We Are All Strangers (11 page)

“Well, come along then. They are awaiting your arrival in Compound One,” she stated, turning to open the car door. I watched as she climbed inside of the vehicle and scooted over behind the driver side seat, leaving room for me to move in next to her.

I spun around, taking one final look at the place I’d known as home; at the small, concrete house that I’d spent the past seventeen-years in, at the residents I had once considered my family, at my parents who couldn’t stand to look at me. And then my eyes darted to the fields, the tall fields that shone brightly beneath the sun’s rays, the last place I’d seen Kieran before I was brought before the Council.

I recalled the panicked look in his green eyes when the guards found us lying beside each other, gazing up at the night sky brimming with stars. When they’d asked for our identification cards, I knew what would follow. I wasn’t his match, nor I his.

I wasn’t Rena Phillips, and he wasn’t Colin McKenna.

It was as simple as that.

We were brought to nearby cells, left to await separate hearings before the Council all because we’d found something in one another that couldn’t be manufactured – we’d found love.

The Council didn’t care how we’d felt about one another. No matter how much I wanted to try to explain, to reason with them, I knew it was pointless.

Natural love in our society had long since ceased to exist.

From what we’d been told, our world had fallen victim to some sort of plague, taking with it any bit of stability our people had once known.

It took time to rebuild our world as the government struggled to establish compounds throughout the plague stricken nation. Even now, thirty-years later, we were still struggling to exist.

Eager to regain stability, the government drew the Caiden Act, which made it so that residents were to be matched upon their seventeenth birthdays. Matches were expected to spend six months getting to know one another before they were expected to participate in a Promise Ceremony before the community.

Colin and I had been matched five months ago.

Our ceremony had been scheduled for the following month. But now that I’d been sentenced to serve two years in the outer compounds, he’d be matched with someone else.

I knew that I should be hurting; that I should be jealous even, but the truth was that I didn’t care. I didn’t care because he wasn’t Kieran. I didn’t care because it wasn’t him that my heart longed for. It would never be him, and I knew that.

“Ridley, we do not have all day,” Claire called from inside the SUV, forcing me out of my head.

Except we did – or at least
I
did.

I had two years to waste away; I wasn’t in any rush to meet my fate.

Accepting that I no longer belonged here, to live among those who believed in our system, those who welcomed lives constructed for them, I made my to the SUV, climbing in beside Claire.

“You do understand what will happen, correct?” She asked, reaching for my hand. She secured a thin metal bracelet around my wrist – one of many trackers they’d place on me before I arrived at the compound.

“I understand that I will serve as a Matron of the Order and that I will do as is expected of me,” I said, trying to blink away the tears that were beginning to form. “And I understand that the compounds are not meant for the weak – for people like me.”

I waited for Claire to respond, but she didn’t. Instead, she reached forward, grabbing hold of a small plastic box that sat beneath the driver seat. On the center of the clear box was an inscription:
Subject 415
.

“What does that mean?” I asked, eyeing the inscription suspiciously.

Claire offered a reassuring smile as she unlocked the case, removing a long silver chain with a small red chip hanging from it. She brought it to my neck and stared at me expectantly. When I didn’t react, she finally spoke, “Your hair, Ridley.”

“Sorry.” I flung my blond locks over my right shoulder, and sat still as she secured the necklace around my neck. “What does Subject 415 mean?” I asked again, hoping Claire would tell me.

But still, there was no response.

“Your finger,” she said, her palm lay out ready to take hold of my finger.

I glanced down at the small silver tube she held and the short spikes that sat eagerly awaiting the chance to pierce through my skin.

I took a deep breath and lay my pointer finger on her palm. Without warning, she slammed the cold metal against my skin. I could feel the liquid slipping underneath my skin, burning as it traveled throughout my body.

It felt as though a fire had been ignited all over my body.

Everything burned, and all I wanted to do was cry out in pain.

“Take this,” Claire said handing me a clear gel tablet. “It’ll help with the burning.”

Part of me felt as though I shouldn’t trust her, but I was willing to try anything to end this pain. My eyes never wavering from her, I reached for the tablet, opened my mouth, and tossed it onto my tongue.

I closed my mouth and swallowed the tablet down.

“What was that?” I asked, pointing at the tube that now lay on her lap.

She shrugged. “It is part of standard procedure; don’t worry yourself too much with it, Ms. Mulligan.”

If there was one thing that I had learned, it was that if someone ever told you not to worry? There was usually reason to worry.

“Once we arrive at the compound, you will be escorted to a small room just inside of the gate,” she said, stuffing the tube inside of the clear case, along with her paperwork. “There they will administer a small tracking device into the nape of your neck.”

I instinctively reached behind me, gripping my neck. “Is that honestly necessary?”

Claire chuckled. “Oh child, you really have no clue the trouble you’ve gotten yourself into, huh?”

I lowered my hand, my fingers curling around the red chip attached to the silver chain. It was hot under my touch. A small light pulsated at the center of the chip, blinking in tune with my heart rate.

“Love isn’t worth this, Ridley.” Claire shook her head, her eyes scanning over the passing world as we traveled in the SUV. “It isn’t worth the pain you that you will experience within the compounds.”

Chapter Three

The tires clung to the dirt road beneath us as we came to a sudden stop just outside of a walled compound. An older woman with long gray hair, dressed in a loose white cotton dress, stood beside the gate, her face void of any emotion.

“We’re here, Ms. Mulligan,” Claire said, throwing open her door and exiting the vehicle.

Panic soared through my body forcing my heart to pound against my chest.

Breathe
, I reminded myself.

Claire stood at the front of the SUV with the older woman beside her, her foot tapping anxiously against the ground.
Now
, she mouthed.

I took one last breath before exiting the vehicle.

I knew that I was about to walk into Hell – not literally, of course, but as close to it as one could get on Earth – and I wasn’t sure that I’d last to see another day. But I also knew that I didn’t regret the actions that had led to me being here.

Love, pure love was one of the most exhilarating things that I’d ever experienced.

I’d never known a feeling more genuine, or thrilling than the feeling of being in love.

It was an all-consuming thing; a feeling that overtook your mind and body, one that I’d hoped I’d never forget because the experience of love was something that every person should have had the right to.

“Ms. Mulligan,” Claire hissed. “Would you please quicken your pace?”

I lowered my head, allowing my hair to fall in front of my face as I walked the five feet to where Claire stood. “About time,” she said, absolving a heavy sigh. “This is Matron Elizabeth, you will report to her during your time within the compound. Do you understand?”

I stood straight, my eyes glancing over Matron Elizabeth. Where the thin dress hadn’t covered her frail body, I noticed large circular bruises lining her arms, which only worsened my fear. “Hello,” I barely mustered. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Matron Elizabeth.”

She extended her hand out to me. “Come along,” she said, her fingers wrapping around mine. I looked back at Claire, who was already retreating to the SUV. My feet dragged across the dirt as she pulled me closer to the gate. She knocked lightly on the steel gate before taking a step back.

A small window slid open; a guard looked us over from the other side before reaching for a lever on the wall beside him. “One second,” he called out, sliding the window shut just before the gate opened up revealing a haunting community.

I wasn’t sure what I expected to find inside the gate, but this certainly wasn’t it. The walls, made of brick, were covered in vines and cracks. Worn down buildings lined the compound, which was eerily quiet, with not a single person in sight. “Where is everyone?”

Matron Elizabeth laid her hand against my lower back, ushering me towards a small wooden door located off to the side. “They are in their headquarters,” she answered. “No need to worry, my dear child. You will be joining them soon enough.”

She knocked once before turning to face me. “Do you know what that is?” She asked, pointing at the chip that hung from my neck.

The softness of her voice worried me. “No,” I said, the word barely escaping my lips.

Her fingers curled around the red chip. “This is you.” Her eyes grew dim as she continued. “Everything that you are – that you were before coming here... it’s all here.”

“I’m afraid I don’t understand what you mean.” And I didn’t.

I’d feared the compounds for as long as I could remember; the threats from the Council constantly haunted my thoughts, creating an image of Hell on Earth.

And yet, none of it appeared to be true. At least, not upon first glance.

Nothing was making sense.

“There’s much more at play than you know, Ms. Mulligan.” Matron Elizabeth sighed. “In time, the truth will reveal itself.”

Just as I was about to speak, the wooden door opened, revealing a petite woman, no older than thirty by the look of it, dressed in a short, cotton dress. “Come in,” she said, moving aside so that we could pass by.

I walked ahead of Matron Elizabeth, my fingers gripping the light fabric of my dress with fear. I could feel the fabric tearing from the pressure, destroying what little remained of my life before Compound One.

A light bulb hung from the ceiling above, the only light within the tiny room, illuminating the stainless steel table that sat next to a metal folding chair. “Claire said something about a tracker.” It was more of a statement than a question.

“Under the rule of the Council, violators of the Caiden Act, those that are sent to live within the compounds, are required to receive trackers.”

“Why is that?” I asked, watching as she retrieved a small, metal disc from the table, sliding it into place on the bottom of a tube.

“How else do you expect them to retain control?”

They seemed to be doing a rather fine job of that as far as I was concerned.

Back home, we were required to carry our identification cards on us at all times. The cards were an extension of us; they contained every bit of information about our lives that the Council felt to be important: our names, birthdays, family members, school and work schedule, food plan, health records, and, most importantly, our matches.

They’d done a fine job containing the residents of Caiden, instilling fear in them from early on, but every now and then, a few would lose themselves to their curiosity; allowing for the possibility of love – true love.

I’d lost myself to my curiosity, I’d welcomed the possibility of love, and it’d led me here: a place hidden far away behind a large gate, a place designed for criminals, a place meant to destroy you, piece by piece until nothing remained.

“Please, take a seat.” The woman said, lowering me into the metal chair.

I fell back against the metal backing, my hands gripping the underside of the chair. “What are you going to do?”

It was a stupid question honestly; one that I’d known the answer to before I’d even opened my mouth to speak.

“It’s an injector, child. What do you mean what am I going to do?” The woman rolled her eyes, clearly becoming agitated with me.

“Gwen, please.” Matron Elizabeth stepped forward and lay her hand on Gwen’s shoulder. “She’s terrified enough as it is, there is no need to be rude.”

There was also no need to keep prodding me with needles
, I thought.

I wasn’t stupid enough to try and escape, especially since it was evident that most of what I’d been told of the compounds was nothing other than a story, carefully developed to terrify me; to make the idea of natural love seem unappealing.

“Kieran,” his name fell from my lips unexpectedly. “Is he – what they’ve told us about the detention centers, is it true?”

Matron Elizabeth lowered her head, cupping her hands at her waist. “Not all of what they’ve told you is a lie.”

“The detention centers are real then?” I asked, my voice low, overcome with sadness.

Gwen nodded and leaned in, hovering above me. Without warning, she pressed the cold metal tube against my collarbone. I could feel the needles piercing my skin, and the tearing sensation as the tracker was set in place, but I didn’t react.

My mind was elsewhere – with Kieran, imagining the pain he must’ve been experiencing.

They’d told us that natural love was selfish.

They’d sworn that natural love was wrong.

And although I wouldn’t have traded how I felt about Kieran, or how he made me feel, I found myself wondering if they were right after all because love wasn’t supposed to destroy a person. It was supposed to build them up, to make them better than they were on their own, but our love was destroying him, piece by piece.

“Vera, my defense advisor – why didn’t she tell me about this place?” My voice sounded empty, not like my own.

“There are things that those within Caiden are not aware of,” Matron Elizabeth answered. “They believe that the compounds are still operating as they once were.”