Ungifted

01: What Once Was No Longer Is

A/N: So the picture above ⬆️⬆️ will portray a different character in each chapter. The name in bold print below ⬇️⬇️ tells which point of view each chapter will be told under, usually switching back and forth between June McIntyre and Jo Peters.

June:

Our summer lakeside cabin. Flies, heat, dust, and a dock leading to the cool, refreshing heaven of water. Dad could always be found in his collapsible aluminum lawn chair with a fishing pole in one hand and a Budweiser in the other. Mom would be in the kitchen chopping the endless supply of watermelon and making sandwiches while Peter and I would balance our time between splashing around in the cool, shallow water and hanging out at the top of the old oak tree in the makeshift, wooden box that our father had always promised to make into a real tree house. From the top, I could barely make out the vast, luscious fields that surrounded the rural, lakeside town of Fish Creek, Wisconsin.

But those days are over now. All that's left is the faded memories, placed in the back of my mind so that I can recall them from time to time to remember what life was like before the Academy. Before the fires, earthquakes, chemical attacks, wars, disease and the fear that dwelled in the innocent minds of the billions of people who populate the country. Once there was peace, happiness, and hope but now our once beautiful lives are filled with constant terror and helplessness.

----------------------

The obnoxious beeping of the morning alarm blared over the loudspeaker, waking me up with a jump. Even though it had almost been two months since I was brought to the academy or the "School for the Ungifted", as was plastered on the sign in the visitors' area where our parents were allowed to visit with us once every other month, I still wasn't quite used to its everyday lifestyle.

"Ungifted" is the word that was stamped across every article of clothing that I owned and tattooed into my left forearm, reminding me every day of my flaws and failures. "Ungifted" is the word that described everyone in this lifeless, overcrowded compound that I now called my home. "Ungifted" is the word that stripped children from their home and ruined families. "Ungifted" is the word that cleansed our country of the many impurities that held our society back from achieving greatness and brought destruction to our world.

I am one of those impurities.

----------------------

"Come on, Claire! We slept in today," I shouted sluggishly across the room at my half-asleep roommate as I threw my thin, grey blanket to my feet and climbed out of bed. Her small, wide eyes blinked tiredly at me before closing once again and drifting off once again into the world that I longed to live in. I made my way across our cramped room and shook her shoulders gently, waking her up again.

Our small sleeping quarters were extremely dull. Claire's childish stuffed animals were the only possession that brought any kind of life to the room. The light fixture in the center of the room was broken so that it blinked uncontrollably while turned on and gave me a headache. Luckily, there was a small window in the corner of the room that provided a small sliver of light that was barely enough to suffice. Our cramped bunk beds sat in the other corner of the neatly-kept room.

In the compound, everyone made sure to keep their sleeping quarters clean so that they could pass their weekly room checks. If they failed, they would be given a punishment, usually extra chores.

"We gotta go, Claire," I mumbled as I threw on my dark green t-shirt with the word "Ungifted" plastered across the front in bold white letters that matched everyone else in the compound. I then pulled on my black shorts and followed my twelve-year-old roommate through the corridor of the girls' sleeping quarters and to the breakfast line in the cafeteria.