Down With The Border: A Shadow People Novel

Chapter 4: Out of The Borders

Viviana:

Getting out of The Borders wasn't the part of the plan that I was worried about. Walking to the gate from where I was would take me a while, but once I got there it'd be easy. They let anyone who wants to leave go, as long as they understood that if they returned, a city wide announcement would be put out that you had left the city and possibly came into contact with the Shadow People. The announcement would be put on commercials, computer pop-ups and phone notifications. They would include the persons picture, taken at the gate, their age, and full name. I knew I'd be recognized instantly, since I had to keep my father's last name as part of our deal.

At least if I can't get my father to change his mind I'd ruin his reputation. I can see the headline now. 

Daughter of Anti-Shadow politician seeks out contact with the Shadow People!

I chuckled to myself.

Now that was an argument I'd look forward to. 

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After almost two hours, I was in sight of the gate. The Borders were towering, gray walls with lampposts every 100 feet or so and cameras along with them. The gate itself was a metal door, only big enough for one car to pass through at a time. There was a slight blue computer glow from the window of the small control booth to the left. 

 As I got closer, the height of The Borders almost made me stop in my tracks. Looking to the top, I could see the dark silhouettes of a few guards with loaded guns pacing back and forth. A shiver went down my spine, but I ignored it as I began to close the distance between me and the window.

I looked at my phone. It was 2:14 a.m. 

"Shit." I swore under my breath. I didn't have enough battery to use my flashlight. I'd have to see if they had one. 

Walking up to the gate, I couldn't see anyone in the control booth. I put down my heels and purse to look for a rock to break the glass in the door with. Once I found one, I pulled my arm back, ready to throw it, when I saw the worker sleeping on the floor under his desk. 

I sighed and dropped the rock. Knocking on the door, I looked around the edge of The Borders. From what the small lamppost at the gate showed me, there were a few small houses to the right and the two-lane road leading up to the gate was to the left. Other than that it was basically open land. It was obvious that it wasn't well kept land either. There was litter in most places, the high walls of The Borders were covered in graffiti and everything smelled awful. The stench probably came from the broken booze bottles everywhere and the stains on the walls that I could only assume were piss. 

Trying to ignore how gross The Borders were, I turned my head back to the small office room to see if the worker had heard me knocking. He didn't notice. I knocked again. Nothing. I was starting to get annoyed. I pounded on the door with my fist. 

This time he jumped up and smacked his head on his desk. 

I rolled my eyes at him and walked over to the window. He didn't open it right away, just yawned and looked at me. He was gross. You could tell all he ever did was sit in his booth and eat chips all day. He was in his late 40's at least, had massive 5 o'clock shadow, and he had stains and crumbs all over his shirt. He finally opened the window. 

"I don't think," He smirked as he looked me up and down, "That I ordered a hooker this early in the morning." 

What the fuck? I was getting really annoyed with this guy. 

"I need you to open the gate," I ignored his comment, "And I need a flashlight." 

"Honey, you're gonna need a lot more than a flashlight if you want to go into the Shadow People's territory in the middle of the night."