The tenebrous night fell surrender to the illuminating dawn, soft cotton floating in the cool atmosphere. Ancient and crumbling buildings towered from the cobblestone street’s curb, giving the old town an even older feeling. Streaks of pink and orange highlighted the morning sky, and a light wind fluttered the red tinted leaves that scurried across the lane.


Meggy’s blonde curls blew into her face, and she pushed them back in annoyance. Despite the soft glowing sun just peeking over the horizon, the paved streets of downtown were bustling with large crowds up ahead, and she spotted a few familiar faces from the flowing sea of citizens. Eager faces grinning with laughter, serious and firm set jaws—all visible from the throng of people.


She turned on her heel, preferring the quiet backstreets where hardly anyone would see her. Few ventured from the safe City square, where guards perched at every doorway. Meggy had lived in the City her entire life—all sixteen years—and had always searched for some place to escape from the City officials that watched the citizens like hawks. Of course, nobody was supposed to call it the City. That would be disrespecting the government. It was really Elenous, from the Greek words eleutheria, meaning freedom, and nous, meaning higher intellect. As if that made any sense—what freedom were they given? Not even God himself would be able to grant them basic rights while the City was in power.


Her two older brothers had reached nineteen and ran as fast as they could, away to the west coast which the City profusely argued didn’t exist. They wished. She got letters from her brothers now and again, in secret. Her parents rarely talked about them, and they certainly never mentioned how Aaron found a new home in Old Cali, and that Blaine had followed him a year later.


Meggy shoved her hands in her coat pockets, fingering the most recent letter from Blaine. She had always memorized them, right before destroying them. She never wanted to risk her parents finding them, especially not her dad, a devout City citizen. Her brothers were considered traitors, as far as the City was concerned. But this time, she had kept the letter, because while Blaine had ended with his usual ‘Stay safe, klutz,’ he had also added something. A simple, ‘be careful, and watch out’, which may seem like an older brother watching out for his little sister, but it was different, and that was the problem. Nothing was ever different.


She was so involved in her thoughts that she hadn’t realized what was right in front of her. A construction zone, tearing down one of the few remaining skyscrapers from the original New York City. She tripped over a piece of rubble, a brick lying in the middle of the street, and saw the pavement rush to meet her face. She threw her hands up instinctively to catch herself, but an arm flew out and snagged her by the waist, saving her from her surely graceful fall. She righted herself, straightening her regular Elenous blue jacket and plaid skirt.


“Thanks,” She mumbled before starting forward again, not even bothering looking her rescuer in the eye.


“Hey, wait, Megan!” She turned around at the boy’s deep voice, the boy who seemed to know her. She took a good look at him, studying the gray City uniform, brown shaggy hair, and emerald green eyes. “Or do you still go by Meggy?” He asked.


“Only Blaine and Aaron still call me that.” She grinned, rushing back to give her oldest friend a hug. “Where have you been, Devyn? I haven’t seen you in years! It was as if you disappeared off the face of the Earth.”


He pulled back from the hug, and she saw his eyes dancing with a smile. “I got a job, you know, where you work and earn money. You should try it sometime.” He teased.


“Well, I would, but I would rather leave it up to you. Besides, I think I’ll finish school first. Anyway, that’s no excuse. You realize my mother thought that you had gone missing? She cried for a week straight. She’ll be overjoyed to learn that you’re still alive and walking.” He laughed at that.


“I highly doubt that, but it’s good to see you too, Meggy. It’s been a while.”


“A while? You’re kidding me, right? I was ten, and you were, what, thirteen? That was six years go! You could have left by now, followed in Aaron and Blaine’s footsteps and headed west.” She paused, thinking over her last statement. “Forget what I just said, because I’m positive that it would be a catastrophe.”


He smiled at her, flashing his teeth and dimples, his eyes crinkling. “Same old Meggy,” He shook his head. “So is that supposed to be an insult towards me or your brothers?”


“Both, of course. How well do you know me, Devyn?” She smirked. “And by the way, you are not forgiven.”


“Forgiven for what?” He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.


“For disappearing without saying goodbye and then not ever stopping by. That is seriously unforgiveable.” She turned her back on him, biting the inside of her cheeks together to hold a smile in. She remembered how happy she always was around Devyn, how he made life seem carefree. It was nice for her to get a little piece of that again.


Meggy felt his warm hand wrap around her arm, and heard him ask, “What can I do that will give me a free pass after this teeny tiny mistake?”


The old Devyn was back—he was the same boy she had met ten years ago, silly and lighthearted. “Walk me to school? It’s just down the street.” She nodded to the end of the boulevard, turning back to him.


“Of course. But, um, aren’t you a little worried…” He trailed off, dropping her arm and his eyes wandering to the ground.


“About what?”


When he looked at her, she practically melted. His green eyes showed concern, and his lips were pursed together. “About being seen with me. I do work for the City now, and if anyone sees you and I together while I have this uniform on, you might be in a world of trouble from your friends, not to mention your parents.”


She shook her head, making sure he was staring into her eyes to see the truth in them. “Devyn, you are my friend. I don’t care about what other people are thinking. You know that.” At least, he should have known that. At school, nobody was comparable to what Devyn was. She had a few friends that she talked to in her classes, but she didn’t think of spending time with them afterwards.


He grinned at her, looping his arm through hers. “I knew it, I’m your favorite person.” He stared ahead, and she opened her mouth to correct him, but he plowed on. “So, you’re one of the elite few accepted into Elenous Secondary School, huh?”


She nodded. “Yup, and you’re lucky enough to work for the City now?”


He paused for a split second, and—unless someone was studying him intently—an outsider would never think that it was his way of preventing himself from saying anything he regretted. “I guess you could put it that way.” He shrugged his shoulders, the volume of his voice dropping a few notches.


“Why so…” She paused, struggling for a word, but he knew what she was thinking. Something she didn’t want to say aloud, in fear of being heard. She lowered her voice. “Hesitant?”


“It’s just—“ He started, his head jerking back and forth, making certain that nobody was watching them. “You know the City, how they work. It’s as if I can’t do anything without being presented with a stupid citation.” He shook his head, and began mimicking the City officials, “’No disturbances, no running, no loud noises.’ How do they suppose we do our jobs?”


“Are loud noises not considered disturbances anymore?” She smirked, hiding the fear of getting caught speaking so negatively against the City in public.


“Exactly why we are having so many issues—the government obviously does not have the intellect of a sixteen-year-old girl.” She laughed with him, forcing the nagging worries away.

They fell silent, their feet padding the pavement. She could see the school in the distance, the blue metal roof blinding in the morning sunlight. Students lounged in the courtyard, their eyes glued to their small, handheld screens, most likely reading for the upcoming Career Exam—where their future is decided by a government official and their answers from a multiple choice test.


A chopping sound hummed in Meggy’s ears, a nearby helicopter flying through the air. Devyn froze beside her, and she tugged his arm gently. “What are you doing? School’s right there.” She heard his sharp intake of breath, and then he was pulling her—away from the school, retracing the steps they had taken only a moment ago.

He was running, down the cobblestone road, with Meggy in tow. “Devyn, stop! What is wrong? Where are we going?” His hand tightened around hers, and he pulled her around a corner, catching his breath as he leaned against the brick wall of the tall building.

“Megan, you have to understand—I had no idea it would be the school.” He looked directly into her eyes, and she saw the pain and distress clouding his face.

“What are you talking about? You’re not making any sense!” She cried. Suddenly, the ground shook violently, and she was thrown forward into Devyn. He held her closely as the sky lit up and a deafening thunder boomed through the air, like fireworks on New Years Day. Agonizing screams echoed around them, and veils of black smoke curtained the atmosphere.

Her face was pressed against Devyn’s chest, her hands curled over her ears, trying to block the excruciating whimpers coming from a few blocks away. Faces flashed through her head—teachers, friends, students. Were they all dead now? Who dropped the bombs? Did Devyn know that somebody intended on bombing the City?

Her mind reeled with questions—most of which she didn’t know if she wanted answered. Tears threatened to spill down her cheeks, and when the City seemed deadly quiet, she looked up at Devyn and asked the one thing she wanted to hear. “Did you know?”

His eyes were fixed on a spot beyond her, and her heart dropped when she heard his raspy whisper. “Yes, I knew something would happen, but I knew nothing else.”



Grief and anguish coursed through her. “Don’t make excuses, not after what just happened. Hundreds of people just died, don’t you understand that? Don’t you care?” Her voice caught in her throat when he didn’t answer. “I thought I knew you better than that Devyn.” She spun around, tears streaming down her face.


She overheard his last words before turning the corner. “I thought I did too.”