Alice

Getting back into the City was much easier this time. Instead of me being on my own in the streets, there were still people walking around, which I easily blended into. I tried to act normal, but that was kind of hard to do when I was still paranoid about whether somebody saw me or not.

Since Officials weren't flocking to arrest me, I assumed that they hadn't even noticed. There was still plenty of daylight in the sky, meaning that I would be back right at the time my grandfather was expecting me to be. But I might have still been out in the Wastelands if I hadn't been told to leave.

I was appalled when Shun wanted me to leave, but I kind of understand what he was getting at. As long as I was out there, whether I was helping them or not, I was a threat and risk. The Officials would have a field day punishing us for speaking to one another.

Shun was smart enough to see that. I was about to walk up to my house, when a cry from the Courtyard rang out. The people who were outside, had turned there heads towards the sound. Even the Officials were looking in the direction it came from. People began to start mumbling to one another.

Something about this wasn't settling right with me. I was sure my grandfather would understand if I got sidetracked for a moment. I followed along with several people to the source of the sound. They all were just as curious as I was. I had to push my way through a wall of people that had formed, and I wished I hadn't.

The Officials had a woman pinned on the ground, a thin line of blood was coming from her brown hair. I had seen her before, but I couldn't remember where. She was yelling at them to let her go, and that she had done nothing wrong. I whispered to a man that was next to me, "What did she do?"

I didn't know if this woman was really innocent or not. She could have been delusional, and not even know what was going on. The Officials were trying to wrestle her into a pair of hand restraints. She was putting up a hell of a fight, but they finally got her. The man leaned towards me and said, "They suspect her of trying to contact an Outcast." Suspect?

Did they even have any proof. I got a clearer look at the woman's face, and immediately recognized her. Margret Webster. She used to run a little shop down in the market with her husband. But when he was convicted of a crime, he was sent out in the Wastelands, leaving her on her own.

Margret closed down her shop and nobody really heard from her since then. Had she actually been trying to talk with her husband? I couldn't recall whether or not I saw him when I found the little community of Outcasts. I didn't remember ever seeing his face. Her husband could have died out there years ago, and nobody would know except the other Outcasts.

Margret's tears were mixing with the blood that had trickled down her face. She kept telling them that she was innocent, but that didn't seem to bother the Officials. They would probably take her away and evaluate her to make sure she had no mental issues, and then they'd do what they pleased to her.

They could lock her away, throw her out in the Wastelands, or even kill her. Two Officials escorted the screaming Margret away, and another stayed behind. "Let this be an example if any of you decide to go against our authority," he said sternly before walking away.

Had Margret really done anything, or did they just use her as a means to show their dominance over us? I wouldn't doubt that they had done the second scenario. It didn't seem like something that was out of their morals. They probably had used Margret as a puppet to strike fear into us.

I didn't know why they wanted to do that, seeing as they were much stronger than us. We were of no threat to them. But they wouldn't have done something like this if we weren't. Did they think we were trying to challenge their power? Because nobody in this City had the gall to run up to an Official and spit on his shoes. The crowd began to disperse, mumbles followed each person as they walked away.

I suddenly began to worry about my grandfather, and started to run back towards my home. Fear began to flood me with the idea that the Officials really did know about me sneaking out, and were going to get me through my grandfather. They had just taken away Margret, and I didn't want them doing anything to my only family.

I swung open the door, and found my grandfather sitting at the table. Just like I left him this morning. I let out a heavy sigh of relief, and tried to calm my trembling hands. My grandfather sat up and walked towards me. I was sure that I had startled him when I ran into the house unrepentantly, but know he was more concerned about why I was so freaked out.

"Did you have another run in with an Official?" he asked while looking me over to make sure I wasn't hurt. I shook my head. "No. But they took away Margret," I said, almost in tears of joy now that I knew that no harm had come to my grandfather. He stared at me with a quizzical look. "Margret Webster?"

I nodded my head. "Why did they take her away? What did she do?" he asked me before I could even think of my next words. "They said that she was trying to contact an Outcast, but I don't think that's the truth," I told him as I thought about my theory I had come up with.

"I don't know how she would try to contact anyone beyond that fence, but maybe she thought she found a way." I shook my head, my orange curls hitting my face. "No! That's what the Officials said, but I don't think they were telling us the truth!" I yelled, starting to build up with anger because my grandfather was buying the lie that the Officials had fed us. He stared at me, shocked at my sudden outburst.

"Alice, why would you think that the Officials were lying about Margret?" I would have thought, my grandfather, one of the smartest people I knew, would catch onto the scandal that was before us. "I'm sure they lied. I know they did. They used Margret to try and intimidate us. They took away an innocent person just so they could scare us."

My grandfather held up hands and said, "Ok, that's enough. I seriously doubt that the Officials would do something that out of line. Margret probably did do something they didn't like. She's been out of it ever since they sent her husband away." I couldn't believe it.

My grandfather was siding with the Officials. But my theory wasn't exactly all that valid. I didn't have any physical proof that they took Margret away without justification. Right now, I was nothing more than a conspiracy theorist. My grandfather sat back down at the table.

His old bones were probably bothering him now. "Alice, please drop that idea of yours. I hate to say that you're wrong, but if you go around telling people that then the Officials might think you've gone insane and take you away. And I don't want that," he told me in a reassuring tone.

But he could try all he wanted, I wasn't going to change my opinion in this. It was true that the Officials would probably think I lost my mind if I walked to the Courtyard and began screaming into the sky, "They killed Margret when she did nothing wrong!" They would probably take me to the mental ward, or they would take me away because I was right about what they did.

Shun

Christina was still mad at me, but she had to learn that I sent that girl away in the best interest of our group. True, we did need help, any form of it, but we couldn't afford the help also being a danger. I sat up in my bed, then placed my feet on the floor and stood up.

I wobbled for a moment while my body tried to regain its balance. I had probably also lost a lot of strength from being sick. I walked from my room and into the main part of the house. The kids that had come inside saw me. They smiled and began to says ecstatically, "You're up! You're up!"

All they knew was that I had been locked up in my room for a couple of days. They had no idea that I was pretty much dying. I smiled down at them. I did have to owe that girl for bringing that medicine out here. I would have died, and a lot of people would have had to find a way to make it without my help.

Because Christina was the one who took care of the kids, while I helped out with everything else. Without me, a lot of people would have been lost with no map. The other good thing was, that the girl brought an entire bottle of medicine, which would be enough for the next few people who got ill.

We could at least save a couple of lives out here. A feeling of regret started to form inside of me. It wasn't a smart move to make that girl leave, but what other choice did I have? Christina would have let her stay and put us at risk of an attack from the City.

We had a peaceful coexistence, and I wasn't going to allow it to be jeopardized by one person and one bad mistake. Besides, I had a feeling that the girl would be back anyway. She seemed like the kind of person who didn't listen a lot. Christina walked in from outside.

She was holding a bowl filled with water that she had just gone to retrieve. She saw me, and it was clear to see that she was still angry at my decision from earlier. I needed to talk with her, but I rather not in front of the kids that were standing around in the house.

They wouldn't understand, and would want to know what the two of us were talking about. I walked up to her and said, "Could I speak with you outside?" I motioned to the kids with my eyes so she would hopefully understand. She turned to them and said, "You all stay in here while I step outside for a moment."

We walked out of the house and stood in front of it. "You're go to have to understand why I told her to leave. She's-" Christina cut me off by holding her hand up. "I know. I know. She's a liability to us. I'm fully aware of this. I just hate the fact that we had to get rid of the only person who bothered to help us out," she said and followed her words with a sigh.

I was kind of relieved that she wasn't still pissed at me, but having her angry at the rest of the world wasn't exactly the best thing either. We stood out in the darkening night for a little bit longer, when we heard a scream from the City. Both of us looked down at the fenced civilization.

There was somebody down there screaming and yelling. And as soon as it started, it ended and let the evening turn quiet. Christina said, "Wonder what the hell that was about." I shrugged and remained outside while she went back into the house.

A part of me hoped it wasn't that Alice girl, but I knew it wasn't. I still wasn't at ease though, even if I did know it wasn't her. Whoever it was, wasn't having any fun.

Odds were it was somebody who had gotten caught by an Official, but even I hadn't heard somebody make those kinds of animalistic screams. Whatever was going on down there, didn't sound promising and peaceful.

chapter title based off the song Nothing I've Ever Known from the movie Spirit. -sings Pumped Up Kicks- o.o you all have every right to yell at me for that XD lol. my cat had me so freaked out last night. she saw something outside and i was like "OH MY GOD! THERE'S A KILLER OUTSIDE!' DX but, i'm alive. so that's good in my opinion. :p well, read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~