"Residents of Lower Sector 5.52, it is now 04:00 Solaris. Proceed to Out Sector 4454. Residents of Lower Sector 5.52, it is now 04:00 Solaris. Proceed to Out Sector 4544. Residents –"
Lilac opened her eyes, rubbing away the sleep. Ignoring the robotic female voice, she yawned, blinking away the tears as a cloud of acrid, noxious gas wafted by. She squinted, rubbing away the sting. A face filled her vision, dirty and set with large round brown eyes.
"Mornin' Lilac."
Lilac fell back down. The rustling and crinkling of plastic bags filled the air. "Gah! What the hell?"
Peals of laughter rang through the air. "That expression was priceless! I should do stuff like this more often."
Lilac rubbed her forehead. "For Founder's sake! Why must you wake me up like that?"
The girl, Chickadee, blinked. She looked up at the compacted rubbish that made up the ceiling. "I dunno. I think it's fun. Fun for me."
Lilac sighed.
Chickadee smiled, showing misshapen yellowed teeth.
"Residents of Lower Sector 5.52, it is now -"
The two girls looked at each other before sighing. The incandescent light flickered as its power supply, the chemical river, briefly stopped.
Lilac nodded towards the thick, stained blanket held up by the rusted nails protruding from the walls made of crushed cans. The curtain opening rustled as a light breeze prodded at the stained, brown fabric.
Chickadee frowned as the loudspeakers urged the residents to gather. "Do we have to go?"
Lilac sighed. "You know what happens to Absents. I can deal, but you? You don't stand a chance."
Chickadee froze then nodded. "Yeah. Okay."
Lilac smiled wryly. "Let's go and deal with this daily nonsense."
...
Lilac squinted as the giant holographic camera projected into the predawn sky. Scanning the vague shapes of trash mountains, she saw countless people standing on the slopes and gazing above.
The girl blinked as she felt a tug on her shirt. Looking down, she raised her brows. "What's wrong?"
Chickadee pointed at the holographic camera. Looking up, Lilac examined the floating specks of light making up a giant, round disk. She shivered as she realised that the specks of lights flickered, indicating propellers.
A shiver ran down her spine.
Why? Why did they send drones here in the Outlands? Lilac squinted at the beacon of light that was the city. The sudden waste of resources was absurd. No one spent that much on the Trash. Not unless –
Lilac clenched her fist. She turned her attention to the streams of people gathering in the clearing down below. Nodding to Chickadee, she carefully walked down the trash mountain, grimacing as various objects prodded at her feet.
"Ouch!"
Lilac glanced at Chickadee who shook her foot. "Careful. The sun's not up yet."
Chickadee nodded.
Holding each other's grimy hands, the duo half-ran, half-tumbled down the rubbish slope. They stopped as they ran into the back of another person.
"Hey, watch it!"
Lilac looked away. "Sorry."
Squeezing through the crowd of shivering, stinking people, the duo looked up. More people began filling the concrete square. Soon, everyone packed together as the late arrivals filled up all available space.
YOU ARE READING
Indisposable Trash
Science FictionTime, though seemingly linear, is far from being so. Lilac Mellows thinks she knows all about the time she's spent alive. She knows most of it was spent as Trash Class, the lowest of the low. The only thing stopping her from falling to the depths o...
