My thoughts keep escaping to my 6th year in school, when I was at my first boy girl party. I was so excited that I finally convinced Andrew to go with me. There was ice cream, virtual laser tag, and even Andrew was enjoying himself. Until everyone decided to huddle around and tell ghost stories.

"—she haunted any glider that dared to ride by the North side of the wall, always reminding the riders to never cross over." One kid whispered, using the light from his tablet to cast shadows cross his face.

I shivered with wide eyes, feeling the ghost woman's eyes watching me. A chill came over me when someone grabbed my arm. I squealed and jumped out of my seat, hitting the floor with my butt.

Andrew doubled over in his chair, holding his gut, and shaking with laughter.

"Are you okay, Cassandra?" Emma's voice whispered from the other side of me.

I dismissed her with a wave, still glaring at Andrew. He stuck his tongue out at me. I returned the gesture before grabbing his arms and pulling him to the ground next to him. He snorted as he plopped down next to me.

Another boy clicked on his tablet light, making a skeleton shadow overtake his features.

"Have you heard of the Outercity sea monsters?"

I shook my head, my earlier giggles fading from my throat.

Everyone drew quiet as he spoke inky words, "So we all know that the Outercity is ruled by gangs, right?" After an exchange of nods, he continued, "Well, each gang worships a sea monster, and one day, an Innercity boy failed the Test and was shipped to the Outercity." Andrew tensed beside me, his expression unreadable. "He tried to live as an Outsider, but their savage life style was too much. He refused to live by their laws. He wouldn't kill, wouldn't wear seashells as clothes, and wouldn't eat other people."

"Oh, come on." Andrew scoffed, but I shushed him.

"One day, when he was walking back to the Outercity Training Facility. Someone kidnapped him. Outsiders drug the boy into the sea, chanting a spell. When the boy touched the water, a tentacle shot out and grabbed his ankle. The last thing the boy saw was the devilish grins of the Outsiders before he was swallowed whole."

Andrew had lectured me the whole ride home about the story, and how insensitive those ghost stories were. I didn't understand his defensiveness of the Outercity. It's wasn't until a few years later when my mother explained about Andrew's mother that everything made sense. But that night I pretended to agree with him, but the story still scared me.

Not as much as it scares me now.

I stopped beating the windows, all it had accomplished was bruised fingers. Screaming didn't help much either. Once my voice was hoarse and fingers aching, I decided to try to stop the glider by getting to the manual control room. As I had suspected, it was being remotely driven, but what I didn't suspect was the door to the controls to be locked.

It's wasn't finding the locked control room that made me give up on escape, it was when the glider passed through the Innercity Wall, crossing into the Middlecity. The boarder guards didn't even blink as they pressed in a code, making a piece of the wall retract and open.

I never thought about leaving the Innercity before, except for the past few days, but even then, I made a plan to stay. When passing through the gates of the Innercity Wall, I thought it would feel like a weight was being pushed on my chest, or air getting sucked out of my lungs, but it didn't feel like anything.

For what feels like hours, I watch the Plains transform into miles and miles of fields. Some fields, to my surprise, are burnt. Most are filled with crops. Even in the darkness, I can make out the plump corn fields, some stalks swollen and grotesque.

I watch as the glowing Injector Drones shoot florescent green liquid in the crops. They hover over each plant before stopping and moving to the next line. I admire the yellow drones as they light up the fields, giving enchanting shadows against the different fields for miles. I imagine that's what stars looked like.

It also made me think about Andrew.

I'm not sure if I'm nervous about seeing him again or excited. He promised he wanted to be with me, but what about now? I planned to have us both in the Innercity, but now that we're not, does he still want to be with me?

I have to believe so. I also have no choice but to believe Headmaster Glinda. After coming to conclusion that fighting my way out of the glider wasn't going to get me anywhere, I realized that even if I don't trust Headmaster Glinda, I have to believe that someone will come for me after this investigation. It's obvious it wasn't my fault, and after they find that stupid Test Distributor, they'll come get me.

They'll come get us.

It won't be long before my mother realizes I'm gone, and I know she will be watching this investigation closely.

She'll save me.

But for now, I have to stay safe and in one piece. Hopefully laying low in the Outercity Training Facility will be enough to keep me out of trouble. Perhaps getting on the good side of the OTF's headmaster would be a good idea. All I need to do is find Andrew, be quiet, and hope no one recognizes me.

Because I can only imagine how someone would react knowing my mother's algorithm is the reason why they are stuck in the Outercity.

Believe me, the irony is not lost.

The Middlecity Wall opens, signaling my time in the Middlecity to be over. My fingers dig into the plush sits. My brain starts pulsing against my temple. It takes a moment to realize that I'm gridding my teeth. I stop, and the headache subsides a little.

The welcome sign for the Outer City passes. The sign has a picture of different cartoon workers: seamstresses, factory workers, miners, and other people holding hands. The characters are smiling with rosy cheeks. "WELCOME!" is posted above them with a sun peeping over. I try to picture the sign when it was first set up, new, freshly painted. Now there is a gray tent to it. Bullet holes scatter throughout the picture, one located in the center of the miner's forehead. How many gang members walked out to this sign in a blind rage? How many still roam the streets?

The bus pulls up to a building named "Outer City Check Station". The glider slows to a stop, the final break slides into place, and it jolts me in my seat. I stare up the empty rows of seats, waiting for something, though I'm not sure what.

After a few minutes of nothing happening, I knew what I had to do. The thought of jumping off this cursed bus glider is tempting, but where would I go? The Middlecity Wall? As if the border guards would let me through. They'd just drag me back to the glider by my hair.

I pull my luggage out of the seat with me. As I do, I catch my reflection in the mirrors above the seats. The black mascara that once coated my lashes is streaked down my cheeks, and somehow, my curls have fallen out, frizzed and knotted to the back of my head.

My blood-shot eyes watch me. My luggage settles on the ground beside me, I run my fingers through my hair, fixing the rat's nest. Once I find my hair adequate, I take the under part of my shirt and wipe my cheeks.

I rub the corners of my eyes before taking up my suitcases.

"Don't let anyone know." I whisper to myself, wiping the dry trail of tears off my face.

In the office, I wait in line to be checked. There are others, surprisingly. It's apparent there are those who must come into the Outercity for business or food deliveries. One man is dressed in a fine suit, clearly from the Innercity, while another man is dressed in casual blue jeans and a comfortable long sleeve shirt. Seeing them in this checking station is shocking, but I doubt they will make it far into the city.

Border guards look us over for weapons, drugs, and anything else that is illegal to bring. I pass through, and the guard pats me down. After the third time, he passes me along to the woman waiting behind the counter.

"Name?" She asks without looking up.

"Cassandra Goodwill." I expect her to recognize it, but she doesn't flinch.

She scans a list of names on an ancient looking computer and marks it out.

"Your transport to the Outercity Training Facility will be here shortly, please take a seat." She murmurs without looking up.

I look down at my luggage and give her a hesitant glance, "Did you want to take my suitcases?"

She peers at me over her glasses. "Why would I do that?"

Sensing her attitude, I force myself to bite my tongue. Picking a fight with the first person in the Outercity is not lying low. "For the Outercity Training Facility. Don't they collect it for the dorm rooms?"

"Dorm rooms?" The woman looks me over again, "Oh, no. Sorry, sweetie, your going to have to carry your own things." A lazy smirk passes her lips. "Next!"

Someone behind me pushes me out of the way, dismissing me like a piece of trash. Frustration boils up inside me, ready to be used as daggers against these insanely rude people. I ignore the temptation, instead I grab my suitcases, maybe hitting the man in the leg, before murmuring a half-apology and taking a seat.

When sitting on the chair, I can't help but notice the cushion, or what looks like a cushion, is hard and cold, with something biting me in the leg. I try to hold my grimace from escaping, but my nostrils flare anyway.

I watched to sun move up and the shadows stretch. The earlier anxiety of being picked up for the Outercity Training Facility turned into weariness. I became very aware that I didn't get any sleep, but every time I felt my eyes close, the receptionist's head snapped to me. Though it didn't look like she recognized me before, I still didn't want to close my eyes.

I didn't trust any Outsider.

Though it didn't stop me from dozing off completely.

"Cassandra?" A shadow of a man elopes me.

My fogged mind snaps to attention, starting an aching pain from my eyes to the back of my head.

I need sleep, desperately.

"Yes?" I squint up. A huge man stares down at me. His muscled arms pulse with impatience as he crosses them across his chest. His thick brows are pulled taunt against his bulging veins laced in his face.

Why was a border guard talking to me?

The man studies my dazzled shirt and skin-tight pants before looking me in the face. "I'm Headmaster Asher." My mouth turns dry and look at his blazer, finding a tower pin. One tower, not like the three at the ITF. "Grab your things, it's gonna be a drive to the OTF."

I nod in slow motion and look down at my bags, finding only one remaining by my chair.

"My suitcase..." I look up, words sliding away.

Headmaster Asher looks down and shrugs, "Welcome to the Outercity."

***

Headmaster Asher guides the glider on the edge of the Outercity. I try my best not to bulk at the Outercity while the headmaster drives in irritated silence, apparently picking me up is a major inconvenience.

Concrete blocks crumble against the higher buildings thing the Outercity. They almost look like the ruins of a wall. Though it would've been nothing compared to the Wall around the city now. Over the grey rubble, I can make out cube-like buildings with black tubes pouring smoke and fire. Like the Innercity, the sky isn't visible, but unlike the Innercity, there's no blue sky pecking though the misty clouds. There is only the choking grayness smothering the Outercity.

The glider chuckles, bumping me against the solid cushions. I sit with my hands firmly in my lap, trying to ignore the noises coming out of the engine. If I thought Andrew's glider was old, this thing is ancient. Each jolt makes my skin crawl, forming goosebumps on my arms.

I catch the Headmaster watching me in the rearview mirror, studying my reactions to each bump and jerk. My lips pull tight in a pathetic smile.

I direct my attention back to the Outercity, it's factory walls climbing above me, though not as high as the Innercity skyscrapers. When I peek through the buildings, I don't see any people mauling about. Like its been deserted.

I thought this was the most populated city.

Something navy flashes past the window, standing out in the colorless landscape. I sit forward and try to look back at whatever it was, but I lose sight of it. I sigh and look closer at the buildings, wondering what else I missed.

The navy flashes across my vision again, accept this time, I made out a painting resembling a swordfish. The swordfish is highlighted by the brown bricks on the crumpled structure. It's looks harshly painted, as if the artist was in a hurry.

The swordfish speeds past us before I can get a better look at it. I remember studying marine animals in primary school. Our teachers showed us holograms of animals that lived centuries ago, now extinct. The class was so pointless that I'm surprised the Outsiders know anything about them. Or at least know enough to draw them.

Ida's tattoo tickles my mind.

Another wall painted with a navy swordfish comes into view, but before I can really look at it, the glider makes a sharp turn, and my once unmovable hands flail to catch myself before I sprawl across the seat.

"Sorry," Headmaster Asher mumbles from the front.

I bite the inside of my lip.

Remember, you have to be nice.

I can almost see my mother scowling at me for not standing up for myself or our name. Headmaster Asher needs be thanking the founders of the Great City that he is stuck with me and not her. She would have him begging to be fired.

That thought gives me confidence to straighten back in me seat. Even though a sly remark still threatens to slip through my lips, I have to remember my plan. Get in the good graces of Headmaster Asher, find Andrew, and wait for Headmaster Glinda to come get us. Hopefully Headmaster Asher will protect me and Andrew during our time in the OTF. I've never had trouble with sucking up to adults before, it can't be too hard to sweet talk an Outsider.

So, I bite my tongue and glance outside my window. The OTF's single tower looks like a cinderblock was dropped in a grassless, dry acre. Like the edge of the Outercity, it looks abandoned. No students, no courtyards, not even a shade of green.

The headmaster pulls into the OTF and any remarks I was fighting back is now dry in my mouth. My heart quickens its pace until it is beating against my chest. Any exhaustion I felt earlier is slapped out of me as adrenaline courses though me. The glider pulls to a stop.

They have to come for me.

They have to come for us.

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Hey all! Hope you are enjoying the story so far. Please let me know your thoughts and feelings so far!

Do you think she will see Andrew again? 

What do you think about the Outercity?