Chapter Four

  Ayo watched as the door clicked shut. The cell was completely still, she could hear her brother's footsteps echo down the hall. Her eyes moved from the door to the glass window, out to the constant blue sky.

  The brown water swirled silently in the cup. She downed it and let out a breath. Running a hand through her hair, she fell backwards onto the mattress. Her head slowly turned to her Slab, her face slowly hardening as the minutes flew by. She got up, changed into green coveralls, went over to the shelf and picked up a water pouch and a pap cake, and walked out the cell. She brought her Slab up to her face, *Eight?!*, she looked both ways down the hall as the door clicked shut behind her. She chose a random direction and set off. The hallway was eerily quiet at this time of the day and as she took the stairwell down, she only met a few residents.

  *...The Call. Change Your Ring...*

  As she stepped off the stairwell, she quickly crossed the floor and exited the building. Out on the street, she swam through the morning traffic and navigated back alleys. She moved with the Middle-ring to her left, walking down the street to the border with B9. The crowd slowly disappeared as a metal construct much shorter than the mega-buildings came into view, it had a single floor. It was built into the wall.

  The doors slid open as she scanned her Slab and her nose wrinkled as the smell of fermented maize wafted out the doors. Corporate officers in masks stood stationed around the floor.

  She strode past coughing green coveralls to the stairwell in the far wall. It led underground and the smell of maize coming from it seemed heavier.

  With a frown, she walked down the stairs past Sublevel 1 where there were massive cylindrical containers that slowly rotated, workers in green coveralls and bloodstained masks trudged around the floor, pushing carts.

  She stepped onto Sublevel 2. It was a massive floor swarmed with maize crops divided into grids and the lights above glowed softly. The ground wasn't metal but a black soft substance that Kofi liked to call 'life'.

  The floor was cut off from the rest of the building by a solid glass wall. Stepping through, a drone scanned her. Keeping her eyes forward, She went straight to her assigned section, her boots sinking in the black substance. For thirty minutes she went around with a bored look, checking each individual stalk for defects. Satisfied, she went to a corner where hoses were fitted into the wall and picked one up. Turning it on, crystal clear water gushed out. Her eyes fixated on the clear water, gulping reflexively. She moved her gaze upward. Up above the field, a drone watched her, red light blinking. A frown contorted her face before she tore her gaze and then went about watering the crops one at a time. A few hours later, an alarm went off. She reluctantly turned off the hose and left for the ground floor, going through the scan again.

  Reaching the ground floor, she sat at one of the tables scattered around and brought out her pap cake and water pouch. For a few minutes she sat there chewing, golden letters flashed in her eyes. Her Slab rang out with a chime. Lifting it up, her brows furrowed slightly.

  *AY, watsup. You're free rn, right?* A message appeared across the screen.

  She stared at it for a moment, *Yeah, I'm free rn. Where you at?* She replied. A moment later, another message lit up across the screen; *Cool. I'm just finishing up my shift on the silo level, so let's meet up at the hideout in thirty. I got some good stuff.*

  She put the Slab back in her pocket, pushed down the last scrap of pap cake with a sip of water and strode out through the entrance. She moved ringside toward the walls, swimming through the crowd until she stopped in front of the Corporate branch. She headed to the notice board beside the entrance, just a few coveralls were looking through the names. She browsed the names over, her forehead creasing as the minutes flew by. After a while, she turned around and moved darkside, toward the walls.

  Out here this close to the walls, the buildings stood empty and the crowds vanished completely. An old warehouse stood nestled between two rusted buildings built into the wall. Looking up, the dome held firm against the darkness as the Blight pushed against it. The blue sky didn't reach this part of the dome so the warehouse was in partial darkness. Looking back over her shoulder, Ayo stepped through the warehouse doors. It was mostly empty, only a few metal boxes were lying around. She walked to the back. There, two chairs and a mattress stood hidden in the darkness. A boy was sitting on one of the chairs.

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  "Hey, you're late." He looked up at her. He was dressed in dirty looking green coveralls, his mousy brown hair fell over his face, and he seemed to fade into the darkness.

  "Uhh..I think you're early." She took the chair opposite him. The boy studied her for a moment and as if satisfied, brought out a metal container from his pocket. She could barely make out the Corporate logo in the dark, as she brought her chair close.

  "What's in the box?" She asked with her eyes glued to it. The boy's barely contained smirk widened as he gave a toothy smile, "what do you think?" He looked left and right before leaning in, "it's Corporate synthetic glue."

  "The real deal?! Where'd you get it? What did you get up to this time?" Her eyes narrowed as she looked up at the boy.

  "Hey! Are you trying to make us disappear?" He withdrew his hand and looked to the door with panic expecting it to be barged down at any moment. His other hand urgently fumbled with something in his pocket.

  Ayo rolled her eyes, "You sound just like Efiok. Anyway, how'd you get it? I thought only the Middle-ring has real glue."

  The boy relaxed and faced her, "The Whites monitor our Slabs, how many times do I have to tell you? People disappear all the time for saying the wrong thing." He pried open the container.

  "And I keep telling you Kofi, they aren't interested in what we Outters think or how we spend our time. They live in an entirely different world from us, a better one." Kofi paused as he fumbled with a thin metal cylinder.

  He looked up at her with his brows furrowed, "I thought you'd be starting your apprenticeship this week" He proceeded to break the container into two and pour some glue into one end. His eyes were fixed on her throughout the entire process.

  "I got it pushed to next week..." She trailed off. Kofi's hands froze for a moment before they resumed. He brought out a lighter, looked towards the door and sparked a fire under the container. It lit up the dark warehouse and illuminated part of his face, the container slowly heated red and the glue within gave off a white fume which Kofi immediately sucked in. She turned to face him and stretched out a hand, he handed her the container and lighter. She sparked a fire and sucked in the glue fumes, warmth spreading across her chest. She felt a haze lift from her eyes. They sat there for a dozen minutes in silence, the container and lighter traveling back and forth, the fire flashing in the dark. Kofi stayed quiet, waiting patiently.

  She coughed, "dude seriously, where'd you get this? It hits harder than old Rick's."

  "The old man's glue isn't even 'glue'. Does Efiok know you're still in the farms?" He received the container and lighter back and proceeded to take a deep suck. He stared at her in silence before letting it out. She kept quiet for a few moments,

  "This year's cycle starts tomorrow." She left it up in the air. She strained her eyes, searching for his face in the dark.

  "So you're volunteering?" The lighter sparked into life. She leaned back in her chair and stared off into the corner,

  "I don't know, cause you know, Zero returnees." She looked down at her hands entwined in her lap. He took another suck and leaned forward,

  "Ayo..." His low voice cut through the silence.

  "There isn't another way." She stared at her Slab as she switched it on and off.

  "I know the Middle doesn't really matter to you."

  Her Slab lay in her lap, the screen black. "It doesn't," she looked straight at him.

  "Then why?"

  She brought the container to her lips and drew a long pull, glue fumes wafted in the air, "I just want to be free." They fell into silence again, the lighter and Ayo's Slab clashing in the dark.

  "This is suicide." Kofi shook his head as he received the lighter. Ayo snorted in response, "our entire lives is a suicide. They even showed a returnee this time." Kofi let out a weak laugh as he rose from his chair past Ayo onto the mattress, his right leg making clinking sounds when they met the floor. Ayo's fingers froze for a moment before they resumed.

  "What sector is she from?" She didn't reply. He exhaled, "what do you hope to find out there?" He stared into the darkness above.

  She shrugged, "I don't know but there has to be something worth never returning...or something the Whites are afraid of."

  "I'm sure most return, just not in a complete state."

  She stared at her Slab with a slight frown, flashing it on and off. The moment it flashed off from white and on to a blaring red, her fingers froze. Kofi's eyes were already widened in panic as he watched his Slab on the floor glow red. A fragmented screech broke out of it. Ayo's Slab soon screamed from her pocket, their screeching the only sound in the abandoned warehouse. They both froze for a second, staring at each other before Ayo bolted from her chair and Kofi scrambled after her.

  Outside, the area was empty but a humid breeze was picking up. Ayo split up with Kofi without a word and ran ringside toward her building. Looking back, drops of water rained down just a few meters from her, a few catching her in the back. Above the walls, the point where blue sky barely connected to the wall gradually corroded to inky black as the darkness outside pushed against the dome. She quickly navigated back alleys and burst out onto the main street.

  Her hair and clothes fluttered in the wind as stray water drops fell all around her. The street was now empty with only a few residents running past her. As she dove through the closing doors, a downpour erupted outside, a few drops sneaking in.

  *Calmly make your way to your assigned cell. Cascade aler...*

  Looking around, the floor was mostly empty, with a few people running to the stairwells. She dashed across the floor and ran up the stairs, not stopping for a breather. She made it to her cell in record time and crashed facedown onto the mattress. Her chest rose and fell frantically as she tried to get her breathing under control. She finally succeeded after a few minutes. She turned in bed and looked outside through the window. The dome's constant blue had turned a murky black, water drops fell from the sky as they crashed against the window.

  Her eyes widened slightly, drifting to the edge of the ceiling. She inched from the mattress, her eyes frantically searching the walls. Just above the window, a single drop of water dripped down the wall.