Surface

I have never seen the sun. Yeah, I know, I know. You probably think that I’m absolutely bonkers for never seeing such a thing. But if I have to be honest, none of us have ever seen the sun. The only reason we know about it is because of stories passed on from generations to generations. OK, you’re probably highly confused right about now. Let me try to explain it more. My name is Nalani Romber. I’m fifteen years old. It is the year 4056 A.S. The sun has been burned out for about a million years. 7 billion years ago, there was once a beautiful star that our planet had circled. That’s when it was born, and was magnificent. At least that’s what all the history books say. No one can really be sure. That star was called the Sun. And you’re probably wondering why we say “was a star.” Well, about 2 billion years ago, the Sun had gone out. No one knows why or how. They just know that it did. One day the world was illuminated in light. The next...there was darkness. ● ● ● “Nalani!” someone shouted. “They need five crates of wheat in Sector 3!” “On it!” I shouted back. I dropped my book on the floor and ran to the Town Dome. Town Square is kinda like a huge dome shape, like a cereal bowl turned over. In the center are a couple of crates. I check the labels to make sure I’m getting the right ones. “Need help with that?” I hear a voice behind, their tone thick and sweet. I turn up and see my friend, Landon. In almost every way, Landon was the complete opposite of me. Landon’s pale skin has a brilliant contrast against my olive-colored skin. His eyes were green where mine were brown. His hair is straight and dyed red, while mine is jet black and wavy. “No thanks, I got it,” I said, struggling to pick up all five crates at the same time, failing miserably. Landon chuckled quietly and grabbed three of the boxes. “Which Sector are these going to?” “Three,” I answered simply. We walked off without saying another word, but only because we didn’t need to. Landon is my best and only friend; he has always been there for me. When my mom died, he was the only one who seemed to care and understand. And when everyone deserted me out of frustration or confusion, he was the only one who stayed by me. My bunkmate ran up to me, almost knocking all the boxes out of my arms. Landon placed a hand on my elbow to balance me. “You need to be a little more careful, Alyssa. Why are you running so excitedly?” I ask. “There’s...people...at the gate.” She says in a rush. “What?! What do you mean?” Landon sits his crates down and I do the same. Allyssa takes a few more breaths before continuing. “I heard my parents talking to the captain.” The captain is the man that runs this place. His family are the ones who created it. “He said that travelers had arrived at the gate a few hours ago, but he would not let them in. Something about outsiders posing too much of a threat.” She rushed off again without so much as a glance back. Landon and I looked at each other. I knew what he was thinking, and he knew what I was thinking. We turned and headed for the gates. ● ● ● There were dozens of people crammed up around the gates. News must’ve spread fast. It was a decent sized room that separated the Town Dome from the gate, but with so many people it seemed smaller. They made the walls of thick concrete so that nothing would collapse in on itself. Landon and I pushed ourselves towards the front of the crowd, trying to see what exactly was going on. The captain was running a hand through his thinning hair and he looked agitated. His twin daughters, Jessica and Violet, were trying to calm him down. Yeah, they were twins, but everyone knew they were fraternal, not identical. Jessica was average height with short, pixie looking hair. Her olive skin matched her mother’s while her green eyes matched her father’s. Violet was taller and thicker than Jessica, and her ivory skin was the same as the captain’s. But the two had the same shade of green eyes. I always envied them, since I was stuck with just dark brown. I looked at Landon, my head tilted and eyebrows furrowed. He shrugged as an answer to my unspoken question. That’s when the leaders of Sector 5 and 6 came out. Sector 5's leader was an older black woman named Adira. She had short kinky black hair and honey coloured eyes. She always had neat and formal makeup on that matched her neat and formal outfits. The leader of Sector 6 was actually Adira’s wife, Iris. The two had always been into politics and even studied together. Iris was a preppy woman, always smiling, which showed off her dimples. She often wore casual clothing, but she always managed to look stunning in them. Her long brown hair was wavy and was most of the time thrown up in a messy bun. “Hello, everyone!” Iris addressed the crowd. Her voice was smooth and higher pitched. “I’m sure you’re all super confused about what’s going on as of this morning. Well, if you haven’t heard already, there’s people wanting to come to speak with the leaders of the Town Dome.” There were gasps leaving the crowd. I didn’t know how to feel. No one had ever come to the Town Dome before, I mean, no one even knew there were others. Iris’ eyes darted between Adira and the crowd, and it was obvious she was nervous, so the other leader took over for her. “Yes, that is correct. And as all of you know, we were certain we were all that was left, but apparently that certainty isn’t valid anymore.” Adira paused, thinking of what to say next. “They...wanted to meet with a few members of Town Dome. They didn’t give us names, but descriptions that we have matched with two or three members of each sector. Of course, we need to interrogate the newcomers more closely, since we can’t just trust anyone.” There was murmuring throughout the crowd. I turned to look at Landon, who was staring intently through space, no doubt thinking over everything we were just told. And for once, I couldn’t tell what was on his mind. I furrowed my eyebrows before turning back to the leaders. The captain was still very agitated; it was quite obvious. The crowd kept growing in volume, and I could hear little snippets of conversation. Many were talking about how they shouldn’t trust the newcomers, and a very small few were excited at the idea they might need them. Others were mostly just intrigued, wanting to know more about these new guys. Iris started speaking again, quieting everyone down. “Everyone, we have decided that the captain and all the leaders will have a meeting with these new people. And until we come up with an idea of what to do after that, you should all head to the cafeteria. I’m sure many of you skipped lunch because of this news.” Kids and teens groaned, wanting to be a part of whatever was going on. I just wanted to have some time to think and talk with Landon and Alyssa. I shook him out of his daze before we headed over to the cafeteria. ● ● ● The three of us were sitting at a grey table; it was cool to the touch. I was picking at my burger and fries. Usually, lunch was her favourite time of day, but she just felt like she couldn’t eat until she had made sense of the whole situation. I looked over at Alyssa. She was eating and being chatty as always, as if everything was normal. But that’s how she had always been, always nonchalant to appear as if she didn’t care. Landon was different. You could see the gears turning in his head, trying to put the puzzle pieces together. He was always the logical one, so it didn’t surprise me much. I was about to speak when an announcement was made over the intercom. The speaker sounded crackly and sometimes hard to understand. “Good afternoon. If you hear your name during the following, please come up to the Captain’s Sector. Nalani Romber of Sector 1. Christian Greene of Sector 5. Johnson…” I blocked out the rest of the names. No one was ever called up to the Captain’s Sector, and never just random members of the community. I snapped back to attention as the names continued on. “...Dean Rodriguez of Sector 11. Rylen Delossantos of Sector 11. Landon Jones of Sector 15. That’ll be all.”