Youth Patrol

by Andrew Lueders

  “Look at his leg,” another joins in jokingly. “It’s not supposed to bend that way, is it?” They all crack up.

  “Shut up!” I scream. “Shut the hell up! What is wrong with you, people?”

  “Calm down, choirboy.” Dirk chides. “It’s just some fucked up kid.”

  “Fucked up kid?” I lunge at Dirk, but a swarm of YP’s stop me from attacking him. Jeremin takes my rifle.

  “Get a hold of yourself, Patroller!” the commander scolds. “What’s gotten into you?”

  “Doesn’t anyone feel bad for the kid?” I cry out. “Doesn’t anyone recognize him, it’s Perry’s cousin!”

  “Why does that matter?” Jeremin replies coldly. “That kid tried to escape. He should’ve known better.”

  “He was just confused, that’s all, and now he’s dead, we killed him!”

  “Look at him, Sparks.” The Commander says, grabbing me by the chin and forcing me to look. “It’s just a dead body, that’s all it is.”

  “Get out of my way!” someone shouts.

  I look up and see Perry, pushing his way through the mob. He’s out of uniform and dressed like any other Youth Nationer. I pull myself free from Jeremin and the YP’s. “Give him some room!” I yell. “Give him room!” I frantically push people back to let Perry through. But I forget about the added strength my uniform gives me. People are hurled backwards and thrown into the middle of the street. Again, the YP’s restrain me and throw me to the ground. Dagger’s knee presses down on my back, I can’t move.

  Perry gets through the crowd. He rushes to get to his cousin, but Jeremin stops him. “I told you to stay home, medic, I don’t want you here!”

  “I don’t care what you want. Now please, you’re in my way.”

  Jeremin is about to throw a punch, but the onlookers, who keep pushing forward, hoping to get a glimpse of the dead kid, bump into Jeremin, causing him to turn around. “What the hell!” he yells. He fires a warning shot in the air and pandemonium breaks out. Perry takes advantage of the commotion and slips by Jeremin. The YP’s that are holding me down have to let me go to help Jeremin with crowd control.

  Perry gets to his cousin and kneels down next to him. He places the tweaker device on the kid’s L-Chip. Perry doesn’t have to look at the hologram chart very long. He clicks it off almost immediately and removes the device from the boy. As he puts the tweaker back into his bag, he notices the upside down V in the blood. He flips on a flashlight to get a better look. He’s obviously affected by what he sees. He looks around searching for something or someone in the crowd, but never finds what he’s looking for. He sighs and shakes his head. He turns off his flashlight and looks down at Bobby. He says something to him. I think it’s, “Rest in peace Bobby. Rest in Peace.” He quickly gets up, steps on the upside down V in the blood and rubs it away, leaving no trace of what was there. But I know what was there.

  “I’m done!” Perry tells the YP’s who now have the crowd under control. “Do what you need to do!” he adds.

  Dirk is the first to step up. He flips his visor down and ignites his rifle. He points the barrel at the dead body and fires away. The corpse is consumed by the flames and incinerates it in seconds. The spectators are in awe of the demonstration.

  “You animals!” I scream. “You goddamn animals!” I throw down my helmet as hard as I can. It bounces off the pavement high in the air.

  “Get back here, Patroller!” Jeremin shouts. “That’s an order!”

  I don’t turn around.

  CHAPTER 26

  I was anticipating someone to come up and stop me from walking away, but no one does, not even Jeremin or Dirk. They’ve let me go. I roam aimlessly through the streets of Santa Verde, trying to figure out what’s wrong with me. Why can’t I be like the other YP’s and laugh at the poor kid? Why can’t I just not care? God, I don’t want to be here anymore, I don’t even want to live. I’ve lost Val, I’ve lost faith in Youth Nation; I’ve lost everything. Willenger isn’t who I thought he was, and Youth Patrol is nothing but a bunch of thugs. I guess I’m just one of those YP’s that can’t handle it, I’ll be just another statistic. I turn and head for home, knowing that this is it; I’m through, it’s over. My balcony awaits.

  There’s a chill in the air and the lights from the floating billboards cast a bluish glow onto the city. It adds to the coldness I feel. Across the street is the Great Purge Monument. I stop to look at it. In the past I’d stand here in awe, now I look at it and it means nothing, I hate it. I then notice something, something odd; Perry is standing underneath it. What’s he doing out here? Nationers walk past him, laughing and joking unaware of the month Perry and I just went through, unaware of our trip to the conditioning center, unaware of everything. Suddenly, a guy comes up behind him. A black guy, he’s a little older than me and a little taller, he’s wearing a gray coat with gray pants, very unassuming. He looks really familiar, but I can’t quite place him. I run across the street without them noticing me. I hide on the other side of the monument.

  “Did you sound the alarm?” the stranger asks Perry.

  “No I didn’t, Brodie,” the medic answers without turning around.

  “Then if you didn’t, then who did?”

  “It doesn’t matter who did,” Perry says. “You shouldn’t have come back to Santa Verde.”

  “You know I couldn’t do that,” the stranger replies. “I had to save Bobby.”

  “I’m sure you felt obligated to save your brother, but we had a deal. Bobby stays here, and you stay away.”

  “I had to come,” the stranger counters. “He’s my brother.”

  “But he was safe here.”

  “Safe?” the guy scoffs. “Bobby is a heap of ashes.”

  Perry spins around and faces the stranger. “Just get out of here before someone figures out your L-Chip is fake.”

  “Alright, Kyle, I will. But tell me something, first. What’d you tell my brother? Did you warn him I was here?”

  “I didn’t tell him anything, and I prefer you stop calling me by that name, my name is Perry, not Kyle.”

  Yeah, whatever… Kyle. I want to know what you told my brother.” the stranger demands.

  “I told him nothing, I didn’t even know you were back, until I saw the arrow in the blood.”

  “If you didn’t tell him anything, then why did he run from me?”

  “Because that’s what Youth Nationers do,” Perry says assertively. “We’re supposed to run. We’re conditioned to run from our past. New arrivals are warned repeatedly that Youth Patrol will come after them if they talk to anyone from their family. Bobby must have become scared when he saw you. That’s why he climbed out the window, he wasn’t escaping Santa Verde; he was hiding from you. That’s what triggered the alarm. And when Youth Patrol came to investigate, Bobby must have thought the YP’s were after him.”

  “You’ve got a great system here, don’t you?” the stranger answers cynically.

  “Don’t blame us, Brodie, Your brother would be alive if it weren’t for you.”

  “No - he’d be alive if it wasn’t for you!” the stranger fires back.

  “Why did you come back?” Perry says regretfully. “Bobby belonged to Santa Verde. He was a Youth Nationer.”

  “He was family, he’s our family, Kyle.”

  “He’s not mine,” Perry lashes out. “Not anymore. You better go before I have you arrested.”

  “You’d arrest your own flesh and blood?”

  “I will if I have to.”

  “Come with me, cousin. I can get you out of here. Uncle Blake’s still waiting for you, he’s still waiting after all these years.”

  “Just go!” Perry growls. “Get the hell out of here and never come back.”

  “Just say the word, and I’ll arrange everything.”

  “Shut up! I don’t want to see my father. I never want to see that son of a bitch, again. Now go!”

  “Alright, if that’s the way you want it, fine.” The guy backs off a
nd turns to leave. Then Perry reaches out and grabs him by the arm. The stranger whips around in a threatening way, but Perry’s posture is calm.

  “I’m sorry about your brother,” Perry says. “I really am.”

  The stranger nods. “Yeah, me too.”

  Perry lets him go, but it’s not the stranger who walks away, it’s Perry. He leaves the guy all alone on the street. The stranger looks around suspiciously, checking to make sure no one is spying on him. But someone is. He can feel it; I can tell. He turns and sees me peering at him from behind the monument. He slowly takes a step back as if he’s going to make a run for it. But when he gets a good look at me he starts to laugh. He puts his finger up to his lips and just walks away like he has nothing to worry about. Wait a minute. I know where I’ve seen him. I get up to go after him. But by now, he’s hurrying down the street, trying to blend in with the people on the sidewalk. I leap up onto a railing on a nearby building to get a better view. He looks up and sees me. He picks up the pace; I quickly jump to another railing and then to another. His pace has become a full on sprint. I jump down and start to run after him.

  He ducks down an alley, hoping to lose me, but I’m too fast. I make one last leap and easily tackle him. I throw him up against a brick wall and trap him, preventing him from going anywhere. I pull off the fake L-Chip and designer plate from off his forehead. I’m able to get a good look at him. Oh my God, it’s him. I can’t believe it. I end up just staring at the stranger, not knowing what to do.

  “Are you going to kiss me, or arrest me?” he remarks snidely.

  “You were at the gas station,” I say. “We busted you, we had you in handcuffs.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the guy feigns ignorance.

  “Who set you free? Was it Perry? Did he let you go?”

  The guy shrugs his shoulders.

  “Just tell me,” I demand

  “I don’t know anyone named Perry.”

  “Please, I’m not stupid, I just saw you talking to him.”

  “Oh, him. His name is Perry? Is that what you call him now a days?”

  “Shut up!” I yell. “Why did he let you go free back at the gas station?”

  “I don’t know. Why did you let me go free back at the gas station? You could have stopped me.”

  “So you do know who I am?”

  “Of course I do, you were the guy with the map.”

  “You saw that?” I ask.

  “Yep.”

  “You saw me pick it up.”

  “Uh huh, I saw it all,” he says confidently. “That’s why you let me walk. You thought if you tried to stop me, I’d tell your commander about the map stuffed in your pants. Does that sound about right?” he adds.

  I nod shamefully.

  “Do you still have it?” he continues. “Or did they take it away from you?”

  I reach down and grab the fake L-Chip and designer plate from off the ground and hand it to him.

  “What are you doing?” he asks.

  “I’m letting you go… again.”

  He looks at me skeptically. His eyes dart back and forth. “What’s the catch?”

  “How easy is it for you to come in and out of Santa Verde?” I ask.

  “What are you getting at?”

  “I’ve seen someone with a device that can extract L-Chips. Do you have access to one of those things?”

  “Are you thinking what I think you’re thinking?”

  “Get me out of Santa Verde.” I tell him.

  He starts laughing. “There’s no way.”

  “Why would you say that?”

  “Because you’re Adnan Asif, and Adnan Asif has lots of enemies.”

  “How do you know me by that name?”

  “Because that’s who you are. You might go by Evan Sparks, but the world still knows you as Adnan, The Boy Who Changed Everything. Next to Valerie Star, you’re the most hated Youth Nationer to ever live. If the people saw you outside these walls, there’s no way you would survive. The people would kill you at first sight.”

  “I’ll wear a disguise.”

  “It’ll take more than that.”

  “Then hide me in a hole, I don’t care.”

  “Look man, even if I could, don’t you think Willenger will come looking for you? You’re not your normal everyday Youth Nationer. You’re Evan Sparks, the Evan Sparks. The Senator will unleash the entire Youth Patrol army to find you. They’d search every nook and cranny; smoke out every rebel strong hold from here to Utah. There’s no way the Resistance could fight back, we’d be decimated.”

  “Can’t you think of something? I can’t stay here. I don’t belong in Santa Verde.”

  “I know you don’t. I know you’re different. I saw how you stood up for my brother, and I thank you for that, but it’s impossible for me to help you.”

  “If I stay here, I’m going to blow my brains out.”

  “I’m sorry, I really am. I just don’t have the resources.”

  “Goddamn it!” I kick a recycling bin; it goes flying. I slam my fist against the brick wall; it cracks. “I can’t stay here; I just can’t!” I lean up against the wall and slide down until my butt hits the ground. The guy looks at me closely. I think he’s trying to figure out if he can make a run for it. He soon realizes I’m not going to do anything, so he starts to sneak off down the alley. I don’t lift a finger to stop him, I just let him go, I don’t care. I put my head in my hands and start to sob. I sob like a baby. “What am I going to do?”

  Several minutes pass and I still haven’t moved. I then hear someone’s footsteps approaching, but I don’t look up.

  “Be at the bakery in the Town Square tomorrow morning,” a voice whispers in my ear. “Be there before Willenger’s speech. If you’re there, I can help. If you’re not, it’ll be too late.”

  The footsteps retreat and I still refuse to look up.

  CHAPTER 27

  My L-Chip tells me to wake up. Why did it do that? It’s too early. And then I remember; I set it for 6AM. I have to get to the bakery in the Town Square. Am I really going to do this? Am I really going to leave Youth Nation? I feel I should let Val know about this plan. I send her a mind-text; she doesn’t answer. I try calling her on the L-Chip; she doesn’t answer that either. She’s probably still mad about last night. Should I go over there and tell her I found a way, a way for us to be together… just the three of us. Am I crazy? I am crazy.

  I jump out of bed and run over to the balcony. I look down. From my apartment, I can only see a corner of the Town Square, but luckily, it’s the corner that has the bakery. A bread truck is parked out in the front. Is that it? Is that how we’re supposed to sneak out? A delivery truck? Could it be that easy? Of course, sneak out during the Senator’s devotional. That’s why that guy from last night wanted me to be there before Willenger’s speech. It’s genius. Everyone will be distracted when the speech streams live on everyone’s L-Chip. No one will notice us when we drive off. I can’t believe how easy this is going to be. I’ve got to tell Val. I text her again, but still no answer. How am going to let her know? Wait a minute; I have an idea. I put on my Youth Patrol Uniform. A few large leaps with this thing on, and I’ll get to Val’s place in no time. I’ll use the rooftops; no one will see me. I’ll climb up from the balcony to get to the top of my building. This is going to work. But then I think; what am I going to do after I get to her? I can’t go around looking like a Youth Patroller. I’ve got to blend in with the rest of the world. I slip on my green and white tracksuit over the uniform, it’s a little tight, but it’ll work. I stuff a few clothes in my knapsack and I’m ready to go.

  I run to the balcony, but for some reason I stop and turn around; I look at my apartment one last time. It dawns on me that I’ll never see it again. I won’t ever come back to Santa Verde. I won’t ever be a Youth Nationer. Am I really doing the right thing? Is Youth Nation all that bad? We embrace tolerance, protect the environment; promote a healthy life style. Those thin
gs are good, right? Am I freaking out because I saw some sad kids on a bus? Am I being rational? I mean those kids will be fine; they’ll be okay. They’re living in Santa Verde for Christ’s sake. They’ll grow up and not even remember the conditioning center.

  Bang, bang, bang!

  Someone is at the door. Shit. Who the hell could that be?

  Bang, bang, bang! The pounding continues.

  I look at the security monitor; it’s Senator Willenger along with four Youth Patrollers. What does he want? Does he know about the bakery? Should I make a run for it? I could totally jump right off the balcony; I could get a huge head start. But that would be stupid. I would look guilty, and I haven’t done anything yet. And besides, I still got the L-Chip in my head; I can’t go anywhere without them knowing my whereabouts.

  I open the door.

  “Senator, what’s up?” I act all casual. “Are you back from the tour already?”

  He strolls into my apartment, moving right past me as if he doesn’t see me. He takes off his gray overcoat and tosses it onto the couch like he owns the place. “Search everywhere!” Willenger orders. The YP’s burst in with their black visors down and their weapons drawn.

  “Is everything okay, Senator?” I ask as my heart pounds away. I gotta calm down. They’ll detect my anxiety.

  The Senator continues to ignore me while the YP’s infiltrate my home.

  “What are you guys looking for?” I continue. “Is there anything I can help you with?”

  None of them answer me; they just go about their business.

  Then, one of the YP’s spots something on my bed. He carefully picks it up between his fingers. It’s a strand of long blond hair. “Sir,” he says, calling out to Willenger. “I think you should see this.” Willenger hurries over as the YP scans it with his visor.

  “Well?” the Senator asks impatiently.

  “It’s hers,” the YP answers.

  Willenger takes the hair in his hand and holds it as if he can’t believe what he’s seeing. “She tricked me,” he mumbles to himself. “She came here after I specifically told her not to.” He then turns to me with a look of intense rage. “When did she come over? What time?”