First of all sorry for the delay in uploading I have had a mountain of things to do and i'm starting to catch up with them anyway to make it up I will try and upload another chapter by Saturday
As the guard shouted "Next" a shiver crept into the room like a quiet breeze snuffing out all warmth in its path, branches outstretched like claws rattled against the window and the clock ticked away each second getting louder, Joel had completely zoned out
"Are you deaf I said next" the guard snapped
Dragged back to reality Joel reassured Sarah and stepped towards the counter
"Right hold out your arm" said the guard and as Joel complied a handheld device was applied to his wrist which then took a blood sample to which the screen flashed up as negative.
"Alright then I see you have already met the general then" the guard remarked
"You heard about that then" Joel calmly replied as he lowered his arm
"Alright seeming though were not sifting through crowds of people right now we can do all the necessary paper work right now, we just need a few of your details here" said the guard as he produced a clipboard and pen.
Joel took the clipboard and began to fill it out questions included name, D.O.B, occupation among other details used to identify the individual in question. As Joel finished he handed back the clipboard and the guard pointed to a seating area where he would wait.
"Now wait over there as I process the others and we will get along just fine" remarked the guard
Joel began to move over to the seating area gesturing to Sarah it was all okay and that it would all be over soon.
Several moments later Sarah and Tommy also passed through the checkpoint and the group was led through to an adjacent room.
The room was dimly lit cracked tiles adorned the wall surrounding a table centred in the middle of the room the guard told them to sit down on at the table and to wait quietly.
"Joel what the hell is going on" whispered Tommy
Before Joel could reply a large woman had entered and proceeded to take her seat at the other end of the table her dark eyes magnified through her glasses peered into your very being as she brought out the clipboards the group had filled out and in a dull dreary voice said
"I see here you both put your occupation down as carpenter's is that correct"
"Ah yes it is" Replied Joel both he and Tommy nodded
The woman reached into her bag and placed on the table a map of the zone
"We are currently in need of carpenters so I guess this is your lucky day you will all be living in area 4 here is your house key" the guard from earlier entered the room with three badge sized ID's
"Those are your ID badges you are to have them on you at all times no exceptions, later today you will go to the area marked on that map to apply for work and there you will earn your ration cards and your daughter will go here to the school, curfew is in effect from 6pm to 6am if you need any help my colleagues here will be able to assist you" droned the woman as she got up and showed the group to the door casting them out.
"Well that woman was tons of fun" murmured Tommy
"What do we do now" asked Sarah
The sun began to graze the horizon and looking at his watch it was 6:07am
"I guess we should find where we will be staying from now on" Joel replied
The streets were littered with rubbish from the amount of people who dwelled here, soldiers patrolled the roads carrying out random checks as the streets slowly began to come alive with people all moving around their daily routine as if they had got use to the world going to hell. The whole area was foreign to Joel who could only look around to stubborn to ask for directions Sarah had to step in and lend a hand asking someone for directions, she walked up to a slim built African American woman
"Excuse me but do you know were area 4 is" Sarah asked politely
"I'm heading there right now feel free to tag along" she replied
"Dad Uncle Tommy over here" Shouted Sarah gesturing them to follow
"Alright and you are" asked Tommy
"The name's not important now I can show you around if you want" the woman relied
"That would be just fine" said Joel cutting off Tommy before he could say another word
They began to walk through the town whilst the woman pointed out several of the main areas such as military checkpoints and what not. The streets were slowly filling with people changing from a desolate landscape, whilst walking through they came upon a courthouse where two soldiers were actively attacking one man whilst no one dared interfere.
"Isn't someone going to help him" remarked Tommy
"There's nothing you can do the military runs things around here that monument behind them means nothing now" replied the woman
"We heard that FEDRA had taken over" barked Tommy
"Yeah to them is isn't about you or them there is no choice it's just survive but I like to think that someday a civilian government will return" she replied
"At least for now they are keeping us safe" said Joel
"Keep telling yourself that eventually the walls will close in on you and you won't be so content forever" the women snapped back
The group entered an area of row houses and began counting down the doors until they found the same number that matched what was written on the map. The grimy fronts of the surrounding houses were not welcoming; some of them had broken windows, glimmering dully in the light from the sun, paint was peeling from many of the doors, and heaps of rubbish lay outside several sets of front steps
"Alright this is our stop" said Joel as Sarah pushed through eager to see what they where they were going to live in.
"Okay thanks for the tour now" said Tommy as he turned to wave the woman off
"Yeah if you need me again I will be down in the market ask someone there, Oh and by the way the name's Marlene"...