DIRTY SKY

Today was the first quiet day in months. I looked out the window, or what’s left of it. I could hardly see through the dirty glass. Trying to wipe it clean with my sleeve, I scratched it with the locket I was holding in my hand. I forgot that I was clenching it in my fist. I’ve been doing that for days. A heart-shaped locket. The only thing left from my past life. I went to look for my dog, who I haven’t seen since yesterday. He was probably hiding somewhere. I hoped.

Yesterday was the worst day, maybe that’s why it was so silent today. Could it mean the end? The end of this madness? Will life get back to normal now? I don’t even know what normal is anymore. I woke up this morning with water dripping on my face. I was sleeping under my desk, covered with a blanket. It was soaking wet by the time I got up. I didn’t even know where the water was coming from. I didn’t care. My building, my family home, my entire neighbourhood was destroyed by what apparently was an accidental explosion. I don’t believe that as they sent those robots to look for survivors. They took away anyone they found, and it didn’t look like a rescue mission. I kept hiding in this abandoned flat that used to belong to my grandmother. I had to get moving before they come back again. My dog came from under a pile of broker furniture, poor old Miles. He slowly licked my face and sat next to me.

I packed all I could think of as being useful. Some food rations and water, a change of clothes. We left. It was fairly safe to move around during the day. The robots mostly came at night. I needed to make my way out of this zone. I know they were planning a complete annihilation here. This is where most of the people who opposed the new regime lived. So yes, the explosion was definitely an “accident”. We walked for a few hours; I didn’t see a single living soul. No bodies either. All I saw were ruins of what once was a pretty nice neighbourhood. By midday we were on the edge of the destruction zone and about to cross over to the New Order of Life, as they called it.

Everything looked normal: houses, people, cars, and pets. But it seemed that everything was moving slower. Much slower and the sky was this weird grey dirty peach colour. It looked ill, almost bruised. This is what I saw from the distance. When I got closer things look a little different. The passers-by were nodding hello and smiling lifelessly at each other, but their eyes were dead, they looked just like the sky. Cloudy. Dirty. Ill.

There were signs all over the city directing the newcomers to the admissions office. I didn’t know what that mean but as the newcomer I decided to go there. Miles by my side, whimpering quietly. I could tell that he was very anxious. This office was located in a large building in the heart of the city. It used to be the Magistrate Court. A grand building with large pillars at the entrance and endless steps leading up to the heavy doors. Very intimidating. The sign at the door read No Dogs Allowed, so I left Miles outside, tied to a bicycle rail. He was good boy. I entered the building and saw three long lines of people, waiting to be seen at one window. But this wasn’t for the newcomers, the sign above the window read CONCERNES, in capital letters. I followed signs that took me to another room in the right wing of the building. This was a waiting area with some chairs, and I was the only person there. I felt very thirsty suddenly. There was water dispenser in the corner of the room, but the water looked muddy and dirty. I recognised this dirty peach colour. I sat down waiting for someone to call me, although I haven’t registered anywhere. Almost immediately a woman came out and called me in by my name – Amelia Miles! I was startled. I followed her in. She turned to me and said that I’d first have to be checked up and sanitised. Whatever that meant. She pointed to the door to my left and took my belongings away, promising I’d get them back.

There were some other people in the Check Up Room, a young woman with a child and an elderly man. They were sitting in just their underwear shivering; this room was very cold. I was taken behind a room separator, by one of the nurses who just came in, and I was asked to strip to my underwear. I did as I was told. She then took me into yet another room where I was told to go into a big white tube. It looked like a tanning bed, the standing one. There were lamps all around me and an outline of a body showing how I should position myself. The lamps went off and came back on slowly starting at the bottom. I could feel the warmth rising from my feet up as more lamps turned on. I had to close my eyes as the light became brighter by the second. This whole thing lasted a couple of minutes. The lights went off and the tube opened. I stepped out and I was taken back to the room with the other three people. Except that the elderly man was now gone. I tried smiling at the young woman with the baby, but she avoided eye contact. A man walked in and took them somewhere. He came back for me. It was my turn to get sanitised. It all felt very science-fiction to me. It was something I’d watch in the movies growing up. Now here I was, experiencing it myself. The room was again very bright. With a glass cubical in the middle. I was asked to step inside, turn my back to the nurse and strip naked. I felt a delicate mist spray my body from top to bottom. It felt nice, it was the nicest thing I’ve experienced since this whole thing started. It was like someone was touching me with their fingertips, softly with affection. Once the sanitation was over, I was given a new set of clothes. At that point I understood that I probably will not see my belonging ever again. But what about Miles?

The clothes given to me were comfortable, clean, and plain. A set of underwear, socks, trousers, and a long top with one pocket in the middle, all in light grey. The shoes were also grey, plain trainers with short laces. I was also given a pack with some necessities, such as toiletries, couple more sets of clothes – all the same, a bottle of the dirty peach coloured water, a manual called New Order of Life and a pair of sunglasses. I followed a nurse to yet another room. This time it was filled with people looking just like me. All wearing the same outfits, all holding the same bags of necessities and all looking scared, confused, and lifeless. Each one of us were called by our name to a window. One by one. My turn came up. Hi, I’m Amelia Miles. I have a dog; can I have my dog back please? He’s waiting for me outside. – I said with a timid smile. Sit down – replied the man coldly. He didn’t even look at me for a split second, busy filling out some papers. He passed them to me and asked for my finger scan in return. I did as I was told. He handed me a set of three keys, one smaller than the other. One was for the flat that I was assigned to, one was for the mailbox and one for the main door in the building. All of that was explained in the handbook that came with the keys. I was also given a map and an address of my new home. He didn’t say anything about my dog. Before I had a chance to ask again, he shuttered the window. I had tears in my eyes. I didn’t leave the building straight away. I sat down for a minute, trying to put my thoughts together. I opened the handbook and on the first page in the right bottom corner I saw a stamp that read DOG OWNER.

Miles was also cleaned and sterilised. We made it to our new home. Hundreds of concrete blocks of flats with no balconies. One next to another. All plain and grey and tall, scraping the dirty sky. Our flat was on the 11th floor. Everything inside was also plain and grey. No TV, a single bed, a table with one chair, an armchair and no sofa. There was no mirror in the flat. A shower, fridge stocked with the muddy water, one book on a bookshelf titled New Order of Life, pen and pencil next to it. It was getting late and dark outside. The lights came on automatically and were unbearably bright. That’s when I understood the sunglasses.

I sat on the floor by the widow looking outside, knowing that this was my life now. All the other flats had their lights on too and the outside was really bright. So bright that I couldn’t see what was beyond those buildings. Feeling hopeless tears rolled down my cheeks. Miles came to comfort me, such a good boy. I put my hands around him. And at that moment I remembered that I attached the heart-shaped locket to his collar. I took it off and clenching it in my fist I felt a small drop of hope warm up my soul.