There weren’t many days when the Qureishi children could get excited. Rations, maybe. But not many.
But on February 23rd, Zain Qureishi woke up with a growing excitement that only came once a year. In two days, February 25th, would be Zain’s thirteenth birthday. In two days, he could have whatever he wanted. In two days!
It wasn’t much time after he had brushed his teeth and attempted to fix his black hair when his mother summoned him.
“Come downstairs if you want breakfast!” she yelled.
And Zain, knowing that they were having french toast for breakfast that day, raced down the stairs and let his nose lead him into the kitchen, where it was picking up aromas of an amazing meal.
The kitchen around him was cluttered, as always. Not disorganized, just cluttered. That was the way Mrs. Qureishi liked it. Pots hanging from the ceiling and pans stacked on the stove and plates placed dangling on counter edges. If there was ever anyone who would see the place as organized, Zain couldn't have met them. But then again, Zain only knew six people. His parents, his siblings, his Uncle Malek, and of course: himself.
Outside, powdery snow drifted through the cold air and onto the ground, said to be the last snow of the winter. Zain loved the snow. And the rain. There was something about them he had always loved. Maybe it just reminded him of resting inside and enjoying time with his sisters near the cozy fireplace.
It was after Zain had hugged his mother and sat down to enjoy some french toast—it seemed his siblings were still getting ready—when his father, Mr. Qureishi, burst into the room with the usual ebullience in his eyes. He hauled a large, plastic box of Zain’s and his older sister’s snow clothes onto the oak table.
“Who’s ready to get the rations in a few hours?” he cheerfully asked. “Hello, Zara,” he added with a kiss on his wife’s cheek. He piled five French toasts onto his plate and thumped down onto his seat.
“Not me,” Zain’s younger sister, Sana, groggily muttered as she entered the room. “Again.”
"Sana. You know this. You can come to collect rations with us when you’re older," Mr. Qureshi said.
"I'm old enough to go get the rations, dad! I'm nine years old now!"
"Yes," Mrs. Qureishi returned, "and Inaya is sixteen.”
"Sixteen shmixteen.”
Once a month, Zain and his older sister Inaya were allowed to go collect food rations with Mr. Qureishi. It was the only time they were let out of the house, so rations day was always an exciting day.
Not to say that their house wasn’t amazing. Zain’s bedroom was one of nine, each very large and with interesting features of their own. And that was just a small portion of what the house offered. Before the war, people would have killed to get a house this big. But there were much less people now, and so there was much more space for people to own homes. The best part about it: they were free! Zain had always been thankful for such a big home. If it had been smaller, he might’ve had to spend his entire life in a single apartment room. It was better having his own room. When he was tired of his sisters, he could crawl back into his cave and stay there until he felt like coming out.
After inhaling his french toast, he left to play a game with Sana. A game their Uncle Malek had brought for them once, Risk.
“I wish every day was as relaxing as this,” Zain sighed as he moved his troops to Greenland. “No school. Just games.”
Zain and his sisters were, in fact, homeschooled. By their parents.
“I don’t,” Sana muttered grumpily. “You and Inaya get to go and have fun at rations and all I get to do is kick rocks. How come I can’t go with you two?”
“Because you’re too young.”
“I’m nine! I’m almost as old as you were when you first went!”
“There’s a difference,” Zain said. “You’re much louder than I was. And more clumsy. If you’re too loud you might be caught by a Pacifem. You could get all of us killed, Sana, that’s why. If you calm down and act quieter then Mom and Dad might let you go, but until then—well until then you’ll keep kicking rocks, I guess.”
“But I don’t like kicking rocks.”
“Then act calmer.”
Sana violently smacked her troops off the board. She had lost Greenland. Zain liked Risk. Either you won everything, or you lost everything. No in between.
He was very grateful when his father came to call him to rations at the last moment. Sana was more competitive than most. She definitely would have insisted on playing another game, despite the fact that they take hours upon hours to finish.
After they finally hauled everything they needed into the garage and got comfortable in their winter clothes, Inaya and Zain hopped into the back of the cattle truck—which thankfully had never been used for actual cattle. Their father threw the black tailgate closed, locked it so no one could get in, and then hopped in the driver's seat. Aside from the light cutting in through the breathing slits, the two siblings were enclosed in complete darkness. All that was left to do was watch the roadsides as they drove by.
Throughout the drive, Zain and Inaya busied themselves studying each mansion and forest they passed. Zain’s hometown, Corrin, was filled with luxurious mansions (like most towns in Gaudium, the exception being cities) surrounded by large grassy fields. It was made sure of that every home had it’s own large pool, games room, movie theater, and other entertaining features that the people of Corrin rarely used.
He could feel Inaya’s tall figure next to him, staring out of a slit far above his. She was 16 and already the tallest in the family. Her short brown hair cut off at the middle of her neck and her eyes, dark as black coffee, were intent on noticing every aspect of the landscape around them as they drove by.
Zain looked somewhat like Inaya, except much shorter. He had the same middle brown skin color and similarly shaped eyes, yet they were a much more reflective brown and his fluffy hair was a dark black. At nine years old, Sana was the real anomaly. Silky black hair, green eyes, and somewhat fairer skin than any of the other siblings. It was hard to tell that she was siblings with the other two on first notice. She was less skinny too. Nevertheless, Zain’s mother told them that they all came from the same place—a country that existed before the war. Pakistan. To Zain, it didn’t matter very much. People didn’t identify by ethnicity anymore. Everyone lived in Gaudium, and so everyone was a Gaudian.
Finally, the truck came to a stop and both siblings could watch the herds of people going to get their rations. Eyes wide and unmoving, they watched as Mr. Qureishi exited the front of the truck and ambled towards the heavy crowd. Everyone looked around the age of 25—which was when the immortality drug capped body growth and aging. A path of bustling shoppers stretched hundreds of feet. Stands covered in tents of all colors sat on both sides. Behind the stands, shopkeepers yelled for people to come and try their fresh new products. Fruits, vegetables, meats. All the food was sold on rations day. People were free to buy whatever they wanted from the marketplace. It was loud and chaotic, but it smelled better than any place in the world.
“Look at all of them, lining up to buy their rations without a care in the world,” Inaya said in disgust. “They’ve gotten so used to the Child Ban over the past three decades that they don’t have to worry about anything. They all think they’re war heroes or something.”
“They are all war heroes.”
“No,” Inaya bluntly said. “They’re not. Just because they won doesn’t mean they’re heroes. And they all think they’re invincible just because they won’t die of old age. Never stopping to consider if there might be children out there who want to have normal lives.”
“Mom and Dad are immortal too, you know,” Zain muttered.
“They don’t act like the others. And they don’t support the Child Ban. They want to end it. It’ll take years before Gaudium reaches overpopulation! Having children now wouldn’t be a problem! But people will listen to whatever the government says. And the Pacifems have the audacity to call themselves peacekeepers. Killing children all the while.”
“We have to stay quiet, Inaya. Somebody could hear us. And we don’t know that they’re killing them.”
“I know we have to stay quiet Zain,” she whispered, irritated. “And they are killing them. We can’t be the only illegal children. There has to have been some that were found and . . . removed. It infuriates me every time I come here. All of them believe they’re so high and mighty because they won the Immortality War all those years ago. But they didn’t do anything. It was just our nukes. Our scientists and our nukes. Not to mention that we destroyed the rest of the planet with them.” She sat in silence for a while, then uttered, “I want to live a life. I want to see what’s in Gaudium other than this tiny neighborhood, where everyone’s house is too large for their own good. But these people are far too content to ever worry about that.”
“I like our house,” said Zain. “And it isn’t too big. Most people have bigger homes and they only have two people living in them. Besides, exploring Gaudium wouldn’t be enjoyable if you were in hiding the whole time. What’s the point if you can’t enjoy it?”
Inaya turned around and sunk down onto the floor, pulling her long legs to her chest. No one spoke as they waited for their father to return. Which he promptly did after fifteen minutes, chatting with a Pacifem in a well-cut suit next to him. Mr. Qureishi’s job was to make sure the environment in the area was overall doing well, seeing as everyone wanted to preserve it as much as possible. The thought of the nuclear wastelands outside of Gaudium terrified everyone. Naturally, most ignored it. Many liked to believe that as long as Gaudium was fine, everything was fine.
On the drive back home Inaya had one more question for her little brother.
“Zain, have you ever thought that the immortality drugs aren’t a good thing?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think about them much.”
“Mom and Dad seem to like them—I mean, they both have the shots. But what’s the point if that means no children? Here we are, sitting in the back of a musty cattle truck because all of the immortal people outside don’t care. The truth is, when my existence isn’t illegal anymore and I’m old enough to leave home, I don’t think I want to take the immortality drug. I want to die one day.”
Zain was startled.
“Why would you want to die, Inaya?”
“I think life would be boring if it went on for too long,” she said. “Besides, everyone here must be much more scared of death than us. They’ve gotten too comfortable with the fact that they’ll probably never die. Eventually, their times will come.”
The truck issued a few spluttering sounds and then came to a halt. Inaya and Zain waited as the garage door came slowly down, enclosing them in their home for yet another long month. After everything had been locked and closed, the two children followed their father into the house.
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The fireplace threw a hot draft onto the furniture while the large windows (heavily tinted from the outside so that no one could see in) frosted over and blocked the view.
“We’re home, Zara!” Zain’s father, Kamran, yelled. “These rations should keep us steady for two months, from what I checked! We won’t need to go back next month.”
Inaya and Zain both would have expressed their discontent with waiting longer for rations, but they were too famished and tired to ask for anything. The cold tired them out easily. Actually, any kind of outdoors made them tired. A day out was the most exhausting experience they could endure.
Later in the day, when the sun was just beginning to lose its grip on the sky, dinner came along without even a thought of lunch. Mrs. Qureishi had cooked up some chicken and rice within an hour and the steamy scent of it wafted through every room in the house, despite the entire family already sitting on the kitchen table.
For a while, they sat in silence, chewing the spicy chicken and gulping down water to alleviate the pain. Only Mrs. Qureishi could tolerate the spice. Every now and again she would forget that her children’s mouths were not as strong. Not to mention their stomachs.
“Inaya, what are you wanting to say?” Mr. Qureishi suddenly asked as Inaya finished her glass of water. “You’ve been thinking about something ever since we’ve arrived home and I know you want to ask us something. I can see it in your eyes.”
Inaya, a bit startled, looked up.
“Um. I . . . I do have a question, but please think about it before you get mad.” Everyone on the table was watching her now, curious as to what she wanted to say. “I don’t want to stay here for nine more years before I can leave. I know there’s no way I can stay somewhere where there are people, but I want to go somewhere. Anywhere.”
Mr. and Mrs. Qureishi exchanged glances, as if they had been expecting this for a while now.
“Inaya, you know what the Pacifems will do to you if they find you.”
“I know that. I know they would kill us. But what’s the point of even living if we can’t go anywhere but home? I look close enough to 25 years old. If that’s really when the immortality drug caps growth, I’ll be fine!”
Mr. Qureishi started looking uneasy. “Look, we’ll talk to you more about this tonight, but—“
BANG. BANG. BANG.
The knocking on the front door immediately stopped the Qureishis’ conversation.
“Monthly inspections!” the voice of a woman yelled in. “Please open the door!”
Every family member geared into cleanup mode. Seconds after, the paper plates were in the trash along with everything the kids used. Quickly, Zain, Inaya, and Sana sprinted up the stairs in an ordered panic and into a small library. By habit, Zain kicked open the secret door behind one of the bookshelves and him and his siblings quietly filed in, shutting the door behind them. All they could hear was each other’s heavy breathing. The hot sticky air issuing from their lungs was filling up the room quickly.
Downstairs, Mr. and Mrs. Qureishi opened the door to find a new Inspection Pacifem.
"Is this the residence of Omar and Zara Qureishi?" the woman asked.
"Yes, this is us."
"Perfect," she said bluntly. "I will be your new Inspection Pacifem.”
Once a month, an Inspection Pacifem arrived to check up on each household and make sure there was no environmental pollution going on. With the rest of the world transformed into a nuclear wasteland, the Pacifem government was to make sure that Gaudium was kept safe. The monthly checks were the reason that each sibling had nothing in their room. It was why they always ate with paper plates. Any evidence that there were more than two people living in this household could be catastrophic.
Zain could tell this wasn’t the usual Inspection Pacifem the second she walked in. He couldn’t hear any sign of her walking, whereas the old one would make such a hassle entering that he couldn’t not be heard. It was only when she reached the top of the stairs that he was able to discern what he thought were extremely light footsteps.
After five more minutes of Zain and his siblings crouching in the stifling, muggy room, the woman entered the library—where they were hidden, just behind a bookshelf. Zain could feel Sana’s grip tighten on his arm and Inaya straighten herself up. This person was far more scrutinous than the old guard. He used to walk in and get out in 5 minutes. She was spending at least 5 minutes in each room alone.
The searching of the library continued for a few more minutes, without a sound coming out of the Pacifem or the Qureishi parents who were watching from the door. What was this lady searching for? All she needed to do was make sure the room was “environmentally friendly”. When she finally made to leave the room Zain let himself relax into a more slumped position. A very big mistake.
Sliding his leg back, he tripped on Sana’s tiny foot and fell directly towards the hard, wooden ground. Before any sound was made, before anyone noticed anything, Inaya caught him. Thump. The footsteps came to a stop right before exiting the room. But Zara, Zain's mother, was quick.
“Forgive me, Loyal Pacifem,” she spat out. “I injured my leg a few weeks ago and every now and again my knee buckles and I stomp down hard. Nothing to worry about.”
That was the most cordially Zain had ever heard his mother speak to a Pacifem. It surprised him. She was always angry at the Pacifems, taking shots at them whenever she got the chance. When it came to the other Pacifem, she wasn't afraid to express her opinions. Insulting terms were used on the regular when he was around.
“Is that so?” the woman responded in a calm, soothing voice that sent a chill down Zain’s spine. It was as if she was already in the room with him, egging him on to do something strange.
“Yes, it is.”
“Very well.”
She stalked out of the room quickly as the two adults followed. A heavy, shaky breath burst from Zain’s mouth. His chest was heaving. He could hear his heart beating in his head and feel his arms shaking at his sides. He’d never been that close to being caught before. And it terrified him.
After another half hour of painfully half-sitting half-standing in the dark, suffocating room, the new Inspection Pacifem finally left. Zain’s entire body was shaking at this point, because there was only one thing scarier than being caught by the Pacifems: his mother when she was angry.
First came the flurry of hard stomps nearing the room and next thing Zain knew the door was thrown open so forcefully that all the books on the outside slid out. Sana covered her ears as they all tumbled onto the ground.
“All of you step out here! Tell me right now which of you made that sound!”
“It was an accident—“ Zain started.
“Zain! We can’t afford accidents! You know what would had happened if she had caught you! I thought it might’ve been Sana who did that, but you, Zain? You’re the last one I’d expect to make a sound.”
Zain didn’t really know what to say. He never really knew what to say when his mom was yelling at him.
“Look,” his mother lowered her voice and spoke with a more serious tone,” there’s something about this new Inspection Pacifem. I don’t like her. She’s searching as if this house is already filled with bad people or children or something. If any of you make a sound she will catch on to you—for as long as she’s here we’ll have to be extremely careful, alright?”
Zain nodded. Sana, who was holding it in until now, burst out crying and hugged Mrs. Qureishi.
“I thought she was going to hurt us,” she sobbed into her mother’s stomach.
“I know, I know. It’ll be all right, don’t worry, Sana,” Zara patted her daughter’s head and hugged her tightly. “I was scared too. You’re safe now.”
Inaya seemed to have been thinking about something else the entire time. “Do you know why our Inspection Pacifem changed, Mom? I remember the old one being there ever since I was little. I thought he would stick around for a while.”
“No, I don’t know. Maybe he moved. It’s a shame, he was better than most of them. Now, I’ll take out some more food and we can actually finish our dinner in peace.”
All three of the siblings, eager for something else to focus on, quickly shuffled towards the creaking door.
“And Zain, no rations for you next time. I want you to think about what you can do so that you don’t make a mistake again.”
“But the rations are the only time I’m allowed to leave the house!”
“I know, Zain. That’s why I’m taking it away for a bit. After you lose something important you’ll never do it again.”
Now it was his turn to be angry as he marched out of the room and down the stairs to eat some more spicy chicken and rice. Zain’s father had nothing to say to him on the table except that he had greatly worried him for a moment.
In the midst of all the chaos, Zain had forgotten that it would be his birthday soon until he woke up the next morning. Less than 24 hours to go.
It was a gray morning as he and his siblings were eating cereal on the marble island in the kitchen, when there was yet another knock on the door. Mrs. Qureshi sauntered towards the large door and beckoned for them to stay put. Sana smiled as if she already knew who it was. She always knew who it was.The next they knew, a large, bulky man in a coat had entered their home. He pulled off his hood.
"UNCLE MALEK!" all the siblings energetically shouted at once.
They immediately forgot about their cereal and ran up to knock him over with their hugs.
"What game did you bring today?"
"Is it one we've played before?"
"I've brought a game called Twister," he said smugly.
Uncle Malek was a surgeon, and bigger than anyone Zain had ever seen. Once a week, he would bring the Qureishi kids some children’s game from when he was a kid. They didn’t sell them anymore. As there were no children.
After Uncle Malek arrived, the rest of the day sped by. They played Twister for about two hours in the giant living room. To everyone’s dismay, Inaya kept winning. It was definitely one of the most entertaining games Uncle Malek had brought. On the 20th game, Sana grew so angry she lost that she pulled the mat from under everyone. Zain heard a yelp of pain come from Inaya and looked over to see that she was clutching her ankle while rocking back and forth. Sana screamed.
“Sorry, Inaya! I didn’t mean to—“
“Sana, we’ve talked about this!” gasped Mrs. Qureishi. “You can’t ruin something for other people just because you’re losing.”
“Sorry,” she quietly mumbled, head hung down in shame.
“It’s alright,” Inaya mumbled through gritted teeth. “I just rolled it—should be fine in a few minutes.”
Mr. and Mrs. Qureishi were scrambling around for a first-aid kit when a low but audible knocking issued from the wooden front door. Everyone went dead silent, for the Inspection Pacifem had already come for the month and Uncle Malek had already arrived. The fireplace violently crackled with the sound hail makes when it smacks into cement. Heavy rain was visible through the large glass roof far above.
“Nobody move an inch. I’ll go check it,” murmured Mrs. Qureishi as she turned a corner.
They heard her footsteps move towards the door, and then the creak of its opening. Before anyone could stop him, Zain scurried after Mrs. Qureshi and hid behind the mirror on the right of the door. It was a risky move after what had happened earlier, but he couldn’t help himself.
"Well, this is the official warning. Your new Inspection Pacifem has told us everything. We expect a better electricity and gasoline usage in the future, or you will have to be monitored every day, ma'am," the nasally voice of a man finished up.
"But I just don't understand!" Zara said. "We've literally cut back on everything! Everything! You can take your little report back to whoever you work under, because we've done everything we can."
"But—"
"But what? We're environmentally safe by your own definition," she snapped.
“According to this report, you’re using as many resources as six people do. And I don't think any Pacifems would appreciate your attitude, miss," he said.
“That’s nice. Well, I’ll let you appreciate this door.”
She then proceeded to slam the door in his face, effectively leaving him outside. This was how Zain knew his mom to act with Pacifems. He'd never heard her call an official "Loyal Pacifem" before in his life. The footsteps outside gradually died out. They completely disappeared as the man drove away in a car whose squeaking engine sounded oddly similar to his voice.
"Ugh! The nerve of that man!" Mrs. Qureshi stomped back into the living room.
Zain followed and slipped in with his siblings before Uncle Malek or his father could reprimand him for sneaking away.
"Again we've been warned about our carbon output! What are these inspections for if they’re not going to be accurate!” she ranted. "All the kids, to bed now! The adults need to talk.”
There was a determined and furious look in her eyes.
Sana began (as always), "But it's only—"
"10:00. To bed. And Inaya stay so Uncle Malek can check on your ankle. Better to check it now before it gets worse.”
With a sigh, Sana scuffed towards the large staircase in front of the door. And Zain, eager to get out of trouble, happily went upstairs and hopped into bed, both avoiding a reprimand and awaiting tomorrow, when he would turn thirteen.