And What Do You Want?

Chapter 1

I squinted at Dreck, whose eyes were always focused and stared straight ahead, until they lost their point and starting looking around, lost in thought. The roar of the highway made it hard to talk, and the vicious wind made it hard to see. Especially when I had forgotten my protective gear. My fiery red hair was flowing behind me, tossing and turning as the wind made it tangle together. I let go of the motorbike handle with one hand and steadied myself before reaching up and rubbing my eyes. I always thought the my eyes were the most attractive part of me. They were a bright amber colour, flicks of gold and emerald danced in them. The thing I liked the most about them was that every time I looked at my eyes they always seemed different. They were unique. Heterochromia iridum. Never the same. Different. I shook the thought out of my head and yelled against the wind to Dreck.
"Happy birthday you big ass."
He stared back at me with his piercing blue eyes, even from underneath his riding goggles it felt as if they were digging into you.
"Thanks." he muttered, then trained his eyes to the front again, where the truck ahead was speeding up.
"So, you're 82 - any birthday wishes?" I asked carefully before running a hand through my hair.
"That I'll never reach 1." Dreck answered, without even thinking about it. I nodded quickly then looked forward, our exit was coming up. A different roar sounded behind us and I groaned, tightening my grip on the handles of my motorbike. I peeked a glance back at them and saw their line of glossy black motorbikes with their logo on it. All of them had the same expression - bored but cruel. They moved identically and never made a movement that wasn't necessary.
"It's the Peacemaker's. Can we take the next exit?" I shouted to Dreck who was already veering into my lane, before making a sharp turn. I followed him and kept my head down. Hopefully they wouldn't notice me. It was against the law to go riding without your gear, and was punishable by three nights in jail. They also had to stamp Dreck, notifying that his 18th year was up - 82 years to go.
The government thought that after you had your 100 years of life it would be easier for you and your family if you knew when you were dying, and you died peacefully. They shut you down. Of course if you were still healthy to live for a few more years after 100 they didn't care. They wanted our system to be fair. Many people tried to escape the system before - purposely crashing their cars into walls or buying a gun from the black market but it never worked. They just rebooted you up and made you live until 100. And we couldn't do anything.
Dreck swerved to the side of the road, and I did the same - the trees on the side gave us enough camouflage. I breathed a sigh of relief as the Peacemakers passed us, but my breath got caught in my throat as one of them looked directly at me, wisps of her bright red hair running out from her helmet. Her goggles were clear, like all Peacemakers, and her green eyes narrowed at me. She opened her mouth to say something to the others but she closed her mouth again and simply wagged a finger at me before continuing on with the group.
Dreck stared at the highway where all of the vehicles were still rushing through and shook his head as he took his helmet off, his black hair irresistibly tousled.
"What. Was. That?" he breathed in amazement and laughed, wrapping an arm around my waist.
"I have no idea."

We made our way to Dreck's house, which was decorated with a single black balloon hanging on their mailbox, and a glossy black motorbike was parked outside. I bit my lip as Dreck groaned and led me inside. His mum greeted us with a strained smile, her tired blue eyes darted everywhere.
"A Peacemaker is here to wish you happy birthday and to stamp your life sheet." Amanda said brightly, but her voice was tense. Dreck nodded and thanked his mum by kissing her on the cheek. We walked in to the main room and let out a little gasp. Her helmet and riding goggles were placed to one side, a steaming cup of tea was in her hands. She had flowing bright red hair and small cat-like green eyes. She raised her eyebrows at both of us and her smile turned into a little smirk.
"Hello Dreck, I'm 8371. Do you have your life sheet with you?" Her voice was a little high for a girl, but it demanded authority. Dreck nodded and unfolded a little sheet of paper which he took out from his shoes. 8371 wrinkled her nose a little bit but gave him a big smile, winking at him. Was she trying to hit on him? I stifled a giggle which was silenced by the Peacemaker's glare.
"Congratulations on reaching 82! Here is a present from your loyal and loving government." She chirped, before handing over a small envelope with the official stamp on it was produced from her large white jacket. Dreck nodded politely and murmured a 'thank-you' before stuffing it into his own leather jacket. 8371 then got a small knife from her other pocket and cut her pinky finger, using her thumb to spread the blood around before stamping the finger onto Dreck's life sheet. It faded into the paper slowly, but was still a magnificent bright red colour, similar to her hair. Then, she turned to me with a subtle look of distaste.
"You didn't have your riding gear on Miss Brennan. That could result in you spending 3 days and 2 nights in our Government Jail," she barked, shaking her head with mock disappointment. "But because it is your boyfriend's 82nd birthday today I am willing to overlook this matter. Next time you won't be as lucky."
I rolled my eyes and raised my eyebrows to Dreck, whose eyes were devouring the envelope which was still unopened. 8371 gave Dreck a flirty smile and flipped her hair before thanking Amanda for her hospitality. I glared at the back of her, hating her long luscious locks and her perfect body which shimmied when she walked.
"Open the envelope honey." His mother pressed gently, before sweeping up 8371's cup and placing it delicately in the dishwasher. Dreck tore into it and produced three crisp one-thousand dollar notes and a small pink pill which was wrapped in a bit of plastic.
"It's for calming me down - I'll get one every fortnight." Dreck whispered and quickly stuffed the pill into his pocket. We already received three different pills, the pink one being the fourth. The first one was given the day he was born - it was light blue and it was to fight off any disease that we had. Then, when we turned ten we got a green one which was supposed to be able to make us happier. More trusting to our government. This allowed there to be fewer riots from the 10's and lower. At fifteen we received two yellow ones. I wasn't quite sure what the yellow ones did, all I knew was that whenever people had it, they seemed more distant, just... different.