the main guards' housing was. They never really stayed there except to sleep because they were always on watch.

     To the right of the Front Houses was the community gym. The left wall of the building was on fire, lighting up that side of the community. Other than that it seemed pretty intact to James. Citizens used the gym to workout and to also take lessons with the main guards to better their hand to hand combat. Every citizen was required to take these lessons once a week. Everyone in the community knew how to fight, it was just a matter of how good they were.

     Behind all that were the gathering checkpoints. Guards would normally stand and check everyone's I.D.s before letting them into the large field facing a small stage. Though tonight was different. James remembered that the guards weren't checking everyone's I.D.'s tonight. That should've been a bigger red flag. Now the gathering area was empty except for the Operator's lifeless body sprawled across the stage in a pool of his own blood.

    The sight sent goosebumps up James' arms. He hasn't seen death since before the community and he didn't want to be reminded.

    Beyond the gathering area was the community park. The children would constantly play on the playset while other citizens would just hang out and enjoy the sun. Now, there was no sun. The playground was empty and looked haunting. 'Good thing the raid happened at night. I couldn't bear to see dead children on the playset.' James thought.

    Across from the park was a small shack where James actually worked. He was a tattoo artist and had a great view of the park from his window. Tattoos were very popular around the men in the community, mostly criminals, to make them seem tough. Some women even got one once in a while. The shack seemed to be in perfect shape. James felt the urge to go back to it but there was nothing left for him, other than his equipment and some sketchbooks.

     Behind the shack and park were the two biggest buildings. The cafeteria and hospital. James was on top of the cafeteria roof which was in full tact but was completely crowded inside, full of scared citizens scavenging for food to take. The hospital was also in perfect tact while medics rushed people, who were wounded by the explosion, on stretchers into the building. Some people seemed to be missing limbs. It was a morbid sight that made James sick to his stomach.

    Towards the back of the community, was the other housing. Where everyone else who is a citizen lived. The two condos are usually separated by jobs and two people sharing one room unless they have a family. The medics live on the first floor for easy access out when on call for the hospital. The farmers and hunters are on the second floor because they did the most labor throughout the day and didn't need a lot of stairs to make their bodies even sorer. The third floor is for people with more minor jobs like cooking or serving food and teachers who have school for the community's children in the gathering area.

    The second housing building has a fourth floor for the rest of the people with other jobs like plumbers, clothes makers, electricians, blacksmiths, tattoo artists and so on. James didn't have to share a room with anyone because there's an uneven number of people. The only downside was that he got the smallest room on the floor. It looked like the size of a small college dorm room but instead of a second bed, there were multiple pipes and a huge water heater tank that took up a lot of space. James hated living on the top floor but secretly liked the exercise of going up four flights of stairs every day.

    The backside of the community was the most secluded part. It held the armory, garden, and the officials' houses. The armory was made to look like a small, ordinary home with one bedroom and one bath to throw off raiders. But inside, it's huge with guns and all types of weapons all over. Only certain people were allowed in there. That's the main guards, the Operator and whoever was in charge of keeping inventory. Now people were panicked, running in and out with weapons. 'So much for keeping it secret.' James thought.

    James never believed in the armory so he kept his own weapons hidden in his closet in his room. Surely he would have gotten caught if the guards found it during their monthly search. But James is very intelligent and analyzed who normally searches and where they look. He hides them based on where that guard never looks. He's gotten away with it for almost 2 years.

    A small family and a couple ran through the garden and into the woods to escape the community. Nobody felt safe here anymore. In the very back was the Operator's house and Zara's. The operator had an enormous house that could fit a family of sixty. He was always in it because he worked on community stuff and who knows what all day.

    Zara's house was the most secluded. It was a small house that could be the size of a tiny hotel suite. No one's allowed in it except the main guards, the operator, or Zara herself but James suspects Aaron has snuck in there a couple of nights.

    Snapping his mind back to reality, James decided to go back to his apartment to gather his supplies. He needed to get out of this place fast, just in case, the government comes back. The fact that they disappeared was still weird to James but he pushed the thought to the side and started for the stairs back inside the cafeteria.

A/N

Microsociety: A small community with its own set of rules and laws that have little interaction with others. In the Community's case, no interaction at all.  

I know this chapter was really long but I hope it helped create a picture of what the community looks like. I tried to leave some description of stuff like how the buildings look or how big or small things are for the reader to use their own imagination because we all picture things differently. So yeah, I hoped this chapter wasn't too boring but explained a little more about the community and its citizens.

DM me if you have any questions or ideas! I'm always happy to answer :)

Edit: Also thanks to my friends for fixing any spelling or grammar mistakes! (Don't be shy if u see a mistake just lmk. I won't bite lol)