Beeep—Beeep.
My eyelids fly open. Soreness from being jostled in the crowd hits me immediately.
Beeep.
Alice is awake beside me. She looks around the room with wide eyes, as if she doesn’t remember how she got here.
Beeep—Beeep—Beeep—Beeep.
Together Alice and I count out each blaring noises of the clock, all up until the seventh and final sound. Then I say, “Good morning,” even though I know it will be anything but. Alice says it back, but she knows it too. Or at least she must understand a little. I filled her in the best I could last night as the clock ticked down to Hour 20:
“I’ve never seen Mother that mad,” Alice whispered. “What happened?”
I smoothed down her hair, reattached a sleep-suction that had fallen astray. “She thinks Asher and Twyla are bad people.”
“But they’re not.”
”I know. But Mother doesn’t understand them like we do.”
Alice sat up in bed. "That’s not fair. We—We’ll bring her! To Residence 34! She’ll have to know that they’re good then, won’t she?”
“It won’t work out like that. Mother . . . she’s not as smart as us.”
“She knows how to sew and things,” Alice countered.
“It’s not the same.”
Alice frowned and lay back down. “I guess so. Hey!” she said suddenly, and pops right back up again. “You saw him today, didn’t you! The Sector-Leader.”
I gulped. “Yeah. I did.”
“What did he look like? Was he handsome? I bet he was handsome.”
“Um. He was . . . well, at least his teeth were . . . oh, alright he was handsome.”
Alice sighed wistfully. “What did he say? Did he mention me?”
“Of course. By name, even. ‘Alice Christine Everett is the fairest maiden in Area 89,’ he said.”
“Oh! What else did he say?”
I shifted uncomfortably under the covers. “That’s the thing, Alice. He said something . . . scary. I’ll tell you now, if you’re ready.”
Her eyebrows furrowed a bit, but she said, “I’m ready.”
“Okay. The Sect0r-Leader said there was . . . something bad in the area. Something that can hurt us.”
“But—But Mother says there’s nothing bad like that anymore.”
“I know, but Sector-Leader Marcus says things are changing. He says that he’s not quite sure, but that there might be a disease going around. A disease, Alice. Do you remember what that means?”
She shrugged. “I think so. People get sick and die, Grammy said. But that’s over now."
“You’re right, it’s over. But—“
YOU ARE READING
Sunshine Yellow
Teen FictionCassandra Everett is happy with her life. After all, with guaranteed protection from all her fears and everything she needs at the push of a button, what could she possibly have to be upset about? But when disease strikes and brings along with it th...
