Conviction

The stench of gas in the air. The sky dark with clouds and smoke. Everyone wore a gas mask of some kind. It wasn't really a requirement; it was more of a thing you did if you didn't want to die from inhaling too much smoke. The pollution was so bad, that even the air workers gave up on trying to fix the problem. It made winters in Ayrith extra cold and summers extremely hot. The clouds rarely cleared up, and when it did it was a miracle.

The city was small, smaller than the ones recorded in their history. Everyone knew each other - it was impossible not to. There wasn't much trouble in Ayrith. It was pretty controlled. But there were the obvious outliers.

Jen wanted to be one of those outliers. He was waiting for a perfect chance. Just a kid who lived next to the dumps, wanting the chance to finally get out of the stinking city.

Jen was skating down the street one day, delivering mail as he always did. He had his earbuds in, listening to music. Music wasn't a common thing anymore. Most of the music that was given to the public was from one or two centuries ago. Jen treasured music, more than most of his belongings. It was something that gave him hope.

Jen stopped by the markets. It was the middle of the day, and he was hungry. He glided through the market on his roller blades, browsing the food. The food that was grown in the greenhouses was the little color this world got. He paused by a fruit stand and looked over what was available.

"Hey, Jen," the vender said. "How's it goin today?"

Jen took the earbuds from his ears and put them in his pocket. "Pretty good, Aada. How about you?" he said, looking at some apples.

Aada shrugged. "Same old, same old." She picked up an apple and looked over it. "The greenhouse workers haven't found a way to keep the apples a bit more resistant to the toxic air."

Jen shrugged and pulled out a sack. He began filling it with apples. "I don't really mind. Just so long as they don't start rotting again, it's fine with me."

Aada chuckled a bit. "Well it is food."

Jen nodded. He handed her a few coins.

"Have a good rest of your day, Jen. I'll see you tomorrow," she said. Aada waved to Jen as he skated away to the rest of the market. He went and bought some bread and cheese before heading off to the edge of the city.

The edge of the city was where the ruins of buildings that couldn't be maintained lay. He liked this part of the city because it was quiet. There weren't many officers watching the border, so he could sit and eat his lunch in peace. Although he was alone, it didn't necessarily mean he wasn't being watched. Drones came around this area every 5 minutes. There were hidden cameras in most areas, keeping an eye on the citizens. There were officers on the borders near more populated areas, and some officers around the governmental office.

Jen had bought some apples and some bread and cheese. Enough for him, enough for his sister when he got home later in the day. He sat on an old stone wall and looked out into the fog. No one knew what was beyond the fences. No one has ever taken a chance to go anywhere outside of the city limits, for fear that there was nothing. And nobody ever managed to get out successfully. Escape attempts usually resulted in execution, as most crimes did.

Jen let out a long sigh. He'd always wondered what was outside of the city. Ever since he was younger. No one liked to talk about the hypothetical situation that there could be something outside. The only person he could talk about it with was his older sister. She listened, but she didn't share the same interest in what was outside of the city. She believed nothing was out there and called it a day. But she was willing to listen to him whenever he went on long talks about it.