Kate jumped over the fence and rolled under a tree branch, barely scraping her cheek. Her red hair whipped against her face leaving small cuts against her cold skin. She was careful to stay under the cover of the trees and avoid any people. Her green eyes focused on a flash of blue movement in the trees. She spotted the culprit. A stellar jay in all it's blue and silver glory. She flatted her body to the ground, avoiding any brittle twigs that were likely to make noise. She bent her knee's all the way to the ground, getting herself into position. She leaped up into the tree grabbing the bird mid-air.
"Ella will love you!" She whispered to the bird, though she knew it couldn't understand her. The thought of her sick sister made her heart hurt and she could feel tears prick the corners of her eyes. Ella used to be so wild, running around all day and trying to catch birds all though she always failed. Now her sister was bedridden and hardly able to talk. She stayed hooked up to the stupid machines all day and Kate wasn't sure if they were helping her sister or just making her sicker. Kate went out and caught birds whenever she could and released them into her sister's room letting them flit around until they were let out into the atrium.
Kate ran back home, taking a different path this time since she knew there would be guards at the main fence this time of night. She wasn't supposed to leave her district without scanning her chip but she hated the idea of somebody knowing where she was at all times. She was able to trick the chip into thinking she was at home or out at the markets unless of course, somebody saw her.
She was a proud member of district 208. Or at least as proud as somebody could be to be a member of class C. But at least she wasn't a class D slave. Most people wished they were a member of the ritzy class A, or at least a well off class B but not Kate. She had only been to one class A district but the people there looked fake. Or sad. There weren't any forests or moors to run around on. The only reason that she would ever want to be a part of class A would be to get her sister the medical help she needed. Ever since she had come back from the capitol training academy she had been sick.
She snuck back into the Class C Housing Facilities or the CHF of her city. It housed 5000 individual units the families lived in. She traced her fingers along the wall, triggering the green light of her section to light up a strip of the floor.
"Please follow the green line along the floor to level 7. Lights out in 13 minutes." The robotic voice of the CHF sounded in Kate's ear. She walked along the silent halls until the 5-minute alarm blared kicking her into a full-speed run. The steel doors became a blur of metal as she whizzed past at a speed that no human could manage. In less than 20 seconds, she had run the three miles to her unit. Another reason she disabled her chip, if the authority ever found out about her… enhanced abilities, they would drag her off to the capitol and try to steal her power. She didn't know the full length of her powers but so far she had found out about superhuman speed, lightning reflexes, powerful muscles, higher cognitive abilities, and her personal favorite, the ability to control and manipulate fire. She slipped into her living quarters tiptoeing into her sister's room and releasing the bird. Kate watched it flit around the room for a minute or so until the lights switched off and the door to their quarters was bolted shut. She went into her room closing the door and flopping down onto her bed.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
"Where were you." Her mother was leaning against the door. She looked more tired than usual. "Please tell me you weren't outside again."
"Mom, nobody will ever catch me." Kate knew her mother didn't like her being outside the district, especially late at night.
"Oh, so are you going to run, let them get a good glance at your power. Nothing could ever go wrong with that plan!" Her mother had stood straight up now and was glaring at her with a mixture of annoyance and tiredness. Kate knew there wasn't any arguing with her at this point.
"Ok, mom." Kate rolled over pulling the grey blanket over her. Her mom closed the door leaving her with only the humming the CHF always made.
~ * ~
Kate's eyes fluttered open as the lights of the CHF blared on signaling it was time to start work. Kate had one of the better jobs today, she got to work on the farms which were a lot more fun than it sounded. It was this huge room with big frames that held rows upon rows of plants. Her job was to go through and pick the food that was ready to eat and the food that was rotten to sort it into buckets. She liked it because she got to eat fresh fruit before the Authority sprayed it and it became mushy and sour.
She also liked it because of all the animals she got to see. They had big farms full of all different types of animals ranging from sheep and cattle to rabbits and deer that would eventually be harvested. Class C used every part of the animal even making the bones into tools and the blood as a brown dye.
Kate wandered through the Farm sorting fruit until the lunch alarm went off and the floor lit up blue going to the dining hall. Kate ran down the halls, not at full speed but faster than most people could run so that she could get to the dining hall early and get the food that wasn't picked over. She tapped her chip to check how many credits she had. The screen showed that she had 15,000 credits so she could get plenty of food for herself and Ella.
Kate stepped up to the dispenser and selected what foods she wanted and how much she wanted. They still had strawberries which were unusual so Kate got a bunch of them since they were Ella's favorite food. She paid the 250 credits that it cost and went back to her quarters.
Kate poked her head into Ella's room but she was asleep. Kate set the tray on the bedside table and sat next to her sister. The nurse had come and refilled the medicine in the machines. Kate looked at them and noticed that the machine was taking a red fluid out of her sister. At first, she thought it was blood but she quickly realized it wasn't. It was a shimmering fluid that was a deep red. It almost looked like gas and wasn't like anything she had ever seen.
Kate didn't know why but she had a feeling that something was wrong. Why would they be taking fluid out of her? It didn't look like any sickness, it was actually quite beautiful and was swirling around the vial. Kate carefully pulled the IV out of Ella's arm and set it on the table. She hoped she was right and that this would help her sister.