Afflicted

"I'm not talking about a social call. The city purifies all its own water doesn't it? We can have showers!"

"I'm so stupid, why didn't I think of that? We should get going now." I quickly sent a text to my dad to make sure that they didn't leave before we got there but didn't wait for a reply as it was so early.

I hurried to put some makeup on and make my hair look half way styled. Lacey leant over my shoulder at my dressing table and did her makeup at the same time. As soon as we were presentable, I threw on a pair of ripped jeans and a green shirt and we made our way downstairs.

Snoring drew my attention to the front room and I peered around the door to find Reese and Jason asleep on the two couches with the games console on standby in the background. I found the remote and flicked the TV off before heading out the door.

"I haven't been into Harbour City since they got rid of the trains within The Wall," Lacey said as we started to walk down the street. It was twelve blocks to the cable car station which was now the only entrance to the city on the south side.

"Yeah Mom said it's almost finished. They've been building like crazy and are getting ready for a test run soon. I think my mom and dad might end up being part of it and they want us to go too but I don't want to be stuck in there for two weeks."

"It's so weird to think that they could just close the whole place off from the outside world and live in there indefinitely," Lacey said. "I hope the situation never gets that bad."

I nodded my agreement and upped my pace a little. It was horrible living under the constant fear of an attack. Any time we made plans to go somewhere that could be crowded, we had to consider the threat level. No stranger could ever be looked at openly, everyone was treated with suspicion. It made me sad that that was what the world had become.

As we got nearer to the city, more people started to appear heading towards it too. Even though it was so early, the commuters were already on their way in.

We headed up a steep hill until it eventually flattened out and Harbour City was revealed. The cable car landing zone was closer to us with a huge entryway blocking the road ahead. As we made it to the entrance, we were surrounded by people who rushed forward and separated into different lanes, knowing exactly where they were headed.

A guard noticed our hesitation and beckoned us over to a ticket kiosk.

"Visitors day passes?" he asked as he hit a few buttons on a ticket machine for us.

"Yes please," I said.

"Have you visited since the new security measures were put in place?"

I glanced at Lacey questioningly but she gave me a blank look.

"I've had the retinal and fingerprint scans done before," I replied, unsure if there had been any more upgrades.

"That's the one, you'll be on the systems then. Could you just use the scanners and your day pass will be issued." He pointed to the side of the ticket machine where a retinal and hand scanner were waiting for me.

"Oh yeah I did all that before too," Lacey said as she followed me.

"That's good. They're limiting the amount of new registrations we can do daily in the lead up to the tests," the guard said.

"So they don't want new people coming into the city?" I asked as I leant into the scanner and a red light blinded me momentarily.

"Enjoy your visit to Harbour City Miss Lewis," a mechanical female voice said as a plastic card rattled out of the shoot at the bottom of the ticket machine.

“Not too many,” the guard confirmed. “But they'll be looking to get everyone registered at some point… just in case,” he said ominously.

I grabbed the day pass and inspected the slightly outdated photo of me which was printed beside a barcode and today's date.

Lacey collected her pass too and I thanked the guard before joining the queue for the cable cars. We trailed back and forth between metal dividers until we rea

ched the end of a fairly short line of people who were waiting to get into the city.

I turned away from the queue to inspect the view of the city beyond it. We were still about half a mile away from The Wall but no one was allowed to get any closer to it. The ground between us and the towering sandy Wall had been cleared of all trees and buildings but a lush green meadow peppered with wild flowers filled the space.

The Wall itself was almost beyond comprehension. It seemed to reach up endlessly, dominating the landscape for miles in each direction. It looked almost alien beside the flowering landscape that surrounded it and no matter how many times I saw the city, I couldn't quite shift the feeling that it was unnatural.

Above The Wall, skyscrapers towered even further up towards the heavens. They glistened as the rising sun started to hit the glass and metal which they were built of.

"I can't wait to have a shower," Lacey said excitedly. "How much longer do you think the water will be out?"

"I dunno but I may have to start visiting the city more often if it's not back on soon."