Free The Outcast Ones by Maya Shepherd

do it himself.
    Suddenly his eyes go wide and the angry wrinkles between them disappear. He looks surprised and almost...nice. Golden rays of sunshine catch in the soft waves of his hair, and his eyes don’t look like a storm at sea any more, but rather like a gentle splashing stream. But the expression lasts only a moment.
    “Don’t talk rubbish! You just had a bad dream.” He doesn’t sound quite so mean any more.
    Before I can answer, he closes the door and I’m alone again. A dream? What’s that?
    Maybe I’m going crazy. Hallucinations are a sign of radioactive contamination. Why are the outcasts not affected? Do they have an antidote? If they have one, then the Legion must have one too. They could give it to me if I manage to find my way back to them. They would help me—the safety of the last humans is still the most important thing. Paul must be lying. The Legion doesn’t shoot anyone. That story would suit Finn much better.
    My gaze wanders across the cell and stops at the sloped opening in the ceiling. It’s not a big hole, maybe 30 centimetres wide. I look down at myself and see how loose the suit already is over my stomach. Since we’ve been here, I’ve lost weight. I miss the personalised nutrition units. I could just about fit through there, quite unlike the broad Paul or even Finn. The thought of him stuck up there in the hole is a funny one and I start to giggle. For a moment I enjoy the joyous bubbling in my stomach. It dances up to my throat and flows out of my mouth. It reminds me of D523.
    Then I quickly cover my mouth with my hand. I’m shocked at myself. What am I doing? I’m not like her. I don’t want to be like her. Not a rebel. Rebellion is bad.
    It’s time for me to get out of here, but it’s not that simple. It can’t go wrong. I’ll have to watch them first, and I should start straight away.
    Softly I step towards the wall where the door is and settle carefully on the floor so I can look out of a hole. Immediately I freeze—a man’s legs partially block my sight. Is it Finn? Or Paul?
    At the opposite side I see two other men. Strangely enough, they remind me of the safety zone, because they look like each other. Both of them have shaggy black hair, and unlike Finn, they look happy. They’re shoving each other, telling a story and then laughing heartily. I like watching them—I don’t feel so alone.
    F701 didn’t come back. A week has gone by since I decided to escape. I counted the sunrises and sunsets. I noticed that most of the outcasts sleep at night, just like we do in the safety zone. During the day there are mostly four guards in the hall with the corridors, but at night there are only two. I like it best when it’s Jep and Pep. I’ve found out that the outcasts call them twins. But they’re not as alike as I thought. Jep’s voice is nicer than his brother’s, but Pep is better at playing guitar. Pep is also a little bit shorter than Jep, which he tries to make up for by taking extra long steps so that his gait has something of a hop to it. Pep’s favourite colour is green, but Jep prefers blue. Their clothes are always a mix of colours, never so dull as the suits in the safety zone or Finn’s boring black.
    When they play music together, for that moment I forget my escape plans and just listen. It’s more beautiful even than laughter and it makes me wonderfully happy. Whenever Jep and Pep laugh, it makes me laugh too, quietly, just for myself. They’ve heard me several times but continued to ignore me. Once, Pep even wanted to check on me, but Jep reminded him that Finn would be mad if he found out. Finn seems to be mad a lot of the time. So I’m happy if I don’t have to see him, and often that is the case. During the day, Paul often asks me questions or else they leave me completely alone.
    I’m always happy when it’s time for food—“feeding time”, as Finn calls it. I don’t care that it’s bread every time. The Legion commanders could really