The Wall (Extended), S Mckee [best summer reads of all time .TXT] 📗

The world was once a beautiful place, filled with an abundance of coloured flowers and blue skies, or so that’s what the stories I hear tell me. My name is Hilaria and I live in Zolo the last city on earth. The walls that surround the city are 20 metres thick and lined with steel spanning a height of 15 feet. I suppose you think why are there walls around your city? Well let me tell you. 85 years ago, society was hit with a terrible disease call yimsunye, it originated in China well so they discoveredeventuallybut by that point it was too late. It might have been too late after the first infection but we will never know because the world went to shit after that moment. After you got infected you became Awakened, Society started calling it that because the infected became awakened from any inhibitions they had and became Feral, Feral to the point that they started to fucking eat people! How crazy is that humans eating humans, anyway the point is the world spiralled into chaos, cities fell, un-awakened people fighting for survival even started resembling the awakened, they fought over supplies and food and even shelter and murdering others became a daily task for some just to live. It was crazy, or again so I’ve heard. The last few remaining legs of government started a major operation to build a stronghold in Texas to protect the last semblance of humanity, Zolo. Once the wall was built it was sealed so no more could enter and none could leave, the virus had been eradicated from within so it was officially named a ‘safe zone’ and life started getting back to normal or as normal as could be, the noise beyond the wall could still be heard, the screams, pleads for help and gun shots. Eventually after a few years all became silent outside the wall, I guess scientists had extrapolated that the virus burnt out the infected bodies and they eventually just shut down. My guess is they just ran out of the living to devour but what do I know I live now in the present where I have never seen an awakened or heard an awakened, just the stories.

‘Hilaria! Get the Hell up! We are gonna be late for Class! , Said Clara.

I jolted upright, covered in beads of sweat, Jesus it was so hot for a fucking March morning and I had only hit my snooze button what felt like two minutes ago but somehow an hour had passed and I wasn’t even showered or ready.

‘Listen Bitch!, im in no mood for you to be acting like my god damned Mom right now so just leave without me and I’ll meet you after for Electrophysics!’

‘What the Hell is taking you so long anyway I heard your alarm go off ages ago! And you told me last night we could stop by Barataco for a Lemon Frappacino before class and now your blowing me off?’

I swear it was like talking to a child sometimes, I really lucked out with getting Clara as a roommate this semester for the first two months we fought like cat and dog but when our Floor got raided by the Zolites and we spent 5 hours in an interrogation chamber we instantly stopped fighting and comforted each other through the ordeal. I wonder if they ever caught the guy accused of leaving the city. Flip I didn’t even know you could leave the city I thought the wall was locked up tight not even a spider could get in unless it climbed over the top.

‘HILARIA!!’

Darn it! I zoned out again that always happens to me but lately its getting so much worse.

‘Right Clara! I guess I don’t need to wash today give me two minutes till I pull on my clothes, hope you realise for this ordeal your putting me through your buying me the Frappay!’

‘Fine just hurry the fuck up or next time you are getting a bucket of ice water over you when you sleep through your snooze’

‘Love you too Clar’; I smiled to myself as I rapidly pulled on my jeans and hoody. That bitch got under my skin so much but god if I didn’t love her like my own sister.

Clara decided finally to come into my room after shouting across the corridor, when I was just pinning my hair up.

‘Jesus Hil, a friggin Zolite could get dressed faster than you and that’s with the full body armour on’.

‘Shut the hell up, ive had a rough morning I hardly slept, I had that horrible dream again’

‘Hil, it’s just a nightmare your probably projecting from watching that shit ass horror crap you and Quane always watch on your weird little date nights’

‘They aren’t date nights! Jeez, he just a friend’

‘Yeah, Yeah tell that to the constant sex injuries you turn up with’

‘Dude don’t go there, remember the last time you went there? Still healing I believe Clar?’

‘Next time im in the firing line of a book ill just duck’; she said with a smile. That smug little smile deserved another book but I guess I’ll save it for later or I could just get Quane on her. As much as she jokes I see the way she looks at him. I have tried countless times to set them up with no avail but shes convinced that we are together when in actual fact we train together. After being interrogated by the Zolite, Quane told me he would train me to defend myself and try to feel less powerless, I at the time obviously accepted because I was shitting myself that they would come and arrest me again. Now, he pushes me so hard I just want to give up but he says what are you going to do when they come again and this time don’t let you go, they do that with innocents you know if they suspect you of breaking any part of the code you are done, vanished, gone. Anyway Quane is so wound up and so Is Clara it only makes sense and hey, it would get the both of them off my back.

‘Hello?’, Clara was waving at me like I was mental or something.

‘Dude! You totally zoned out again. What is wrong with you?’, she was giving me a puzzled look but I just shrugged it off and opened the door and walked out, Clara following behind. She had obviously let the subject go as she was about to get her lemony goodness fix in approximately five minutes, you could pretty much wave the drink in front of her and she would completely lose her place in a sentence or her stance in an argument.

We made our way down the steps to the student quarter to the Barataco kiosk and it was absolutely rammed. We would never make it to the front of the queue and then to class before 10 o’clock. As I was contemplating what to do I turned round and Clara was deliberately shooting me evils. Clearly she was angry at me because it was my fault we were running later but I didn’t rise to her glares and continued to analyse what the next logical step was to this mornings blunder. My train of thought however was quickly interrupted by someone clearing there throat behind me. Of course there was someone behind me we were smack bang in the middle of the pedestrian traffic around the student Hub, I turned around to let the stranger pass by when I froze mid turn. In front of me was a Zolite, oh shit!, they make petty arrests even for people who get in their way, clearly the power they have has gone to their heads. This one however, he didn’t have a scornful look on his face nor did he immediately start yelling at me, he just smiled and said thank you as he walked between me and Clara, making his way to the Barataco Kiosk. That smile, could literally bring any woman to their knees but I was still in shock that we had actually come into contact with a nice Zolite. I turned to see Clara literally staring with her mouth agape.

‘Are you OK?’, I asked.

‘Hil we are going to that Kiosk right now, Fuck Class I wanna meet the sexy Zoly!’

‘Clara you really are such a bad influence, and they say im leading you astray’, I laughed as I said this but she was already en route to the kiosk to stand behind the Zolite. I followed her over and stood beside her when she started to make weird giggly noises.

‘Clara what are you doing?’

‘Ssssh, he will hear you, start laughing I want you to pretend I said something funny, all guys love funny it’s in the rules of life and sex’

‘Dude you are Bat Shit Crazy’

‘Crazy in Love Hil, Crazy In loveeeeee’

I rolled my eyes and started laughing because god knows if I get between her and a man with the added ingredient of her Lemon Frappacino I literally had no choice. The Zolite immediately lifted his head from staring at his feet, possibly and turned round to look me directly in the eye.

‘What is so funny here ladies?’, He said.

Claras face immediately dropped and she went pale as a ghost because he had a slight tinge of anger in his voice. I answered,

‘Eh....Eh.......Just my friend told me a joke that’s all’

‘ Oh really? What was the joke?’, he had a slight smile now on his face as he was saying this, and smugness really got to me especially if it was from a Zolite.

‘Oh nothing a Zolite would understand, only people with an actual sense of humour could grasp the joke’. Clara gasped as I said it and oh shit I totally spoke before I thought, because I was nearly sure at this point I was have to utilise Quane’s training at this point as the smirk had completely vanished of the Zolite’s face.

He said so coolly and calmly that i thought I had imagined it, ‘Listen, you need to be careful what that pretty mouth says because if it was anyone but me you would be face down on the ground right now with cuffs being placed on your wrists being carted off to interrogation, Do you want that?’

I answer no straight away but he didn’t look appeased, in fact he inched ever closer to me and stuck out his hand in a hand shake motion and said, ‘Hey, I’m Dansi, Nice to meet you’, and then he cracked that killer smile again. I was literally standing with my mouth open and squeaked ,’ Hilaria, nice...to....meet...you...too’. He continued,’ And Your Friend?’.

‘That’s Clara and we should really get going to class because we are mega late, Nice to meet you!’ I shouted as I dragged Clara off Down toward the University Hub.

............................

Getting into class 20 minutes late was not the best idea for Clara and I, because Mr Tonsky was in one horrible ass mood and with