An Inbred

www.thirdpersonwar.com

She walked down the streets of her suburbs, keeping her eyes down. She knew if she kept her eyes down, no one would pay any attention to her. The United World agents wouldn’t try to flirt, the homeless men wouldn’t ask for money or kisses, the businessmen wouldn’t try to make her a prostitute.

That was always the trick"keep your eyes down and blend in with the grey concrete. It’s the reason she was still pure, the reason she had maintained her virginity.

She passed each house, identical to her own. The U.W. kept it that way to promote equality and safety. Black numbers were painted on every roof so that the helicopters could tell the difference between each house.

Turning left out of the suburbs, she passed through an abandoned street complex. It was the only unoccupied place that she knew of in the city. And the city was massive. She had never even been outside it before. Transportation was expensive. You had to be very important to own your own vehicle and license.

She did not consider herself important. Neither did they.

The abandoned street gave her chills, but she was soon out of it and into the shopping district. She was just about to walk into a flower shop when she noticed a news blimp hovering in the sky. It blared over all other noises. It said the President had been assassinated.

Tears formed in her eyes. She did not know why. She didn’t even care about politics or what the President had been doing. She only saw life being taken. And that was enough for her.

Then she suddenly put her head back down. She had almost forgotten. Someone could have been watching.

She wiped her tears and quickly went into her favorite store: Paula’s Flower Shop.

An older woman with silver hair came from behind the counter. “Chelsea!”

“Paula!” The girl said.

“It’s good to see you again. How are you?”

“I’m good.”

“Are you sure? You look unsettled... did anyone follow you?”

“No, no. I’m fine, really.”

Paula looked over Chelsea’s shoulder and through the store windows. “Alright then, we better get going! Everyone has probably started without us.” Paula smiled.

They walked to the back of the shop and went into a storage room. Underneath the boxes of pots and soil, Paula lifted a small hatch that led underground. Paula went first and Chelsea followed. They walked into the darkness, down a spiraling staircase. They could only hear each other’s breathing.

After walking for several minutes, Chelsea’s legs began to tire. But Paula was happily talking away.

“Have you thought about my offer at all?” She asked.

“Yeah, I just need to fill out my aptitude forms. But I would really love to work here.”

“That’s great! I think you would really enjoy it. I wouldn’t be able to pay too well, but it’s better than working for the government. They would abuse such a young girl like you. Trust me, it’s no coincidence that most girls just happen to be placed as personal secretaries or maids... It’s gender inequality. And I bet half those girls score higher than the boys on those aptitude tests.”

Chelsea sighed.

“Those filthy dogs"”

“Paula.”

“Sorry. I’m just saying it would be nice to have some company. And I want the best for you.”

Chelsea smiled. “I know. I want to do it. I’ll fill out the forms when I get home today.”

Paula kept chatting as they went further underground. They walked until Chelsea felt as if she couldn’t bear the darkness anymore. And then she heard the slightest sound of singing. It echoed up the staircases and kept her going. It wasn’t long before the sound of voices grew louder and she could see the smallest faint of light.

She walked towards it and found herself standing in a warm room. The pews were filled with people of all nationalities. It was uncommon, considering the government split up the districts by race. They all sang together, words of a man who died on a wooden cross.

A skinny man with a beard stood up on stage.

“Welcome everyone to the Church of Christ. My name is Addison. It’s good to be in God’s house today. I know we all take great risk in coming here, but it is because we know our reward is not on this earth. Our treasure is in heaven.

“And that is why today, I want to talk about courage. We all have it deep inside ourselves. Everyone does. There are many who have forgotten this. It is why the world is what it is today. People who are lost fear the government. They fear the United World. And they do for good cause.

“But they are wrong. Because their courage is circumstantial. They only see what is right in front of their feet. They only care about what is physical. And to fear something that is physical is to fear life itself.

“Imagine what people would do if they were allowed to. Imagine how life would be if people actually did what they wanted to do. I think only then, would people see their need for something greater than themselves. I think only then, would people start living.”

After the service, Chelsea and Paula talked with their brothers and sisters. They thanked Addison for his encouraging and challenging words. Their brothers and sisters left one at a time as to not draw attention to the flower shop until Chelsea and Paula were the only ones remaining.

“Let’s go.” Paula said.

They walked up the dark staircase, with each foot in front of the other. It was the only way to walk. Though, Chelsea hoped there was a different way.

When they reached the top, Paula closed the hatch and moved the boxes back over it. “Oh, goodness. I should really install a teleporting machine.”

Chelsea was too tired to laugh. She simply smiled and nodded her head.

“Can I get you anything, dear?”

“No, it’s fine. I’ll get some water real fast. I should really get home. My parents will be expecting me for lunch.”

Chelsea walked out of the storage room and up towards the counter. But as she was getting a glass from one of the cupboards, she looked up at the store window and froze.

The glass fell from her hands and shattered on the ceramic tiles. Blood seeped from her ankle where a piece of glass had cut her skin. Still, she could not move. She didn’t even feel it. All she could do was stare at the black car parked outside of the shop.

Three men in black jackets had gotten out of the car and were looking into the shop. On their sleeves were the red symbols of the United World. In their ears were microscopic headphones.

“What’s going on?” Paula asked, walking to the counter. But before she had gotten halfway there, she had froze as well.

Chelsea’s heart was racing. Her mind was so blank she couldn’t even pray to her God.

Suddenly the men put their hands to their ears, receiving orders. And before Chelsea had the chance to scream, they had pulled out their guns from underneath their jackets and ran into the building across the street.

A few moments later, Chelsea and Paula were still unmoved when they heard several gunshots pound the air. The men in jackets each carried a body out of the building. The first carried a blonde woman who was kicking, screaming, and yelling. The second carried a black man who was limp and bloodied. The third carried a small girl with sandy blonde hair and dark skin. Her face was covered in snot and tears. She cried like her mother, but didn’t fight.

One of the black jackets had given her a lollipop.

Mixing of the races was not allowed.

They threw the dead, bloodied body in the back of the car, laughing.

“Awh, look at the filthy inbred.” One of the men said.

“She sure does like that candy. Would do anything for a piece of candy, I bet. Starving little thing.” Another said. They laughed as they put her in the back of the car with her wailing mother.

“Shut up!” They shouted and laughed.

The three black jackets got back into the car and began to drive off. But as they did, The sandy-haired girl looked through the car window straight at Chelsea. With an eerily calm, snot-covered face, she looked at Chelsea with the same golden eyes she had.

Suddenly, Chelsea fell to the ground, her legs being cut by the broken glass. Paula rushed over and lifted her up.

“They weren’t after us, honey. They weren’t after us.” She said.

“I have to go.” Chelsea said.

“No, you should sit and rest. Your legs are bleeding.”

“No, I really have to go. My family will be worried. I have to go.”

Chelsea got up and left before Paula could do anything. She walked out of the shop, keeping her head down by instinct.

Paula had it wrong. It wasn’t the shock of almost being caught that terrified Chelsea. It wasn’t the possible torture or the death from U.W. Agents.

It was the crying child that had her eyes.

She walked down the road, fast and interrupted. Blood seeped down from the cuts on her legs onto the gravel. It left breadcrumbs that the crows were keeping close eyes on. Small pieces of glass were jostled out of her skin as she walked. They were breadcrumbs no one was keeping eyes on.

Before she knew it, she was standing in front of her house. It was house number 9012.

She didn’t know how long she had been standing outside or when it started raining. But when her mom opened the door, she came back to reality. And when her family asked what had happened, she told them a story of how she fell on the sidewalk.

It was a lie. And she knew the Christian Bible told her not to lie. But she didn’t want her family to know that she was going to church. She didn’t want them to know that she claimed to be Christian. It was dangerous. It would mean death for her family.

She was lying to be a Christian. She was a paradox.

Would you blame me, Jesus? She would ask. According to the Christian Bible, he would.

“Chelsea?” Cassidy, her seven-year old sister, asked.

“Yes?”

“What are you going to do?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you are grown up now... so what are you going to do? Are you going to move away?”

Cassidy looked at her older sister with curls falling over her dark brown eyes.

“Do you want me to?” Chelsea asked.

“No.”

“Then I won’t. I’ll stay right here and work at Paula’s Flower Shop. And when you grow up, we can move out together if we want.”

“Or we can stay right here?”

“Or we can stay right here.”