Stella

*Stella's P.O.V*

I looked over at Charles. He looked so confused. I do want to tell him that everything is going to be okay, but at this point, I am not sure. It's weird isn't it, that ever since he has turned seventeen things have become quite chaotic. As long it is not what I think is happening, the damage can be easily controlled.

"Charles, don't worry, okay? It's probably something stupid. We'll go down the camp when we need to and get vaccinated. " I tried reassuring him, but he still looked scared. Ugh, I honestly don't know what to tell him.

" Hey, Char, why don't you go upstairs? I'll cook something for us and we can spend the whole day together?" A cute smile plastered on his face. He enveloped me in a giant hug and sprinted upstairs.

Well, now that Char is in his room, I need to call him. Only he can tell me what on earth is going on here. I quickly drew all the curtains and dimmed most of the lights. I am not going to repeat the same mistake. It happened once, I can't let that happen twice. In my nineteen years of life on this planet, I've realized a few things. Never use what the government gives you.

Those keepers are supposed to "keep you safe", in reality, through this, the government is only one call away. I can't take it off, otherwise, Char and I both will get in trouble. Fortunately, I did find a way. For some reason, the keeper doesn't work if it's underwater. The waves that have been designed to signal the authority have the dumbest flaw. It can't send signals when it is under the water. My guess is that the waves resemble the features of a shear wave, but I might be wrong.

Another tip, if you have a possession that is no one knows about and is prohibited by the government, then do not leave it in your house. Even though the house is ours, the government has keys. No one knows about this except a few people. But that's a story for another time.

I took my shoe off and pulled out the Reciever chip he gave to me. It's a small square black chip that you put underneath the tongue and next thing you know, you are talking to someone living under the ocean. Fun fact, I've never seen the ocean or forests. I've only seen them in the pictures. Not going to lie, but I would love to feel the warm breeze of the ocean currents hug me. Or hear the sweet chirps of different kinds of birds. You see, ever since the nuclear bombs exploded, the impact of its radiation destroyed everything the earth had given to you.

As the coldness of the chip came in contact with the warmth of my mouth, every sensory slowly stopped functioning.

" Stella, can you hear me?"

" Yes, I can."

"Okay, good. It's been a few weeks since we last talked. Is everything alright?"

" It turns out there is a new virus spreading here, as it happens. They're vaccinating everyone tomorrow."

" Do not take the vaccine."

" What do you mean by this? I am not trying to die anytime soon or put Charles's life in danger."

" Trust me on this Stella, this vaccine is not what you think. Listen to me this time."

" But what if-"

"Just listen to me. I know what they told you was scary. But it's just one of their games. Not an actual disease. Anyway, I've to go now. We didn't expect this to happen anytime soon, I need to go talk to the board."

Bright light hit my eyes abruptly. My eyes looked around me, I was still at home. This chip disorganizes the functioning of the brain. I was about to walk towards the kitchen when it felt like someone was playing with my head as if it was a snow globe. Everything was spinning around me. My legs immediately dropped on the floor and my body curled into a small ball.