Interaction [Dreamnotfound]

9 | Run

George's blinds were closed, but he could tell it was dark outside.

It must have been around midnight, he figured, which meant he had one hour before his set bedtime. As if on cue, his wristband buzzed with a reminder. A small clock showed on the screen.

George dismissed the warning, sighing, and closed his laptop. He had been struggling to fix the coding issue for a few more hours, stopping briefly to eat a quick dinner, and yet hadn't come any closer to solving the problem. From what he'd seen, nobody else had figured it out either.

George shook his head. It was so confusing. How could this problem even exist? It didn't make sense, the solution was nowhere in sight...

Well, he'd try again tomorrow. For now, George didn't really know what to do. He could call his family- no, he couldn't. That would be way too risky with all the government knew.

George sat in silence for a good 15 minutes.

It was then that his phone rang.

It scared George half to death. He leapt up with an agonized screech, then fell back on the bed, moderately embarrassed at what had just occurred.

The steady beeping of his phone continued.

Exasperated, George grabbed his phone. Fear lit a flame in his heart. Who was calling him? Could they have found him? Did they know?

But how? No, it must be something else.

Then what?
Hesitantly, George brought the phone to his ear, swiping up to accept the call. "Status: citizen, Number: 135," he said as firmly as he could into the phone.

"George?"
He knew that voice.

"D-Dad?"

"Yeah!"
Relief sparked through him. It wasn't the government, they hadn't found him... he was safe.

And then he realized.

"Dad- dad, you need to get off the call-"
His Dad wasn't listening. "George, they took her away- they took her away, and I don't know where she is. George, listen to me!"
Fear sparked once more through George's heart. "No, Dad! You- you have to leave, you don't understand-"
"They took her away, George!" His Dad was practically screaming. "They took your mother away!"

That stopped George in his tracks. "Wha- what?"
So that was who had been at the door. The government.

And they had took his mother away.

"I don't know, George. They said it's because of separation - even though we were legally married before all this hocus pocus about not having interactions started-"

George shook his head, trying to clear his mind. "It doesn't matter, Dad. You need to leave, now-"

George's Dad interrupted. "I don't know what to do, George!"
George's mind had gone blank with fear. His heart was pounding out of his chest, and he couldn't breathe.

"Dad, the announcement! They know we're in London, they know everything, you need to get off the call, you need to get off-"
He was interrupted once more by a loud pounding at the door. But not his door.

His Dads.

~tw, panic attack (you can skip to the "tw over" up ahead)~

"George- there's someone here, hold on-"
George's vision went white. He couldn't see. He couldn't breathe.

No. No.

"Dad!" George practically screamed, desperation clawing at his throat. No, this couldn't be happening. It wasn't happening. He was dreaming. This was all just a bad dream.

And then he heard the door open, his Dad talking-

And a yell.

"DAD!"

The phone presumably had dropped to the floor, because all George could hear was static and scuffling. A bright red light emitting from his phone forced him to briefly close his eyes, before holding his phone in front of him to see what was happening.

Call recording.

"George? George, I can't-"
His Dad's voice was interrupted by a loud crash, followed by steady thumps.

Then noise. Noise on the line.

"Who is this?"
A uniform voice, one he knew too well.

The voice of a government instructor.

George felt numb. He couldn't see. He felt as though he was blind.

He hung up the phone.

The red light flashed off.

George couldn't breathe. His vision was white. They had taken her. They knew who he was.

He wasn't aware he had curled up into a ball, tears running down his cheeks, gasping for air.

He didn't know what to do.

His head started to pound. His vision blurred into unrecognizable lines. He felt the tears on his cheeks. They felt so cold.

So cold.

The world started to spin, but maybe that was because he had fallen over, he didn't know. He couldn't hear. A blur of sound and spinning distortion revolved around him.

Make it stop.

He squeezed his eyes shut, the world plunging into darkness. He couldn't see, couldn't think-

No. He couldn't go out like this.

~tw over~

His head slowly cleared.

He could hear beeping. Loud beeping.

His heart rate monitor was going crazy.

He took a deep breath.

They would be coming for him.

He couldn't think straight, but it was gonna be ok. It had to be ok.

Slowly, George's heart rate fell. His wristband stopped beeping.

He had to leave. If they had already found his Dad, just from that short call...

They would be here any second.

George leapt to his feet, sending his head spinning, but ignored it. He rushed to his desk. What to bring what to bring-

Grabbing his pc, George wrenched open the closet doors and grabbed a spare backpack. His bag from when he had gone to school, back when interactions with others were permitted.

He didn't know why he had kept it, but at least it was useful now.

Hesitating, George dropped his computer in the bag. It would slow him down, but it could be useful.

He had no clue where he was going to go, but he had to leave. Now.

Running over to his window, George breathlessly pressed his face up against it. He couldn't see any sleekmobiles, but they could be there any minute. He knew that.

He walked to the door. He walked out of the door. He locked the door behind him. He walked down the stairs.

His mind felt numb.

He left his flat, left everything, left his life behind.

He walked out onto the street behind his flat.

He started running.

Tears started flowing.

He didn't look back.