BLEND

Zone C-21 (formerly Burnham, IL)

KEEP OUT, Trespassers will be shot! The sign read in bold red letters attached to a 12 foot fence with barbed wire atop. Although worn and ripped, it still served its purpose and was effective in keeping unwanted scavengers out. The old scrap yard had been abandoned for over 5 years now. Hidden in a thicket of trees down an unused road, it was pretty secluded. The road leading to it had eroded away years ago after nearby storm drains had collapsed flooding the area. A narrow ravine on the side covered by weeds was the only way in and out of the yard. Towards the rear of the property, there was a corner of the fence that had been opened near the bottom, just big enough for a small body to squeeze through.

Fourteen year old Nyeli Griffin knew so personally. It was her home and once the most prized possession of her late grandfather. Nyeli had spent years there with “Pop” as she affectionately called him, and her sister Denala. She knew the ins and out of the place and could run the machines alone if needed. Elan Griffin had made sure that his granddaughters were safe, protected and equipped with knowledge, skills and resources to stand on their own. He knew that they’d need it. The last 10 yrs had been a nightmare for him, with 8 of those years spent raising and teaching his orphaned granddaughters. It had been hell but they had made it until one day, Elan coughed. That cough had led to his eventual demise and made his granddaughters orphans...again.

Nyeli had returned back to her haven after leaving to scavenge for supplies. Although Pops had done a great job with ensuring they had food and other supplies stockpiled in their man made cellar, there were sometimes things she needed to go out looking for. She had some cash saved as well, but only used it if necessary. She preferred to find unwanted things and make them useful.

Ducking through abandoned streets and homes, Nyeli made quick work of finding what she needed. The roll of tie wire was tucked safely in her backpack along with a few other items she had found. As she was heading back, a Reprimand flashed his nightstick in her direction. She quickly raised her arm showing her watch illuminated green. He nodded his approval and she kept on, smiling to herself. Having tricked another officer, Nyeli was sure that her next experiment would work. She was so close and she vowed to take down Gavin and his reign of terror on humanity.

Almost 50 years after Covid-19 swept the world killing millions, a mutated strain had emerged killing billions more. CV68 appeared in the year 2068 and the world was not prepared. It spread rampantly urging world leaders to take drastic measures to ensure the survival of the human race. So what was once 195 countries in the world, were now only 25 known simply as Territories, 1-25 respectively. Multiple countries had banned together to pool their resources for survival. The US, Canada and all of South America was known now as Territory 3.

Radicals headed by Gavin Gates, the great-grandson of late billionaire Bill Gates now controlled Territory 3 after a successful Coup that led to an oligarchy government. Gavin, the sole heir to his great-grandfather's estate, was a tyrant. He was known as a radical extremist and ruled Territory 3 under a ruthless and invasive dictatorship. Using his advanced monitoring system known as BLEND or “Bioelectric Lucent Energy Neuron Detection”, Gavin was able to monitor every movement of all occupants in Territory 3.

The BLEND system used smart technology like phones, televisions and watches to monitor all aspects of a person's health by scanning their bodies daily. If the body scan showed any type of illness or need for medical attention, the watch would alert the DOR- Department of Recovery. The DOR was the new branch of Law enforcement put in place by Gavin; which had street officers known as Reprimands. When alerted, Reprimands would appear and cart away any supposedly ill person and send them to a death camp or “the islands”, never to be seen again.

In an attempt to weed out the sick and create a new and healthy world, Territory 3 had banned all medical services. Only the Strong Survived was its new slogan. There were no longer any hospitals, clinics or medical personnel. And anyone found practicing medicine or administering aid would be reprimanded with a possible consequence of being put to death. Thus, Reprimands were plentiful throughout Territory 3 and they watched everyone. Anyone seen without their BLEND watch or their watch not illuminated green to indicate that they are actively being monitored, would be immediately reprimanded as well.

Thankfully, Nyeli was able to get around this fate. Pops was a genius and taught her everything she knew. Nyeli was smart and resourceful. She picked up things easily; especially patterns and number sequences. Technology and coding came easy for her. She also remembered specifics as if she had a photographic memory. Pops had called her an Aspie. Although she hadn’t known what that meant at the time, she later found out that she had Asperger's, a condition on the Autism spectrum. She was different.

At age 12, Nyeli had managed to disconnect the signal of her BLEND watch. She was offline. Her watch no longer monitored her vitals and did body scans. But it did still glow green to mimic her being active although she wasn’t. As just seen, it was helpful when she needed to venture out if she were to encounter a Reprimand. With her watch inactive, Nyeli had been able to live peacefully under BLEND’s radar undetected for 2 yrs.

Nyeli closed and secured the office door. It was the only structure on the property hidden in the midst of piles of scraps, old vehicles and machinery. She lit her candle to give the room some light. The old couch in the corner served as her bed. It was placed strategically under the only window. She also had a spare backpack nearby with food, money and supplies in case she needed to grab it to escape quickly. Pop had told her to always be prepared.

She emptied the contents of her bag on Pop's old desk, her work station. She hadn't gotten much from this scavenging run. Sifting through the small pile she pulled out some electric tape, about 4 feet of suede string, the roll of tie wire, a box of toothpicks and surprisingly a gold locket. Nyeli wasn’t thrilled by the contents, but she was a little shocked that she was able to find something as rare as gold. It had to be fake, she thought. There wasn’t anything noticeable about it. No wording or intricate design, it didn’t even open like the ones she’d seen in old movies that would reveal a photo inside. It was just a plain old gold locket.

Nyeli put it inside the desk drawer next to a couple of crumpled up $1 bills. These were rare considering the smallest form of currency now was a $20 bill. But some merchants still accepted them. The world was too unpredictable, not to. She removed a few strands of the tie wire and held it near the candle to inspect. It appeared to be the right thickness. It would hold, Nyeli thought.

A sound from outside caught her attention. Nyeli was used to it being quiet with the exception of a piece of scrap hitting the ground whenever the wind picked up. Tonight there was no wind. Nyeli stood up to go inspect. She thought that maybe a stray cat or something had managed to get in. Quietly pulling the thin piece of plywood that covered the window to the side, she looked out into the darkness. The shape of a person hobbling towards the building came into her view. Nyeli quickly jumped back, the plywood cover slamming closed.

“Dammit!” she murmured to herself. Whoever was out there had just heard her. She thought quickly of grabbing her backpack of supplies and escaping through the window. The door was bolted shut from the inside though. There was no way anyone could get in unless they were strong enough to kick the door in. And by the way that person was hobbling, they were obviously injured...or sick.

“Shit!” That meant that if they got scanned and were hurt, the DOR would send the Reprimands to her location. She had to get that person away and soon. Nyeli checked the time on her watch. Scans were every hour at the half-hour mark. It was 11:17pm. The next scan was in 13 minutes.

A few faint knocks sounded on the door.

“Help...please. I'm hurt!”

The voice sounded like a woman...or young girl. Denala? Nyeli instantly thought about her sister. Denala was 2 years older and had left to go out scavenging. She never returned. That was two years ago and Nyeli had no idea of what had happened to her. Could it be Denala? No one else knew of the scrap yard's location and how to sneak in.

Nyeli didn’t know what to do. She didn’t want anyone to die on her doorstep. But she didn’t want Reprimands showing up to the yard either.

“Please, I...I don’t want to die!” the woman begged in a slight whisper.

Nyeli, contemplated ignoring the woman. But she knew that she couldn’t. Reprimands would surely come and then they’d both be in danger. And if they saw all of the equipment she had, she’d surely be questioned. But what if...what if she could hack the woman’s watch like she had done hers? Was it worth trying? It could possibly work. She took another glance at her watch. Only 12 minutes until the next scan. Nyeli said a quick prayer and before she could change her mind, went to the door and unlocked it.

She ushered the woman in who could barely stand. Nyeli bolted the door closed and helped the woman over to her bed.

“Thank you...I’m in so much pain.” She murmured.

Nyeli quickly grabbed her arm to look at the watch. She didn’t know what to say to the woman. She had never really interacted with people besides Pops and Denala. Instead she focused on the task.

Nyeli got up and went to her desk for her laptop and cords. She fastened the USB to link the woman's watch to the laptop. Then she got to work. She had previously broken into the firewall for BLEND’s satellite tracking system. It had been a while before she had hacked them, so she wanted to be careful and not alert them. Typing as fast as she could, she was thankful that the system's algorithms hadn't changed much. After typing a series of codes, she was now inside their system and could begin to reprogram the woman's watch. She initialized a data scan of the woman's watch to ensure it was linked to the correct person. The woman’s photo and information appeared on the screen. Her name was Amanda Pointer, she was 19.

Nyeli began to reprogram the watch. She entered a phantom profile that mimicked the woman’s and she set a recurring scan profile to send data at every Territory scan; which would appear on the BLEND radar as the woman being scanned healthy and compliant. Then she initiated the transfer to save the data.

There was exactly 2 minutes left before the next scan. Nyeli prayed the data would go through as it had done previously for her. She bit her lip nervously waiting on the transfer to complete. The woman whimpered in pain. She held her stomach and Nyeli could see blood gushing from a wound. Suddenly, a siren blared. Scanning had commenced. But had the transfer worked? Were they coming?