years and older must leave their sector and are to live in this part of the city, since they are generally too weak to battle in a war. They are therefore called ‘Retired Accepted’ rather than Accepted. The leaders of the sectors have policies. You should be familiar with them because without them, you could get into serious trouble or even be killed. You needed to listen and follow the leaders because that was the only way to survive.
My mother was as quiet as Isaac, and it was making me anxious. I looked at my mother and then at Isaac. I remember the questions I had always wanted to ask my mother, the ones that were never answered. I suddenly felt angry. She was probably never going to see me again, and she still didn’t want to open up to Isaac or me. We deserved explanations.
“Mom, you didn’t answer my question yesterday,” I said feeling a wave of sadness wash over me.
“I thought we agreed that you were imagining,” my mother said in an oddly stern manner.
“No, Mom. You know. You’re just not telling me!” My voice rose a bit, but was still barely audible. I couldn’t overlook the speed of the car. Isaac started to notice and looked at me with a bitter look on his face; his look told me that it was time for me to put a lock on my mouth for a while. But I refused to stop.
“What do you want me to tell you, Iris?” She said calmly. She was hiding something, and I could see it in her eyes through the side view mirror.
“You never tell me anything. You’re hiding something from us!” I started yelling, but I didn’t care, “We’re probably already going to die anyway. Why not tell us when you have the chance?”
“Iris!” Isaac yelled in frustration, “Shut up!”
I let out a maddened sigh. I listened to him and didn’t say anything further. I glanced back through the window; the landscape was turning from a bunch of houses packed together in an area, into a line of fewer, more spread out buildings. We passed the city’s only mall, which looked run down, and I knew we must be close to the station and also close to Mason’s house.
We stopped by Mason’s house to find him already waiting for us outside. My mother pulled over and smiled at him while he got into the car. Isaac scooted over to me to give him some space.
Mason smiled back at my mother,
“Thanks for stopping by to be pick me up…” he told my mother warmly.
“Anytime sweetheart” she said with the same joyful tone she always used. It was like she forgot all about the conversation we just had a few minutes ago.
Mason’s uncle also had one problem; he had a very serious case of amnesia. He would forget where he was and who Mason was, but with the pills my mother kept supplying him with, he was doing much better.
We arrived at the subway station, surprisingly, five minutes faster than usual. I stepped out of the car feeling relieved and so did my mother, brother and Mason. Lexus and I spotted each other simultaneously. I walked towards her with a big smile. Unlike me, she pushed her way through the crowd roughly. Lexus was a great example of a ‘tough cookie,’ and she hated it when people were in her way. Nonetheless, she was sweet.
“Iris, how’s it goin’? Are you ready to enter the ‘courtyard of death?’” she said with a laugh that showed off her pearly white teeth. I stayed quiet. This was not helping. I was in a really bad mood since the fight my mother and I had in the car.
As soon as Lexus stopped laughing, a train heading towards the Valley of the Myths arrived. People lined up at the Face ID machine, which ensured that the right affiliate got on the right train. A guard stood next to it, to make sure that no Undecided decided to cheat and board the train to the Valley of the Myths. A man with grizzled hair in formal attire called out for the Undecided – us – and told us to stand in front of him. We stood there in a big group in front of him, listening to his announcement.
“Today is a special day for all of you. But we have some ground rules we need to cover before you board your train.” The grizzled haired man casually allowed his jacket to fall open to show the gun in his shoulder holster. The not so subtle threat reminded us that there was nowhere to run. A lot of people attempted to escape in these kinds of ceremonies. The man continued,
“You are not allowed to bring anything from home. No food. No weapons. No clothes. Nothing related to your home. You’re leaving this place for good, so you can’t take anything with you.”
I looked around to see if anyone would attempt to escape or even flinch. But no one moved.
“Other than the Undecided, there are the Accepted and the Rejected. The Accepted are those who have completed the Unknown and have a decided sector, and the Rejected are those who die in the Unknown or refuse to enter their own sector and their punishment is to be banished, or killed. You must enter your chosen sector whether you like it or not. So do not, no matter what, show the leaders your disapproval about your sector. Remember that they know better. I have no doubt that they have already taught you this stuff at school.”
I nodded to him. I needed to hear all this. As opposed to the people who were trying to escape, I was trying to listen to the rules, hoping that they would eventually keep me alive.
A man chuckled near me on a worn out bench. I turned my head to see who was laughing. A man with a book in his hands sat on the bench near me. He noticed my presence and his eyes reverted to mines,
“You got a problem?” he asked sternly. I shook my head,
“Got any advice for me before I get in there?” I asked. He responded with a low laugh,
“Kid, the only advice I can give you is not to die.” He chuckled again as he went back to reading his book.
I turned around facing the guard. I forgot that the guard was still talking “- and always follow the guards that are accompanying you. Do not disobey them. You all know what happens if you do.”
You get slaughtered and you die, I thought.
Lexus stood closer to me,
“Landon once told me that they feed the disobeyers to the Krakens. It’s not pretty,” Lexus snickered to herself. I pursed my lips. This was serious, and it was not something to be taken lightly.
Our train arrived shortly after. The man warned us one more time and told us to line up behind the scanner. My brother, Lexus, Mason and I lined up behind the machine like the rest of the seventeen year olds. Mason went into the train but before I reached the machine, someone grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the line, and I turned to see who it was.
It was my mother, and she also pulled Isaac out of the line as well.
She looked like she had been crying, her nose was red and her eyes were puffy. She turned her head to cough and looked back at me,
“Iris, Isaac. Be careful out there. The Unknown isn’t that hard; you can do it. Both of you are smart enough to know your way out. I don’t have much time to stay here, but please stay out of trouble.” she looked back to see if she was being watched. It seemed like everything she was saying was mostly directed to me. She turned her head, and looked straight at me,
“I’m sorry that I always kept things from you. Someday you’ll understand. But do me a favor and stay alive and be careful, okay?” she said, biting her lower lip to stop it from trembling. I nodded obediently. She planted a quick kiss on my forehead and hugged Isaac, which lasted longer, and left. I stared for a moment. What was that all about? A boy pushed me to move forward.
“Move!” he said angrily, Lexus pulled me back into the line and gave the boy a sharp look. Lexus also gave some room for Isaac to step back into the line in front of her. I noticed that Isaac looked grim.
After Isaac, it was my turn to use the machine now. The guard stood next to a rectangular black screen that framed my face. He looked as serious and grim as every other guard.
“Look at the scanner,” he urged and I did. The screen scanned my face, up and down. I blinked rapidly from the sudden