“At six o’clock this morning, Inferior rebels attacked a train carrying supplies to Elite cities. The damage was worse than expected and so food may be running low for a few days. But the government tell us not to worry, they will shut down the long-lasting Rebel cause. Beginning with the Wolf.”
We watched the tv report, silence settling among us. It seemed as though the Rebels were stepping up their game, becoming bolder in their revolution. I was sure the government was furious at what had taken place. Was this the change that was happening? Is this what my father had to be concerned about and why he was currently sat at this table? Chances were that he was called to deal with what happened, to figure out how it had happened and what to do next. I was sure this attack was causing a whole frenzy.
But then there was the leader of the Rebels, the wolf.
A feared leader that was well known amongst the Elites and yet no one knew his- or her- name. Just that they were not to be trusted and the government wanted their head.
I realised the time and bid farewell to my mother before leaving the house. As I walked to Nora’s house, as par the morning ritual, I wondered if my father would continue my training today. Nora was ready on time and greeted me with, “Did you see the rebel attack this morning?”
I nodded, “Of course I did, I’m sure it will be the talk of the school. Since nothing else much happens.”
It was true, the Rebel movement was all anyone talked about, otherwise it was left to talk about school. The whole concept was very new, and it would take many more years to come to work out the kinks.
Nora laughed, her voice rich and almost as beautiful as her. Sometimes I envied her you know, her perfectly blonde hair and stark face. While I on the other hand was simple, brown hair and a few scattered freckles across my face. The only noticeable thing was my grey eyes, which apparently Nora of all people was jealous off.
“That may be true but- oh is that Ezra?”
My head snapped up and indeed Ezra Hale was walking towards us, that signature smile spreading across his face. Instantly, my mood brightened as he reached us.
“To what do we owe the pleasure?” Drawled Nora, grinning in my direction.
I wish I could tell her to shut up, Ezra didn’t need to know about the silly crush I had on him. After all, why would he want me?
He was now looking at me, “I had some time. And I thought I would walk with you to school.”
Ezra himself had left school at the age of sixteen, becoming a soldier for the government. He had only been in the role for two years, but I had heard from my father that he was gaining a good reputation and could be potentially rising the ranks.
We let him join us as we continued our walk, Ezra walking close by my side. “I’m surprised you had the time to be here. After the attack,” I commented.
He sighed, running a hand through his hair. I wondered what it would feel like.
Okay, we were no longer going down that train of thought.
“It is a mess; the news wasn’t meant to find out about what happened, but they did. They have reason to believe there was a mole. So, they questioned all of us before sending us away while they finished. They’ll notify me when I can go back.”
I frowned, why were they so concerned that the news would be spread? Was it to keep us calm or to hide something from us? I didn’t dare think too much about it, again I thought too much about what would happen to the mole. And the consequences they would face.
“And you immediately thought to join us?” Questioned Nora, the obvious hint within her question.
He grinned, looking at me. “Of course, I had to see my favourite person.”
I ducked my head to hide my blush, elbowing him in a playful manor. “Shut up.”
Again, that God damn smile, it was so easy to fall for him when he was like this. Nora looked between us, grinning like a cat. If Ezra didn’t know about my crush, he would do soon enough. Eventually, we arrived at the school, other students filtering inside. Another fun filled day; it was all I seemed to be doing at the moment.
Well, that and training now.
We paused outside the entrance and Ezra smiled at me one last time. “Have a good day at school, Mel.”
“I will Ezra and be careful.”
Ezra must be sick of me saying this, but I needed to be sure, anything could happen, especially with the Rebels. And the government. “Always.”
Then he leaned down and pressed a kiss to my cheek before saying to Nora, “It was great to see you again Nora.”
“And you.” She replied, head titled, carefully watching Ezra.
We echoed our goodbyes as I watched him disappear from my view, I turned to Nora and the smirk was already there.
“Don’t say a word. I know.”
She raised her hand in mock surrender. “I said nothing.”
Oh, I knew her well enough. “You didn’t need to.”
We both laughed as we walked into the school and as I expected, the attack was all anybody was talking about. Me and Nora belonged to a small ‘friendship’ group, they were nice enough people, but I didn’t really like them, especially Jake. Most days I tried to avoid them if possible, but they noticed us today and shouted us over.
I was unsurprised to hear his very vocal thoughts on the situation. “Can you believe it? Those Rebel jerks, blowing up the resources we need to survive, they should be lucky we allow some of them to live.”
My blood boiled, he was an idiot. Speaking as if he had any idea what the Rebels were doing through. I should have calmed myself down, but the words were out of my mouth before I could think about the consequences. “What? Lucky that we’re not killing them but sending them to camps to work to the bone for the rest of their lives?”
The others were shocked, mouths open as my words registered. My face heated as Jake’s mouth twisted into an almost snarl. “I’d be careful about what you say, Melanie. Don’t want any reason to think you’re a sympathiser.”
I shouldn’t have said that I knew the consequences as well as anyone.
“I’m not. You know I’m not; I don’t know why I said that.”
A lie but Jake didn’t need to know that. He didn’t seem satisfied, but he nodded either way. Thankfully the bell rang, and I rushed to my first class, vaguely departing from Nora, and promising to meet her at break.
My first class was politics where I took my seat at the back, sinking into my seat. I was an idiot to say anything.
Maybe I was a sympathiser. The signs were there, slowly growing in me.
Despite my father’s involvement in the government, neither of them expressed any anger towards the Rebels. In fact, I could often see the sadness in my mother’s eyes, but I didn’t know why she held such a view. When I was younger, well from what I could remember after like the age of eight I had always held that strong view, that they were the enemy.
Our whole lives we were told that the government saved us and the poor- the ‘Inferiors’- were the scum of the earth and needed to be eradicated to create a perfect society. It was only through history and politics and my own views that I realised that maybe that wasn’t true. That they were just innocent people being butchered of what- resources? Overpopulation? There had to be a better way.
Maybe I needed to help them.
Thankfully, our teacher, Mr Whitmore, walked in and interrupted my thoughts before they could lead down a path I didn’t want to think about. He had just set up his PowerPoint for the lesson when one of the kids asked,
“Sir, what do you think about-”
He shook his head. “Ah, I am going to stop you right there. We will not be discussing the events that took place this morning.”
I frowned as the same kid, Matthew I think his name was, inquired, “But why? This is politics, we talk about the Rebels a lot in modern history.”
Even I had to admit he had a point. Whitmore walked to the board, surveying the class. “I am well aware. But there are points to his matter that we should not be discussing so we are going to pick up from where we left off, starting with the influence of disease of the early 2020s. Now just seventy years ago the world went into turmoil…”
I stopped listening; I already knew about this. My parents had spoken about it often enough from their ancestors.
I noted Whitmore had seemed keen to move on from the discussion, I knew his brother was a high-ranking government official. Had he also learnt about the information getting or when it was not meant to? Or did he share some of the same views? I knew that there were classes where he almost seemed uncomfortable as he talked through the killings, the protests and heard the road of excitement from many of the students. He had to have similar thoughts as I did, maybe he could help me put them to rest.
The lessons passed in a bit of a blur and then finally the bell rang. “Thank you for your participation today class, I will see you on Wednesday.”
The class began to filter out but before I could leave, now deciding against asking him, Whitmore said. “Miss Sawyer, can I see you for a moment?”
Dammit, did he know? No, he couldn’t possibly. I hung back as we watched the last student leave, closing the door behind him.
“I noticed you were a bit quiet today, lost in thought. Everything okay?”
I hesitated, playing with my hands. A nervous habit. “I-” Now was the time, I had to ask. “Do you ever think the attacks… aren’t right?”
Mr Whitmore paused, surprise coating his face. “I’m sorry? Do you believe yourself to be a sympathiser?”
His voice dropped to a whisper on the last word, the directness of his question now surprised me. “Erm, I suppose so?”
He nodded. “Of all my students, I suspected you would be the one to see past the delusion. Now, Miss Sawyer you are aware you cannot tell anyone of your thoughts or even mine for that matter?”
I was right, he was a sympathiser! “Of course, I know.”
He sighed, running a hand over his face. “Good. Its dangerous, even if we may be right. How long?”
I shrugged, gripping the books in my arms tighter. “I’m not sure. I think they’ve been there for a while, but I’ve never thought to consider them.”
“So, why now?”
Now that was a good question, again I didn’t really know. All I knew was that people were being massacred and everyone was just okay with it, sometimes I dreamed I was in that position. That I was running in the dark, a figure pulling me away from the chaos as bullets chased us and the figure chanting the words, ‘Keep calm’. Every night I dreamed it, and sometimes it felt so real that I would wake in a sweat. It was those dreams that further convinced me how wrong it was, now I was of legal age I just felt more tired, and it was draining to see everyone praise the government for what they were doing.
Eventually, everyone reaches a limit.
I realised Mr Whitmore was expecting an answer. “I- it’s a long story. I’m just struggling to hold my thoughts in any longer. When did you know?”
He sighed, “The moment they began to bomb the cities. I knew it was wrong, and I’ve never believed in what they try to preach. It is wrong, the killings of millions of innocent people. I will not continue to accept it, and the moment the Rebels rise. I will be there.”
I had never realised he was such a strong believer in the cause, but it felt better to know I wasn’t alone in my thoughts. At that moment, students began to walk in, and Whitmore cleared his throat.
“Stay safe,” He whispered under his breath.
I subtly nodded and quickly left the rest of the day my thoughts were occupied by feelings of confusion and uncertainty. Now, I was sure I did not trust the government and was a sympathiser, I didn’t exactly know what to do next. Should I keep my mouth shut or speak out? But if I did so publicly then they would kill me, without a doubt in their mind. I knew now more than I ever that I needed that training but as I left school, I received a message from my father.
‘I’m so sorry sweetie, but I’m unable to make it. This thing at work is causing an issue, but I sent the next best person’
I looked up and of course it had to be Ezra, he reached me but this time he wasn’t smiling. “Come on, I don’t have long.”
Why did he seem so off? He was never like this, and it was unnerving to see. Ever since I had known him, he had always worn a smile on his face, shrugging off the bad aspects of life as if he was used to it. We arrived at the building and Ezra let himself in, closing the door behind us.
“I was told your hand-to-hand needs to improvement, and to work on your aim. Let’s go.”
I debated asking him what was going on but didn’t want to risk it, I could almost sense he didn’t want to talk about whatever was going on. So, for the next few hours, we went through the motions and Ezra was a good teacher, I had to admit.
The session ended and he had still yet to string a sentence to me that wasn’t about the training we had done. “What’s going on?”
Ezra turned to me, looking at me and sighing. “It’s- just a lot is going on within the government. What the rebels did is causing some serious issues and they’ve be interviewing all day about moles and how they could have found out about the timings. It’s a mess.”
No wonder he was so off, dealing with all of that must not have been a fun way to spend the day. So, I laid a comforting hand on his arm, “Sorry.”
Ezra smiled sadly. “You’ve got nothing to be sorry for Mel. You did well today, learning fast. Your father will be proud.”
I smiled; it was like he knew what to say. “Thank you,” I said sincerely.
He was now smiling a bit more and it was good to see. At that moment my phone buzzed, it was my mother.
She never rang me unless it was for a reason. “What’s up?”
“You need to get home. Now,” Her voice was unsteady, as if she was panicking.
Instantly, I felt more alert. Worried about if she was okay and what the hell was going on. “What’s wrong? Is it dad?”
“I’ll tell you when you come home, just please hurry.”
She ended the call before I could ask her more and suddenly a chill ran down my spine. “Mel, is everything okay?”
I shook my head, “I- I don’t know. I need to go.”
Ezra opened his mouth to speak but I was already turning and running. My legs propelled me forwards as I ran through the streets, racing towards my home. Finally, I arrived at my house and pushing open the front door. I went into the kitchen where my mother was stood at the table, tears streaming down her face and a bag sat atop the counter.
“What is it?”
She looked up as I entered the room. “Sweetie, I am so sorry.”
Now I was really concerned, there had to be something serious going on, but I wasn’t sure what. My mother took a steadying breath and looked me in the eyes,
“You are not our daughter.”
Time seemed to still as her words washed over me, taking a few moments to register. “That’s ridiculous, what do you mean?”
“Ten years ago, when the government began setting up the cities, and killing the Rebels- me and your father found you. You were outside the gates, there was a crowd, and the soldiers were shooting. We were making our way inside when we saw you. You were on the ground, passed out. And something within me knew I had to save you. So, we did.”
Disorientation seemed to take hold, what she was saying couldn’t be true. She couldn’t be saying that… “I’m an Inferior?”
She swallowed. “You were. But we faked the documents, took you in and you were an Elite. You were safe. I’m so sorry.”
I shook my head. No, how could that be? Surely, I would know if I had grown up without them as my parents. But it made sense, there were no pictures of me as a kid, they claimed it was due to the chaos that had happened.
Now, I remembered the nightmare.
It was real, it was that night when they must have taken me in. And that meant that boy, he was someone important to me.
He might have been my family.
Oh god, I might have a family out there.
My mother stepped towards me, and I instinctively stepped back, pain flashed across her face when she noticed. “Why now? Why are you telling me now?”
Her face seemed to drop even more, “The government know you are not ours, that you are technically an Inferior. This mole issue has led to some deep investigation and when they looked at your father, they realised the mistakes. They know.”
My eyes widened. Shit. This was a huge problem; they would kill me and… they would kill my parents.
“Mum-”
She shook her head, stalking to the table and grabbing the bag. “You must run. You must leave this city, find the Rebels, and survive. We packed everything you need to survive for at least a week, until you find help. Food, water, clothing, and must importantly a gun. Use it when needed, your father and Ezra have taught you as much as you need. Run like hell, and don’t stop.”
She thrust the bag into my hands. This couldn't just be it, I couldn't survive on that training alone. “What about you and dad? They’ll kill you.”
My mother smiled grimly. “It doesn’t matter what happens to us. What matters if that you’re safe.”
I didn’t realise I was crying until I tasted its saltiness on my lips and the sight of my mum’s face softening nearly damn broke me.
“No, you can’t cry now. In a few minutes, your father is going to open the South gate. Deal with the guards. And then you run.”
I shook my head, my mind in overdrive. “No. I can’t leave you; you are my family. Even if it’s not by blood, I can’t just let them kill you.”
My mum cupped my face in her hands, the tears shining in the light. “You must. I love you so much, I’m sorry it ended this way.”
I was sobbing as she pulled me into a hug, clutching me tight. But she pulled away quickly, “You’ve not got much time. Go.”
I began to step away, eyes trained on her. I didn’t want to go.
“Go!” She snapped.
“I love you,” I sobbed.
And then I ran. Once again, I sprinted through the streets, aiming for the Southern gate. As I neared, I watched as the guards walked away in confusion. Not even a second later, the gates opened. I pushed my legs harder as the guards noticed what was happening and as I passed the city boundary, a voice rang out through the speakers.
“I love you sweetie. You were always our greatest miracle.”
Though my body was begging me to stop, to turn around and accept my fate along with theirs, I knew I couldn’t waste their sacrifice. The gates closed behind me, sealing the guards from me, and sealing all my life and friends within it.
No longer was I an Elite.
Now I was an Inferior.
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