This is a #storygram (mini-story) from my Instagram, which you can get to via the social media links at the top of this site. I do my best to make them daily for you to enjoy! YES, many of them will hopefully be expounded upon in novels or other future writing endeavors of mine. Thank you very much for reading and sharing them! And don’t forget to check out my film Portfolio too!
The Story:
When they set up the electric barrier, they thought we would all die. But something unexpected happened.
I gaze over the concrete wall that stretches for miles, encircling us. It is there to remind us of where the electric barrier and our incarceration begins. They are scared of us. We are carrying the most lethal disease known to mankind.
When X-83 became an epidemic, we were locked into this area. Forced to live like we were dying instead of living like we were alive. It was inhumane to kill us, so they imprisoned us until we died. But instead, we have adapted. Our bodies got used to the disease, after thousands died and thousands were born.
We have been living like diseased rats, starving and poor, for 76 years inside this barrier. No one is over 30 years old, but the story was passed down to us by our grandparents.
As promised Nick meets me face to face on the other side of the barrier.
“Lyja. How are you?”
“How do you think, Nick?”
He looks so clean. His hair is combed back in a wave over his ear with a part on the left side. He wears a spotless blue suit that fits his form.
He must find my shoulder blade length dreadlocks and tattered baggy clothes odd.
“Does everyone dress the same in there, Lyja?”
“Mostly. What about out there?”
“Oh, we have all kinds of dress and looks. Everyone expresses their own individuality through appearances.”
“We aren’t individuals. We are the X-83 survivors.”
“Yes you are, but to the world you are dead. Just a government secret, darker than Area 51.”
“Area what?”
“Nothing. It was years ago.”
An uncomfortable silence passes between us, so I break it.
“Let us out.”
“I don’t have the ability to do that, Lyja. And it’s not that simple.”
“Why?”
“You’re proof that humans can adapt to X-83, but not before it slowly kills two or three generations. Everyone out here would die in a few years.”
It does seem like choosing which group dies.
“We’re no longer dying of X-83, but we will starve in here, Nick.”
“I know. It’s not right. That’s why I’m here. So we can figure this out together. But it has to remain a secret, okay?”
“Okay.”