Beyond the Fence

[The Writing Owl]

It was a starry night in the Utopia of Alton. The night was perfect as the citizens went to sleep and the Protectors kept their city safe from harm. The electric fences buzzed down to recharge for the next day. Peace filled the air as everything settled down... All except for one boy, but he would tell his story later.

Outside of the fences, a young girl was running away from an older and much stronger woman. "Stop! You little brat, give me back my shit!" Greasy and tangled brown hair flew behind the girl as she clutched the bag close to her chest. The fence soon started to come into sight. The woman stopped in her tracks and ran back, knowing her lesson on staying away from the fence. The girl was a bit more daring, getting right up to the fence and kneeling in the knee high grass. She panted as she looked down at her treasures. Food and some warmer clothes were stuffed in the worn bag. The girl gave a smile, closing the bag and keeping it close.

The girl leaned against the fence, letting the wind cool the sweat rolling down her dirt covered body. The tanned skin girl closed her pink eyes, just enjoying a little peace for once. Her large old t-shirt blew slightly in the wind, ripped jeans keeping her legs from completely freezing in the cold nights. She tapped her feet covered by a worn pair of sneakers. After having her fill of resting, the young girl straightened her back. Crossing her legs, she opened her mind up to the city behind her. Thoughts started to filter in as the girl sat, completely still. The different citizens thought of all sorts of things. What was their job going to be like tomorrow? What was for breakfast? What will getting my match be like? All of it was unimportant stuff that made the girl feel repulsed and slightly amused. These people would sleep away the night without a care while the others they had damned suffered out in the remains.

The girl often did things like this at night, when she could. It gave her a chance to strengthen her growing abilities, and make her feel like she was included with the rest of the world. She hadn't known that her life would change so much in just that single night.

 

[DJae Writer Chick]

Noah Davis slipped along the edges of the fence that was recharging, the fence that kept the Barbarians from entering his home, his Utopia. The sixteen year old watched the fence with curious green eyes, his black hair cut just perfect, barely ruffled to give it a disheveled, yet slightly attractive look. He kept an eye on the fence, wondering how it worked when he saw her. One of them. He stopped for a moment. -She doesn't look too dangerous...- he thought to himself, approaching slowly now, silent. -I better watch out though...- he took two steps away from the fence as he approached her, then stopped.
-Should I say something? She looks like she's meditating... Do they even know what meditation is...?- he wondered to himself.

 

[The Writing Owl]

Thoughts much closer than the ones on the inside of the Utopia startled the girl. She quickly opened her eyes, turning around to see a black haired boy. What was a Topi boy doing so far out? She took a step closer, trying to see what else he would think, maybe retort to his thoughts just to scare him. The girl, sixteen years old like the boy, moved to put her hands on the fence, staring right at Noah. Farther away, a Protector was slowly coming toward them. The Protector didn't notice them yet, and they didn't notice him. But soon enough the two would be confronted with trouble. For now, they were simply trying to deal with each other.

 

[DJae Writer Chick]

Noah blinked. She was looking at him. He took a deep breath. "H-hi..?" he sounded almost as if he was asking a question. "Y-you're...why..." The sentence wouldn't form. -Why is she here?...is that so hard to ask?- he closed his eyes a moment to gain confidence. "W-why are you here?" he asked quietly.

 

[The Writing Owl]

The girl nearly laughed. Why was she here? That was the first thing he decided to ask? "Why are you here?" She shot back. Topis always slept through the night unless they were Protectors. She had never seen a Topi by the fences before. "Aren't you suppose to be sleeping in your cozy little beds?" A sort of boredom dripped from her voice. She knew his kinds of thoughts already. He could at least be a bit more interesting. "Also, I do know what meditating is, thank you very much!" She waited for his reaction, a sense of victory coursing through her veins. All the while the Protector continued to get closer.

 

[DJae Writer Chick]

His eyes widened for a moment, but then they narrowed and he stepped closer to the fence. "I refuse to answer any questions..." He went quiet. He wanted to test something. -You can read my mind?- He sat down, putting his head in his hands as he watched her, curiosity and caution mixing inside him.

 

[The Writing Owl]

The girl rolled her eyes. He definitely was a typical Topi. "Yes, I can read your mind. What was your first clue?" She crossed her arms across her chest, a bit bored with the boy. He was holding his head like that was going to stop her from reading his mind. She shook her head in almost disbelief. How could someone be so... stupid? "Holding your head isn't going to-"

"Freeze! Get away from the boy!" A Protecto had found them. The girl stopped and looked to the man. The world bled away into a red abyss. The man's worst nightmare flitted before him. Red eyes, dead bodies, failure. His family was bleeding out and the girl seemed to be responsible for it. Her pink eyes seemed red and deadly in the eyes of the protector. He gasped before screaming. He brought out his weapon and shot at the girl, though nothing worked. One shot ricoched off of the girl and hit the man in the head. The world returned, with a part of the fence now broken, making a hole most people could fit through. The Protector was on the ground, knocked out and bleeding.

The girl fell to her knees. She vomited, blood and puke mixing into a gross mixture. She was shaking. The red head knew she shouldn't have used that power. It always had horrible effects on her body, but she didn't know what else to do.

 

[DJae Writer Chick]

Noah tensed. He didn't care if she was a barbarian or not, she at least looked human. "Are you okay?" He looked at the hole, wondering if he should go through to help her. It was his natural instinct, which overrode everything. Fear, curiosity, confusion...everything.

 

[The Writing Owl]

"I-" Freya tried to say before throwing up again. Tears ran down her face, dripping onto the ground. Her throat burned as she emptied her stomach. She panted, trying to get over the sickening feeling in her stomach. She needed to get up and leave. She couldn't stay there. The girl moved to get her bag, managing a couple steps toward it before crashing back down. She was a mess.

 

[DJae Writer Chick]

Noah glanced around. He grabbed the weapon from the Protector before slipping through the hole in the fence. He walked over to the girl. "Let me help you." he said, worried. "You can't do this alone."

 

[The Writing Owl]

"No, you don't know what it's like! You-" She was interrupted by a gag leading to a bit of dry heaving. "I... We need to get to a cave... Caves are safe, caves are..." She sobbed through another wave of sick, keeping the bag close to her chest. The other protectors were going to notice soon that there was an unconscious protector and a missing weapon soon if she didn't move.

 

[DJae Writer Chick]

Noah put a hand on her shoulder. "I don't care what it's like. You. Need. Help." he said sternly. There was no way on this planet that he would leave someone like this! "Where's the nearest cave?"

 

[The Writing Owl]

"Nearest is just south of here..." The girl said before taking the boy's hand from her shoulder. She tried to stand up, letting him help when he wanted. "It's covered by large roots... can't miss it." She still clutched the bag close to her body as she shakily started to move toward the cave. Safety. She just needed to get to safety and she could ride out the rest of the post vision sickness. Then she could drop the Topi off at the nearest Utopia and everything would be good.

 

[DJae Writer Chick]

Noah stuck close beside her, his mind on noting but finding the cave and helping her. "What's your name? I'm Noah. I help people." he said absentmindedly, looking for this cave.

 

[The Writing Owl]

The brunette would have chuckled at Noah's introduction. "My name's Phoebe." She introduced, closing her mouth quickly afterwards to keep herself from throwing up again. They slowly but steadily walked further away from the Utopia into the forest. A little ways into it, Phoebe turned and moved toward a large group of roots covering a large cave. She squeezed past a root and quickly stumbled into the small place she had called her home for the last few days. Her bag of things were laid carefully in a way that looters wouldn't be able to steal them.

 

[DJae Writer Chick]

Noah stared at the roots. "Pheobe.. that sounds nice." he said quietly before slipping through the roots. He looked around before just sitting down where he stood. "Feeling any better?" he asked. "Do you need water?"

 

[The Writing Owl]

"I'm fine... Just... Sick." Phoebe took some deep breaths, her eyes watering from the burning in her throat. "It's happened before... I'll be better in the morning." She moved to a corner and dry heaved, panting afterwards. "You have questions, don't you?" The brunette asked, her voice raspy. She looked over at him, pink eyes watery. She had a bit of sick on the edges of her mouth, though she didn't seem that bothered by it.

 

[DJae Writer Chick]

Noah nodded slightly. "Yeah...but you need to rest first. You shouldn't strain yourself, whether you've been through this before or not." He said quietly, holding the weapon close to him. He didn't even know what it was, much less how to use it, but he felt slightly comforted by it. Like it would protect him by itself.

 

[The Writing Owl]

"I'm not falling asleep any time soon." Phoebe said, leaning against a nearby wall. "So... talk." She waited for a little while before adding in a quiet tone, "Please?" She knew she needed rest, but this was the first time she had company in a long, long time. Even if it was a Topi, she just wanted to talk with someone for a little while. She wanted to feel normal again, even if she wasn't.

 

[DJae Writer Chick]

"Um...well...first...what makes you so dangerous?" he asked, confused. His head tilted slightly to the left as it did as he asked questions. "You seem normal to me...well...other than the fact you can read my mind." he shrugged.