Chapter 7.1-- Chapter 7.2

Petra didn't know how the others found out, but the fight was all anyone talked about the next morning. They talked about it with excitement, but fell into an awkward silence when she approached. Heads down, eyes avoidant, subject changed. When the alarm sounded, and their team got called out, Petra felt relieved. She suspected that they blamed her, but she didn't care. Farrow had made a royal scuz of himself, and she'd never forgive him! As they were leaving, she looked up and her eyes found his. She saw something quite unexpected. The hatred he'd had the night before replaced by something akin to regret. It was only for the briefest moment, and he looked away. Petra wondered if what she'd seen was her imagination, or real.

There was a disturbance in the east side of New Alexandria, most likely Deviants. She was glad for the distraction and the opportunity to vent her frustrations. Even though she'd calmed down, she could do with smashing a few bots. Everyone seemed to be walking on eggshells around her, adding to her vexation. Even Khaleel was quieter than usual.

Ezra let her take the front seat, and her mood bettered, a little. She rested against the cushioned seat, and watched as the scenery whirred by her. It wasn't much to look at; red earth, thirsting for rain. Shrubbery, brittle but harsh dotted the ground every few meters. The world had changed so much. She watched chronicles of the past, videos that showed how the world had once been. Once upon a time, it had been lush and green. There were hundreds, if not thousands of animals. All before the Event. With all the destruction to the environment, and the dying off of animals, the world had become almost desolate. Scientists had worked without rest to find a way to preserve what remained. They miraculously managed to maintain the remaining plant and animal life. This sustained the planet and humans existence on it, but only just.

People had to change though. With the scarcity of food, artificial lab grown foods were introduced. The real stuff was rare. And even though there weren't as many mouths to feed it still wasn't enough to go around. It didn't bother Petra much though. This world, these things had been all she had known. What had existed before seemed more like a fairy story than a reality, and she didn't care much for fairy stories.

"What are you thinking so much about?" Ezra called over the noise of the engine.

"Nothing" she shrugged, it was true.

"You were creasing your eyebrows, like this" he smiled, then demonstrated the look she'd had.

" That's just my face. I wasn't thinking about anything, shouldn't you focus on driving?" Petra asked, pretending to grab the steering wheel.

Ezra swatted her hand away as though it were a bug.

"About last night…" he began, but Petra groaned, cutting him off.

"I knew getting this seat was too good to be true, drop it okay? I'm not in the mood to rehash last night, or anything else" she stated, crossing her arms. Ezra knew there was no point in trying to talk to her, so he focused on the road ahead.

Scattered before the entry of the city were remnants of the old world. Faded Signboards, rusted vehicles with faded paint. A tree, growing out of a worn out tire.

Dust devils churned in the distance, raising debris, then settling down.

They entered the city, crossing beyond the outer wall. The city was built in the shape of a rhombus, for protection and safety purposes. It wasn't a poor design either. Named New Alexandria, after one of the greatest cities of old. On entering, one passed an outer wall. It did not wall off the entire city, but consisted of intervals of walls and breaks. These large gaps posed a small security risk, but each space was not as empty as it appeared. The walls themselves, and the spaces were equipped with an invisible shield. Invisible to the human eye. This shield had millions of micro cameras. It also picked up a very specific frequency emitted by the bots. The moment it was detected, the alarm sounded in the compound. Announcing the arrival of trouble.

About two to three k's in was a second wall. This one covered the entire area around the city, with only breaks where the gates were. It was impossible to breach this wall. It too had an invisible shield, but this shield was designed to be impenetrable. Only those with access chips could pass beyond the gates. If somehow it was breached, another alarm would sound, at the second and third wall gates, as well as the base. This alerted the Martinets, as well as the Peace Keeping Officers that maintained peace within the city of danger.

Each section housed people according to their trade and purpose. Over time, people from specific sections were referred to by certain titles.

Beyond the second wall were residential areas, schools, gardens, small farming areas, factories, and clinics. The Does' lived within this area, and most worked here too. Their houses were plain, small, and looked like replicas of each other.

The third wall was the same as the second. There were fewer entry points, and was accessible to everyone from either side. Beyond the third wall were larger, taller buildings. To the outer rim were homes, apartments, and schools. Further in were businesses; shops of all kinds such as: salons, tailors, eateries, arcades, lounges, cafes, bakeries, niteries, mechanics, electricians, and plumbers. This was the business hub, and also saw more deviants than the other sections. There were also several clinics, and two hospitals. The people here were referred to as Primes.

Beyond the fourth wall were testing facilities, science laboratories, and schools for the more intellectual students. There were two universities and the most expansive and only library that existed in the city. No one lived within this area, but Primes and Eminents worked and frequented this space.

Beyond the fifth wall was where the Eminents lived. There were very few people from any of the previous sections that were allowed to this point. The Eminents were scientists, academics, and other more revered members of society. The Eminents were those who contributed greatly to the rebuilding of the world. They were the greatest minds and thinkers of this new age, and they lived so far in, to be well protected.

The further one went within the city, the tighter the security became. Some considered it a kind of strangle hold, but with the world the way it was, safety came first. If another catastrophe occurred, these people would be instrumental in rebuilding once again. Their protection and safety was of the utmost importance.

The space between the fifth wall and the final one was quite expansive. None of the Martinets had gone beyond the fourth wall, and so had no idea what lay beyond. There was always talk though, about there being lakes, and strange animals, some in cages and some roaming freely. Talk about a forest, and a field of flowers so beautiful, you couldn't help but be mesmerised. Much like that which they'd seen in class. Of course these were all rumours, whispers of a world that once was. Teacher Addison assured them that no such things existed, it was all the imagination of a few. The world had after all been destroyed, how could anything like that still even exist.

Beyond that lay the sixth and final wall. Within its confines were the homes of the Noblesse. The homes of the leaders of this new world, along with their advisors and a famed few. Each city of the new world had a similar design. The Noblesse were to be protected above all else. Because in this time of uncertainty and danger, they were most needed. Everyone had their place, their purpose in the new world. And the system worked...

"I don't get it" Petra said, looking to be deep in thought.

"You don't get a lot of things, you're going to have to be more specific" Ezra joked, turning the buggy into a side street.

Petra gave him a sideways look. "HA-HA!" she narrowed her eyes and shoved him. Ezra laughed, and then they were both silent for a moment.

"What I don't get, is how the deviants keep getting beyond the third wall. There's the P.K.O's, and the built-in-shields, how are they getting this far?" Petra scrunched her nose as she contemplated the question. Ezra parked the buggy and turned off the engine. The air filled with chatter from the others.

"Well, the P.K.O's aren't allowed to engage deviants, that's our job. But as far as the shields, I don't know. There could be a flaw…" he trailed off, thinking about what he'd just said.

"A flaw? What flaw? What are we talking about?" Khaleel chimed in, sticking his head from the back, between the two seats.

"Petra, our resident detective, was wondering how the deviants got beyond the wall, so design flaw?" Ezra suggested, moving his hand from left to right, palm-side up.

"It could be sympathizers" Khaleel stated, pushing back his thick hair.

"Sympathisers?" Petra questioned, turning to face Khaleel.

She never thought she'd ever find anything that came out of his mouth even a little interesting.

"Yea, people who sympathise with deviants" he beamed, delighted to be garnering such attention.

"Rumours" Ezra quickly said, turning to them.

"Rumours? From where? Why would anyone sympathise with a deviant?" , the questions tumbling out of her.

"Maybe if you left your room and spoke to people, you'd know" Ezra pointed out matter-of-factly.

"Anyway, now is not the time, we have a job to do" he added, jumping out of his seat. Petra watched him, a little stunned, but ready with a scowl.

"If you want, we can talk later, I'll tell you everything I know" Khaleel whispered with a wink.

Curious, Petra nodded.

As she turned to jumped off the vehicle, she missed the huge smile forming on Khaleel's face.