Last Chance (3 page)

Connor was a bright, energetic, and opinionated fourteen-year-old. People always mistook Connor for being older than fourteen because of his size. “You must be eighteen by now,” neighbors told him. He was already six feet three inches tall and towered over April. His size got him into trouble at times.

Controlling his emotions was not Connor’s strong suit; he had quite a temper. This temper had gotten him into trouble at school and with April more than once. He wasn’t one to back away from confrontation. Connor’s frustrations clouded his judgment at times, which led him to make bad decisions.

His short blond hair was combed just to the right of his freckled face. He was dressed in the standard school uniform that every student of the time was made to wear. Brown slacks, a red buttoned shirt, and brown ankle boots made up his look. The red shirt symbolized the district they lived in, similar to a high school’s primary colors.

Connor enjoyed changing up his clothes to look like the people he had read about from the 1950s. He tried to turn the bottom of his pants legs up like the bikers from the era, and he even attempted to slick his hair back. This was unacceptable in school, so he would only wear those types of things at home.

“Come on, April,” spouted Connor. “The 1990s are so boring.”

“Yeah, can’t we read some more about the 1960s or 1970s? Those decades are actually interesting,” said Matthew.

“Or even something about the 1950s,” added Connor.

Matthew was also an extremely intelligent, well-spoken, and handsome fourteen-year-old boy. No one would mistake him for an eighteen-year-old, but he was still a good size for his age. A very faint sprinkling of facial hair had started to pop up on Matthew’s face, which didn’t match the lanky legs and thin frame of his body.

Everyone thought that Connor was Matthew’s older sibling, but they were only a couple of days apart in their ages. The extra head of height that Connor had on Matthew helped perpetuate those thoughts.

To talk to Matthew for an extended time, one would forget that he was only fourteen. It was like speaking to a thirty-year-old adult. He was the more timid of the two boys. He had always felt out of place at school, with his peers, and with the girls in his class. Matthew felt most comfortable when he was with Connor and April. It was like being in a family.

While Connor was still wearing his school uniform when April arrived home, Matthew had already changed into his assigned home clothes. Matthew’s skinny legs poked out from the knee-length black shorts he was wearing. He also donned a skintight shirt that he normally wore only while playing ball in the park.

While most people believed that Matthew and Connor were brothers, Connor was the only true blood-son of April. Connor had always been the more confident of the two boys, and Matthew usually followed his lead. Matthew was handed over to April for her to act as his caretaker because Matthew was an orphan. He had been placed with April just a few months after she had given birth to Connor. April treated both of the boys as equals and never showed favoritism to either boy.

Connor and Matthew had a strong bond, regardless of blood relation. Matthew followed Connor’s lead when it came to dealing with social situations and dealing with others their own age. Connor could physically overpower Matthew, but Matthew had the intelligence and emotional maturity to offset Connor’s immature impulses. They made a good team, and whether they would admit it or not, they cared for each other.

While Connor felt that April took Matthew’s side on too many issues, Matthew always doubted whether April could care for him as much as her real son. April never saw the distinction and loved both of her sons as if she had given birth to them. It wasn’t a family of 1984, but it was their family.

“I told you that you could read some more about the mid-1900s next week. You need to finish up the books on the 1990s first,” continued April.

A knock was heard at the door. Two quick knocks, a slight pause, and then another quick knock. April and Matthew made their way to the door and opened it to see one of the complex’s servers with his dinner cart in tow.

“Those boys hungry tonight?” asked the server.

“Oh, I’m sure they’ll clean their plates,” replied April. “Will you be coming back around for seconds?”

The server looked at the checklist he always carried and told April that he doubted it. The complex had been running low on everything the last few weeks. He apologized and went about his route.

Each complex had a number of breakfast and dinner servers that brought around the designated plates to each apartment. The residents ate the prepared meal, based on a predetermined schedule, cleared their plates, and placed them outside their doors for pickup.

This particular meal consisted of a piece of baked ham, processed green beans, cheese pasta, a hard-shelled roll, and to top it off, an energy drink. The energy drink was a combination of flavored water and sweetener. Citizens either ate what was brought or they were stuck eating the limited rations in the apartment kitchen.

There were few options for citizens to buy their own food in Sector 37. Most kitchens had a small stock of drinks, bottled water, and juice. You could find some breakfast bars and snack items, mostly high-protein supplements and chewable tablets. The council did not believe in the distribution of fresh fruit or vegetables beyond those served in the daily meals. A public health issue was how they justified it.

“Sub-meal 16 again,” complained Connor. “I hate ham and beans.”

“It’s better than that casserole stuff we had last night,” replied Matthew.

“True, but I really wanted some zesty chicken or pizza tonight.”

April interrupted. “Sorry boys, pizza and chicken aren’t on the menu for another couple of weeks.”

The three continued to eat their dinners and discussed the day’s events. April told the boys about her day at work and how one of her coworkers had accidently come back from break three minutes late. Luckily, it was his first offense, so he only got a summons to appear before the district council.

“He got lucky. They could have sent him to one of those camps,” said April. “What happened at school today?”

Before the entire question could get out of her mouth, Matthew responded, “Connor was sent to the principal’s office for talking back to Ms. Beatle.”

Connor grunted, “Thanks.”

April frowned and bit back at Connor. “Please tell me you did exactly what the principal told you to do.”

Connor, head dipped and still grunting, responded, “Yes, I always do exactly what I’m told to do by Principal Abbott, just like you told me. He didn’t even try to use his pendant; he just gave me a lecture about not talking back to authority and made me polish his Educator of the Year award.”

“You have to be more careful. If anyone ever finds out that you two are immune to the controllers, we will all be in big trouble. Next thing you’re gonna tell me is you’ve been spouting off about the books I’ve been letting you read.”

A wry smile came back to Connor’s face as he glanced at Matthew. Matthew knew what was about to come and proceeded to tell April of his own mistake. He explained that he had mentioned to a couple of the guys in class that he had some old history books hidden at the apartment.

April raised her hands to her forehead and rested it on the table. She didn’t say anything for a moment. “They didn’t even believe him. They thought he was making things up to impress some chicks,” said Connor.

Matthew interrupted and said, “I can’t just sit there and let them say things that aren’t true in class. The history books that you have us read just don’t make any sense next to what we learn in school.”

April, her head pulled back up from the table, glared at both of the boys and spoke with conviction. “I thought you boys were old enough to understand what I am trying to do for you. The greatest scholars and historians of our time would love to get their hands on the information in those books. It’s the truth of our past, and we have it right in front of us.”

She started to pick up the empty plates from the table and walked toward the front door, but she quickly turned around and with more force behind her voice exclaimed, “If anyone finds out that we have these books, we will get a knock at our door one night and be taken away! Is that what you want?”

Matthew understood the mistake he had made. “Sorry, I just got carried away; it won’t happen again. You can count on us.”

“Both of you go on to your room and get to reading tonight’s lesson and I’ll get dinner cleaned up. And another thing: we aren’t called chicks; it is either girls or women. You’ve got to stop using slang words from those books.”

The boys started to make their way to their room and heard April hand out one more order. “You have three hours before the lights are to be off, so don’t dawdle.”

The boys entered their shared room. It was twelve feet by twelve feet in size, with a bunk bed in the far corner. Connor had the top bunk because Matthew was afraid of heights. Across from the bed, just under the room’s only window, sat an old wood desk with two swivel chairs, one for each boy. This was the hiding spot for the old history books that April presented to the boys every few weeks.

Neither boy knew where the books had come from; April said that it didn’t matter, just that they couldn’t tell anyone they existed. Both boys had been reading about American history from the start of the 1770s revolution up to the late 1900s.

It was so strange for them to read about patriots and civil rights leaders from the past. Everything they had learned in school about history had revolved around the Supreme Leader and the CCWO. It was clear to both of them that history was being altered in the classroom, and they both wanted to know why, but for different reasons.

Before the boys grabbed their books to start reading, Connor popped Matthew a good one in the arm. “That’s for telling about the principal, you prick.”

Matthew responded in kind, without near the pop, and backed away to the desk.

“Sorry, it just kind of slipped out.”

Connor plopped down in his desk chair and shook his head. “I don’t know why she gets so worried about this stuff. Does she really think masked men are going to come in here and take us all away?”

Matthew ignored Connor’s question and said, “It says here that something called the Internet was really popular in the 1990s and people had their own computers at their homes.”

Connor, perplexed, flipped over to the same page. “How did they have computers in their homes back then and we can only use computers at school? It doesn’t make sense.”

Matthew backed up in his desk chair and responded, “It makes sense if you listen to what April has been telling us. We’re living in a time that is totally different from what our ancestors lived in.”

Matthew paused a moment and then explained that he didn’t think the government was set up the same way in the past as it was now. He couldn’t find one thing in the history books about a Supreme Leader or any World Council.

Connor had no problems whipping Matthew in a physical altercation, but he struggled when trying to match his logic. He couldn’t think of a good counterpoint to Matthew’s explanation, so he repeated his standard responses. He reminded Matthew about all of the wars they had read about in the 1920s, 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s.

“They even had one in the 1990s. It was short, but we don’t have people killing each other here for no good reason, and the government takes care of us. Based on what I’ve read, you were just on your own back then.”

Matthew began to argue with Connor, but didn’t see the point. They had disagreed on these books for months and he didn’t want Connor to think that he was trying to outsmart him. Matthew could read and absorb information much faster than Connor, so he backed off.

Matthew continued reading for the next couple of hours about the 1990s. He read about the types of music people liked, the art that was popular at the time, and the clever inventions that were developed. Through the entire lesson, he could only think about what it would have been like to live in those times and why things were so different now.

Connor and Matthew finished up their lesson at 9:45, so they had only fifteen minutes to get ready for bed. It was lights out at 10:00 p.m. for Sector 37. The boys shared a bathroom, so it was always an all-out fight to be the first to use the sink and the toilet. Connor usually won, but for some reason, Matthew had a bit more fire tonight and he outdueled Connor for the sink. As Connor impatiently waited his turn for the bathroom, he decided to bother Matthew with questions that were difficult to answer with toothpaste in your mouth.

“So what are we doing tomorrow for the Day of Rest?”

Matthew responded as he had so many other times to the same question: “Sactor Perk fur some bawll.” Matthew had actually said, “Sector Park for some ball.”

Connor laughed and said, “Sounds good, but you know you’re gonna get your butt kicked again.”

After a moment of loud spitting and gargling, Matthew emerged from the bathroom and jumped into his bed. Connor looked over at him as he entered the bathroom, and Matthew whispered, “We’ll see about that.”

Both boys had been asleep for about an hour when Connor was awakened by a bright light coming through their bedroom window. He poured himself from his bed and made his way to the window. It was unusual to see any lights, besides streetlights, after the 10:00 p.m. curfew. As he reached the window, he looked to the warehouse building that was to the left of their apartment complex. This was one of the only buildings in the area that didn’t look like the others. It was supposed to be torn down a few weeks before, but for some reason, it was still standing.

Connor could see a bright, yellow, pulsating light coming from the top floor of the old building. He could also hear sounds from the window, like a generator being cranked or the spin of a tire on the road.

“What are you doing up? We’re supposed to be in bed.”

“Shut up,” responded Connor, as he intently looked to the old building as the light continued to pop from it. Matthew also fell from his bed and moved to Connor’s side.