hot here, never too hot to sweat, because there is no sun to warm our faces. The hermetically sealed dome protects us from the sun’s dangerous rays, and all we see of it is a blurred circle that moves across our dome. The dome keeps out all the natural elements, and more.
“Daddy!” I don’t mean to panic as a man gets out of the bus.
“Everything will be okay, Jasper. Ethan will find you! Look for Chance. Look for your mother. You’re as strong as your mother. You need to get out,” Dad whispers urgently, as a man dressed neatly in a pale yellow suit walks toward to us. The yellow of his clothes clashes with his red hair.
“Jasper Matthias.” He says my name, not making any eye contact. He holds a device out to me. It has no keypad, only a screen with three circles at the top. “Press your thumb to the scanner, please.”
I remember this from when they came for Mom. She didn’t press her thumb to the scanner. She shoved the man and ran. She didn’t get far before they caught her. I don’t know why she did that, if she knew they would ban her.
I tighten my grip on Dad’s hand and lift my other to the device. As I press my thumb to the scanner, I wish I could stop the slight tremor so clearly visible to everyone. Nothing happens and for a second I hope they’ve made a mistake. The man takes my hand and presses my thumb harder down, so hard my thumb cramps. He rolls it over from left to right. The device beeps and the first light glows yellow, the second glows yellow again. I don’t know what it means. The third glows bright blue and a name and face appear on the screen. Shock vibrates through me - it’s my name, it’s my face.
“Proceed to the vehicle, please.” The man steps aside and waits for me to walk.
Dad hugs me, a quick, stiff hug. It’s not how I imagined a hug would be. But it’s our last moment together and I try to take in everything about him. I smell the familiar smell of sanitizing spray that always clings to him. I take in a deep breath and try to imprint his smell to my memory as best I can. My throat tightens and my eyes burn. I’m not courageous, I’m scared.
“Remember what I said. You will make it,” Dad whispers.
Tears well up in my eyes and I blink them away. I want to be strong for Dad. I want to be Virtuous, only I can’t find those traits in my heart. I’m my mother’s daughter after all. I want to run like she did. I want to be selfish and stay with Dad.
The walk to the bus is a daunting one. Every step I take is taking me further away from home and closer to the bus, the very thing that will take me away. My legs feel heavy, as if my body is nothing more than dead weight - no longer youthful and supple - a woman in the making. I feel as if I’ve lost something precious this morning, my hope of a future that might have been.
The metal of the door is cold as I take hold of it to steady myself, boarding the bus. It looks much the same as the ones used for transport in the metropolis and neighborhoods. Only, this one has the blue and yellow lights at the top for in case of an emergency.
I recognize the guy already sitting in the back. He’s in my class, and unfortunately we share the same name. It’s because of him everyone calls me Jai, except for Dad.
When I start towards him, Jasper Thomas looks relieved to see me. I shake my hands out and concentrate hard so I won’t show him I’m just as scared as he is. I take the seat in front of him. We have been taught to not intermingle with men from a young age, to protect our virtue and keep ourselves pure for the one we will marry. If we fail at this, the most important virtue of all, Chastity, you are of course banished. To be banished and to be called an unpure, that must be awful.
“Just the two of us so far.” He never talks to me unless he really has to, either. He must really be nervous, and it makes me more nervous. I wish he