Gina glanced down the deserted street, lit only by the abnormally large eyes of the Watchers, the metal giving off a strange, ghoulish light. Gina shivered as she imagined what her fate would be if she were caught. Nothing wished on any human, she thought bitterly, then chided herself. The Watchers aren't human, that's why they stand above us. Us and all the Working Class. Bile rose in her throat. She swallowed it down and shifted her bag onto her other shoulder, setting off down the street, her shoes clacking loudly on the polished concrete. Too loudly for her liking. She quickened her pace, making for the end of the lane, keeping to the shadows, like she had all her life.
She rounded the corner into the main road. Immediately, she shrank back against the wall, as a Carrier trundled by. The operator didn't see her, his earbuds pressed into his ears, eyes glued to the road ahead. She continued. Rain started to drizzle lazily, trickling down the back of her neck. In minutes she was shivering, her hood pulled up so only her bright green eyes were visible underneath. The blackness of her hood made her blend into the shadows better, shielding her auburn head from view. She wove her way through the streets, keeping her eyes low. She had camouflaged herself as a Scavenger, the lowest of the low, nobody should trouble her. Unless with good reason. A pair of polished boots came into her vision. Her breath caught in her throat, she froze. The smell of cheap spirits wafted over her face as a member of the Working Class bent to look at her, before shoving her aside, and continuing his drunken walk. Gina released a breath, not realising she had been holding it. She kept going.
Dawn was beginning to show itself over the rooftops when she reached the boundary. This was the bit she had been dreading. Please, please, please let me have missed the patrol, she begged silently, please please plea-
Her hopes were shattered as she heard the familiar heavy footsteps clumping along the track. There was no choice but to run for the boundary, to the outside the city. So why wasn't she running? Come on, come on, she willed her legs, but they wouldn't move, locked in fear. The footsteps came closer, she could hear the clatter of the machine rifles against their suits as they walked. Finally her legs were once again under her control and she sprinted for the fence, hair whipping behind her. Five Rangers' heads turned, their hands reaching for their guns, but Gina was already climbing the fence, jumping off the top and landing heavily on the other side, just as the first bullets started to fire. She got up and ran until she reached an overturned truck and dived behind it, out of view of the Rangers mechanical vision. The patrol carried on, as she had left the city boundaries, so she was no business of theirs. She would be a small blip on their otherwise flawless report, soon to be wiped away.
Gina peeped behind the truck, watching them turn round the corner, out of sight. She sighed, now exhausted, collapsing against the back of the truck. The invisible force field surrounding the city didn't keep people in, it kept people out, the ones who had been able to escape the city and were now trying to re-enter. They were the outcasts, even lower than the Scavengers. And I'm one of them, Gina realised. Any one who tried to escape the city and was caught was killed, or culled, as the Authority called it, their way of rooting out desertion and treason. The bile rose in Gina's throat again, and again she swallowed it down. She had to continue, otherwise she would never find the base. Groaning, Gina pulled herself up and trudged on, the city disappearing in a new morning haze behind her.
