Alice

I hardly did any sleeping that night. I was too jumpy from almost getting in trouble with the Officials. Sneaking from the City wasn't going to be an easy task, which it wasn't an easy one from the start. Maybe this was a sign telling me to stop going out into the Wastelands and leave the Outcasts alone.

But it didn't matter what the sign was telling me, I wanted to go out there. I wanted to talk with those people and learn more about them and how they've been making it this long. If I had just told that to anyone, I would have been locked away while the Officials thought up what they would do to me.

This was sheer insanity. The only thing I would end up getting from going out in the Wastelands, was loads of trouble. But as of lately, trouble had become my middle name. I got up from my bed, and shuffled over the wood floor to my window. As usual, the Officials were standing in front of the fence across the street. Some of them were walking along the fence, but most were just standing.

A few were sitting down to rest. Did they ever sleep? Or eat for that fact. The sky was starting to lighten. I really hadn't even slept for five minutes, and I knew that I'd pay for it the rest of the day. I went back over to my bed and sat down on the edge.

The springs in the mattress made groaning sounds under my weight. In the other room, I could already hear my grandfather begging to stir as he woke up. He had always been an early bird. I didn't know how anyone, human at least, could wake up at such early hours in the day.

My door opened, and my grandfather's head popped through. "Oh. You're already awake." I nodded and said grouchily, "Yeah. Didn't ever really go to sleep." I heard my grandfather sigh softly. "Those Officials had you antsy all night?" I nodded, feeling like a little kid who had a bad dream.

The fact that I could have gotten in trouble for walking around late a night, made me fear what they'd do if they spotted me going through the fence. My grandfather sat down next to me, and patted my back with his hand. "It's alright, Alice. It was all a big misunderstanding. They can't do anything to you for something like that."

I wouldn't be so sure. The Officials had become so unpredictable now, when they used to just stand around and occasionally yell at people. Now, they were taking some serious actions. "Do you want to work today?" my grandfather asked.

I had completely forgotten that I said I'd go back and finish up working for those people in the upper class neighborhood. I was probably too tired, and in no stable condition in my mind. I shook my head. "Not today." My grandfather nodded in understanding.

"I'll just tell them you're not feeling well today, and that you'll try and make it as soon as you can." He got off of my bed, with a little help from me, and went to another room. I sat there, clenching my blankets in my hands. Why was I getting so frustrated? It may be cause I'm tired.

I got up and started to look around for my grandfather. He was, as usual, sitting at the kitchen table. You would have thought I'd know this by now. I asked him, "Is it alright if I go and walk around? To try and clear my mind from last night?" He stared at me as he thought. Was he catching onto my true intentions?

"If you do, I want you back before dark so we don't have an issue like we did last night." I didn't blame him there. I didn't want another run in with an Official anytime soon. But planning on going back into the Wastelands was like inviting trouble to our home. "I'll be back before dark. I promise," I said, even raising my hand in the air, as if I were taking a vow.

I had to make sure and keep this one, since I hadn't kept my own last night. I walked out of our pitiful house, that I was sure any Outcast would have been thankful to have. Out of nowhere, Julie appeared. She latched onto my arm, and began to drag me in the opposite way in which I wanted to go.

"Julie, what are you doing?" I finally got my footing straight so she'd stop dragging me along the dirt road. "I saw this little dress yesterday that I was dying to show you, but I couldn't find you. So now, I'm not letting you slip by me again." I tried to free my arm from her grasp, but she had death gripped me.

"Julie, I'd love to see this dress, but I kind of have somewhere else that I need to be." I was still trying to tug my arm free, but nothing was working. Julie was determined to have me see this dress, that odds were, we'd never be able to afford. We stopped in front of a small shop.

Julie was looking in the window with awe, and I saw the dress myself. "Isn't it just awesome?" said the silver haired girl. It was pretty, I had to admit that. "But even if you could afford it, Julie, when and where would you wear it?"

What I said should have popped her bubble, but it didn't seem to bother her. "I'm sure I'd find someplace to where it to." I shook my head. This was one of the hopeless dreams we had in the City. I didn't understand why people here made things like this dress, when they knew nobody could afford the price they were asking for.

And even if they did buy it, there weren't any places that you could wear it. The person who made the dress, only was losing money by making it. Because it would sit there forever until somebody from the upper classes walked by and bought it for the sake of it.

"Can I go back to what I was doing, Julie?" I asked, slightly annoyed. I really shouldn't miss anymore sleep. My voice finally snapped the girl out of her fascination with the dress. "Huh? Oh, Alice. I forgot you were there." I growled, completely annoyed now. On top of the fact that I hadn't gotten any sleep, Julie wasn't helping the cause at all. "I'm gone, Julie."

The girl was back to gazing at the other clothes that were inside the store. I shook my head and walked off. I was burning daylight as long as I stayed with Julie, and that was time that I didn't have. It was already early afternoon, and I had promised my grandfather that I would be back home before dark.

I slipped past the Officials, and through the fence. It felt a lot easier to get through than it had the first couple of times. Perhaps I was getting used to leaving the City and going into uncharted territory. That was probably a bad thing; getting used to doing something illegal.

But I didn't see any harm in this. The Outcasts weren't dangerous like the Officials had made them out to be. If anything, the Officials were more dangerous than these people. I walked back into the town, staying out of sight from other people that didn't know me; I still wasn't sure how they would react to me.

The woman that I had talked with last night, Christina, was standing outside with several of the kids. She saw me and said, "You did come back." Apparently she was thinking that I wouldn't. The kids had already taken a liking to me in a short amount of time.

They probably didn't even understand the harsh world they lived in. "Yeah. I'm back. But I don't know how many more times I can though." The woman raised an eyebrow. "I had a run in with some Officials last night when I got back into the City," I explained.

Christina looked shock when I brought up my little altercation with the Officials. "Oh my. What did they do?" she asked. The kids had gotten bored with our conversation, and ran off to play someplace else. "They just wanted to know why I was out so late. I don't think they saw me out in the Wastelands," I told her.

She let out sigh and said, "I'm sorry if we did anything to get you in trouble." She actually thought she had gotten me in trouble? If anything, it was my own fault for getting back late when I should have left early from the start. "It's not a big deal. Let's change the subject now. How's he doing?"

Christina looked back at the house and said, "His fever broke sometime last night, which is really good. If it weren't for you bringing that medicine, Shun would probably be a lot worse than he is now." I didn't doubt that. I had seen her tending to his fever yesterday, and he looked a hundred times worse than when I first ran into him the night before.

"Is he awake right now?" I asked. I had run so many risks to help this boy, I felt that I at least should be able to speak with him for a moment. "I think he is. At least, he was when I checked on him about an hour ago."

A few people were catching glances at me as they began to notice a stranger within their community. I quickly asked, "Can I talk with him?" Christina nodded and motioned for me to follow her into the weakly supported home.

Shun

How was I even supposed to react when Christina brought in a total stranger. The thing was, she wasn't a total stranger to me. It was the girl that had followed me from the City the night that I snuck in. My eyes darted to Christina and I hissed, "Why is she here?"

I was just waiting for the Officials to come walking in behind them. Every fiber in me was screaming that this girl had probably brought as many Officials as she could so she could turn me in. But nobody else appeared. I slowly began to relax, but kept my guard up just in case they were standing outside.

I didn't trust this girl. She was from the City, which meant that they could care less about us. Christina held out her hand to the girl and said, "This is Alice. She's the one who helped you." The orange haired girl was standing there, an innocent look on her face. I didn't buy it for one minute.

"What are you talking about, Christina? Why in the hell would somebody from the City help us?" The girl looked surprised at my harsh words. Ok, maybe I had been a little on the cold side. But if you looked around at how the people were living in the Wastelands, then you'd understand why there was some slight loathing towards her.

"She snuck out from the City and brought you medicine. Without her, I doubt that you'd be talking to us right now," said Christina, who was obviously trying her best to get me to calm down. I remembered how that girl had offered me medicine when we first encountered one another. I didn't know what to think about this.

This girl, one from the City, had left and went through the Wastelands to help me? My brain was so confused. I knew I didn't have the people from the City wrong; I still didn't like or trust them the least bit. But maybe this girl was different from most of them. The girl, Alice, finally spoke.

"I first came out here to tell you not to try and sneak back into the City because more Officials are on guard around the fence." So either way, this girl had gone all this way to help me. That still didn't seem to change much though. She was still from the City, and also a liability to us.

If anyone found out that she was sneaking out into the Wastelands to speak with Outcasts, then they kill her and anybody that she may had spoken with. She had helped me, so I only found it suiting that I try and return the favor. "Thanks for you generosity, but now you have to go," I said rather more coldly than I intended.

Her eyes widened. "But why? I want to help you and the other Outcasts and-" I cut her off before she could go on to another thing in her list. "You're too much of a risk to us. We're fine on our own, and don't need any help from somebody from the City." She seemed shocked.

This girl was probably thinking I was going to be thankful for her saving me, which I was. But her showing up here could put a lot of lives in danger, and it was my responsibility to keep as many people as I could safe. Christina snapped at me, "Shun!" The girl nodded her head.

"He's probably right. I should get going. I need to be back home before dark anyway." The girl turned around and left from the house. Christina narrowed her eyes at me and said, "What was that for? She was offering us help that we need and you go and do that. Why?"

I sighed. "If she gets caught in the Wastelands, then all hell will break loose for everyone. It's better if we didn't know her, and you know that as well as I do." Christina sighed, then walked out of my room while mumbling something to herself.

Yeah, that girl may have been on help to us, but we just couldn't afford putting anyone at risk. That was probably the only person in the world that cared about any of us though.

aye. spring break is halfway over. X'( nooooo. well, read, review, and other things before it ends. ~Copperpelt~