I have been an orphan since I was born. My father was executed and my mother died during childbirth. One day after I was born, I was sent to the only orphanage in our enclave, an old broken down one room school house inhabited by wildlife. The only place I could be myself was in the small gym just outside the great stone walls surrounding us. The people of my enclave-one of the seven surrounding the dome-is only allowed outside once every two weeks. The gym is full of workout equipment, but not enough so that we get too strong. Despite being allowed out only once every two weeks, I sometimes try to sneak out through a small hole that I made by digging out loose stone with an axe. I’ve been arrested before, but that doesn’t keep me from still doing it. The watchmen usually only let me off with a warning, but not everyone gets a warning. One of the other orphans tried to sneak out and he got caught. The last anyone saw of him was the watchmen leading him to the old court building inside our enclave. Ten months later, a groundskeeper found a small skeleton behind the courthouse, half covered up by old boards.

“Rust!” Vex calls for me, “Let’s get going! We’re going to be late for the ceremony of remembrance!"

“I’m coming!” I shout back as I grab my sack of food for the day and stuff a few coins in my pocket that I scavenged. Nothing is easy to obtain in the enclaves. The dictator has the watchmen remove anything that could be used to overthrow the government and him, only leaving the bare essentials and hardly anything to trade or buy with. The ceremony of remembrance is held every month in honor of when the dictator was a shining light in the darkness after all but some of the world was destroyed in a nuclear war. At the ceremony, we sacrifice half of our income that we make to go to the rebuilding of the dome, a protective force field around the capitol to protect it and its inhabitants. No one in the enclave ever wants to attend, but if you don’t, there are consequences. Not too long ago, a neighbor of mine hid at home. The watchmen found him, and burned him alive at a public execution after stuffing him in a barrel. At night, I can still hear his shrill screams in the darkness.

“Hurry up!” Vex yells. I snap out of my daydream and hurry out the door of my rundown shack that I purchased by saving up money for five years.

“I wonder what we’ll need to do this year?” Vex asks me.

“I don’t know, I respond, but I hope it isn’t as bad as last year.” I respond to him, shuddering at the thought of it. Another part of the ceremony is an act of appreciation the watchmen make us do. Every eighteen year old has to participate, and this year, Vex and I both hit the age this year and dread what is coming. Last year, they made everyone compete in a series of deadly challenges. Multiple people were killed and the last ten to finish were shipped off to the capitol to serve as a slave to the dictator.

“Whatever it is, we both need to stay here no matter what, or run away, because I am not going to serve the dictator.” Vex states. On the way, we meet up with my girl, Ivy Drift.

“I can’t believe we have to do this!” she exclaims, “Why don’t we just run away!”

“It’s too risky,” I reply, “There are too many people around us and we can’t just make a run for it. The watchmen would catch us.”

“Actually, she has a point,” Vex pipes up, “If we can make a distraction somewhere else, we might be able to get through the hole in the wall. We have nothing to lose here.” All of us were orphaned. Not many people live past the age of forty anymore, and all our parents had died, either by execution or childbirth. Many people tried to defy the government, but not many got off with it. Suddenly a thought jumps into my head.

I have just the plan,” I respond, but we’ll need to turn around and go back home to get weapons.