Chale
For as long as I can remember I have had this heart shaped locket around my neck. In it is the chip that has all my information in it. Engraved on the locket is my use- name and password. This is to ensure that I can get access to the hospital even if I am unconscious and cannot speak. It also has my tracking device in it in case I am kidnapped by the Traders. The people who steal other people and sell them, often to be used for unspeakable acts. If the consumer becomes tired of us we are then used for the popular sport, Hunt Human. We are placed in the woods with no clothes on and worse, no shoes, and have to survive for indeterminant amounts of time. The Hunters then come through on dirt bikes, jeeps or whatever mode of transport and with whatever weapons they please, depending on how much they paid. Needless to say, the odds of the Hunted being able to survive, are not good. I keep my locket under my clothes. And take care that the chain is not even seen. I attend school when it is open, and often am instructed by my grandma. I also work to teach the younger children many survival skills such as gardening, gathering, hunting and escaping bad from those who watch and wait for a young person to be alone and undefended, or otherwise vulnerable then to take them for evil purpose. The Order of Society, or OOS have been in control as long as I remember. They are a Right-Wing group who was voted in to combat terrorism. But nature abhors a vacuum. So when they drove out the terrorists, they became a form of terrorists. No one who resembled people from countries that promoted terrorism were allowed to live in our district. We live in the Napa Valley in what used to be called California. The foreigners were no longer allowed to get government assistance, such as food, housing and medical care. They used to get something called cash, which allowed you to buy things for survival or enjoyment. Now we get an allotment from the chip which we are supposed to carry at all times. Some people have talked about injecting them under our skin, but that is the next phase of our Absorption into the system. The Global Community is pushing for this, and for everyone to attend the World University, from 3 years old on, and into their college years. Education, religion, practical life skills, everything would be taught from that viewpoint. Ironically, the Order of Society is slowing this process down where we live. Our region is for the people of our region. No foreigners!
Each citizen gets a username and password to get in. An elderly woman brought her grandson to the hospital to make sure she could get by the technology to get in. The username was wrong. They entered it over and over and got locked out. She was clutching her chest! The nurses were inside the glass door screaming something at the orderlies, and one was crying. The woman slid down sideways clutching her chest and crumpled into a heap. Her grandson was kicking the glass and swearing at the people inside. He then threw rocks through the window and the nurses broke the window with chairs from the inside and finally got her in and onto a gurney. They put the paddles on her chest and resuscitated her. Her grandson, Jorge punched the orderly in the face. The orderly wrestled him to the ground and took him. “I want to know if my Grandma is OK,” he screamed. A young man like that was sure to be recruited to the Order Youth even if he was only 9 years old! Hopefully she can get her chip and her information together! It is possible that she is one of the foreigners our region doesn’t want to support, but they won’t hear that idea from me!
Day to day living is a routine of shortage in the stores, but we grow our own food and raise chickens. It is how we get by. We trade for essentials with other. Most people keep their chip and information in their jewelry. Or in a zip pocket. It has to be on us at all times. They are a high theft item, and so it is important to keep track of it at all times. It is imperative to keep the chip and the info at all times. If you lose it you no longer have access to anything!
My group is up the road a little way! I better catch up to them, or I might get left alone! There are wolves, and worse, the human predators that will catch mainly children to steal to sell! I am panting and thirsty when they come into view. I see them over the hill! Hurry up Chale! They yell. I have a big sister named Jai, and she smacks me on the arm! “where have you been??? “ she hisses angrily. “I just fell behind when I needed to pee.” I lied. She rolled her eyes…”Well come on then!” she says angrily. “Where are we going?” I ask her. “To Pearl’s gathering place.” She says. I light up! That is where everyone goes to meet up! Maybe we will see some of our family. Shale and I have been orphans, or without parents since our parents joined the Resistance. It is weird, because the Order Of Society started out as a resistance! We heard that they are alive. But we have been in the orphanage since I was 5 and Shale was 7. Cate, kinda like a sister to us has been our friend, and we’ve been friends with her family ever since I can remember. We live at the orphanage but see a lot of them. Somewhere off in the distance a Jeep is whirring and crunching through the brush! We all look at each other and dart into the woods. This is almost a daily occurrence!
Rick from OOS
“We have been looking for traffickers all night!” I said through the radio. “The only thing more elusive then them are the people they are trying to kidnap!” David answered, “It’s OK, you can change drivers and go home and get some rest!” Fat chance, maybe I can get a sandwich, or whatever they have at Pearl’s. Slim pickings most of the time, but she makes it taste good! Even though everyone gets quiet when I come in, they are nice for the most part. They don’t know what I’m gonna do. As my headlights hit the dimly lit road, I see footprints and skid marks like some little people quickly ran and jumped into the forest. Poor kids, probably thing I am one of the Human Hunters! I fight night and day against them! Some dirty OOS members have taken money to lead those monsters to the kids. I’m beat and thinking about just driving by. But what if Human Hunt comes right behind me! Maybe there is a better funded one that hunts us! It wouldn’t be the first time! I slow the car and pull over, I jump out and run into the forest! I hear kids shushing each other and branches snapping as they run! “Hey!” I call. “I’m one of the good guys, OOS!” I hear indistinct chattering as if they are trying to figure out what to do! A very young child starts screaming in terror. “Well that’s that!” said an older girl loudly. A pretty chunky young lady of about 15 stomped toward me with a fiery expression, glaring into my eyes. “Yes, here I am, come and get me.” I suppressed a laugh. Talk about David and Goliath! But in this case, who is David, and who is Goliath! “Um, are you alone?” I ask. “It is not safe out here. The Hunt Human creeps have been very busy in these parts. A cute girl like you would be a target.” “Moi?” she answered seeming a little shy suddenly. “Well you’re not so bad yourself!” she says putting her hand on her hip. “OK, enough small talk. Hunt Human is very active, they even chase me sometimes!” I warn her. “What is your name and are you alone?” I ask with a shudder remembering that the Hunt Human people, or HH use kids as bait all the time! “Are there really that many!?” she asked. “I am Shale, by the way….” ”Come out guys,” she hissed. About 10 kids came out of the woods! Oh boy, I’m glad my jeep has a truck bed! “OK, everybody needs to go potty first!” I tell them. I drive around more kids than a soccer mom with all the rescues! I hear more than one jeep whirring off in the distance. OK, pee your pants! I say. Just get in! The kids scream and jump in. “C’mon! C’mon!” I shush them as they are starting to get hysterical. “Par for the course in these parts.” I see headlights coming around the bend as the last one jumps in. “Dear Lord, please save us again!” I know what will happen if we are caught. They would sell me too. I gun it thinking of the four year old girl clasping a teddy bear behind me. I need to be careful too. There is another set of headlights coming up behind that car. “Lay down!” I tell the kids. I don’t want them to see a catch like that! The jeeps are newer and obviously better financed!
They catch up to us and drive on either side. “Hey officer,” one mockingly says. I wave. “It’s not safe for a handsome young buck like you to be out here!” I laugh as if I am confused. I hit the button on my radio to send out a Mayday. I just keep driving acting bored. They flank me as I continue to pray. “Oh Lord please help us.” Suddenly the one to my right upends like he hit a boulder or something on the side of the road! I speed off not even checking on him! The other jeep turns back to check on him, and as daylight becomes brighter I speed down the mountain as fast as I dare! After driving for quite a distance, I let the kids out for a bathroom break. Then out of nowhere comes a jeep UP THE HILL!!! The kids quickly pile back into my jeep and lay down! I recognize it as one of ours. Wow, it got here in about 5 hours…good thing I did not sit and wait for them! “Ho! What’s up, Rick?” David called. “You, 5 hours late..!!” I laugh. “What have you got there?” he says peering into the back. I immediately feel very protective of my cargo. What if David is a dirty officer? I suspect everyone anymore. But David has always been on the up and up to my knowledge. “Hey guys, wake up,” he says shaking the two girls who slept from the moment I got them….wait….they look strangely familiar. “Cadence and Calla?” “Huh?” said the girl who called herself Shale last night. I could not see her in the dark, and her voice sounded different that it did when she was little. “Where did you hear those names? I was yelling from the front of the jeep so she did not see me. I ran back to them. “Those are the names of my daughters I left behind!” The little one, Calla to me, introduced as Chale jumped over the side of the truck bed and into my arms…oomph…”Daddy!!!!” she screeched!!!! She is 13 now, and not as big as Shale. Shale glared at me. “Where the @#$$% have you been!? I thought you were with the Resistance!” she said punching me in the stomach! Definitely her mother’s daughter. “It’s a long story…” I choke out. “We can talk over a hot meal at Pearls.” I tell her. Then she begans to sob uncontrollable and her embrace hurt worse than being punched in the gut! I never knew I was saving my own girls!
About the Creator
Tonya Jepson
I am a licensed professional counselor in Southern Idaho. I have seven children and I work as an equine therapist at times. I love to write and would like to do it a lot more!
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