• The sky was a dark, glaring red as I traveled down Norway Street to my small apartment complex. Groceries in hand, I passed by the old Border Wall to my right. It was a good sixty-seven feet high and was a smooth texture of cement. It stood over me, like a giant mocking my height.
    This wall separates us from the Outsiders, or people who live differently then our society.
    These Outsiders were thought to be barbarians, or people who wished to destroy our peaceful society. That is, of course, only what I’ve heard.
    I stopped for a second and stared at the impenetrable blockade, thinking of what may lie on the other side. No one was allowed to see beyond the wall, except for the authorities. Those who have tried were never heard from again.
    ‘Eh, whatever.’ I thought and staggered along the path.
    I soon found myself at the mouth of a small brick building, poorly built I may add, and walked through it’s steel entrance.
    I walked about six flights of stairs before I reached the door leading into my apartment. I opened the door slightly, only to be greeted by my cat, Crimson. He let out a soft purr and rubbed his silky black body on my legs affectionately. After about a minute, he stopped and cocked his head to the side, crimson eyes staring at me in question.
    I chuckled and scratched the back of his head in greeting. His once soft purrs became roars of happiness. I smiled and soon stopped to put down my groceries on a nearby table.
    I slid myself onto the soft, plump blue couch in my living room and stared off into space. My mind backtracked to the time I had saved Crimson from being uthanized.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    I was only about ten when I first encountered Crimson. My mother and I were passing by the Uthanization CO building on our way to the market, when I spotted a small cat sprawled out on the floor of the building. It’s sweet, yet dazzling crimson eyes pleading with me to help it. I knew I couldn’t refuse. So, on the same night, I snuck into the home of the Mistakes , or unqualified animals, and snatched Crimson from his mechanical cage. When at home, I oh-so cleverly hid Crimson from my parents and visitors. Noone knew I had him. I only pray noone will ever know.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Suddenly, I was tossed out of my memories by a harsh, loud knock, and a deep chilling voice rang from behind the steel that is my door.
    “ Jayla Santago, open up, it’s the patrol unit!”
    I sighed softly and made my way to the rusty steel door. Before opening it, I snapped my fingers once, signaling Crimson to go into hiding. Once assured he was safe, I unlocked the hatch on my door and opened it.
    “ May I be of any help to you officers?” I asked kindly.
    “Yeah, we’ve been hearin’ about sightings of a black cat with red eyes, folks around here say it seems to come here. Have you seen him, or are you hiding him?” one of the patrols state with a glint of mischief in his eyes.
    “Nope, sorry sir, but I haven’t seen him.” I said plainly, my emerald eyes challenging him to try interrogating me more.
    Both the patrols looked at me skeptically.
    “ Really now. Well, you know the rules, Ms. Santago. Any such menace found with an owner will be uthanized and the owner will be stripped of all personal belongings. If you give him up to us now, well, we’ll promise no to be too harsh on the punishment.” the other patrol scoffed with a smirk.
    I grinned and stated, “ sorry, no sightings here.”

    Both the patrols’ smirks pulled into deep frowns of displeasure. Though, they still had those mischievous glints in their eyes.
    “ Well, Ms. Santago. We apologize for bothering you. But, rest assure, that if we hear of another sighting, we’ll search this home from top to bottom. Good day, Jayla.” the first officer stated and both walked down the steel steps.
    I released a light sigh in relief as I walked back over to the couch. Once situated, I rubbed the temples on my forehead to relieve myself of an oncoming headache. ‘ So much stress,’ I thought.
    I then stretched my lips forward and blew out a load whistle, signaling for Crimson to come out of hiding. He soon flew out of his hiding spot and himself between my stretched out legs.
    My eyes lightened as I scanned over the innocent creature at my feet. They knew I had him! I just couldn’t risk losing my best friend. No! I have to do something, anything.
    And there was only one option...
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    The night, so silent and still, had camouflaged me from seeing eyes. A slight breeze blew through my brown hair, which was tied back in a high ponytail. Loose leaves rustled and some detached from their homes to the cold metallic ground.
    My plan was in action.
    Dressed in simple black clothes, I ran through town, clutching a curious cat. I skimmed from bush to bush, tree to tree, in effort to not get caught.
    Surprisingly, there weren’t any patrols out, as compared to other nights.
    ‘Very strange,’ I thought in confusion.
    I vanquished all doubtful thoughts and continued to my destination. Still no sign of any patrols.

    I found myself, soon after, staring at a dark corner in the Border Wall. My face was twisted in udder nervousness and the palms of my hands were sticky with sweat.
    I breathed deeply and set down my velvet, blue backpack gently. Carefully, I placed Crimson inside and closed it, leaving a small gap for Crimson to breathe through.
    Opening another compartment, I pulled a thick rope and hook. I skillfully tied the rope into the hook’s hole and knotted the rope three times.
    I stood up and crept to the walls corner. I pulled at the rope, testing it’s strength. I then started to swing the rope until I felt it would go far enough, and released it. When I heard a faint ‘clink’, I pulled on the rope once more to make sure it could support my weight.
    I jumped off the ground slightly and balanced my feet on the thick wall. Turning my head in every direction, I checked to see if any patrols were on guard. With no sign of anyone coming, I swiftly climbed the wall, losing balance a few times.
    My arms and legs throbbed in pain as I grabbed the crease of the wall. I slung myself on top and glanced down. Wow, I was high up! But I knew I still needed to get to the other side.
    I slowly turned my head in effort to see the outside world, and paced a few steps. I gasped. The foreign world around me was, was beautiful!
    Light colors, orange, yellow, and red, were plastered in the sky like a pleasant painting and a radiant light sphere hovered in the distance. So much different then our normal red or black colored sky. Not to mention we didn’t have a light sphere either.
    The ground was paved with life. Green plants were everywhere, stretching as far as the hills far off. Trees grew from these patches freely and at some points were cluttered together. Never in my life have I seen such beauty. The society I lived in has metal paved all over the ground and a few trees here and there, in insulators.

    I shook my head to rid myself of distraction. I still needed to climb down.
    I winded up my grappling hook and reset it to hold me on the way down. This was going to be hard.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    climbing down was definitely harder than climbing up. I received various scrapes and bruises from slipping a few times. But, I made it to the ground, that’s all that matters.
    Safe and sound, I pulled out the fussing cat from my bag. Throughout my climb, he wouldn’t stop squirming! After setting him down, we set off to find shelter. Though, not knowing what dangers could lie ahead.
    Finally, what seemed like forever, we caught sight of a fire just outside of some strange looking shelters. The shelters were but long cloths pinned on sticks that held up in a triangular shape. Simple, but yet fascinating.
    I trudged up to the fire, arms and legs protesting with each stride I made. I settled down in a log and closed my eyes, which burned from the brightness of the sphere in the sky.
    A stream of warmth seeped through my body. I could imagine the fire licking every hint of cold and spreading it’s glow of heat. I soon felt shifting in my lap and knew that Crimson was settling down. I smiled and felt a wave of exhaustion hit me with full force.
    I stood away from the fire and nestled myself no too far from it. Crimson sprawled on between my shoulder blade and neck. Both of us fell into a deep sleep.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    I was jerked awake by a sudden splash of an ice cold liquid spraying my body. I growled in frustration and looked dozily for where the content came from. My eyes stopped upon a young girl.

    In her hands she held a small iron bucket, in my guess, which was where the water came from. Her hair was a dirty blond color and was pin straight. Her eyes, which held curiosity, were deep pools of brown. Her lips were a gap as if she were about to ask a question. Her clothes were a long silky blue dress with a red bow tied at the neck area.
    “ Who are you?” she asked suspiciously.
    “ Oh, um, sorry. Where are my manners. I’m Jayla Santago and this is my loyal friend Crimson, and you are?” I replied diligently.
    “ I’m Trisha Scott, and this is my golden retriever Sapphire-” she said and whistled in calling. Soon a dog with sharp golden fur and strange blue eyes rushed out. “-don’t worry, she’s nice!”
    I smiled slightly and nodded. My gaze turned to Crimson who seemed to be glaring at the dog before him.
    Suddenly, he stood abruptly, his body ridged and claws withdrawn. He lowered his head and let out a menacing hiss. His eyes were sharp and flames seemed to dance within their depths.
    Sapphire stood erect, not budging or showing any signs of fear. Just standing there.
    Crimson, after realizing Sapphire wasn’t backing down, soon settled back in my lap, but still held his glare. I blinked and thought about the situation that just took place. It was so, so uncommon. Crimson never hissed at anything before.
    I sighed and looked at Trisha apologetically.
    “ Sorry ‘bout that, he’s never done that before, I swear!” I explained softly.
    Trisha nodded and signaled me to follow her. I complied.
    “ I just want to introduce you to my friends.” she explained sweetly.

    I smiled and soon found myself standing in front of a group of three. One was a boy with black hair and hazel eyes. Another had blond hair and brown eyes, just like Tisha. And lastly, there was a girl with black hair and pale blue eyes.
    “ Guys, this is Jayla Santago, Jayla this is Dax Scott-” she said pointing to the boy with blonde hair and brown eyes, “-Violet Summers-” pointing to the black haired girl, “-and Jasper Lesser!” she explained pointing to the black haired boy. I blushed in embarrassment and muttered a hello.
    Their faces held sweet, welcoming smiles and they greeted me tenderly. Crimson inspected them for any signs of danger. When satisfied, he curled in my arms and slept silently.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    By nightfall we all situated ourselves by the campfire and spoke in soft whispers.
    “ So Jayla, where you from?” Dax asked.
    “You see that wall over there-” I asked jerking my thumb in it’s direction “-well that’s the society I came from, it’s supposed to be some sort of “perfect society”, but it’s more of a joke than anything. Every single little thing you do has to be authorized by the patrol units!” I explained in annoyance.
    “Heh, I know what your talkin’ about, I used to live there but was banished because I thought differently than the other people. I wanted to be free and make my own choices, not have some patrols decide my decisions for me!” Jasper added, joining in on the conversation.
    “After being out here, I finally see that you guys aren’t barbarians, after all it’s just a hoax. Why did they say such things about Outsiders?” I asked quizzically.
    “ Two words Jayla, “control freaks”. They only want power and brainwash innocent people in this bogus idea that Outsiders are evil.” Jasper mentioned. I nodded thoughtfully and yawned.
    “ Tired?” questioned Violet.

    “Yeah, I’m going to bed, see you in the mornin’!” I said and headed to the tent in which I shared with Trisha.
    After laying on the soft, feathery pillow, my vision blurred and I found myself in the world of dreams.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    I awoke with a start when I heard a shrilling scream just outside my tent. I scooted over to the tent entrance and opened the flaps slightly to see my friends being held captive by the patrol unit from my society.
    I held back a shriek as I saw the position each of them were in. Trisha, Dax, Violet, Jasper, and Sapphire were lined up in that order while Crimson was in a mechanical cage with a small laser pistol pointing at his forehead.
    Sapphire snarled and snapped at the patrols who were gripping her.
    I peeked out a little more only to be grabbed roughly by two patrols, the same ones that were at my apartment the other day.
    “ Hello, Jayla, nice to see you and your little runaway friends.” stated the head patrol with a crooked grin. I glared sharply at him and struggled against the two patrols holding me captive, only to be knocked to the ground by a hit to the side of my head by a laser pistol one of them was holding. The head patrol chortled.
    “ You see Jayla, we can’t just let you get away unpunished for breaking our most covenant rule. So we decided to... depose of all of you.” he replied evilly and pointed his pistol at Crimson, “ first we’ll start with your little friend here!”
    “ No!” I yelled, tears brimming my haunted eyes.

    As the head patrol was about to press the trigger, Sapphire sprung from her spot, knocking down the two patrols that held her in the process, and gripped Crimson’s cage with her sharp teeth and dragged him out of danger. She dropped the cage and the cage snapped open, freeing Crimson. I took the patrols’ surprised looks as an advantage and sprinted to a safe haven, Jasper, Violet, Dax, and Trisha following in pursuit. I turned my head slightly to see Sapphire and Crimson jogging not too far behind us.
    The patrols soon recovered their composers and chased after us, pistols dawn. Each of them shot their lasers and we skillfully dodged each laser.
    Up ahead, I noticed a deep canyon with a long rugged, wooden bridge running across it.
    “ Up ahead, I see an escape, hurry!” I spoke to my friends breathlessly. All of us sped up our pace until we reached the bridge. I looked down nervously to see a rapid of waters screeching and flowing like an angry sea beast. I gulped and started to run across the bridge, with my friends at my heels. Though something felt wrong. I shook my head and kept running, determined to get to the other side. Safely, all of us made it to the other side and looked back in time to see the patrols hot on Sapphire’s and Crimson’s heels, though strangely, Crimson had gotten injured and was being held by her neck by Sapphire. Both were only just starting to cross the bridge!
    ‘Oh, not good!’ I thought exasperated as I saw the patrols were shooting at them. Thankfully, Sapphire made it to the last three wooden planks of the bridge. But then a shrilling yelp filled the air and Sapphire laid on the bridge motionless. Crimson squeezed out of the animal’s mouth and sniffed it. His head jerked back and he lowered it. The hollers of the patrols that were now in the middle of the bridge blurred from our minds. Sapphire was, was dead! Crimson crawled to my feet and rubbed them in distraught. His once bright crimson eyes were now a bleeding red.

    All of a sudden, Sapphire lifted her large golden head and gnawed at the rope supporting the bridge! The patrols were very close to us now. The rope finally snapped and both the patrols and Sapphire plummeted into the rapids below, never to be seen again. Our heads hung low, not a word was spoken, what could be spoken?
    Wait, is that a bark I hear? No it can’t be, it is! My eyes left the ground beneath me and gazed at the valley beneath us. There a small, but strong golden furred animal climbed up the rocks painfully.
    “ It’s Sapphire, she’s alive!” I yelled excitedly. Everyone cheered and clapped as the heroic dog slowly climbed up to our ground slowly. Each of us embraced her and laughed full heartedly at our success, we were free.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    A few years have passed and my friends and I have grown quite a bit. Not long before, we’ve found out that, from my attempts at escaping the society, many people followed in my footsteps. We knew then that these runaways needed protection, didn’t want them to go through what we did, so we’ve established the Ani-Dystopian Protective Association, or the A. A. P. A. For short. Our plan was a success and each runaway was praised for their individuality and found comforting homes.

    So, you could say we lived happily ever after...........