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wished
that she had not skipped her evening meal. Her stomach was already
knotted with worry, and not having eaten just made it that much
worse. But there was no way she could enter now. It was not her
assigned time, and she had to make it home before curfew. But as
she passed the multiple lines that led inside the building, she
waved to those that she knew, and smiled as if everything was okay.
At the front of each of those lines was a scanner, much like the
ones at the factory that were used to detect the plague. As she
passed the building she rounded the next corner, and now she was
only a block away from her building. She thought that she might
make it in time after all as she picked up her pace. She was almost
out of earshot of the mealtime building when she heard a commotion
behind her.
    “Be calm.” A mechanical voice said. “The
plague has been isolated. You are in no danger.” She closed her
eyes briefly as she continued to walk briskly. She did not turn
back to see who had been diagnosed with the plague. At this moment,
she didn’t want to even know. As she opened her eyes and continued
her journey, sadness melted over her face. She began to run, not
because she was afraid of being late any longer, or even because of
the announcement about the plague. She ran to distance herself from
everything. She had begun to hate her existence here in the
village, and deep down had begun to dream of a better life. There
had to be something more than this, but what it could be, she had
no idea.
    That was why Jericho meant so much to her. He
could show her the new, the wonderful, the amazing, and the
beautiful things about what they had here in the village, and she
loved him for that. Her mind raced back to the glorious colors of
the sunrise this very morning. She could once again feel the wind
in her hair. She could smell the air of the beach. She could feel
the sand between her toes, and the softness of his tender kiss. His
hands on her. Those memories brought butterflies to her stomach and
warmth into her heart. That one moment could summarize all that was
between Jericho and herself. All that would ever be. The thought of
losing him was more than she could bear to think about, and knew
deep in her heart that she could never survive a life without
him.
    She entered the stairway to her building and
ran up the stairs as if she floated on air. She smiled slightly as
she wondered at how the very thought of her love for Jericho could
make her feel so wonderful and light. She felt so alive and
energetic. Occasionally she passed others in the stairwell, as each
hurried either to their mealtime, or like her, to their compartment
to make curfew. She stepped aside in the narrow space as they
passed. And before she knew it, she rounded the platform to the
eighth floor, and entered the hallway that led to her compartment.
She ran to her door, and began to access the key unlock system
beside the door. She was nervous about the time, and she could see
the Guardian at the end of the hallway, as it slowly and
methodically moved towards her. At curfew she knew that the
Guardians were always out in force. They patrolled the streets, the
buildings, and the meal areas, to ensure obedience. She had trouble
with the last locking mechanism, and as the Guardian continued to
approach, she could clearly see the control stick in its hand. The
gleaming tip picked up bits of ambient light from the dimly lit
hallway, and it seemed to almost be on fire. She continued to
struggle with the lock, as her breath quickened, even as the
Guardian stepped up behind her.

Chapter 4
     
     
    Black. Cold. Silence. Nothingness. There was
no sound, and nothing to hear. Not even the beat of his own heart.
No breath to feel. But maybe there was no longer a need to breathe,
the thought whispered past. The dead don’t breathe, do they?
Nothing. No feeling. Just a total immersion in nothingness. No
sense of being, or even of life. But a sense of loss. And an
overwhelming