The lunch room is silent. They know what happened, but Cara is the only one who knows why. She sits at her table, forcing herself to eat, but not tasting the food. She can't let on how upset she is, how much the empty seat next to her hurts. The head teacher stands at her podium near the front.
"A coward ended her life today." The words are loud, strong, and they bring out a loud cheer from the remaining children. "She refused her chance to improve the world, and save lives. She ended her life, and many others will suffer as a result. We will not give in to this! We will serve our given purpose proudly! We will not give in!"
"We will not give in! We will not give in!" The children take up the chant, their voices filling the hall, and then the corridor as they file out. Cara follows, not speaking to hide the cracks in her voice.
One. Two. Three. Four. She pushes the bar up and down, ignoring the faint burn in her triceps. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. She and Mila had made a game of it, seeing who could do the most in a minute. Cara increases her pace, trying to drive the memory from her mind. It's no good, thinking of her. If they find out she was there, they'll be hell to pay. There's not much they can do, with only a month left, but an 'early birthday' is a constant threat. Three weeks left. Cara can't afford to lose more.
"You hit your limit." A girl says, pointing to the screen by the weight machine. "You shouldn't go so fast." Cara releases the bar, letting the machine pull it back up.
"Thanks. I'll work on that." She forces a smile, and heads to the treadmill. She knows this room better than any other in the Institute; she's spent hours here every day since she was seven. Hours, strengthening her muscles so whoever got her arm would be able to make up for the muscle mass lost after unwinding fairly easily.
Cara looks across the gym at other children working out, running on treadmills, lifting weights, even using the climbing wall. She should have another hour here, but with her unwind date so close they won't risk her being hurt.
She hits four miles on the treadmill and it begins to shut down automatically. Tim's up. Cara leaves through the back door, and stumbles through the narrow passages blindly. It shouldn't be this hard, losing someone. She's lost people before, had to say goodbye when they turned fifteen. This is different. She saw the outcome, the result.
It's never been a question of if or when. Cara will be Unwound. She's never been scared, never really thought much about it. But the idea of it was so terrifying for Mila that she jumped, rather than face it. Can I do this? Cara wonders. She curls up in a tiny alcove, her long brown hair shielding her from the stark light of the corridor. She doesn't hear the footsteps, but when a hand grabs her shoulder roughly she feels a stab of fear shoot through her existence. The headmistress.
So if you like the story comment on it, please? I'll probably do another few chapters but if no one reads it I'll probably discontinue it.