Beyond The Gates

Chpt. 1.

1.

~ 12 years ago...

"Momma!" I yelled, "Can I go play ball with the other kids, please Momma, please!"

"Sylvana, not today honey." My mother replied, she said the same thing everytime I asked.

"Well... When Momma?" I questioned.

"Someday honey, someday. " She replied and grabbed my hand.

~ Present day...

We lived in a small beat up house, far away from where all the other kids lived. I was 5 at the time and my mother would never let me out of the house to play with the other kids, ever. Even if she said tomorrow she would.

I never understood why she kept the outside world from me, until she died. My mother died on Febuary 17th, 4024. I was upset but not completly. The day after she had passed I could finally be able to see what happened around me.

I just walked and walked until I saw buildings as tall as the sky. The air was warm and the sky was blue. Back at home the sky was covered by trees. There was other humans, and lots of them. They wore nice clothes. Almost all of the woman dressed in what looked like work clothing, and then men in a suit and tie.

I felt so out of place dressed in my jeans and a t shirt. I contiued to walk through this amazing place. I was so distracted that I ran into another girl, who looked about my age.

"Oh gosh, im very sorry." I said.

"Oh no its fine, im not in a hurry anyway. Who are you? I havent seen you around." The girl asked me.

"Oh im Sylvana Woodlock. I live kinda far from here." I said.

"Do you want to get some coffee and talk," She laughed, "My name's Aloni Greenwood, but I go by Alo."

"Yeah sure, I could use a cup of that!" I said, chucking.

She lead me to a small coffee shop around town. We ordered and sat down.

"So what's your story?" She asked.

"My story?" I questioned back.

"Yeah, like your life story I guess," she said laughing.

"Oh well ever since I was a child my mother kept me away from the world and never let me out of the house alone. She just passed away yesterday. But this is my first time ever coming here." I said.

"Oh no! Im sorry! Are you okay?" She said.

"Yeah I'm fine," I laughed just to give her a little reassurance, "but like how do things work around here like government wise?" I asked.

"Well you see, everyone is put into there own Frat. A Frat is the social group you belong in. We are in Frat 1 right now, which is the highest Frat." She said.

"Oh," I said, "Well what are the others like?" I asked.

"Frat 2 is where, what you would say, the 'middle class' is. Frat 3 is the next and they are basically the bottom. But if you can't even make it in Frat 3 the. you become Fratless or basically homeless." She spoke softly, carefully explaining each detail.

"Well how do they know which one you belong in?" I asked.

"The government does a test each Quarter. You are tested on how smart you are. Not only is it how smart you are but we also fight in a war each Quarter against the other Conqueers which are the other society's around the world, which is why they also test you on your war combat but that's mostly for the men." She said.

"Oh wow, well how did I get in this Frat?" I wondered, because I never thought I was that smart.

"You were probably born in, just like me." She said with a smile.

"Is there anything else?" I asked.

"Yes, one more important detail. If you're in Frat 3 and you want to be in Frat 1, you must kill someone in Frat 1 to prove you are army worthy." She said. And within seconds of her saying that, a gun shot had been fired.