Hank would wake up from yet another nightmare, it's been five years since he got into the colony. He lives alone in one of the run down apartment buildings ran by yet another barrier. Hank works on construction and maintenance of the outer wall. After all someone has to do it. He does what ever he can to forget the horrible times inside the walls, But after all it's better then outside. Right?

Hank got dressed and left his room, He was low of rations and it was ration day. He just hoped that the rations were not cut today, dead bodies can still be spelled in the alleys from people starving to death and not being able to pay rent, or just not having enough.

Hank would start walking down the street, people were everywhere but few talked over a whisper, Too many feared the 'Soldiers' that guarded them from the infected. On his way to the ration line in District 7 he noticed the fortified inner wall. "Over a thousand of us, maybe 200 soldiers on this side of the wall. And maybe another 200 on the inside of the fort. Though none of the uprisings in the past ever worked. The soldiers still had guns. The barriers had some tools." Hank dreamed of the day when things would get better, But he knew the governors just kept around the barriers for work, and then they were kept in horrible conditions to die off to prevent over population.

Hank lived in district 10, His officer was known for whipping for the slightest violation of rules. And in banishment, exile, but at the gate the exiled were normally shot in the leg by his officer. This was done to slow down the exiled, and to draw the infected.

Hank would keep walking, trying not to think about the other side of the inner wall.

Cliff was writting a diary in a basement what was his "home". His neigbours were rats and mices that lives in holes in cracked wall. No elecrticity, no hot water, he was trapped without any hope of better tomorrow. He was knelling on the ground beside the candle light.

"It passed a long time now. I do not even remember when I have got here. Well it is a hell on earth, but outside is nothing better. Infected roams free, searching for fresh meat. What did humanity do to deserve such punishment. I am asking myself a lot lately.

Barrier 7, that is a cage I have been put. Tch, like a dog. We people are like a dogs here, watched day and night by "soldiers" same human beings as we are but more "quallified" to be superior. I spit on system like that, but what can I do. I have to endure, if I give up now then her death....... No I do not want to think about it.

Today is the ration line open. I have to check it out."

Cliff put down his pen and left his house.

After Hank picked up his rations he quickly went back to his apartment, He had work to do and construction wasn't cutting it. When he got back to his place he removed some floor boards from the bedroom showing a very small stash of food. He would put about half the rations inside it and grab a .45 revolver out from the floor storage and a box of ammo. All he had to do this time was get some rich guys booze from the outside inside. They pay for his job was better then construction, but it came with risk. The fact that he even had the gun in his home was enough for him to get shot or hung. But if something were to happen to him well he was out, no one would know, His daughter would be alone in this shit hole called survival.

Hank has considered leaving, but where would he go? He has the gun, but no is almost out of ammo, and it's not like he can ask his employers to pay him in bullets. And he didn't have a truck or anything. Going outside was asking for death, staying outside was begging for it. Though being held at gun point every time he asked for his rations and having to find a way to defend your home from thrives with out using the gun wasn't living much either. He would wait till the school day ended, then once it was dark he would head out and grab the booze, get them inside, then he would get paid.

Hank his the gun in his bag with the ammo. He started to warm up some food. Sure the school provided some but it wasn't enough for a child. And Hank wasn't going to let his girl starve. But the rations were smaller this time. Are they running out? Or are they trying to thin our population again? Who knows...All he can hope is that the pay from his next job is enough to stay alive another few days.

When Cliff arrived at the ration line, the line was already crowded. He heard people complaining how the rations have been cut off more than last time. When it was his turn to take his, the soldiers closed the gate and said how there are none left. Cliff was furious although he could not show his anger, he just shook his head and turned back alongside dozen of others who were left without their rations.

When he returned to his house he took his page from a diary from his pocket and added "No more rations for low class humans. Heh, what arrogance. They still do not know, but soon I know that things will change. They have to." He put it away and leaned on the wall rising his head and he closed his eyes. He was tired, tired of living.

Melissa had arrived late in the ration line. Surrounded by groaning, coughing and frail folks, she almost didn't hear some soldier announce that there were no rations left. Were they serious? She'd been waiting for how long? She'd lost count of the hours, hours she could have spent working, and it hadn't even paid off! She could feel her fingernails digging into her palms in her way of coping with anger without lunging at a guard and getting shot.

The message was really driven home when the line began to disperse. Melissa's heart sank. She wasn't the best at managing her rations sometimes, and this time around she suspected the remainder of her food had been stolen. The last time she ate was two days ago, and as if she needed to be reminded of this, her stomach made a very loud and disgusting sound that was unfortunately pretty common in this hellhole.

A soldier gave Melissa a glare and tapped the barrel of his firearm in a threatening fashion before telling her in a rough voice that there was no food left and she needed to leave. She raised her hands and said loudly, "I got it, I got the point!" while backing away and then turning around to head back home. Well, this was just great. It was looking likely that she'd have to steal in order to survive.

On his way to the construction site, where he was "ordered" to do some construction on barricades that will help in the future if the infected try to break in the safe zone. He saw men and woman many thin as a bone, children tired, but working like full grown men. He glared at them knowing he cannot help them, not even himself. Soldiers were shouting at the people to be faster, better at their duties. "Duty. Who ever chose you to be our leaders, our guides. Is this leadership came from men or from God? If it is from God than lead me to a better tommorow, but if it is not, you do not have power over men." Thoughts constantly raced in his head.

When he came at the constructin site, he started working at the barricades, putting wires and sharp metal on the them. He knew that things like some barricades would not stop infected invasion if ever comes to it. But who was he to hold a lectures to the high ranking people nowdays. To leaders of men. He just knew one thing. People do not have control, not even their own free will.

Hank was outside that night, it was the one place he felt safe. Sure their were soldiers out here but they wouldn't stray too far. Hank normally took his time getting to the pick up point. Then he would sit around, breath in the "Fresh" air of the old world city.

He sat down after picking up his package and looked into the sky. "I think it can be done...Outside is too dangerous, Inside isn't much better...But there's over a thousand of us by a landslide...barely 300 soldiers, barely another 300 Upper class. Some of us have guns, not a lot, but if more of us had the will to fight then we may stand a chance against the guns."

The gears in Hanks head started to turn, he could trust most the people in the card games he went too, could he talk to some of them to help start the next rebellion? or do they still remember the last two? The gun alone will convince some, though they don't have to know he has only 7 bullets left. And after one district falls, others will after, then the fort wall next. The only thing is no mans land. Those guns and traps would kill a lot of people. but after that...Nothing would stop them from getting to the Governors.

That's what he was going to do, The next game was tomorrow night. He would meet their with as many people as he could find, He needed everyone he could get. The construction crew would be one of the better options. The original ones like Hank helped build the Fort wall, It wasn't even finished until two years after the out break. It has flaws, if done right...this could work. How it's done right, still unknown. But Hank and the others will find a way.

He was thirsty from all the work, not to mention tired. Soldiers were almost whipping them to be faster, but he stood with ease knowing that the barricades were almost done. Some old fellow fell on the ground from weakness. They were working for a day without food and with a one glass of water. Soldiers shouted angerly, but the man was to weak to get up, he tried to but fell down. In the end soldiers took the old man to the warehouse where probably they will torture him. Cliff was helpless to act even if he wanted to. He continued until finally their duty for today was over.

He sat on the ground to take a breath and took a paper from his pocket alonside with his pen and wrote: "One more day of work passed in this living hell. Fortunately still no signs of infected. All I see are corrupted people's heats and minds. I hope it will end someday, this thing what we call a modern today. Barricades are finished I hope I will get a day break, but I doubt it. I need a cigaret, but I quit some time ago now. What a foolish thing to do."

He sat on a ground for a while deep breathing until the soldiers didn't send him away.

Clang, clang, clang! The blade was starting to take shape, and Melissa was proud of it. In fact, if it weren't illegal to be making such a weapon she would have run outside with the red-hot knife just to show everyone, soldiers included, what high-quality work she'd achieved. Instead though, she simply continued to hammer at the soft metal. Clang, clang clang! Hisssssss. The small basin of filthy water belched steam when she dipped the knife in. When it was cool, she'd do some sharpening.

After that...well, she was still working up to that part. Melissa could hardly believe she was doing this, and she wasn't entirely sure if she had the courage to steal, even with a handy sharp knife on her, with all those soldiers around. If they caught her... She gulped as the image of Swiss cheese popped into her mind.

Murphy Miller

the smell of Petroleum and Machinery could be heard at full force, and then all of the sounds reached a Decrescendo and stopped. the collective Moaning of a group of Workers could be heard. the cities power generator broke down once more

Murphy was about the Age of 13 and old enough to work in a factory, infact she was already old enough to work at the age of 8 for crying out loud, She worked at the cities generator as a repairman, constantly fixing machines to keep the lights on, it was a great job, Besides the fact that she lost 10 years of her life from all the exposure to smoke and gas, and nearly lost her hand 5 times

but she barely cared, why should she?, the soldiers kept away all of the sick people and evil people and in return she did her job and fixed things, she was happy, kinda, She was treated a bit better than all of the other Barriers due to being a excellent and one of the few repairsman,

the job was great and allowed her to to get extra food rations was pretty good compared to what her ungrateful father got who she was stuck with, she always hid the fact that she got extra food, her father would completely flip and start a La Miserah-esc riot,

Hank was always complaining about Ration shortages and no power and blah blah blah, she was pretty much sick of him.

the doors to the City's generator opened and Murphy walked through, wearing a Yellow Hazard vest and a hardhat with a crack in it and a broken light that she never used, a Blue toolkit in hand she looked around the place, People her age and under worked her, covered in dust from the machines they were sitting at a wall far away from the black machinery, they all looked at her and pretty much collectively said

Generator broke again Murphy sighed walking up to the big black machine with a humongous conveyor belt and looked under the machine. a Ration tray was blocking a couple gears that kept the machine working. it was obviously Sabotage since No one would ever Accidentally place a tray under a generator, It was dangerous doing that sort of crap and these little kids were making her risk her life to Unsabotage something they sabotaged

it was a simple repair operation, grab the tray, yank it out, pray to god the gears don't start prematurely and destory your hands

Murphy did this, grabbing the silver tray and pulling as hard as she can, the tray came loose and broke out, Nearly squishing her hands in the process, she quickly pulled her hand back from the gears to stop it from being crushed, easy but dangerous job, she stood up throwing the tray into the nearby trash can, the Workers stared at her like she ruined they're fun. scumbags try not to break the generator next time?, because next time I'm telling the officer She threated them. the officer wasn't the nicest towards Scumbags who broke machines.

a beeping sound came from her wrist, it was her watch, a crappy broken one but still a reliable and working one. it was made out of cheap metal like everything else, she stared at her wrist, 10:00 AM. the ration line was open, she head hanged up her Hardhat and walked out of the factory heading towards the rationline, hoping not to get spotted by her father who would notice how she gets extra food than the rest of the barriers

Hank screwed up, On his way back into the city he was caught in the spot light. Anything that is seen moving around the outside of the walls is Shoot on sight, This marksman was a good shot too. Hank was barely able to make it back to him home before anyone saw him bleeding through the halls. He got inside and walked over to the counter. He prayed the water was on, it rarely was and if you ran it too long it could shut down for days. He turned the lever and nothing. "Dammit!" He had some spare medical in his floor compartment, but when he got into his room it had been ransacked...everything gone...He had nothing left...

Hank fell to his knees. Still feeling the bullet in his back he winched in pain. "No...no no NO NO!" The next ration collection was in three days. No way both him and Murphy would make it till then, He had the gun, he could trade that for some rations. His pay for the job he did MIGHT cover one of them...But rent was due soon...Tomorrow to be correct.

Hank heard knocking on the door. "Colonial Military, Open up Hank." Oh shit was all Hank could think, Did they know about the smuggling's? the gun? "Hank open up or we will force our way in!" Hank the the gun back into his bag and but it down.

Hank would walk up to the door and open it trying to hide his wound. It was the district officer, this meant bad news...Very bad... "May I help you good sir?"

The District Officer looked...calm...too calm. "What were you doing outside the wall Hank?"

Hank was shocked, he didn't know what to say, or do. "What do you mean? I came home from work today, then I strolled around town looking for scraps like I always do."

The officer would force his way in putting his handgun up to Hanks Chin. "Did you know that the some of the walls have exterior cameras now? So we actually have an idea what we shoot at?"

Hank was scared now, They knew he was outside. If they didn't shoot him, he'd be whipped. Then he would still be left to treat the gunshot wound in his back. Then go back to work the next day. "I...didn't know..."

"Do you know what the punishment for what you have done is?"

Hank stayed quiet.

"YOU GET SHOT!" he'd pull the trigger but the gun would just click. "But then again, you already were. SO a whipping will do ya just fine." The officer would turn to one of the soldiers. "Make sure the post is ready by the time I am outside, Traffic hours about to start."

=========================================================================================================

Hank was tied to the wooden Poll outside his apartment, his shirt ripped off and the bullet would showing clearly. The district officer would have the whip in his hands.

"You do NOT go outside these walls with out my say so. You do NOT lie about it. We wouldn't want to risk another outbreak inside the walls again now would we?" He would turn to Hank. "Now, you suffered quiet a bit, we may let you off easy. In exchange for a change of work detail. The coal mines always need more hands Hank. What do ya say?"

The coal mines, Miles outside the walls, If he even found a way to survive it he would be gone for weeks at a time, getting paid worse then what he's paid now. Probably with the bullet in his back still. The chances of him making it back were next to nothing. Who would look after Murphy? She claims to be able to fend for her self but even if she does find a way to pay her own way No one will rent to her, she can't get her own ID, so next update she wont be able to pick up rations..."Fuck...You..." Hank would say low of breath, and blood.

The district officer would frown. "Too bad, I think you would have fit in well their, outside the walls." With out warning the whipping began. Blood flying in each swing.

Murphy Miller

After a semi-long walk she finally made it to the Ration line. but something was different, the lines were absolutely empty, not a sign of life anywhere, A tiny little building which was where the rations were distributed was shut down with a cold metal wall and a large metal sign with words Engraved in a large bold font. CLOSED She made a sigh and looked at her watch, it was way past the ration distributing time. in other words. she was way way way late

However she wasn't very hungry, well..she was hungry, but she wasn't dying of starvation, she could make it to the next Distribution tomorrow and be fine

Well she might as well head back to home and wait for someone to tell her about the Generator being Sabotaged by a bunch of little brats again,

So she walked on and on, until she finally made it to her apartment, she stopped at the sight of something, someone was on the post getting whipped, She couldn't tell who it was, a soldier was blocking the view

it was pretty common to see someone get whipped, it happened almost everyday, she was desensitized to it, just the constant yell of the perso-wait....that was her father!, her mind jumbled around thinking of what to do, she was frozen in fear. standing wondering what to do, If she would help her father it would only end in something worst than whips, and theirs no telling when he might get into trouble again.

She took a deep breath. She loved her father but she was smart enough not to do anything. take a deep breath. keep calm and carry on.

She kept on walking, doing her best to ignore her poor fathers sufferings. She kept walking. until she gotten to the door of her apartment. keep calm.. and opened it. went inside, and pretended the whole thing never happened.

The knife was still warm when Melissa hid it in her pocket and then stepped outside, ready as she'd ever be to go forth and steal. As soon as she'd gone out though, a tiny spatter of blood hit her in the face and made her blink as well as flinch. She had apparently chosen the worst possible time to come out, as in front of her a guy was being whipped viciously. The excellent view she had of the fresh welts, as well as what appeared to be a bullet wound, caused her stomach to flip over and she covered her mouth to keep from possibly throwing up.

Luckily, it diminished her appetite enough that she no longer felt the need to steal anyone's rations. Carefully she edged into the small crowd of people that had gathered to watch hollowly as the officer whipped the man. It seemed that she still had a few bandages left so maybe she could provide a minimal amount of help. So Melissa stood, watched the blood fly, and waited.

Hank never felt so much pain before in his life He's been shot before, he's even been whipped, But this time, he felt the anger behind each whip. He could feel each and every crack on his back. He was ready to collapse, but he couldn't, if he did they may shoot him, or they would keep pushing how much he had left.

The district officer would walk up to Hank gathering the whip as he went. "You learn your lesson yet Hank?"

Hank would lean against the poll out of breath.

"I'll take that as a yes." He would turn to face the new crowd and start shouting. "This is why you don't leave the walls! The next person I find outside the walls will not be as lucky! We don't want to risk another outbreak inside your walls again now do we?!" He would walk to hank and force his hand inside the bullet would. The entire time he's screaming in pain. The District officer would hold the bullet in his hand. "You got lucky Hank, Still in once piece, Unlike you." he would face the crowd. "DISPERSE!" He would draw his handgun and fire into the air.

hank would get untied by one of the soldiers and drop to the ground, too weak to move. Tears rolling down his face, Not all for him, but for the fact that the people he cared about, the children of the barrier class would have to live through what he did, Only Morals by that point may be next to nothing.

Murphy Miller

Murphy kept calm and walked past the stairs, past the cryings of her father, past the sounds of constant whippings, past the sounds of pain and torture. and walked into her apartment. her apartment wasn't the best but right now she didn't care, she sat over to her bed and moved into a Fetal Position, covering her ears and closing her eyes. wishing the whole thing would be over.

It was a painful feeling, trying to ignore everything with no avail. no matter how hard she tired all she could do was burst into tears and pray to god her father wouldn't ever get in trouble again. whatever he did. it wasn't worth the risk and she completely disagreed with him.

"Don't fret precious i'm here, step away from the window. Go back to sleep..." Dimitri sang under his breath as he carried six large bags of seeds to be planted in a vegetable patch on each shoulder, "Safe from pain, and truth, and choice, and other poison devils...". The heat of the greenhouse beat down on Dimitri as unrelentingly as it did any other worker, however many summers out on his grandfather's farm had taught him to bear it better than those whom had simply been accustomed to tending to a backyard garden. The behemoth of a man gently set the bags down and tore them open as he reached a bare patch of soil. Even through the flimsy mask he'd been given, Dimitri could feel the chemicals in the air burn his lungs with every other breath, however he dared not complain. He'd gotten as far as he had by keeping his head down and working as hard as he could, which was the only reason why he'd been allowed some small luxuries such as an extra quarter cup of water in his canteen and the privilege of being allowed to sing as he worked so long as he was quiet about it.

Dimitri continued to sing softly to himself as he carefully planted each seed with large calloused hands. Every few minutes he'd pause to wipe sweat from his brow or to take a small sip of water, but outside of that he continued his task. As he toiled away, Dimitri's stomach rumbled, eliciting a grimace from the man. From the moment he'd arrived, Dimitri had been notified that while he would be provided food, his dog Brutus would not be cared for in the same manner, forcing him to split his rations between himself and the only friend he actually had in the colony. Brutus, the reliable mutt that he was, had recently taken to hunting rats and squirrels as well as taking scraps from people whom took pity on the scrawny dog to fill his hunger, which had allowed Dimitri to enjoy a little more of his rations. Still, there was only so much a small meal like that could do, and it was starting to show on Dimitri.

Melissa made sure to back away when the sound of a gunshot rang in her ears. She pushed some black hair out of her face, aware of how messy her braid had gotten, and crouched against the wall of a nearby building. Her mouth curled downward in contempt as the soldiers who had assisted in the whipping drifted away in a relaxed manner, looking infuriatingly self-satisfied. The glimpse of their expressions sent a shudder down Melissa's spine and made her wonder what could happen to a person to make them so heartless and sadistic. Then she remembered that there are plenty of psychopaths who would definitely jump on the role of soldier, and she stopped wondering.

Once they were gone, she slunk back over to him. She knelt and inspected the ugly wounds on his back, thinking. Melissa had very little medical knowledge. She knew that wounds needed cleaning in order to avoid getting infected, and she knew that something like a bullet wound would definitely need patching up before blood loss set in. Seeing as she had nothing to clean the bloody gashes with, she simply took out the nearly-spent roll of bandage from her pocket and wrapped it clumsily around Hank's torso.

"Sorry if I'm hurting you," she muttered.

Hank looked like he tried to fight out of fear, though he was too weak to move. He just kept leaning on the post, even though he was untied it was the only thing keeping him standing.

He pulled up enough strength to start talking, weakly but he started. "Did she see it? Did she see her father get put through this?" His eyes would be closed as he rest on the pole. Tears would still be on his face. He would winch every time contact was made with his wounds...They hurt, the whippings never felt so deep. He just hoped Murphy hadn't seen any of this, Hank did what ever he could to try and hide the new world from her. He hated the idea of her getting used to it.

Cliff stood leaned on a wall near the place where the crowd gathered. Blood and screams could be seen and heard from the center of the safe zone where one man, a "rebel", "thief" or a "troublemaker" was whipped. Cliff didn't know what crime he has done until a district officer mentioned about visiting a place outside the walls. Cliff just stood there, alone pretty distant from the rest of the crowd. He heard voices speaking how he gets what he deserves. Such as "rules need to be followed" and similar nonsense. Cliff didn't care why he have gone outside and what what bussiness does he had there, but he knew one thing, a thing that could make him, those fellow and more of them who share similar vision would do a great deal, a step further to "freedom" if there is any, fictional if nothing more. He saw a girl as she came to help an injured one. "Girl what are you thinking?" He thought. He knew it was a matter of time until soldiers will spot and arrest her. They don't allow help to tho who are punished. Helping them is like sharing their plans and visions. They will find her guilty in no time. So he headed toward her while soldiers were busy with the crowd.

"It is not time to screw around, we need to move fast. My apartment is close by, help me carry him there and we will talk later." He took initiative and put his arm around the whipped man cover in blood. He knew he couldn't be gentle, they need to move fast while soldiers are still occupied with the crowd. "Don't worry I'll lead you to safety". He whispered not knowing did the man understood him at all.

Melissa helped lift the man, as she was pretty strong from her metalworking, but she was more careful to avoid the wounds. She glanced at a couple of the soldiers and briefly felt the outside of her pocket. The knife was still there, and it was definitely contraband. Now, she definitely wasn't dumb enough to trust either of these guys right from the get-go--horrifying things tended to happen to girls and women among the Barriers--but after all, she did have her knife to defend herself, and following this new stranger was...probably preferable to the possibility of soldiers catching her.

As for Hank's mumblings, Melissa couldn't answer. She didn't know if his daughter had seen, and she sincerely hoped not. Instead she whispered, "It's best you don't talk much, not when you're like this."