chapter two

The sun had not yet risen when I woke up. As my mother prepared breakfast, she made me clean the kitchen and then the bathroom. By the time I finished, Kara had just woken up, and we both helped ourselves to the meal.

"Leave some for mother," I whispered, kara nodding in agreement. I helped her put her clothes on, as she was too weak to do it herself. Kara had violet moon disease, an illness so fatal it left a survival rate of zero and one of its symptoms was muscle weakness.

"Alaric," she mumbled, "I feel cold,"; it was 80 degrees outside. I wrapped her in a scarf and an extra jacket. "Take this off when you feel better, ok?" she nodded once more in agreement. Temperature fluctuations were another symptom of hers. It was the reason she refused to sleep with a blanket on.

"Alaric," my mother called, "you're going to school, right?, "Yes mother," I huffed. I had decided not to tell mama what happened to Zendo as she already didn't want me to be out so last.

I thought about him as I nonchalantly walked Kara to school, as she danced in the streets, humming with every step. It was rare to see her so lively, but it was a sight I enjoyed.

It wasn't a far walk to the school, so when we arrived, I kissed her on the forehead and sent her off. I took the card I received and looked at it again. "3300 Bee Caves RD, White sector," and began walking towards the hospital, still unsure if I wanted to go.

I went to ask for Zendo's room and she made me wait. The hospital was poor, but that didn't make them any less busy. I waited for a while and was given the ok to head up.

When I got to his room, he was much more vibrant than the nearly dead corpse I was carrying on my back. "Glad to see you're up," I said, pecking behind the divider. "Alaric!" he yelled. "Good to know you didn't forget about me.'' We talked for no longer than ten minutes, but it could have been an eternity.

I hated hospitals. They reminded me of Kara and how we were always told that she wasn't getting better. By the time we stopped talking, Zendo was in a deep sleep. Last night after he woke up, they made him do all kinds of things: blood pressure, radioactive poisoning, the usual.

I was told Rigmor would be here, but she left not too long after I arrived. I began packing my things, still unsure whether I wanted to see the old lady or not, when I noticed his dad's jacket pocket. His dad had been talking to the doctors the entire time I was here.

Out of curiosity, I reached in and pulled out the medical bill from last night. Half a million was the cost for Zendo's procedure. I felt my heart sink and put the paper back in the pocket and left without saying anything to anyone.

I headed straight for the sector border, anxiously waiting my turn and when it came, they asked me all the usual stuff, name, date, try anything you'll die, you know the usual stuff.

"Where are you headed?" the man with heavy gear asked. "To the White sector," showing him the card. He took it and began searching up the address on the card and briefly spoke before giving me a rather sour look.

"I don't appreciate sending in parasites like you, but off you go." I wanted to say something but painfully swallowed my pride. Both the White and Green sector bordered our sector, so getting to the White sector wasn't as difficult.

Before I went to cross, he put a bracelet on my arm that was so heavy you could convince me it was shackles. This device was so that if we spent too much time in a sector, they would make a warrant for our arrest. If you tried to steal, fight, whatever it would catch those acts.

It could check your heart rate, check for any injuries, but it couldn't check to see if you had actually done anything. Meaning you could get jumped and arrested while your attacks played the victim.

Anytime you bought something, you would need the owner's voice consent for purchase and would have to scan something to pick it up, where it would then loudly announce the item. With all this technology, you would think our sectors would be more advanced.

When I finally got through to the white sector, it shocked me to see the peaceful aura of everything. From a glance, you could tell I was out of place and the staring didn't help. I checked the time on my watch, four hours, so I once again looked at the address on the card and headed straight there.

I had never been in the White sector before and it was obvious they didn't get many visitors like me. Once I arrived at the place, I was a bit shocked to find a cozy little house. I was expecting more of a business type deal.

KNOCK KNOCK. "It's unlocked," a familiar voice said. It was the old lady. She was sitting on a couch and her house was full of knickknacks. She singled for me to sit beside her, which I obliged.

"Do you know the history of these sectors?" she asked. I shook my head and started to settle myself in for what I felt like would be a long history lesson. "Well, it all started a few thousand years ago. The ongoing nuclear wars had mostly destroyed the world. America was in a disastrous state. Anarchy was on the rise and another civil war was about to break out. The battle was a calamity and lasted for hundreds of years. But then one day came a new hope, with a vision of another tomorrow. He battled botched sides and acted as an ally for peace for them to come to a middle ground. By the end of it all, he had blindsided them and crowned himself as king. 400 years later and here we are living in his work."

She talked to me a little more about our history. It was boring, but I still listened anyway. The moment didn't last long, but for the first time, I felt a sense of calmness from someone other than my family.

She told me the reason they were trying so hard to find a ruler was because the sick king had no heir. The violet moon disease had nailed him to his bed, and it was long left till his mind started to go.

"So if I join, what will I have to do?" I asked, "Well, you'll compete in games of course, games that show off your skill, that show you are more fit to rule than anyone else." she replied. At first, I thought about it, but then I thought about it more. I wasn't stupid enough to think they were really going to replace the king over mere games. But I was a poor young thief. Both my friend and sister needed help. They needed money. I took my suspension and threw them out the window.

"I'll join," I said. She gave a timid smile and showed me the papers I needed to sign. "When will I leave?" "Tomorrow." I said a sincere goodbye and began thinking. She told me they would pick me up, so I needed not to worry about a place to meet them.

Later, I checked the time left on my bracelet. I had an hour left. I started to explore, to see all the things I thought I wouldn't. To sit at a little cafe and soak in the smells of food unknown to me. To sit in a park where getting hurt was no longer a worry.

When the time was up, I happily handed my bracelet over and headed home. They filled the streets with trash; the cafe was nothing more than a soup kitchen for the homeless. I felt bitter.

By the time I got home, it was midnight. Mother had fallen asleep trying to catch me and Kara was burning up. I put a cool rag over her head and began thinking. I leave tomorrow, so I started writing letters. A letter that I could let all my anger and envy out. A letter explaining my actions. I knew if mother heard about what I was doing, she would throw a fit, and Kara would beg to come along.

When I was done, I had written three letters, one to mother, to Kara and to my friends. Just like last night I had trouble falling asleep, I laid awake for what felt like hours with only one thought on mine. If the king also had the violet moon disease, and they were already searching for a replacement, what did that mean for my family, for Kara?