𝐖𝐄 𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐁𝐎𝐑𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐖𝐀𝐘 ~ 𝒄𝒎𝒃

Chapter One: This right here is gonna change your lives

"Zach, pass to me!"

The brown-haired boy throws the walkie talkie we snatched from a guard in my direction, and I jump to catch it. I pass the little device to Christina, who aims it at Jonah. The guard has been chasing us for over an hour, trying to get his property back, in vain. He knows by now we're way too fast for him, and enjoy annoying guards way too much. It's the only fun way to pass time.

"If you don't give me my walkie talkie back now, I'm calling the warders," the guard warns us. We all look at each other, burst out into laughter, but eventually give back the device.

He snatches the machine out of Jonah's hand with a furious expression on his face, making us laugh even harder. "This really is the last time you're messing with my stuff." He gives us a last look, and then stammers away.

"We'll see about that," Christina calls after him. we all look at each other, and start cracking up again.

"Well, that was fun," Zach declared.

"You should've seen his face when he realized we snatched his walkie talkie again. He turned pale, then bright red, and then pale again. It was hilarious," I add.

"Good team work I would say." Jonah chuckled while giving the rest of us a high-five.

When you live in a place like this, having friends is the key to making life a little more enjoyable. Christina, Jonah, Zach and I grew up together in the dome, and have never spent a day apart. You'll never catch us without each other, the four of us are inseparable. We're basically family.

In our town, criminals, lawbreakers and malefactors  are put in the dome. There's no escape possible, you'll stay there for the rest of your life. In this way, they keep all the 'bad' away from the town. So, every person who does something against the law, gets put in here.

Of course the people in here can still have children, so that's how we ended up in here. Our parents got us, we were born and have to live here until we die.

Zachary Herron's parents were bank robbers. They broke into every bank in the state, held thousands of hostages and earned millions of dollars. That was until they got caught, and were put in the dome.

Christina Marie's father was the most infamous drug dealer of the country. Every drug you can possibly think of, he was making and selling. Until they found him and put him in the dome.

Jonah Marais' parents were tired of working and decided to start falsifying money. They got incredibly rich, until people found out and they got arrested, and surprise surprise, were put in the dome.

And then you have me. Eliza Clark, but everybody calls me Liz. Daughter of the biggest criminal in the country. My mother was the most wanted serial killer of her generation. She made hundreds of people disappear, took their lives and got away with it for years. Until she finally got caught as well, and ended up in the dome.

Life in here is tough. We barely have any money, and just try to stay alive. After all, this place is filled with criminals, who don't mind disabling someone if it's beneficial for their own life.

Without my friends, I would go nuts in here. We've all never been outside the dome, not once in our whole entire life. Secretly, I've always wondered how it would be outside of this place, where people actually get the chances to go to school, study something and live their lives. Chances we don't have. But then I remember who I am, and what I'm not, and realize I would never, ever fit in there.

"Liz! Where the hell are you?" I can already hear the familiar voice from afar. A voice scaring everything away closer than a mile. My mother.

"I'm here." I sigh deeply. My mom needing me is never a good thing. The only times she needs me is when she wants me to steal something, or burn something down. Otherwise, I don't exist to her. Welcome to my life.

"Get your ass to the hovel, and take your little friends with you," I hear her yelling. Christina and I look surprised at each other, as Jonah and Zach do the same. My mother hates me having friends, she thinks it's making me weak. The truth is, without them I wouldn't survive in here.

"Come on, let's go, before she loses her temper. We all now what happens when things don't go as her liking." I roll my eyes.

We rush to our hovel, the most hideous living space you will ever see in your live. It's dirty, cold and simply not made to live in. The sad thing is it's one of the better hovels in the dome, so that says enough about how we live here.

We go inside, and see all of our parents sitting around a table. I almost choke at that sight, what the hell is going on here? Our parents, together in one hovel, at one table?

"Sit down. We have news," my mother demands.

We all do what she says, because that's what you do when she asks you something. "What's wrong?" I dare to ask.

"Shut up and listen to me." My mother raises her hand, showing me she wouldn't mind hitting me to make me shut my mouth, but what can I say. She's a criminal after all.

Christina's father gets an envelope out of the pocket of his worn jacket, and throws it on the table. We all immediately look at it, because if this letter is the reason for our parents to gather up, it must be special.

Before I can pick it up and open it, my mother smashes the envelope out of my hands and gives me a destructive look. Sighing deeply I sit back on my chair, waiting until we finally get to hear why we're here.

"This right here is gonna change your lives. and ours," my mother declared. We all look confused at each other, having no clue what's going on.

"This is a letter from the major of our town. They decided to give four children of the dome a chance at better lives. Those four children get to live outside of the dome, attend school and prove they're worth being part of society," she continued.

The four of us look at each other again, this time with different face expressions. Frightened ones.

"Please don't tell me.." I start, but my mother cuts me off.

"They chose you four. Tomorrow, you'll move out of the dome and start a new life. Outside."

No way.