OVERRIDE

Chapter 26 A Peaceful Dystopia

Subject: Jordan

Location: Outland Woods

Date: December 4th

Time: 7:06 pm

The next morning, Lia and I woke up right as the sun was rising. Lia looked down at the ground, and saw Kara, lying there, motionless. A huge wave of emotions surfaced through her body. She broke down into tears. 

I lifted my head from the end of the bench. "What's a matter?" I muttered, still half asleep.

"I...I just don't know what to do with myself anymore." Lia cried. 

"C'mon, let's go." I exclaimed, getting up. 

"Hold on." Lia cried. She bent down to have one more look at her sister. She kissed her forehead and stuck her hand in her coat pocket, probably to make sure she wasn't carrying anything valuable. 

She pulled out her name bracelet. It was golden, with the letters K-A-R and A engraved on a small nameplate. 

"That's pretty." I said. 

Lia snapped it on her wrist, and inhaled, deeply. "Alright, let's go."

I almost cried myself. I couldn't even begin to imagine how terrible Lia was probably feeling.

We trekked through the woods and finally made it out to the docks by eight in the morning. 

My stomach growled. 

"You hungry?" She asked. I nodded. I pretty much ran off the calories I had consumed within the past three days. 

Suddenly, I heard voices. I turned around and saw an army of men, The Rounds Patrol were coming our way!

"Shoot, Lia, we have to get on a boat like, now!"

Lia turned around and her eyed almost popped out of her head when she saw the men heading our way. We dashed into the gift shop right next to a giant yacht, which was probably used for commercial tourism. 

"Hello?" Lia cried. "Is there anyone here?"

"Oi! What brings you here?" Came the voice of an old man. 

"We need to get to Europe." I called out, looking for this guy. He suddenly appeared at the cash register. He was old, and he wore a navy blue coat with some worn-down dress pants. He had a white beard, and squinted at us weirdly. 

"Oh my gosh!" Lia cried out as she walked over to the register. "Mr. Payl!"

"You know this guy?" I asked, following her.

"Yes! He's our cab driver!"

So that's why she never needed a ride from me; she had her own cab driver.

"So I am." The old man said. "And I'm assuming you're here to get on a boat to get away from Ricky?"

"How did you know?" I asked. Mr. Payl's lips curved upward into a smile. "Your mother knew this was gonna happen one day. She arranged for me to watch you girls."

Lia widened her eyes. "Why didn't you say anything to me earlier?" She asked. 

"Because you would put my whole family in trouble too, if you knew."

"That doesn't make sense."

"Well, life doesn't make sense, kid." said Mr. Payl, grabbing a pair of keys and stepping out of the register. We followed him as he picked up his scarf and wrapped it around his neck.

I then remembered about my burnt skin on the back of my neck. I removed my scarf and looked in the mirror. I could only see the sides of the blazed skin.

"Um, Mr. Payl, sir, would you have anything to help this?" I pointed to the back of my neck. 

Mr. Payl glanced over at me and bit his lip. "Think so." He said, wandering over to a cabinet at the back of the store. He pulled out a bottle of something, and told me to apply it.

"What is it?" I asked, opening the white bottle and dipping my fingers into the clear gel-like medicine. I slowly brushed my hand against my neck, and watched in the mirror as the skin completely healed, only leaving a light scar across my neck. It no longer hurt. 

"Medicince." Grunted Mr. Payl. He walked outside, and down to the docks.

Lia and I followed him, and he led us onto a boat, named the Europa.

"She's about as old as dirt." said Payl, putting the key into the ignition. The small yacht made a whirring noise as it backed out of the dock area. "You're sure you're ready to leave?" Asked Mr. Payl.

Lia nodded. 

"What about 'yer sisters?" he asked, turning the wheel.

Lia bit her lip. "They're...they didn't make it."

"Oh! I'm terribly sorry for asking, young lady." Mr. Payl turned the boat so it faced away from shore. "Why don't you and your friend here go to the back of the boat and watch the waves, Lia, it's pretty serene."

Lia cast a fake smile, but then headed out to the back of the boat. I followed behind her.

She sat down on the deck and let her legs hang underneath the handlebars, off the ship. Her brown boots and black stockings were dirty and ripped. Her black peacoat was mud-stained and her white beanie had some small twigs in it. 

She leaned on the metal handlebars and sighed. I sat down next to her, not as daring to let my feet hang off the ship, and sat criss-cross-applesauce. 

We were silent; watching the land that we once called home disappear. We watched our only world, life, and family shrink smaller and smaller. Everything that we ever knew was gone from us now. We were robbed of our knowelege. 

"I's going to be okay." Lia finally said. "We're going to live and prosper in Europe for the rest of our lives."

"I hope so." I responded. 

"Let it be known, that one person's life can cost many innocent lives." She said. The wind blew her stright black hair up behind her, and she removed her hat. 

"True." I agreed. 

"What this country is about to become is something I wouldn't want to be in." A tear slid down her cheek. "Fear is a power."

"But so is love."  I said. "The power of love almost stopped you from leaving the country."

"Yeah, almost." she sniffed. "But fear was stronger, so we left."

"Maybe it's because fear can control our minds, but love can control our hearts." I gazed at Lia. I will finally admit now, I was in love with her. 

Lia sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. I heard the sound of seagulls so I looked up.

"Lia! Look!" I cried, pointing up at the sky.

Lia looked up. "What?"

"The sky."

"Yeah, what about-" She didn't finish her sentence. "It's so beautiful." She then said.

I finally began to believe that there was hope out there for us; that our lives weren't destined to be emotionally torn apart and ruined. Looking up at that blue sky that I once thought never existed, gave me a new feeling of hope.

And that was the best thing to feel out of anything. 

Hope.

THE END.

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Guys, thanks for reading! I am working on a sequel to this book, and it is called Nullify. You can access it on Wattpad, only I'm very slow with the updates on them.

Thanks so much for reading! Comment your favorite quotes from this chapter, there were so many that I liked! Follow me, I always follow back, and vote!!!!!

~Amanda Flynn