We Are All Strangers (6 page)

This would be a new beginning, a chance to start over, something we hadn’t been given after the Outbreak.

Carefully closing the door, I crept outside to where my father waited.

We’d lived in a special housing unit within the Sector, a stretch of apartments given to residents that Palin, Troum’s assistant, found capable of obeying Sector rules. It was their way of making it seem as though they cared about us - by allowing families to remain together so long as each member did as they were told.

“I’ll be glad to never see this place again,” I whispered, resting my hand against the concrete wall.

My father snickered from beside me. “That makes two of us.”

We only had a slim timeframe to escape through the opening undetected. Guards would be by soon for inspection. If they found us, that was it, there would be no leaving.

“Follow me,” I said, moving in front of my father.

I saw him roll his eyes and smile. “You remind me of her so much, Ana.”

My mother was a strong woman.

Not only had she sacrificed her life to protect mine, but she had taught me to love in a world where love seemed to have been vanquished.

Her affection and my father’s strength helped to make me into the young woman I was today. Without them, I highly doubted that I would have made it this far.

The Outbreak took a toll on all of us, and those that were too weak to go on, to find comfort in the unknown, succumbed to death.

My sister’s death had been early on after the Outbreak.

Whatever it was – whatever virus had overtaken the country – she had managed to get it.

She was so young, and so scared, and all we could do was sit by and watch as it consumed every last bit of her body until her heart finally stopped beating.

The day that Angela died was easily one of the worst days of my life. And the pain from that day forward had only grown worse as the Outbreak destroyed everything.

But all of that was nothing compared to my mother’s execution.

At the age of seventeen, residents were expected to take up a position within the guard. Girls, however, were given two options: either join the guard, or join the clinic.

My mother refused to allow me to do either, desperate to protect me, having already lost one child. And it was her refusal that led to her death and our relocation to the Widowed Sector since we were no longer of use to the Family Sector.

Troum tried to tell us that she was a hazard to our world, a danger - something which she wasn’t. My mother was a caring woman. Her actions that day proved as much. She died because she loved me too much to bear the thought of me becoming nothing more than an extension of Troum.

That was the first time that I questioned his actions.

I had an idea of what our lives would be like upon being relocated to the Widowed Sector. But it was just that, an idea, nowhere near close to what my reality actually was.

Troum had made promises, and like a fool, we had believed in them. What else did we have to believe in? It wasn’t until we were face to face with the lies, and the pain that we saw the truth, and by then, we had already lost so much.

It was impossible to fight – there was nothing left to fight for.

Until she came around.

We moved quietly, sticking to the shadows along the buildings. Sneaking out of the Sectors could result in death if caught, and I wasn’t ready to die just yet, especially when I had yet to live.

“Do you remember where the opening is?” I kept my voice low as I turned to face my father. He pointed up ahead. The wall was covered with thinning bushes and mounds of rocks. Behind it all, there was an opening wide enough for an adult to fit through without trouble.

We wouldn’t have known it existed, just as I was sure the others failed to acknowledge its existence, had it not been for my spying. I was standing near my bedroom window, my hand holding the torn curtain back so that I could gaze up at the night sky, when I spotted something moving near the back wall, lingering in the shadows.

They were dressed in black clothing, their weapons strung across their chests as if preparing for battle. I probably should have been concerned about that, but my focus was solely on their method of exiting the Sector.

I didn’t know what stood on the other side of the wall, nor did I care.

What mattered was that there was a way out.

I glanced up at the tablets lining the Sector. Her image was plastered on each one. Her red hair shone like fire, her eyes, a vivid shade of green, gave me hope – that maybe, just maybe there was a chance that the world hadn’t died out around us.

There had to be more people outside of this state.
There had to be.

“Ten years,” my father sighed. “Do you remember what life was like before the Sectors?”

“Yes.” At times, it was hard to remember that the life I’d lived before the Sectors wasn’t just a dream and that our old world had, in-fact, existed. And then the Outbreak came, and the world went to complete shit.

I remember the day that we were forced to leave our home.

One minute I was sitting on my bed, talking to my best friend on the phone, and then the phone went dead, and the world fell silent.

But the silence didn’t last long.

Screams filled the air shortly after. No one knew what was going on, and that only added to the chaos. Everyone was desperate for answers, but we never got them.

All we knew was that we were on our own.

My parents led us to an abandoned building not too far from our house.

The concrete walls, fully encompassed of vines, provided a temporary security from the unknown. But Temporary wasn’t forever, and when the time came for us to leave in search of a new home, we found ourselves constantly on the verge of death.

Desperation had the ability to drive a person mad, that was something that the Outbreak had taught me. We all liked to believe that we would never hurt another human being, but when it came down to survival, morals no longer existed.

“Do you think things have gotten better since then?”

Based on the solemn look on his face, I could tell that my father wasn’t sure. “I don’t know what we’re going to face once we leave this Sector, Ana, but that is a chance I’m willing to take. The question is, are you?”

“More than ever.” For the first time in what felt like forever, a smile crept upon my lips. A real, genuine smile.

I’d forgotten what it had felt like to be happy, to feel excitement, but I knew know that this is what I’d wanted. This is what my mother would have wanted for us. She wouldn’t have wanted me to live in this Sector as a servant. She wanted me to have so much more.

Sure, it would have been safer to standby and allow Troum and Palin to continue to rule my life, but that would have only resulted in a life of regret, and I was too young for that.

I needed to live, to feel free, and to love. I needed to know what the world held outside of this state, and this was my chance.

I reached for my father’s hand and led us to the bushes, careful to move quickly and silently. The opening was approximately five-feet-tall and close to seven-feet-wide. Had the bushes not been in the way, it definitely would have been visible.

We’d had people try to escape the Sectors before only to have been executed, but it had been some time since the last escapee. Troum had become far too comfortable in our faith in him. He had no reason to worry in his eyes. If he had, this opening wouldn’t still be here.

“His ego will be his downfall,” I mumbled.

“My bet is on the young girl,” my father smirked, releasing my hand.

He waited for me to enter the opening first, staying behind me to keep an eye on the Sector, making sure that we weren’t being followed. When I made it safely to the other side of the wall, he slipped through the opening and moved in beside me.

We stood in awe for a moment, admiring the world we’d left behind ten years ago.

Troum had told us that the world outside of the Sectors was where people went to die. And for the longest time, I had believed him – we all had. But seeing was believing, and the world that sat before me was home, not hell.

“We need to get going,” my father said, struggling to collect himself. He grabbed a hold of my hand and pulled me along beside him. “We’ve made it too far to get caught now, Ana. We need to go. The guards are still out searching for her.”

I glanced over at him and took note of the smile plastered on his face. It was the first time I’d seen him smile since her murder. He was a strong man, a loving man, and he did everything that he could for me, but when it came down to it, he missed her. It was hard on him. He found a way to survive, to go on day in and day out, but something was always missing: hope.

He’d lost all hope after her murder.

If she couldn’t protect us, if she couldn’t stand against Troum successfully, how was he supposed to? I knew that he wanted more for me, he’d told me so himself, but I also knew he feared what would happen if he fought back. I couldn’t lose him, too.

“Thank you,” the words slipped out of my mouth as we crept through the canopy of trees ahead. “For doing your best.”

“I know I wasn’t as strong or courageous as your mother,” my father’s voice grew shaky, “but it was only because I didn’t want you to have to suffer on your own. I couldn’t bear the thought of you being forced to have to constantly battle for your survival in the Homeless Sector had they murdered me too. You deserved so much more than I was able to give you, but I tried my hardest, Ana. I tried-“

His words were drowned out by the blaring of the sirens.

Boots slammed against the dirt floor, each step heavy with purpose.

My first instinct was to run, but my father stopped me, his hand wrapping firmly around my forearm. “You know just as well as I do that the guards will take us in with a Kill Order if they find us. We need to return home.”

I nodded solemnly. What other choice did we have?

Hovercopters began to swarm the night sky causing the winds to pick up below, the air forcing the dirt to beat against us as we made our way back home.

A guard passed by us dressed in typical black attire, his rifle ready in his grasp.

“Stay low,” my father urged, pulling me down beside him.

A tall figure appeared near the edge of the Sector. I watched silently as it moved closer towards the guard. The moon shone down over the Sector, illuminating her blonde hair. She stopped mere inches from the boy. “Has it been set?”

The guard nodded in response. “Yes, Ma’am. Troum said to let you know that everything is set for tomorrow after noon. Residents will be ushered to the beach via the Hovercopters tomorrow.”

“Then it is settled.”

T
he sirens had awoken most of the residents within the Sector, which made it easier for us to sneak back inside of our apartment. As soon as I closed the door behind me, my father began pacing the front room. “He’s up to something,” he said, pressing his finger to his bottom lip.

“What do you think it is?” I questioned.

“I’m not entirely sure.” He took a seat on the lone wooden chair that sat near the back of the small front room. “But I can only imagine that whatever it is that Troum has planned is nothing good for us. He’s desperate, worried that she has the power to take him down, and he isn’t going to go down without a fight.”

We knew that all too well.

He’d showcased as much when it came to my mother.

She protested, and he issued a Kill Order for her – signing off on her murder.

“So what do we do? How do we protect ourselves from the unknown?”

My father mulled over my words for a moment before answering, “We fight, just as we did during the Outbreak.”

It sounded simple enough, but I knew better than to believe that.

A knock sounded at the front door, alarming both me and my father.
What do we do?
I mouthed. He signaled for me to stay put as he made his way over to the front door. He lowered his head briefly, taking a deep breath before he opened the front door. “Hello, Sir. How may I help you tonight?”

The guard pushed past my father, allowing himself into the front room. “Good evening,” his voice was stern, almost robotic. “I am here tonight to deliver an important message from our savior, Troum.”

“Go on,” my father said, nodding.

“There will be a mandatory evacuation tomorrow. We have reason to believe that the ocean may impose a threat upon the Sectors. In order to ensure that residents are safe, Troum will be relocating residents to a safe location. Be at the gate at 10 AM tomorrow morning. The Hovercopters will be waiting to usher all residents to safety.”

We thanked the guard for his time before he let himself out, preparing to visit another residence.

“How would they know?” My father was talking to himself, eager to make sense of the guard’s words. “It’s impossible!”

One of the traits my father had developed during his time as a reporter was that he tended to talk to himself when he was struggling to piece together a story.

I leaned against the wall, my hands crossed at my waist. “What do you mean?”