Beyond The Fence

Chapter 1:

~After 7 years~

'....use pliers to cut through the fence.'
Clary scribbled the words onto her notebook hastily, sealing it shut before anyone in her family could see it. Placing it on her bed's slatted base, she hid her notebook under her mattress, before leaving the house to go to The Farm.

The air was thick with the smell of animal manure. Clary trudged to the barn, her boots dirty with the mud which lay in uneven patches around the farmland. She pulled open the russet-painted door of the barn, its hinges creaking like an old man's bones after long rest. The musty odor of the hay bales piled at the corner of the barn was what greeted her first. Nelson came walking towards her later, holding out a rusty shovel. The two best friends then walked out of the barn, talking over the chirping of the birds, the mooing of the cows and the neighing of the horses to the stables.

Clary and Nelson were quite familiar with the unpleasant odor of horse manure after working on The Farm for so long, that the two of them didn't even feel the need to hold their breaths as they scooped up horse manure into the wheelbarrow.

Albama knew no laws against child labor. Of course, the children had school on weekdays; but on weekends, you would find almost all of them doing some sort of job on the farm. Working there wasn't something they did by choice, the same way breathing is not something you do by will. And even when you try to hold your breath, you can't do it for as long as you wish to. It was sort of the same scene with The Farm.

They two worked till sundown, to get just a bag of grain each. As they were walking back home, with their muscles sore and stiff, Clary stopped Nelson, pulling on the sleeve of his shirt.

"Nelson, I've been thinking about something lately."

"What about?"

"The fence."

"What do you mean?"

"I want to know what lies beyond it, Nelson. I really want to see what's outside."

"Clary, that's ridiculous! Who knows what type of creatures are out there?"

"I thought you used to believe that the government meant 'morally dark' when they talked about the presence of something evil."

"That was seven years ago."

"Nothing has changed in those years, Nelson. Plus, think about the life we might be able to live out there. What if there's food in plenty out there? What if we don't have to starve anymore?
This is the only shot we have to change our lives, Nel."

"I don't understand this, Clary. How did this idea of crossing the fence come into your mind all of a sudden?"

"It didn't come all of sudden. I've been thinking about this for long."

"How long exactly?"

"A year and a half."

"Well, you wasted your time. It's impossible to go to the other side." Nelson said as freed his sleeve from Clary's grasp, turning away from her to walk to his house.

Clary caught up to him, turning him to face her.

"Just because no one has crossed it yet, doesn't mean it can't be done. We can be the first ones to do it, Nelson."

"And you think the government will allow us to just...leave?"

"Who's taking their permission?" Clary replied, winking.

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A/N: Thank you so much for reading!
If you liked the chapter, don't forget to vote. If you didn't, please let me know what improvements can be made. Suggestions are always welcome!

Also, any opinions on what might be on the other side of the fence?