by Jill Caplin
Life Unnormal
By:
Jill Caplin
Copyright © 2019 by Jill Caplin
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of quotations in a book review. For more information, address: [email protected]
FIRST EDITION
Disclaimer
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Dedication
To my loving husband, Steven, for his patience and his high tolerance for my repitions while lending an ear during this journey
Table of Contents
1. Alone
2. Down
3. Dorm
4. Work
5. Aden
6. Options
7. Chances
8. Delay
9. Family
10. Anticipation
11. Paged
12. Tolerance
13. Celebration Times One
14. Union
15. Celebration Times Two
16. Escape Plan
17. Tunnels
18. Reunion
19. The Annex
20. The Dorms
21. Clara
22. Extra Shift
23. Surprise
24. Jacket
25. Changes
26. Plans
27. Change
28. Holding
29. Sideways
30. Capture
31. Exchange
32. North Wales
33. Audra
34. Requite
Acknowledgement
Author Bio
1
Alone
Tessa’s parents wouldn’t listen to her. She couldn’t help but worry about their safety.
“Do you really have to go? Can’t you please stay home?” Tessa pleaded with them.
She helped them load their garden vegetables, her mother’s handmade clothing, a small table, two coolers and two folding chairs into the back of their car.
“You know we have no choice,” her father said, pulling his hat down to block the bright sun from his eyes.
Tessa understood how every month they drove about fifty miles east of their farm in Central Pennsylvania to trade. Hundreds of families traveled from miles to trade their goods to help survive the upcoming harsh winter.
“Remember that long heat wave last winter?” Her mother asked, adjusting her hat and sunglasses.
“Yes. It came early, like the year before,” Tessa said.
“We’ll need more supplies this time,” her mother said.
At eighteen years old in 2075, Tessa had to stay home to take care of the house and the farm.
“You did see the news last night?” She asked her father.
For the last few summers, with so many red ozone days and excessive triple digit temperatures happening, her parents kept their few crops growing inside a greenhouse. Reporters on their TV blared details of the massive flooding of the Florida Keys, and flooding rain on the West and East Coasts.
Tessa heard one weather reporter predict massive blizzard warnings in the upcoming weeks creating whiteouts across the entire Plains and Midwest making travel above ground even more impossible.
“I’ve heard enough from those reporters talking about those ridiculous winters and hot summers,” Tessa’s mother said.
“I know. But they said it’s only a matter of time before it’s just too hot to live above ground.”
“Where do you think we would go? Underground to New City?” Her father growled. The burrows in his forehead deepened as he blurted the questions at Tessa.
There were ads on TV talking about the New Leaders, who created a network of sister cities inside the underground subways in all major cities.
Tessa heard if people had money to spend and hefty bank accounts, then they could live in an upscale community called New City. If they couldn’t afford to live there, then they could live in its sister city called The Annex.
“No, I know you don’t like that place,” Tessa said, bracing herself for the lecture.
“That’s right,” he said, “It’s not a place I want to live…yet”
“Such expensive schools! It’s why you had to homeschool you last year,” her mother said.
Tessa completed her lessons for upper-grade classes on a government-issued tablet with videos. Tessa recalled her mother’s nose crinkle, glaring each time Tessa tried to take her away from her sewing. She waved her off while she worked on any project.
Tessa wore handmade cotton fiber clothing. She collected strands of fiber her mother left on the floor by the sewing machine. She created bracelets to give to her friends when they left her for Thornsdale.
“What about The Annex?” Tessa suggested. “It’s another place we could live.”
“You can’t expect me to go live in some second-class city called The Annex when we have our own home,” her father said. “You know I won’t give up on this farm that easy.”
First, they had to move from the city to the farm. Her father never seemed the same after he lost his job. Tessa remembered how he carried himself upright as he ran his online clothing business. She recalled how he walked with his head facing the ground as he loaded clothing into the trunk to sell on the road. He spent days away from home, driving around the state, selling her mother’s clothing and textiles.
The high snow drifts then made it too difficult for him to continue driving his routes between the local farms. The market would end up being his only source of work for the time being. At home, Tessa liked watching him spend precious free time in the greenhouse carving small objects with his pocketknife.
“We’ll back before you know it,” her mother said.
Tessa’s mother loved ordering her around without a please or thanks. Tessa rolled her eyes, wishing her mother treated her as an adult and not a child. Sometimes she bit her fingernails in front of her mother just to annoy her.
“Just go to Thorndale’s tunnel entrance if you have to,” her father said.
“I know where to go,” Tessa interrupted. “I’m more worried about you not making it.”
“If we have trouble getting home, we will go to Glenside. It’s closest tunnel entrance to the market.”
“We’ll find you. We promise,” her mother said.
“Love you,” her father said.
Before her parents hugged her and walked out of the door, her father reached into his pocket and handed her one of his carvings. She cried as they unplugged the power from the generator and got into their car. As they drove off, Tessa would have no way to contact her parents since phone service stopped years ago. She wiped away the tears from her eyes and placed the carving in the pocket of her jeans.
The first day on her own, Tessa walked outside, wearing her father’s old baseball cap to protect her eyes from the glaring sun. Wiping tears with the edge of her shirt, Tessa cried, knowing how badly she would miss the simple things she did around the small farm.
Climbing up the ladder one last time, she grabbed one of the few pears on the tree. She bit into the sweat pear, enjoying the crunch in her mouth, wondering if she would ever feel that kind of satisfaction when it came to food.
She checked the greenhouse, doing a bit of weeding around the few vegetables. Feeling the sweat start to drip off her nose, she went inside. Tessa grabbed a glass container of soy milk from the fridge, drinking down the cold liquid from a glass jar.
She wanted to taste a juicy turkey burger for lunch, Tessa had to settle for a soy veggie patt
y. Adding ketchup didn’t even improve the flavor. It usually made all foods taste better, even vegetables.
Most of her friends came by the house last week to say goodbye. They were leaving with their parents to go to the Thorndale tunnel. Nice of them to stop by, but sad for Tessa to say goodbye. She wanted so much to be with her friends.
The first night alone seemed the hardest since it felt as if every sound Tessa heard in the house came alive. The branches of a pear tree hit the window like a hammer trying to break the glass. The dripping faucet made her imagine someone tapping on the front door.
Every evening Tessa made sure the windows closed and the doors locked. She walked around the house three times, checking the locks before she went to bed.
Tessa missed her parents, wondering how long it would take them to get home and if she would ever see them again. The strange noises outside seemed to come alive, letting her imagination go for a run.
To calm down, she pulled out of her pocket the carving her father gave her: a dragonfly. She placed it against her heart. It let her imagine flying far away from the empty house for a while.
Tessa fidgeted on the couch on the third day, watching on TV how the impending blizzard just east of her in Philadelphia forced people to head down into the tunnels. Twirling her hair in her fingers hardly helped relieve her stress waiting for her parents to return as she stared at the TV. The news, weather reports, and the advertisements for New City and The Annex were the only shows left to watch.
A female reporter on TV said, “New City and The Annex both have geothermal energy for air and electricity, solar power from lights or panels with diffused lighting, as well as advanced hydroponics for growing fresh vegetables and fruits. Don’t worry about how much money you have. Come down and discover your new home underground.”
Tessa listened to last words the newscaster said before the television screen turned black: “It would be only a matter of days before living above ground could be a thing of the past.”
She dressed in a pair of jeans, a long-sleeved cotton shirt, and tennis shoes. She pulled on a purple jacket covering her slim frame. Tessa left the house with a few things packed in her small suitcase and locked the door. She left a note on the table just in case they made it home.
She felt so numb, hard to believe what she had to do. Tessa forced herself to walk away from a place she called home.
Tessa’s stomach felt like it filled with battery acid as she wondered how she would manage being alone and living underground. “We just have to be a family again,” Tessa said to herself. She told herself she could survive anything that would happen to her if it meant finding her parents again.
After walking two miles to the east, she finally read the bold words on the large, metallic sign: “Welcome to Thorndale, your local community of New City and The Annex.”
2
Down
Tessa trembled, holding the bars tight to steady herself, as she descended the steep staircase. She shook her head, realizing she would be stuck underground for the rest of her life.
At the bottom of the fifth staircase, were the solid grey walls of a tunnel. Tessa spotted a sign with a bright green arrow in front of her stating: “Processing. This way.”
She followed the sign to a large open double side door. Tessa stepped inside an enormous auditorium cluttered with people.
The huge noisy auditorium caused her insides to rumble like an earthquake. The volume of chatter echoed in her ears, and she started humming to herself to calm down. The crowds made her feel like an ant on a farm. She needed direction, answers.
Tessa wanted to try talking to one of the flashily dressed men in purple silk suits and black ties, by tapping on his shoulder. They appeared official enough as if they had an idea or even an explanation on what to do.
Instead, two Security people yanked her away as she approached them. They wore red spandex jumpsuits with a Taser attached to their black belts.
One of them lifted the visor from his helmet. His deep, blue eyes glared at her as if he meant he’d make sure she’d leave the men alone. His piercing stare and scar above his right eye seemed like enough of a reason for her to back off.
“Okay, I get it, no questions. Not here to cause any trouble.” Tessa said, shaking, not wanting anything bad to happen to her. She watched him replace his visor.
Backing away, she glared at the two Security members escorting her to the back of a long line of dozens of people around her age. A girl waiting by herself stood in front of Tessa in line. Tessa noticed she had long, brown hair and wore jeans and a blue cotton shirt. Tessa tapped her shoulder, and the girl turned around.
“Hey, I’m Tessa. You all by yourself?”
“Yeah, I’m Maude. You alone too?”
“Yeah. So? Can I ask? What happened to your parents?”
“They went to the city…on vacation.,” Maude said, frowning. “First time they left me alone.”
“Sorry to hear that.”
“Thanks. What happened to yours?”
“They left me to go to market,” Tessa said, “I’m really hoping they made it to Glenside.”
“So, you think they’re still ALIVE?”
“Have to believe I will find them…someday.”
“Sure, hope you do.”
“Hey, want to hang out together? See what happens?”
Tessa figured it didn’t hurt to ask. At least she would not have to go through the whole thing by herself. She imagined Maude felt just as alone and miserable as she felt.
“Yeah? Why not? I could really use the company,” Maude said, drying another tear from her eyes.
“Okay. Sounds good to me.” Tessa smiled at Maude, knowing she would be going through everything with her.
Processing continued for the hundreds of people stuck inside an auditorium reeking of strong perfume and stinky body odor. Tessa wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, trying to cope with the oppressive heat. She started twirling her hair in her fingers as she fidgeted in line, trying to ignore the sour feeling inside of her stomach as she tried to deal with the crowds.
At the time, Tessa felt it seemed like a good idea to go along with the procedures. She walked up to a person in a blue jumpsuit at the front of the line. She glanced at batches of odd-looking equipment on the table.
First, Tessa had to breathe in odorless air through a mask placed on her face. She then opened her mouth for a DNA sample with an acrid tasting swab. Tessa moaned, rubbing her arm after a painful booster inoculation. Then she had to touch her thumbs to a small blue screen on a panel.
Finally, Tessa walked through a full body scan that appeared to take readings of her vital signs. She observed a few young people taken away for refusing to follow some of the procedures. She started worrying if something like that could happen to her if she caused any trouble.
After they finished with the stations for the large group of teens, Tessa watched as a strange man dressed in a suit of fancy, orange-colored linen suit with matching tie, coordinated shirt, and black shoes walk up to her group and start talking to them.
“I am one of the Counters, in charge of reporting the income of the people. I’ll attach a small harmless scanning device to your eye. The device will link your bank account to our master computer,” he explained. “With your name and ID number, the scanner will tell us the amount in your account before you entered our New City. That amount will decide if you are allowed to stay here or have to go to The Annex.”
The line to get her eyes scanned seemed to last for hours. Tessa kept worrying, knowing she had no account in her name. It came to her turn, and after hearing the warning not to blink, she kept her eyes wide open for the Counter. After he attached the device to an eye of each of the teens in her group, the Counter stopped to explain how the scanners operated.
“Placed outside your workplace and home are optical scanners capable of reading your eyes,” he said, “You’ll scan your eyes before you go in and out of any building or room so
you can keep track of your balances. After you enter where you’ll be living, all expenses towards housing, utilities, and food consumed at your Center will be deducted. Everything costs money, so everyone, regardless of health or age, has to work. Make sure you scan your eyes properly and report to your assignment daily. Violations will result in you being taken away to Detention.”
Tessa recalled the young people who gave them trouble over the scans or procedures taken to Detention. She wondered if Detention would be the new underground prison.
The Counter paused, stared at a tablet in his hand for a few minutes, and spoke again. She shook her head as if expecting him to tell them they headed to The Thorndale Annex.
“You young people without your parents are considered orphans. As orphans, you have no money so you will live and work in The Thorndale Annex. There you’ll be able to start your new lives owing money to the New Leaders.,” he explained, “You’ll earn an income paying off your debt. How hard you do your designated job will determine how long it takes for you to pay off your debt.”
The idea of not being rich meant having to live in The Annex seemed stupid to Tessa. A reality, but still ridiculous. She shook her head, wondering why people deserved the right to live wherever they wanted as long as they were making a living.
His raspy, stern voice stopped as the next announcement came over the loudspeaker.
A voice said: “Security personnel will be coming by to take the luggage from you people going to The Annex. There’s no need to have any personal baggage.”
At first, Tessa couldn’t grasp what she heard. Crying, Tessa started wiping away tears, not believing Security had the right to take away personal things from people just like that. She clenched her fists, realizing she would lose everything she had. She wanted to scream but didn’t want to draw any attention to herself to make things any worse.
Opening her suitcase, Tessa grabbed the only thing of real value: a picture of her parents she shoved into the back pocket of her jeans. She watched Maude put a few items into the pockets of her shorts too. Others around them scrambled to cram personal effects into their pockets.
