Quota Count

Chapter 1 - Revealing the Unkown

I look around me in desperation, searching for the Bunker. Other kids rush around me, hurrying to their appointments, lost in their own world of worrying whilst I stand in the middle of it all, trying to get where I want to go. Like everyone else, I also have an appointment, and it’s not one that can be missed – a once in a life time thing that must be attended. I grab the boy nearest to me, dragging him over, asking him where the Bunker is. He just looks at me with wide eyes, no doubt even noticing that I’ve stopped him, before he pushes away from me and back into the crush of people. I huff, checking my watch. My appointment is at 15:37 and it’s currently 15:34. Three minutes to get to where I want to go – hardly long enough even if I did know where to go. I spin around, hoping that maybe I have been facing the wrong way, and scan the names of the different rooms that surround me, with no such luck. In between each door is a thin corridor, leading off to more rooms. Any of them could lead to where I want to go, and the thought of it starts to panic me.

‘Jesus, Wren, why couldn’t you have taken the stupid map that the annoying lady had tried to give you? Why did you so arrogantly think that you could easily find your way around this maze?’ I think, continuing to slowly spin on the spot, reading through all the signs again.

‘Because you’re a stubborn idiot’ my brain responds back.

‘Oh, shut up’ I mutter under my breath. I finally decide that I should just step back into the crowd of people and just hope that they take me where I want to go, when someone’s map slips out of their hands and floats down to land at my feet. I pick it up, about to hand it back to whoever dropped it, but they’ve already moved on.

‘Ah, now that’s lucky!’ I grin, starting to make my way over to the Bunker which is very inconveniently on the other side of the large maze.

By the time I reach the Bunker, it is 15:39 and I’m late for my appointment. I sigh, knowing that I’ll receive a large fine for missing just 2 minutes of the wretched thing. Arguing against it could easily double the amount I’ll end up having to pay, so I yank my purse out of my bag, ready to hand over the money before I do something stupid.

I stride up to the counter where a woman wearing a bright yellow dress smiles at me and asks my name.

‘Wren Bishop’ I reply, rocking back on my heels, waiting for the disapproving look she’s sure to give me.

‘Ah, I see. We’re running ten minutes behind today, so you’re lucky. Take a seat please, Wren.’ I think of all the luck I’ve already used up today, and flinch. However big or small those pieces of luck are, that’s two less pieces of luck on my quota, and that’s something no one can change.

I finally get a moment to relax as I sit down which also allows me to become nervous. What I am about to find out will change my whole life, and that’s not something that can help some people sleep well at night. I could be one of the very lucky people and my life could be full of quotas. Or I could be unlucky and have some of them shortened. I could run out of speech by fifty, or more likely, run out of luck by merely seventeen years old.

Someone calls my name, and I stand up. The man who called for me beckons me over, and I follow him down a large airy hallway full of thick wooden doors. We enter the room at the end.

‘Sit there, please’. He points at a scratchy looking purple chair that’s starting to disintegrate at the back. I perch on the edge, clasping my hands firmly together in my lap, hiding the fact that they’re shaking.

‘Hello, Wren, my name is Dr Collins and I’ll be your Quota Guardian today. I just have to check a few things through first though, so please be patient.’ He turns to his computer, searching for my data.