It took me a while to wake up. And it took me a while to figure out where I was. I knew that I was on a bed. I opened my eyes to see that I was back in my room.

Strange. Last time I remembered being awake I was on the peak with Crimson. That's when I broke down crying. And that was it. She must have brought me back to my room. That was nice of her.

I stood up out of bed. I still had my old clothes on from last night. At least she didn't change me into my underwear. That would have been weird. There was no point to change clothes, I was fine as is.

I sighed to myself. I felt so embarrassed. Crying in front of Crimson like that. I usually never cry in front of anyone, ever. Not even Anthony has seen me cry. I guess seeing the city up on that peak, realizing that I might never get to see Anthony anymore got me emotional. And it was true.

This city ruins you. It changes you from a decent human being in to a monster. I lost everything because of the corrupt rules and ways of the council. And Zoe. But now I have another family, another home. Here with Anthony and Crimson. Wherever Anthony was.

An alarm went off disturbing my thoughts. It was a public announcement alarm. It boomed out around the whole city to this room.

I could hear the announcement about to start as the alarms went off. I ran out of my door, through the deteriorated hallway to the large opening in the wall. The sun blasted it's bright light through and blinded me. I didn't care, I needed to hear what was going on.

"Civilians are welcomed to the town square for today's first ever special event. Two faction members that have recently graduated the city's new seventy have been chosen to explore outside the wall to collect data from the land beyond. All are welcome as we celebrate such event. A dance will be held after at night with food and music. Once again all are welcome to this special event" the voice called out all the way from within the city.

Two people are going out the wall?

That's strange. They never let anyone go out the walls for any reason except for punishment. Especially not for data collecting. And even more so of two recent faction graduates.

I ran further down the corridor to Anthony's room. My footsteps fell down heavily on the wooden foundation of the hotel. The sound bounced off the walls back into my ears.

Her door was partially open. I had no need to be quiet, she probably already woke up from the announcement or my heavy foot fall. When I walked into the room she was sitting up in her bed, rubbing her eyes and yawning.

"Crimson did you hear the announcement" I said frantically.

"Barely, all I heard was your foot stomping" she chuckled.

I rolled my eyes. I had no energy or time to joke. "I'm sorry about that but this is important".

"What is it? Is it the head elder's birthday today" Crimson yawned.

"No it's not that. The announcer said that two people from the recent faction graduates are being sent out the wall for data collecting".

That made Crimson's eyes widen. The blue in her eyes flickering. "When does it start" she exclaimed.

"I'm guessing it's in a couple of minutes, if we want to go we have to go now" I couldn't help but to keep the hurry out of my voice.

Crimson looked down at her sleep ware. "Alright, give me a minute to change out of this".

"Okay, but hurry. I don't know how much longer we have until it starts". I walked out of the room and closed the door behind me. I rested on the wall waiting for her to be ready. She swung open the door sooner than expected. Crimson wore blue jeans and a white t-shirt.

"Hope you have your running shoes on".

--------------------------------------

It took us a while to get to the event.

Crimson and I had to run from the hotel to the town square. It was a good mile or so to get there. We had to go down hill the hotel was on, to beggars trench. The river in the trench flowed fluently with murky water through the rocks and dirt.

I always came down to the trench as a kid. My older sister and I would always go down here to collect water for the family. Sometimes we'd jump into the murky water and play in it. We would always be scolded for going there and messing around. That, however, never stopped my sister and I from enjoying our time together. Before she killed my mother and was sent to die.

I stopped at the edge of the river and stared and the flowing liquid. Crimson sighed and pulled me out of my trance with the water. We continued forward to the heart of the city. Right as we got to the streets I remembered something. I remembered Crimson telling me of how she woke up in the holding cells.

"Crimson wait" I grabbed her arm to stop her.

"What? We're almost there".

"We can't take the streets Crim".

"Why" she asked.

"Remember when you told me about how you woke up in the holding cells"?

She thought for a second. "Yeah, what about it"?

"You were in there for a good reason. If we go out into the crowd people or guards might identify you and take you back in for escaping".

"You're right, great thinking" she smiled at me.

I smiled back.

We continued to run through the city alleyways. Puddles left from the rain splashed under our feet. I could hear the crowds of people murmuring and talking through the walls of the buildings. I stopped dead in my tracks and pointed at the building next to us. I climbed up the wall to the roof of the building. Crimson followed me up with such swiftness. She's a Vulrant. That's what they specialize in.

It was a spectacular sight.

Thousands of people stood in a large huddle near the towers. Risers were set up at a higher rooftop across from us. Men and woman stood on the risers with drums in front of them. They played a beat they played a rhythmic beat that rumbled through the crowds and up to us.

A large flat even higher up from the drum players was set for the most powerful and wise people of the council. Each member representing a faction. There was some suited men and women that I didn't know. Xultant guards stood all around the streets and roofs paying attention to the crowd and luckily not to us. Two visible Zyto guards stood next to someone, guarding them. I could recognize the Zytos. I had worked with them before. It was Onne and Siix.

They both wore their black jumpsuits that seemed unnecessary in this kind of heat. Onne was a more quiet and antisocial guy, he had blonde curly hair that stood out from where I stood. Siix was more or less a stubborn woman. She was that one person you wish you never knew. She had black hair that was cut at her shoulders. Both of them stood side by side guarding someone.

Zoe.

She wore a white dress and black lining at the edges and corners. The pale color of her dress brought out her red-orange hair. She sat in a chair, smiling and waving to people.

She killed the city. And my family.

I felt nauseous in my stomach. Seeing her sent waves of uneasy up my spine. Crimson and I stood on the rooftop out of line from where Zoe or any major guards could see us. An announcer came out of no where and stood at the podium.

"Ladies and gentlemen, today is a special day for us all, especially for the council. Today two people; one from Skyrupt" he paused letting the people applaud and cheer for Skyrupt. "And one from Indigo have been chosen". People roared for the Indigos as well.

"Now you may ask: what are they chosen for? Well, as announced before, these lucky two will be sent outside the walls of the city to collect valuable data. This has never been done before, and for that they are extremely lucky individuals and we wish them the best of luck". The crowds gasped and then clapped in excitement.

I couldn't believe this.

"Do you think they could really do this"  Crimson whispered to me.

"They can do whatever they want. They're the council" I answered.

"This is wrong, they could die out there" Crimson whispered furiously.

"Oh there's no doubt they're going to die. How could they do this to these poor people".

I looked over to my left to see five people exiting a staircase. The crowd began to cheer louder than ever when they approached. There was a clearing in the middle of the crowd that led all the way to the wall.

"And here they are now! Anthony Cochrane and Tracey Ixx! The two that will be heading out the walls for data collection. This will be a day to remember ladies and gentlemen" the announcer called out. The clapping and cheering of the people echoed throughout the city.

My jaw dropped at the name.

Anthony.