Shun

"Sarah!" The little girl came running towards me from the direction of where the fence was. I knelt down in front of her and asked, "Where were you?" She had that guilty look on her face that told me she knew that she did something that she wasn't supposed to. "I was playing near the fence," she said sheepishly while giving me a big eyed and innocent look.

I sighed, unable to stay made at her when she did that face. "You know you're not supposed to go near that fence. Something could have happened to you, and then how would I explain that to Mrs. Christina?" Sarah held her head down and mumbled, "You're right."

I smiled and patted her on her small back. "Now, you get going back home." She nodded her head and ran off behind me. I sighed, and looked over at where the fence was. I could see the dim lights of oil lamps burning in windows. Several of them cut off at once, signaling that people the inhabited the house were turning in for the night.

I could just barely make out the shapes of Officials walking the perimeter of the fence. That was the City and all of its glory. I didn't even bother to continue to stare at what none of us could ever have. To the Citizens, we were nothing but scum and waste.

Whether we did anything wrong or not. If any children were born out in the Wastelands, then they were considered Outcasts, and would never have the chance to try and make something out of themselves. They were destined to suffer out here. I growled and walked back to our little sanctuary.

None of us were supposed to survive out here; the land was too dead and infertile to plant, there was no water, and the weather was highly temperamental. These living conditions were not meant for human life. But somehow we had made it this far, and set up our own community.

I liked not having a fence caging us in though like the one that surrounded the City. The fence made it seem like a prison, and the Citizens inside were the prisoners. Our little 'paradise' was in a cluster of trees that had been long dead.

The trunks and limbs were an unearthly black, the color of an extreme death. Sometimes the kids that ran around the town would break off pieces of the limbs, and use them as chalk. It gave them something to do, so nobody minded it.

The housed that had been built were about the same as the ones in the City. That was because when people were first being Outcasted, they gathered up materials to build their homes with once they were banished out to the Wastelands.

There weren't enough homes for all of the people out here, so many families had to share the small shacks. I walked up the creaky steps to the place that I stayed. It was considered the Outcasts' orphanage; the place where kids would go if their parents died before they could take care of themselves.

I used to be a part of it after my parents had died, but now I just stayed around to help the woman inside keep a tabs on the parentless kids. That, and it was still the place I lived since housing was so tight. I found Mrs. Christina, the woman who looked after the kids, digging through a box that we kept food in.

Food was extremely scarce; it seemed like somebody died of starvation everyday. She sighed and stood up straight. She looked very young for her age; 27 was considered old out in the Wastelands. Trying to survive everyday, took heavy tolls on the people. It aged them horribly.

The only ones with any youth on them were the kids, but that was because they didn't have to worry about finding food when the first priority was to try and keep them fed. Next to this woman, I was the only other one who had held onto some of their youth. But maybe that was because I was still young myself.

I walked up next to her and asked, "What's going on?" I knew the answer. We were most likely out of food, which mean that over ten mouths would whine tonight. She sighed. I could see the fine lines of life slowly starting to appear on her face.

For all we knew, she could look like half of the people in our community in a matter of months or even weeks. "We're going to have to find food soon," she said in a tired voice. The little that we had, was what we had been able to grow outside in a small bucket.

Which wasn't much at all. But it had kept us going for a long time. Now with the different weather patterns, even that little food source was gone. Nothing ever stays in this world. "I'll find us something tomorrow," I said to the woman. She looked up at me, confusion on her face.

She knew as well as anyone else that food out in the Wastelands didn't exist. "How are you planning on doing that?" I shrugged and said, "I'll figure something out while I'm sleeping." But I already knew what I was going to do. I was going to find a way to sneak into the City and get what I could.

I knew that if I was caught, then I'd be as good as dead and could also put the people in our 'City' in danger. But it was worth a shot to bring something with substance to the people who worked hard just to make it through another day. "Well, you just be careful, Shun," she said to me.

I was sure that Christina had a good idea what I was planning. Maybe she just didn't want to admit that things had come down to this. I walked over to my bed, and laid down. Tomorrow, I could end up either dead, or come back alive. I'd just have to hope that the cards were in my hand when I did.

Shun

I woke from the same dream that I had every night. It was always of my parents. They, along with other people that had died in the Wastelands, were always standing in a place that had rolling waves of green grass and blue skies. Lakes and rivers were always behind them, and songbirds sang.

This place wasn't real though. The whole world was like the Wastelands. There was no greener side to anything. Only dirt, ash, and gray. I hated my mind for putting these dreams and hopes in my thoughts. When I was younger, I used to think that such a place did exist.

That I would one day find it and take everyone else there to live a better life. But then I grew up and learned that this was our lives. I let out an aggravated sigh and got out of my bed. I was going to spend most of the day trying to find way into the City without being seen, and then I'd sneak in at night and grab what I could.

It was early in the morning, and all of the people were still asleep. So, I quietly snuck out from our home, and headed towards the fence. I stayed far out of sight, but I was close enough that I could see Officials through the wooden boards.

The fence seemed solid in the area that I was looking at, so I kept on going down. The City was pretty big for a place made up of run down homes. They had a lot more than we did; markets, hospitals, and so forth. Things that would give us extra years of life.

But did we have any of that? No. If you got sick where we lived, then you were pretty much dead. None of us had the strength to tolerate illness, seeing how weak we already were. I kept scanning the fence for any entrances that I could find.

I spotted a few, but they were in places that were too public. I would have to wait until late at night if I went through any of those openings, and time was important right now. So, that meant that I would have to keep circling the fence until I found the ideal place to go through.

Alice

That morning, I heard my grandfather stir in the living room. "Ow! My back!" I smiled and rolled my eyes. I had told him so many times to make sure that he didn't fall asleep on the couch. I threw my thin covers off of me; I had fallen asleep in my dress from yesterday.

Since I was already dressed, I slipped on my white flats and walked to the living room. My grandfather was holding onto his lower back. "I told you not to sleep on that couch," I said in a matter-of-fact tone. He said gruffly, "I know. I know. Could you help me up to the kitchen?"

I laughed. "Sure." I helped steady him to the kitchen, where I sat him down at the old table. I went ahead and put some coffee on, and sat down in my chair. He grimaced and said, "You may have to pick me up some pain killers. This is the worst my back has been in a long time."

Medicine was extremely expensive, but I knew many people that would donate some to me because they were friends with my grandfather. And I also knew of many underground places that I could buy from. But if I was caught down there, then all of us would go to jail.

Or get thrown to the mercy of the Wastelands. "I'll go around and ask if somebody will lend us some." He nodded his head, still holding on tightly to his lower back. I stood up and checked our cabinets, just in case that we may have had anything for pain that would give my grandfather some relief.

All we had was a small bottle of antibiotic pills that was given to everyone in the City in order to keep illness from spreading. I shut the cabinet. I grabbed my light jacket and purse. "I'm going out to try and find you something for your back. You just take it easy, Grandfather."

He nodded when I walked out of our house. I was greeted with the light gray sky of morning. I wondered if they sky was any other color other than gray. I walked around the City until it began to grow dark. Nobody had any pain killers to spare, which was surprising. I guess things are getting tougher.

People had started to work longer hours at their work places to earn extra money so they could keep food on the table. Many of the jobs in the City were taxing and dangerous to do, but that was the only kind of jobs we had. It was the Officials idea to do this so we could build up a stronger city quicker and faster.

Not being able to find any pills, left me with the only option of going to the underground salesmen. I started towards that part of the City. Hardly anyone lived there because it was deemed unsafe by the Officials. I didn't know why though.

All I did know was that this was the place to go if you needed something cheap. Or wanted to do something illegal. No Officials even patrolled this part of the City. They all stayed away from it. I went in the house of the salesman that I was looking for.

He let me in, and graciously sold me the pain killers. He spoke for a moment. "I'm happy to see I'm getting business again. Things seem to be getting bad all over." That was all he said. I handed him the leftover money I had from yesterday's errands. He gave me the change that he owed me, and I left.

When I stepped out into the dirt streets, I was faced with the fence. A large hole was in both the barbed wire and wood. One big enough that a full grown adult could fit through with ease. Off in the distance, around where the market was, there was yelling. "Hey! Come back here!"

It was the voice of an Official, and it sounded like it was coming my way. Did they know that I was in this part of the City? I began to panic, and looked for a place to hide. I didn't want to get thrown in jail or Outcasted. Then, somebody ran into me. They knocked me over and into the dirt street, but they kept on running.

The Officials took a glance down the street that I was on. I scrambled over behind a wood crate so they wouldn't see me. They then went on their way. I sighed with relief, then began to look around for who ran into me. All I could find was the hole in the fence.

Had they gone through there in an effort to escape? I ran across the street, and peered out of the hole. Nobody was allowed past the fence. My heart was pounding in my chest. What I was about to do could get me a bullet in the back of my head if anyone ever found out.

I place my foot through the hole, and then my other one. Soon, my body was outside of the fence. I was shaking with adrenaline as I began to walk further and further away from the City. I was now in the Wastelands. The only light was from oil lamps in the City, but that didn't go very far.

I heard the sound of panting, and began to look around for the source. The person had to be hiding close to me. My foot then caught on something, causing me to fall forward and land on the dead ground. When I opened my eyes, I was face to face with a black hair boy.

His amber eyes widened when he saw me, and he jumped back. I did the same. I saw a bag next to him, and what looked like food was inside. He was quite obviously the guy who ran into me and who was running from Officials. But by his looks, he wasn't from the City.

An Outcast. He reminded me of the girl that I gave the bread to last night. They both had the same sad look in their eyes. He shook himself awake, then got up and began to run off. I jumped up myself, and went after him.

i have the song from the title up on my profile. it's a youtube link. sadly, i wanted to use footage of our band playing it, but our dram major doesnt have any of it. :/ so i had to settle with what i found. i picked the perfect time to start this story, seeing as i am now on Spring Break :D woo! read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~