The Run & Go

[kindaemissary]

Just beyond the city's boundary lines, there is an entire world full of beautiful places and people waiting to be discovered.

​

The year is 2124. There is no more love, loss, and ultimately purpose. Everything has been stripped away in the name of keeping overpopulation down and the masses under control.People are selected for each other based on health and physical/mental attributes, and they create the next generation before they are readied for euthanization.

Upon a person’s 27th birthday, they must report to a sleep facility where they will be put to sleep by a sweet-smelling toxin. The only people exempt from this fate are enforcers of the law, who are in charge of tracking down those who attempt to escape.





Most people go through their euthanization without any problems, but there are always a handful of people who want to make the process harder than it has to be. Enforces focus most of their training on finding and controlling these types of people, and the rest of the time they learn tricks of the trade and how to make sure people stay in line.

 

[kailey]

Euthanization. The one word that should strike fear into the heart of every 26 year old human in the country. But it doesn't. Most have accepted their fate a long time ago; see, for them, it's not unusual. It's a formality that they grew up knowing. They knew this day would come. It happens for almost everybody. So what made her different?


Aryal Cooper was an outcast, to say the least. She had never felt comfortable in her skin or in the roles society had created for her. Most women her age would have already been paired and had one or more children. But not her.


Aryal found a way to cheat the system. She disappeared when it was her turn to find a compatible match. Well, not literally. She knew a guy who hacked into the networks and erased her from the pairing database. He's dead now, he was euthanized three years back; a little prematurely, but that's a different story. She didn't believe in anonymous matchmaking. She didn't believe in hardly anything anymore.


With a loud groan, the new 27 year old pushed herself into a sitting position. It wouldn't be long before someone would be at her door to take her, she needed to act quickly. Across the room lay a small lavender colored backpack full of necessities. To any unsuspecting citizen it looked like any other fashion bag. Beside it was a leather jacket and boots.


Aryal slid out from beneath her blankets and smoothed back her tousled mane and quickly began to dress herself. She wore tan colored skinny jeans and a white t-shirt. After pulling on the leather jacket and boots, she turned to look out her large apartment window one last time. This was it. She was skipping town and there was no going back.


With a final wave to most of her possessions she would leave behind, the blonde haired woman placed the bag across her back and turned the knob on her door. "This outta be good," she muttered before slipping through.
​

 

[kindaemissary]

Every single morning started the same. Wake up, brush teeth, piss, shower, dress, eat breakfast, lock apartment, start car, drive to work. It was like an automatic repeat setting that got pushed every night the moment Sayer fell asleep. His entire life was planned out to the t - what he ate, where he ran, when he got home in the evenings. It was like a simulated environment that didn't have a single changed variable. Even Sayer was on autopilot, for fuck's sake.


Growing up, Sayer always thought he was going to die on his 27th birthday. Most people did. It was normal. And honestly, he was okay with it. His parents passed away when he was young, around 6 or 7, so there weren't that many ties to keep him around once he served his purpose. Providing children for the next generation was one of the best things a person could be asked to do. Sayer was young, intelligent, and healthy. He was a perfect specimen to create new life.


Except he was infertile. Damn, did that put a damper on things.


He had his first check-up when he was 18. After people left school, they were given jobs around the city to keep the world at peace. Initially, he worked as a nurse in a delivery ward in the hospital a few blocks from his house. He did good work, took care of children until they were given to their parents. Elder Riannon, an elderly woman who worked with the hospital, told one of his advisors that he'd be a perfect father, and that they should check out his vitals then and there and start working on his path. He had never met Elder Riannon, only saw her through a monitor on the wall, but he knew she was right. He was a natural when it came to children.


Most of his tests came back with ridiculously positive results. He was in perfect health aside from the occasional asthma attack. His vitals were wonderful, clean and clear across the board. But he would never have children. That was probably one of the worst days of his life.


Elder Riannon recommended that he look to civil service. If he couldn't serve the city and his people by creating the future, he could do his best to protect it.


And he did. He had been an Enforcer for just over 9 years and his life was moving along steadily. He was 29, almost thirty in a couple months, but he didn't have to actively worry about dying anymore. There was always the chance that something on the job would go wrong, but euthanization wasn't at the forefront of his mind. He got paid well, had decent hours, and only had to work as an Enforcer two times a week, Tuesday and Saturday. The other days were assigned to manage the general public and keep people safe, but once in a while he had to take a road trip after one of his, or a co-workers, estranged insurgents.


It wasn't an easy job. Too many people believed that it was. Others believed that what he did was wrong. Evil. But the fate of his city, the fate of humanity, was in his hands, and if overpopulation became a problem again, it would be the end of it all.


"Pollux, did you get your paperwork for the day?" Marigold, a senior Enforcer, walked up to his desk with a cup of coffee. He didn't drink caffeine.


"I normally get a message at 7:15," he said, and he looked back towards the desktop. It was still two minutes before. Waiting always killed him. He wanted to get started as soon as he got there, but he understood why the Elders gave all of them a short break to collect themselves. Maybe get some desk work done.


"Let me know when you leave," she replied, and she headed off to her office. The coffee was still sitting on his desk, but he didn't touch it. She'd get the message, sooner or later.


As soon as the clock clicked over to 7:15, a message arrived in his mailbox with the subject line "Aryal Cooper" and an "important" flag on the right side of the message. He was assigned a runner. Great.


Sayer stood up and pushed in his chair, grabbed the stun gun from the desk, and made sure his gun was loaded. He had a baton attacked to his belt like the cops from the old days, but sometimes it came in handy.


"I'm leaving Marigold," he shouted down the hallway. Most of the office was out already for the day. Apparently May 14th was a popular day to have children. "If I'm not back in two hours, find my location and send me back up. The girl I got is trying to leave. I'll let you know if anything changes."


He headed out, swung the doors open in front of him, and pulled the sunglasses out of his chest packet before placing them over his eyes. It was a beautiful day to be alive.


Well, unless you were Aryal Cooper.

 

[kailey]

No one knew Aryal's real age. Except for the government, of course. She had been careful to lie about that fact to every person who had asked her. Luckily, hardly anyone asked. Age was a tricky subject in this type of society. No one took it lightly.


She had always been a bright girl. During school her teachers had even insisted she was brought up a grade. Because of this, she graduated early and was out into the world on her own.


Her parents were interesting people. Obviously their relationship wasn't anything special. To be quite honest, they despised each other. They were a match for a child and that was about it. As soon as Aryal had started school, they left. Every parent was given that option. Schools mandatorily had to take care of unwanted children and that's exactly what her school had done.


Aryal's first job once she finished was a saleswoman at a high-end clothing store on 1st street downtown. It was there where she learned her first criminal act; shoplifting. So many pairs of shoes, expensive jackets, and clothes of every sort had been taken by her hands. She was never caught. That just wasn't an option.


After a few years she was ironically needed working security at a strip mall toward the low-end part of town. All she did was watch videotapes, she never actually reported any of the crime she saw. This was where she met Benjamin, the man who erased her identity from the matching database.


The street and book smarts this less-than-perfect woman had acquired over the years would now come into play. If she was to survive, she needed to be smart. It was a cruel world.


Aryal quietly made her way to the lobby of the apartment building she lived in. Hardly anyone in the city drove anywhere, so she would blend in marvelously with the foot traffic.


Without a moment's hesitation, the blonde woman turned right and into the middle of a throng of workers heading toward their dead beat jobs. She skirted around people, trying to move quickly. Although, she was very careful not too move suspiciously; she didn't want some dumbass to call her out or anything.


Before long, Aryal found herself at an intersection. If she turned left it would lead her toward the suburbs and eventually the end of the city. That's where she needed to be.


Fastening her straps, she set off. There was no turning back now.
​

 

[kindaemissary]

A few years ago, there was a bill brought up to the Elders and consequently the council members of the city to add tracking devices to every citizen under the skin at birth so that the job of an Enforcer was only to take care of the body. The tracker would self-destruct and in its wake, kill the person wearing it.


Obviously, the bill didn't pass because Sayer was still walking towards the apartment building Aryal Conner lived in. He kept opening his phone to read the file on her. Her entire life was in a few sheets of papers. She didn't accomplish a lot, he figured. He didn't dig in too much. The first page had all contact information she had ever signed her name on, permanent address, family and friends.


Her parents were dead, like his. There was only one name on the friend's list, but there was a dark blue line scratched out of it. She didn't seem to keep good company. This man was killed before he got the chance to choose a scent to do it to. He was 24.


"What an idiot," he muttered to himself, and the lady walking next to him looked at him questionably, but he pointed towards his phone and kept walking.


Her apartment wasn't hard to find. Giant white and grey complex, probably about ten stories, patios on the west side of the building. He wondered if Conner had a patio.


He entered easily, found her floor, then her room. Struck down the door. If she was on the run, which she was, he knew she wouldn't be there. People always seemed to leave a trail of where they were thinking of going. It was evident that they'd be leaving the city, but in what direction, with another person, that's what Sayer needed to find.


There were no dirty dishes in the sink, no mess on the counters or at the table. If anyone else had come by, they might have just thought she had left the place for the afternoon. Sayer was no anyone.


She was travelling alone, he decided. There would be more of a mess in the bedroom if she was with another person. One side of the bed was still made. Her closet was empty aside from a few formal dresses and nicer shoes. She wouldn't need them outside of the city. She also wouldn't need them when she was dead.


Sayer locked the apartment and found the owner on the way out, letting her know that Aryal wouldn't be coming back, and if she did for some reason, that here was his card, call him or call the Enforcer main number. Either was acceptable.


He walked two blocks outside and looked up his location on his map. The fastest way out would be going south, but that also had more barriers to get through. East had the least, but required driving. She had left her car keys. West had traffic. Always. Too many people.


So he walked North, keeping his pace quick and steady. Somehow or another, he was going to find Aryal. He'd be in the room watching as she died.

 

[kailey]

Aryal was no idiot, she knew the authorities would be after her soon if not already. But for some odd reason, this didn't intimidate her much. Sure it was a bit scary knowing that Enforcers would hunt her down mercilessly until they could watch the very life seep out of her body. But because of her past, she'd had her fair share of experiences hiding from them.


This wasn't to say she was a terrible person. Besides the clothing store, she hadn't stolen anything. She had helped a 26 year old woman with a 3 year old daughter run once. How far they got, she wasn't certain.


Surprisingly, it only took Aryal twenty minutes to exit the largest part of the city. She had expected heavier foot traffic, but maybe it was a bit too early for the average worker.


The suburbs, however, were another thing. They were compact at first, but spread out the farther you got from downtown. It would take longer simply because she would need to be more careful about blending in.


Beyond the suburbs was a large concrete city wall that kept all of it's inhabitants inside it's constraints. That was daunting to Aryal. If they needed that big of a structure to keep people in, what dangers lurked beyond it? She shivered at the thought.


The first neighborhood she encountered was more upscale apartments and younger kids whose parents obviously did not care that their child was playing in the street at 7:52 A.M. Or they didn't have parents.


It wasn't difficult to quickly move through the first few blocks. If anyone asked, she was meeting a friend for lunch and was picking them up at their place. The odds of anyone asking we're slim though.


The farther and farther she got from the familiar city she had called home, the more the adrenaline of escaping was wearing off. Her nerves were getting to her as she moved into the first housing development. What if she was caught? Enforcers were notorious for giving runaways a less than peaceful exit out of this world.


Aryal began to bite her fingernails. It was a nervous habit she had picked up a while back, and one that needed to stop. She had nearly bitten them to stubs.


All of the sudden, her senses went on high alert and she felt the sudden urge to hide. Quickly, the blonde haired woman slipped into someone's backyard and behind a barbecue. She crouched so as not to be seen and peered out onto the street. Had they caught up to her that fast?
​

 

[kindaemissary]

Working in the city was nice. Everything Sayer could have ever needed was at his disposal. Large shopping centers, formal restaurants, up-and-coming tattoo parlors. He understood why people were scared of dying, but it would be a much more pleasant death than starving with no company, no food, and no warmth. At least in the city, your entire life was cared for. Jobs were easy to find and people had a lot of time to live a fulfilling life. Twenty-seven years is a good amount of time to make a difference in a community.


Maybe Aryal was running because she hadn't done anything worth mentioning in her life and because of that she was scared. Sayer knew that the process of acceptance wasn't easy, but there were groups for that. People got too attached to their children or mating partner and it made it harder to leave everything behind. Those were weaknesses. Love wasn't something people needed to strive for. It made people do stupid things like running off into the middle of nowhere, thinking they could survive alone.


Sayer kept heading out, and when he reached the end of the city limits, he borrowed a bike from a bike rack as a man was about to lock it in. He handed him money, well more than the bike was worth, and pedalled off with the promise that he'd be back in a couple hours and didn't have transportation.


People in the city were lovely. The amount of helpfulness that he saw on the streets was something that always made him proud to serve these people. He kept them safe, sometimes from themselves, and did his best to protect them from anything that went wrong.


Riots happened seldomly, but they happened enough for each generation to witness a few. Last year, in early autumn, there was a lashing out inside one of the shopping centers on the East side of the city. A woman who used to be an Enforcer alongside Sayer was the leader of the resistance, using her power to gain leeway with the Council, and she had gathered close to thirty people to band together and protect those with birthdays that day and later that week.


It went without saying that their little act of righteous justice went unaided. Sayer may or may not have killed a good amount of them.


None of that mattered, though. A little tension here or there was normal. People were scared of the unknown. It made sense. With all the unanswered questions and the gates separating the territory from the outside, it would be weird if no one was alarmed by the secureness of it all. To some it felt like a cage when to Sayer it felt like protection from beyond. From the unknown. From certain death.


All the houses in the suburbs looked the same. Some people liked a little more laid back lifestyle. They liked the garden in their yards, have pets, work in a local bakery. It was a simpler life than living in the city. Before his parents' Euthanization, he lived in the south suburbs. Seeing the outside of the city was nice. It gave him a little reminder about what he was protecting.


Travelling on bike was a lot faster than foot, obviously. If was going to find Aryal Cooper, he needed to be quick. It had been an hour since he left the office and gotten the info on Cooper, so he opened his phone and hit a button. A small projection of Marigold appeared in the air and he switched back from looking at the road and the hologram.


"Pollux, what do you need?" Marigold was sitting in her office. Sayer could hear other voices in the background.


"I'm in the North suburbs but haven't seen Cooper. Can you add her list to The Collection news list?"


The Collection was a banner in the center of the city that kept news immediate to the populous. There was a list at the bottom of the screen with names of Euthanizees that hadn't shown up for their departure. There was almost always a cash reward for anyone that found them and turned them in. Some people were even offered immunity from there own Euthanization if the person had been missing for a long enough time.


"Of course," Marigold said. "I'll make the broadcast hit the suburbs too. Every television set will have her face and name." She turned around and looked behind her for a moment, talking away from the microphone. "Kristoff also has a runner," she said. "I'll send you the information and send him yours. Help each other if you need it. I'll put up the broadcast."


She signed off with a click and Sayer kept pedalling to a stop. He only had another mile before the territory gates separating two worlds. Four types of identification were needed to leave with permission: living permit, permanent address paperwork, city number and contract, and a birth certificate. A person had to be under 24 to leave, and they were only given a month pass before they would be sought out and put on trial for going against the city. Most people to come back after that were found guilty and killed.


He opened the document on Kristoff's runner. A news reporter from the East side. He recognized the last name. He must have seen him on TV.


Sayer got back on the bike and headed towards the border. If he got there before Cooper did, he could show them his files and slow her down. If she was already out of the city, it was almost a loss. If she was still inside, the entire world would be looking for her.

 

[kailey]

A dark haired man holding a briefcase strolled past, a look of confusion on his face. He couldn't be more than 23. Lucky bastard. Aryal thought bitterly. The man glanced her way and shook his head in annoyance. "Damn kids," he muttered before moving on.


In all honesty, she was a bit surprised that she was so on edge that a simple citizen walking down the street made her run and hide. Maybe this wasn't the best decision she had ever made. Perhaps just succumbing to her inevitable fate was much easier than facing a life on the run.


Although there was speculation, no one knew exactly what a life outside of the city consisted of. According to rumor, the only sustainable human life lie inside the cities scattered throughout the nation. For all she knew there could be packs of rabid monsters running around outside of those walls. But that was foolish, right?


Aryal stood and brushed off her pants before turning onto the sidewalk and heading toward her destination.


It wouldn't take her long to get there now that she was through the main suburbs. A few more blocks and she would be at the southern gate. That was the tricky part. Security was extremely tight and it would seem extremely unusual for a woman on foot to want to cross through.


Frowning, she considered her only option- stealing a car. With a frustrated groan, Aryal looked around for a target. There was a small silver compact car parked on the curb. A girl in her teens exited and rushed inside, leaving the door open.


Now, if that wasn't pure luck, she didn't know what was.


Quickly, the blonde haired woman rushed toward the vehicle and slid behind the wheel. The moron even left the engine running. Grinning mischievously, she put the thing in drive and peeled away from the curb. Within seconds, as expected, she could hear loud yelling behind her.


Aryal had the necessary paperwork in her bag, although it wasn't entirely authentic. Her date of birth had been changed as well as her name.


She wasn't satisfied with a life of lies and repetition. The system wanted you to believe that basic human psychological needs like belonging and love didn't exist anymore. Deep down, she knew there was a fault in that.


Aryal wanted to experience these emotions. She wanted to live longer than a mere 27 years. She wanted something more than a partner who's sole purpose was to help her create offspring. She wanted connection and sentiment. All of these ideas were unknown to her, but she had read about them in literature from long ago. There was something more out there, and she was determined to find it.


She pulled up and smiled sweetly at the gate attendant. He had an expressionless face as he requested her information. Aryal handed it to him, resisting the urge to glance back. That girl would have called the authorities. She needed to move quickly.

 

[kindaemissary]

It took five minutes to ride the bike to the territory gates and he pulled his badge out as soon as he walked into the main office of the check point. "Enforcer Pollux," Sayer said, and shook the hand of the gate controller. The Northern station was practically empty. There were two people inside rooms doing evaluations, and when the gate controller didn't recognize the picture of Cooper, he regretted heading North.


"Get the picture out to the other gates as soon as possible," he said, and he pulled up a chair so that was sitting down next to the main computer. The girl behind the desk was older, definitely in her forties or fifties, but she was quick with the computer. That's probably why she was still alive. "I haven't lost a runner before, and I really don't today to be my first time."


The gate controller kept her eyes on the monitor and nodded, hitting keys quickly and hitting send with the mouse. "It's sent," she said, and Sayer stood up. He put his arms in his back pockets and paced the room.


The only other time he was this close to losing a runner was his second week on the job. It was his third Enforcing. The guy was smart, too smart, and Sayer didn't like it. He got into the security programs and changed his entire identity, slipped right through the territory gate and headed out of the city clear of charges. Marigold and Swanson, the woman who ended up turning on them later, told him that the man would have got through anyone's fingers, but Sayer took it personally.


Maybe that was why he was so set on finding this girl. He didn't want someone to make it past him again.


"Make sure they know that she's 27, that it's her birthday. She could have got new documentation saying otherwise."


The gate controller nodded again and started typing away. Sayer would just have to sit and wait. He leaned back against the counter, kept his eyes on the security monitors of the gates, and set a straight line to his lips.

 

[kailey]

The man was gone for nearly ten minutes and it was making Aryal antsy. She needed to keep moving. Did attendants usually take this long?


After a few more minutes, he returned with a deep frown etched into his forehead. He didn't have her papers in his hand and that worried her.


"Ma'am, I'm going to need you to get out of your vehicle and come inside here please." He informed her, his tone flat.


Aryal's heart sank. How the hell did they know? The only explanation was that an Enforcer had been hot on her trail and knew exactly where she was. Now she only had two options.


Above was a security camera that was pointed straight at her. It seemed as if it was staring into her soul. She shivered.


Aryal nodded at the attendant and removed herself from the car but she left the engine on. Luckily, the man didn't seem to notice. She walked straight into his small office and looked up at him, a look of innocence on her face.


"Ma'am, we have been made aware of a runaway that resembles you very closely. If you could confirm this informat-" he didn't get to finish.


Working security had come in handy after all. Aryal had pushed the chair against the man, cornering him. She swung one of his walkie-talkie like devices at his head, making contact and knocking his head against the wall.


Quickly she set to work on his system. It took her a few moments, but she located the gate operator switches and unlocked it. The creaking of rusted hinges sounded as the large metal gate swung open.


Before leaving, she peered at the security camera images showing the other gates. One showed the inside of an office. An Enforcer stood inside of it. It had to be the one going after her.

 

[kindaemissary]

"That's her," Sayer muttered to himself. Aryal Cooper was staring into the camera at the south gate, and he rushed towards the gate controller at pointed at the video feed. "That's her," he repeated. "We need to go into lockdown."


It really sucked that the guard at the south gate didn't have his work cut out for him. On the monitor, Cooper dismantled the security personnel and set at unlocking the gate. "Can you lock it from here?" he asked the woman, and when she started shaking her head, Sayer took a step away and slammed his fist into the wall. "Fuck."


Cooper turned to the security cameras and in the background of the feed, he could see himself standing on the monitor she was watching. She knew he was there and had just barely got through security. It would take minutes before another guard noticed the station wasn't operating and head down to the main room.


He hit the call button on his cell as Cooper exited the screen and most likely headed out of the building. He couldn't be sure. Gate security was obvious shit down at the south end. "Marigold," he said, sounding distressed. "I lost Cooper. She just opened the south gate and is probably on her way out as we speak. I'm up North. She knocked out the guard, I think. I'm watching the monitors now, but she's gone."


He kept cursing to himself under his breath as Marigold debriefed the office back in the city, exasperated with himself. "Pollux, calm down. This happens from time to time, and it was bound to happen to you."


"I request permission to continue the search." Sayer couldn't let this one go. He was the one who was sloppy. Cooper needed to be brought in. Civilian justice had to be served.


"You're request is granted, but you can't leave until you make it back to the precinct first. Kristoff found some information about Cooper when he went digging. It might be able to help you out."


Sayer rolled his eyes. "Kristoff found his runner?" he asked.


"Killed him outside of the east gate. Runners get no mercy."


A moment passed, and Sayer nodded to himself and stepped away from the gate controller and her desk. "Right, okay. I'll leave in a minute. Don't let this process take too long otherwise we'll lose her."


"I know, Pollux. Get back here, we'll talk, you'll leave. I'm sending Gallucci with you, no questions asked. He's been outside the gate before. He'll help."


Gallucci was a piece of work, maybe two years older than Sayer, and didn't make good small talk. The trip would be hell, but if it would help him bring in Cooper, he'd deal.


"Fine," he said. "I'm leaving now." He ended the phone call and headed towards the office door before he turned around towards the gate controller. "Have a good day."


He rode back to city in silence.

 

[kailey]

Aryal made quick work. If she could see the Enforcer in the security footage, that meant he could see her as well. He was probably already figuring out how to get to her. She had no time to lose.


After stealing the water bottle the attendant had on the desk, the blonde exited the office and hopped back into the car. Luckily no authorities had come to locate the stolen vehicle yet. She was either extremely lucky or extremely out of her mind. Probably both.


To her surprise, there wasn't much outside of the city gate. On either sides were rolling hills but that was about it. She found herself becoming a bit disappointed.


Aryal glanced down at the fuel gauge. The car was almost on empty. Shit. Perhaps her luck wasn't going to hold up to long.


When she was 15, a boy in her class had befriended her. But it wasn't just the systematic 'friendship' that was typical in this society. Something about it was genuine.


His name was Alexandar. He would tell her stories of long ago when humans weren't confined to walled cities. Each place was connected by long roads. They stretched clear across the country. Aryal was driving on one of these roads now.


Apparently, humans used to live in smaller towns and cities up in mountains and in remote areas because they could. There weren't any restrictions as to where you could live. They used to live for years and years.


He also told her of these groups called Salvation Camps where runaways were housed. In these Camps, people were free to live as they please. He told her that some man he knew escaped and sent a message back to his parents about his whereabouts.


Alexandar was gone now. He was euthanized early.


This all ran through Aryal's mind as she drove. She needed to locate one of these Camps and soon. That was her motive. There was no way in hell she was letting some Enforcer take that freedom away from her.

 

[kindaemissary]

Sayer got to the station in about thirty minutes after he dropped off the bike where he took it from the man. He walked the rest of the day. In the city, the weather reports were showing that thunderstorms were coming in from the north and heading straight south over the city. Sayer hoped that they found Cooper before he did so it slowed her down just a bit.


Marigold was waiting in the lobby when he got there and they headed back towards the conference room. "This shouldn't take more than ten minutes, Pollux. Gallucci went home to pack a bag, so he should be here any minute." They rounded a corner and entered the room. Kristoff was already waiting inside for them.


"Cooper's had a lot of problems throughout her life," he started, and he turned on the projector screen to go over everything. A photograph of a school picture filled the screen. "Her parents died early on in her life and the school raised her. That happens a lot, I know, but that's not the point. Most of the people in her life were euthanized early because of random infractions. This guy" - Kristoff switched the picture quickly - "was the guy who, a couple years ago, took down the city-wide server to help his life partner get out. She was pregnant, so we don't know if she survived, but a few days after she disappeared, we found him and processed him early."


Sayer nodded towards Kristoff and the pictures.


"This is Alexander Trant," the man started again, changing pictures. "Euthanized at 18. Killed a gate security guard. Public doesn't know that's the reason and we don't know why he did it. He had nine years left." They went through another group of pictures, all people in Cooper's life that had bit the bullet.


"What's the point of all of this?" Sayer asked. He sat down on the edge of the table and crossed his arm over his chest. "So she knows a lot of stupid people. Doesn't mean anything."


Marigold turned on the light, and Kristoff shut down the computer. Gallucci walked into the room. "What did I miss?"


"The point is that we should have been looking at her this entire time," Kristoff answered, ignoring Gallucci. "She has some idea of what she's doing out there on her own. It might not be enough to keep her alive, but it might be enough for her to get far away before we find her body. You probably won't be the ones killing her." Kristoff's lips twitched. "That's what I'm trying to say."


"The purpose of you leaving, Pollux, is to prove a point." He shifted his attention to Marigold. She had bags under her eyes. "If you don't kill her, it's not a problem. We just want to show the public what lengths we will go to protecting their city and, in turn, keeping them in line."


Sayer glanced around the room. Marigold and Kristoff shared a glance, and Gallucci still looked confused.


"Is that it?" he asked.


"That's it."


Sayer stood up from his position against the table and gestured towards Gallucci. "Then we're out of here. I have a bag packed at my desk for emergencies, so I'm gonna go get that, and then we'll head out. We still have daylight to get a move on. She'll probably stop at nightfall, so we need to move fast."

 

[kailey]

The farther she drove, the more weary she grew. It wasn't even getting dark yet and her eyes were already beginning to close involuntarily. Maybe this whole running from society thing wouldn't be such a great idea in the long run. If only she could find a Camp quickly, it would be worth it.


The car began to sputter, signaling it was running out of gas. With a groan, Aryal pulled the car over to the side of the road. She was in a forested area and assumed that she could sleep in the car.


She pulled out her bag and located a small bag of snack food. She lay out her leather jacket and and used it as a pillow. As she lay on her back, she stared up at the ceiling and slowly ate the food. Her resources should last a while if she was smart. Hopefully she'd find some others by the time she ran out.


There were a lot of things she would have to consider. One, she would be hunted relentlessly. She knew this. And it was beginning to terrify her. She was also starting over. An entire new life with new people and a new social system.


Aryal was too mentally exhausted to worry about staying awake and keeping watch. Her eyes began to close and her breathing slowed.


(Ugh, I'm sorry this post kinda sucks. I got a puppy recently and he's being extremely obnoxious as I type this and I wanted to get something up, haha. I promise the next one will be better.)

 

[kindaemissary]

Gallucci was holding him back.


It wasn't that he was slow or stupid; he just had this way about him that he got on everyone's nerves. He talked constantly and smelled like bar soap. It didn't bother much people, but everything about Gallucci just made Sayer want to slice his throat. He wore these wiry glasses that belonged in the 21st century and pretended that he knew everything. Sayer knew that he Gallucci was older than him, but he looked like he skipped puberty entirely. Plus, he had a heart condition, so he wasn't allowed to procreate. Sayer didn't like being put in the same book as a guy like him.


"How long do you want to drive around before night?" Gallucci asked.


Sayer gave him a sideways glance and pulled the car out of the parking lot. It was bad enough that he had to have Gallucci with him in the first place, so he didn't really want to hear him talk. "We'll drive until we find a reason to stop. Whether it's to sleep or pee, I don't want to stop until we have something to go off of."


"I know the area fairly well, especially up north. The settlements are scattered a little bit, but I can get us to them."


"Settlements?" Sayer turned towards him and stopped at the light for pedestrians. "What do you mean, settlements?"


Gallucci raised an eyebrow, confused. "You don't know?" There was a pause and he looked away. "Well, this should be interesting."


"Gallucci," Sayer threatened, "tell me what you're talking about."


The other man sighed and leaned back into the passenger seat as they pulled across the intersection and drove away from the city. "First of all, you can call me Cavo," Gallucci said. "And what I'm saying, is that those settlements that people think exist beyond the wall? Where people are free from everything and can just live? Yeah, those exist. We call them Camps, because they tend to move around every couple of years. But yeah, they're there. People get old and live for as long as they want."


Sayer let the information sink in a bit and moved his shoulders subconsciously. "How do you know all of this?"


Gallucci, Cavo, whatever, looked out the window as they pulled into the first wave of suburbia. "I lived out there for a while," he said, and Sayer had to look at him. "I was twenty-three and my sister wanted to escape. I was an Enforcer back then, like I am now, and I went with her. Marigold knew about it all. I went with her and we joined a group. I learned what I good, and when the Camps decided to move locations, I killed them in shifts. They were travelling in small groups with no way of contacting each other, so it was fairly easy."


He turned his head to face Sayer again. "I killed my sister. You can only be on one side."


The car grew quiet and Gallucci turned towards the window again. Sayer didn't what to do with that information, so he just kept driving. It looked like it was going to be a long ride.

 

[kailey]

Aryal didn't sleep long despite her state of exhaustion. She woke with a start from a nightmare. In it she was in the exact situation she was in now, except an Enforcer had caught up with her before she passed the gate. He had pushed her to the ground, forcing a gun to her scalp. Before he pulled the trigger, he spoke four words. "You'll never make it."


A bead of sweat trickled down the side of her forehead as she sat up. It was nearly dark. The last rays of sunlight were creeping below the horizon, emitting an orange-pink glow across the sky. It was beautiful but out if place in Aryal's mind. When you're on the run from men who want you dead, beauty is an oddity.


She quickly finished off the small snack bag and slid out of the car. She'd have to move on her feet now. Luckily she had packed a pair of tennis shoes, and she changed into them now. She also stuffed her jacket into the bag.


There wasn't really much in the car that she could salvage besides another bottle of water and a red blouse.


Aryal patted the hood of the car and took her possessions. She assumed that if she followed the road south that she would run into a Camp or at least someone soon enough. There had to be some civilization out here.


Growing up, society told you never to go outside of the city walls unless it was entirely necessary for you to do so. Hardly anyone left. They instilled in you a fear of what possibilities were out in the world; monsters, nightmares, the unknown. It truly was terrifying.


The blonde woman shivered at the thoughts as she started off along the road. The forest on either side was extremely overgrown and dense. Birds could be heard singing and chirping from within it which added a sort of calming aura to the scene.


The sound of a car's engine could be heard from somewhere behind her. Fuck.


The chances of it being a normal person were slim to none. It was most likely that Enforcer and she was most likely dead.


Aryal shook her head in annoyance and turned into the trees. She crouched down behind a tall shrub and let out a long breath. This is it. she thought sadly.

 

[kindaemissary]

"I think I see something ahead of us." It was the first thing either of them had said in over thirty minutes, and Gallucci was the one to break the silence.


Sayer slowly the car down and turned on the brights as Gallucci lowered his window. He grabbed a flash light from the glove compartment and looked around outside. It took them another hundred or so feet before the light reflected off the car parked on the side of the road. Sayer parked the car and the two off them got out, keeping it running so the lights were on.


"The backseat is still warm," Gallucci said as he turned over his shoulder. He picked up an empty bag of junk food and tossed it towards Sayer in a ball. "She hasn't been gone long, so she hasn't gone far. She'll probably want to lay low until she gets a chance to leave, but it's slim that she'll get one. She's not about to turn on lights and give herself over."


Sayer leaned against the side of his car and tapped his fingers mindlessly at the glass. "So, Gallucci-"


"Cavo," Gallucci interrupted.


"Cavo," Sayer corrected himself. "Do we wait for her or search around until we find something?" He looked up towards the top of the tree line. There wasn't going to be daylight for much longer, fifteen minutes tops. "We can't wait around forever and hope that she'll come out."


Gallucci pulled himself out of the car and stood up straight as he turned towards. "I think we sit here. She probably already knows we're here and can hear us. So we wait. Sit here, drink some water, get something to eat. Take a piss. After a while, we'll hear her. There's two of us, one of her. We have the upper hand."

 

[kailey]

There was two of them. One sounded quite a bit older than the other, both male. Cursing under her breath, Aryal considered her options. There weren't many.


She overheard their plan to wait her out. She had to admit, they were smart. If she moved, they'd hear her. If she didn't, they would find her. She wasn't far away from the car she had abandoned.


Maybe they were human enough to let her live. Maybe they weren't killing machines after all.


"Don't be an idiot, blondie." She muttered quietly to herself. Of course they wouldn't. They were out for her blood, it's what they do. Why would they change their mind for her?


Her only option was to run. They would hear her, yes, but if she was far enough into the trees before they realized, perhaps she could lose them. Or climb a tree. Whichever worked best.


Aryal took a deep breath and closed her eyes a moment. She ran a hand through her slightly curled hair and stared up at the sky. "Please let this work, I'm begging you." She whispered to the first star she saw.


After counting to three, she jumped to her feet and sprinted into the forest. Thank god she was wearing running shoes. Thorns and branches clawed at her legs as she moved. Luckily she was pretty quick otherwise this would have been over a long while ago. They had to be right on her heel.

 

[kindaemissary]

Gallucci was in the middle of a story and Sayer held up a hand to him, halting conversation. "I heard something," he said, and glanced into the tree line. There was the swift sound of rushing just beyond the left-behind car. He turned back towards Gallucci and nodded, pulling his handgun from the side of his belt. "Go," he said, and he quickly moved to turn off the car and lock it. "I'll be right behind you."


Sayer watched Gallucci nodded back and pull out his own weapon before darting after the sound. He turned off the car and pocketed the keys before running after Gallucci and Cooper.


It was stupid for her to run. Enforcers had to go through rigorous physical training before they were even accepted for the job and had to go through a series of tests every month to make sure they were still fit for the job. She couldn't get far with them after her.


He caught up to Gallucci and slowed down to his pace. Cooper moved quickly, but they'd catch up to her after a while. She couldn't keep running forever. The bag Sayer figured she packed was probably going to slow her down.


There was a dart of fabric ahead of them. He could barely make it out against the dark trees and with the flashlights shaking in the darkness, but he saw it. He threw a look to Gallucci and they shared a look: they both knew she was right ahead of them, that they'd find her before she got too far away.


Sayer heard something to the right of them slice through the air and, for a moment, he was confused. A second later, Gallucci stopped running and clutched at his side before crouching against the ground. Sayer stopped running and walked towards him, Cooper forgotten for the moment.


"What the fuck, Gallucci," he muttered, and when he walked around the side of him, Sayer saw an arrow sticking out right under Gallucci's ribcage.


"It came out of nowhere," Gallucci answered. "I'll be fine, it's not that deep. I didn't think that were any Camps this close, but I guess I was wrong." He started ripping apart his shirt and getting a clear path to the arrow. "Don't forget about Cooper."


"She can wait." Sayer bent down and tore the shirt from Gallucci's right side. "Whoever hit you might think that she's with us, shoot her too. We'll take care of this and then keep moving."

 

[kailey]

Aryal heard the men behind her call out and the sound of their urgent footfalls ceased. Something happened, but she wasn't about to turn around and ask if they were okay. They wanted her dead after all.


She kept running, but her legs were beginning to tire and she was noticing the weight of the bag on her back. She would have to climb something or find somewhere to hide, or no doubt they would be on her in a matter of minutes.


That's when it happened. All she heard was a twig snap from the shadows as a figure plowed into her right side, knocking her onto the ground. Aryal pushed back the urge to scream. It resulted in a half guttural yelp.


"Shut up or we're both dead, runaway." A voice instructed her. It was a male's voice sounding to be about her age. His rough hands were on the back of her neck as he pushed her into the ground.


"Get up, be quick. We're going left. Follow me." He whispered before releasing her and getting to his feet.


Aryal stood and peered at the man. He was tall and definitely was in to some physical activities. He had scruffy light brown hair and a goatee. His eyes were savage looking, but had a hint if pity as he returned her gaze. "Move!"


She nodded and tore after the man, aiming to stay right on his heel. Adrenaline was kicking in again, so the thought of her sore muscles was being pushed to the back of her mind.


For all she knew, he could be done crazy person who hunted runaways and are their hearts for breakfast. The logical parts of her highly doubted it, but she needed to remain cautious. Everyone was an enemy until proven otherwise.

 

[kindaemissary]

It took a little more fussing with the shirt before Sayer was able to rip the arrow free from Gallucci's side. He cursed a couple times and gritted his teeth down to the point Sayer could hear the grinding, but it was out clear and they used the shirt to keep pressure.


"I have a medical kit back in the car," Sayer said, and he helped Gallucci stand up with his shoulder. "If need be, we can keep at the search in the morning with the car. Right now, this is more important. I don't want to come back with two dead people."


They walked back together to the car like that, Gallucci using Sayer for support. Sayer sat down the other man on the front of the hood and turned on the car before reaching for his bag. The medical kit was in the front pocket, and he switched the brights on. "I'm gonna clean up and then cover and wrap it," he said when he stood in front of Gallucci. He opened the bottle of hydrogen peroxide and pressed it against the wound. Gallucci winced but didn't flinch, and soon enough Sayer was wrapping a bandage around his torso and handing the other man a shirt.


"We should keep looking," Gallucci said as he pulled the tank over his shoulders.


"Are you an idiot?" Sayer looked at him as if he was an idiot. "She's long gone by now, and we know there are other people nearby. We wait until morning, take shifts until the sunrises, and then head out again. We're not going to find her in the dark with you grimacing the whole way."


They shared a moment of silence and Gallucci nodded, giving in. "Fine, but I'm taking the first shift. Try and get some rest." He opened the passenger door to the car and slid inside. Sayer zipped up the bag and did the same on the other side. It was only just past sunset, still only around 9:30 at night. It would be hard to sleep. He handed Gallucci a water bottle from the bag.


"Stay hydrated," he said, and twisted the cap on his own. "We'll need it."

 

[kailey]

It wasn't long before the strange man had let Aryal to a clearing. Multiple tents made from canvas were spread throughout the area. A few women were washing clothing in a small creek to the left. Even some children were scattered about.


The man placed a hand in between her shoulder blades and pushed her gently toward the largest tent in the center of the clearing. Other men and one woman stood inside. They glanced up as the two of them entered.


"We've got another one. Two Enforcers were hot on her trail. I wounded one of them," the man who had ambushed her spoke first.


The woman examined Aryal with scrutinizing eyes. She had fiery red hair and an aging face. "You've run dear, but you're safe now," she informed Aryal kindly, although her eyes did not share in the warmth.


"Erik, take her to your tent. She'll stay with you the remainder of the way. Because she was your first runner, she's your responsibility." The woman instructed before turning on her heel to speak with the men surrounding her.


So that was it? Two Enforcers were chasing her, a strange man ambushes her and takes her to a camp, and then she's automatically accepted into it? Maybe this was a Salvation Camp. It didn't seem big enough though.


Erik, that was mystery guy's name, immediately began ushering her toward a tent pitched at the back of the clearing. He stopped in front, and turned to face her.


"My name is Erik Trummel. This is a Salvation Camp. I know it doesn't seem like much, but we're just a sect of the larger Camp out east. We're heading there now, actually. You're lucky you found us."


Aryal shook her head in disbelief. It was that easy to find them. Maybe her luck hadn't run out. "So what about those Enforcers?" She asked him.


"We'll move first thing in the morning, before daylight. Chances are, they'll be out of the hunt the remainder of the night. You're safe now." Erik reassured her.


"But what if they find us?" Her voice trembled a bit at the thought.


"We give em' hell."

 

[kindaemissary]

A few hours later, Sayer was shook awake by Gallucci's arm jamming into his side. "What?" he groaned. It took him a couple seconds to sit back up in the seat.


"We should get moving again." Out of the front window, Sayer could see the moon just beyond the tree line. There was a dim light hovering over the two parked cars, but aside from the simple illumination, everything else was shrouded in shadow. "I found some pain pills in your med kit. Everything is pretty numb right now, but give it a few minutes of walking and I'll be good."


They made eye contact and, after a long moment, Sayer nodded. "You sure?" he asked rubbing at his eyes with the back of his hands. He didn't want Gallucci to feel that they had to keep moving even though it was the best idea that they could have.


"Yeah," the other man said. "If we wait until morning, they could be gone. We should pack up and leave the car like here, keep it running so the battery loses charge. Once we kill Cooper we can walk back. It'll take longer, but it's worth it."


"I thought our goal wasn't to kill her."


Gallucci turned towards him with a disbelieving and unimpressed expression. "She ran. We kill her if someone else doesn't kill her first. No questions asked." Sayer watched him look away and out the top of the passenger side window. "There are consequences to every action, Sayer, even if the action is good. The consequence for running is death. It's always been death, and it's not going to change because Marigold wants to prove a point."


The car was quiet for a while before Sayer nodded and reached into the back seat for his bag. "We'll get our things and head out," he agreed, and he started packing away the water bottles and med kit. "We'll look until we find her, and we will find her. You're right - there's consequences for every action. If we don't do our job, people will start to think that running is a good idea. Then the entire city will be in chaos."


"Now you're talkin'," Gallucci said, and he started doing the same. He pulled his jacket on one sleeve at a time. It took them a few minutes to get everything together. They kept the car running and locked it from outside, headlights off.


They walked quietly for a long time in the darkness, no flashlights. Sayer checked his phone - 2:43 AM. There were still three and a half hours until sunrise. Time was on their side.

 

[kailey]

Erik helped Aryal get situated. He was used to only one person using the tent, so he gave her his pillow and a blanket. "I'm staying awake, just in case," he informed her as he gently lay her down. "If anything happens, I'll come get you. Get some sleep."


With that, he walked out. She sat there a moment, watching the entrance to the tent. He was being extremely kind. Then again, it was probably their protocol. That, or these runaways really were great people like the legends told them.


---


"Get up, blondie, it's time to move!" A deep voice called out into the tent. Erik emerged, giving her an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name."


"Aryal. Aryal Cooper." She responded as she moved to her feet. Erik nodded and helped her up.


"It would be great if you could pack this all up for me. I'll get the tent, but I'm needed helping some of the elder people pack up." He exclaimed, running a hand through his hair.


Aryal simply nodded and gestured for him to go do whatever he needed to. She crouched down and began folding up the blankets, stuffing them into the pillowcase. She placed her own bag on her back and carried the filled pillow out of the tent and went to find Erik.


On the way, a woman stopped her. She had kindness in her eyes as she reached out her hand to grab the items.


"Oh, these are Erik Trummel's." Aryal responded, forcing a slight smile. Expressing emotions wasn't her strong suit. Then again, most of the people she knew back in the city had the same issue.


The woman just smiled and reached out again, nodding. Why wasn't she talking?


"She's mute." Erik said from behind her. He handed his things from Aryal to the woman, and placed a hand on the blonde woman's back once again, ushering her toward the front of the clearing.


"Our lookout spotted the Enforcers. We're going to have to leave some of these things behind. We'll make it to the Camp by sundown," he said gravely as he glanced over her shoulder.


"Take this. If it comes to it, you don't want to be the one losing your life." In his hand was a dagger. It was about six inches long and serrated at the tip.


Aryal gingerly grabbed it, examine it closer. She had never killed and never planned on it.





Erik held his bow in one hand, a quiver full of arrows slung across his back. "Like I said, they find us, they're dead"

 

[kindaemissary]

Gallucci wasn't slowing them down that much. It was clear that he was in pain, he didn't make a fuss. Sayer had seen him come out an explosion looking like a pro back when riots were a big thing. People spent years figuring out how to blow up gates and do it efficiently enough to make it a couple more miles before the Enforcers chasing them shot them dead.


"Have you ever killed anyone?"


Sayer looked over towards him. The question personal and not something he really wanted to talk about. Especially with Gallucci. They might be part of the same team, but they weren't friends. Not in the slightest.


"A couple times," he told him anyway. It wasn't big of a deal. "The first one was an accident."


After his first runner, Sayer was fidgety with a gun for a long time. Fidgety with everything. Being an Enforcer made him more nervous than anything had ever made him in his entire life. It wasn't that big of a deal to lose someone during your first month working for the city, but Sayer couldn't handle it. He was headed to the suburbs to collect a man for euthanization, and he got there, he lost control. He still can't remember all of it, but the man was lying on the ground, bullet through his skull, when Sayer came to. No one was around. Marigold took care of all of it.


"And the other times?" Gallucci asked pulling him out of his mind.


"Chang's Rebellion," he nodded. "I killed her and a couple others before they could take over the station. She didn't know it well enough, I guess. She should have spent more time learning. If she was smart, she wouldn't have acted so soon. Her group was only together for a couple months."


"I was on medical leave that week," Gallucci said. Sayer nodded again, remembering. "No one told me you were the one to kill Chang."


Sayer chuckled breathily. "A couple dozen shots through the chest does the trick."


They walked longer in silence, guns at their sides, bags strapped to their shoulders. Sayer carried an assault rifle over his chest that was in the trunk. Being an Enforcer had its perks. It wasn't awkward like Sayer thought it would be, and Gallucci made good company if he had to admit it.


"There's a haze up ahead," Gallucci whispered, and then two of them slowed to a halt. Gallucci stepped in front of Sayer and nodded behind him as they moved through the brush quietly.


The clearing only had some leftover supplies laying around and a fire burning bright.


"They just left," Sayer assumed. "They had to of, otherwise the fire wouldn't be so hot. Less wood." He checked his phone. The battery was dying, but it would last a little longer. 3:51 AM. "We're right behind them."