Afflicted

The queue moved forward as a cable car filled up and we were suddenly at the front. Another guard, dressed in a slick grey uniform dropped a barrier in front of us to make us wait for the next car.

"Just a few minutes ladies," he said with a smile. He had an open face and friendly voice and seemed to be enjoying his job.

"Looks like you've got new uniforms?" I asked him as we waited.

"They've just separated the city police from the rest of the state and wanted to give us new titles and a uniform to go with it to mark us out," he said proudly.

"So what are you called now then?" Lacey asked.

"Wardens," he replied. "And it wasn't easy to get through the selection process either."

"Congratulations." I smiled as he lifted the barrier again and directed us towards the platform.

“Thank you,” he replied proudly as he directed us past him.

Four more Wardens stood along the platform and ushered us towards a slow moving cable car which had just emptied out on the other side of a barrier. We moved onboard and stood at the back of the glass carriage where we would have a good view on the journey up.

The cable car didn't stop moving as it filled up and the doors closed as we reached the end of the platform and started the slow ascent into the city.

I yawned widely as I looked out and smiled as Lacey yawned too. "Kinda missing my bed now," I said.

"Yeah, I think I'll get an early night tonight," she agreed.

The crowded cable car soon began to feel stuffy but before I could voice my discomfort, cool air was blasted in from vents above us. The journey up was pleasant enough even though it was slow. It frustrated me that they'd removed the train lines but I understood that there was no way for them to maintain an air lock with the trains coming and going.

Eventually we made it to the hole in The Wall where the cable car platform protruded and followed the rest of the commuters out of the glass carriage and onto the platform.

We were directed through a huge room which held an air lock door but a sign above it told us that it wasn't in use.

The crowd headed straight down a long corridor until we reached an elevator bank where two elevators were waiting open. We chose the elevator on the left and waited while it filled up around us before travelling to the one hundred and fiftieth floor where the Walkways were situated.

As we arrived, the elevator doors opened and the same smooth, feminine voice spoke through a speaker system.

"Level one fifty, alight here for the Walkways."

We filed out and moved through the building until we were deposited in a huge glass tube which served as a route between the skyscrapers. The Walkways connected every building in the city on the one hundred and fiftieth floor and were the best way to get around on the upper levels. I had used the ground to get between buildings on a few of my previous visits but I loved the glass Walkways and always used them when I got the chance. Something about them felt like stepping straight into the future and I couldn't get over the thrill of them.

I led the way through the huge glass tubes to the apartment my dad's company had given him to use.

We took the exit for the building which was called 'Oasis' and rode the huge elevator up to level one ninety. It was a short walk along red carpeted corridors until we reached their apartment and I knocked on the door.

There was a slight delay before the door finally opened and my mom frowned out at us in her pyjamas. She was a little shorter than me and her long hair had Reese’s dark blonde colour rather than my own brunette.

"Kaitlyn?" she asked sleepily. They must not have gotten my text and I glanced at my watch guiltily as I realised it was only seven fifteen.

"Oh, sorry for waking you. I sent you a message but I guess you didn't get it; we were hoping to shower here. The water's still off at home."

"Come on in then. Hello Lacey, it's nice to see you." My mom led the way into the large apartment and we followed her inside.

"This place is nice," Lacey said. "Thank you for letting us come and use your water - I've been dying for a shower."

"Of course you can. You're welcome here whenever you like. I'm guessing you girls haven't eaten?" Mom moved towards the open-plan kitchen and started getting things out of the cupboards.

"Well we still don't have any food at home," I reminded her. "Not that I'm saying I would have cooked even if we did."

My mom laughed as she put a frying pan on the stove. "I need to find out what's going on at the store when I get back. I'd never seen anything like it the other day; empty shelves everywhere I looked. They said it would be sorted by today though so I'll head there when I get home."

"Why were they out of food?" I asked as I sat down at the breakfast bar.