`S U R P L U S
 

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This is my life, I think to myself as I stand, allowing myself to be examined by the Surplus Hall's doctors. My younger sister Lily stands off to the left with another group - done with her examination - waiting for me with eager eyes. My older brother Aiden and older sister Leah are behind me, patiently waiting their turn, eyes cast to the ground - this I know when I am told to turn in a slow circle.

We are Surpluses - a group of some who are not wanted, or simply those who threaten to overpopulate the human race. We are scapegoats for anything one being could imagine, for anything anyone desires. It is not our choice to be this way. As my mother said when she was alive, "Everything happens for a reason." I can only hope that those words have some meaning. Otherwise, my life is meaningless, just like everyone outside the Surplus world wants it to be.

My examination ends, and I am sent to stand with the group of those allowed to live another week, until our next examination. When I reach Lily, I don't look into her large, brown eyes. Instead, I bend at the waist and take her skinny form into my arms. She's quite tall for the age of six, almost more than half my own height, so I don't have to bend far. As I feel her arms wind around my neck, I stroke her hair, her back. I feel her trembling and know that she is on the verge of tearing up again after Aiden joins our little huddle moments later, so I pull away and wipe the tears that are threatening to spill over from her eyelids. Lily turns to Aiden - who is much more of a teddy-bear type of person that I am - and buries her face into his side, her small hands clutching at his shirt. I don't know what happens next - I have turned around to welcome Leah back to another week of life. Her facial expression says it all - time is running out, and not just for us.

After our final meal of the day, we are escorted back to our cells. Each family gets a cell in the Hall, and since every cell is the same size, it gets extremely cramped for families over five. The tattered mattresses and blankets are now laid against the wall, meaning that both they and the toilet in the corner have been cleaned while we were at examination and lunch. We quickly brush as much as the dust as we can into one corner of the room using old rags and lay the mattresses down side-by-side, pulling the thin blankets over them. When we are done, we sit on the makeshift beds and simply look each other in the eye until the sound of the guard's footsteps recede and the sound of a heavy door is locked and bolted. After this, the whole Hall breaks into quiet chatter, everyone asking each other pointless questions.

I duck when something white flashes in front of my eyes, and Leah, the oldest, goes to retrieve it from the far corner. When she brings it back, we see that it is one of the papery napkins from the food hall folded into an airplane. When it is unfolded, there are thousands of words written across the page in a bold, smudgy crayon. When I see the words at the top, I tap them and let my siblings read them. The family across the hall has invited us in a little escape plan, which involves about two other small families and one lone person.

When the heavy bolt to the door unlocks, I snatch the paper and put it down the front of my shirt in the thin fabric that could be called a bra. The guard makes his walk up and back down the hall, then picks an object off of the ground. His footsteps recede and the door is bolted once more. Once again, we are safe for the moment. I take out the paper and smooth it out as best as I can, and then begin to read in a voice just above a whisper:


Tonight, we are breaking out of the Hall. The other families have made other plans for themselves, but we have all come to the agreement to meet at Irisbloom River.

You and your brother will be the first two to leave the Hall, ten minutes after Alex and Jason leave. You will have to get by the guard who stands behind the door, and after that meet Alex and Jason by the main gate. They will explain more once you find them there.

Tell your sisters to find Alice when the alarm sounds.


After finishing, I look at my siblings to see their expressions. The looks on Aiden's and Lily's faces are pure curiosity, but the look on Leah's face tells me that she thinks that this is - in what she would describe as - a suicide mission. In a way, I must agree with her - there's no guarantee that the plan will be a successful one. The assignment that Aiden and I have been told to perform is undoubtedly the hardest, since once the alarms are sounded there will be complete chaos, making it easy for a few people to escape.

"Iris," my sister starts, studying my face. Quickly, I make my expression blank again before she finds anything.

"Leah," I reply in a different tone, feeling her brown eyes on my face. This tone carries no room for discussion for what she is about to offer - taking my place. She must know that she is physically stronger than I am, making it easier for her to carry Lily through the chaos of the escape. I, on the other hand, wouldn't get halfway to anywhere before I got the both of us killed if I was in that situation - my strength is all mental. She looks at me with something I can't describe, and I gently touch her bronze-colored hand. Lily puts her hand on top of mine, and then drags Aiden's hand into the mix, forming a pile of nearly the same bronze-colored skin.

"We're doing this," Aiden says, more of a question than a statement. Both Leah and I nod, and we manage to get the other family to roll their stolen crayon across the hall so we can write our response to the invitation: a large, blocky YES. When they receive both the airplane and the crayon back, they rip the papery napkin into shreds and stuff numerous pieces into their mouths, flushing what they don't eat into the toilet.

"Two minute warning," the guard says, and we realize we've missed the five and ten-minute warnings. "Two minute warning until bedtime," the guard barks again, making his rounds up and down the hall. The family across the hall gives us the thumbs up when the guard's back is turned, and we give a half-hearted wave back.

Slowly, we take our places on our mattresses: Leah and Aiden on either ends, Lily next to Aiden and I next to Leah. We all face away from each other until Lily pulls me over to face her, wrapping her skinny body around me, demanding me to cuddle with her. I sigh and oblige, not able to sleep anyhow. A little cuddling couldn't hurt.

When all else fails, I begin to think of what I won't miss when I leave the Hall. What will I miss? I ask myself again and again, ruling out the meals, the small cells, the eerie sound of footsteps when they echo down the hall, which keep me up at night, not allowing me to sleep. I suppose that there is the mattress, and the warmth of the air inside the Hall during the most brutal winter nights. My mind churns, only keeping me up further when I realize that there has to be something more...

When I am awakened, the first thing I see are Aiden's gray eyes, mirroring my own. I know instantly that I have fallen asleep in the middle of a very important mission - one that may cost my family our lives. I sit up and with his help untangle myself from Lily, then pause to give her and Leah kisses on their foreheads, not realizing that it may be the last time that I see them.

I try to make my movements quick and smooth as I grab one of the blankets off the bed and stuff it into the toilet. Aiden watches me out of the corner of his eye as he rolls Lily closer to Leah, who locks her skinny limbs around our older sister. As he drapes the other blanket over them both, he gives me a quick glance and I remember to flush the toilet. He comes to stand next to me as we watch it swirl away, and I hold my breath as it disappears. Just as I'm thinking to myself that it won't work, Aiden leans forward and presses the lever to the toilet. When it doesn't flush, I exhale so quickly that I feel lightheaded, and I smile widely. We're getting out tonight, and I'm sure of it. Aiden sighs.

"It's not over yet, Iris," he says. I listen to his every word, and then replay them over in my head. He's right. We still have to get past the guards. How could I have forgotten?

As we approach the bars, the guard who monitors the hallways approaches on the other side. He eyes us suspiciously, a sneer on his face.

"Is there a problem here?" He asks in a booming voice.

"Yes," I reply, "the toilet is clogged. I need to use the restroom."

The guard seems to think this over, then turns to his belt and gets his keyring to unlock the cell. However, he's not letting us out, I realize, but letting himself in. Once he has the door locked again, he approaches the toilet and peers into it, then lifts the lid and examines it more. Aiden shifts his weight from one foot to the other - I just stand still, fearing that if I move, our plan will show on every inch of my body, and we'll be busted.

"Hello? Are you deaf, or just dumb?" The guard pressures, coming back to stand before Aiden and I. "No answer, then?"

"Oh! No, I was j-just..." As I begin to stumble over my words, Aiden picks up where I left off, saving me from further humiliation, if that was possible.

"She has this thing about germs. She flushes the toilet before she uses it, just to make sure that there's no... that there's nothing left over, if you know what I mean," he says. He's cool and calm, and sounds so purely like himself that I begin to smile. The guard raises his eyebrow at Aiden's explanation - or my random smile, or maybe even both - but checks the toilet one last time and unlocks the door, letting me through. As soon as Aiden begins through the door, however, he is stopped by the guard.

"Wait! I mean, uh. I can't... can't go without him there," I say, earning more looks, now those of worry, from the guard.

"She hasn't taken her medication," Aiden says with a shrug. "We've always been together, ever since the day she was born." The guard only stares at Aiden for another minute before letting him through. He mutters something that sounds like "must be incest or something" under his breath, and I turn to Aiden, hugging his arm.

"Follow me," the guard says in that booming voice. As we pass the family-across-the-hall's cell, they give us a thumbs-up.

Objective Complete.

~*~*~*~*~*~

It's only later, when we're outside of the doors, do I realize that it's still not over. We had to be examined at the door for any weapons or anything that could be used, which rules out everything. It was a good thing that we've already gotten rid of the note, because when we finally were on the other side, I can tell that these guards don't mess around.

We were escorted to the bathroom, and here is where I sit, on top of one of the toilet seats. I had already searched the whole area, and found that there were two doors for some unknown reason. That's all I needed to figure out to get my brain moving, and I've come up with some pretty complex plans already. Too complex, the longer I thought. And the longer I thought, the more skeptical these guards were that we weren't trying to escape. Which we were.

Suddenly, I had a thought. I rushed to the door and opened it, finding Aiden standing there while the guard, no doubt still watching us from the sidelines, was further away, talking to another guard. Just as I pulled Aiden through, I saw one of the guards glance our way. He didn't seem to pay us much attention, however, and almost seemed to be distracting the other. I shut the door as quickly and quietly as I could, now slightly confused.

"Iris, what the hell?" Aiden asked, bringing my attention back to my former plan. "Aiden, there's two doors in the bathroom. I'm thinking that-"

"Oh, brother."

"Shut up, will you? Anyways, my plan was that I leave through that door, and you leave through the front. Ask them to help you find me. Lead them on a wild goose chase. I'll make my way through the hallways, somehow getting to the main gate. And when you come by the main gate, run out of it. Me and the two brothers will be behind you," I rushed out, bouncing up and down with excitement that I'd gotten a plan that we could both do our parts in.

"How, exactly, do you expect this to work?" Aiden's voice was like a mallet, swinging down and crushing my dream. "I mean, it's not exactly fool-proof. How do you know which hallways to take? How do you know you won't get caught? How am I supposed to avoid questioning when you suddenly disappear?"

I thought. It seemed I was going to have to come up with a revision after all.

I walk through the back door, and set out towards where I think the front gate is. They've got some sort of map on one of the walls I pass, and looking at it, I realize it's in a totally different language than what we're speaking and writing here. Has the world really changed that much since we were imprisoned? There are too many twists and turns on this map, too many different sections of the area... I decide to take the simplest route to the main gate.

I take a second more to scan over the map and my chosen route, and I change my route to take the map into consideration. It's not long until I come upon the first turn - or what I think is the first turn - and I hesitate while trying to remember which way. I hear footsteps approaching from one way, so I dash the other and hide behind a huge bush-tree-looking thing in a pot.

"Did you hear that?" One of the guards says, and I'm guessing they heard my footsteps. It's a little darker in this corner, so I squeeze myself tighter to this alive-not-alive plant. I hear them approaching and I make the decision to climb into the plant itself - it's big enough to cover me. A slow minute passes, and then flashlights are being shone around the plant. It tipped to the side a little, and I grabbed hold of one of the roots to keep from tumbling out. It tipped the other way, and I could see the flashlight running around the edge through the leaves.

"Well. Might as well move it anyways... Zaja's been wanting us to for how long now?" The two guards laugh as if sharing a joke, and I hold in a sigh that desperately wants to come out. Then the plant tilts harshly to one side, right before it evens out. Both guards grunt slightly, and I curl my body inwards, in hopes that I'll make myself lighter.

"This seems heavier than before..."

"Carry your side! I'm doing all the work, dumbass!"

Eventually, they sucked it up and started moving. I didn't want to peek through the leaves in case one of them noticed, but I really needed to know where they were taking me... or this plant. I could only hope it was closer to the exit...

` Reserved For Chapter Four

` Reserved For Chapter Five

` Reserved For Chapter Six

` Reserved For Chapter Seven

If you're going to read this story, please at least leave some sort of comment. It helps me make it more enjoyable for you.

It'd be nice if I got some feedback.

Blah. Cookies, anyone?

You know, some feedback would really help.

xD thank you.
I left the bit at the end because I was running late (promised my mom for a "girls day") and couldn't really do much there. But I think I'll just leave it there. xD

I wonder why you don't have much feedback, but it's likely not the story itself (which is showing great promise) I really like the way that you have to express things and the situation as well, sometimes a writer makes it feel like everything is flat rather than it being something that exists in different levels. (can't explain it in a clearer way sry) I guess it's what sepparates a mediocre writer from someone with actual talent, it's the "feel" of it. I'm really looking forward for the continuation of the story, don't leave me hanging please. >.<

Amazing plot :O I want to read some more of it :O

I'll be continuing it soon. I've fallen out of Mene lately, but with hope I'll be able to keep it going.

Seems like a cool story ;D I just skimmed it now, but I'll read the entire thing when I have more time :3

Chapter Two updated. Also, I'll update it again later when I have more time to do so. :)

I love it so far! I want to read more~

Wow. I've been slacking. I need to keep editing, huh?

Sadly, I haven't worked my way past this, yet. I'll update it when I feel sure enough that everything fits together.