A Prison for Paradise - Gabrielle B-G (e books free to read txt) 📗

sunlight when I was next to him. He never left my side. We both knew how much we loved each other, but we never said it. Maybe it was because we were surrounded by people, or maybe it was one of those things that went without saying. The end of the world couldn’t tear us apart, but sadly enough, it had to.



 Lost in Paradise

We had reached a resting area where we had found a safe place to park. Anna told us that at last we were allowed to run. So we ran around these long deserted fields, feeling so much liveliness and happiness. It had been three months since I had been outside. The air seemed clear and perfect. This was a small taste of paradise!

We ran in our bare feet as far as we could go. Anna never called us back, so we kept going. The ocean was becoming faintly alive in me. We kept running. It was as if God had decided to greet us and I think God also was hoping we’d find what we did. At first I thought it was the ocean. I was so excited.

“It’s The Sea! It’s the sea!” I cried out. "Sarah it's not the sea!" Jess called out.
As we came to the bank we cried out for joy while Jess, who was the boy I loved, picked me up and swung me around in his arms.

“This is NOT a sea!” Someone exclaimed.

“It’s a sea today I suppose,” said Jess, “Listen up my fellow citizens and welcome to paradise; really, it’s the best thing you could ever dream of. Look into the future!” Jess yelled out. Then he grabbed me.

Before I knew it I was being drenched underneath the water with Jess. When I stood up in the water, Jess looked at me with those big brown eyes shaded by streams of red hair.

“I guess that’s it. The leader broke the rules.” They all screamed and laughed before everyone else jumped in and for once swam away our terrible curse.  We swam until we all had to come in before we would get sick. Everything was fine, we thought, until we reached the ambulance. Inside, someone was crying. We found Laura and she’d hurt her leg really badly. She was so quiett, and no one had seen her in the darkness. Laura had passed out from the sight of the blood.

It was Anna who was crying because she had sold all her leftover supplies to get food for everyone. Laura’s knee was bleeding really badly. Everyone was scared and didn’t know what to do. Were we going to have to go back to try and get some bandages?

Some of the boys took off their shirts and the girls brought their blankets in. We poured water on it and held it with the shirts and blankets. It seemed like we had helped. It was all we had. Anna said we would need more.

The thing that scared me most was her unconsciousness. She just lay there as if she were dead. We had been so happy and careless that we hadn’t expected anything this bad. Where was God now? Surely he hadn’t planned this; had he? We decided to go back and try to get supplies. It was all we could do. We couldn’t let her get infected. Laura woke up within the hour and was screaming in pain.

When we had reached the place she was silent. It was so dark outside and the sight of the place sent me shaking. This time I knew I was ready to throw up. Jess tried to comfort me, but I could see the fear in his eyes.

Anna looked back at us then and said, “Remember. No matter what happens we will always be together. You are my family, after-all, and nothing will tear us apart in truth.” She got out and ran to the gas station while Laura was lying half unconscious and really pale. I wondered why it was taking so long.

Someone said, “They are probably questioning her about needing bandages at so late at night and why she wasn’t at home with her children.”

“They could be arresting her,” another kid said. “Maybe they know she escaped the war.”

Nobody spoke after that. Even after it was said, the words echoed in the engine. Finally, the silence broke but not by Anna.

“Please get out of the ambulance! All passengers are under arrest for trespassing and violation of safety codes. Get out now and no one will get hurt!”

No one moved a muscle. We were all so scared. What now? We can’t die, I thought. I ran up and opened the doors. One girl cried out, “NO! SARAH!” Suddenly, streams of men came charging in with electric clubs. The men were screaming, “QUIET! NO ONE WILL GET HURT. COOPERATE OR SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES.”

I ran before they cuffed my friends’ hands and pulled them away from each other. They were told not to speak and were threatened with weapons. I spun and dodged and kicked and no one cuffed me. “JESS!” I screamed as I ran, “I’m sorry Jess! I’m so sorry. I didn’t want anyone to get hurt!”

I couldn’t say goodbye to Jess but I saw a longing in his eyes. A tear rolled down his cheek. Then I was caught off guard as a tall man lumbered towards me. I couldn’t think of anything else to do, so I kicked the man right where it hurts most. Then I ran. I was running with the beat of the ocean crashing behind me.

The cars were zipping by as the men chased me. They could never catch me. I had life inside of me. I had visions of sunlight and wet sand, not dark streets and flashing lights. Not of screaming headlights and honking horns and angry voices yelling into your ears. Not machines, sending fear to the very insides of you. Beware of us! We are mad! That was their language. That was the language of the new foundation.

I was crazy with fear. I knew I couldn’t possibly outrun those men. I kept looking forward but all I could see was the highway, the endless road to oblivion. I ran faster. Maybe, just maybe, someone could help me. Who could? I mean, how could they?

Then a car came up to the side of the road and a man yelled out the window to “Get in!” I hurried up, and the men were so close behind me. I was fast enough to make it right as the stranger was forced to slam the door of a big cargo truck before he swerved to the right.

All the police cars were gathering around on us. We sped forward zooming as fast as we could, stalked by our predators like fresh meat. “Who are you? Little Girl?” He asked me. The police could keep pace it would be impossible for them to reach us in the moving traffic.”I’m Sarah,” I said. “I have to get my sister.”

"Why? Is she lost?" I felt like I had so much to explain with so little time. “Because everyone is!” I yelled as we quickly swerved to the left and again to the right. We sped up fast and looked like all was clear, then the man slammed on his breaks. All the lanes were filled with police vehicles.

We looked up to realize the police cars had surrounded us and the men were getting out. I climbed on the back of the truck through the window and yelled in fear. I felt a jerk when suddenly everything was moving again. The police force had gotten back into their cars…but why? It took me a minute before I realized the truth. They were going to crush me.

I held on tight in the cargo area as the driver sped up again. There were only a few lanes that citizens were still using. When the driver, who I didn’t know, swerved too fast, I practically flew in the air and landed on top of another car.

The guy in the truck yelled to me. “What the heck are you doing?” I couldn’t listen this time though. It was the best for all of us. The traffic jammed again and I leaped onto another worker truck as it honked so loudly I closed my eyes.

The traffic would start again and all I knew was I had to jump. With the slight movement I braced myself; the angry driver sped in all directions trying to get me away. I stood level and then I leaped as hard as I could to the destination. I was flying, and then I was landing. I landed on the back of black truck this time. Then it sped up so fast that there was no possible way for me to jump off. It went like this a good long time until the traffic stopped and the man yelled out.


  Mistaken Identity

“Do you want me to help you?” He asked.

He told me to stay low and he would take me there. Finally he got out and helped me into a hiding place in the back of the truck.

The sun was out and it was beautiful, or at least I thought it was the sun...it took away my fear and feeling of danger. I had lived. I felt free again and momentary peace. I traveled with this man who called himself Leonard for so long. Maybe I thought I could trust him. Then I realized the mistake I had made.

I read the large glowing sign.


WASTE LAND: CORRECTIONAL FACILITY AND GARBAGE MANAGEMENT

There they stood. These were the people I wanted to get away from. I wanted to cry. There were guards and police waiting outside a large fence. Then doors closing were behind us as we drove along an ugly winding road.

“Welcome to the Wasteland,” my captor said as he smiled.

We were greeted by men in green uniforms, and taken in through a large door that opened and shut like a knife on the ground. I looked around at the hundreds of children in white uniforms. Some looked happy. A kid was hanging by his feet with a mask over his head; another girl was sleeping in a plastic bubble.

“What do we have here? Hmm. She looks bright enough. What is the trouble with her?”

“She tried to run away, numerous times, and I can’t watch her anymore. She also…” He whispered into the old guy’s ear and I thought he said something about mother. I screamed and then suddenly someone put something on my eyes, everything was funny and peaceful.

I woke up and I couldn’t see. They blinded me. I screamed and screamed until finally I heard a voice booming from somewhere, wall perhaps? “You are not blind, child, you are free and happy. Now come with me to a beautiful world…” The voice began lulling me into a dream, and a virtual world. There was nothing but blinding white lights covering the walls and the floor and the ceiling and every time I blinked out of the dream, I felt pain. I only felt pain.

“We can see everything about you,” a voice said from the walls. “We can see all your memories, and we can make you live them as if they were your own. We can take you on a journey that will never ever end. You can live forever, or you will think you can when you join us. No, we’re not all trapped like you are. But you are a failure. You are garbage. You are lucky to be given such paradise in America’s New Foundation. You get happiness and paradise. It’s all you ever dreamed of and more. Don’t be mad, get glad! Don’t be sad, be happy!”

The booming voice came from everywhere and it wouldn’t go away. I wanted it to stop but I was