Anomaly [Undergoing Editing]

Chapter 2

This one’s no good, she thought. Neither is this one. She moved the two eggs that had possible genetic deformities in them to the disposal chute. They would be destroyed, and never used again. Never having a chance at life. Which one is the best? Ooh here’s one.

She felt a finger tap at her shoulder and she spun around. It was Louis, with his bright eyes and dark hair, smiling down at her. “Hey!” he said.

She rolled her eyes and tried fighting back a smile. In the year that she’s been working with him, he had always been able to make her smile, and that was one of the rules: Work. No play. But Louis obviously didn’t care about that rule, and a number of others, and went on about his life doing whatever he pleased. It was strange that he hadn’t been pulled in for questioning by the Watchmen since…well ever.

She turned back to her microscope and went back to her work. “What do you want Louis?”

“Well today is your birthday and-”

“Louis!” She snapped. She spun around and motioned for him to come closer. “You aren’t supposed to talk about those things. It’s just another day, remember?”

He looked at her strangely, kind of like someone who wasn’t from this country, and slightly cocked his head. “You’ve never celebrated your birthday?”

“No!” she hissed. “And you wouldn’t either if you followed the rules once in a while. You know the Listeners are hearing us right now.”

“But I just wanted to maybe take you out to dinner.”

I snickered and shook her head. There were no restaraunts or anything like that. Not since Father came into power. Nobody of her generation knew about them, except for her obviously, thanks to her collection of books.

"And where could you possibly take me?"

With no hesitation, he said, "Somewhere special."

She should've expected this kind of behavior from Louis. He was a child after all. And he was just...just...Louis. “Are you an alien or something?”

He shrugged. “To tell you the truth, I came from the planet Ruloph and-”

“Oh shut up.” She turned back around went back to working. “You know I could be pulled into questioning because of you. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if they charged in right now and drug us both away.”

She saw a dark shadow loom over her eggs as she heard, “Well if they did that I would protect you.”

She snickered and looked over at Louis, who was leaning on her work area. “You wouldn’t be able to protect me from them.”

“Yes I could.” He gave her a arogant look that said, "I'm Louis Fredrickson. I can do anything."

She thought about this man. He was very strange. Not like her family at all. There was a whole race of people Mr. Bradley talked about when saying who and what to look for when going to the authorities about questionable people. Americans. Descendants of the Americans, she thought,

In a very hushed whisper she asked, “Is your family American?” He smiled and nodded. She took a sigh and leaned back. “Well that explains a lot.”

Most Americans didn’t like the new form of government, and often were the first to rebel, along with most of the democratic countries of the world. But Americans were the worst.

Americans were use to doing what pleased them, and had a few set of laws to abide by. When Father came into the picture, they hated him. The ones that didn’t want to risk their lives fighting, risked their lives by teaching their children that they didn’t have to do whatever Father said, such as treating your birthday like any other day.

Descendants of the Americans still separated their birthdays from any other day of the year because of their ancestors. She remembered how last year, Louis called in sick, got the doctor’s signature and everything, and came back the next day smiling to himself about memories from the night before.

She sighed, trying to think what kind of fun he’d had, and decided she’d let him win. This time.

~

They walked down the streets of their city, still in their work uniforms. The thought of her friend being American was so different. She had so many questions for him. It was just mind boggling.

“So what is it like being American?” she asked. Suddenly realizing she was being rude, she covered her mouth an apologized.

“No it’s fine.” He reassured her. “I just say my family’s from England and they believe me. The only way they’d see I was lying is by going through my records and seeing that I am in fact American.”

“But you have to hide who you are. Right?”

“To some extent, yes. But really it's not something I worry about too often. Not many people come up to me and ask where my family has decended from.”

“However I asked.”

“And I’m glad you did. So, may I ask where yours is from.”

She sighed and looked around. “They tell me that my mother was from Kenya, and my father was from Australia. But I was raised by a family who decended from Austria.”

“Wow. You’re all over then.” She giggled and nodded. “Yeah my parents just had sex and I was born.”

She froze. “Th-they did what?” The actual act of sex was one that was not encouraged.

It was one that was deemed as primal, aggressive, angry. It blinded you from anything else that was important for that moment. Nothing else mattered, which wasn’t true. Everything you did mattered, and to spend time doing something that made you think that nothing else mattered was not worth doing it.

“They had sex,” he shrugged.

“But-”

“They were raised as Americans, remember?”

Americans, she thought. They are so strange. They approached the city limits, where Watchmen were standing guard of the gates that separated the city from the country. No one was allowed in, and no one was allowed out without a permit.

Clara tensed and moved closer to Louis. "What are we doing?" She hissed. "You brung me out here for what? To have me questioned?"

He chuckled and raised his hand high above his head. "Hello Mikey! Hello Sasha!" The two guards stopped and looked at him. Louis must've sensed how angry and scared she was, because he just put a large hand on her shoulder and told her they were his friends. "They let me go in and out of here whenever I want, as long as I bring the back something from the Free Market."

"Is that where you're taking me?" She asked, suddenly intrugued. She'd only heard stories from her father about the place. The place where you could get anything you wanted. He nodded and she squealed in excitment. "We won't get in trouble right?"

"Nope." After a breif disscussion with the Watchmen, they were past the gates and they were on their way to the magical place.

"How long will it take to get there?" She asked.

He shrugged. "Three days at the least. I thin kI got lost out here once and-"

"Louis! Be serious!"

He laughed and poked her stomach. "I'm joking. Ten minutes max. I swear." She groaned and looked at him wearily. "Look," he stopped her and held on to her arm. "I've done this for years, like since I was born. Just trust me, okay?"

She stared into his bright blue eyes, not sure whether to trust him or not. It wasn't like in her books, where the two people knew that the other wasn't lying when they looked into their eyes. They were just eyes. Nothing but two gelatinous orbs that allowed you to see things in front of you. They were just eyes.

But for some reason, she was trapped. She was trapped in her place, not knowing what to do other than keep staring. So she allowed him to turn her around, and push her towards their destination, not knowing what came over her.